The Amazon Experiment

by Deborah Abela

  They pulled out their lasers and awaited their next instructions.

  Having buttoned a lab coat over his damp and crumpled suit, Steinberger put on the pair of safety glasses that were in the pocket, pushed his hair under a hair net, and strode confidently down the mansion’s elaborate corridors to the distillery and to the greatest moment of his life.

  He felt proud. He felt brave.

  But when he stepped inside the distillery, he felt petrified.

  His breath shortened when he saw Frond. His hands shook and his brow dotted with the usual splatter of nervous sweat.

  ‘May the Force be with you,’ he whispered to himself as he patted down his coat and concentrated on walking over to her without falling down.

  ‘Dr Frond, I just wanted to say what a pleasure it is to work with someone as talented as you.’

  Frond looked up from the Spyforce manual and for a moment Steinberger thought he saw a glimmer of recognition in her eyes. ‘Have we met before?’

  Steinberger’s heart faltered. He wanted to tell her it felt like he’d known her all his life. ‘Only briefly, during various group briefings.’

  ‘Oh.’ Frond was still curious.

  Steinberger looked up and noticed Blue in the observation room with his back to the glass. He had to get Frond out of there before Blue turned around and saw them.

  ‘I think the lab’s work on the sleeping sickness formula was inspired. And now you’re working on an elixir for life?’

  ‘Yes. It will be fantastic. Excuse me for a moment.’

  Steinberger melted. He would have thrown himself into a bubbling vat if she’d asked. He gazed at her as she moved to the steaming elixir nearby. Then something he saw on the bench made him snap out of it. A large collection of plant and animal samples.

  Including a jar of triatoma bugs.

  ‘The bugs,’ he whispered.

  As Frond measured another ingredient into her elixir, Steinberger discreetly took out his Mini Transporter Capsule and, feeling like a bank robber in broad daylight, placed a few bugs inside. He entered the Spyforce coordinates and pressed send. The bug was on its way. He hoped it wasn’t too late.

  He then reached into his pocket for his palm computer. As Frond stirred her steaming creation, he pressed send again, this time on a preprogrammed message. Milliseconds later, Max and Linden got their call.

  ‘It’s Steinberger.’ The two invisible spies jumped to their feet and held their lasers steady.

  ‘All set?’ Max was ready to enjoy every minute of destroying Blue’s device.

  ‘Definitely,’ Linden replied.

  ‘Fire.’

  Two sharp red beams cut through the air and blasted into the heart of the mind control device. Melting steel and burning cables sizzled and cracked before them. A veil of bitter-smelling smoke stung their noses. Then, finally, the machine collapsed into itself like an ice-cream cake in the sun.

  Linden wiped his brow with his sleeve. ‘Some of my best work, I think.’

  Max shrugged. ‘I’ve seen you do better. Now let’s get to the helicopter.’

  The two spies packed their bags, crept to the edge of the roof and began their super-grip descent to the ground, with Max concentrating on each move and on not looking down.

  Frond slumped against her workbench like a puppet whose strings had been suddenly cut. Steinberger swept in next to her and held her up. He had just seconds to get her out of there.

  ‘Frond, it’s me, Steinberger. You’ve been kept against your will by a mind control device in Blue’s distillery in the Amazon jungle. I’m going to get you out of here and back to Spyforce.’

  Frond was confused. ‘I’ve been what?’

  Steinberger smiled in relief. The real Frond would never be capable of agreeing to work with Blue.

  ‘Have I done anything bad? I can’t seem to remember what I’ve been doing.’

  Steinberger touched her hands. ‘You could never do anything bad.’

  Steinberger was finally speaking to Frond without stumbling, but before he could say any more, he looked up and saw what he’d been dreading. Blue had seen them and was waving his hands and yelling into a phone.

  ‘There’s no time to explain. We have to go. Do you trust me?’

  Frond paused momentarily before saying, ‘Of course.’

  Steinberger’s heart leapt over itself. ‘Let’s go, then.’

  Grabbing the Spyforce manual and slipping it under his lab coat, Steinberger asked Frond, ‘Do you know a quick way out?’

  ‘I don’t even remember how I got here,’ she answered sadly.

