CHAPTER FOUR
CIA
“You want me to do what?” I gasped.
“We want you to join the CIA. We got the idea from MI6 in London. Who would expect a sixteen year old girl to be a spy?” E. Johnson said. “No offense.” He added.
“Some taken” I replied. “What have all these attacks been for?” I asked.
“Sorry about that, but it was a necessary test. We had to see if you were ready, and you were exceedingly so. You have been prepared well,” He said.
“Prepared to be a spy? Yeah, right. I grew up on a farm, not some random spy school,” I said.
“You will begin training on Monday, you will be excused from school. The training will include a lot of skills that are important for your survival. We think you shouldn’t carry a gun but we will train you on other weapons.”
“What’s in it for me?” I asked.
“You can get out of school.” He said.
“I like school.” I retorted. That threw him apparently he thought all teens we uneducated hooligans.
“Five bucks?” He asked.
“Ha!” I huffed. He was teasing me now I raised an eye brow.
“For the service of your country?”
“I’m a kid. I won’t do it, this isn’t right.”
“May I remind you that I got a bomb into your house once before and-”
“Are you threatening me?”
“If that’s what it takes,” he said. My chin raised, I stared into his eyes.
“Very well,” I said, frustrated that he could break me so easily. “I’ll do it.” I couldn’t let him hurt the only people I had left in this world.
“Pleasure doing business with you,” L. said.
“What exactly am I getting into here?” I asked. He just smiled and left the room.
“Oh no you don’t” I said jumping up and running to catch up to him. “You will not leave until you tell me what happens in training and mark my words if you don’t tell me this instant, so help me-” He smiled this one reaching his eyes.
“Very well.” He replied, and sat back down. “As I stated before, your training will start this upcoming Monday. You will be trained in a variety of things others may be trained in some things you will not. I will just the general skills.” He said.
“You will be trained in skydiving, weaponry, scuba diving, Brazilian Jujitsu, skills for hot-wiring boats and cars, hostile environment training, paramilitary training, and survival in extreme conditions. You will be taught how to incapacitate an enemy, gain important information and data, and most importantly how to not get caught.”
“Bye aunt Lil, bye Claire,” I said hugging them tight. They had come to have lunch with me at the resort, where E. Johnson had insisted I remain until they transported me to where I’d be training.
“Bye sweetie write me lots of letters and emails, okay?” Aunt Lil said. I just nodded and waved as the car drove off. I had a feeling there wouldn’t be much time to write letters. We drove to the airport and soon were flying to Tidewater Virginia where “the farm” was located. Once we landed, there was a car waiting to pick us up. As we drove I took careful mark and observation of where “the farm” as they called it was. I couldn’t for the life of my understand why they called their training grounds the farm. As we drove we passed many beautiful pastures and real farms that reminded me of home. Every time I saw one my heart would jolt with old memories. After a long while of driving we arrived at the farm. We passed through the gates decorated by flashing yellow lights and draw barriers. The farm much resembled a country club. There were tennis courts, an indoor swimming pool, Ski’s and fishing boats to take out on the lake, Four wheelers to ride, Recreational skeet and trap ranges. Most trainees were assigned rooms in dormitories, sometimes with roommates. A lot of a full time field agents even lived there when they weren’t on a mission. The instructors lived on the base too in white clapboard houses. When we got there E. Johnson and Mrs. Adams were waiting for me. I grabbed my backpack and suitcase out from the trunk of the car and walked over to where they waited. I was standing in acres and acres of land it was filled with shrubbery most of it clumped around the buildings. There was a tree near the gate and a stream ran underneath.
“Welcome to the CIA farm.” Mrs. Adams said. I nodded.
“Come I will show you to your dormitory and room, and introduce you to your roommates.” Mrs. Adams said. She led me to the nearest of two tall brick buildings. I was lucky to be the first room on the first floor.
“This is your apartment,” Mrs. Adams said, unlocking the door, handing me the key, and swinging it open. There were five girls waiting for me, in the common room where a couch, a coffee table, a mini fridge, and a chair were placed. There were also four rooms and a kitchenette
“Like you everyone has a code name.” Mrs. Adams said, as she introduced the other girls. The first one was called Redfern she had a Texas accent and had blazing strawberry blond hair and a red birthmark shaped like a plant, the next was Evergreen she was very tall with red hair and good muscle definition and the most piercing green eyes I had ever seen besides my own anyways, then came Coppertone who had darker skin and dark hair, and Snapshot who was one minute there and the next gone. I guess it was their motherly instincts that was the only reason for them being remotely friendly. Although Redfern was my favorite she reminded me of my grandmother in a good way of course, after all I was only a child almost young enough to be one of their daughters.
