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The Warden looked at Alex steadily before her expression lightened and she smiled. “You’re welcome, Alex.”

With the smile still on her face, something about her appearance niggled at the back of Alex’s mind. “Have I met you before, Jeera? Other than as a Warden, I mean? You seem… familiar.”

Jeera laughed out loud, which seemed like an odd reaction to Alex.

“No, Alex, we’ve never met before your impersonation as an assassin.”

“Huh,” Alex said, but she let it drop. Déjà vu could be a fickle thing.

“I have to ask, did you retrieve the red envelope?”

To answer, Alex pulled the package from her clothes.

“I’m impressed,” Jeera said. “That can’t have been easy.”

“You have no idea,” Alex muttered.

“That said, you do realise I can’t allow you to keep it, right?”

“What? No, Jeera,” Alex begged. “It has our next instructions inside,andthe Bubbledoor we need. Plus, it was in General Drock’s rubbish bin, anyway. He probably won’t even notice it’s missing.”

Jeera looked at Alex as if judging the truth of her words. Finally, the Warden sighed. “This conversation never happened, understood?”

“What conversation?” Alex said, with a sly grin.

“Exactly,” Jeera said, returning the expression. “Now, you need to get out of here before someone sees me talking to you.” She handed over a vial that Alex recognised as a Bubbler. “Go back to your friends, finish your SAS expedition, and get back to the academy safely, okay?”

“That’s the plan,” Alex agreed. Jeera made it sound so easy.

“You might want to have a look at the back of that envelope before you return to your classmates,” Jeera advised. “It was good seeing you again, Alex. Do me a favour and tell Hunter that I’ll be in touch regarding his teaching methods.” With those words, the Warden spun on her heel and left the room.

Curious, Alex flipped over the red envelope and saw there was a small white envelope stuck to its back. Both the envelopes were sealed, and she wondered if General Drock had known they were in his office, let alone in his bin. Had Hunter snuck it in at some stage without the general’s knowledge? Either way, the white envelope was clearly intended for Alex, since her full name was scrawled across it in Hunter’s handwriting.

Looking around nervously, Alex pulled the envelope off the larger red one, but she didn’t get a chance to open it before the sound of chattering voices filled her ears. She shoved the white envelope into her pocket and the red envelope back under her clothes, throwing the Bubbler to the ground.

Resisting the temptation to go straight back to the academy, she directed the portal to open at the base of the tree where the others waited for her return. They didn’t notice her straight away and they continued to whisper uneasily to each other while they looked out over the military compound.

Alex smiled mischievously and climbed up the tree as silently as she could. When she was right beside them she asked, “What are we all looking at?”

“Skyla, I swear, if you ask one more stupid question…” Pipsqueak muttered irritably.

“Um,hello, I’m over here,” Skyla said, sounding just as annoyed. She turned to Alex and said, “We’re all looking for you, and I found you first, so do I get a prize?”

“Alex!” Jordan exclaimed, seeing her perched in the branch beside them.

His startled words caused everyone else to swing around and gape at her, and she began to feel embarrassed by their attention.

“Enough staring,” she said. “It’s almost dusk. We need to get moving.”

“How—How—?” Pipsqueak asked incoherently.

“What our little Squeaker is trying to ask is, how did you get back here?” Blink said. “We haven’t seen any sign of you since you entered the gate.”

Alex shook her head and said, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Did you get the envelope?” Tom asked.

She smiled and pulled it from her clothes.