“He applied almost the same force as I did. He leaned forward at the same time I tried to head-butt him,” Xarrisa said, making excuses. She knew she’d done it wrong. She’d never tried to do it on a real person before.
“I guess that makes sense,” Laura said, shrugging. Just then Katie burst in.
“Come on, guys!” she shouted. “You have to see this!”
“What? What?” the other two asked.
“Black ops agents from the FNTTMS are here! They’re searching for something!”
*******************
Rebecca dropped her jaw. Why is it that all of her friends continuously keep secrets from her? Connor noticed her reaction and dropped his head in embarrassment.
"Your father is the HE?" Rebecca finally asked, stunned.
"Yep."
"And you never told me?" Rebecca nearly screamed. Connor flinched. He knew that making Rebecca mad was not a good idea.
"I would have, but I didn’t find out until today. Honestly, I was debating telling anyone because the GCA and the HIA aren’t exactly friends. I only told you because you deserved to know."
Rebecca paused. He didn’t know until today? He must have figured it out while in the cage. Maybe that was why he was doing so horribly. "Why wouldn't your dad move you up to higher positions?" she questioned.
"I’m not sure, but I think he was afraid that I would find out who he really is.” Connor started to rub his wrists. He did that when he was nervous. Rebecca knew this, because she did it sometimes, too. She'd known him for more than half of her life. She couldn't believe it.
Then Connor began to laugh.
"What?" Rebecca asked.
"I was just thinking, I wonder what my dad's reaction will be once he finds out that I made it into the HIA."
Rebecca smiled, then said, “I wish I could see it.”
Connor smiled with her, laughed with her, then finally started to cry from the pain.
****************
"What are they here for?" Laura asked, looking out the window at the agents from the FNTTMS. They looked nervous and excited, but she didn't know why.
"Agents," Adm. Taylor addressed them. All three of them jumped, not knowing that he was behind them.
They turned around and Xarissa asked, "What do you need us to do?"
"Agent Hill, you need to protect Armaan. They want him. You need to make sure that they can't reach him. Agent Merkley and Agent Pang, you need to find the Wests and defend the door. We're putting the school on lockdown. The other agents will be situated to protect the students, and I'll send as many agents as I can to help you. Before you attack, though, I need to go out there to see if I can appease them. Alright?"
"Yes sir." The three of them replied.
"What do we do if they breach? Do we need to defend Katie and Armaan? Or do we scatter and lead them away from them?" Laura asked.
Adm. Taylor thought for a moment, then said, "If they happen to breach, two of you find Katie and Armaan, the rest of you scatter and defend yourselves. The two of you who find Katie, find a vehicle and bail out. They don't have guns, so don't use yours unless if you absolutely have to. They have Tasers, though, so be careful. Go quickly."
Adm. Taylor then went outside and started to talk to the agents. Laura and Xarissa went to find the Wests, and after they found them and relayed to them the Adm.'s instructions, they heard the school announcing lockdown.
"We need to go. Come on!" Xarissa whispered.
"Into positions!" Laura commanded. Xarissa and the Wests moved to random locations in the front. They had already decided who would find Katie and leave if needed. They heard a gunshot, and then the Ops broke the front door.
****************
The laughter stopped. Conner’s face showed confusion, and Rebecca’s turned from surprise to anger. “Why are we in lockdown?” she asked. “How come nobody came to get me?” She ran to the door.
“Hey, I’m coming too!” Conner said, standing up awkwardly.
“No you’re not!” she yelled back, and opened the door. She gave a quick glance back with a fiery glare and said, “If you step out of this room, I’ll kill you.” Then she ran outside.
Conner sat for a few seconds. He knew he shouldn’t make her angrier than she already was, but it wasn’t her place to tell him what he could or couldn’t do. He was a free agent of the HIA now. “Yah right,” he said, standing. He wasn’t going to sit helplessly on his bed while the school swam in chaos around him. He was going to do what he did best:
Fix things.
****************
Bryan Ross blinked. He almost couldn’t believe it. But then, what had he ever done for his son? What would he do with himself if Conner ever found out the truth? “Thank you,” he said to the agent at the door. As the door closed, he was left alone with his thoughts.
Ever since the accident, Bryan had never given Earl Taylor or anyone in the HIA any support. They used to be best of friends, but then their friendship just…fell apart after Katlynn’s death. How could have it continued? The HIA was the one responsible for her death.
Or was it? Bryan began to doubt himself. All this time, when he thought he had been trying to forgive the HIA, he wondered if he had really been trying to forgive himself. Bryan was the one who sent Katlynn on that mission. She was the most capable agent at the time, and she had wanted to go. Now he blamed himself for letting her go. He should have tried to stop her. He should have been the one in that car.
But if Chief Administrator Earl Taylor knew she was in the car, why did he continue shooting? Why did he send in the helicopter to take it out? He should have known their plans. It made so much sense. If they wanted Faryl Ghoad taken out, they should have gone with the mission and taken him down with the UCAPS when they had sufficient information.
Bryan pulled out a disk and pushed his fingers on the flat top. A virtual screen popped up with classified information. He touched-screened the buttons to spell out his password and opened secret files. He finally found what he wanted and sent a message to the heart of the HIA technology. It read:
“Earl, this is Bryan. We need to talk.”
****************
When Imraan pulled up his brother’s files and turned on the secret cameras, he was surprised by what he saw. Agents in black were swarming the perimeters to the school. There were at least two dozen of them that he could see from the exterior cameras. Was this supposed to be a test? What was going on?
****************
As soon as Rebecca spied the black-clad agents, she knew they weren’t here for a nice chat. She didn’t recognize them, and she didn’t know what corporation they were from, but it didn’t matter to her now. Staying in the shadows, she headed to the nearest weapon’s storage. But that was in Director Bower’s closet, and the way was blocked by three agents in black on the stairs.
****************