James was amazed at the size of his bed. He thought his campus bed was huge. But this was about eight-times that size! He did the only thing he could think of doing at that time, he went for a piss. But, then again, about six hours stuck on a plane without a working toilet will make someone need to piss quite badly.
After he had gone to the toilet, he looked around the bathroom at what the hotel provided. There was your usual stuff, shampoo bottles that were only good for one use, soap that left your hands with a questionable smell, and, much to James' enjoyment, a condom. Unfortunately, James had not had a girlfriend for some time…but all that could change!
James thought back to when he was running from the cops a few years earlier. He realised that wherever they went, he would need to disguise his face, which wouldn't be hard, unless they left to go somewhere at night. His mobile had rung while he was on the toilet, so he went to his backpack and checked the screen. One missed call, from Lauren. Then, a text, also from Lauren.
Yo goin trainin 2moro back in few days
James was glad that Lauren wasn't missing him, but also sad that she hadn't mentioned it at all. He sent her a text saying good luck. But that's all he could do, cause john had booked a table down in the hotel's restaurant for 10, and it was a quarter to then. James had to; unpack, throw his stuff in the wardrobe, and change into something, which would fit in with the hotel's fancy looks. All but the last one would be easy, as all James had brought by way of clothes were some t-shirts, and jeans. Fortunately, Kerry called, and said that john had changed the plan, because the restaurant was packed.
The new eating plan, called for john to rearrange the furniture in his room, so all the cherubs and staff could fit around it. John started the conversation,
"as you know, we've been having some MI5 from the embassy keeping their eyes on this place, of course, we couldn't tell them why we had them watching the hotel, for safety reasons, but we have had them reassigned. They're safely back in England now, and have been forced to sign the official secrets act."
"So," James began, "Are these Scorpia people here yet?"
"No. not yet, but, now that we're here, we don't need the MI5 agents watching the hotel." Chloe answered.
"Why are we meeting to discuss this then?" Bruce asked.
"Well, Bruce" John replied, "the answer is simple, we need to discuss what parts of the hotel will need to be bugged, if we're hoping to catch Scorpia in the act of planning some evil deed."
"So, what equipment do we have?" Kerry asked.
"the usual surveillance stuff. Microphones, cameras, and all the usual stuff you would have on a mission." John replied.
"And this." Chloe said, as she pulled out a laser microphone. The small, black object was capable of picking sound up through glass. But, none of the cherubs knew what it was, or, more importantly, how to use it.
"What the hell is that?!" James exclaimed.
"This, James, is a laser microphone." Chloe replied.
"I think I've seen one of those. In that espionage training we did last year, remember James?" Kerry said.
"I think I do, but how does it work?"
"I've got no idea." Kerry replied.
*Author's note: I'd like to point out, that I have no idea how one works, but I'm gonna guess here*
"Well," Chloe said as she turned it on its side, "first, you have to turn it on, then, you simply point it at the glass surface, and press the record button."
"Of course, this is only going to be used if Scorpia meet in like, a restaurant or something, that isn't in the hotel." John said.
"Or they go to a different hotel all together." James said.
After their, rather brief, meeting, James went back to his room. He opened the door, only to find all his clothes spread over the floor, in a huge mess. He immediately grabbed his mobile, and called the campus switchboard.
"Unicorn Tyre Repair" the operator said.
"this is agent twelve-o-three," James said, "It seems like someone's gone through the stuff in my room, can you put me through to John Jones?"
"James, don't you have his number?"
"No, well, yeah, but not with me."
"Ok, I'll try his mobile."
After about thirty seconds, John answered his mobile.
"James, what happened?" John demanded.
"I…I honestly don't know, but it looks like someone went through my stuff while I was up in your room." James replied, while he cautiously looked around the room, with a can of pepper spray, in case someone was still there.
"Ok, I'll be right down, don't do anything!"
"When would I ever do something like that?" James said, half-laughing as he did.
About a minute after he'd hung up, John walked into James' room.
"that could be how they got in," john said as he closed, and locked, the door.
"I'm sure I locked it when I left…" James said, as he grabbed the hotel door key from his pocket.
"Well, what ever happened, it would seem we've either been discovered, or the maid wanted to know what size sock you wear, either way, we'd best get you a room closer to mine, upstairs on the 9th floor…" John said.
"Ok, but what if they found anything that would mean they knew who I am?" James asked.
"If they know which room to search, they probably already know your name. But still, we're gonna have to sort that out." John answered.
"I was using the fake passport you gave me, so they shouldn't know my real name."
"hang on. was the balcony door open when you left?" john asked, as he reached inside his coat and pulled out a gun.
"No, it wasn't. The room was too cold, so I turned the heating up. I wouldn't have opened the door and made it colder…"
John pushed his gun out of the door and cautiously stepped out, half expecting to be punched in the face as he did so. But he wasn't expecting what he did find. A small envelope had been left, embodied with a scorpion.