In The Archipelago's Secret Service

3: Accidents

Chapter Three: Accidents

Hiccup had been the last guy left in the department, still working on the purse. The Thorstons had been in during the afternoon and he had the nasty suspicion they had been messing with the delicate and experimental mechanisms...which was never good. Hiccup was an excellent engineer but he did have a tendency to over-engineer devices which made them astonishingly temperamental...

So he had fallen asleep at his desk while rechecking the device and had woken at six when one-legged Helga passed through Q-department with the floor-buffer. Hiccup gave her a weary smile and wave, then tried to straighten up after his incredibly uncomfortable sleep. Various bits of him cracked as he stretched and he yelped in pain before stretching again and reluctantly going to the gymnasia so he could use the showers. Not that anyone would pay him any attention-not old Useless, the laughing stock of the service. Not even his father cared where he was or what he was doing since he humiliated him on his selection interview. He shrugged, showered, shaved, redressed in his old stale clothes and grabbed some toast from the rec room that he probably wasn't allowed to even enter...and then he was back at his desk by seven, depressed and fed up. All he had wanted was his shot...and that had been sabotaged by someone who should've known better.

Of course, he wasn't the only one affected by Snotlout's insanely selfish actions but he had suffered the most, burdened by ridiculous expectations due to his father's exalted position. And he had ended up blamed for everything that had gone down-including by the other person who had been ejected from the process. Even the small satisfaction that he had saved AI6 from being blown to atoms because of Snotlout's monumental stupidity hadn't made up for the humiliation of his failure. He stared at the purse and munched his toast, idly flipping his phone out of his pocket and checking his emails. The usual selection of junk and a couple from Fish, his only actual friend were skimmed over in moments but as he made to lock it, he realised he had received a text.

It was probably a company chasing him for mis-sold insurance or a claims firm asking if he had had an accident and wanted to make a legal claim but he opened it anyway...and then he gaped:

ALVIN PLANNING MAJOR EVENT ON 17TH. PRESIDENT LARSON, MILITARY AND BANKS ALL INVOLVED. PRIORITY BLACK-VA1.

There were attachments-large picture files that he recognised as photoscans-that he flicked over and gaped at as clearly valuable intelligence. Hand shaking, he checked the device of origin...and confirmed it was the com he had issued to Eret the previous day-which he had forgotten to get the man to sign for, as Gobber had shouted at him for five minutes about in the afternoon. His shoulders sagged. He knew his cell was only about one digit different from the Commander's...so agent VA1 had made a mistake in his hurried text...but at least it had arrived with someone who could pass it on to the right authorities. He sighed and got up, his foot slipping and hand flying out and catching the purse.

The device spun...and then fell to the floor.

Hiccup stared in shock as the device twitched then began to fire bullets that zinged round the lab, causing Hiccup, the two techs who had already arrived and Gobber who was in the doorway to hit the floor. Stun darts shot out and one took out Helga. Finally the purse flipped...and exploded. Bench, chair and the remains of Hiccup's tools landed all over the people and, as the smoke began to thin, Gobber raised his head.

"HICCUP!" he bellowed.

Singed, coughing and ears ringing, Hiccup raised his head and offered an apologetic smile.

"Yes, Gobber?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

"Use mae damned title, boy!" Gobber bellowed in rage.

"Yes, Q," Hiccup replied miserably. Gobber never insisted on his title unless he was absolutely totally super-mad. With a sigh, the young man levered himself to his feet and stared at the ruins of his workstation. "Sorry, Q," he added. Then he lifted his phone. "But I got a message from Eret!"