“Evergreen, is an instructor but was placed on your team to help things run much smother. I’ll leave you all to get acquainted, and for you to unpack. Good luck, Lucky,” Mrs. Adams said, referencing my code name with a smile. After finding my room and unpacking my things I walked back out to the living room and sat on the floor.
“They told us about you.” Coppertone said.
“Really.”
“Yes really.” Snapshot said. We sat in silence after that. The atmosphere was chilly as we waited for our instructor to stop by. I could see Evergreen in the corner, her face was blank, her eyes assessing me. Coppertone scowled at me from the couch, and the other girls just tried to avoid my eyes like the plague. Yup, this would be about as enjoyable as I had anticipated. There was a loud knock on the door, then the head of our training walked in. She was a muscular woman with a strict almost cruel face. She didn’t look pleasant to say the least. Then again, why should she?
“I’m Agent Brunt. You will call me Ms. Brunt, Agent Brunt, or Ma’am have I made myself quite plain?” Agent Brunt said.
“Yes ma’am” I said not at all thrown by her looks like a few of the others were, In fact she had an uncanny resemblance to my kindergarten teacher.
“I suggest you get into the clothing you will be using for the first exercise it starts in precisely fifteen minutes I will come and guide you to the meeting place before each mission.” She said. “I will leave you to change.” I slipped into my room. I put on some jeans, a long sleeve black t-shirt, and a pair of lightweight tennis shoes. A short while later we were lead to the meeting place. It resembled a school auditorium with a large screen at the front. We took our seats, and a man appeared.
“Ladies this is agent Rogers he will give you the instructions of today’s exercise.” Agent Brunt said. Mr. Rogers stepped forward. He clicked a button on a remote and an image of a large building and fenced area appeared.
“For your first task you will need to get through this building, safely disabling all the cameras, and retrieving this,” he pointed to the screen, and a picture of a pedestal with a thick manila envelope on top appeared. “You will retrieve this envelope it is vital that you have it, for it gives you important information on your next task. If you don’t have it you will fail both tasks. The gate around the perimeter is electric,” he said. The screen showed an aerial view from a video camera.
“We will give you tools to shut it down without raising an alarm. You must do so without being seen. You must detect and disable any hidden
cameras and listening devices. The first room is wired with lasers,” he said, flipping through pictures of each room as he talked about them.
“The next smoke bombs, the third-and final-all of these has weapons activated by motion sensors. We will give you gadgets to disable all of these, but you are the ones who most use them correctly, and safely. After that there is a stretch of land that you must go across to get out. There are missiles that will be fired, guns, etc. You must get through safely.” He switched the screen to show a bare piece of land with only a few places to hide. “That boulder there,” he said pointing to a massive square rock, Is how you will know you have only fifteen yards until the finish line.” He shut off the screen. “All the tools you need are in the jeep awaiting to take you to the area.”
