E.C.H.O.

Stage 9 "Plan in Action"

Lucas took a moment, scenarios flashing through his head of what could go wrong.

Yet, as he took into account all the expecting looks he was being shot, he realized that this was probably a good chance to get the team to feel like he was one of them. Sure, he knew the school had more security systems set up than most places, but if they got caught he would probably be seen as just a kid trying to get accepted by the football team. On the plus side, by seeing just how much security was set up near the sport facilities, he could probably add or rule it out to his list of places where the object could potentially be.

He cracked a smile. "I have to admit, the swim team hasn't really given a good first impression," he said.

"That's the spirit!" Danny praised him while another player slapped him on the back. "So..." Danny looked around, "Any other volunteers?"

To Lucas' surprise, hands shot up all around; Nathan wasn't one of them.

"I lost a lot of points last term," he told Lucas sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Got blasted by the old man. Don't really want to start off the same way this time around."

"Alright, Rick," Danny began to pick out players.

"Peter...and Sam...maybe we'll leave it at four after all," Danny finished.

There were protests from those who hadn't been chosen. Danny ignored them. He jumped from the table and walked to Rick. "Here." He gave him the bottle. "There's two more at the door." He pointed. "I hear it's pretty strong stuff, so that should be enough." He shot a glance at Lucas. "Take care of the new kid." Walking to Lucas, he passed to thump him twice on the back. "Try not to get caught," he advised with a wink.

Lucas resisted the urge to smile at that one. If only Danny knew.

"Alrighty, boys!" Danny turned back to the room. "How about we have a little welcome party for the newbie while we're here?" he shot Lucas a wicked smile. "It'll give those leaving an alibi!"

There were cheers all around as the room returned to chaos.

Rick pushed his way over to Lucas and the other two boys joined.

"Looks like they're going to be no further help," Sam commented.

Peter grinned. "Did you expect anything more?"

"A welcome party without the main guest." Sam only shook his head.

He and Peter were on the taller side. It made Rick look a lot shorter than he was as he stood next to them.

Lucas had already figured out that Sam was from within the country while Peter was from Angola. The latter was a phenomenal football player who had attained three scholarships offered to prestigious universities. It surprised the EXHO agent that Danny would let such a promising player go along on their adventure. He would have thought that due to the upcoming game, the captains wouldn't want to risk any valuable players getting in trouble. Apparently, that wasn't the case.

"Alright," Rick lifted the bottle of dye. "Any ideas on how to do this?" He had to yell to be heard over the growing noise.

"I say get in as fast as we can, dump the stuff and make a run for it," came Sam's response.

Lucas shook his head. "The bottles are bulky, they'll make stealth harder and moving in slower. If there's a patrol and you're caught with them on you it'll be hard to explain..." he trailed off as he realized all other three were listening to him intently.

"So...do you have any ideas?" Rick prompted.

Lucas paused. Stage one; surveillance on the security system. Stage two; come up with strategy and gather appropriate gear. Stage three; approach target, avoiding all contact with security. Disconnect cameras, if in the area, or send out pulse to kill them. Stage four; get rid of any hindrances. Stage five; approach target and dispatch dye. Stage six; leave the scene. Stage seven; get rid of any evidence... it all ran through his head in a flash. He mentally told himself off. High school, his mind reminded as he looked up at the three guys watching, waiting for an answer. "We still have an hour till curfew..." he began, "technically it wouldn't be too suspicious if we went out for a late practice, right?"