The others emerged from the woods behind her. Chip and Zoe came first, having disobeyed my orders to evacuate. “Don’t worry,” Zoe told me. “Murray’s tied up nice and tight.”
“Even Warren can’t let him escape,” Chip said.
Hank and Claire were next. They were holding hands. “Where’s the bad guy?” Hank asked.
Erica pointed toward the base of the cliff. “Down there somewhere.”
Claire whistled appreciatively. “You Yanks don’t like to take anyone out the easy way, do you?” she asked. “No sense in shooting someone when you can pitch them over a cliff.”
“Are you two a couple now?” I asked.
“They’ve been a couple ever since London,” Chip said.
Hank turned to his brother, surprised. “How did you know? We were trying to keep it a secret.”
“It wasn’t that hard,” Chip said. “Every time anyone got upset with Claire, you took her side. Obviously, you two were into each other.”
Hank laughed and gave his brother a pat on the back. It seemed he’d come to respect Chip a lot more over their ordeal.
Alexander and Cyrus were the last to emerge from the trees. Cyrus had been worked over even worse than Erica, but the man was as tough as they came. Alexander still had to help him though, taking his weight as he limped through the woods. “What happened?” Cyrus asked. “Don’t tell me we missed the show.”
“Sorry, Grandpa,” Erica said. “Bad guy’s gone. Ben and Jawa got him.”
Cyrus looked us up and down, then smiled. “You kids have all done the world a great service this evening,” he said. Then he looked to Alexander. “And I mean all of you. Unfortunately, the way these things work, few people will ever hear of what actually went down tonight, let alone know the part you played in it. But I, for one, am honored to have worked with all of you.”
Everyone beamed at this, thrilled for the praise.
Cyrus let us bask in our victory for three seconds. Then he said, “Okay, enough self-congratulation. This Joshua Hallal character couldn’t possibly have been the big brains of SPYDER. The kid was far too young. Which means that whoever’s running the show is still at large—and as long as they’re out there, they’re going to be trouble. So come on, kids. We’ve still got plenty of work cut out for us.”
With Alexander’s help, he trudged back into the forest. Everyone obediently followed.
Except me. I turned back to the cliff and stared down into the woods where Joshua Hallal had vanished.
And Erica. She stood beside me, staring into the void as well. “I owe you my life, Ripley,” she said.
“No,” I said. “You owe your father.”
“Who would never have found us if it wasn’t for you. And he certainly wouldn’t have figured out how to stop those missiles, either.” Erica turned to me. “In fact, I’m not sure I could have stopped them. How’d you do it?”
I thought about using the Alexander Hale method again, concocting a tale that would make me sound brave and smart and cool under pressure. Instead, I used the Benjamin Ripley method and told the truth. “I just unplugged the system.”
Erica stared at me for a moment. And then she laughed. I’d never heard her do this before. It was surprisingly childlike, a sweet little titter that revealed the girl beneath her tough exterior. “Ripley,” she said. “You’re one of a kind.”
At that moment, I didn’t care if the president or anyone else ever found out that I’d thwarted SPYDER’s plans. I didn’t care if Alexander Hale stole the credit from me again. Erica Hale knew what I’d done, and that was all that mattered. Her laughter was the greatest reward I could have ever asked for.
“By the way,” Erica said, “happy birthday.”
I glanced at my watch, startled to see it was well after midnight. With all the excitement, I’d actually lost track of what time it was. I wasn’t sure which was more startling to me: the fact that I’d forgotten it was my own birthday—or that Erica had remembered.
“Thanks,” I said.
“I didn’t exactly have time to shop, given the kidnapping and all, so I got you this.” Erica pressed something into my hand.
To my surprise, it was a human tooth. There was a tiny bit of blood at the end, as though it had just been forcibly removed from someone’s mouth.
“Is this Murray’s?” I asked.
Erica smiled. “I told him that if SPYDER ever messes with you again, he’s gonna lose a lot more than that.”
It was certainly the most disgusting present I’d ever received. And yet, I couldn’t help being touched by the sentiment behind it. “Thanks,” I said.
“Could you give me a little help getting back?” Erica asked.
“Of course,” I told her. Then I wrapped my arm around her waist to take her weight, and we started through the woods together.
From:
Office of Intelligence Coordination
The White House
Washington, DC
To:
||||| || ||||||||||||
Director of Internal Investigations
CIA Headquarters
Langley, Virginia
Classified Documents Enclosed
Security Level AA2
For Your Eyes Only
After reading the enclosed transcript, it is evident that we need to ||||| | ||||||| |||| |||| |||||||||| No expense must be spared to root out any agents within the CIA who are secretly working for SPYDER. To that end, I recommend | |||| ||||| | |||||| || ||||||||||||||| |||||||||| ||||||||||||||| and ||||||||||| ||| ||| ||| ||||.
In addition, we must step up our efforts to determine the identities of the leadership of SPYDER before said organization can wreak any more havoc. To that end, I believe that Benjamin Ripley should be |||| || | ||||||| ||| ||||| ||||||||| though he need not be informed of this until necessary. Agent ||||| ||||| ||| ||||||||| suggests that young Mr. Ripley may even be of further use against SPYDER, perhaps in Operation Deadly Weasel.
Finally, there is the issue of Erica Hale. Obviously the black mark placed on her record was a mistake. It ought to be expunged and, given her impressive skill set, Ms. Hale should be ||||||||| || ||| ||||||| |||||| ||||||||||||||||||| ||||| against SPYDER.
These actions must take place immediately, if not sooner. SPYDER is a great threat our national security that, if unchecked, may prove the end of our intelligence community—if not our great nation—once and for all.
Hope to see you at the White House barbecue this weekend.
|||||| || |||||||
Director of Covert Affairs
STUART GIBBS has written the screenplays for See Spot Run and Repli-Kate, and has worked on animated films such as Anastasia; Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers; and the Open Season series. He has also developed TV shows for Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, ABC, and Fox. His first novel, Belly Up, was a Junior Library Guild Selection. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two children, Dashiell and Violet. You can learn more about what he’s up to at stuartgibbs.com.
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Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
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Also by Stuart Gibbs
Belly Up
Spy School
SIMON & SCHUSTER BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living
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Copyright © 2013 by Stuart Gibbs
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gibbs, Stuart, 1969–
Spy camp / Stuart Gibbs. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Sequel to: Spy school.
Summary: As almost thirteen-year-old Ben, a student at the CIA’s academy for future intelligence agents, prepares to go to spy summer camp, he receives a death threat from the evil organization SPYDER.
ISBN 978-1-4424-5753-9 (hardcover)
[1. Spies—Fiction. 2. Survival—Fiction. 3. Camps—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.G339236Sm 2013
[Fic]—dc23
2012019416
ISBN 978-1-4424-5755-3 (eBook)
Stuart Gibbs, Spy Camp
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