Agent Stonecold

6) Plane ride

I looked up at the ceiling of the airplane. Everything went so fast.

Yesterday we were still at our school in Washington and now we flew across the Atlantic towards England. We didn't even have time to say goodbye to the others (not that I would miss anyone or anything, since I only had James).

 
Anyway, we were now on the school's private plane (didn't know we had such a luxury either) on our way to London for our first mission.

To call what I felt nervous was actually an understatement. What if I was doing something wrong? Would they kick me out? Was I the right person for this mission?

Next to me on the other side of the aisle sat Emily. She didn't look nearly as nervous as I was. She was looking intently at the documents we had received.

We got the resume of every player and every coach. We also got some important information about each of them. For example, how they drank their coffee or where they lived and whether they had any allergies.

All three of us had to memorize the information in case it ever became important. We also got the training schedule and the game plan. Mr. Mueller had instructed us to pay extra attention at the games because there are a lot of people there and something can always happen.

"Guys.", I heard my best friend call out, "Let's open our letters now."

Right. I had forgotten that we still had to figure out what our roles were. After all, we have to stay undercover somehow and still get close to the players. Mr. Mueller had gotten an emergency call yesterday and had to leave in a hurry, so he couldn't tell us anything more about it. But he left us our information in letters to open on the plane.

James came over to us from his seat further forward on the plane. "I'm curious to see what role I have. You could pass for new players. But me? I'm not a woman. What am I supposed to do? Change myself into a woman? That would be fun, but it would be too much effort. And every day? Phew, I'd need stamina for that."

I roled my eyes at him. "James, I don't think that they want you to turn into a woman. That would take far too long, and in missions it often has to happen quickly. Even though I would like to see you as a woman. And I also don't think that Emily and I will become players. They would notice at the first training that we are not on their level. Besides, we're 16 years old. We'd have to be extremely good."

"Guys. Let's just open these letters and see, shall we?" said Emily, "We'll see what our roles are then, won't we?"

I nodded. "You're right. Let's open them."

The letters were black and our names were written on them in gold letters. I was already a little excited. After all, I had to play this role for a few months.

I opened it carefully and took the black paper out of the envelope. I briefly skimmed it with my eyes and had immediately memorized everything. Having a photographic memory can also have its advantages.

I then had to process that first. My name was no longer Hannah Jackson, but Reyna Miller. My birthday was on November 15 and I was 17 years old. Why they made me a year older, I personally found unnecessary, but well. Then I got to my personalities and that was a tough one.

"Excuse me? Happy and helpful person with innocent playfulness? What is that please? No way."

James laughed. "I can't even imagine that with you. Didn't the government do any research on you before they picked you?"

Emily groaned. "I don't think yours is so bad, Hannah. Listen to mine. Annoyed chick who thinks she's the center of attention. Who wants that, please?"

Okay, that was really worse than mine. Then I looked further at my clothes. Always wear something cheerful, bright, but also branded products. Why branded producs, you might ask.

Let's take a look at my family. My father is a businessman who travels a lot and my mother is a doctor. So I was a relatively wealthy child, to put it nicely.

Continuing with my school grades. I was pretty good in all subjects. Always the best grade. Even student representative. Great, now I'm also social. Who thought that up, please?

"An intern? I'm doing an internship with the club doctor? That is my job? Wow, I thought it would be at least a little more exciting.", James said.

I looked at the letter again. Jonas Eidevall. This Jonas was my contact person. So I was the trainee of the coach. That was actually good, because he knew we were agents, so I didn't have to hide anything from him. Besides, I was then close to the action.

"I'm at the physical therapist. Then I have to see every day how players are treated. That's bound to get boring after a while. At least it's a woman. Emma Saunders is her name." said Emily, "Hannah, where are you?"

"I'm at the trainer, Jonas Eidevall."

"That is good.", said James. "Then you are near the players. You've got the coolest job, dude."

James is right. I had the best job, but also the most dangerous. I was often on the pitch and could therefore also be in danger. On top of that, I had to be the most careful not to get caught.

The letter also said that our school had a new concept that sent always three students to other countries to gain new experience. Arsenal then offered to support the project and so the three of us ended up doing internships there.

You had to say that it was well thought out. You could tell that things were getting serious. Any mistake could be fatal. The safety of the players and coaches was in our hands. If we failed, there would be no way out. We were important. Important for the team, but also important for the government. This was a matter of life or death. But for me, death was not an option. I couldn't fail because then they would throw me out. And then I would be alone again. I had to hope that we could do it. I hoped that nothing would happen and that the opponents wouldn't do anything.

I didn't know then what would happen in the next few months.