Golden Gate

by James Ponti

  Even though no one could hear her, Brooklyn knew the mission wasn’t real until someone said the magic words. So she said them aloud and assumed her teammates were doing the same.

  “This operation is hot. We are a go.”

  SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

  As soon as he’d cleared immigration, Mother sprinted through the airport. Just as he reached the curb, a black sedan with US government license plates pulled up. A power window lowered and the driver asked, “Mother?”

  FORT POINT—ROOF

  Once they reached the roof, Paris and Sydney tied off a rope and lowered the other end down to the ground. Rio and Kat both climbed quickly, just as they had in a recent Saturday Match Day competition. Sydney checked her watch.

  “Hurry up,” she said as she reached out and helped Rio up the last bit. “We’ve got to stay on schedule or we’re going to leave Brooklyn high and dry.”

  FORT POINT—ENTRANCE

  Brooklyn approached the fort carefully and waited near a door marked STAFF ONLY, just as Magpie had instructed. Although it wasn’t Magpie who came to the door. It was Gilson.

  “Where’s the book?” asked the ranger.

  Brooklyn pulled it out of her backpack and showed it to her. “Where’s Monty?”

  “Oh, about that. There’s been a change of plans,” she said. “You give me the book and you get out of here.”

  “What about Monty?”

  “Don’t you worry about Monty,” said the woman.

  “Then the deal’s off,” Brooklyn replied. “No Monty, no book.” She put the journal back in the backpack and zipped it shut.

  Gilson wasn’t pleased. “Give me the book.”

  “Or what?” asked Brooklyn. “Are you going to do to me what you did to that agent in Manila?”

  Gilson gave her an angry look. “What are you talking about?”

  “Or will it be like the time in Kuala Lumpur?” Brooklyn asked. “You got in a lot of trouble for that. That’s why they kicked you out of the army. Or rather, the CIA pretending you were in the army.”

  Gilson was about to explode.

  “You see, I hacked your records,” said Brooklyn. “And what I think is interesting is that the deal in Kuala Lumpur really hurt Umbra. It cost them millions. I wonder if they know that you’re the one who was responsible for that.”

  “Who are you?”

  “I’m the twelve-year-old girl who’s running circles around you.”

  Gilson grabbed her by the arm and dragged her back toward the office. Just as Sydney had laid out in her plan.

  FORT POINT—ROOF

  “She’s on the move,” Sydney said, checking the readout on her smartwatch. It was hooked up to a Find My Friends app on Brooklyn’s phone. “She should lead us right to Monty. You’re up, Kat.”

  Kat pulled out her phone and accessed a bogus e-mail account she’d just set up at the hotel. She hit send and then turned to the others and said, “It’s amazing how easy it is to send 3,797 e-mails. All I had to do was press one button.”

  “Three thousand, seven hundred, and ninety-seven?” asked Paris. “That seems kind of random.”

  “Nothing I do is random,” replied Kat. “It’s a left-and-right-truncatable prime number. Primes do for me what carne asada burritos do for Rio.”

  FORT POINT—RANGER OFFICE

  Magpie paced the floor of the ranger’s office, anxiously awaiting Gilson’s return with the bird book. Suddenly her phone started vibrating incessantly as her in-box blew up. She looked to see hundreds of e-mails arriving. The subject line for each one was “Magpie.” And when she opened one, it revealed an animation of a squawking black bird.

  “What on Earth?” she said, trying to make sense of it.

  Gilson arrived with Brooklyn.

  “Why did you bring her?” she demanded

  “She knows too much,” said Gilson.

  Magpie did a quick pat-down on Brooklyn and discovered her phone. She swiped a couple of screens until she found the Find My Friends app.

  “You idiot!” screamed Magpie. “Now they know exactly where we are.”

  “They’re just kids,” said Gilson.

  Magpie slammed the phone on the floor and stomped on it until it was destroyed. “They are very much not just kids.”

