I have no idea Randy said It was humiliating You’re a decorated war hero and they put you in that stupid school kitchen with the hairnet and the Tater Tots What a waste This promotion was long overdue You deserve to be director of the National Espionage Rescue and Defense Society so take it easy Thanks for the pep talk guys but I’m fine the principal said I’ve got to get back to work See you next week Not if we see you first Barry said as he slunk out the window The others vanished through the air ducts and into the filing cabinet In the blink of an eye they were gone The principal put the upended coatrack back in its place adjusted his portrait of the president of the United States on the wall and gathered what was left of his office supplies He looked at the stack of paperwork on his desk and sighed Truth was he didn’t know how to take it easy He did miss the adventure of the field There was nothing as satisfying as the sound of a bad guy’s nose breaking beneath his fist But what he really missed was well if anyone found out he would be the laughing stock of the espionage community He crossed the room to a small file cabinet locked tight with fourteen different dead bolts He fished seven of the keys out of his pockets opened the hollow heel in his left shoe for another found two in between his big toe and his second toe and four more in a secret pocket at the base of his pant leg When he had unlocked all the bolts he opened the cabinet and pulled out his most prized possessions a spatula a pair of orthopedic sneakers a hairnet and a flowery smock
He caressed them lovingly Why was it so hard to let go of his previous job as the school’s lunch lady Why did he miss the heat lamps corn nuggets and fish surprise Suddenly the phone rang It wasn’t the phone on his desk It was the phone He stuffed his kitchen tools back in the cabinet and raced to his desk Underneath his coffee mug was a glowing red button He slammed it hard with the palm of his hand and watched as his drab poorly decorated office went through a dramatic transformation The yellowing walls flipped over to reveal banks of computers and electronic maps of the world His ancient clunky desk sank into the floor and was replaced with a blinking beeping control panel The grimy ceiling fan collapsed in on itself and a large television monitor took its place The glossy black screen blinked to life and his boss a tough-as-nails five-star general named Savage appeared on it the principal’s record look downright cowardly Rumors claimed the general once got out of a pit of quicksand just by threatening it Savage’s reputation as a fearless soldier made The principal wasn’t the kind of man to gasp but the news of such a brazen crime took his breath away When How Who Now however Savage’s massive bullet-shaped head looked sweaty and his tiny eyes shifted nervously Hello Director I wish I had time for chitchat but we have a crisis on our hands that needs your team’s attention What is it sir We have it from good sources that the president’s daughter Tessa Lipton is about to be kidnapped
Savage’s massive head dissolved and was replaced with an image of the complete opposite a sweet cheerful-looking twelve-year-old girl with a grin as big as the midwestern sky Her image morphed into a photo of an ultramodern building We don’t know the when or how but we think we have a where Sugarland Academy a very prestigious prep school for the children of political bigwigs and power brokers It’s here in Arlington I know the lunch lady over there the principal said The Did you say you know the lunch lady there the general security is top-notch asked Um we used to trade recipes Okaaaaay Savage said slowly Anyway Sugarland has its own twelve-officer police department that cooperates with Tessa’s four-man Secret Service detail That’s a lot of eyeballs on one person the principal said Who would even try to kidnap her The image was replaced with a photo of a woman wearing a black mask with a white skull painted on it The principal scowled Ms Holiday She’s calling herself Miss Information now Savage said We managed to get a mole inside her organization He called it chaotic filled with hundreds of scientists working on thousands of schemes aimed at every corner of the world It’s really breathtaking how quickly she’s put this thing together And she’s had us running ragged ever since the principal growled I’ve had to split the team to handle it all What else is this mole saying
Nothing He’s dead We found his remains in the belly of a beached great white shark this morning We’ve alerted the president He and the First Lady are beside themselves with worry If the commander in chief’s own daughter can be kidnapped what does it say about our national security The principal nodded This is not going to be easy for us General It will be tough to keep an eye on Tessa without her or the president knowing about it The founders of this team were very concerned about staying out of the political maneuverings of whoever is running the country If the politicians were to find out we had a superteam at their disposal the kids lives would be turned upside down Then I suggest the kids keep their powers to themselves No upgrades the principal said Good idea sir I’ll have And leave the crazy one at home The principal paused Did the boss really think he would do something so dumb as send Heathcliff Hodges on a mission If only there was somewhere to send him Unfortunately until the brains in the science department found a way to return his parents memories of him Heathcliff had to stay in the the kids enroll at Sugarland Academy I’ll work with the Secret Service and the school’s police Savage said There is one other problem Director Sugarland is a sophisticated school The students are mature and cultured Sir And your kids are not especially the hyper one Flinch Don’t worry sir The team will rise to the occasion
