Wirenut threw his banana peel at Mystic. “Shut up, man. You got it backward. You need to learn to get physical. Parrot did the right thing defending himself. Nothing wrong with standing up for yourself. If you weren’t so busy becoming one with the stars, you’d see that.”
Mystic steepled his fingers and pressed them to his lips. “If that’s the way you feel, then I thank you for verbalizing it and not violently expressing it.” Silently, he contemplated Wirenut. “Harmony lives in my soul. It should live in yours, too.”
Bruiser shoved his head again. “Mystic, you’re about to snap my last nerve. You look like you could hold your own in a brawl. You should’ve dug in.”
Beaker snorted, and we all turned to look at her back. A second later short bursts of air jerked her shoulders. I smiled at her obvious ploy to control her giggles. The more she tried to hold it in the bigger I grinned.
My teammates began chuckling and slowly Beaker gave in to laughter that shook her whole body. She didn’t stop and instead got louder and louder. She rolled onto her back, holding her stomach. Tears sent black eyeliner streaking down her cheeks. I glanced around at my teammates, who were getting as loud as Beaker. Their infectious laughter made me join in.
A clearing throat drew our attention to the door, and we all stopped goofing around. David shook his head. “Such children. You’re having too much fun for guys who just got grounded.”
Bruiser snatched her pillow and flung it across the room toward the door.
David dodged it and charged. He tackled her onto my bed. “You little squirt.”
I moved to get out of the way, but they rolled right into me and pinned me against the headboard.
“Uncle,” Bruiser squealed. “Uncle. You win.”
Laughing, David pushed up and held his hand out to me. “Come on. TL wants to see you at eighteen hundred hours.”
Huh?
Mentally, I converted to real time. Six P.M. I glanced at my bedside clock. “That’s in five minutes.”
“I know. Let’s go.”
Ignoring David’s hand, I rolled off the bed.
“Oooh,” my teammates teased. “GiGi’s in trouble. GiGi’s in trouble.”
I waved them off, enjoying the warmth their attention brought me.
David and I left my bedroom. I knocked on TL’s door, and David stopped me. “TL’s in the conference room.”
“Oh. Am I in trouble or something?”
“Or something.”
What the heck did that mean? I rewound my brain through the past month, searching for anything I’d done wrong. I’d been late to PT numerous times, and to dinner, and for chores, and I was late today meeting David. If there was anything TL wanted to discuss with me, it’d have to be that. Or maybe he wanted to tell me I needed to wear shorts during PT. Inwardly, I groaned. David led the way down the hall toward the mountainous mural and hidden elevator. I tried really hard not to stare at his butt, but didn’t succeed. He placed his left hand over the wall-mounted globe light, and the door slid open. According to the introduction folder TL had given all of us, a red laser housed within the globe scanned for prints.
Come to think of it, that signal would be much more effective if it were transparent. The red tone gave it away anyway. I whipped out my spiral pad and made a note to experiment with particle beams and quark energy, then stepped inside.
The door closed and down we went. Suddenly I realized I was alone with David. In an elevator. Alone. Going four levels beneath the earth’s surface. Alone. With David. Okay, I’d been alone with him earlier, but that had been in the van, and we’d been driving through town.
This was different. Enclosed. Private.
I swallowed, and the gurgle echoed through my ears. Had he heard it, too? Shouldn’t there be music in an elevator to mask all the other noises?
I moved only my eyes to the right. He stood a fraction of a foot behind me. He exhaled a breath and it ricocheted through my brain. The air-conditioning kicked on, sending his cologne shooting up my nostrils. They flared in immediate response. My heart kicked into light speed, and my head whirred on a dizzying wave. I squeezed my eyes shut and concentrated on breathing, like TL had taught me. Slow, even breaths. Block out my surroundings. Inhale through the nose. Exhale through the mouth. Inhale through nose. Exhale through mouth.
