Spy School: Life After School

Chapter 19

Palm Heights
June 16, 2026
0700 hours

Ben's POV

I shut and locked the door behind me in the bathroom. Everything came back to me.

Probably going to be awkward.

I turned the shower off and put a towel around my waist, then walked out of the shower.

Erica was standing there in her spy suit.

"You're late," she said. "It's 7:55. I already ordered your room service, just meet me in Grandpa's room."

I quickly threw on some clothes, grabbed my food, and headed over to Cyrus's room, making it at the 7:59 mark.

I settled in between Mike and Erica and ate my breakfast while Cyrus spoke.

"Today, SPYDER initiates their plans. We still don't know what they are doing, but it's probably up to no good. Mike, you are going to be disguised as their pilot. Take them in the air, then crash the airplane. Jump out with your parachute. Catherine and Alexander, you guys are on beach watch. Whenever you see them hurrying out, pin them down. I'm going to go scout out their base for any clues. Erica, you take watch on the road and let Mike know if they are on route or not. Follow them at a safe distance, and if they turn off, let us know and follow with caution. Ben, you're the eyes in the sky. If you see anything suspicious, let us know."

I nodded. Cyrus handed us all earpieces with mini mics so we could keep in touch. Then, he shooed us all out of his room. I went back to grab Erica's surveillance gear. Just as I was about to leave, Erica stopped me.

"Whatever happens, promise you won't leave me again," she said.

"I promise." She gave me a hug and then left.

I scaled my way back to the top of the building and set up my tent. I saw Catherine and Alexander on the lookout for anything, as well as Cyrus prepared to stake out the office building. I saw Erica drive off into the distance.

Today was going to be a long day. I stayed calm and was checking around for about 4 hours when something became noticeable to me. It was 12:30, only 2 hours till SPYDER's plans went off.

The crowd at the expo was bigger than last time. I searched up to see what was happening, and it was a formal conference with several high ranking members and the President of the International Travel and Tourism Board. I did some more digging and found out that the Board technically owns some of the land of the countries involved, due to the fact they help the countries with financial and other related issues. It seemed that each country on the board had to give out a certain portion to the board, for which they would then get financial compensation on any issues in their country.

What really put me over the top was that the President has complete control over the land portions. It seemed very unethical. But then a thought raced through my head.

I looked up for the Vice President of the Board. I caught my breath.

Their name was Josh James, but I knew it was Joshua Hallal. I could tell it was him by his smirk. I quickly went back to the internet to see how long this conference would last.

Until 3 pm.

Just enough time to set off their plans. I assumed it was a bomb under the building, which would take out the President and make Joshua the new leader. Then, he would be in control of all those areas of land, as well pricing fixes on each of the country's land.

A master plan by SPYDER.

I hopped on the comms set.

"Does anyone read me?" I asked.

"Yes," they all said at once.

"Ok, listen up." I explained everything to them and they all made noises of approval. 

"Ok, Erica, you come meet up with me, and we will case the building and look for a way underground." Cyrus said.

"Alexander, you move to Erica's position and Catherine stay put. Mike, stay put as well. Ben, rendezvous with us. Sending you the coordinates now."

I was excited, but at the same time nervous. I quickly met up with Cyrus and Erica behind a bush and Cyrus lead the way. He went over to the back of the expo building, where there was a service door. He kicked it down, leading into a dark hallway. We moved quietly, exploring all of the tunnels. Finally, we made it to the center. Cyrus checked the map of the expo, then headed left, so we would be right under the conference room.

There was a doorway leading in, but there were 2 agents that were talking. Cyrus took out his sedation darts and shot both of them before they could even react. We got to the bomb. It was RDX with a timer that said it would go off in an hour. It looked extremely complicated.

Just when Erica was about to approach it, I heard a voice behind me.

"Don't touch the bomb, Erica," a cold voice said. I felt a barrel go into my head. "Not you either, gramps,".

Joshua Hallal had arrived. He led me to the cell on the far side of the room, and locked me, Erica, and Cyrus in. Joshua began ranting.

"Ahh, the infamous Ben Ripley, master thwarter of our plans," he began. "It's been a long time. I'm sure you know about your bunker. No hard feelings, right?"

I glared at him. He just laughed.

"We knew that you weren't actually dead. It just took us a while to find you. I'm not going to lie, your hiding spot was ingenious.

"But this time, Ben, I dont even think you know what you are doing. It's been a long time since you've been in the spy game. I can tell you haven't caught up on your skills. You almost jeopardized the mission multiple times if it wasn't for your mates here helping you out.

He waved the gun at Cyrus and Erica.

"So, I want to know. Did you figure out our plan this time?"

"You're going to become president of the board so you have control over the countries portion of land, as well as fixing the prices of stays, flights, food and more. You will then siphon that extra money for SPYDER."

Josh laughed.

"You are smart, Ripley. I give you that. That is our plan, and it will be successful. But you should've seen one more thing coming."

A pair of people walked into the room.

"I told you he was good," Josh said.

"Yes, you were right," the man said.

They both walked up to the cell and smirked at me.

No. It couldn't be.

Guess I'm going to have to leave you people on a cliffhanger. I'm planning on getting the next chapter out within the next 12 hours, but only time will tell. Stay tuned!!

P.S. : Thank you guys so so so much for getting this to #7 in berica and #5 in benripley. That's amazing!!