Spy Camp

Ben is excited that the letter gives him an opportunity to talk to Erica Hale, the best student in the school. A few months ago, they worked together to unmask another student as a SPYDER mole. When he finds her on the artillery range, she asks how his meeting with the principal went. When Ben asks how she knew about the meeting, she says she’s studying to be a spy, so it’s her job to know things. Ben shows Erica the letter, which he’s sealed into an evidence bag.

Erica leads Ben to a little-used morgue room in the school, where they discuss the letter and what it could mean. Ben suggests that the letter could be a prank from another student, but Erica quickly dismisses this, saying the other students do not know about SPYDER, because the knowledge requires a high-security clearance. She suggests that the letter could be from another spy organization trying to trick Ben. She further suggests that there could be a second mole in the school, either from SPYDER or another organization. Ben asks about the camera system on campus, and Erica says she’ll hack into it to see if she can find anything.

While examining the letter, Erica finds a tiny grain of an unknown substance that is too small to see without a magnifying glass. Ben is astonished; Erica says she will test the substance. Ben is alarmed when she starts to leave; he had been hoping that Erica would protect him. She tells him that SPYDER probably doesn’t want to kill him and that abduction is more likely the goal, which he finds only minimally reassuring. Erica tells him that she will keep an eye on him. Ben is still concerned because he knows what SPYDER is capable of.

Ben reports the letter to his former resident advisor, Tina. Tina is in a bad mood because she’s been given her post-graduation assignment from the CIA, and it’s not good: Vancouver, Canada. Ben protests that he’s heard Vancouver is nice; Tina resentfully says it’s a safe city and won’t see any exciting fieldwork. Ben shows the letter to Tina, who is jealous because Ben, as a first year, is seeing an unfair amount of action. She promises to help Ben navigate the protocol for reporting death threats.

Tina introduces Ben to his new resident advisor: Hank Schacter. Hank is Chip’s older brother; the previous year, Chip and Ben had started off at odds but grew to be friends over the semester. Hank seems nice at first, but as soon as Tina leaves, he tells Ben, “Let’s get a couple of things straight here, Smokescreen. Number one, I don’t like you” (28). Hank explains that he hates his brother and all of his brother’s friends, which means he automatically does not like Ben. Further, he says Ben is “trouble” and that the resident advisors of such students often end up looking bad because of it. For proof, Hank points to Tina’s disappointing Vancouver assignment. Hank vaguely threatens Ben not to make trouble for him and reveals that he will be Ben’s camp counselor at spy camp. Anxiously, Ben thinks that he will be causing Hank some trouble soon.

Ben spends the weekend at home with his family. He goes to FunLand, an amusement park, with his friend Mike. Among the crowd are undercover CIA agents on duty as Ben’s security detail. Mike tries to talk Ben out of going to summer camp but finally accepts that Ben is going when he learns that Erica will also attend the camp. Mike thinks that Erica is Ben’s girlfriend, even though she is not. A few months earlier, Mike came close to discovering the truth about Ben’s school and the CIA. The CIA underwent an elaborate campaign to convince Mike that he’d stumbled onto a CIA training exercise that had nothing to do with Ben or the school. As part of the agreement, Mike was able to get his college tuition paid, a country club membership for his family, and a car for himself. Ben thinks Mike may only be pretending to believe the CIA’s cover story.

Ben and Mike play a zombie-killing video game. Ben’s new skill with shooting and simulators makes him a very good player. As Ben’s score approaches the machine’s saved highest score, he and Mike begin to attract a crowd. During the game, Murray Hill walks up and greets Ben. Ben is surprised because Murray is supposed to be in prison. Distracted by Murray’s presence, Ben begins to lose the video game, angering the crowd. Murray leaves, but Ben follows him. He tells one of the undercover CIA agents (whom he calls “Soccer Mom” because of her disguise) about seeing Murray, but she doesn’t believe him. Ben continues to follow Murray, who heads for a vehicle parked on the other side of the fence. To close Murray’s lead, Ben tries ziplining down a powerline with a mini-golf club, but the line breaks, and he falls onto the ground. Murray gets away. The sparks from the electrical line start several fires around FunLand. The CIA agent tells Ben that she confirmed that Murray is still in his prison cell. When Ben tells her he memorized the license plate of Murray’s get-away vehicle, she promises to run the plate through the systems. Mike finds Ben and asks why he chased Murray; Ben says that Murray owes him money.