by H. I. Larry
‘There’s Agent Rock Star!’ said a gruff voice.
Zac’s eyes flashed to the other side of the hangar. There were three GIB agents heading towards him, their feet clattering on the metal floor.
Zac bolted. He weaved in and out of a row of parked cars, trying to shake the agents off, but they kept on chasing.
Zac took a hard right, diving between the wheels of a jet’s landing gear. He rolled to his feet and looked over his shoulder. They were still right behind him!
Zac vaulted over a motorbike and kept on running, down a long aisle between two rows of cars.
VROOOM!
Suddenly, an engine roared to life behind Zac. One of the cars began to move. The car drove up alongside Zac as he ran. The passenger door opened by rising up into the air.
Zac looked inside.
‘Leon!’ he puffed.
‘Quick, hop in!’
Zac leapt into the moving car and pulled the door closed.
‘You’d better hold onto something,’ Leon warned.
‘Why, what are you –’
VROOOOOOOOOM!
The car hurtled forward, impossibly fast, and Zac was slammed back into his seat.
The GIB security agents could only watch as Zac and Leon rocketed across the floor of the hangar and out through an exit tunnel.
Zac glanced across at Leon. He realised with a shock that their car didn’t have a steering wheel.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Leon. ‘The Cheetah runs completely on autopilot. It’s the only way we can travel safely at top speed.’
‘Right,’ said Zac. But it didn’t feel safe.
‘This vehicle is a prototype for AutoNav,’ said Leon, launching into full geek mode. ‘It’s our most advanced autopilot ever. Just type in your destination and the Cheetah does the rest. Top speed is 400 kilometres.’
400 kilometres and no steering wheel, thought Zac with a sly grin. What could possibly go wrong?
He had to admit, it made a pretty good getaway car.
The Cheetah zoomed out of the hidden tunnel and onto the road. It was pouring with rain outside.
‘Where’s the holo-projector?’ Zac asked as they tore along the highway.
‘In the glove box,’ said Leon. ‘Do you want to do the honours?’
Zac opened the glove box and picked up the holo-projector and the computer chip.
‘It slots into the base there, see?’ Leon instructed.
‘Right,’ said Zac.
‘Hey, did you see something?’ Leon said suddenly, looking back over his shoulder. ‘I think someone might be following us.’
‘Leon,’ said Zac, raising an eyebrow. ‘You just told me we’re travelling at 400 kilometres! Who could possibly be following –’
BOOM!
Something huge and heavy crashed down on top of the Cheetah, making it jolt horribly.
A furious face stared down through the windscreen at Zac and Leon.
The other Zac Power had just dropped onto the hood of their speeding car.
CHAPTER
NINE
SMASH!
The BIG agent slammed a fist straight through the Cheetah’s windscreen, shattering the glass.
Zac ducked out of the way just in time to avoid the fist.
The Cheetah began to spin out of control, swerving all over the road.
Rain streamed inside through the hole in the windscreen. But the other Zac held on tight to the car. His grip was so strong that the metal started to crumple under his fingers.
How is that even possible? Zac wondered.
The Cheetah ran off the road into some woods, but the BIG agent still didn’t let go.
He stared down at the real Zac, his eyes bulging. There’s something very wrong about him, Zac thought to himself.
The agent leant into the car and made a grab at Zac.
Leon thrust out a hand and hit a button marked Emergency Stop.
SCREEEEECH!
The car came to a halt and the BIG agent went flying backwards through the air. He landed with a thud somewhere out in the darkness.
Zac felt his seatbelt pull against his chest as he was jolted forward by the sudden stop.
‘Are you OK?’ said Leon, his face white.
But Zac was already climbing out of the car. He raced through the rain, flashing his SpyPad torch around at the ground.
The BIG agent has to be around here somewhere, he thought, lying on the grass or…
WHUMP!
The BIG agent dropped out of a tree, landing right on top of Zac. Zac fell into a puddle of mud. He thrust both of his hands up at the other Zac’s chest, trying to shove him off.
Then something really weird happened.
CLANG!
Zac froze. What was THAT?
A piece of the BIG agent’s chest had just fallen off. It had come off in a neat little square that hit the ground with the sound of crashing metal.
Inside the hole in the BIG agent’s chest, Zac could see a mess of tangled wires and computer parts.
Zac’s eyes went wide. He’s an android!
The BIG agent froze.
Suddenly, a voice echoed out of a speaker somewhere in the other Zac’s chest. It was a woman and she sounded angry.
‘What is the ZacBot doing?’ she shouted. ‘He’s not supposed to be attacking Rock Star yet!’
The voice kept breaking up. Zac strained to hear it over the pouring rain.
‘Something’s gone wrong with his programming!’ replied a man’s voice.
