Under Age and Undercover: A Hannah Clark Novel (under edit)

3. The Mission (edited)

“Bryce, we’re going on a trip!” I announced, explaining to him that mom was meeting us in California after she got off of work and how we’ll have lots of fun.

Being the typical little boy he is, Bryce wanted to know if we were going to Disneyland. I told him that we might have time to see Mickey, but chances are we’ll only have time to visit the San Diego zoo. That prospect alone was enough to excite him and he was immediately thrilled that we got to ride a plane. I had everything packed within the hour for both Bryce and myself, but then I had to decide which car to take. That was made a huge issue when Bryce reminded me that I couldn’t legally drive.  I spent a good ten minutes trying to explain that since mom gave me permission it was perfectly okay for me to be driving.  In actuality it was the President who gave me permission and being the tall, mature teenager I am I could easily pass as 18. Considering the fact that my government I.D did in fact state that I was born three years earlier than my actual DOB, the prospect of being pulled over by a cop was hardly an issue for me. I couldn’t very well tell Bryce all of that of course so the mom trick had to work.

We walked down the street to the parking garage that belonged to one of the apartment complexes nearest our house and I quickly entered the code that gave access to the underground storage room.  The garage was stocked full of vehicles and other equipment that no one but myself and the other FSS operatives knew anything about.  There was also a really cool-looking smoothie machine that made the best strawberry-banana swirl I’ve ever had.  It’s pretty awesome.

“What do you like better? Yellow or red?” I asked, hoping that by making him feel important Bryce would be more willing to cooperate once we were at the FSS building.

“Yellow.” He answered instantly. “Can we get a fast car with food in it?” I laughed. Sometimes I forgot how much of a little kid Bryce really was.

“Sure, Bryce. We’ll take the hummer. That one has GPS and power steering, so I don’t even have to really navigate. We can play iSpy!” I said animatedly.

“Cool,” He said. “Can I bring my P.S.P?”

“Of course!” I replied, “Now get in, we’ve got to hurry.”

As soon as he stepped through the door he went wild. I have to admit, it was a pretty cool car. On the outside it seemed the typical, slightly large S.U.V, but inside it was almost the size of a small apartment, complete with a mini fridge and television.  One of the perks of being so close to the President was that he allowed the car to be shipped to my garage as soon as it was available for distribution from its hub at the FBI lab.

“Calm down, Bryce! It’s just a car.” I laughed, watching him take it all in. He was running around, gawking at the huge array of soda in the fridge. I pressed the button that controlled the T.V and he went haywire again as the flat screen unfolded from the ceiling.  He couldn’t stand still, so I handed him the remote.   “Yeah, um, time for the little guy to chill. Why don’t you find something to watch while I make you a sandwich, okay?”

 He nodded mutely while flipping through the channels at lightning speed.  I pulled out the ham and cheese to make his dinner while we ate and chatted as the car took us to somewhere in Northern Minnesota.  Bryce continued to gawk over the “awesome” T.V. FSS is the agency known as the Federal Secret Service, made up of young secret agents dedicated to undercover protection regarding governmental affairs. Since my involvement in the FSS, youth programs such as the summer camp I attended were moving closer to the forefront of the agency, and my success fueled the way for a huge throng of youth who started out at the FSS the same way I did.  Despite all of my close ties to the President, road transportation is still much slower than a jet and it took us about four and a half hours to get there. When we finally arrived Bryce was almost at his wit's end.

"Are we there yet?" He asked again, for what seemed like the ten thousandth time.

"Yes, actually, we are here. Now behave yourself.” I warned him, “Michael isn't the only one with a short fuse around here." As we walked into the lobby Bryce was jittery from the lack of movement in the car.  Knowing Bryce’s demeanor and his tendency to break expensive and sometimes dangerous items of equipment, you could imagine I was a bit nervous when the advisor of the Presidential protection came up to debrief me on my San Diego mission.

"Bryce, go sit down at that statue-looking thingy over there." I ordered, praying that he could sit still just a bit longer while I spoke with this very important businessman about my travel plans and destination. We were in the main lobby of the FSS headquarters surrounded by a plethora of trained agents and very expensive décor; the room was set up to look like a regular business lobby.  There was a statue in the middle of the entryway with a wide seat around the circumference and I prayed that Bryce knew well enough to not touch anything while he sat there and behaved himself. The advisor walked me into one of the conference rooms reserved for last-minute meetings in the lobby, and we spoke as briefly as possible. In addition to the basic travel and destination detail I also needed to be debriefed on the details as to how long I'd be gone and what I would be doing. According to Mr. Madison, the advisor, I would be in California for about one and a half weeks. That was the longest I had ever been away on a mission.  Not to mention the only time I had ever taken my brother along with me. I would be staying at the Hilton in the Gas-lamp district, right across from the convention center so as not to attract any unnecessary attention. Mr. Madison also assured me that Bryce would be completely safe with one of our executive agents on call at the hotel until it was safe for him to return home and be watched over by Nana until my mom got home.  Until my departure Bryce was under my care and protection.  As for me, my mom was told that I was spending the night at a friend’s house- something entirely too common for me on the weekends- and then I was to call and ask if I could spend a week at some beach house with another friend. However sketchy the situation may seem, calling my mom to ask for permission to be away for a week, but my mom and I have a mutual agreement that I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.  She has complete trust in me.  If anything were ever to go wrong, my mom knows I would tell her.  And with how much she works these days, actually sitting down and asking for permission for these things is completely unreasonable for my family. It was decided that I would take a private plane to the airport close to the convention center that was under cover and well hidden. The logistics of the assignment I was perfectly comfortable with.  The idea of having a partner, however, was entirely new and unnerving.

 Next chapter she meets Shane, her new partner.  Get excited!! :)