Spy School Revolution

Chapter Seven: Smithsonian

Somewhere? Catherine's Car

Washington, DC

Sunday, June 30th

0900 hours

Ben's POV

I had just wanted to sleep in, for once. But I waken up by a rappity-rap-rap on my door. I instantly jumped out of my bed, retrieving the tennis racquet that I kept under the bed. I cautiously walked to the door, threw it open..

And banged Mike on the head with my racquet. "OW! What the heck? Are you an enemy agent? Why are you walking around your dorm with a tennis racqet?" I stared at him in embarrassment. "Sorry! Last time somebody did that, an assassin broke into my room and nearly killed me! Because of something I supposedly created!!" Mike rolled his eyes and stood up, still rubbing is forehead.

"Well, what I meant to say is that Catherine wants us. Zoe is already outside, grab your suitcase and get your butt to the car! And no bringing any weapons. Catherine is supplying them. If you can conk me out with a tennis racquet, who knows what you'll do with a gun," he muttered.

I laughed in spite of myself. You have to admit, it was sort of funny. But don't tell Mike I said that. He may or may not murder me. I ran inside my dorm and yanked my suitcase out of my closet, throwing whatever the heck I could find inside of it. I had forgotten to pack yesterday, but that wasn't an issue. We were only going to the Smithsonian, and hopefully coming back with Erica.

I zipped my suitcase up and dashed outside, dragging my suitcase behind me. They really need to redo the pavement around here.. it was atrocious. I ran to the entrance of "St. Smithens Science Academy for Boys and Girls", and saw a silver SUV parked there. Zoe was loading her luggage into the car already, giving me the stink-eye. 

I sighed. I might as well try to make up to her. I hated being in a fight. But why was she so mad? I knew she had a crush on me, but I thought I'd made it clear I just wanted to be friends. Mike threw his luggage into the car and yelled, "I call shotgun!" Most kids want shotgun. However, I was relieved Mike had called it. I didn't want to use a gun. I might shoot myself in the foot. 

Zoe scampered into the car too, desperate to get away from me. I rolled my eyes and threw my luggage in the car. Zoe had claimed the second row, so I entered the first row and sat down. "Well, hello, Benjamin! Michael was explaining to me how differently an American car worked. It's rather silly, isn't it? You drive on the right side of the rode! That's foolish. And why is the steering wheel over here? It's all quite baffling, don't you think?" 

I laughed. Catherine had driven in America before, so I wasn't worried about her crashing us into another car or something. She smiled brightly at me and turned around. "Is everyone situated?" We all confirmed we were in the car and had our seatbelts on. She then smashed the gas pedal and we bolted into the street. 

"How long is it to the Smithsonian?" I asked. I had never been to the Smithsonian Museum, but I was desperate to go. I loved artifacts and museums, but this one was huge. I was sad we wouldn't be able to see any of them. Mike glanced at the GPS. "Around two or three hours, maybe," he replied. I sighed, and looked at Zoe out of the corner of my eye. She was listening to some earbuds. I eyed them suspiciously. Was Zoe listening to music, or was she receiving instructions on how to attack from an enemy organization, perhaps CROATOAN?

I was obviously overreacting, but it was just a nagging feeling. I couldn't pull myself to believe Zoe would every betray us. True, she was a bit moody sometimes, but she would never become a traitor to the CIA. Or would she?

I shrugged mentally, and pulled out a book. I read for around an hour, until Mike shrieked. Catherine swerved, startled by the sudden scream. She then got back on the street, but we received several honks from fellow drivers. "What the heck, Mike? What's wrong with you?" Zoe yelled. Mike turned pink, confirming my suspicion of having a crush on Zoe. "Nothing, I'm just so hungry I think I might puke." Zoe rolled her eyes, but a smile played on her lips. "You aren't becoming, Murray, are you?"

He turned pink again. "No, I'm not. Catherine, do you think we could stop at a fast food place? We hardly had anything to eat for breakfast!" I glanced at my phone. It was around 1100 hours, or 11 am. Only count on Mike to be hungry after two hours. "Mike, it's hardly 11 am! You ate at 9!" I said, confused and slightly angry that this food dispute was setting us off-track. "I did not, I ate at 6 am! I got up early because I couldn't sleep!" He argued. I groaned. "Fine, I guess we could get some food." I rested my head on my hand, staring out the window. We pulled into the nearest Chick-fil-a, yum.

We all got out of the car. As I was stepping out, Catherine pulled me aside. "Benjamin, I do believe you are distraught about Erica's disappearance, but as I always say, it's very problematic to act on an empty stomach. So please, go eat. We'll be back on track rather soon." I smiled and nodded, but my stomach was twisted in several knots, and I felt like I was about to throw up. 

We ordered our food and ate it, and I had to admit, eating made me feel slightly better. But I was still terrified and anxious about what would happen next. We jumped into the car and we set off again. In less than an hour, we were at the Smithsonian.

"Ooh!" Zoe exclaimed. I knew Zoe was pretty geeky about this stuff as well, though she hid it significantly better than I did. I checked my watch. It was 1150 hours, or 11:50 am. We walked inside the Smithsonian. Catherine had happened to get us tickets beforehand, which was considerably difficult. I assumed she had used her spy skills to our advantage. 

We got patted down by a very attractive young lady with raven hair. She had on sunglasses, but she smiled at me before letting us pass through. We didn't necessarily need weapons, but Catherine had smuggled in a few smoke bombs. If you want to know how, I have no idea. She's that good. I looked around. Everyone here seemed thrilled to be here, including Mike, Zoe, and Catherine. However, a problem formed on my mind. The Smithsonian was huge. And we had no idea which display Erica was in. Or if she was even here at all.

We walked around for a bit, dodging a few creepy looking people, and speaking to a few kind people, but other than that, we kept our conversations private. After around 20 minutes, Zoe turned around to me with a worried expression pasted on her face. I guess she forgot about being angry at me for the time being. "Ben, how are we supposed to know where she is?"

I shrugged. I had no idea. After a bit, we sat down to think. Catherine was fishing around in her pockets, and apparently she found something important. Catherine's smile had faded a bit throughout our visit, but something caught her eye. Something she had in her pocket. And then her smile lit up like no other. "Follow me, children," she whispered. We followed her to a display. It was roped off, and I was highly doubtful we could get through without being spotted by a guard.

However, Catherine had other plans. She successfully removed a smoke bomb from her shoe. Oh, that's how she did it! Still odd, though. Thought high-level security would check twice-.  And that's when it hit me. Obviously! How had I not noticed it before??

Erica Hale had patted us down, and she had slipped a note or something into Catherine's pocket while she did it. Now, back to the present. The smoke bomb exploded, giving us a diversion. We slipped through the ropes and followed Catherine to a room marked, "NO ENTRANCE." We entered anyway. And there, sitting comfortably in an arm chair, was Erica Hale.

Cliffy! Haha, my first one! This was one of my longest chapters, coming in at 1411 without this note! Thank you so much for almost 100 views, views are coming so quickly! Be sure to comment and let me know what you thought of this book! Until next time!