Max stared at the dour and scarred face of Dretch on the screen before her. She’d heard he was a brave and unconventional agent and seen him win the Lifetime Achievement Award at the last Annual Spy Awards night,9 but she still wasn’t entirely sure she should trust him.

  ‘Why are you telling us this?’

  ‘It’s no secret that on my last mission with Harrison, we didn’t agree on strategy. Harrison insisted we follow his plan, which resulted in injuries that made me unable to continue as a field agent. I should have stood by what I thought was right, but I didn’t. This time I am. Harrison being alone with Blue without backup is a mistake.’

  ‘Why didn’t Steinberger tell me about my mother?’ Max asked.

  ‘He wanted to make sure it was true first. And he thinks you’ve been through enough without upsetting you again. He wasn’t very happy with me when he found out I’d told you.’

  ‘So Steinberger doesn’t know you’re talking to us?’ Linden guessed.

  ‘Not exactly. You know he’s a stickler for rules … but sometimes a mission calls for rules to be broken,’ Dretch said firmly. ‘I believe a good agent acts on what they know, and we know that two people are in danger who need our help. And besides, I know you’ve broken a rule or two to complete your missions in the past.’ He paused. ‘You have good instincts. Trust them,’ Dretch continued. ‘And even though Harrison thinks you’re too close to this mission, I think you’re perfect for it.’

  ‘So we should go?’ Max asked.

  ‘You need to do what you think is right,’ Dretch answered firmly.

  Max caught Toby’s eager eye and suddenly knew what she had to do. ‘We have to go and save them.’

  Dretch looked through his spaghetti fringe and gave what could have been a smile, as if he had expected Max to come up with this answer all along. ‘I have sent a map to your palm computers. It includes a layout of the grounds and the castle, and coordinates for the Time and Space Machine. Even though Harrison chose not to risk using the Time and Space Machine near Blue, time is against us so we have no choice. I’ve transported some gadgets to your destination using the Mini Transporter Capsule. You’ll find them in a small sack under a stunted tree on the clifftop where you land.’

  ‘Got it.’ Max felt herself move easily into action.

  ‘Quimby has identified an unusual energy field in one of the sections of the castle. She’s not sure what is causing it, but I have marked it out on the map as an area to avoid, at least until she works out what it is. And remember, no-one except me knows you’re going on this mission.’ Dretch looked around as if he heard a sound behind him. ‘Better go. Send me a message when you’re there,’ Dretch muttered, before fumbling with his computer and sending Max’s screen blank.

  ‘What was that all about?’ Toby’s eyes were on fire as he jumped up from the floor.

  ‘Nothing. You already know too much,’ Linden said abruptly.

  ‘It’s to do with that spy stuff you write about in your journal, isn’t it, Max?’ Toby had stolen Max’s spy notebook at school and read it out loud during a fire drill.10 ‘And Spyforce. You wrote about Blue and gadgets and Time and Space Machines! So it’s all true?’

  ‘You really have to leave.’ Linden stood up and faced him squarely. ‘Max and I need to be some where.’

  ‘It is all true, isn’t it?’ Suddenly Toby looked struck. ‘And we’ve done this before, haven’t we? That’s why I keep getting these images in my head of the three of us in weird places, like in the snow and in restaurants and an American film studio.’

  Max knew there was no way she could deny it. Even though Toby’s memory had been erased after their mission in Hollywood, it seemed bits were coming back to him.

  Toby eyed Linden carefully. ‘And if anyone’s going to ask me to leave, I think it should be Max.’

  Both boys turned to face her.

  Max knew she had to make a decision fast. Toby could be annoying, but he was also really smart, and if it wasn’t for him being with them in Hollywood, they wouldn’t have completed their mission and Linden would be dead. She also knew this might be the last time they’d spend together before he left to live in Europe, and that was the final thing that helped her decide.

  ‘Can you leave straight away?’

  Toby shot Linden a victory smile before answering. ‘I’ll call Aunt Mable and let her know I’m staying at a friend’s place tonight.’

  Toby picked up the phone on Max’s desk while Linden gently pulled her aside. ‘He doesn’t have to come. You two don’t even like each other.’

