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bodies looked when they pulled them from the river,” the stern-faced woman announced to the room.
    â€œWho in the bloody heck is this?” Prime Minister Falcon griped, clearly frustrated by the stream of visitors in his office.
    â€œThis here’s my colleague Nurse Maidenkirk. She’s a great broad, but she never has anything cheerful to say; it’s just one horror story after another,” Hammett explained.
    â€œCharming lot, you Americans,” the prime minister grumbled sarcastically as he eyed the motley crew. “Now, unless there are any other people hiding in the closet, may we please get back to the rather pressing matter at hand?!”
    Randolph nodded and quickly resumed his briefing. “After interviewing Operative Mitford’s friends and colleagues at BAE, we’ve learned that she is a passionate environmentalist. One who has grown increasingly disillusioned by our government’s failure to support legislation that would protect England’s nature preserves. And with an initiative to allow oil drilling in protected areas coming before Parliament next week, we believe she plans on using LIQ-30 on select ministers to sway the vote in her favor.”
    â€œFor as you can imagine, the more confused a person is, the easier he or she is to manipulate,” the prime minister added.
    â€œTrust me, I know,” Shelley said, motioning toward Jonathan. “I’ve seen this one manipulated by squirrels in the park; they worked him over for every last piece of popcorn he had. It was pathetic.”
    â€œOnce LIQ-30 is out there, there’s no stopping it. It will be a plague more destructive than any we’ve ever known: a plague of dimming intelligence,” Prime Minister Falcon continued, completely ignoring Shelley’s comments.
    â€œNot to worry, PM, we’re on it like white on rice or brown on rice, depending on what kind of rice you prefer to eat,” Shelley babbled, then extended her arms. “What do you say we seal the deal with a hug?”
    â€œI don’t think so,” Prime Minister Falcon responded coldly.
    â€œHugs have helped many a world leader deal with the pain of childhood. A few seconds in these bad boys and you forget all about the time your parents left you at the rest stop in Yellowstone.”
    â€œAnd on that very uncomfortable note, I think we’re done,” Jonathan announced as he pulled Shelley away from the prime minister.
    â€œOn that we agree,” Randolph said. “Mr. Humphries, Nurse Maidenkirk, as the operatives will be at BAE headquarters this afternoon, I do not believe we will be needing your services any further today.”
    â€œIs that your polite way of saying we don’t have clearance?” Hammett asked as he popped a new toothpick into his mouth. “Not to worry, we can take a hint. Can’t we, Maidenkirk?”
    â€œThere was a dead bird near the gate,” Nurse Maidenkirk said, eyes twinkling with excitement. “It probably flew into a window and broke its neck. I think we ought to have it stuffed by a local taxidermist as a souvenir from the trip.”
    â€œI feel it my duty to tell you that this woman isn’t an actual nurse, so don’t let her give you any shots, okay?” Jonathan whispered to Randolph.



OCTOBER 22, 11:03 A.M. BAE HEADQUARTERS. LONDON, ENGLAND
    Barren. Cold. High-tech. These were Jonathan’s and Shelley’s first impressions of the lobby of the Bureau of Adolescent Espionage.
    â€œOperatives 2397 and 2398 reporting for duty,” Randolph said to one of the many guards standing at attention.
    â€œFollow me,” a gruff-looking man barked, and then led Jonathan and Shelley to two large metal-and-glass boxes in the corner of the room. “Step inside. We’re scanning for tracking devices and bugs, as well as logging your features for our facial recognition software. At BAE we do not believe in identification