MISSION MOONLARK, kotlc

38

Sophie was almost certain the algebra teacher was a spy.

For starters, they didn't learn much math- or much anything, really. Though, Sophie reasoned, this was high school. After all, your expectations were a bit too high if you were expecting to learn much.

But that wasn't it.

Sophie caught her whispering to what looked like no one more than once- probably a hidden comm. And did normal teachers wearily scan the room or abruptly excuse themselves from the classroom that much? It was all questionable behavior, but there was just as good of a chance that the teacher was a Black Swan spy keeping an eye on Sophie and her friends as it was a Neverseen agent.

A loud bump startled Sophie, followed by a high pitched yelp. A dark haired girl, probably sixteen or seventeen, was on the ground of the hallway, her books scattered across the floor. A surprised Keefe stood over her.

"I'm so sorry!" the girl said, blushing. Her voice was a bit too enthusiastic to be genuine. She leapt to her feet, twirling a strand of hair on one finger and holding out her other hand. "Chloe."

Keefe took a step back, looking uncomfortable. "Um, Keith."

He shook the girl's hand, then pulled back just as quickly, like her obnoxious giggles were contagious. Sophie rolled her eyes. In the short couple of hours they'd been at Foxfire, three girls had "crashed" into Keefe and attempted to flirt with him- oh, and not like she was counting, either.

"Are you going to the football game tonight?" Chloe asked hopefully. Without waiting for an answer, she added, "Great, I'll save you a spot! See you there, Keith."

With one last sickening flutter of her eyelashes, Chloe raced off down the hall.

"Guess we're going to a football game?" Sophie said, the words twisting into a question. Keefe shrugged.

"It's all so stupid. I'm here flirting with girls-"

"I thought they were flirting with you," Sophie said innocently.

"-while my mom and the rest of the Neverseen are off planning the end of the world or whatever. No one believes us about Operation Takedown, and it's supposed to happen today. We have no idea where, when, what-"

Keefe froze. His hand fell to his side. "Oooh."

"What?" Sophie asked. She grabbed his arm and pulled him aside- away from the flow of traffic, where dozens of frantic high schoolers were rushing to their classes. "What is it?"

"The Neverseen agent. You know, the algebra teacher?"

Sophie nodded, bringing a finger to her lips, signalling Keefe to keep his voice down."Couldn't she be a Black Swan agent too?"

Keefe shook his head. "She wouldn't be. The Black Swan's too caught up with the Neverseen right now to send any of them here."

"But... Why would the Neverseen send an agent here? It can't just be because we're here. They would be too busy planning Operation Takedown to deal with us."

"Exactly. They are planning Operation Takedown. It's happening here, at Foxfire. I mean, think about it. They said it'll make quite an 'impact' on the Black Swan."

"A bomb," Sophie guessed.

"Probably," Keefe agreed. "It'll destroy Foxfire of course, and the range will probably stretch out to blow up Alvuterre too."

"And if it can go that far, it'll probably destroy a bunch of other landmarks too. The Empire State, Times Square, I don't know, maybe even the Statue of Liberty..." Sophie shuddered. The pieces fit together eerily perfect.

"So... you're telling us the Neverseen are planning some sort of super bomb?" a voice asked from behind them.

Sophie whirled around, ready for a fight- but it was only Fitz, Dex, and Biana, eavesdropping from around the corner.

"Did you hear the whole thing?" Sophie whispered, suddenly aware of how loud they'd been talking.

"Yeah, just the part about the secret Neverseen agent planning to blow up half of New York," Fitz hissed back.

"Okay, so we know where it's happening, and what it is... but when?" Dex added. "It could be anytime."

Biana snapped, her head popping up in realization. "Takedown. Like, football?"

"The football game," Sophie breathed, feeling sick. "It's terrifyingly smart."

"And the algebra teacher can't be the only spy," Fitz put in. "We have to look for more."

The group nodded their agreement.

"So is it settled? We think of a plan, look for covert agents, and try to defuse a bomb before it blows up New York?"

Sophie forced a nod. This was going to be a long day.