Covert Affairs

Get Ready for Liftoff

The sound of the helicopter blades was deafening, even with the headphones on. I felt the vibrations through my body as we soared through the air. This was the first time my cohort and I had been assigned to a mission using one of the Gallagher helicopters, and the excitement among us was palpable. We had heard stories from the upperclassmen about what it was like to fly in one of these, but actually experiencing it was a treat.

As thrilled as I was to be on this mission, I couldn't shake the feeling that Mr. Solomon was buttering us up for something. As a spy in training, trust was not something I gave out easily, especially when my beloved Cov' Ops teacher and godfather was involved.

The cotton blindfold tied tightly around my head was itchy, but I was used to it by now. What was really uncomfortable was how sweaty my ass was becoming in this seat; which is saying a lot because it's early January in Virginia. I had been sitting in this helicopter for what felt like an eternity, when in actuality it's only been 35 minutes since we've taken off. We sat listening to the thumping of the blades and wondering where we were headed. Mr. Solomon had given us no briefing, no target, nothing. We had just been pulled out of our Welcome Back dinner and told to put on disguises before being loaded onto the helicopter. It all felt a little too mysterious for my liking.

I wished I could look in a mirror right now to see if I looked normal, or as normal as I could in a disguise. I had thrown together a long, straight black wig, changed my eye color to brown, and slicked on some light red lip-gloss in a hurry. The most universal combination of physical features as to not draw any attention to myself. I rubbed my lips together, allowing the stickiness of the gloss to keep me preoccupied if only for a moment.

The landing was sudden and jarring, making it feel more like a crash than a landing. There was a whip of cold air rushing into the helicopter, a welcome release from the heat coursing through my body. Mr. Solomon instructed us to wait for a minute before removing our blindfolds, and I counted the seconds in my head, precise as a clock. I had learned how to keep track of time as a spy, and it was a useful skill to have when you were tied up without access to a clock. Finally, we were allowed to remove our blindfolds, and I read the slip of white paper in front of me:

"Meet me where imagination seems as never-ending as the galaxy by 1900 Alone..."

My confusion was echoed by my cohorts as I heard silent questions all around me. Underneath the paper was an envelope containing all our tickets to the Smithsonian Air and Space museum. In Washington D.C.? I was the closest to the door, so I opened it to reveal that we were in fact in Washington DC.. We'd landed in a green area right behind the museum, and like good, normal, totally not spies, students, we crossed to the front of the building and presented our tickets.

The museum was bustling with people and rockets, real life rockets, were suspended in the air above us. I couldn't help but feel a sense of awe as I looked around. I was a history buff and loved space, so this museum was a dream come true.

"Checking comms. Hotel, Alpha, Yankee, Papa" The sound of Jess announcing our line up brought me back to reality. She called out the military alphabet word for the first letter of each of our code names. We had to come up with them at the beginning of the school year once we moved to Sub Level 2. Jess's codename is Heir, because she's the VP's daughter. It felt fitting. Jade's codename is Anchor because she's kind of the grounding force in our friend group. She makes sure we're all stable. Dee's codename is Yang because she is the heart of the friend group and she loves Grey's so that was easy. My codename is Phantom because my "exceptional spy skills make me a ghost-like figure, seemingly appearing out of nowhere and disappearing just as quickly". That's the reason I gave Mr. Solomon, but I just really liked Danny Phantom growing up.