E.C.H.O.

Stage 1 "Infiltration"

The car pulled up the long driveway. Lucas sat in the seat next to the driver, his eyes taking in the view. On the outskirts of town, Ellison Boys’ High lay. Its campus was made up of several buildings surrounded by neatly trimmed hedges and green grass. Even though he had never been here, Lucas knew the layout as he had studied it the night before. Sports fields made up one area while the boys’ dorm lay on the other side with classrooms, a gym, and the nurses office in between. Right next to the school, with a wall separating the two, was Bel High, a girls’ school.

As they pulled up to the school gates, Lucas shot a glance at the driver next to him. It was Zack, the member of ECHO picked to play the part of Lucas’ ‘uncle’ for this job. In other words, Lucas’ backup.

Leaning back, Lucas recalled the briefing the day before at ECHO headquarters.

Stanly sat across from Lucas. His hands were folded and a file lay before him. Lucas sat upright in his own chair, his expression blank.

“I will begin to explain,” Stanly said. “ECHO was contacted directly by a client who wants us to retrieve a certain object of his. Unfortunately, it seems to be kept in a place not easily accessible without raising suspicion…”

“A high school?” Lucas asked.

Stanly nodded to Conner, who stood to the side, wanting him to continue.

“Ellison High,” Conner began as he brought up a picture of a large building on the TV screen in the room. “A prestigious boarding school for boys from all over the world. Money is one factor that decides who attends, but talent also plays a role as half the students attending are on scholarship of some sort.” The picture changed and another building came into sight. “Bel High, a girls school, and sister school to Ellison high, is just next door.”

Lucas looked at the screen. “It’s illogical. Why have a boys’ and a girls’ school right next to each other? You could just combine them.”

Stanly cleared his throat.

“That’s not important,” Conner told Lucas.

Lucas shrugged. “Alright. So this object I’m supposed to retrieve, it’s meant to be in the boys’ school?”

Conner and Stanly exchanged glances.

“In one of the two,” Conner said.

“Huh?” Lucas asked.

“We have intelligence that suggests it’s somewhere in the boys,” Stanly explained. “However, we cannot be certain. The fact is, as the semester has already started, we cannot send in two operatives to cover both schools without raising suspicion. Therefore, we have to start with one.” He turned to Lucas. “You’re mission is to pose as a student while finding out where this object is. Once you find it, you will retrieve it and return to ECHO.”

“Obstacles?” Lucas asked.

“We have information that if the object is indeed there, there will be government stationed agents throughout the school. They could be students or staff. As usual, treat everyone as a suspect.”

Lucas suddenly looked a lot more interested. “Government?” he asked. “I thought we were avoiding those jobs after the New York incident.”

Conner looked surprised. “How do you know about the New York…?”

Stanly cleared his throat again.

“Ask no more than what you need to know,” Connor told Lucas.

Lucas leaned back. “How long do I have?”

“The end of the semester is your limit.”

“What’s my story?”