The Doublecross (23 page)

The cheerleading squad was just one part of all the preplanning that had to be done. We also needed a new device from Ben, one that he'd stayed up all night—literally—to invent. Clatterbuck, dressed as a sandwich cart guy, delivered it to me the following morning. He handed it off while pretending to sell me a grilled cheese on whole wheat (which was delicious). I couldn't use Ben's creation right away, of course—the HITS guys would notice. I'd have to plug it in at the last possible moment. Ben called it the BENoculars, which I thought was a pretty clever name.

Finally, on the night before my plan truly went into action, Kennedy and I were in the Disguise Department. I was pretending to tutor her on artificial beard application. Secretly, we were stuffing our backpacks full of supplies we'd need the following day.

“Think we need a neck prosthetic?” Kennedy whispered while dabbing spirit gum along her jawline. She had half a long bristly beard on, and it looked pretty excellent except that it was on a nine-year-old girl.

“I think so,” I answered. “Take two just in case. Is the cheerleading routine done?”

“We've practiced every day this week. We're really good! I wish we could go compete somewhere. I think we'd do
okay. I mean, we probably wouldn't place, but still. Walter does this really cool stunt with one of the girl chess players.”

“I'm sorry I'll miss it,” I told her.

“It's okay. You're sort of saving our parents and all,” Kennedy answered. “Besides, I think we're going to get it on video.”

The next morning I got up early. I wasn't going to class today, but I needed to make it look like I was. I packed my bag carefully, putting everything we'd stolen from the Disguise Department into the main section. At eight o'clock, I put on the League com unit to check in with everyone like we'd planned.

“It's Hale. Everyone here?”

Ben, Beatrix, and Kennedy said hello, then Clatterbuck, who added, “And Dr. Oleander is here with me. Her com got broken last night, so—”

“
You
broke my com last night,” I heard Oleander say in a very firm voice.

“I thought they were waterproof!” Clatterbuck protested.

“Anyway,”
Ben said, then cleared his throat. “League base to field agents—let's get started.”

Mission: Figure out Project Groundcover/Save Beatrix/
Save the new recruits/Escape SRS
Step 1: Install the BENoculars

The BENoculars were maybe Ben's most clever invention yet. They looked like an air freshener, the kind you plug into the wall. They were actually some sort of wireless signal device. When combined with a tiny unnoticeable program Beatrix had written and installed on the SRS computers, they would transmit a signal that would give Ben access to SRS's security cameras. Of all the million and a half parts this plan involved, the BENoculars were the piece I had the most confidence in. After all, Ben's devices had never failed me before. I plugged them into an outlet in my dorm room.

“All right,” Ben said through my com unit. “I see that
they're plugged in. The cameras are trying to load. They're loading. I think they're loading. Hang on—my computer froze.”

I groaned and wondered if maybe I could steal a new SRS laptop to replace one of the ancient ones The League was still using.

“Got them!” Ben said triumphantly. “Wait, no. They went out again. I think you need to plug them in somewhere else. The signal just isn't able to make it through all the walls where you are. Go someplace big and open.”

“The cafeteria?” Kennedy said over the com, her voice a little lost in the chatter from all the cheerleaders. The cheerleading squad's debut performance would take place during lunch today, which meant they'd get out of class early to get ready.

Beatrix, however, was on the command deck with the HITS guys, just as she was most days, so she had to whisper, “The cafeteria is too low, probably.”

“Hang on,” I said. I rooted through my trash can and removed the aluminum foil wrapper that Clatterbuck gave me with my sandwich at his pretend food truck. I tore along the edges until it was a circle, and then curved it into a cone shape. With a little tape, I stuck it on top of the BENoculars, where the scent would come out if it were actually an air freshener.

“Try now,” I instructed Ben.

“Hey! That did it. What'd you do?”

“Boosted the antennae. Do you have eyes on everything?”

“Pulling them up now . . . yes. I've got every camera at SRS, as far as I can tell. Including one in an office—oh, gross, that guy is picking his nose! Oh, now he's—Oh, that is so gross—”

“Focus, Ben,” I reminded him. I double-checked that the utility belt was hidden by my shirt, and then I left my dorm room. I tucked the com bracelet under my sleeve, hiding the earring by pretending I was scratching my neck whenever someone passed me in the hallway. I glanced up at the hallway camera as I walked past it.

