Chapter 9

Midterms were coming up soon for Sector V. Classes were still in full swing and Nigel had to make sure that he kept his attendance up. The long days of training and the long nights of espionage often made that difficult. He still managed to find time in to do his homework, oddly enough. In the beginning, Nigel considered telling Rachel that the KCD wasn't for him because he felt it was an extra drag on him when his school work and social life were factored in and he never had time to relax. Now the opposite was true, the work that he did as a KCD operative was a great way to put it all behind him and focus on what we really wanted to do…make a difference.

Nigel was seated in the cafeteria at Gallagher University pouring over his history, wondering how much of it actually happened the way that he was reading it and how much of it was written the way that he was reading it. Hoagie came up with a tray of food and sat down across from him in the booth.

"Hey Number 1, what's up?"

Nigel didn't even glance up over the top of his shades. He continued to read with his head in his hands.

"You know…every day, boring stuff…" he said under his breath. It was music to his ears to hear Hoagie refer to him as, "Number 1". The number designations were starting to catch on at the HQ and it was becoming a way to escape from the boredom and shallowness that everyone felt about their current paths. The rest of the operatives would refer to each other with their numbers with a sense of pride and camaraderie, even when there was no security risk. Their names were who they were to everyone else, but evil would soon come to fear their designation numbers. When Nigel Uno became "Number 1" it was as if he was experiencing a new birth into a new and heroic identity.

It was as if he was on track with his destiny.

Hoagie nodded as he munched on some French fries, dipping them in the chili on his chili dogs. They sat in silence for a few minutes as Hoagie continued eating.

Suddenly, Nigel's cell phone started buzzing on the table. Nigel, without moving, shifted his eyes to observe the screen. It was a text message from Lizzie asking whether or not Nigel was busy.

Nigel stared at the screen.

It was always a mystery with Lizzie; there was a reason that she was asking that question by itself. She would never come out and say what she really wanted to say. Nigel could remember a lot of times where they would go a long time without talking simply because Lizzie didn't know how to communicate what was going through her head.

It was one of the reasons that Nigel had fallen in love with her. He loved Lizzie despite all of her quirks and problems. He knew that she painfully and awkwardly exposed her faults to everyone that she met, but Nigel never let a conversation go by where he didn't stick up for her. They saw the pushy side of her, but he saw the side that enjoyed the walks in the woods, the slow dances, the sandcastle building on the beach and all of the fun stuff they loved to do together.

The phone buzzed again with a message explaining that since he was busy, they would just talk later.

Nigel grabbed the phone and started dialing, "Excuse me Hoag', I need to take this."

Hoagie just smiled and nodded as he took another massive bite out of his chili dog.

Nigel dialed Lizzie's number and a picture of them in a dollar photo booth at the State Fair popped up on the screen. The phone rang and rang but there was no answer. Nigel felt the hair on the back of his head stand up. Was there something wrong? Was Lizzie in danger?

He cautiously set the phone back down on the table as he looked up at Hoagie.

"It looks like the battlefield is calling us again," Nigel said softly.

Hoagie didn't say anything as he turned his head away from his lunch and tried to finish chewing what was in his mouth before he said anything.

The phone buzzed again on the table a few times.

"Wow Nigel, The battlefield has got your direct line," Hoagie said with a smile.

Nigel glanced at the phone and noticed it was a text message from Lizzie asking that he might please not call her again as she was with her friends.

Nigel felt the tension release in his body and sighed with relief; that was certainly her.

Nigel sent a message asking what it was that she wanted and also that he was calling her so that he could hear her voice one more time.

"These seats taken?"

Nigel looked up to see a visibly bored Abigail Lincoln and overly excited Kuki Sanban standing at the edge of the table with trays of food. Nigel smiled as he scooted over in the booth and waved with his hand towards the open seats.

"What are you two up to?" Nigel said, happy to be with his comrades. They could share in the boredom.

"Nothing", Abby, said in the same monotone voice that she had used when they approached, "Nothing at all! There's not been one crime in the last couple of weeks since we bagged all that evidence at Mr. Frosty's. Not one! You would think those ice cream men would be just a little more considerate!"