  ‘I know, but Dretch said to trust my instincts and my instincts tell me we’ll need him.’

  Even though Linden was unhappy about it, it was obvious Max had made up her mind and wasn’t about to change it.

  ‘Should we tell Ben and Eleanor?’ she asked.

  Linden thought about it. They would worry if he and Max went missing, but they couldn’t risk telling them in case they refused to let them go. ‘Maybe just leave a note.’

  Toby got off the phone. ‘Everything’s set. What do I do now?’

  ‘Go downstairs, say goodbye to Eleanor and Ben and tell them that Linden and I are really tired and are having a sleep. Then meet us in the park at the end of the street. I’ll tell you the rest from there.’ Max pulled out a jumper and beanie from her drawer. ‘And take these. It’s going to be cold in Scotland.’

  ‘Aye aye, captain.’

  Toby left the room with a wink. Max began to scribble a note to her aunt and uncle before she stopped. ‘What if things go wrong? What if we never –’

  ‘We’ll be fine, Max. I know we will.’

  As they both took their Impact Suits and Undetectatrons from their packs, Linden flashed Max a smile to drive away the worry from her eyes. Even though he knew they were good spies, he also knew that with everything that had happened on their previous missions, Blue wouldn’t waste any chance he got at doing away with them once and for all.

  ‘And this,’ Blue explained with a small but self-important wave, ‘is where all our most valuable experimentation takes place and inventions are created.’

  Harrison peered down from the uppermost platform that circled the inner castle walls of Blue’s cavernous laboratory. It was a curious mix of modern and ancient: a high-tech scientific lab, surrounded by the ancient stones and roughly chiselled stairs of an old and regal fortress.

  ‘At present we have over three hundred different projects at various stages of completion, some of which are very exciting, I can assure you.’

  Harrison watched the battalion of white-coated and masked technicians and scientists working with fierce concentration. He didn’t let it show, but he quietly marvelled at the sophisticated technology and highly advanced equipment.

  Kronch hovered behind the two men and sniggered while Blue smiled teasingly. ‘I’ll bet it would be a dream come true if Spyforce had access to even a smidgen of what you see before you now.’

  The lab was good, but without the genius of Frond and Quimby, or the minds of Ben and Francis, who had invented the Time and Space Machine, Harrison knew Blue’s lab would never be as good as the one at Spyforce.

  ‘If you’re doing this to impress me, you’re wasting your time.’ Harrison’s voice had an almost bored tone.

  ‘Oh, Reginald, believe me, it has been a long time since I have felt the need to impress anyone. I am simply a student of science enjoying its many and varied wonders.’

  ‘A student with a healthy streak of megalomania.’

  Blue fixed Harrison in his gaze like a marksman lining up his target.

  Harrison sighed. ‘Why don’t you just tell me why you have summoned me here.’

  ‘No room for any fun, eh, Reginald? Just like always. But you are right, we are both very busy men.’ Blue’s eyes became alive with a renewed energy. ‘As much as I resented your little attempt to lock me away in prison, it gave me a chance to think about my life and what I have done with it. I accept that there have been times when I deviated a little from what could be construed as the best of intentions, and as a result of my thinking, I am a changed man and now wish to alter the way I live.’

  ‘You’ve changed your ways? And what about your little plan to send Sorenson to attack Spyforce personnel?’

  Blue’s eyebrow twitched. ‘Sorenson was a momentary slip into former bad habits that I assure you will not happen again.’

  Harrison sniffed. ‘Go on.’

  ‘I know we have differed in the past about how to run an intelligence agency, but I finally see the sense of how you operate Spyforce … if only you could expand your operations, think of how much greater Spyforce could be.’

  Harrison stared blankly into Blue’s sincerity-coated look. ‘So what is it you want?’

  ‘I want you and me to work as a team again. With my resources and money and your brilliant team with its impeccable record, we could create the most profitable, efficient and successful agency either of us could have ever dreamt of.’

  Harrison was momentarily silent.

  ‘You know, the trouble with you, Theodoran, is that you dangle things in front of your enemies that may make you leap and wag your tail, but simply hold no attraction for them.’ Harrison again buried his hands into his jacket pockets and looked down at the lab. ‘The one thing your offer does do is prove how very different we are.’