  Steinberger smiled reassuringly. ‘Looks like we’ll have to find one together.’

  They ran out of the distillery and down long and winding corridors, lined with elaborate chandeliers, busts of Blue on marble stands and walls filled with portraits of him posing as a great explorer.

  A piercing whistle shot over their heads. They turned to see two of Blue’s guards aiming stun blasters at them.

  ‘In here.’ Steinberger grabbed Frond’s hand and took her through a small door. They rushed past baskets of sheets and clothes, the noise of washing machines and the steam of heat presses.

  ‘Sorry.’ Steinberger apologised after almost bowling over a weighty woman in a white uniform, but seconds later they heard her scream. The guards had pushed her aside into a basket of washing. Her legs fumbled through the air as the guards ran past her.

  ‘Duck!’ Steinberger shouted to Frond. They leapt behind a clothes rack, only barely missing being blasted.

  Steinberger then noticed an exit through racks of starched lab coats. ‘This way.’

  They crawled along the ground while the guards angrily overturned baskets of laundry and pushed through racks of clothes in search of the two escapees.

  Another shot from the stun blasters whistled past them. Steinberger saw a large fan and a barrel of soap powder and had an idea. ‘Use this to cover your nose.’ He handed Frond a folded and ironed handkerchief. He carefully pulled the fan so it faced into the barrel as the goons’ search brought them closer and closer. He switched on the fan, filling the air with an irritating white soapy cloud. Hoping the dust from the powder would provide cover, Steinberger sprang towards the exit, removed the key and opened it quickly. He then pulled Frond gently through and locked the door behind them as the goons fell into uncontrollable sneezing.

  ‘That’ll give us some time,’ he predicted as he and Frond ran to the path at the back of the house that he hoped would lead to the helipad.

  Frond’s beehive hairdo flopped around her ears and Steinberger’s shoes once again struggled with the uneven ground beneath them.

  Minutes later they heard the crash of the laundry door breaking, followed by sneezing and the thud of heavy footsteps thundering after them.

  But then they heard something else. The propeller blades of a chopper coming to life.

  ‘This way,’ he puffed excitedly, holding the Spyforce manual in one hand and Frond’s hand in the other. After a few more hurried steps, the track ended abruptly at the helipad. The wind from the chopper blades was blasting overhead. Max and Linden, having applied the Invisibility Cream antidote, waved furiously as the agents ran towards them.

  They also saw the guards.

  ‘Quick,’ Max called out. ‘They’re behind you.’

  Suave had the controls poised for take-off. Steinberger reached the craft first and, with Max and Linden, helped Frond inside.

  ‘Welcome back,’ Linden beamed.

  ‘Thank you,’ Frond breathed.

  A stun blast ricocheted off the side of the chopper as the burly goons sneezed and got ready to take another shot.

  The chopper lifted slightly off the ground. Steinberger handed the Spyforce manual to Max and quickly hoisted himself inside. ‘What about the triatoma?’ Max remembered with a sickening jolt.

  ‘They’re travelling first class in a transporter capsule straight to Finch.’

  Max’s face soft
ened beneath a wide smile. ‘You’re my hero, you know that.’ Steinberger blushed a burning red.

  Then Max saw Blue. He’d followed the guards and was running up behind them, puffing and panting. ‘Stop them!’ he shouted above the roaring blades, his face twisted into an ugly rage.

  The helicopter lifted into the air as another shot barely missed Steinberger’s head.

  Max was furious.

  She grabbed her Hypnotron and aimed it at Blue and his goons.

  She then realised what she could do. If she wanted, now was her chance to lock Blue away forever in a world of hypnosis. She stared at the man who had used and hurt Ben, Eleanor and Francis, had kidnapped her father and even caused the death of Linden. She felt a rising fury in her chest. Getting revenge would feel so sweet.

  But then she remembered Quimby’s warning. If she hypnotised him forever, it would make her just as bad as him. Max gritted her teeth and watched as Blue yelled at the thugs to shoot. They tried to take aim but their sneezing fits sent shots off into the jungle. Max set the Hypnotron for twenty minutes and blasted them for thirty seconds.

