Spy Ski School Read Free Page A

“Our agent was unable to learn any more before he was uncovered and the mission was terminated. However, in his final transmission to us, he did indicate suspicions that Golden Fist might be a Level Eleven threat.”
    Erica stiffened slightly in response to this, which was her exceptionally calm way of expressing great concern. “Level Eleven?”
    â€œWhat’s that?” I asked.
    â€œWell,” Erica replied, “a Level Ten threat would be extreme, causing the most chaos, danger, and destruction you can imagine. A Level Eleven threat is even worse.”
    I gulped, unsettled by the thought of this.
    â€œGiven this, it’s of critical importance that we determine what Golden Fist is,” Cyrus said. “That’s where you kids come in.”
    â€œUs?” I gasped. “How are we supposed to get close to this guy when the entire CIA hasn’t been able to do it?”
    â€œBecause everyone has a chink in their armor,” Cyrus explained. “No man is an island. And Leo Shang’s weakness is his daughter, Jessica.”
    I shifted to the next photo. It was of a Chinese girl about my age. It was even grainier than the first photo, so bad that I could barely make out anything about her except that she had hair. She appeared to be either baking a pie or holding a cat.
    â€œYou want us to get close to her,” Erica said.
    â€œExactly!” Alexander cried. “Leo Shang might be suspicious of any adult who tries to get near him, but we doubt he’d ever suspect a teenager would be a CIA agent. And ifyou can get close to Jessica, you might be able to get close to her father.”
    â€œAll right, I’ll do it,” Erica said. “It won’t be easy, but I can handle it. With a few hours of extensive makeup, I can pass myself off as Chinese. If you give me the proper identification, I can then insert myself as a new student at Jessica’s school. . . .”
    A flicker of unease passed between Cyrus and Alexander, as though there was a subject both of them were afraid to broach. Finally, Cyrus seemed to realize he would have to do it. He cleared his throat and said, “Erica, you’re not the one we’re assigning to get close to Jessica.”
    Erica’s eyes narrowed angrily. “ Ben is the primary agent on this? You must be joking.”
    Cyrus signaled her to calm down. “Sweetheart, the objective here is to befriend Jessica. And the key to making friends with someone is actually being, well . . . friendly. You have a lot of wonderful qualities, but being nice to other people isn’t one of them.”
    â€œOther people are usually idiots,” Erica muttered.
    â€œSee what I mean?” Cyrus asked. “That attitude is exactly what I’m talking about. Now, when it comes to espionage, I know you have tremendous talents, while Ben here doesn’t have many at all. . . .”
    â€œHey!” I said.
    â€œBut he is good at making friends,” Cyrus went on.“People like him. And that’s nothing to sneeze at. Which is why he’s going to be the primary agent on this operation, while you’ll be his main handler.”
    â€œHe was the primary agent last operation!” Erica snapped. “And I was his handler then! He’s barely had any training, while I’ve been studying for this since I was a baby!”
    â€œI’ve learned some things,” I protested.
    Erica fixed her angry gaze on me. “I can speak fluent Chinese. In Mandarin and Wu dialects. Can you speak fluent Chinese?”
    â€œEr, no . . . ,” I confessed meekly. “But I can order dinner in a Chinese restaurant.”
    â€œGreat,” Erica growled. “When you meet Jessica Shang, you can ask her for some egg rolls. I’m sure that’ll go over well.”
    â€œThat’s enough,” Cyrus told her.
    Erica fell silent. She was obviously still