Spy School: Old Becomes New

Chapter 6

May 12th, 2029

1045 hours

CIA Academy of Espionage

Erica's POV

I watched as my class streamed out for their break. Today had been test day, and they had used both written and practical techniques. They answered questions on different strikes and defences, and then went into combat with a partner to test them. 

I made sure everything was neat on my desk. Then I headed out of the building into the Administration tower. I worked my way up quickly, eventually reaching my dad's door and walking in without knocking.

He was signing some forms for something when I barged in.

"Hi, honey," he said pleasantly. I guess he was in a good mood.

"We need to talk," I said. "Actually, not us, but you need to tell me something."

"And that is ... ?" he questioned, as he ate his sandwich.

"Where's Grandpa?"

"I can't tell you - " he started.

I walked forward and placed my hands on the desk, staring at my dad.

"Owl's Nest," he said meekly.

I swiftly exited out and headed towards the Owl's Nest.

Ben's POV

Today was my off day from work so I spent it at home with Emma. She had gone to take a nap recently so I was sitting alone in the living room.

I was thinking about Erica. She had been acting so weird. I just felt, disconnected from her. Like it was at spy school. When she didn't seem to care. But then at the same time, what happened last night ...

It was confusing. I went to check on Emma who was still sleeping peacefully.

I went into our room and sat on the bed, lost in my own thoughts. Some things just never made sense, but I wanted this to make sense, in this case. This is my wife. She should be able to talk to me. At any time. About anything.

There had to be something. 

I cased the bedroom, looking under the bed, knocking on surfaces, and even behind the TV in our room. I searched through the closet, the laundry (which I was going to have to do soon), and the crib, but found nothing. I made it to the dresser and started knocking in and on it. 

In one of the shelves, it felt different. I estimated that the sound should have been more full, but it was hollow. I felt around the area and eventually managed to open a secret compartment.

I looked inside and found a USB stick

Bingo.

Erica's POV

I slipped in through the window of the Owl's Nest and was perched on a beam near the top of the spiral.

I carefully made my way down and watched my Grandpa look out at the student grounds. I landed on the floor quietly and made my way toward him.

"Your spy skills are still holding up," he said to me as I approached him. "I thought they might have fallen off after your break from missions."

He turned around to face me.

"We need to talk," I said. 

"Let me guess," he replied as he turned around. "This has to do with the USB stick."

"Ok and?"

"My USB stick."

"Ok, and?"

"You shouldn't be looking at what is on there."

"It's your fault for giving it to me."

"It was a failsafe incase the CIA was compromised. We are fine now."

"What do you know about MH?" I asked.

"Why does it matter so much to you?"

"I'm not at liberty to disclose that to you."

"Well then I'm not at liberty to tell you anything."

I sighed and went to the mini fridge to get a water bottle. I drank it as I watched my Grandpa look out at the campus.

"Look, Erica, I'm not sure why this is so important to you. But what's on that drive is all I know. I don't even know the people involved save for the few I put through photo recognition."

"Are you not monitoring this anymore?"

"No."

"Why?"

"It's a waste of time."

"HOW is it a waste of time? We could be stopping a SPYDER level threat before it even begins. You know first hand how much that group put us through. How can you just dismiss it?"

"Because they know about us." I was shocked.

"What? How?". 

"I don't suppose you checked the drive recently."

"How recently?". He checked his watch. 

"10 minutes ago."

"A mole?"

"Yes." Someone that found that out must be extremely high up, but then again, it only takes one sentence to reveal a secret.

"This is turning into a gong show," I said as I started pacing.

"This is not in your jurisdiction," he said to me.

"Grandpa you know I'm the best spy in the organization. I'm not even trying to brag."

"You need to focus on teaching your classes. I doubt this will amount to anything serious." I was extremely frustrated with how he was handling this. Especially because ... well, never mind.

I left the Nest and headed back to the grounds of the campus. I had work to do, and a USB drive to read up on. 

Ben's POV

I went through SPYDER and SNOW, finding a list of missions that predominantly included my name. It really jogged my memory realizing just how many missions I had been on.

MH was a bit more interesting. It was locked behind another set of barriers but I recognized the mathematical scrambler and disabled it in 3 seconds.

I looked through all of the updates, but nothing seemed to matter. It all seemed like a bunch of speculation, to be honest. I wasn't interested, although it was weird that Cyrus had gone into the field for the last update. 

After reading through all of that, I went to the only section I had not seen: Moles. I saw a bunch of old people as well as some recent ones that were related to the SNOW organization.

I saw a little red dot pop up at the top and I clicked it. It automatically scrolled me up and I saw a notification for a new mole.

I clicked on it and read the description.

New mole suspected to have leaked information about MH to said organization. Since they reached this info, any other amount of info could be leaked as well. Stay on high alert. This could be catastrophic for the CIA.

Mole Name:

Oh no.

Zoe Zibbell.