Disruption (17 page)

“This is your new weapon, son.” He shot a blast of water that hit me in the side of the face and then thrust the plastic weapon toward me. “You’ll be using this until I see that you know proper holding and handling techniques.” He indicated the door to the shooting range. “Get going.”

I made it a few steps before Fargas called after me, “And remember, Cambridge, it’s loaded.”

It probably wouldn’t have been so bad except the rest of the campers in the shooting range kept calling me
Squirt—
a nickname I’m pretty sure Juno started.

I was learning, I told myself. And if being a spy meant getting teased for a few weeks, I could take it. As dorky as I felt holding a water gun designed for three-year-old girls, I did exactly as Fargas told me, and by the end of the lesson, after being yelled at only a half dozen times, Fargas seemed to notice.

“Not bad, Cambridge,” he said. “That’s the proper way to hold a gun. Next lesson, maybe I’ll bring you one of those guns that shoots marshmallows.”

Goody.

*****

That evening I went for another “walk” and, as soon as it was dark enough, ducked into the woods near the archery range. I found the same spot I’d used before and quickly dialed Jason’s number.

“Dude,” Jason said, “you don’t tell a guy that ‘someone’s coming’ and then hang up and not call back for a full twenty-four hours. I thought you were dead, bro.”

“Sorry,” I said, recalling how I’d ended the last conversation I had with Jason. “It was a deer.”

“What was?”

“The person I thought was coming. Last night when I hung up on you.”

“The deer was a person? What are you talking about, Cambridge?”

I groaned. “It doesn’t matter. What did you find out?”

“Nothing, man. I even went to see your dad and asked him if I could see the brochure on the camp. I told him my dad was thinking of sending me there next year. He told me he didn’t have one, and that it probably wasn’t the best fit for me anyway.” He laughed. “I don’t think your dad likes me very much.”

“Well, you
are
a terrible influence.”

“That’s true,” Jason said, “but listen, I have another idea. A CIA camp isn’t going to advertise itself. But there might be some information on the people running it. That might be helpful for you, right?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Of course it would.”

“Thought so,” Jason said. “So I was thinking, you know how there’s that program online where you click on a picture and it finds the same face anywhere else online?”

“Um, I remember you showing that to me last summer. But I also remember that you tried to find pictures of yourself and ended up getting a dozen pictures of Harry Styles back.”

“Can I help it if I’m a heartthrob?” Jason laughed and then stopped abruptly. “Seriously, though, it’s gotten a lot better.”

“So you want me to . . . what?”

“Send me pictures,” Jason said. “Send me pictures of the leaders, of the campers, of anyone you can get a picture of, and I’ll check it out on the web. Maybe I’ll find something.”

“Yeah, right.” I said, “I’m not supposed to have a phone at all. If I start walking around snapping pictures, someone’s probably going to notice, and I’ll just get kicked out.”

“So do it at night or something. If you want me to figure anything out, we need to start somewhere.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Jason asked a dozen other questions about the camp and laughed at me for almost slicing my finger off. “Who doesn’t know how to hold a gun?” he’d asked, as if he knew exactly how to hold and shoot one. I could hear the jealousy in his voice though, so I didn’t bother calling him on that comment. When I hung up, I sat down on a log and just listened to the forest. With the exception of the wind whipping through a few of the branches, there wasn’t a single noise.

As much as I’d love to see what Jason could dig up about some of my fellow campers, I didn’t want to risk getting kicked out.

A bit longer, I decided. I’d just keep going the way I was going and see if I could figure it out on my own. That, or figure out another way to get Jason some images.

Chapter 26

Between self-defense, making fake IDs, and the shooting range (where I had worked my way up to a BB gun), the days came and went at a crazy pace. I didn’t realize it was Friday until I woke up to Juno talking about how fun it was going to be to destroy everyone in Capture the Flag.

“That’s today?” I asked.

“As if you could forget,” Juno said.

I rubbed my eyes. “Of course not.”

“You better not have forgotten,” Rylee piped up. “We need to go over strategy.”

“Strategy . . . right. Um, yeah . . .”

“I have some thoughts, if you want,” Rylee said. She turned to Yaakov. “Can you get an image of where we’re playing?”

