The Light Brigade - Chapter 16

With only some antidote-topped cookies and some spider robots, the kids are in for an uphill battle.

This is an installment of my new serialized middle grade novel - The Light Brigade. When new kid in town Will finds himself in the midst of a sea of brainwashed middle schoolers, he has to join the Light Brigade, an unlikely group of heroes, to save them. Can he trust the Man Upstairs who guides them with fortune cookie directions? Will he find his place in the Brigade? Will he be able to stop the shadowy New Moon Group from forcing his classmates to collect acorns for a cartoon squirrel until they all collapse? Subscribed? Get caught up here.

Previously on The Light Brigade: The group is about to undertake their mission to save the school. With only some antidote-topped cookies and some spider robots, the kids are in for an uphill battle. Can Lily and Gabriella get the cookies to the teachers’ lounge? Can Austin and Will get their Spider Cams deployed? Will Tamara lead the group to success? Will the green polo-clad New Moon Group operatives be able to stop them?

As Will walked into school that morning, he felt like it was his first day all over again. It seemed like everyone was staring at him, wondering what he was doing. Did his pocket bulge too much from the Spider Cams? Worse still, he jumped every time Tamara’s voice came through his earbud with instructions. For the thousandth time, Will grabbed at his ear, wondering if the communicator was really invisible like Tamara had said. He tried to stay calm so he could finish deploying the cameras before school started. Austin had already reported that he was halfway done on the other side of the building.

“I’m unmuting Lily and Gabriella,” said Tamara from her post outside, “They’re almost in position now.”

Will dropped another Spider Cam by the water fountain as the hallway noise from Lily and Gabriella floated into his ear.

“So then I told her that I wasn’t going to do all the work for the project,” said Gabriella, continuing their conversation.

“Well, you shouldn’t have to!” replied Lily.

“We’re two doors down from the teachers’ lounge,” said Gabriella in exactly the same tone of voice as before.

It took Will a moment to realize that this was now a message for the group. Man, they’re good at this whole stealth thing, he thought. He, on the other hand, was wiping his sweaty palms once again so that he could get ahold of his next camera.

“There’s a man in a green shirt standing outside,” said Lily.

“Must be someone from the New Moon Group,” said Tamara, “We expected to see them today, although not outside the lounge. Do you think you can still complete your mission?”

Will felt his heart sinking. After they had run into the men yesterday, they had been worried that the school would be swarming with New Moon Group operatives. Will had seen a couple near the front office, but otherwise none. He had been hopeful that there wouldn’t be too many operatives after all, but apparently that was not going to be the case.

“Not a problem,” said Lily still in the same conversational tone. “I’ll talk to him. He looks nice! Gabriella can get the cookies inside.”

“Sounds good,” replied Tamara, “Remember to wait until you hear the signal word ‘clear’ on your way back out.”

“Oh, Gabriella, I have something for you,” said Lily. Will could hear the sound of a zipper. He knew that Lily must be taking her box of cookies out of her bag. “I made these! I hope they’re good.”

“Thank you so much! I’m sure they’re delicious. I need to get to my locker before class – I’ll see you later,” said Gabriella.

Will imagined Gabriella heading down the hallway past the door to the teachers’ lounge. He kept finding it hard to concentrate on his task with all this drama happening inside his ear, but he tried to keep going.

“Hi!” said Lily with her usual charm, “Are you the new science teacher?”

A man’s voice answered, “No, I’m...just helping out here today.” His voice was softer than Will would have expected from a guard. He had been imagining a a guy the size of a professional wrestler with an attitude to match. This voice made him seem much more gentle.

“Oh, you just looked so smart. I would have sworn you excelled at science or math or something,” said Lily.

“Well, as a matter of fact, I am an engineer. I’m just not doing that today,” he replied.

“Cool!” said Lily, “What kind of engineer are you?”

“I’m a software engineer. I make computer programs,” the man said.

“I thought computer programmers did that. Is there a difference between the two?” Lily asked.

“We do both work on computers and programs, but there are some subtle differences.” And with that, the man launched into a long, detailed explanation. Will now had no trouble concentrating on his task; even though he liked robotics, he had never been particularly interested in software.

Suddenly, Gabriella’s voice broke in with a whispered, “I’m going in.” Then in her regular voice, “Hi, Mrs. Hoover! I brought you all some cookies and muffins! Lily Nguyen and I made them for all of the teachers.”

Will could hear a woman’s voice next. “What a lovely surprise. That’s so thoughtful of you. And Lily always makes such tasty treats. You can just put them here on the table.”

There was the sound of more zipping from Gabriella’s end, as Lily continued her conversation with the guard. “Hold for the signal,” said Tamara.

After another few moments, Lily said, “It is clear that you find your job quite exciting.”

“That’s your signal, Gabriella,” said Tamara.

A couple of tense seconds passed as Gabriella said goodbye to her teacher. Will tried to remain casual, dropping a camera near his English classroom. Finally she said, “I’m out. Mission accomplished.”

Lily quickly followed with, “Wow, thanks so much for telling me all about your job – it’s so fascinating! I have to get to class now. Bye!” There was a pause and then she continued, “I’m away, too. Everything went fine.”

“Good work both of you,” said Tamara. “How are you boys doing?”

“I’m finished with my side and headed to class,” said Austin.

Will guiltily felt his pocket to find he still had quite a few. He had been so caught up in the excitement, he clearly had fallen behind. “I’m getting there,” he said weakly.

“Better get a move on, Will,” said Tamara. “You have ten minutes until the first bell. I’m heading inside now.”

“I’m on it,” said Will. He hurried as casually as he could to finish putting out his cameras. He had just sent his last one scurrying up next to a fire sprinkler as the first bell rang. With a sigh of relief, he reported, “I’m finished, too.”

Then he hurried to his locker before first period. That was the easy part, and I barely got it done, he thought. How am I ever going to get through the rest of this mission?