Sorry about the delay, but I just got power back after 6 days of having no electricity.

Chapter 8: Easy Surveillance? I Don't Think So

Royal and General Bank

"Alex. Ben. How nice of you to join me today," Mrs. Jones started from where she was sitting across the desk from them. "Unfortunately, Mr. Blunt is down with the flu today and so I will have to brief you on your mission and approve of your gadgets along with answering your questions. What a shame."

Mrs. Jones could not help but let a smile out at her last sentence.

"Of course, Mr. Blunt really wanted to be here today to brief you, but he got sick shortly after dinner yesterday, which I might add was brought up by Smithers," Mrs. Jones continued.

Alex smirked, "Ahh. Good old Smithers."

Ben let a sly smile slip through as well, "That is a shame, Mrs. Jones. May I ask if you had just HAPPENED to visit Mr. Smithers shortly before he brought up Mr. Blunt's dinner?"

"I might've HAPPENED to stop by his office to check up on him somewhere around that time," Mrs. Jones answered in a general way.

Mrs. Jones watched as both men relaxed slightly in their chairs. This was, of course, not obvious to the untrained eye, but Mrs. Jones was far from untrained.

"Anyways, you are being sent on a mission to Australia. A new terrorist organization has popped up there, and stands as a threat to Britain. We do not know how, but they seem to have gained an enormous amount of power and influence over night. From the little bits of intelligence that has been gathered, we have concluded that their plan is to take over the world. Yes, I know that sounds a bit cheesy, but they do have several high quality missiles. We are unsure of how they have acquired these, but that is not top on the list to find out. This will be, as Mr. Blunt has told me, and I quote 'an easy surveillance mission. Just go in and gather information. You'll never be in any danger' end quote."

Alex and Ben chuckled a bit at this.

"No danger my foot," Ben responded.

"Yea. Since when has a surveillance mission turned out to be 'easy' and with 'no danger'?" Alex added.

"Well, yea," Mrs. Jones agreed. "Even Mr. Blunt knows this; otherwise, why else would he send his top two agents on this mission?"

"Good point," Ben agreed.

"Anyways, here is a folder for each of you. In it is a detailed copy of the mission itself, what your covers are, and basically everything you need to know. If you read through it tonight, you can always call me and ask any questions you might have tomorrow before your flight. You will be traveling via Continental Airlines and will be stopping in Miami, Florida, before catching another flight that will take you directly to Australia. While in Miami, you will have a two day layover so that you can get rid of your jet lag and be fresher for when your mission starts. That is all," Mrs. Jones concluded. "Just don't mention the two day layover to Mr. Blunt. I'm not positive that he'd agree on that matter."

Ben and Alex shared a small smile before bidding her good-day and setting off for Ben's house.

Being a minor, and living at BB, Alex didn't have his own place to crash at, so it had been decided that he would sleep on the couch at Ben's apartment.

"I still can't get used to seeing you with brown hair and green eyes," Ben commented while unlocking his apartment door.

"Well, you better get used to it, because you'll be seeing it for a long time," Alex responded before pushing past him and into the apartment.

"Well, I guess I'll have that 2 day layover of peaceful rest time to get used to it."

"Yea. That will be really nice. Just quiet relaxing time on the Miami beaches," Alex agreed.