Spy School Goes North by Stuart Gibbs

Author:Stuart Gibbs
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: 2023-10-03T00:00:00+00:00

12 WILDLIFE SMUGGLING

The Beluga

The Bering Sea

Somewhere southwest of Kwigillingok, Alaska

July 18

1200 hours

Tina Cuevo had been my resident advisor when I had first come to spy school. Resident advisors were older students tasked with overseeing younger students in the dormitory. At normal schools, they might help students deal with homework-related stress and disputes over use of the laundry machines. At spy school, they had significantly more dangerous duties; on my first night, Tina had to deal with an assassin who’d come to kill me.

Unfortunately, Murray Hill had taken advantage of Tina’s kindness in his first plot for SPYDER, and Tina’s reputation had been badly tarnished. She had still been allowed to graduate, but the CIA had punished her by sending her to Vancouver, Canada. While most people consider Vancouver to be one of the loveliest cities on earth, it is extremely safe and has virtually no international intrigue, which makes it unappealing for aspiring CIA agents. When I had last seen Tina, she had been very unhappy about her posting, believing that her career there would be filled with tedious investigations into uninspired crimes—if there were any crimes to investigate at all.

But things had turned out much better than she had expected.

“I’m on the International Wildlife Anti-Smuggling Task Force!” she informed me excitedly. “It’s awesome!”

We were standing at the bow of the Beluga, the Coast Guard cutter that had brought her to Crooked Island, along with eight able-bodied coastguardsmen. After rousing Cyrus, Alexander, and Catherine from their snodgrass-induced slumber, we had all boarded the boat, which was now slicing through the arctic waters on its way to the Army National Guard base on Toksook Bay, a few hundred miles north.

The others were all gathered in the pilothouse, which was enclosed and heated, except for Alexander, who was so prone to seasickness, he couldn’t even sleep on a waterbed. He was at the opposite end of the boat, clinging to the railing and occasionally vomiting over the stern. (The captain had advised him to stay at the back of the boat, rather than the front, because that way he wouldn’t be puking into the wind, which was always a disaster.) Tina and I were catching up outside because I felt slightly nauseated myself—although I wasn’t sure if this was due to the motion of the boat or the residual effects of being sedated—and it helped to have fresh air and look at the horizon.

The arctic wind was bracing, and cold ocean spray kept splattering us, but the Coast Guard had provided me—and everyone else—with warm clothes and waterproof jackets for the ride. They also had plenty of food. Inside, my friends were devouring warm oatmeal and hot cocoa, while Tina had given me a thermos of tea.

“I thought you hated the idea of combatting wildlife smugglers,” I reminded her. “You said it’d be dull.”

“I was wrong! It’s amazing! On my very first day, we busted some jerks trying to smuggle a baby tiger into Canada. I saved its life—and it was adorable!

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