Spy School: Broken Bonds

Chapter 5: Lift Off

Washington DC, USA

The Academy of Espionage

Sunday

0125 Hours

I woke up with the sun shimmering in my eyes as the birds chirped their peaceful little song into the vibrant blue sky........ is what I would have said if I hadn't have woken up at the crack of dawn. Erica was already up and was trying to push me off of her. "Beeeen, were going to be late!" she said in a half playful and half serious tone. "Uh...what?" I said still half asleep. I then looked at the clock and literally jumped out of bed. I immediately started taking off my pajamas and changed into my spy suit, not caring even if Erica saw. I was fully dressed and ready to go, brushed teeth and everything, in 30 seconds. "Umm, a little help here" Erica said, still trying to get out of the bed. "Oh, yeah" I said with a little laugh. I helped her up and placed her in her chair. I looked through my suitcase one more time and when she was ready, booked it. It took us 1 minute flat to make it across the school field into the parking lot. "You're l-" Cyrus said as we approached. He looked at his watch and back up at us though before finishing. "-on time" Cyrus mumbled, seemingly disappointed that he couldn't call us out. I looked around and was happily surprised for us to be the first ones here. "Hey, it looks like we can't be criticised this time" I said sarcastically. "Don't push it" Cyrus said from the corner of my eye. At this point, I was sitting down on a ledge with Erica next to me, taking in the fresh, cold air.

It was about 1:50 when everyone arrived. Of course though, Alexander was last coming 10 minutes later than everyone else. The worst part was, he was the driver! "At least we know he won't turn on us" I said jokingly. "Yeah, you got a pretty bad gash the last time that happened" Erica said back. "Hey, can you two love-birds hurry up. It's cold out here!" Mike complained. So we grabbed our suitcases and grouped into the van. "Alright, remember your mission. Don't go off task and figure out what the 'algorithm' is. And I expect a nightly report from each individual agent. Got it!" "Got it" Everyone said at once. "Oh, and Alexander, keep them safe and don't do anything stupid" Cyrus said hurtfully. "Got...it" Alexander said slowly as he back out and sped off.

"Oh, this is going to be so fun! Seeing London and all its beautiful sights!" Zoe said, full of excitement. "We're not going sightseeing Zoe, we going on a highly covert mission" Erica said, putting up her Ice Queen persona. "Wait, how far away is this airport" I said to Alexander. "Oh, only about 10 minutes away, however the plane ride will be about 6 hours with the jet." The look on Mikes face when he said that was amazing. It went from, I can't wait to see London to this is going to be the end of me. "Wait, were going on a JET!" Zoe said, becoming even more excited. Wait until I tell her what jets are actually like.

We mostly sat there in the van and listened to Zoe ramble on about how great this trip will be until we got to the private airport. It was much smaller than I thought it would be until I noticed that it wasn't even really an airport, it was just an abandoned plane hangar  with the words "Private Airport" spray painted onto it. "Really, this is all the CIA can afford" Erica said looking disgusted. "Hey!-" Alexander said getting defensive, "-Private Airports are expensive. In fact, one time I was on a mission to-" "Dad, really" Erica said, knowing he never did anything. "What, I wanted to hear it!" Zoe said, not yet knowing the truth about Alexander.

We walked (I wheeled Erica) into the hangar to find it looked even worse on the inside, but at least the jet had wings. "Come on, let's get into the jet now children" Alexander said. When I walked in, I was generally surprised at the quality. Mabey the spent all the budget and the jet so they couldn't afford a good airport, but whatever they did they really got a good jet. "Damn" I said under my breath as I entered. There wasn't any small rooms like the last jet I was in, but the seats were much nicer. They looked like they were made of real leather and they had a nice dark brown coloration. There was even a liquor bar.

"Okay guys, I am going to be in the cockpit. So be good and if you need anything, just tap this button" Alexander said pointing up at a weird red switch. "Alright" I said getting comfy in my seat. "Hey, could you sit me down" Erica asked." "Oh, yeah" I said as I picked her up and placed her next to me. Mike and Zoe sat down across from us and started talking about how James Bond movies are getting more cliché every time. "I mean first, the twist villain could be spotted from a mile away" Zoe said. "Not exactly" I said trying to defend myself. "Yes it could, I mean the credits literally called him twist villain in the opening. I know it was a mistake, but still." "yeah" is all I said.

We talked for about an hour before they started to fall asleep. First Zoe, then Mike, until it was just me and Erica. I was also starting to feel tired when Eric mentioned how she was cold. So I pulled up the armrest, which she pulled down earlier to be Ice Queen, and scooted closer to her. She rested her head against my shoulder as a wave of heat flooded my body. I started to drift off to sleep as my body relaxed into the seat. The last thing I remember is the scent of lilacs and gunpowder as everything went black.

I had a dream where I was in a room, chains surrounded me. It was dark, and the metallic walls were rusty. I looked around for something, but there was nothing, just chains and darkness. Until a light appeared, like someone opened a door into a room. Erica wheeled in suddenly, with red eyes and a puffy face. "I trusted you!" she screamed. I wanted to say something back, but the dream didn't let me. She kept on screaming at me, but I couldn't hear her. I was drowning in self pity, until she pulled out a button. "Now, you'll know how it feels" she said as she pressed the button and a trap-door opened up underneath me. I fell into the abyss, unable to do anything.  Just before I hit the floor SPLOOSH!

"What the hell!" I say as I wake up. Erica is in my face and pulling on my shirt while Mike is standing over me. "Ben wake up!" I lick my lips and taste alcohol. "Ben!" "Yeah, yeah I'm awake. So WHY did you pour alcohol on me" I said angrily. Mike ducked over to a corner of the jet and yelled "We are under attack!" My heartbeat suddenly increased and I jumped up to help. I carried Erica to a corner with me and asked "What the hell happened?!" "I don't know! I was sleeping and then all of a sudden another fighter jet was shooting at us." I then finally took a look out towards the back of the jet to see a giant hole in the metal with a jet shooting at us behind it. "Did you call Alexander yet?" I said. "Yeah, he's trying to out maneuver it now." "It's pretty hard" I heard over the intercom. "Only a missile could have made that big of a hole! How many are usually on there?" "Usual there is two per jet" Erica said with a weird sense of calm. "Umm, Erica. Why are you calm?" "We're not going to be able to take another one of those missiles!" Alexander said. 

There was a sudden jerk to the left and I tumbled over to the other side, almost getting shot. "Sorry" the intercom spoke. I wanted to go and grab my gun, but I would have certainly gotten shot. "Here, take this" Erica said tossing me a grenade. I almost thought it was live and freaked out standing up slightly. "Calm down it's n-." Suddenly the jet jerked back to the right and I lost my footing, nearly avoiding a bullet. I fell down and accidently made the grenade live. My entire life flashed before my eyes for once during my mission, staring directly down at a live grenade. "I'm going to die" is what I thought. "No! Not like this!" is what I thought as I picked it up and ran. I ran as fast as I could towards the hole. I could feel my internal clock counting down to death as I jumped towards the hole. Then I heard the sound of a familiar whoosh. It took me a second, a second I didn't have to realize what had happened. I looked out through the hole and was faced with a missile coming directly at me. But I had to throw it, so I threw the grenade just as my clock ticked down to zero and I hoped as I hit the ground that I w- BOOM!

HaHa! cliff hanger! I hoped you liked this chapter, I really do. Also I am not taking a break but my schedule may be a bit slower than it was when I wrote the other book. School is requiring more and more stuff so I am sorry, but I will try to upload once a week. Have a great day and I hope you liked this chapter. 😁