A Spy's Life, Part Three

"Agent Twist," someone called. "You're alive!" It was K, the agent that had chosen to stick to work in HQ. Twist flailed around in the water, trying to blink water out of her eyes, coordination gone for a moment. Shock coursed through her. White Mage! No!

Twist gasped with ragged breath and slowly dragged herself onto the cool stone that surrounded the pool she had submerged out of. This was a truly covert entrance to HQ - a natural underground cave, tons of stone protecting the secrets in this place that must be kept at all costs. Of course, it would be guaranteed that they would be buried forevermore if all that stone fell on Headquarters.

Not a comforting thought.

Twist flopped down onto the stone, soaked thoroughly, and closed her eyes, letting the cold seep through. She could just lie here. Wet and tired. But Twist had a mission, and this one was more important than any that she'd ever been given. She had to save her best friend. As usual, it was the cold heart pressing into her neck that gave her the power to get up.

K's chestnut brown hair fell flat in the still, damp air. She was guarding - a spear in her right arm, poised in a defensive position towards the black pool of water. She saw the expression on Twist's face, an expression she almost never wore: despair. "What happened, Twist? I heard the explosion. It swayed the stone . . . I thought you were either dead or captured." Twist raised her eyebrows sarcastically and it dawned on K. "You-Know-Who?" she whispered. All Twist could do was shake her head. "Come," said K. "I'm guarding, but I have to get you some dry clothes."

"No!" Twist cried, pulling away. "I have to tell the Boss. And . . ." she hesitated before admitting it out loud, more to herself than to anyone else. "White Mage was taken," she whispered. "I don't know what happened to her."

K's mouth fell open. "Oh my God," she said softly, and took off towards the thin, claustrophobic entrance to the rest of HQ. The water was like a landing pad. Twist knelt on the ground and lay down, slowly shifting herself until she was facing rock inches away from her face. She started sweating and nearly panicked as she usually did. You had to lie down and pull yourself sideways to get through this path. When she emerged, she saw the enormous beehive of HQ: several stories tall, and even Twist did not know just how far it extended. K gestured down a clean and empty hallway. Twist shuddered in aftereffect of the cold water, and raced down the hallway nearest the office, ignoring stares from other agents, who observed her wet-kitten look and desperate stride.

Twist burst through the door to Agent Bombay's office. "White Mage is gone!"

The black-haired woman glanced up from her paperwork. "What do you mean, gone?"

"We caught [YKW's name], but when we'd dragged him to the cliff, we stopped . . . we must have been drugged with sleep syrup, because when I woke up, he and White Mage were just gone. I couldn't see her . . . but I had to get away, off the waterfall, because . . . "She trailed off, breathing slowing.

"Because of the bomb," finished Agent Bombay. "I understand that you had to come here. But do you have any idea what might have happened?"

"YKW," muttered Twist. "He must have drugged her, too, and taken her somewhere."

"Then you need to follow them! As quickly as possible, before their tracks disappear. You're one of our best spies, Agent Twist, and one person would be less noticeable than a war party. Go now. And I shall provide you with some equipment in a few minutes. Stand outside the door; this is a top-secret hiding spot."

Twist nodded and stepped out the door, closing it behind her. She wrung out her hair and slowly let gravity drag her down the wall and into a crouch on the marble floor. How could she go on when her superspy best friend had been kidnapped by her old . . . what was he, anyway? She'd been angry for a long time, but she hadn't had the fire to call someone her enemy.

But taking White Mage?

That was crossing the line.