Adam Sharp #4 Read online

  Text copyright © 2003 by George Edward Stanley. Illustrations copyright © 2003 by Guy Francis. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

  www.randomhouse.com/kids

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Stanley, George Edward

  Adam Sharp, Operation Spy School / by George Edward Stanley ;

  illustrated by Guy Francis.

  p. cm. — (A stepping stone book)

  SUMMARY: Adam Sharp and others of IM-8 go back to spy school to learn the newest tricks, but an enemy spy has infiltrated the top-secret classes.

  eISBN: 978-0-307-81702-0

  [1. Spies—Fiction.] I. Francis, Guy, ill. II. Title. III. Series.

  PZ7.S78694Ae 2003 [Fic]—dc21 2002154479

  RANDOM HOUSE and colophon are registered trademarks and A STEPPING STONE BOOK and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.

  v3.1

  To Gwen, James, and Charles—how can I be so lucky?

  —G.E.S.

  For Koltan and Wyatt

  —G.F.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  1. The Spies Have Landed!

  2. Stranger, Danger!

  3. Big-Time Security Breakdown

  4. The Chocolate Chip Code

  5. The Cookie Switch

  1

  The Spies Have Landed!

  A big orange school bus raced toward the Friendly Airport. Inside, IM-8 agent Adam Sharp held on tight.

  T was driving. T was the head of IM-8, a top-secret international spy agency. Adam was its best agent.

  T and Adam were on their way to pick up IM-8 agents from all over the world. Today was the first day of Operation Spy School. Its purpose was to teach all the agents the latest spy tricks.

  Up ahead, Adam saw the lights of the airport. A huge plane had just landed.

  T pulled the bus up beside it.

  Tulip Belle, Magna Carter, and Kay Largo came off the plane first. Adam knew them from secret IM-8 missions.

  “Goedendag, Tulip,” Adam said. “Hullo, Magna. What’s up, Kay?”

  “Blimey, Adam,” Magna said. “Spy School is a great idea!”

  “Of course,” Adam said. “Even the best spies can always get better!”

  “Dude!” Kay said. “When Spy School is over, no evil person will be safe!”

  Everyone boarded the bus, and T drove to Friendly Elementary School. A big banner stretched across the school’s door. It said WELCOME TO THE GIFTED AND TALENTED JAMBOREE.

  There wasn’t really a Gifted and Talented Jamboree here this weekend. It was just a cover for Operation Spy School.

  T took everyone on a tour. When it was over, he took them to the gym. It had been turned into a dormitory. While Adam helped Tulip, Magna, and Kay unpack, they talked about the missions they had gone on.

  Suddenly, a voice over the loudspeaker boomed, “All Gifted and Talented students report to the cafeteria immediately!”

  Adam tensed. Was something wrong?

  The voice went on, “It’s time to eat!”

  “Blimey! We have to eat in a cafeteria?” Magna said. “I fancied some good food!”

  “The food is great here,” Adam said.

  “Ja, you’re lucky,” Tulip said. “Most cafeteria food is gross.”

  “Not when Mrs. Sweet is the cook,” Adam said. “She’s the best!”

  Mrs. Sweet had come to Friendly Elementary School three months before. Now kids begged their parents to let them eat the school lunches. No one wanted to bring their own anymore. Even the teachers lined up for Mrs. Sweet’s lunches.

  Mrs. Sweet worked very hard, and she was a nice person, too. Between classes, she baked chocolate chip cookies for the Friendly Nursing Home.

  Every day the nursing home sent a big black car to the front of the school. Mrs. Sweet ran out and handed the driver a box filled with her famous cookies.

  Adam had asked T if Mrs. Sweet could cook for Spy School.

  “It will be all right,” Adam had told T. “Mrs. Sweet will think she’s cooking for the Gifted and Talented Jamboree.”

  T had said, “Okay.”

  Mrs. Sweet had even offered to sleep in the cafeteria—just in case someone needed a midnight snack. That’s how nice she was!

  When they got to the cafeteria, Adam introduced Tulip, Magna, and Kay to Mrs. Sweet. Mrs. Sweet put an extra chocolate chip cookie on each of their trays.