  FORT POINT—ROOF

  Sydney looked at her screen and watched as the signal suddenly went dead. “Magpie found the phone,” she told the others. “We need to pick up the pace.”

  “Were you able to lock on the location?” asked Rio.

  “You bet I was,” replied Sydney. “Now, let’s go get the rest of our family.”

  That word resonated with Paris, and he smiled at her as they started racing across the roof.

  FORT POINT—STORAGE ROOM

  Monty was bound and gagged in a darkened storage room. Suddenly the door opened and Brooklyn was shoved into the room. Her hands were duct-taped, and when Gilson pushed her, she fell onto the floor and landed alongside Monty, their faces right next to each other. Gilson slammed the door and locked it, but there was still enough light for the two to look at each other.

  Monty had a panicked look and mumbled something worried.

  “Don’t worry,” said Brooklyn, who hadn’t been gagged. “I’m here to rescue you.”

  She flashed a smile.

  That’s when the first explosion went off.

  CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY 1—NORTHBOUND—SAN FRANCISCO

  Mother was impressed by the agent’s driving skill as he zipped through traffic, dodging cars and racing to the scene. A call came over the radio.

  “We just had a report of an explosion at Fort Point,” said the voice.

  The driver looked worried, but Mother smiled.

  “Sydney!”

  FORT POINT—RANGER OFFICE

  Magpie’s world was falling apart. A second burst of e-mails started filling her in-box, but these were also being sent to governments and news agencies around the world. They detailed some of the ops she had run. Just some recent highlights that Kat had been able to decipher. It was enough to blow her cover everywhere. In the language of spies she was burned.

  A second explosion went off on the roof. It was designed for minimal damage and maximum visuals. It looked like a fireworks show outside of the fort and was sure to attract tons of attention.

  FORT POINT—STORAGE ROOM

  Despite Magpie’s protestations, Ranger Gilson didn’t quite grasp that Brooklyn was anything more than a smart kid who knew some damaging information. If she realized that Brooklyn had gone through extensive MI6 training, she might’ve been more careful when she duct-taped her wrists together.

  As Gilson bound her, Brooklyn held her elbows and forearms tight against each other and made fists with her hands, just as she’d been taught in a hostage survival course. This had the effect of creating a seal between her arms. Once Brooklyn was certain Gilson was gone, she stood up, held her arms above her head, and quickly pulled them down and apart at the same time. The tape ripped open, and her hands were free. She ungagged Monty and started untying the rope that bound her.

  FORT POINT—COURTYARD

  Sydney had no intention of damaging the fort. Her explosions were designed to disrupt, not destroy, just as they had been on the Sylvia Earle. Only here she didn’t have any plastic explosives to work with. Luckily, Chinatown was famous for fireworks, and even though they were against the law, there were plenty of black market dealers working out of souvenir shops. She found more than enough material to make some “bangers,” as she liked to call them. She was about to set a third one out on the parade ground of the courtyard when Magpie came running toward the exit.

  Magpie was simply trying to escape, but when she saw Sydney, her urge to run became one to fight. They’d spent a week together on the Sylvia Earle and had become friendly. Now they were mortal enemies. Magpie moved toward Sydney, her eyes filled with rage, and she started charging.

  Sydney wanted nothing to do with that. Sh
e tossed her final banger and sprinted toward the fort’s exit, hoping to disappear into the darkness of night.

  Magpie was gaining, and it was only a matter of seconds before she would’ve caught up.

  Sydney tripped over the curb when she reached the parking lot and crashed against the pavement, cutting the palms of her hands and gashing her left knee.

  She looked up at Magpie, who had almost reached her, and braced for the impact.

  Then a blur came from the side, and just like that, Magpie was gone from Sydney’s frame of vision. She heard two loud thuds and looked to see what had happened.

  There, lying on the ground in a pile, Mother lay on top of Magpie. A perfect flying tackle that had taken the air out of both of them.

  As a pair of FBI agents swarmed to cuff Magpie, Sydney saw a veritable army of them charge into the fort.

