Spy School - Salvation [3]

01: Exams

THIS IS PART OF MY SPY SCHOOL SERIES. READ MY BOOKS SPY SCHOOL NEMESIS AND SPY SCHOOL BACK TO BASICS, OTHERWISE YOU WON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING THATS GOING.

International Spy Museum

Washington DC

May 13

1000 hours

"Should we really be here? With her on the loose?" I asked Erica.

"What are we going to do? Hide back in a bunker on campus?" Erica said.

That's what I wanted to do, but I wasn't going to tell Erica that, so I decided to drop the argument.

The two of us were in the International Spy Museum in Washington DC. Erica had decided to take me out to town for her first day of training me, saying that the 'rough and tumble' of museums would be a good 'introductory course.' It wouldn't sound that ominous to a person who didn't know Erica, but if Erica says 'rough and tumble,' you know it's going to be bad.

However, that statement was not proving itself yet. The International Spy Museum wasn't too crowded; there were only a few elderly couples, with everyone else focusing on the much grander Smithsonian Museum. I almost grimaced at the thought of it. The last time I was there, I was public enemy No 1, got attacked by SPYDER agents, and destroyed an entire exhibit when I tried to gracefully jump off a second-story platform.

As we walked past the exhibits, I noticed an exhibit with an old letter. The exhibit was titled "Letter to George Washington circa 1777" with the plaque describing how it was a secret message from one of the former president's spies, which used a substitution cypher.

The memories that exhibit brought back were interesting to say the least, but I didn't dwell on them.

Erica paused suddenly. "Lipstick pistol. Interesting."

I noticed what she was looking at; an actual weaponized lipstick that could shoot bullets. It was from the KGB back in 1965, according to the plaque.

"The 20th century was the golden age of spying, you could say," Erica said. "It really brought out the innovation in people; even if some of the ideas were rather idiotic-" she gestured to an exhibit featuring the model of a pigdeon with a large bulky camera attached to it (from 1917)- "but it really kicked off the spy business. The Cold War, basically an era of the States and Soviet Union spying on each other, and James Bond made spying a cool profession where you were the hero and you were defeating random Cubans with Russian accents."

"Where are you going with this?" I asked, slightly confused to why she started a random lecture.

Erica flashed a smile. "Nothing. Nowhere. Just nowhere."

Something stirred in my gut. First off, Erica didn't smile like that unless she was shooting a target. Also, Erica would never just do something for no reason. She wouldn't waste breath on a small lecture that was no use to anyone.

But then again, it could just be Ice Queen thawing, as Zoe liked to put it, so I followed Erica out of the exhibit.

A female voice crackled over the PA system. "All of our guests, please make way to our right-wing exhibit called 'Dawn of the French Resistance.' This is due to a possible contamination leak, and for your safety, please make your way towards our right-wing exhibit called 'Dawn of the French Resistance.' Please do NOT exit the building, for this may spread the contamination. Again, please make your way towards our exhibit called 'Dawn of the French Resistance.' Thank you." As the voice stopped, a veil of unsettlement now clouded my mind.