  “Yum!” Kay said. “My favorite!”

  They took their trays to a table.

  “Mrs. Sweet is so neat,” Magna said. She was turning her cookies around and around. “Hey! Some of these chocolate chips are in strange patterns!”

  Everyone laughed.

  “Oh, Magna, they’re just cookies,” Tulip said. “You’re always thinking like a spy.”

  Magna ducked her head and blushed. She took her job very seriously. They all did.

  When they had finished eating, they went to the auditorium for an expert judo class. Afterward, it was time for lights out.

  “We have to be up early for the IM-8 Obstacle Course Test,” Adam reminded them.

  Everyone shivered. If you couldn’t pass that test, you couldn’t be an IM-8 agent!

  2

  Stranger, Danger!

  Adam was awake before dawn. T had asked him to make sure the obstacle course was ready. Actually, all Adam had to do was put up a few signs.

  That’s because the school’s playground was already an IM-8 obstacle course!

  It had tunnel slides to teach you how to crawl through narrow caves. It had monkey bars to teach you how to swing on vines through jungles. It had car tires to teach you how to jump from rock to rock on the side of a mountain.

  In fact, from time to time, other government agencies trained there after dark. Adam had seen the FBI, the Marines, and even the Navy Seals.

  Adam gave the obstacle course a final check. Perfect, he thought.

  The bell rang. The IM-8 agents came running out the door. They lined up in formation. T followed them outside.

  “IM-8 agents must be fit,” T said. “If you can pass the IM-8 Obstacle Course Test, you can beat any evil person in the world!”

  Everyone cheered.

  Just as T started giving directions, Adam saw a man hiding behind the hedge at the edge of the playground. No one was supposed to be there!

  The man had on a black trench coat, a black hat, and sunglasses. He was definitely watching them.

  “I’m going in, Tulip!” Adam whispered.

  Adam ran to the side of the school. He got down on his hands and knees and crawled through the hedge. He stood up slowly.

  The stranger was writing in a little notebook. He was not just a stranger! He was a spy!

  Adam raced across the blacktop. The spy saw Adam coming. He jumped through the hedge and headed for the playground.

  Big mistake! Adam thought. Now the spy had to pass the IM-8 Obstacle Course Test to escape. There was no way that would happen!

  But the spy swung on the monkey bars with ease.

  Adam swung on the monkey bars.

  The spy crawled through the tunnel slide. No problem.

  Adam crawled through the tunnel slide.

  The spy jumped through the tires without even looking at his feet.

  Adam jumped through the tires. He had to peek at his feet twice.

  He’s really good! Adam thought. But wait until he hits the mud pit! The mud pit was known for sucking off sneakers and s
wallowing playground balls.

  But the spy did a perfect ninja roll in the mud.

  Adam started a perfect ninja roll. He was only halfway through it when the spy whipped off his trench coat and threw it at Adam. The coat covered Adam’s head. He fell into the mud.

  He couldn’t see! But he could smell something. Chocolate chip cookies!

  In the seconds it took Adam to get the trench coat off, the spy got away.

  Tulip, Magna, and Kay ran up to Adam. “Blimey, Adam!” Magna said. “Who was that?”

  “A spy!” Adam said.

  The girls gasped.

  “Hurry,” Adam told them. “We have to look for clues while the trail is hot!” He got down on his knees and searched the ground.

  He picked up some brown crumbs. “That thief!” Adam clenched his fists. “He was stealing Mrs. Sweet’s cookies!”

  “Dude! That is so evil!” Kay said. “How did he know IM-8 was here?”

  “Someone must be leaking IM-8 secrets,” Adam said.

  Adam, Tulip, Magna, and Kay stared at each other. There was a spy in Spy School!

  3

  Big-Time

  Security Breakdown

  Adam opened his eyes. It was morning, and Mrs. Sweet was standing by his cot.

  “Here’s your breakfast, dearie,” Mrs. Sweet whispered.

  Adam yawned. He had stayed up late trying to figure out who the spy was. He thought it might be a new IM-8 agent working for the other side.

