MISSION MOONLARK, kotlc

35

The halls were quiet.

Almost a little... too quiet.

Sophie tried to shove away her suspicions- not to mention the sickening feeling that something was about to go very, very wrong -and instead focused on keeping her face covered with her cloak and remembering where to follow Keefe. Apparently, Neverseen agents rarely walked together- but knowing Sophie's terrible sense of direction, they'd compromised on staying a couple feet apart at all times.

Keefe glanced around and turned to her when nobody was around them. "Okay, Foster. The security room is at the end of this corridor. Follow me."

Sophie gave a brisk nod and hurried to catch up with him. Keefe winked before opening the door at the end of the hallway.

"Hey Agents," Keefe said smoothly, and Sophie had to admire him. Obviously, he'd had plenty of experience with spying- the moment he'd entered the room, his alert had dropped and was replaced with a friendly, chipper, and overall disarming persona. "What's up?"

"KS," the agent on the left said, her voice feminine. "What brings you and your... friend here?"

She glanced at Sophie wearily, who's heart pounded.

"We just got out of session. My..." He hesitated, stealing a quick glance at Sophie, before continuing, "Mom sent me to check in on stuff here. How's everything going?"

"Good," the agent said, her suspicious gaze still not leaving Sophie. "And you are...?"

"Agent FP," Sophie lied. The first thing that came to her head was frappuccino, which she mentally had condensed down to two letters. Clearly, she'd been spending way too much time with Biana.

The agent didn't say anything. Finally, the other agent spoke up. "We are trying to get the security cam from Sophie Foster's interrogation room up and running again. Any ideas?"

Keefe met Sophie's eyes- get going! -then turned back to the other agent. "If she shattered it, I don't think there's much you can do. Maybe you could try salvaging some of the wiring..."

Sophie's eye caught on a ring of keys laying on a table about five feet away from her. She pretended to shift back and forth, slowly inching up to it... but the first agent was still watching her with narrowed eyes...

The other agent laughed. "True. Anyways, that's the least of our worries; Operation Takedown commences tomorrow- and it's sure to make quite the impact on the puny Black Swan.... If you know what I mean."

He winked, and Keefe pretended to laugh- or maybe it was real. Sophie still wasn't sure. Either way, she was grateful for her photographic memory- Operation Takedown? She'd have Dex pull up some files on that- assuming she could save him and her and her friends could get out of this alive.

Sophie glanced at the key- it was probably about a foot away from her. She held her breath and-

Tripped.

Or at least, pretended to.

She faked slipping and landed hard on the table, grabbing the key with her free hand and carefully slipping it into her pocket. All three Neverseen agents turned to her.

"Ow. Sorry," Sophie said, pretending to be embarrassed. She sucked in a breath and gripped her wrist. It wasn't her best acting- but they needed to get out of there. Fast.

"I'll take you to the Healing Center," Keefe offered, his eyes flashing his approval. He turned to the Neverseen agents. "Nice talking to you two. See you tomorrow!"

With a hasty wink, he grabbed onto Sophie's "injured" hand and led her out the door. Sophie willed her palms not to sweat- spoiler alert: they did -as the two slipped into one of the hallway doors without a word. The agents would notice the missing key at some point...

Dex, Fitz, and Biana were all locked in separate cells beside one another, spread out across the far wall.

"Sophie!" Fitz shouted- then noticed Keefe. In particular, Keefe's hand in hers. Sophie dropped it, flushing red.

"What are you doing with... him?" Biana demanded, her eyes narrowing.

Sophie glanced between her friends. "I'll explain later. For now, we have to go. I have the key."

She hastily unlocked their cells. The moment Sophie finished twisting the key on Dex's cell, an alarm sounded, making them all jump. Red lights flashed throughout the room, and a voice sounded loudly on the speakers: "Alert! Intruders in the facility! Prisoners are escaping! Any available agents must head to the West Corridor cellroom immediately!"

Sophie's heart jackhammered, in sync with the blaring siren.

Biana's voice was tiny as she asked, "What do we do now?"

Sophie pretended to think. "How about... run?"