"They're probably laying low since the fiasco they had to endure at Mr. Frosty's". Hoagie, said, "It took a week to clean up that mess!"

"Yeah," Nigel said, "And the local news channel is reporting it as a meteor crash. They're using 911 calls reporting the S.C.A.M.P.E.R.'s decent as a meteor entering the atmosphere and destroying a handful of ice cream trucks. They're lucky that ended up working to their advantage."

"I wish had I seen the meteor," Kuki, said woefully, "I think that shooting stars are so romantic! Mr. Love Monkey loves meteors don't you?"

She put a large, pink, teddy bear sized, stuffed animal on her tray that was in the shape of a cartoon gorilla. It had a post coming off of its head that supported a plastic rainbow and on its belly was a white circle with a heart shape in the middle.

"Mr. Love Monkey?" Hoagie asked giggling, "What the heck is that?"

Kuki turned around angry at his jaunting, "It's a Rainbow Monkey! I have all the Rainbow Monkey's in each of the color series but this one is my favorite. The pink one is the Love Monkey!"

"That TV show is for babies," said Hoagie.

"You don't watch it?" Abigail said, "I have few Rainbow Monkeys at the foot of my bed, and I would be willing to bet you do too!"

Hoagie turned to Nigel un-phased, "Anyway, I'm making some modifications to the S.C.A.M.P.E.R. that will attempt to make it quieter and eventually I'd like to find a way to make it completely stealth capable."

"Where do you keep that thing anyway?" Abby asked with a smile that the subject changed so quickly.

"On the other side of the fence surrounding the football stadium is an RV park," Hoagie said, finally turning his attention to her, "That's where she perches, ready to fight at a moment's notice!"

"Nobody messes with it?"

"Oh please," Hoagie said with a nonchalant wave of his hand, "Even with the jet airplanes strapped to the side, they still don't pay any attention. Have you ever noticed how little people pay attention?"

Abigail nodded hastily in agreement as she munched on the food she had on her plate.

"Any news on what's next Number 1?" Hoagie asked, "It's been almost two weeks and there's not been so much as a peep!"

Number 1 sat up in his seat.

"Well, actually, Number 274 wants us to report to HQ later on this afternoon because our newest team member is ready to go. He just got back from Artic training earlier this week and Number 60 says that he is quite the fighter."

"Number 60?" asked Kuki.

"Number 60 is Patton Drilovsky's operative designation." Number 2 said hastily, "What else Number 1?"

"Patton?" Kuki asked again visibly confused.

"Patton", Nigel started, ignoring Kuki, "also known as Number 60, stated that Wally Beatles passed his training with flying colors so he's being granted the operative number: 4 and he's being assigned to our Sector. He's from Australia and evidently he's been kicked out of military schools both there and here. His parents have sent him to Gallagher in hopes that in a "normal school environment" he will be encouraged to succeed."
"Sounds like a fighter," Abby said nonchalantly.

"Yes," Nigel responded, "I believe that will be his strong suit. I'm pleased that we will have another team mate including that he is proficient in hand-to-hand combat. We're going to need a bare knuckled fighter on our team as I think we have every other base pretty much covered. Number 274 mentioned that he wants use our team set up as a template for the other Sectors that are being developed to be stationed around the world."

Nigel's phone began to go off again…it was Lizzie.

"Ah, there is Lizzie; I guess I better take this. I'll see you guys later at HQ" he said, scooping up his books and heading to the door.

"Hey honey!" he said snapping the phone open and heading out of the cafeteria door and into the chilly fall afternoon.

"Hey Nigey!" came the cheerful reply, "Care to meet me by the water fountain in the middle of the campus?"
"Sure thing, I'll see you in a minute or so," Nigel said. It would be good for him to spend some time with her. He tried to spend just as much time with her now that he was part of the KCD than when he wasn't. It was important for their relationship that they spend time together anyway, but even more so now that his life was in constant peril and that his schedule seemed to be stretched thin. She was the anchor he often needed. The best compromise that he could find was to sleep a little bit less, but if that's what it took for his relationship with Lizzie to survive, then that is what he was going to do.

