A Teenage Spy Story

Chapter 10: Natalie

Natalie

“Turn right here,” Janey said through my earpiece.  I was running down a dark hallway on my trial mission.  I peered around the corner, there was a guard.  I pulled out my gun, but didn’t shoot because he hadn’t noticed me, and I didn’t want to give away my position.

The guard turned, took a step back, glanced behind me, and pulled out my grappling hook.  It shot it at the ceiling, the tile loosed.  I went up and pulled aside the tile and climbed through and into the vent system.

“Where are you?” Janey asked me.

“In the vents,” I responded.

“How did you get up there?” she asked.

I crawled along the main line and responded, “I have my grappling hook.”

“How did you know to bring one?”

“I always have it with me.  Which room is the database in?”  That was my mission, to get the file entitled “Top Secret” and get out.

“Should be the one below you.  How’s the leg doing?”

“Good.  Whatever was injected into it yesterday healed it pretty quickly.”  I said.  I pulled the tile up a little bit and peeked down.  It was filled with computers.  “It’s it.”

“Good.  Now there should be-” Then the earpiece went to static.  I was on my own on my first mission.

I pulled out a small gas mask and put it on.  Then I dropped a small knockout gas bomb down into the control room.  It burst and the room was filled with it in seconds.  The workers were knocked out before any of them had a chance to get out or even raise an alarm.

This was too easy.

I lowered myself down and went over to one of the computers.  I heard a door open and I grabbed the whole hard drive.  I turned around and raised my gun.  The door closed and I turned to see who it was.   Zach.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.  “This isn’t real, is it?”

He winked.  “Simulation.”

I nodded. “So it won't hurt when I do this.” I threw a knife which he dodged and pulled from the wall.  It would have hit him in the leg, if he hadn't moved.  I reached into my jacket and pulled out another one.  Zach pulled the one knife out of the wall and grabbed his gun and was about to shoot when the next knife hit the gun and it flew across the room. I moved towards the door and hit the button that opened it, but before I got out he threw a knife at me, but it hit my jacket, pinning it to the wall.  I ripped the jacket off and left it hanging on the wall and pulled out a knife and threw it at a window.  It shattered and the room began to lockdown.  I dove under the door as it slid closed and it closed before Zach could get out.

I ran out of the control room, tucking the hard drive into my pocket.  Luckily I didn’t put it in my jacket.  I had a loaded gun, (I actually remembered to load it today!) the hard drive and a knife as well as knowledge to where the hanger is.  I ran down the halls and found my way there.  I got into a helicopter and flew off.  Helicopter lessons from my mom were finally paying off, even if this wasn’t real.  I pulled into the A1 landing platform and got out.  Then the room dissolved into pixels.

“Great job, Nattie!” Janey said, walking towards me.  “You are one of the five people to pass that test, including Zach, Agent Winters, April, myself, and now you!”

I looked to the side and saw Zach standing with his arms crossed.  He turned and walked out.

I glanced at Janey.  “Don’t worry,” she said.  “He had the record time, and now you do!  I would’ve had it, but Agent Winters was sent in and he blew up all vehicles there, so I had to run back.”

Agent Winters walked up to me and said, “Natalie, your results will be released tomorrow, and no one knows how you did except for Janey, Zach, and me.  But I will let you know that you passed.  You can go explore, rest or do whatever you want to do, but if you want to participate in paintball you will have to be in the training center by 4:30.”  He turned and had one hand on the door when he looked back and said, “Good job.”  Then he left.

“I would stay with you, but I have stuff to do.  The administration doesn’t think that staying with you is the #2’s job,” Janey said.  “I’ll take you back to your room, and someone will come by to help you.”

We walked out and began heading to my room.  I was glad she came with me, because I had no idea where we were, and I didn’t recognize it from the tour.  Janey saw the look on my face and said, “Don’t worry, I didn’t show you this area.  It’s a confidential part of the agency.  Even if you were to memorize the way back, you wouldn’t be able to get down the elevator without a fingerprint.” She scanned hers when we got into the elevator and it began going up.  “It’s impossible to hack into; it’s one of the few things May hasn’t been able to hack into, along with Agent Winters computer, my computer, the main data base for the Ishithians, unfortunately, and her mom’s computer.”

“Isn’t May that 14 year old girl who was in the medical wing?”  I asked.

“She’s 15, and a genius.  How old are you?” she asked me.

“18,” I said without hesitation, remembering my mom’s advice.

“Okay, so you’ll probably be in Stage 10 training with April, Zach, May, Jocelyn, Michael and me.”

“What are these stages that I keep hearing about?”

“Stages of training.  Stage 1 is for beginners, normally kids 5-7, Stage 2 is the next level, typically ages 8-10, and it keeps going all the way up to Stage 10.  Trainees become official agents at age 18, and they graduate the training program at age 21, but they never end their training until they retire.”

“When do they retire?  Because I have seen very few adults.”

“Normally around age 30, but sometimes longer if they are really good.  Then they either start a spy-free life in the real world, or if they have kids in the program they will be trainers, mission specialists or other jobs in the Underground.”

“The Underground?”  This was really different from A2.

“The levels below all the main spy stuff.  There's apartments for the adults, and a whole bunch of other stuff that I don’t know, you have to be over 30 to go down there, no matter what your ranking is.”

We made it back to my dorm.  A room smaller than Janey’s with a bed, desk, chair, empty bookshelf, and a closet.  The carpet was dark green and the walls were white.

“Someone will be here to help you get situated.  The things you bought yesterday are in the closet, and there is a furniture store on the mall level.” Janey said.  “I’ll see you later for paintball.”