  ‘Heel!’ she yelled. The goons and Blue obeyed, squatting on the ground like obedient hounds. ‘Chase your tails.’

  She watched them turn circles on all fours and smiled.

  The helicopter swung away from the mansion, higher and higher, leaving Blue, his mansion and his distillery well behind them.

  The Goliath was a large dome-shaped goods carrier that had responded immediately to Alex’s call for assistance. Despite its bulky size, it had made its way effortlessly into the heart of the Amazon Jungle. Using the locator on Sleek’s palm computer, the Goliath crew pinpointed the Invisible Jet. As the FZ-511 chopper swerved into view, they were using powerful cranes to lift the jet from its tree-top position into the cargo hold.

  ‘The Goliath,’ Suave whispered reverently from the chopper’s controls. Minutes later, he’d guided the FZ-511 into the Goliath’s hold with faultless ease.

  The crew of the Goliath welcomed them and directed them into the plush, air-conditioned interior. Sleek was still in the grip of the sleeping sickness and had been nestled carefully into a hospital bed and monitored by the crew’s doctor.

  The trip back to Spyforce was filled with an air of satisfied exhaustion. At least until the mention of food.

  ‘Food?’ Linden was ready to kiss the Goliath crew member handing him a menu. ‘You’ve saved my life. Twice!’

  As they ate, Max and Linden enjoyed Steinberger’s stumbling and blushing as he explained to Frond all that had happened. After he’d finished, Frond’s normally bright demeanour had become downcast.

  ‘I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused,’ she apologised, sad and frightened at how easily her mind had been captured by Blue. ‘I …’ her voice cracked.

  Steinberger steeled himself. ‘It was an honour rescuing you.’

  There was an awkward pause. Max and Linden shot each other wide smiles as they stared at a furiously blushing Frond and Steinberger. Maybe now Steinberger was finally going to say how he felt. They watched as his lips quivered, his brow moistened, his eyes flicked back and forth in their sockets. He opened his mouth, took a deep breath, and said, ‘These cheese pastries are good, aren’t they?’

  There was a second’s silence before Frond added, ‘Yes. Very tasty.’

  And the moment was gone, filled with the crunching sounds of cheesy pies as the conversation turned to safer topics the rest of the way back to Spyforce.

  On the Goliath’s arrival at the VART, the medical team were waiting to rush Sleek to the infirmary.

  There was also someone else.

  ‘Alex!’ Max began to rush towards her but, realising she may have looked a little too excited, slowed down and put her hands into her jungle and worm-smeared pockets. ‘Hi.’

  Alex gave what could have been called a smile.

  ‘Welcome back and well done on completing your mission.’

  Max blushed. Alex had just congratulated her! She was happy to see her! She was …

  ‘Max, I think it’s time to stop staring now,’ Linden whispered. ‘I’m not having a spy partner who could double as a flycatcher.’ He grinned.

  Max closed her mouth and tried to look casual in searching for something else to look at.

  As Sleek’s hospital bed was wheeled off the Goliath, Alex filled them in on what had been happening. ‘The triatoma bug arrived here just in time for Finch and his team to create the antidote. It’s been administered to the sick agents. Most of them are still a bit hazy, but after a few days they’ll all be back to normal.’ Alex turned to Frond. ‘Good to have you back. Finch will be very relieved to have you safely with us again.’

  Frond smiled. ‘I won’t be going anywhere again soon, I promise.’

  Alex looked at the bedraggled agents before her. ‘Now that you’re back, Finch has ordered full medical check-ups.’ She looked around her. ‘Where’s Suave?’

  Suave, who had been unusually quiet for the entire trip home, was nowhere to be seen.

  ‘I’ll make sure he reports to the infirmary.’ Steinberger’s mouth twisted into a frown. ‘Alex?’ he asked carefully. ‘How’s Harrison?’

  ‘He’s fine.’ She paused. ‘He’s asked to see you.’

  ‘Thought so.’ Steinberger knew it was time to face the consequences of disobeying his chief’s commands.

  After being checked over by Finch in the infirmary, Max, Linden and Steinberger were directed down a polished white corridor to the room where Harrison was recovering. As they entered, they could hardly see him for all the whitecoated medical staff busily checking his temperature, feeling his pulse and monitoring his heart beat.