The air around me stirred, and my eyes flew open. David reached past me to my right. I caught my breath as I studied his tan muscles. The soft, dark hair. The veins trailing his arm. I followed the length of it to his fingers and watched him key in the code to exit to Sub Four.
I realized then that the elevator had stopped, and because I hadn’t moved, David had no other choice but to key in the code. How long had I been standing here not moving? Had David said anything to me? Ooohhh, I must look like a complete idiot.
“Sorry, I was proton spread analyzing the.” I shook my head. “I mean, I was analyzing the spread of a proton.” I chanced a quick peek over my shoulder to see if he’d bought it and nearly ran straight into his face. My gaze focused on a small cut dissecting his lower lip.
He shifted so my eyes met dark ones, and they crinkled sexily as if to say he knew something he wasn’t supposed to know. “Right. Did you get those shorts?”
I stumbled from the elevator. “Uh, yeah. Thanks.”
“You going to wear them for tomorrow’s PT?”
“They’re a little . . . teeny.”
“Teeny?”
“Yeah, they’re teeny.”
“Receipt’s in the bag if you want to exchange them. You need shorts, though. So don’t think you’re getting out of this.”
“Fine,” I muttered, and strode toward the conference room with David close behind me.
“Tell TL I’ll be there in a sec.” He motioned me on.
David would be joining us? Why?
He headed down the hall with all the locked doors, stopping at the first one on the left. He keyed in a code and stepped through. I swayed to the right, trying to get a look in the room, but the door automatically shut too quickly.
Shoot.
“GiGi?”
I spun to see TL standing outside the conference room. Had he seen me being nosy?
“Let’s go. You’ll know what’s behind those doors soon enough.”
Okay, so he had seen me being nosy. “David said to tell you he’d be a second. Sir, am I in trouble?”
“Did you do something to warrant being in trouble?”
I hated when people answered questions with questions. “Um, I don’t think so.”
“You either know or you don’t know. So which is it? Be decisive, GiGi. Yes or no?”
“Yes, sir.”
He opened the conference-room door and we both entered and took seats.
“Tell me why you answered yes.”
“I know I’ve been having a problem being on time.”
TL nodded. “If you’d been prompt today, your teammates wouldn’t have gotten into a fight.”
Wait a minute. This was my fault? Uh-uh. I didn’t agree with that at all. “Sir, I don’t want to be disrespectful, but you can’t blame me for the fight. My running late doesn’t give my teammates an excuse to get into trouble.”
TL smiled. “Quite right. And I applaud you for standing up for yourself. The old GiGi would’ve silently accepted the blame. You’ve grown in the month you’ve been here.”
Jeez, he was right. The old me would have quietly accepted the blame. I sat up straighter, feeling a surge of pride.
“However, it doesn’t excuse your lack of time concept. Let me make it very clear: you’d better figure it out. Wear some sort of watch with an alarm if need be. Brilliance is no excuse to be scatterbrained.”
“Yes, sir.”
TL pulled a small, brown cardboard box from his front pants pocket and opened it. “Place your monitoring device in here.”
My stomach swooped to my feet. “Sir?” Everyone else still wore theirs. Why take mine?
“Take
off your monitoring device and place it in this box.”
Panic slammed my heart into my chest wall. Did this mean he was kicking me out of the Specialists? Because I couldn’t keep track of time? But I didn’t want to leave. Not anymore. I was really starting to feel like I belonged here. Like I was finally part of a family. I almost even unpacked my things last night.
“GiGi, everything’s fine,” he assured me, as if reading my thoughts. “Take it off and then I’ll explain.”
I pushed back from the table and rotated away. Lifting my shirt, I undid my jeans and peeled the flesh-toned device from my lower stomach. I didn’t know who had created these, but they were ingenious.
If anybody outside the ranch had seen it, I was supposed to tell them it was a wart-remover strip. All of us Specialists had different explanations. Bandage. Nicotine patch. Scar treatment. Of course, no one except my roommates had seen my lower stomach in the past month, so it hadn’t been an issue.
After putting my clothes back together, I dropped the device in the box.