Yaakov tsked. “Of course.” His fingers blurred across his keyboard.

“Have you done this before?” I asked. “Played Capture the Flag at one of these camps, I mean.”

“I have,” Amara said.

“So have I,” Rylee added.

Yaakov shook his head. “Never at one of the camps. If you’re not on the Delta team, it’s all about luck to get picked up as an extra.”

“Do you have anyone in mind for the extras?” Juno asked. “Because I’ve seen a couple kids on our team who look like they can probably handle themselves.”

I remembered Rob, Alexis, and Duncan. I owed them for nabbing Chase’s phone for me. Besides, the way they always snuck up on me and disappeared whenever anyone wandered by probably meant they were pretty good at sneaking around. “I have an idea for three of them,” I said. “How many extras do we get?”

The door to the cabin swung open and Counselor Clakk entered. She hadn’t bothered with us much since we’d fought Chase’s team on the path, except once or twice when she warned me to stay clear of Mr. Smith. I got the impression she had gone to bat for us, to make it so that one incident didn’t result in any expulsions. Occasionally, during meals mostly, she’d catch my gaze and toss out a warning look, but for the most part, she hadn’t been around. That was probably the reason most of us jumped when she marched in.

“You’ll get an additional twenty teammates.” She spoke as if she’d been part of the conversation from the start, and I immediately wondered if the room was bugged or if she’d been lurking outside listening in to the conversation through the door. Either way, I made a mental note to be careful about what I said from then on and to ask Yaakov to do another search of the room for listening devices.

Ms. Clakk strolled around the room, looking at each of us with an expectant expression. “Well?” Her gaze locked on me like a missile. “What’s the plan? Have you worked out a strategy?”

Sure, I wanted to say, we get the flags off everyone else before they get ours. But being snarky would probably get me in trouble, and besides, there was something about Ms. Clakk that made me squirm.

I cleared my throat. “We were just finalizing that.” I looked around the room, pleased to see the rest of the team nodding. If nothing else, the CIA picked kids who are excellent liars.

Ms. Clakk folded her arms across her chest. “Do I need to remind you that the events at this camp are elimination events?”

“No, ma’am,” I said, even though I had no idea what she was talking about.

“Good.” She drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “Listen, I know this isn’t a camp for novices. In the incredibly unlikely event that you make it to the end and win, you will actually be in the field doing
real
missions.” She shook her head and muttered, “Lord help us.” She blew out a quick breath and continued. “Because of that, I’m not interested in holding your hands. You can either do it, or you can’t. Though I have to admit, after that scene on the path a few days ago, I have reservations about your judgment.” She slowly swept her gaze over each of us. “All of your judgments.”

“We’re taking it seriously,” I said. “We want to win.”

“We
plan
to win,” Rylee added.

“I’ll be sure to hold my breath,” Ms. Clakk said, rolling her eyes. “More to the point, I want to stress the importance of being
aware
during the Delta events. Things are not always as they seem.” She pointed at me. “Obviously, as you experienced, there was more to the soccer ball challenge than just kicking it into a net. You’d be wise to remember that.” She did an about-face and paced across the cabin, only to turn again and pace back. “But Capture the Flag is pretty straightforward: go get the other team’s flag, bring it back to your base, and protect your flag at all costs.” She pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow. “You know that, right?”

I wanted to say, “Capture the Flag? Isn’t that the game with horseshoes?” Did she think I was a complete moron? Every kid over the age of eight was familiar with Capture the Flag.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said instead. “I do.”

She nodded. “Good. Just pick your team carefully.” She looked at her watch and tapped the digital face. “Noon,” she said. “Have your team gathered at the soccer field at noon. Understood?”

I nodded. Without another word, Ms. Clakk marched out of the cabin and disappeared down the path.

“She hates us,” I said. “And she must think we’re a bunch of idiots.”

“She’s just trying to prepare us,” Rylee said.

“I agree,” Amara added. “It’s like she said, if we can’t handle a couple of simple competitions, we’re just not ready for real missions.”

“No,” Angie said, “I think there’s more to it than that. I think she genuinely hates Matt. But I’m pretty sure she likes me.”

