by Tina Chan
Clang!
“Ow!”
Troop awoke with a start. He stared blearily at his clock. Who’s up at 3:34 a.m.? He turned over on his side and prepared to go back to sleep.
Crack!
He slipped out of bed and peered into the hallway. It was empty and dark. He cocked his head and listened for any sounds. There it was…the scuffling noise. Tiptoeing, Troop snuck towards his mom’s office, where the sound was coming from.
The office door was shut, but Troop could see some light spilling out from the crack running along the bottom. Fearing that there might be an intruder, he brought along his electro-slate in case he had to make an emergency call. Troop grasped the door handle and pushed it open, half expecting to see his mom wrapping up some last-minute work and half expecting to see a burglar.
It was neither.
“What are you doing here?” Troop demanded.
His father froze, caught red-handed.
“Get out, you low lying, flea-infested slug!”
Footsteps pounded down the hall. His mom hurtled into the office and looked from Troop to her ex-husband. At first she looked confused, then she looked furious. “Don’t you dare move,” she said.
Troop’s father put up his hand in defeat.
Troop tried to figure out what was going on. Why is he snooping in my mom’s home office? His mother, on the other hand, seemed to have a clear idea of what was happening. She had taken out her electro-slate and was calling someone.
“I need some backup,” she said. “There’s a spy in my office.”
Troop’s father looked hurt. “I’m not a spy. How could you accuse me of such thing?”
His mother ignored him. “Yes, this is work sensitive information he is going through. I don’t know how he found out the info is at my office.”
“Don’t move,” Troop said, noticing his father edging towards the window.
His father smiled a pinched looking smile. “Feels awfully warm in here, doesn’t it? Some fresh air would be nice.”
Troop lunged forwards, grabbing the tail of his father’s shirt.
His father cracked a maniacal grin and said, “Didn’t they teach you about personal space in school?” Then he twisted out of Troop’s grip and threw a small object at the window.
“Troop, get back!” his mom screamed.
The object exploded, shattering the window and sending splinters of glass flying everywhere. Troop ducked down, but not before catching the sight of his father tumbling out of the building. The smoke cleared in a matter of seconds. With his ears still ringing, Troop assessed the situation.
Aside from several minor cuts, both he and his mother were unharmed. The detonation had completely demolished the window and knocked askew the desk though.
“What was he looking for?” Troop asked, speaking louder than usual since his hearing was still impaired.
“Just information.” His mom rushed over to her desk and pulled out its drawers, ignoring the shards of glass strewn all over the floor. “At least I think that was what he was searching for,” she added later. She let out a small sigh. “Good, he didn’t find the file.”
Troop didn’t ask what type of information his mom would possibly have that others would try to steal. The Company did a decent amount of underhand work.
Somebody knocked on the door. “Reinforcement squad.”
“Just a bit too late,” Troop muttered.
chapter nineteen
[ Kristi ]
