Spy School Project X: A fan teaser

Chapter 6 - CONTACT

June 21

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

Atlanta, Georgia

1800 hours

I took off towards the entrance of the airport, leaving my friends standing around the car in confusion.

"Hey, where are you going Ben?!" Mike shouted.

I flipped around so that I was now running backwards. "I just saw Murray! I'm going after him!" Then I turned around and resumed sprinting towards the big sliding doors.

I could hear Erica issuing orders behind me. "Everyone split up! One person at each exit of the airport! Understood?" It seemed like only a few seconds had passed after she had said this when I noticed her running next to me out of the corner of my eye.

"How'd you catch up so fast?" I asked, gasping for breath.

"I'm in way better shape than you," Erica responded. "Plus I got way more sleep than you did last night." We entered the airport and slowed down momentarily to scan the area. I looked in the direction of where I'd spotted Murray and caught a glimpse of him, just as he went out of sight around a corner. Erica and I gave chase. When we rounded the corner, Murray was shoving his way through the line at the baggage drop. Once he got to the front, he leaped onto the conveyor belt and disappeared out of sight.

"Hey!" the baggage claim employee shouted after him. "You're not allowed back there!" She was caught off guard even more when Erica and I proceeded to do exactly what Murray had just done. "Now wait a minute!" 

She gave up trying to stop us as we hopped onto the belt in pursuit. The conveyor belt stopped a few seconds later, most likely because she had shut it off. Further down the tunnel, I heard Murray scrambling away. Erica began running after him. Well, it was more of a hunched-over run, since the tunnel had been designed for suitcases rather than people. I was right on her heels. 

"Woah!" I heard Murray exclaim. This was followed by an "Ow!" and the distinct sound of Murray smacking into the ground. Suddenly, the tunnel slanted down at a steep angle and we began sliding. After a few seconds, it gave way completely and we dropped six feet into a large glass box with no top. Erica landed gracefully on the floor. Then I landed on her. We both tumbled across the floor before crashing into one of the walls of the box, Erica ending up on top. She quickly stood up and took in our surroundings. Murray was nowhere to be seen. A look of confusion developed on her face as she observed the large glass container we were in.

"What the-" she began. She was cut short by a loud thud. We looked up to find that the top of the previously topless box was now on top. Erica's eyes immediately grew wide as she realized we were trapped. I suppose mine did too. She lowered her shoulder and rammed one of the walls, but it didn't budge. I stood up to help, but even our combined force had no effect. We frantically continued to do this until Murray came into view, strutting like a wild turkey.

"Well, well, well," he said smugly. "How the tables have turned."

"Let us out of here, you sleezeball," I growled.

"Oh, I'd be happy to," Murray replied. "Just not right now."

Erica angrily drew her pistol and began firing it right at Murray's face. The glass wall absorbed the bullets though, and Murray laughed. There was a hiss of air as the box began filling with a white gas. My eyelids immediately felt heavy.

"Night night, Ben," I heard Murray say. Then everything went black.