Spy School: Outbreak

Chapter 19

I know, sorry, I missed yesterday. But guess what that means? Double update today. Yay!

Bosawas Biosphere Reserve

Nicaragua

May 8

0810 hours

You've heard of going over someone or something with a fine-tooth comb, right? Now imagine actually doing that.

For some reason, Erica travels with metal-detecting fine-tooth combs. So yeah, not a fun way to spend almost an hour. There was an area of about one-hundred square feet where we searched. It felt like forever. Erica insisted we go over everything. After an excruciating fifty-five minutes and forty-two seconds, my comb started beeping. My heart leaped. I traced the origin of the beeping to a tree. It didn't look any different from normal, but that was to be expected. My comb centered in on a six by six square of bark. I scrutinized the tree. Now that I was looking for it, I saw a nearly invisible fracture, running in a perfect square in the area I had been getting signals from. I reached out to push it, but after my encounter with the tiny static-shock-disc of doom, I decided against it. I picked up a stick and pressed it against the panel. It began to smoke(I know, I'm making up science. Sue me).

"Erica!" I whisper-yelled. "I think I got something!"

She scurried over, and immediately noticed the panel. She reached into her utility belt and pulled out a small disc. It looked almost identical to the static-shock-disc-of-doom, but the light was blue. She grabbed some kind of vial out of her utility belt and uncorked it. She picked up a twig and dipped it in. She applied the liquid to the back of the not-disc of doom. She corked the vial, stashed it in her utility belt, and picked up another twig. She held the disc in between them like chopsticks and stuck the disc onto the tree. She pressed the light, and the light blinked out.

She grabbed my hand and pulled me about ten feet back from the tree. The disc beeped twice at a low pitch, then at a high one.

"Nothing happened," I said, confused.

"That's what you think," Erica said, strutting over to the disc and pulling it off. She reached for the panel.

"Wait no!" I cried. "It's electrified!"

She ignored me and pushed it. It popped out with a click.

She held up the small disc for me. "Pocket-size Electromagnetic Pulse Generator. Comes in handy, though only has a range of about ten feet."

I gaped at her. "You had an EMP on a plane!?"

"Relax, it can't go off unless it comes in contact with the adhesive I used."

She clearly wanted this to be the end of the conversation, so I let it be.

After all that, I had neglected to actually look at what was under the panel. It was a handle.

Erica gestured to the handle. "Would you like to do the honors?"

I put my hand on the lever and pulled. Nothing happened. Now it's time for Deja Vu(I've just been in this place before). I wanted to ask Erica why nothing was happening but didn't.

1) I didn't want her to judge me harshly for the gap in my knowledge, 2) I wanted to see if I could find out myself. But most prominently, because the Earth opened up, and I fell through the rainforest floor.