Chapter 36: Spy Games

Location: Prime Minister's Residence

Two hours later…

Geoffrey St. John walked through the halls of the Prime Minister's mansion, with the intention of heading to bed. As he passed the room assigned to Sonic, he found the door open enough to make out the Hedgehog's voice on the other side.

"I don't understand why you had to go without me, Sal," Sonic complained.

"I had intended to discuss it with everyone, but you had all gone out," the Princess' voice emerging from the communicator.

"Well…, you did sleep in."

"Don't remind me," Sally grumbled.

"You comin' back tonight?"

"No. We'll have to stay the night, at least until Tails manages to complete the repairs on the X-Tornado."

"Interesting," the Skunk thought to himself, "It seems that the Princess paid a visit to our mysterious benefactor."

It didn't come as a surprise that she had excluded him from that meeting, she had never made any attempt to hide her distrust of him.

"We'll be back in Capitol City by the afternoon tomorrow at the latest."

This elicited a grunt from the Hedgehog, who didn't appreciate that he had been left out of the ordeal.

"I've got to go," she stated.

"Yeah, yeah."

Geoffrey quickly headed made a beeline for his bedroom, and immediately approached the duffle bag he had brought with him. Ruffling around inside, it took the agent of the Royal Secret Service several seconds to locate the tracker and switched it on. The X-Tornado had a tracking device installed, which was the required for all the aircrafts in the service of the Kingdom of Acorn. A blip appeared on the screen, with Geoffrey needing to consult a map to ascertain its approximate location.

"Seems they're in a province called Tyrador," he muttered aloud.

Much of the province could be classified as an archipelago, with the majority being inaccessible by land. They'd brought Extreme Gear with them on their diplomatic mission, which remained onboard Acorn One. If he was to complete his own mission, then he'd have to travel to the Capitol City Airport. Promptly changing, Geoffrey attired himself in a grey stealth suit which had been appropriated from Laboratory Zero; a reactivated G.U.N. R&D Facility. Just because they were allies with the United Federation, it didn't mean they weren't spying on each another. Stuffing equipment away in numerous pouches, the Skunk immediately exited the room. Emerging from Government House, he directly headed in the direction of the front gate.

"Adjutant online. How may I help you this evening?"

"I'm heading out for the evening," he stated, producing his ID card.

"Departure logged. Please enjoy your evening."

As the gate slid open, Geoffrey stepped out onto the streets and quickly flagged down a passing taxi.

"Where to?" the cabbie asked once he pulled up to the curb.

"Capitol City Airport."

"Hop in. I'll get you where you need to go."

Location: Capitol City

Thirty minutes later…

Arriving outside the terminal, the Royal Secret Service agent immediately disembarked the taxi and paid the driver. As the automobile pulled away from the curb, Geoffrey headed in the direction of the tarmac.

"This is a restricted area," warned a security guard as he approached.

He produced his identification and showed it to the Terran, proving that he was part of Princess Sally's entourage. It was scrutinized for a moment, eventually being handed back once the security guard was satisfied.

"Alright, you can head on in. Just make sure to stay off the runways."

Nodding his head, the Skunk watched as the gate slid open and granted his access to the airport runways. He stuck to the hangers, searching for the one the government had assigned to them. He located Hanger Fifteen and unlocked the door, before stepping inside and closing the door behind him. Beholding the aircraft sitting on the concrete before him, the Skunk immediately boarded it. He headed into the secure hold and opened a storage locker, his blue eyes meticulously looking over the various types of Extreme Gear.

"A Yacht-Type should prove useful," he commented.

Its overall speed was considered poor to all other Types, but then speed wasn't what he was looking for. Grabbing the metal case, Geoffrey slammed the storage locker closed and headed back outside. With Extreme Gear in hand, the spy immediately made a beeline for the front gates of the airport. He was able to wave down a passing taxi, and quickly climbing into the back seats of the vehicle.

"Could you take me to the train station?" he inquired.

He could've taken a flight to Tyrador, but his lack of luggage would've undoubtably raised suspicions. Travelling by train service wasn't likely to draw too much attention, although he had no way of knowing how far into Tyrador it would take him.

"Sure thing," replied the driver, shaking him from his thoughts.

The taxicab peeled away from the curb, pulling onto the busy highway that took them directly into the City Core. The trip lasted less then an hour, finally coming to an end once they arrived outside the train station. The station was in a Lower Eastside neighbourhood called El Norte, which consisted of plenty of dark roads and alleyways. The shadiness of the area spurned Geoffrey to quickly paying the driver and hastily make his way inside the station.

"Can I help you?" a young woman asked, manning the ticket booth.

"Do the trains run to Tyrador?" the Skunk inquired.

"We've got a train that makes stops in Gramercy City, New Canaan and Elsecaro."

If he remembered correctly, Elsecaro was closest to where the Princess and travelled to, so it was obvious where he needed to go.

"Can I get a ticket to Elsecaro, please."

"Coming right up."

Paying for the ticket, Geoffrey immediately headed for the platform and waited for the train to arrive.