TL put the lid on it. “You are the first in your team to remove the device. I suggest you keep this to yourself. If the others find out, it might spark some jealousy or resentment. As you know, I monitor each of you closely. From the start, you proved to be adept at your cover. You went about your day-to-day activities smoothly, naturally, and without a second thought. It’s almost as if you’ve been here months instead of a few weeks. I’m impressed with how seamlessly you merged into this world. This tells me you are ready to move on to the next stage of your training.” He stood. “Follow me.”
I trailed behind TL, hardly breathing, thinking, or blinking. The things he’d told me—I couldn’t wrap my brain around them. I was the first to prove adeptness? That couldn’t be right. I hadn’t done anything different from usual. At least I didn’t think I had. Most days consisted of a jumbled haze, just like always, full of computer code, with my brain clicking away at the latest challenge.
TL stopped at a silver metal door with a control panel attached to the wall. “You’re granted access to this room now. Starting tonight, you’ll spend one hour each evening in here with Chapling. He’s our computer specialist. Your code is the formula for the nth term of a geometric sequence. You may change it if you like, but please inform me if you do. Never give your code to anyone. Not even Chapling.”
TL stepped to the side. He nodded to the keypad. Not a typical numbered keypad. This one contained coefficients, variables, powers, geometric shapes, and inequality symbols. Like a scientific calculator.
Quickly recalling the formula, I keyed it in. The door opened to reveal a computer lab I estimated at thirty by thirty. The coppery scent of solder hung on the warm air. Computers trailed along one wall, various components and tools were scattered on a worktable in the center, shelves lined another wall packed full of cables and assorted hardware.
The urge to touch and explore nearly overwhelmed me. I swallowed the excitement bubbling inside me and wished for a lollipop so I could get down to work. Then I caught sight of a TZ- 60 system and sucked in a breath.
TL chuckled. “You’ll have plenty of time to explore this room tonight.”
I pointed across the room. “A TZ-60. Do you have any idea how rare those are?”
“Unfortunately, no. That’s your and Chapling’s area of expertise.”
Mine and Chapling’s. I liked the sound of that. Not Chapling’s. But mine and Chapling’s.
“Yo. Did I hear voices?”
TL and I glanced to the right. A red-haired man crawled from behind a patch panel. With the number of cables it contained, I assumed it must control the ranch’s entire computer system. He stood and cracked his neck, rolled his shoulders, and shook out his hands. He looked up at me and smiled. I’d never seen such a small adult in my whole life. He stood maybe four feet tall. And I’d never seen such fire-red, Brillo-pad hair.
He waddled toward us, shook TL’s hand, then reached for mine. “You’re the computer genius, huh? Boyohboyohboy. You and I will make quite the team. Beauty and the shorty.”
Laughing, I shook his small, dry, rough hand. He was right. We were exact opposites.
Chapling teetered over to a high metal stool—a stool I could have simply slid my hip onto—and climbed up. “What time you gonna be here tonight? ’Round eight?”
I had no idea. I looked to TL, and he nodded. “Eight sounds good.”
“All right.” Chapling clapped his hands. “See you then. Bring the caffeine. It’ll be a late one.”
TL shook his finger. “Not too late. She’s got a morning class.”
“Bring the caffeine anyway.” Chapling snapped his pudgy fingers. “I’m gonna need it.”
TL steered me toward the door. “Chapling never sleeps. He runs on caffeine. If not for me or David, he’d never leave his cave.”
We made our way back to the conference room. David had come in sometime during our absence and sat studying a folder.
He glanced up as we entered. “What’d you think of Chapling?”
David knew I met Chapling? Of course he knew. In the time I’d been here, I’d quickly learned how much a part of things David was. At times it seemed that he and TL shared the leadership role.
I rolled my chair out and sat down. “I like him.” I more than liked him. In the few seconds I’d met him, he seemed fun and interesting. I couldn’t wait for eight o’clock, as a matter of fact.