“Well, who wouldn’t?” Juno said in a matter-of-fact tone. “You’re incredibly friendly. You and Clakk are like kindred spirits.”

“Careful,” Angie said. “I don’t like sarcastic people, and I haven’t stabbed anyone in a really long time.”

I glanced at Rylee. She mouthed the word “psychopath” and rolled her eyes.

“See what I mean?” Juno said, glancing around at the rest of us. “You can’t buy that kind of friendship.”

“All right,” I said, “no one’s stabbing anyone today. At least not anyone on our own team.” I thought it was obvious I wasn’t being serious, but saw Angie give a resigned nod, as if I might have just given her the okay to stab someone on another team, so I added, “Let’s just not stab anyone at all. Got it?”

She plopped down on her bed and folded her arms.

“Okay, I’m open to suggestions. Who has an idea for strategy for today’s event?”

Rylee stepped up. “I do.”

“Of course you do,” Angie muttered.

Rylee ignored her and began to lay out her plan. It was like listening to a football coach explain the most complicated play in history. There was lots of talk about flanking and something about a hammer and anvil.

When she was done, I shook my head. “I don’t think so, Rylee.”

Her face sank. “It’ll work, Matt. I know it will.”

“Don’t you think it’s a little too complicated?” Amara asked.

“I don’t think it’s complicated at all,” Rylee grumbled.

“I do,” Angie said. “Can’t we just rush in and take the flag and rush out?”

“Oh, that’ll be smart,” Juno said, sarcastically. He turned to me. “If we go in without a plan, we’re screwed. They’ll pick us off like college students near a bell tower.”

Amara offered a suggestion that Juno insisted was suicide. Then Rylee tried to re-suggest her plan with some modifications, only to be shot down by Angie, who called it “stupid” rather than complicated. In seconds, the cabin had erupted into a frenzy, and every one of my teammates was shouting and looked ready to start swinging. Even Yaakov, who I didn’t think would be interested in this kind of thing at all, was making wild hand gestures and shouting along with everyone else.

While they fought I thought about what an idiot I was going to look like. When I played Capture the Flag back home, it was way less intense. For one thing, we didn’t do it with paintball guns, and for another, we mostly used the strategy Angie had suggested: rush in, steal the flag, and rush back before the other team made it back to their base. There was only one thing that would come from me directing my teammates during this challenge: I’d show everyone how much of an amateur I really was.

“Enough!” I hollered. “What is wrong with you guys? It’s just a game of Capture the Flag.”

Rylee humphed
.
“Yeah, it’s an
elimination
game.” She said the word like it was a curse. “So pardon me for wanting to make sure we don’t do something stupid and come in last.”

“We wouldn’t have had a shot with your plan,” Angie said.

Rylee spun around, her finger pointed and her face twisted into an angry sneer.

“Stop!” I said before she could speak. “Just stop.” I shook my head. “You guys are nuts. Now listen, I have a plan.” Which probably surprised them as much as it had surprised me moments before when I’d come up with it. “I’ve been thinking about it for days,” I lied.

“You have?” Rylee asked. “A minute ago I thought you were confused about what Capture the Flag was.”

I dismissed Rylee with a wave of my hand. “Ms. Clakk said we get to add twenty campers to our team, right?” My teammates nodded. “So here’s what I suggest. Rylee, you are going to work with Juno and Yaakov. Make a plan; implement it. You get to pick seven other campers to join your team.” I turned, not giving Rylee a chance to interject. “Amara, you and Angie are a team. You guys also get to pick seven campers.”

“And you?” Rylee asked. “What’ll you be doing?”

“I’ll choose the remaining six, who will stay back and guard the flag while I go out on my own and try to kill as many of the other players as I can.” Or, in other words, I’d find a really cool hiding place and only shoot people when I was sure I could hit them.

“Oh, brother,” Angie said, “are you seriously trying to be one of those stupid lone-wolf Deltas who thinks they’re hot stuff? Because if you are, it would be a lot more convincing if you didn’t have two black eyes and a bandaged hand.”

“That’s true,” Amara added. “It’s hard to really trust in your abilities when I’m pretty sure the only fight you won was against that girl you bashed with your shoe.”