“I see you, Hale,” Ben said. “All right—go ahead and head toward the closet to wait. You've got plenty of time. Beatrix, have the HITS guys noticed the signal from the BENoculars?”

“Nope, they don't even know to look for it. Don't forget, Hale, that SRS can still see you on the cameras too. Go ahead and head toward the bathroom.”

“On my way,” I said, and went down to the administrative wing. There I swung into one of the bathrooms and waited by the sinks.

Step 2: Wait

This was the hard part—there was nothing more for me to do. I had to sit back and let everyone else play their parts
for the next few minutes. I took a deep breath and leaned against the row of sinks.

“How are the new recruits holding up, Kennedy?” Ben asked.

“They're good. Nervous, but good. I think everyone else just thinks they're nervous about the performance. Walter is calming some of them down,” she said. “Is it time for me to go get Beatrix?”

Ben said, “Yep, go ahead.” Then he quickly doubled back, his voice sinking. “
Whoa
, everyone. Major problem—Fishburn hasn't left his office yet.”

I put a hand to my forehead. Everything would fall apart if Fishburn didn't go to the cheerleading performance.

Step 3: Break into Fishburn's office (and don't get killed doing it)

“Okay, okay, let me think,” I muttered at the empty bathroom. No one was free, exactly, to go off script and come get Fishburn. Except maybe . . . “Walter,” I said. “Walter will have to come get him. Kennedy, can you tell him?”

“Hey, Walter! Dr. Fishburn isn't here yet. Can you go get him?” Kennedy immediately shouted above the fray. On the coms, everyone was silent; I wished that, like Ben, I could see the expression on Walter's face. Of all the people to go off script . . .

“Sure,” Walter's voice rang across Kennedy's com.

“He's going—Hale, he's running,” Ben said, sounding satisfied.

“Right,” Kennedy said. With both Kennedy and Walter gone from the cafeteria, the noise on the coms faded into uneasy silence. I could hear the muffled sound of Walter's feet slapping against the floor, which grew louder as he neared me. I stepped up so I could see the hallway, and we made brief eye contact as he flew past the bathroom door.
You can do it, Walter. Don't get nervous . . .
He didn't even have to
lie
to Fishburn, really, since
You're late for the cheerleading performance!
was the truth. But based on what I saw back at Nelson Sports Academy, he still could choke.

Ben narrated. “He's at the office, Hale. Okay, he's going in . . . talking to Fishburn—yes! Fishburn's up, they're leaving, now Fishburn's locking his door. Wow, Walter looks relieved—”

“He and I both,” I said, though I couldn't deny I felt kind of proud of Walter. I waited until I heard Walter and Fishburn dash past the door to let out the deep breath I'd been holding.

Ben reappeared on the com. “All right, Fishburn is nearly to the cafeteria. Hale, hold your position. Kennedy, time to clear out the HITS room—”

“You're supposed to be in
uniform
, Beatrix! And you guys are all supposed to be in the cafeteria for the performance!” Kennedy shrieked into her com unit. Well, not exactly over her com unit—she was saying this to Beatrix and the HITS
guys. My com unit was suddenly filled first with the sound of grumbling, and then with the sound of computers chiming as they were shut down and locked up.

“Oh, come on! I don't want to go!” Beatrix answered.

“You have to. You promised!” Kennedy argued with her for the benefit of the HITS audience. “Go change, fast. We're starting in one minute.”

“Fine, fine,” Beatrix said. The sound of the cafeteria crowd grew louder in my com unit. A minute passed, then another—we were now officially behind schedule. I forced myself to breathe slower, waiting for Ben's cue . . .

“Hale, you're clear to go to the office,” Ben said.

I walked from the bathroom down the hall, then stopped in front of Fishburn's now-darkened and locked office. This was it.

“All right, ready, everyone?” Kennedy called out to the other cheerleaders. The crowd hushed.

“Stand by, Hale,” Ben said. A click, and suddenly an explosive remixed pop song raged over my headset. I couldn't hear Ben anymore, couldn't hear anything but the thud of the bass and pounding melody. I had to trust my gut—it was time.