When he got to the fountain, Lizzie was seated there in her yellow sweater and jean skirt, her reddish brown hair was pulled into two ponytails and her smiling chubby face was framed perfectly by her thick, black-rimmed glasses.

"Hey Nigh-gey!" she squealed when Nigel walked up.

He sat his books down and sat next to her, staring at her over his black shades, "Hey Lizzie, what's up?"

"I just spent some time with the girls from my sorority and we had a great time! We talked about all sorts of stuff. I think that Bethany is going to hook up with Mark, and Lindsey with Phillip, and a few others and all I could think about is how I'm stuck with you and you're stuck with me!"

Nigel smiled and held her hand, "Yep! I wouldn't want it any other way!"

"Well," Lizzie said, "Also, I was wondering what you have decided to do here at college since you never did try out for the football team."

"I am friends with Chad Dickson though," Nigel said, "That should count for something."

"Oh Nigh-gey," Lizzie whined, "EVERYBODY is friends with him, but if you were really be close to him, that WOULD be something special. Carrie in MY sorority is so convinced that he will ask her out at any time! They spend so much time together!"

Nigel was a little taken aback as he remembered Rachel's embarrassment in the situation room at KCD HQ. It seemed though that the bulk of people at the college never really had any ties to anyone in particular and that was something that Nigel was trying to keep out of his relationship with Lizzie. He cared for her and wanted her to know that she was the one he wanted to be with, that they weren't just casually dating like the rest of them.

"So, back to my question," Lizzie interrupted, "What have you been up to?"
"Well," Nigel said, clearing his throat, "I'm in the Kids Command of Defense. I've been telling you about that and all the stuff that we've been doing lately, I really think that we're on to something with what we found at Mr. Frosty's".

"Oh Nigh-gey," Lizzie whined again, rolling her eyes, "If you like pretending and playing around with your goofy friends, I 'm not going to criticize that. However, we need to get you into the public spotlight! College is frittering away and you've not made yourself known in any respect!"

"Thank goodness," Nigel replied under his breath.

"Seriously!" Lizzie whined again, "You've got one shot at being a freshman here and if you don't make the most of it, you won't last long. Promise me that you'll spend some more time in what really matters instead of goofing around like you do."

"Lizzie," Nigel said, turning to her, "What if you had the opportunity to make a real difference in the world? Would you do it? Do we not live in a world that is rife with hurt? There are people out there who, like a bird to a snare, have become addicted or distracted by smoke and mirrors given to us by people who are causing the hurt."

"Nigel, please don't bore me with politics again."

"I'm serious Lizzie!" Nigel said, exasperated, "I watch the world unfold around me and I see plots from masterminds forming to take more and more freedom from me and offer paradise in return. They claim that if they pass laws, or manage my affairs for me, that there will be less crime, more wealth; more peace and less war but I see the opposite taking place. Isn't that worth resisting?"

"That's why they are in charge Nigel, because they can take care of those things for us and we can worry on what's really important."

"Listen to yourself Liz, that doesn't even sound right! We're so caught up in the issues that they give us to worry about, we're so plugged into the system and addicted to our creature comforts and habits that we just willingly give up our liberties to these people and they offer us promises on stuff that they cannot possible deliver."

"So what?", came the exasperated reply.

"So we must fight to uncover the truth and expose it in the light. We must awaken our fellow citizens to strive towards their freedom because with their freedom a person can accomplish anything."

"Nigel," Lizzie said, clearly angered, "I'm trying to be serious."

"So am I" Nigel said, still staying calm and gathering his books, "I'm actually going to be late to a meeting that I have with the KCD so I have to go, but let's talk more about this afterwards!"

Lizzie shook her head as she watched him march up the hill towards his dorm.

"I just want you to do something meaningful with your life!" Lizzie yelled after him.

"I will." Nigel said quietly to his self as he continued towards the dorm; because with their freedom a person can accomplish anything.