TL closed the door and took his seat. “I wanted to introduce you to Chapling, but I called you two down here for another reason.” He folded his hands on top of the table, looked at David and then me. “GiGi, in one month, I am sending you on your first mission. And, David, you will accompany her.”
[6]
My whole body went numb as TL’s words slowly settled in. Sending David and me on a mission? Wait, had I heard TL right? I couldn’t have heard him right. I switched my gaze to David, and his expression mirrored the shock I felt.
“B-b-but y-you”—I took a breath, and then another—“said you would I home base work.” I shook my head. “I mean, you said I would work from home base.”
TL calmly nodded. “My exact words were you would most likely work from home base.”
“What?” Oh my God. What? He was playing word games with me?
I was suddenly hot and unable to breathe. I couldn’t go on a mission. Was he crazy?
I’m going to be sick. I’m going to throw up all over this conference table.
Pushing away from the table, I swallowed again. “S-sick. I’m going to be sick.”
David jumped up and TL motioned him back down. “No, you’re not. Calm yourself. Close your eyes. Concentrate on breathing.”
I gripped the arms of my chair and stared wide-eyed at him.
TL slowly stood, slid around the table’s corner, and placed his hand on my face. Just like he’d done during my first PT. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the warmth and weight of his fingers. Their soapy scent. The white noise of the air conditioner. One second slipped into another. Gradually my sickness faded and my breathing slowed to normal.
He took my left hand between both of his. “I wouldn’t be sending you if I didn’t have complete confidence in your ability. Always remember that.”
Complete confidence in my ability? What exactly had I done over the past month to warrant such high praise? Maybe this was some sort of reverse psychology. Maybe he’d said the exact same things to the other Specialists.
Memories of the deceit and manipulation from when I first got here came rushing back. I pulled my hand from between his. “Did you know about this mission when you recruited me?”
“No.”
“Your exact words were I would most likely work from home base. Did you know I would most likely go on a mission?”
TL folded his arms across his chest. “No.”
“You really believed I would work from home base?”
“Yes.”
He wasn’t lying. Somewhere d
eep inside me, I knew that for sure. Then again David had lied right to my face and I never suspected a thing.
“There’s no way I would send you on a mission if it weren’t absolutely necessary.” TL slid back into his seat. “As you pointed out, I didn’t recruit you to be a field operative. I recruited you to work right here with Chapling.”
“Then why are you sending her?”
David’s unexpected outburst made me jump. I glanced across the conference table. I’d never seen him so panicked. He always came across as controlled and easygoing. Well, except when I was running late.
“Last night Chapling decoded intel from Ushbania, a small country in Eastern Europe.” TL leveled a passive stare on David. “Your father is on the market, to be sold to the highest bidder.” Silence.
Seconds stretched to eternity and no one made a sound. I couldn’t even hear anyone breathing. TL and David maintained eye contact, but not a single expression passed across their faces. I shouldn’t be here. This was too private. But this meant David’s dad was alive. Why wasn’t David happy? Or crying? Or something? And what did I have to do with any of this?
David moved finally, dropping his head into his hands. He rubbed his face, then peered across the table at me. The emotion flowing from his brown eyes made me catch my breath. And in that moment I knew I’d do anything to reunite him with his dad. I’d do anything to reunite any person with their parent.
“Mr. Share”—TL spoke, bringing my and David’s attention to him—“is owned by Romanov Schalmosky. Apparently, your father was sold ten years ago to this man. Whoever kidnapped him put a twenty-million-dollar price tag on his head, and Romanov happily paid the money. Mr. Share’s intellect is world renowned. The government has been actively looking for him since his disappearance. But Romanov has kept him hidden well. We’ve had an agent working for Romanov for two years, and not even this agent knew Romanov had Mr. Share.”
TL slipped a small, thin remote from his shirt pocket. He pointed it at the screen that stretched along the back wall. A picture of a man appeared. He had white hair and a yellowish tint to his skin. An oxygen tube ran up his nose. “This is a picture of Romanov, taken last year.”
Model Spy Page 6