I withdrew the RoBEN from my utility belt and wound the little bird up. I set it on the office window ledge and then backed up, pinning my palms to my ears. The RoBEN screeched, a sound so impossibly high that it made my sinuses hurt. Just like Ben promised, the window shattered
into a thousand tiny pieces that fell to the floor like bits of rock candy.

“You're a genius, Ben,” I said into my com, though I didn't know if he'd heard me, since at that exact moment the alarms went off. Lights flared, sirens wailed, and I knew every single room at SRS had identical alarms going off—letting the entire building know of a Gold Level security breach.

I didn't care.

I mean, I did, but what I
really
cared about? The thick stack of papers just ahead, resting patiently on Fishburn's printer.

Groundcover.

“All right, Hale, it looks like the HITS guys are running back to their desks . . . Yep. They see that it's you on cameras four and five. For what it's worth, they look more concerned than angry,” Ben muttered in my ear. I could barely hear him over the noise on everyone else's coms. I reached through the broken window, unlocked Fishburn's door, and ran inside. I snatched the stack of still-warm papers from the printer. I badly, badly wanted to look at them, but it wasn't exactly a good time to sit down and do some reading.

“Got the file,” I answered. I tucked the papers under my arm and hurried back into the hall, away from the cafeteria.

“Perfect. Uncle Stan, you're in position, right?” Ben asked.

“Dr. Oleander and I are pulling into Castlebury now, Ben, and awaiting your order!” Clatterbuck said brightly.

“Good. All right, Hale, it looks like Fishburn is about to make an announce—”

Ben was cut off by the sound of Fishburn's voice. “Attention, SRS: Hale Jordan has violated a Gold Level security entrance. Please locate and detain Hale Jordan at once. All senior and junior agents on deck.
Hale Jordan
.” He said my name the last time like he couldn't believe it. And from the murmuring I heard over Kennedy's com, no one else could believe it either.

Step 4: Hide the new recruits in plain sight

“All right, how are we looking, Kennedy?” Ben asked her.

“Hale!” Kennedy screeched, and for a second my heart stopped—but then she went on, and I realized she was yelling for effect. People had to be staring at her right now, what with her brother being the subject of a manhunt and all. “How could he? Ugh—come on, Walter. Help me find him before he does something stupider.” Her voice was gravelly and rageful, almost unrecognizably so. I heard Walter shout in agreement.

“Good job, Kennedy,” Ben said. “Now you and Walter have to get out of there. That Quaddlebaum woman is heading your way to collect all the new recruits,” Ben said urgently.

“Come on, everyone—let's go look upstairs. I just want to find him before everyone else—maybe there's a reason. There'd
better
be a reason,” Kennedy fumed loudly. “Hurry—we've got to
run
.” The last word was full of weight for the new recruits.

“Perfect,” Ben said. “Hale, the SRS cheerleading squad has split up into four separate search parties.”

“Can you tell which one has Kennedy and Walter and the recruits?” I asked.

“Not really. They all look the same in their uniforms. The recruits should be out of the building and to you, Uncle Stan, in thirty seconds,” Ben said, sounding pleased. “Fishburn is on his way back to you, Hale. Let's get you out. Take a right and go back toward the cafeteria, and you should be able to avoid the closest pack of agents,” Ben said over the com. I nodded and jumped back into the hall.

Step 5: Get the recruits (and myself) as far away from SRS as possible

“How're we doing with the recruits?” I whispered into my headset as I hurried along the hallway. I could hear voices a few halls over, but I had to trust that Ben would guide me along.

“We're loading up now!” Clatterbuck said. If all had gone according to plan, he was just outside SRS's cafeteria loading docks in a giant yellow school bus, dressed up as its
driver. I wondered if Oleander had arrived in costume as well. Somehow, I doubted it.

“We're out, Hale,” Kennedy said.

“Everyone's safe?” I asked.

“I'm on board,” Beatrix said.

“All here, Hale,” Walter said after a brief rustling from him putting his com on. “But my mom figured out that all the recruits are missing. She tried to run after us but couldn't figure out which group of cheerleaders the recruits were from the back, so I think she went to tell Fishburn and the HITS guys that she doesn't have them.”