Spy School: The Rise of Gama

Chapter 6: A Shattered Past

Liz lets out a sigh of content as she lounges back in one of the arm chairs in the Omega commons. Across from her sits Nico, his feet propped up on the edge of the coffee table and his hands clasped behind his head. Adela has claimed one of the couches as her own, her head rests against one of the armrests and her legs stretch across the two cushions.

“If they don’t show up soon I’m going back to my room.” grumbles Adela as she works on braiding her hair for the third time in ten minutes.

“If you do that you’ll have more than just laps to run.” smirks Nico.

Adela groans in annoyance, “What’s taking them so long? They’ve had three hours to go over the results and now they’re keeping us waiting even longer.”

“Is that a complaint I hear, Goulding?” A voice barks, accompanied by the thudding of heavy footsteps on the stairs.

At the sound of the voice of their teacher, both Adela and Nico snap to attention. Adela sits up straight and throws her hair over her shoulder, letting the unfinished braid fall neatly into place behind her back. Nico drops his feet from the coffee table and his hands fall to his sides.

“Well, Goulding? I didn’t hear an answer.” Sir appears at the top of the stairs, followed by Mr. O.

“No, Sir.” Adela responds quickly. Although her posture and tone is respectful, she has trouble disguising the look of annoyance that flashes through her eyes.

Sir and Mr. O. take their position in front of the three students. Mr. O. has the same cheery look on his face as he did earlier whereas Sir clearly looks displeased. Sir crosses his arms and scowls down at the students in front of him.

“We have gone over your performance and, overall, you three did a wonderful job. Of course you have room for improvements, but there will always be ways to improve yourself.” Mr. O. starts off, his look of delight severely contrasting the man standing next to him.

“Does this mean we don’t have to run laps?” Adela questions.

“Speak up when you talk, Goulding.” Sir snaps before continuing in his regular gruff tone. “Your actions today were adequate enough, you will not need to run laps.”

“As I was saying, there are tasks you did well and skills you need to improve on. First, what you did well.” Mr. O. turns to Liz. “Ms. Sanders, for your first simulation you performed surprisingly well. You stayed calm and thought your way out of a few tough situations. The ability to analyze your surroundings and use them to your advantage is an important skill to possess. You also demonstrate trust in your teammates already. Trust is something we cannot teach here, I am glad that you were able to learn so quickly on your own.”

Next he turns to Adela. “Ms. Goulding, your accuracy when shooting has improved greatly since the last simulation, keep up the good work.”

“Finally, Mr. Hotchner.” Mr. O. adjusts himself so that he is facing Nico. “Your ability to keep everyone organized and lead the group is valuable for both yourself and the team. You are able to quickly form a plan and follow it through effectively. Thanks to your leadership, this simulation was a success.”

“Now for the improvements.” Sir growls. “Sanders, you need to improve your hand to hand combat skills and find a way to hold your own in a fight. Both of your opponents were taken down by your teammates. Your teammates also had to compromise their position just to cover for you. In the future that will easily lead to the failure of a mission, and in the real world we can’t afford to fail based on one member’s incompetence. Finally, work on your claustrophobia. As a stealth member it is essential for you to have the ability to sneak around and hide in small spaces.”