  ‘Ah.’ Harrison sat up as the agents stood in the doorway. ‘I’ve been baking for you … Oh, blast.’ He looked agitated. ‘I mean, waiting for you.’

  There was something in his tone that made Max and Linden feel uneasy.

  The medical assistants heard it too. They finished their tasks and promptly left the room.

  A loaded pause fell between them as Harrison stared at the newly arrived agents. Linden brushed a stray piece of hair from his forehead only to have it spring back again. Max could tell Harrison was going to reprimand Steinberger, but after all he’d been through, she just couldn’t let him.

  ‘Mr Harrison, sir, I know what Steinberger did wasn’t exactly by the book or your word but you have to know that if it wasn’t for him …’

  ‘That’ll do, Max,’ Harrison said, with a finality that scared her. ‘I know what you’re going to spray … I mean, say.’

  ‘You do?’

  Harrison straightened out his bedcovers. ‘Suave came by before and told me everything.’

  ‘Everything?’ Max was hoping he’d left a few parts out. Like her falling out of the tree and yelling at Suave for saving them.

  ‘Yep. He would have been a good agent.’ He paused. ‘Once he’d gotten over his fear of worms.’

  ‘Would have been?’ Max frowned.

  ‘Yes, I’m afraid despite anything I could say to convince him otherwise, he’s resigned from the Force.’

  ‘Resigned?’ Max said incredulously and a little guiltily. ‘He can’t resign.’

  ‘I feel the same way.’ He coughed and took a few seconds to get his breath.

  ‘Max and Linden. Your level of bravery never ceases to erase me … amaze me. I feel I don’t say it enough but I want you to know that Spyforce is very proud to have you on our team.’

  Linden snuck Max a small victory smile but it was wiped away by what Harrison had to say next.

  ‘As for you, Steinberger.’

  Steinberger straightened up, preparing himself for what was about to come.

  ‘You directly disobeyed orders, put your life in grave danger and went into the field without even a skerrick of proper training. The possibilities for catastrophe were bendless …’ Harrison winced. ‘I mean, endless.’

  Max stared at Harrison’s
stern, determined face.

  ‘Yes, sir. I’m sorry, sir.’

  Linden gulped.

  Harrison shuffled in the starched infirmary sheets, looking like he hated every minute of being a patient. ‘As it happens, your being on that mission was crucial for its success. As such, Spyforce is deeply indebted to you and we’re giving you a two-week holiday to any destination of your choice.’

  Steinberger lifted his sagging head. ‘Thank you, sir.’

  ‘But let me say this: if you disobey Spyforce orders again, it won’t be a holiday you will be getting.’

  ‘Yes, sir. Of course, sir.’

  Steinberger hung his head but Max noticed a small smile of quiet pride on his face. She knew that if he was ever faced with the same dilemma, he’d do it all over again.

  ‘Sir?’ Steinberger asked. ‘What about Agent Dretch?’

  ‘Yes. Dretch.’ Max and Linden could read the guilt in Harrison’s eyes over how Dretch had been treated. ‘Release him immediately and tell him I’d like to see him,’ he said gruffly. ‘And make it quick, otherwise Finch’s assistants are going to be back with all their flossing … that is, fussing.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  ‘And Steinberger?’

  ‘Yes, sir?’

  ‘Thank you for bringing Frond safely back to us.’

  Steinberger’s lips quivered. He went to reply but closed his mouth without saying anything.

  ‘Sir?’ Max asked. ‘What will happen to Blue?’

  ‘Alex organised for an international police team to travel on the Goliath to Blue’s mansion so they could inspect his jungle projects. Luckily for us, you thought to hypnotise him, Max, because he’s been questioned and taken into custody. Funny thing was, though, he kept breaking into intermittent barking.’

  Max broke into a cheeky grin.

  ‘Blue’s been arrested?’ For all his evil schemes, Max knew Blue always covered his tracks. It was hard to imagine he’d ever let himself be caught. ‘That’s great news!’

  Harrison’s face clouded over. ‘I am worried, I must confess, that after all these years of anger towards the Force, we won’t have seen the last of him. Or perhaps even the worst.’