  Mrs. Sweet put the tray down next to him. A blueberry muffin, an omelet, orange juice, and milk.

  “Wow!” Adam said softly.

  Mrs. Sweet sat on the cot. “You’re so gifted and talented, Adam,” she said. “I wish I were smart like you!”

  “You’re smart, too, Mrs. Sweet,” Adam said. “You know how to cook everything.”

  “That’s not enough,” Mrs. Sweet said sadly. She sighed. Then she stood up and quietly left the gym.

  Adam felt sorry for Mrs. Sweet. Maybe cooking wasn’t all that fulfilling for her.

  He thought for a minute. I’ll talk to T, he decided. There may be a place for Mrs. Sweet in IM-8!

  Adam dressed quickly. It was time for J’s gadget class. J was the janitor at Friendly Elementary School, but he also worked for IM-8. He made all the gadgets that IM-8 agents used for spying.

  As the IM-8 agents filed into the classroom, Adam studied them carefully. Which one is giving away IM-8 secrets? he asked himself.

  “Good morning, class!” J said.

  “Good morning, sir!” the class said.

  “As you know, it is important for spies to blend in with their surroundings,” J began. Adam nodded and straightened his bow tie. “So I have developed a line of spy gadgets using regular school supplies.”

  J picked up an eraser. He erased some writing on the chalkboard. Suddenly, he threw the eraser at a dummy in a corner of the room. The eraser exploded into a huge ball of chalk dust.

  “That dummy spy can’t see a thing now!” J announced between coughs.

  “Neither can we!” someone called.

  J ignored him and went on. He showed the class a brown bottle. “Glue!” he said.

  He squirted some onto the desk. He rolled it into a long, sticky rope and tied up Magna.

  She couldn’t get free. Even the whirling saw blades in the heels of her boots wouldn’t cut the sticky rope!

  J had to use a special blowtorch.

  “Now I’m going to show you a power pencil,” J said. “It has two tiny rockets—”

  Just then, the classroom door opened.

  J stopped talking.

  Who could that be? Adam wondered. No one was allowed in the classroom except IM-8 agents.

  A head appeared. It was Mrs. Sweet!

  “Yoo-hoo, Adam!” she called. She motioned for him to come to the door.

  Adam looked at J.

  J shrugged.

  Adam went to the door. “What’s wrong, Mrs. Sweet?” he whispered.

  “Nothing. I baked chocolate chip cookies. Enough for the whole class,” Mrs. Sweet said. “I figured all that Gifted and Talented thinking might make you hungry.”

  Adam knew she shouldn’t be there. But the smell of her freshly baked cookies was making everyone hungry.

  “I guess it’s okay this time,” Adam said. He reached for the plate of cookies, but Mrs. Sweet jerked it away.

  “I’ll hand them out, dearie,” she said. “You just go on with what you were doing.”

  Mrs. Sweet barged into the classroom and started handing out the cookies.

  Adam could see that J didn’t know what to do. He still had things he needed to tell the class. But Mrs. Sweet wasn’t cleared by IM-8 to hear what he had to say.

  “Don’t mind me, dearie,” Mrs. Sweet said to J. “You go right ahead and talk.”

  “Show us the pencil with rockets on it!” one of the new agents said. Adam glanced down at a seating chart. The new agent was Pierre Latour from Paris, France. Could he be the one? Adam wondered.

  “A pencil with rockets!” Mrs. Sweet exclaimed. “Oh, my goodness! What in the world is that, dearie?”

  Now the sweat was pouring off J’s face. This was a big-time security breakdown. Adam held his breath.

  “Just a pencil Gifted and Talented kids can use to take their tests,” J said. “We also have one with kitty-cats on it.”

  Adam let out his breath. J had been nice and hadn’t given away any secrets. He was a real pro.

  Mrs. Sweet hung around for a few more minutes. “Well, I don’t understand any of this stuff, dearie,” she said, “so I’d better go bake some more chocolate chip cookies.”

  Adam felt bad for her. She must be lonely.