The ride was long and bumpy. When we finally got to the gate we were handed our gadgets, and the supposed fun began. They had divided up the gadgets, leaving me with empty hands. I found that I didn’t mind as much as I would have thought. They would have been cumbersome. We got over the gate thanks to Coppertone, and we hid in bushes while Snapshot disabled the perimeter cameras. Then we went into the first room. This was where it got tricky. Redfern scanned around for what might be the main laser when she found it she plugged something into it, effectively disabling it, while Snapshot continued with the interior cameras. We went into the next room where Evergreen disabled the smoke bomb. Now it was time for the last room. We can disable the alarms from this side, but the guns and weapons we’d have to deal with on our own. I pulled out a few rocks that I had grabbed, hoping that this would set off the weapons so that whatever ammunition they had access to would be used up. I tossed the rocks as we hid behind the doors, and listened as all the weapons went off. I had saved three rocks as extra tests. I threw one in at a time. Finally, on the third rock no weapons fired. We slipped into the room. That’s when everything went dark. I ducked down knowing that it would be harder for someone to grab me in the dark if I was on the ground. I heard the scuttling feet and the slam of the doors, and I knew we had failed. I pulled out my key chain flashlight. The clue was gone, and as were my team. I glanced up to see that Snapshot had forgotten a camera how was that possible? I had watched her disable them. I reached up and disabled it, careful to ensure it didn’t see my face. Even without the manila envelope, I had to keep going. I ran through the doors. My team wasn’t anywhere in sight. My eyes scanned the large expanse of land in front of me. A quick movement caught my eye. Someone had just ran behind a enormous square rock I had seen on Agent Rogers debriefing. They had left me behind. I heard a rumbling sound then guns firing my way. I dived in a diagonal line rolling in a somersault the machine guns following me. I found cover behind a rock. Missiles began to fly at me. I did a back roll then side roll one just barely missed. More gunfire and missiles flew my way. I would just have to run for it. I knew what I needed to do. I could see the boulder ahead and I knew I would have to get very close to it in order for this to work. There was a tree nearby I ran and swung up into it looking for a safer place. I swung up onto the branch, then launched myself through the air. I landed on my feet, but knew right away that something was off. The gunfire and missiles had stopped. I remembered something I had read in a book about underground explosives. I crouched down listening. I heard a sharp ticking noise. The bomb would be activated if I so much as shifted my weight. A series of curse words slipped through my lips. I was on a time bomb that had set off if I so much as tried to escape. Brilliant. I looked around. The boulder was just behind me. I bent my knees gathering momentum. I only had one choice. I jumped, I flipped through the air. Those gymnastics lessons had finally paid off. Explosions ripped through the air loud and deafening. I landed, throwing myself to the ground. Dirt, and ash fell all around me. When things cleared up. I was laying in the shadow of the boulder. I looked, and realized there was a camera by my head. I kept my face down and hidden so that they couldn’t see. I quickly disabled it, then ran behind the boulder. There was a peculiar looking symbol on the wall along with other hieroglyphics. I slid my hand across it marveling at the intricate detail. Suddenly a hidden door slid open. IT revealed a a room with multiple screens and sets of computers, there on the screen was me doing my back flip to escape the explosions playing over and over and over again. Just wait, dear readers, it gets better. There sitting in front of it watching the video was my team. They hadn’t even noticed my entrance. I cleared my throat and walked towards them.
“Having fun ladies?” I asked. They turned around and looked at me an awe written all over their traitorous little faces.
“How did you…” Evergreen said trailing off.
“Shall we just finish this crap pile of an exercise or what?” I asked. They agreed pulling out a small chip that had our mission and my back flip on it, and to the jeep we could see ahead. The ride was a silent one, but that was good. It gave me time to think about how this all happened, and try to figure out why they had abandoned me. What was going on? Then I remembered how Agent Rogers had pulled Evergreen, Coppertone, and Snapshot aside. Was this what he had told them? To abandon me?
When we got back to the building there was a group of boys there. I assumed they were waiting for their mission as well. It seemed we were the first group of the day, because the clip of our mission was being shown as an example to them, including the part with my back flip. When the clip was done the boys turned and stared
“Don’t worry boys you won’t have to do the bomb, you will be trained in this before we even think of testing you on that” Agent Rogers said. That did it.
“What the hell was that? My first day here and you try to blow me up before I was trained in any of anything. The other girls got to go and hide in that rock and watch me do it.” I said. When I said the last part about the rock thing his eyebrows lifted.
“Yes I found it.” I snapped.
“We had to test you.” Rogers said indifferently.
“Oh really, and the other four times you tested me were just for fun?” I said.
“It was not four times.” Mr. Rogers said.
“Yes it was! You followed me, you had an agent attack me, you had me find the cameras the first time, planted another forcing me to commit social suicide, and finally you tried to blow me up leaving me in the hospital unconscious for three days. All this you did with the help of bruised neck guy, Casper dude, and broken nose guy sitting over there,” I paused “You/re right it wasn’t four it was five,” I said. Then I walked out of the building.
“Stop right there and come back in here,” he demanded. I whipped around.
“No. I didn’t choose to be here. I am here because I had no choice. I had plans for my life that you ruined. Why shouldn’t I spoil your plans, even if just for a day?” I said turning back around and walking back to our apartment. I wasn’t far enough to hear the conversation that went on though.
“She’s here against her will?” Evergreen shrieked.
“How about we let Casper, bruised neck, and broken nose tell us what happened.” Redfern said. Ha so they hadn’t told them much about me after all. I found that rather satisfying. With a small smile I jogged back to our apartment.