  A venomous sneer worked its way onto Blue’s lips while Harrison prepared for his final remark. ‘Spyforce is one of the finest spy agencies in the world. You are right when you say we have an impeccable record, and I have no intention of tarnishing that now by joining forces with a man who has no idea about honesty, loyalty or the fundamentals of what is right. No matter what offer you put in front of me, I will never work with your low and scheming ways. Is there anything else?’

  The jovial Blue had been nudged aside by a Blue who simmered with anger. His body became rigid with fury. ‘I have invited you into my home and all you do is insult me.’ He sucked in a deep breath. ‘And turn down an extraordinary offer you will never receive again.’

  ‘I can live with that,’ Harrison declared.

  Blue tried to maintain his calm. ‘Well, if you don’t have the sense to join forces with me, are you at least interested in rescuing Max’s squealing mother and in me calling off the orders to hurt your precious Spyforce agents?’

  Harrison paused. ‘I will do all I can to protect innocent people from you.’

  ‘Now, at least, you’re making sense. You can have all that immediately.’ Blue’s eyes narrowed. ‘As soon as I take possession of one thing.’

  ‘Which is?’

  ‘The Time and Space Machine.’

  Harrison turned to Blue and knew he was about to seal his fate. His face softened for the first time since he’d arrived at Blue’s castle. ‘For you to even ask that, Theodoran, only confirms your complete lack of understanding of me or any of the principles Spyforce stands for.’

  Blue’s expression froze as if he’d been hit by a sudden ice storm. His mouth twisted into an ugly sneer of hate.

  ‘Take him to the Portal Room.’

  Kronch sprang forward as if he had been waiting for this very moment. He pinioned Harrison’s arms behind him, wringing them between his sausage fingers into a painful twisting burn.

  Blue seethed as he watched the head of Spyforce being led away. ‘You have crossed me for the last time, Reginald Harrison. Let’s see how clever you are now.’

  Max, Linden and Toby appeared in a flash of fluorescent light and falling sparks of colour. They hung in the air for a few seconds before floating gently to a rocky cliff-top at the bottom of the hill leading to Blue’s castle.

  ‘That was insane!’ Toby cried. ‘What was that we just did?’

  Max and Linden began searching for the stunted tree that hid the transported sack of Spyforce gadgets Dretch had told them about.

  ‘We’ve just travelled at hyper-speed from Australia to Scotland using a Time and Space Machine,’ Linden said a little smugly.

  ‘Well, that’s something I wasn’t planning on doing today.’ Toby looked up towards the castle. ‘This Blue guy lives here? Tell me, is he a little man who spends most of his time making plans to dominate the world?’

  Max looked up from her search. ‘Pretty much.’

  ‘Thought so.’

  Linden’s irritation towards Toby wasn’t going away. ‘It’d be great if you could help us find the pack instead of standing there talking.’

  ‘No problem.’ Toby frowned, unsure of where Linden’s attitude was coming from. ‘What’s in this pack anyway?’

  ‘Impact Suits, Undetectatrons, Danger Meters and hopefully a few other things that will make what we’re about to do a little easier,’ Linden explained.

  ‘Excellent.’ Toby had no idea what Linden had just said but it sounded like fun.

  The wind swirled around them, buffeted up from the icy waters of the ocean below. The three searched the ground around the tree, poking into clumps of ragged, grassy scrub until Toby came across a small cloth bag. ‘Is this it?’

  ‘Hand it over.’ Linden looked inside and smiled. ‘Yep. Now put this on.’ He handed over the Undetectatron. ‘It keeps you hidden from all security devices. Just peel off the label and stick it to your chest.’

  Toby took the Undetectatron and, lifting his jumper, did as he was told.

  ‘And this Impact Suit will save you from any falls or knocks. It’s like a suit of armour, a bullet-proof vest and an airbag all in one,’ Linden instructed. ‘It goes over your underwear but under your clothes.’

  ‘But I’ll have to show off my muscly body.’ Toby smiled at Max but realised she hadn’t heard. She stood, barely moving, staring at the castle on the hill.

