Chapter 7

Wednesday, August 27, 2007

Dan Steele

The mission was turning into what the Americans call a complete clusterfuck. We had no way of getting into the Slick residence, and Anastasia had called me in the middle of the night to say that Nolan had found her out. Fortunately he was more excited about having lost his virginity to a spy than angry about radioactive materials being stored in his cellar, but it was still a breach of mission secrecy that could have ramifications later on.

Not bothering to dress, I drove to pick up Anastasia and Nolan. They were waiting for me in his front garden.

"Long night?" I asked.

"Yeah," Anastasia said, "but I got the tracking chip on."

"Good."

"So you're a CIA agent too?" Nolan asked.

"MI6, actually."

"Cool! So where is this uranium going?"

"We don't know. It was turning up in Iran, but we stopped it."

"Was that hard?"

"No, it was a blast."

We pulled up to the school and walked inside. I had grown somewhat tired of the attention, and walked straight to my first period class. I was shortly surrounded by a crowd of admirers. One of them offered to provide me with 'relief' at the beginning of class and I accepted, no longer attempting to woo Slick. She was amateurish but enthusiastic.

Michaels walked up to my desk at the beginning of second bell. "Mr. Steele, I need to see you after class." There was a hushed murmur from the rest of the class. If my memories of primary school were accurate, they assumed I was in trouble. When the class ended, I walked up to his desk.

"Close the door."

"Does it lock?"

"Flip the third light switch from the left."

I did so and turned back around. The chalkboard had transformed into a map with four glowing red dots. Two were in the school, the others were moving down the streets, away from the Slick and Nolan houses.

"Those the canisters?" I asked

"Yes. It looks like they're moving."

I sighed. "They would do it during school."

Michaels shrugged. "Nobody's home. They're probably disguised as movers or something."

"If that's the case, then they'll probably move the one's here after school lets out. Can you arrange to have me stay late?"

"I don't know if anyone's going to buy the hotshot British genius needing extra tutoring."

"Say you saw potential in me and are giving me extra lessons."

"Good idea."

"I'll tell Anastasia, can you talk to David and Grant later?"

"I'll try, but I can't guarantee anything."

"Alright, I'm off then."

I hurried to the cafeteria, where Anastasia and Clay had already gotten their food.

"Mr. Michaels thinks I have a great deal of potential. He wants me to stay late for extra tutoring."

"Will this be a regular thing?" Anastasia asked.

"I think we'll see how today goes." She nodded in comprehension.

"You're supposed to drive us home."

"You could stay after as well."

"Both of us?"

"Why not? Clay seems like a quick study."

"Thanks," Nolan interjected, "this is so cool!"

When school let out, the three of us met in front of Michaels' classroom and went inside. David and Grant were waiting for us.

"What's he doing here?" Michaels asked, looking at Nolan.

"He was supposed to get a ride home with Dan," Anastasia explained, "I figured he could watch."

"Watch?"

"Yes. He already knows what's going on, he caught me last night."

Michaels rolled his eyes and muttered "Trust a CIA agent" under his breath. Out loud he asked "Don't you think this is a little dangerous for a civilian?"