Quantum
By Hannah Godard
Genre: Young Adult
Nothing is more glamorous than the CIA … at least for Clara. All she wants is excitement and adventure, to help people … and to be a part of something bigger than life.
At nineteen, she leaves everything she’s ever had behind to join the CIA with her boyfriend Ross. But when the agency starts to fall away like shattered glass, Clara and her team get thrown into the biggest mission ever to hit the agency. How will they deal with the pressure?
Clara has all her cards out on the table and she’s trying to keep them all in place … except she can’t hold them all down on her own. She’s trained and she’s ready … but something isn’t right. Is the real way to win the game not to play it, or is the trick not to play it for too long?
About the Author
Hannah Godard was born and raised in the small town of Cochrane, Alberta where she is currently a grade eleven student. She continues to chase a life of creativity and imagination, creating characters to take her on adventures and maybe learn something from them along the way. She writes to tell the greatest stories that have yet to be told and create a spark in which to lighten up the world. Hannah credits her dad for teaching her everything she knows about the world, from politics to drive and perseverance. Without him, she would be a very different person.
Quantum is her first novel and the first in the Quantum series. It came to life in the same way as many other novels do, in third period Social Studies class. This class was spent with three out of four of her best friends, laughing, creating businesses, and being creative. It was the one class where she could be a kid, where people didn’t tell her words could only mean one thing, and where they could all be creative. It started as a joke, as a simple question; what if I was in the CIA? From that point on Hannah developed the character of Clara, with the help of her friends, and soon the story came to life. Each person who she knows, no matter how small, is somehow put into the novel, worked into the story line, because what they say is true: we write what we know.
Excerpt:
I’m really bored. I’ve been walking for hours around New York, without Ross, communicating with Madison and Ethan through my earpiece and getting directions from Ethan. Every once and a while he’ll tell me to go into a restaurant or walk down a certain street because he has a lead. At least we have a lead as to where they are.
I walk down the sidewalks and along the busy streets. Every once in a while, I’ll stop at a shop and look around, or buy a bottle of water. I’m guessing Ross is somewhere close to me, because every time I stop to shop he laughs at me.
“I have water in my bag . . . and so do you! You bought a water ten minutes ago and you’re not even done, why do you need another one?” Ross asks me.
“You know what? I’m trying to look casual,” I reply.
“Walking around with a bunch of half empty bottles of water isn’t casual, it’s weird.”
I ignore him and keep walking. I think I like New York more than Los Angeles. The buildings and the streets are beautiful and the people, no matter what anybody says, are probably some of the nicest I’ve met. So far, there’s no sign of the men, but we’re going to keep looking until we find them.
“Clara!” Ethan’s voice comes in.
“What?”
“Madison got a call from Lizzie. They’ve spotted the men on the corner of Lexington and 49th. Can you get there?”
“Okay on my way,” I say.
“Me too,” Ross’s voice comes in.
I don’t pick up my pace, as not to attract attention to myself, but walk at the same pace as the men and women hustling by to go on with their daily lives. In my ear, I can hear Ethan typing and Madison talking to someone. I can also hear Ross’s footsteps against the pavement; it sounds like he’s running.
“Ross, calm down, you’re attracting attention to yourself,” I say.
“Yeah Ross, slow down a little,” Ethan says.
His footsteps slow down. My heart beats faster as I near the corner where the men were last spotted. All I can think about is Lexa. My mind races, but I try to calm myself down. I need to make rational decisions; I need to stay calm. I feel for my gun on my waist. Somehow this calms me down. Without slowing my pace, I casually walk around the corner, but they aren’t there.
“What the hell Ethan? They’re not here,” I say.
I look around and then, going around a corner, I spot blonde hair, but it’s not Ross.
“Spotted, I’m going in, track me. They’re headed down an ally, with Lexa,” I say.
I can hear everyone hold his or her breath. And then Madison reports what we found back to base. I cross the street and follow where I last saw her. Before I go down the ally, I stop and wait, trying to catch my breath. Things are about to change. If they see me, I’ll be a real agent, and my life will change forever. If I don’t kill them, they’ll have everything they’ll need on me. If I don’t succeed, they’ll kill Lexa to get back at us.
Across the street, Ross and he spots me. I look at him for a minute and he smiles. I cock my head, confused, and he nods at me.
“Go. I’ll go around and cut them off,” he says.
With that I run down the ally, I can spot them a little way down the alley and I run after them. There’s no one else in the ally so I pull out my gun. Even while I run, I can get a clean shot of one of the three men with her. I aim, and breathe out. Before I fire, three shots come from down another ally and one of the men falls. I’m guessing it’s Ross, but he doesn’t come out. It’s not like the movies; we’re on an even playing field here. I throw myself against the wall and duck as the men look around for who fired. Lexa looks terrified, and it kills me to see her this way. They run, one of the men dragging Lexa by her arm.
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