  ‘Just put it on,’ Linden whispered sternly as he handed Toby his last device. ‘And this is a Danger Meter. At the slightest hint of danger you will feel a vibrating rhythm against your chest.’

  Linden took off his pack and put the sack and its remaining gadgets inside. He quickly sent a message to Dretch telling them they’d arrived, but when he looked up, he noticed Max was still staring fearfully at the castle, turning the digital camera ring on her finger. He walked over to her. ‘We’re ready to complete our mission, boss.’

  Max kept staring into the biting wind.

  ‘We’re going to find your mum and Harrison, Max. You know that, don’t you?’

  Max turned to him. ‘Can we say the pact?’

  ‘Of course,’ Linden answered gently.

  ‘What’s the pact?’ Toby called.

  Max turned and saw a half-naked Toby stepping into his suit. Linden glared at him. ‘Nothing you need to know about.’

  ‘I think we should all say it,’ Max whispered, turning away.

  Linden held Max’s hand and, after waiting for Toby to finish dressing, reluctantly offered his other hand to him. Max closed her eyes and began the pact, reciting word for word her promise to look after her two fellow spies. Linden repeated the promise, followed by Toby.

  ‘Excellent,’ Toby exclaimed. ‘What do we do next?’

  Linden walked over to his pack and took out his palm computer. He studied Dretch’s map of the area and discovered a scrubby forest path that would take them directly to the castle. ‘Follow me.’ He’d never worried about it before, but suddenly he wanted to show that he was in charge. ‘Now remember, Toby, Max and I have done this kind of thing lots of times, so all you need to do is follow us and not attract attention to yourself.’

  But as Linden finished speaking his foot slipped on the muddy path and he flipped into the air, landing with a squelching bellyflop on a mound of damp moss.

  ‘Sure thing, boss.’ Toby smirked and offered to help him up.

  Linden ignored him and, unearthing his hands from the mud, picked himself up. He winced, not from the fall, since the Impact Suit had kept him safe, but from making a fool of himself in front of Toby. He casually flicked off some mud from his arms and chin and led the way to the side of the castle and the gloomy edge of the moat.

  He looked again at his palm computer. ‘Dretch has marked an entry point on the top level of the castle.’ He pointed upwards. ‘It’s through that archway and into an open-roofed courtyard.’

  ‘How are we going to get there?’ Toby frowned.

  Linden slipped his computer into his pocket and pulled out the lever on his pack. ‘We’re going to fly. You’ll have to come with me.’

  ‘Fly? Of course. Why didn’t I think of that?’ Toby beamed.

  ‘Actually, it’d be better if he came with me,’ Max suggested. ‘I’m lighter than you and the packs are going to struggle enough to lift our weight in this wind.’

  ‘I’m not sure that …’ Linden began, but Toby had already moved behind Max and put his hands around her. Linden felt a curious urge to pull him off and throw him to the ground.

  Within seconds the three spies were in the air, navigating their way through the surging bursts of wind. Max gritted her teeth. There was a time when she was hopeless at operating her Personal Flying Device, but after months of practice, she felt she had mastered it.

  What she hadn’t mastered, however, was her fear of heights. As they rose above the pitch black moat, Max looked down and her fear hit her like another gust of wind.

  ‘Oh!’

  Toby and Max tipped sideways along with her confidence.

  Linden saw her faltering and guessed the reason, but just as he was about to warn Max not to look down, Toby got in first. ‘You can’t fly this thing any better?’

  ‘I’m trying.’ Max’s voice was verging on panic.

  ‘Maybe you should have taken a few lessons before you decided to risk my life.’

  Max was annoyed that she was trying to save their lives and all Toby could do was criticise. ‘And maybe you should just be quiet and let me fly this thing.’

  ‘I would if you were any good at it.’

  That was it. Max was furious. She gripped the lever of the flying pack even tighter. ‘I’m one of the best spies Spyforce has. And one of the youngest!’ The PFD sailed straight upwards as Linden looked on, navigating his own way through the wind. ‘I’ve flown one of these through the middle of a volcano and …’ Max headed towards the stone archway. ‘Saved one of Spyforce’s top agents doing it.’ She started taking the PFD in for a landing.

 

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