Struck by Lightning

XIII

Percy quietly closed his cabin door, stiffly stepping out into the warm summer morning air. Looking around, he saw the stillness of the early morning Camp. The strawberry fields were empty of any children of Demeter. The volleyball court was bereft of any players. Even the benches and tables near the fire pit were devoid of anyone. Most did not wake early enough to be at those places yet. Those who awoke as early as Percy did had already left, bound for the Labyrinth and its tribulations.

Slowly striding through the gravel path, Percy came to a stop outside of the Big House. Without a pause, he opened the door, stepping into the building to see Chiron and Thalia, who had a leather pack and duffel bag sitting on another chair, waiting inside. The two turned to Percy when he entered, putting down their warm mugs of coffee as they smiled.

"Good morning, Percy. I trust you had a restful sleep?" Chiron greeted, pushing himself up from his kneeling position to greet his student.

Percy sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "Well, just about as good as it's gonna get."

Thalia stifled a yawn. "Same."

Percy took a seat beside Thalia, accepting a mug of coffee from his centaur mentor and gingerly sipping on the hot liquid. He wasn't the biggest fan of coffee, but he needed the caffeine.

"So, now that you're both here, let me fill you in on some of the crucial mission details," Chiron started, returning to his kneeling position. "As far as we can tell, the Princess Andromeda is docked in Corpus Christi. It seems that they are coming back to the East Coast and possibly preparing for an attack, but are currently stopped to recruit and gather more forces. This is our chance to strike. Our spy tells us that they will only be there until the twenty-sixth, which gives you more than three weeks to get to the ship and destroy it. Ample time in the event of an unfortunate incident."

Percy and Thalia both nodded at the explanation. It was straightforward enough – travel to Texas, find the Princess Andromeda, and destroy it before it left port.

Chiron fished out four tickets from his coat pocket. "Two of these are plane tickets from New York to Houston, and the other two will bus you to Corpus Christi. Once you are there, you will meet with the spy outside of the USS Lexington. They will be wearing a blue flower on their shirt."

"Wait," Percy spoke up, putting down his half-empty cup, "who is the spy? Wouldn't it be a lot easier if you described the person, or told us who it is if it's someone we know?"

Chiron shook his head. "Unfortunately, I am not even sure of the spy's gender. All I know is that they are an agent of Lady Artemis. In fact, I am not even in direct contact with the spy. There is an intermediary. You know her: Bianca di Angelo."

"Bianca? She's here?"

Chiron wistfully smiled. "Again, unfortunately not. She left just an hour ago with Annabeth's group. Both her and her brother have gone into the Labyrinth. There is no way to reach them now. As for the spy, I am told that they have been told to stand down as far as transmitting information goes, and that they are now simply waiting for you before they will assist you in destroying the Princess Andromeda."

He sighed once before taking a long drink of coffee. "At any rate, you two better get going. There is transportation outside to JFK airport, but there isn't much time to waste. If you are both packed, I'll give you a few minutes to check everything over and to make sure that you are both ready." Both of the demigods that sat facing Chiron nodded, and the centaur smiled, rising up and exiting the Big House.

Thalia grabbed the leather pack that was on the seat beside her and put it on the table. Unbuckling the clasps, she neatly pulled out all of items inside, categorizing them by similarity.