  “Watch out for—” she called out, but Mother cut her off.

  “They will,” he said. “They know who all the good guys are.”

  Mother and Sydney shared a look, and after a couple of deep breaths, Sydney smiled and said, “Took you long enough.”

  40. Bertie and Jimmy

  IT WAS A SATURDAY, TWO weeks after the team had returned from San Francisco, and the FARM smelled like a bakery. For the second time in six weeks, Monty was on a baking binge. Only now she was making everybody’s favorites. The trip to San Francisco had been a huge success and it was time to celebrate. In addition to lamingtons, pineapple upside-down cake, and millionaire’s shortbread, she was also making queijadinha, chocolate layer cake, and macarons. Brooklyn was in the kitchen helping, although it really seemed more like she was there for any emergency tasting, when the doorbell rang.

  “Weather weirdo,” Brooklyn guessed.

  “Probably,” Monty said. “Can you get that?”

  “Absolutely.” She headed for the door, but along the way managed to swipe a finger full of chocolate frosting.

  “I saw that,” Monty said.

  “Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Brooklyn mumbled, her mouth full.

  She answered the door to find a rather tall, well-dressed man. He looked familiar, although she couldn’t quite place the face. “Good day,” he said. “Is Bertie home?”

  “I’m sorry,” answered Brooklyn. “There’s no one by that name who lives here.”

  “Right, right,” he replied. “I believe you call him Mother.”

  “Wait a second. Mother’s real name is Bertie?”

  “Was I not supposed to say that?” he asked with a cringe.

  “Come on in, I’ll get him,” she said.

  “Thank you.”

  As he walked in, Brooklyn realized why he seemed familiar. “Has anyone ever told you that you look like the Prince of Wales?”

  “Tragically, yes,” said the man. “Although I think his hair is even more ridiculous than mine. Don’t you agree?”

  Brooklyn’s eyes opened wide as she realized. “Wait a second,” she gasped. “Are you the Prince of Wales?”

  Just then Mother came down the stairs wearing his best suit.

  “Ah, there’s the man of the hour,” said the prince. “How are you, Bertie?”

  The other kids came in from watching television and were stunned by the scene unfolding before them.

  “Seriously, Jimmy,” Mother said. “How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?”

  “You know the Prince of Wales and you call him Jimmy?” asked Sydney.

  “Well, I’m certainly not going to call him Your Highness or some such nonsense.”

  Mother got to the bottom of the stairs, and the two men greeted each other with a bear hug.

  “Good to see you, mate,” said the prince.

  “Thanks for coming,” replied Mother.

  “Hold on a second!” exclaimed Paris. “What is going on here?”

  Before Mother could answer, Monty came in from the kitchen. Her hair was piled on top of her head in no particular fashion. She was wearing a T-shirt; sweatpants; and an apron covered in flour, chocolate, and coconut. Upon seeing her future king, she quickly tried to comport herself. She stood up straight, brushed her hair out of her face (streaking flour across her forehead as she did), and smiled totally unaware of the chocolate frosting on her front tooth.

  “Good afternoon, Your Royal Highness.”

  “You must be Monty!” the prince said.

  “Yes,” Monty answered, baffled but still maintaining proper etiquette. “I must.”

  The prince turned to Mother and said, “She’s just how you described her.”

  Monty stared daggers at Mother, and he turned to see the others.

  “Great, we’re all here,” he said. “I’d like to introduce you to a friend from uni, who I believe you’ve all recognized by this point. This is James, Prince of Wales.”

  “So nice to meet you,” said the prince.

  “He’s actually here on a bit of official business,” Mother said. “So if you all would be so kind as to give him a little tour, I need to speak to Monty for a moment. Let’s say we’ll meet up in the priest hole in precisely ten minutes.”

  “Lovely,” said James. “Now, which one of you is Sydney?”

  “I am,” she said meekly.

  “How’s the leg?” he asked. “I heard you took a nasty fall in San Francisco.”

