Spy School Revolution

Chapter Nine: Reconnaissance

Somewhere in Washington; Climax Hotel

Washington, Somewhere??

June 30th

0800 hours

Ben's POV

We had driven as fast as we possibly could, speeding through the highway. We eventually found a hotel that was pretty far from the Smithsonian. It wasn't a five-star hotel made out of pure gold, but it was fine. It was called the Climax Hotel. Kinda weird if you ask me, considering it only had three floors. 

I climbed out of the car and slipped over a rock. And then I face-planted. Wonderful. Erica was smirking at me and Mike was laughing so hard his face was red. "Hey, that's mean! Like you haven't tripped over something before," I snapped. Zoe was covering her mouth with her hands, looking like she was trying her hardest not to fall on the floor and burst into laughter. I scowled at them and got back up on my feet.

We continued into the lobby, Catherine leading, and checked in. I don't know how Catherine obtained the money to stay in a hotel like this with 5 people, but whatever. We walked up to our rooms, which were located on the second floor. Room 234 and 235. Each room had two twin beds, plus a fold out couch.

Mike and I were sleeping in Room 234, and the girls and Catherine had room 235. Catherine was sleeping on the fold-out couch. I eyed the room. It was well made and well kept. There was a desk and chair, two beds, two nightstands, a fold out couch, a mini fridge, and a coffee machine with cups on the desk in both rooms. The beds were made too! I wandered around to the corner and peeked into the bathroom, which was spotless. The sink actually worked. What a miracle.

I walked over to the bed a collapsed onto it, sighing with relief. The girls were getting settled as well. I got off the bed and started shoving my clothes into the nightstand drawers. Catherine walked into our room. Our rooms were connected by a door, which either side could open and close, lock and unlock. "Boys, I packed sandwiches. I do believe it's rather late for dinner, but something is better than nothing!" She passed out sandwiches, and a salad in a plastic take-out box for Erica.

After dinner, I climbed in my bed and almost instantaneously fell asleep. I was ready for a wonderful dreamless night of sleep, without any interruptions, for once. 

Or not. I woke up at 3 am to the scent of lilacs and gunpowder. "Get up, we're going to do some reconnaissance." I felt like banging my head on a wall. "Now??" I exclaimed. Erica glared at me. "Yes, now, you idiot! When do you want to do reconnaissance? In broad daylight?" I shrugged. "You could probably pull it off." She smirked. "Meet me downstairs in less than 2 minutes. And bring your utility belt." She then disappeared out the door and into the hallway outside the room.

I threw on my black outfit that Catherine had gifted me recently, on our last mission, Operation Screaming Vengence. I then grabbed my utility belt and buckled it on, and slipped out of the room as quickly as I could without waking Mike up. I ran down the stairs instead of the elevator and met Erica in the lobby. She was tapping her foot impatiently. "Took you long enough. Come on, let's go."

"Where exactly are we even going? " I asked. "We have nothing to do reconnaissance on!" She rolled her eyes at me disdainfully. "Or so you think. I know exactly where we're going. CROATOAN's base, or headquarters." "WHAT?" I exploded. Erica slapped me in the face. Hard. "Shut your mouth! We'll be caught!" She hissed. I lowered my voice and looked around. This time I whisper-yelled, "We're breaking into the base?!" Erica rolled her eyes again. "Of course not, do you even know what reconnaissance is? We're spying on them, because we're spies, big brain." 

I turned red because I was embarassed, but thankfully Erica didn't see since it was 3 am and extremely dark. Or maybe she did see. She eats a lot of carrots. We walked outside the lobby and onto the street. There was a car every now and then, considering we're in Washington. What'd you expect?

"How do you know where their base is?" I asked. Erica was leading the way. "Because I slipped a tracker on one of the agents when they captured me, for one. Then I surveyed the place they left me in and matched it with other places in my memory. Duh."  Any other person would have been shocked to hear this, but I had gotten used to it. "Oh. So are you checking your non-trackable phone to track the people that attempted to track you after you tracked them?"

She stopped and looked at me. "Be quiet. You're making my brain hurt." But I thought I saw a flicker of a smile on her lips as she turned around. It vanished as quickly as it had appeared. After around 2 minutes of walking, Erica grabbed my hand and swung it back and forth. I was shocked for a millisecond, but then I saw a person emerge from the shadows. A man. I rolled my eyes. So that's why. Why did she always have to get my hopes up and then demolish them right in front of me?

"Be quiet. Don't let feelings get in the way of this mission," she warned, still whispering. The man was walking on the opposite sidewalk than us. He was wearing a black coat. A coat? It's June! I turned to tell Erica this, but her eyes silenced me. "I know already. A coat. Now shut up and follow me. He's a CROATOAN agent. He was one of the people who captured me, but he didn't really do anything. A dumber agent, I'm betting." 

I followed her as we swiveled around and crossed the street, heading onto the same sidewalk as the man. The man was a long ways in front of us, and me and Erica were both wearing black, and both armed with pepperspray. I doubt he'd see us, much less try and do anything. I also think Erica has a gun. No surprises there.

Erica was still holding my hand. Why? I don't know. It was obviously an act, but the guy didn't even glance our way as we walked behind him. I turned to speak to her, but once again, her eyes glared at me sharply and I could tell she wanted me to shut up. We were in earshot of the man, so I didn't speak.

We followed him down the sidewalk, until we came to a house. A normal looking house. Was CROATOAN's base a simple house? That sounded stupid, but really, it was ingenius. Nobody would had thought to check a house. He went through the garage door, which had been left opened. He turned around to press the button to close it, and we darted out of the way to hide ourselves. Erica let go of my hand and hissed, "Go." We then shot through the garage door right before it closed, and there we go. We were in CROATOAN's base.

I turned to Erica and whispered, "I thought you said this was just reconnaissance!"

Haha! Hope you enjoyed this weeks chapter! This chapter was 1222 words. Good? I don't know. More to the point, though, we hit 200 views on this book! Thanks so much! Be sure to comment and tell me what you think will happen! I'm open to predictions, suggestions, or whatever. I just can't promise they'll appear in the story. Have a blessed day!