Free Project Sparta (The Xander Whitt Series Book 1) by B.B. Gallagher Page A

inconsistency and nudged Ezra. After scanning the same, strange sight, Ezra nodded to Xander and they seized the moment before it was too late. They had found her. Xander and Ezra dropped from tree limb to tree limb until they reached the ground.
    “Got you!” Ezra yelled as he tagged his instructor. Ms. Rearden smiled, impressed by the muddy boy in front of her. She pulled the green hood off her head, revealing a long mane of flowing brown hair that was tucked in her jacket. Her hoodie and pants were the exact color of the grass this time of the year. Xander could see the brushstrokes of the paint brush on the hoodie’s unique pattern.
    “Good Job, Ezra. Cleverness is a natural gift.” She pushed a button on her wristwatch and spoke into it.
    “Anni, bring them in.”
    “Attention Spartans, Instructor Rearden has been found.” Anni’s robotic voice rung throughout the Compound. “Please rendezvous at the entrance of the Thicket.”
    The cadets assembled, each one winded and indignant upon realization that Xander and Ezra had won the challenge.
    “The first lesson of espionage is to become invisible. Whether you have to lurk behind corners or hide in plain sight, you will learn it all here. We will have many exercises in the Thicket but our lessons can be anywhere. Today we will start our beginner’s tutorial in basic stealth techniques. We will begin with walking.”
    “Walking?” Seamus scoffed. “We all know how to walk.”
    “Oh do you?” Rearden cracked a smile and began the lesson.
    Throughout the class, she showed the Spartans five different forms of walking. They took each step slowly to ensure proper form would become habit. Every minute aspect was covered from weight distribution to arch angle. They practiced over and over until their feet became numb, constantly stumbling over themselves and falling off balance, as the proper walking form proved more difficult than they thought.
    The second half of the class was dedicated to being light on their toes. Each Spartan had to stand on a large tree limb of a tree and catch eggs tossed from a partner without allowing them to break. Balance, sure feet, and soft hands were of the utmost importance for this exercise. Jooles caught the most by far, moving through the tree like a feline. Not all Spartans did well at the exercise. Seamus, for example, was naturally reckless, and he fell out of the tree.
    “Ah, my bloody back,” he cried when he hit the ground. “Someone tell me why we are catching eggs in a tree again?” The Spartans laughed together at his angst as he was wheeled off to the Infirmary. It was obvious that he wasn’t seriously injured, but it served as a reminder to the real dangers such training presented.
    After classes were over for the day, free time commenced. Some of the Spartans went to the Fitness Center to work out, while others went to the Library. Xander decided to retire to his house to read. Each book on his shelf was either a literary classic or a military history, but one in particular stood out. It was a thick book and at first Xander could not tell what it was that was strange about its appearance. After a moment of reflection, its most obvious characteristic struck him: it was white. Xander realized that nothing was white in the Compound other than Fiona’s house. The Compound was all ashy grays and calming beiges. The book’s context made it almost shine throughout the room. On the spine it said, The Fox and the Grapes . He recognized it as one of Aesop’s fables and a thought occurred immediately.
    “The Fox and the Grapes” is just a short story. Not nearly long enough for the size of that book.
    His hand could not resist grabbing the book from the shelf. His fingers grazed the siding of the book. On the book’s front cover it only had the plain text of the title—no author, no cover art. He also noticed that on the front cover some of the letters had been crossed out.
     
    THE FOX AND THE GRAPES
     
    T H E F OX