  Sydney couldn’t believe that the Prince of Wales not only knew her name, but that he also knew about her injured leg.

  “Good,” she said. “Thank you.”

  Sydney and the others led them around while Mother walked over to Monty.

  “I noticed you’re dressed in your best,” Monty said.

  “What, this old thing?” he joked. “Wanted to present well. After all, the Prince of Wales is here.”

  “So you knew he was coming?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he said.

  “And it never occurred to you to let me know?”

  “What?” he said. “And miss this?” He motioned to her mid-baking wardrobe.

  “So are you going to tell me what’s up?” she asked.

  Mother nodded and started to explain the situation.

  Seven minutes later, everybody was down in the priest hole. The initial shock of royalty arriving had begun to wear off. The prince was highly skilled at putting others at ease, and when Paris found out he was a Liverpool fan, he was in heaven.

  “Okay,” Sydney said. “Now that we’re all down here, explain how it is that you know each other.”

  “We met at Freshers Week at St. Andrews,” said the prince. “Everybody treated me the way you’d treat a prince. But Bertie treated me the way you’d treat a mate. And that’s what I needed more than anything. We’ve been friends ever since.”

  “But you’re here on official business?” asked Rio.

  “Yes,” he said. “In my position, I am aware of who you are and what you do. And whilst we can never talk about such things out in public, down here, amongst ourselves, let me give you the grandest thanks from everyone at Buckingham Palace. And I mean everyone.”

  They beamed.

  “Your accomplishments in San Francisco are staggering,” he continued. “You are, in my estimation, the best of Britain.”

  They thanked him, and Mother added, “You’d think the least you could do is give them a medal or something.”

  “I also understand that two of you are responsible for saving the Sylvia Earle and in the process saving the very annoying girl that is my cousin Alice. So thank you for that. I think.”

  “You’re welcome,” said Sydney and Brooklyn, laughing.

  They were all clustered together congratulating one another when the prince spoke again.

  “There is something else,” he said. “Bertie came to me some time ago with a request. This was long before this most recent mission or the events of the Sylvia Earle. He asked me to do him a favor and I was happy to oblige, although even with my position it took some time, not to mention quite a bit of ar
m twisting and string pulling.”

  He turned to Sydney and Brooklyn and said, “The final hurdle was cleared after the two of you testified at Parliament. Bloody Mary Somersby was rightly embarrassed by her actions, and I offered her a chance to make up for them.”

  “What is it?” Sydney asked, totally confused.

  “You see, along with my role as the Prince of Wales, I have various positions and patronages that are quite dear to me. The one that’s the most important is that I am the royal patron for children’s welfare. Although this is a responsibility I share with Parliament, which is why I needed the help of Mary Somersby.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Sydney.

  “Maybe Mother should explain this part,” he said.

  Mother tried to find the words to express what he was feeling.

  “What we have here—our team—is very unusual,” he said. “But it means the world to me. Just as you mean the world to me. And by every definition that matters, we… are a family.” He had to pause for a moment to keep tears from coming. “I know you’re used to calling me Mother, but I would be honored if the five of you would also call me father.”

  Sydney was stunned. All of them were stunned.

  “Are you saying you’re adopting us?” she asked. “Legally?”

  Mother looked at them, and he could no longer fight the tears.

  “If you’ll have me.”

  The first one to reach him was Sydney, and she wrapped him tight in a hug and held on as if she might never let go.

  UK EYES ONLY

  Secret Intelligence Service/MI6

  Vauxhall Cross, London, UK

  Project City Spies (aka Project Neverland)

  Dossier prepared by A. Montgomery

  BROOKLYN

  NAME: Sara Maria Martinez

  COVER IDENTITY: Christina Diaz

  AGE: 12

  BIRTHPLACE: Vega Alta, Puerto Rico

  SKILL SET: A computer virtuoso. She was secretly tasked with hacking into the personal computers of several members of MI6 senior staff when a software glitch altered their passwords. As payment, ten pizzas were specially delivered from her favorite New York pizzeria.