MISSION MOONLARK, kotlc

21

"Mmm.... that bloke looks a bit fishy," Marella Redek noted, twirling a finger through her blonde hair.

"I don't think so," Sophie whispered, gesturing for her to lower her voice. "This one looks even more suspicious."

The six of them- the two Vackers, Sophie, Dex, and their next-door-neighbors Marella and Maruca -were playing a classic game of Sharks and Minnows- except they were playing with real sharks, and they happened to be the minnows- aka a few teenagers dressed in snorkeling gear.

Marella was British- (Biana and Marella were mutual enemies, despite the fact that both their accents cracked Sophie up) -and was what the Black Swan called trained arsons- not people setting fires for fun; people trained to detect fires, stop them, and occasionally set fires on deserted enemy bases.

"D'you reckon we should wait for them?"

"Why?"

Marella shrugged.

Sophie glanced at the sharks nervously. The thing about human Sharks and Minnows was two things:

One: Instead of being "tagged," you were eaten.

Two: In a vain attempt to protect the players, their scuba gear was filled with metal chain mail so the sharks didn't bite their legs off- but it also added what felt like forty pounds.

"B?" Sophie asked hopefully.

"How about the ancient and ingenious strategy we like to call, swim-for-your -life-and-hope-you-don't-get-eaten?" Biana offered.

"No-" Marella started to protest, but Biana had already snatched her hand and was swimming for dear life across the tank-ish water arena.

Sophie screamed: the shark Marella had pointed out was heading straight towards them. Thankfully, the other shark was still prowling on Fitz, Dex, and Maruca who were staring at them. Sophie couldn't tell if they were shocked at their boldness, or just terrified they were going to be eaten.

Probably the latter.

"Biana!" Marella shouted angrily as the shark swam closer.

Sophie felt her legs burning as she kicked frantically. At least she could hope her fellow teammates weren't getting eaten...

With a huge sigh of relief, she dove over the chalk line drawn on the floor. The line was one either side of the life-sized tank, filled with the strongest shark repellent Agent Galvin could concoct.

Now all there was left was to hope that Dex, Fitz, and Maruca weren't eaten...

"Agent SF!" came a sharp voice through the speaker. Sophie sincerely hoped that the announcement was only playing through the water arena, but from the way the spies outside of the tank paused to stare at her, she was pretty sure she was out of luck.

The sharks sniffed something released in the water and eagerly swam back over to their respective area, where they were greeted by Agent Alexine who fed them fresh tuna. Sophie shuddered.

"Please meet Agent Leto in his office!" the voice chirped, as if this wasn't a huge, horrifying deal. "Thank you!"

The underwater platform rose, and the water bubbled to the bottom of the tank. Sophie ripped off her gear thankfully, breathing in the fresh air.

"That," Maruca choked, "Was way too close."

"If Alexine hadn't led them away, I think we'd have to take a trip to Physic," Dex agreed, shuddering.

They all stared at Sophie, who was more than notorious for her frequent doctor calls. She blushed sheepishly, scrambling to unbind the layers of heavy chainmail.

"Any idea why Leto wants to see me?" Sophie asked, changing the subject.

"New assignment?" Biana asked hopefully. "It's not fun without all those chase scenes and missions!"

"Maybe next time he'll take me along," Marella added grumpily, shoving her air tank into the sports locker. "If there's frappuccinos involved, I call dibs!"

"Hey!" Biana protested. The two of them bickered all the way back to their corridor. Maruca glanced at Sophie and stifled a giggle.

"Wish me luck," Sophie mumbled as Marella shot Biana one last glare and opened the door to their room.

"Don't get his desk wet!" Fitz told her unhelpfully. Sophie tried to wring out her sopping mess of a hairdo and hurried through the wide hallways down to Leto's office.

Sophie opened the door tentatively, drying her hair one last time and hurrying into the room. The leather chair on the opposite end of the desk was waiting ominously for her. She looked for an exit nervously.

"Come on, SF, I don't bite," Leto said gently.

Sophie hesitated and sank into the cold chair.

"I couldn't help myself," Leto began, fidgeting with the ballpoint pen in his hand. "To notice that the two missions you've been on- no matter who set them -have ended in an ending success."

Sophie's heart raced. Another mission?

"Sorry sir, I'm afraid I don't... I'm not really.... I don't think I'm quite qualified.." Sophie stammered.

"Don't doubt your abilities," Agent Leto told her, leaning closer. "I'll tell you this: you're friends with the young Vackers, I presume?"

"Of course," Sophie said, trying to keep the defiance out of her voice: over the past few days, she'd gotten used to defending her friends after everything Alvar had done.

"We have our top agents on the case for the search for Alvar Vacker," Leto said quietly. "Even Agent Blur is leading the case- and I'm sure you know how rare it is for a member of the Collective to be involved with an investigation."

"Very rare," Sophie said, nodding along.

"We've gotten nowhere," he said flatly. "And we need spies on the inside- but nobody in the right mind will trust an adult."

"And... Alvar and the rest of the Neverseen probably already have complete profiles for us even with our facial recognition," Sophie argued. "We have theirs, after all. I wouldn't underestimate the Neverseen."

"Nor would I," Leto agreed. "But we can easily fix that issue. Are you in?"

"What'll I be doing?" Sophie remembered Marella and added. "I'm not going into this either if you don't let me bring some friends."

Leto hesitated. "Bring four. And only four. I would suggest the Songs, but they're too new to the organization... and it would be highly recommended to bring the two young Vackers as well."

"And what'll I be doing?" Sophie repeated.

He smiled, somewhat slyly. "That'll be for later. I need your word you will do everything you can into this assignment."

"I promise."

He stood up. "Meet downstairs in minus fifty-three. Agent Della and Squall will be there to escort you."

Sophie resisted the urge to ask if there'd be frappuccinos.