MISSION MOONLARK, kotlc

29

As it turned out, Biana knew very well how to steal a car- and she was ecstatic about it.

Correction, Sophie thought to herself, trying to resist the smile she knew was coming. Ecstatic is an understatement.

Fitz had pointed out that Alvuterre had extra night time security, and the best way to hide was in plain sight- a spy fundamental they'd all neglected to use the previous time. After lunch was usually the busiest time- agents were leaving lunch and hurrying to sessions or out of headquarters for missions. And Dex had managed to scramble their Mentor's schedules so they all had free sessions the rest of the day.

Sophie's stomach did backflips as Keefe left that morning, along with Agent Blur. Biana had, likewise, snuck into the car beforehand and duplicated the coordinates for Dex to use later that day- but Sophie couldn't help turning away as Keefe smirked at her, right before the door slammed shut and the car shot down the road.

The rest of the day dragged by painfully slow. Acting casual was definitely not Sophie's specialty- and patience and SF rarely went together in the same sentence, unless somebody was chiding her for being impatient. So when lunch finally came, Sophie wished she could tape her mouth shut.

"I can't wait any longer," Sophie said, dropping her voice as an agent dropped a few ripplefluffs onto her lunch tray.

"You're going to have to," Fitz whispered back, pointing a finger back towards the cafeteria tables.

Stina Heks was right on Dex's tail, bombarding him with questions. From what Sophie could see, he was doing a good job blowing them off- but having an angry agent, even in-training, could definitely ruin their plan.

"He... slipped... beard serum.... Into my... lushberry juice!" Stina seethed, jabbing a thumb at Dex who looked relatively sheepish.

Agent Alexine frowned. "Dex-"

"She put a muskog in my locker!" Dex retorted, drawing himself up indignantly, even though he was inches shorter than Stina.

"Dex!" Sophie interrupted, hurrying over. She glanced between the three of them nervously and added, "Um... we have a session soon. Sorry."

"Agent SF-" Alexine began, as Stina added angrily, "Sophie-"

But Sophie had already pulled him into the nearest deserted hallway, stuffing her ripplefluffs in her mouth and dumping her tray on the way out of the room.

"Sorry!" Dex said defensively, as soon as the door closed. "I couldn't help it, and besides, I didn't know we'd be doing anything today when I put it in last Friday-"

He broke off; the door had opened and Fitz and Biana tip toed inside. Sophie scanned the cafeteria outside the doorway window, relieved to see that Stina had stalked off towards Physic's office and Agent Alexine had gone back to patrolling the lunch area.

"We need to go," Fitz cut in, glancing at the clock. "I glanced at Agent Canton's schedule before I left, and there's a session heading down this hallway in a few minutes."

"The car just got in," Biana added brightly.

Any other day, Sophie would've been concerned for her friend's obsession of car theft- and frappuccinos, for that matter. But the clock was ticking, and a few minutes wasn't a lot...

She closed her eyes, envisioning Alvuterre. The only way to get to the garage was to either go through the cafeteria- which would definitely get them caught -or down the hallway, which wasn't a choice either, as agents-in-training were sure to come marching down the hall any moment now...

"Dex," Sophie whispered, as footsteps sounded closer. "What's the fastest route to the aerial helicopter landing?"