  The bell rang. The IM-8 agents went to their next classes. “I have secret disguises now,” Magna told Adam.

  “Me too,” groaned Kay. “I’m lousy at disguises. It’s my worst subject.”

  Kay and Magna left together. Tulip and Adam stayed behind to clean up Mrs. Sweet’s cookies.

  They had each just eaten their third one when Tulip gasped. “Ja! Magna was right! These chocolate chips really are in patterns!”

  Adam looked at the cookie he was holding. His chocolate chips were in the shape of a triangle.

  Oh, no! Adam thought. It can’t be true! There was a chocolate chip code baked into Mrs. Sweet’s cookies!

  4

  The Chocolate Chip Code

  “Z’s code-breaking class is about to start, Tulip,” Adam said. “Come on! We have to crack this code!”

  Adam quickly tapped out an urgent message on his watch. It went straight to Magna’s belt buckle receiver. In minutes, Kay and Magna had asked for bathroom passes and met Adam and Tulip.

  “We’re in big trouble!” Adam told them. “I hope Z can help us.”

  Z showed the class all kinds of codes—math codes, alphabet codes, and secret writing codes.

  But none of those were what Adam needed. He raised his hand. “What about chocolate chips?” he asked.

  Some of the newer spies giggled.

  They’ll never make it as IM-8 agents! Adam thought scornfully.

  “In China, there is a chocolate chip code,” Z said. “But very few people know it.”

  “Blimey!” Magna whispered. “I knew something was suspicious about those cookies!”

  “Dude! Maybe Mrs. Sweet isn’t so sweet,” Kay said.

  “Ja! It makes sense, Adam,” Tulip said.

  Adam knew they were telling the truth. “This is my fault,” he admitted. “I wanted Mrs. Sweet to cook for Spy School.”

  Adam decided not to tell them that he’d also thought she’d make a good IM-8 agent!

  After class, Adam went up to Z. “Someone here at Spy School knows the chocolate chip code,” he said. “We need to know it, too.”

  Z wrote the code on the chalkboard.

  Adam and the girls studied it carefully.

  “Brilliant!” Magna said.

  Adam slammed his
palm against his forehead. “Now I know how IM-8 secrets are getting out!”

  “How?” Kay asked.

  “Mrs. Sweet gives them to the driver of the big black car,” Adam said. “Those chocolate chip cookies are not going to the nursing home! They’re going to our enemies!”

  “Blimey!” Magna said. “We have to stop this!”

  “I have a plan,” Adam said grimly. “Meet me by the cafeteria at midnight.”

  5

  The Cookie Switch

  Adam couldn’t sleep. He had been betrayed by Mrs. Sweet! Did this mean his career in IM-8 was over?

  At five minutes before midnight, he got off his cot, put on his tuxedo, and slipped out of the gym. Tulip, Magna, and Kay met him outside the door to the cafeteria. “Do we have Mrs. Sweet’s cookie recipe?” Tulip asked.

  “We’re in luck,” Adam said. He held up an empty chocolate chip bag. “She uses the recipe on the back.”

  They sneaked into the cafeteria.

  This was one of Adam’s most difficult missions. He had to bake cookies in a dark kitchen while an evil spy who looked like a kindly grandmother slept on a cot nearby.

  Slowly, quietly, they mixed together all the ingredients except the chocolate chips.

  Just as the dough was almost ready, Mrs. Sweet turned over on her cot. “One row of five chips!” she shouted. “One row of three!” Then she let out a loud snore.

  Adam and the girls dived under the table. “Mrs. Sweet is calling out the chocolate chip code in her sleep!” Adam whispered.

  Mrs. Sweet made no further sounds. They crawled out from under the table.

  “What phony information are we going to put in the cookies?” Kay asked.

  Adam was prepared. “IM-8 is moving its headquarters to the top of a volcano in Hawaii!” he said. He looked at Magna. “Can you make the chocolate chips say that?”

  “Right-o!” Magna said.

  She grabbed a handful of chocolate chips and started pressing them into the cookie dough.

  When she finished, she said, “There! Now we bake them at 375 degrees for ten minutes or until they’re golden brown.”