‘You said there’d be no more malfunctions!’ the woman yelled.
‘I also told you that he’s the most complex android ever built!’ the man shot back, sounding annoyed. ‘It’s not easy keeping him under control!’
There was some more static, and then the man spoke again. This time he seemed to be speaking directly to the android.
‘Attention, ZacBot: Abort! Return to BIG Central Command immediately!’
The BIG agent leapt to his feet. He picked up the panel that had fallen from his chest and sprinted off into the darkness.
‘That,’ Zac said to himself, ‘was a whole new level of weird.’
CHAPTER
TEN
Zac got to his feet and ran back to the Cheetah.
Leon was still sitting inside the car, looking terrified.
‘He’s an android!’ said Zac. He jumped back into the car and shook the rain out of his hair. ‘The BIG agent is a robot. That’s why he’s got such crazy super strength.’
‘But it looked so human!’ Leon marvelled. All the fear had suddenly disappeared from his face. ‘That must be the most advanced android ever built!’
Zac rolled his eyes. Nothing like a new machine to distract Leon, he smirked to himself.
Suddenly, Zac heard sirens in the distance. GIB security! They were still after him.
‘Can the Cheetah get us home?’ Zac asked, looking around at the damaged vehicle.
‘Yeah,’ said Leon. ‘I think so.’ He punched a few buttons and…
VROOOOOOOOOM!
The Cheetah took off again. It weaved between the trees with incredible speed and then zoomed back onto the road.
The GIB security sirens had faded away, but Zac knew that he and Leon couldn’t run from them forever.
If only he could stop and explain all of this, Zac was sure he could make GIB understand what he was doing. Why he was so desperate to find out about his grandpa.
Grandpa’s connected to all of this! Zac thought. He has to be. I’m not turning against GIB! I’m trying to complete the same mission they gave me!
But he only had three days left to keep the ZacBot from setting off that Tech Blaster. There was no time to waste on explanations. Zac couldn’t take the risk that GIB would try to stop him.
Besides, thought Zac, Big Boss doesn’t really seem to be in the mood for a chat.
‘Well?’ said Leon, interrupting Zac’s thoughts. ‘What are you waiting for?’
‘Huh?’ said
Zac.
‘The holo-projector!’ said Leon impatiently. ‘Hurry up and turn it on!’
‘Oh, right,’ said Zac, reaching down to pick the holo-projector up from the floor of the car.
After all these years of wondering, were he and Leon finally going to learn the truth about their grandpa?
Zac plugged the computer chip into the side of the holo-projector and pressed the blue button. The tiny figure of Grandpa appeared and a woman’s voice began to speak.
‘Agent High Pants was the first in the Power family to join the Government Investigation Bureau. He was one of the greatest threats to BIG’s survival until he disappeared seven years ago. GIB sources continue to classify Agent High Pants as Missing In Action.
‘However, BIG’s own intelligence reveals that the agent’s current location is a top-secret research facility somewhere in the Black Jungle.
‘Your mission is to locate and capture Agent High Pants. Bring him to the Lunar Command Station, where he will be held hostage until midnight on Sunday.
‘This mission is a critical step in our planned destruction of the Government Investigation Bureau. Failure will not be tolerated.’
The voice recording ended. The holo-graphic figure of Agent High Pants was replaced by a spinning BIG logo.
Zac switched off the holo-projector. For a long time, he and Leon didn’t speak.
The only sound was the rumble of the damaged Cheetah speeding them home.
Finally, Leon broke the silence. ‘The moon,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘The ZacBot’s taking Grandpa to BIG’s base on the moon.’
‘We were right,’ said Zac quietly. ‘Whatever BIG is planning, Grandpa is right in the middle of it. For some reason, BIG need him out of the way until they set off the Tech Blaster.’
‘But why?’ said Leon. ‘I mean, if Grandpa’s been hiding undercover all these years, why are BIG suddenly so worried about him? What do they think he’s going to do?’
‘I don’t know,’ Zac said with a shrug.
‘And why would they go to all the trouble of building an android version of you?’ Leon went on. ‘Why didn’t they just send another agent to do the job?’
‘I don’t know, Leon,’ said Zac, shaking his head. ‘I’m as confused as you are.’
Zac looked out the window and watched the rain streaming by outside.Then he took a deep breath. ‘Well, you know what we have to do now, right?’
Leon sighed. ‘You’re actually thinking of going up there and getting Grandpa back, aren’t you?’
Zac grinned. ‘Got it in one,’ he said. ‘Next stop, the moon!’
TO BE
CONTINUED...
Coming up in... MOON RIDER
Zac has less than three days to
rescue his grandpa and stop the
ZacBot from sending GIB
into total meltdown.
But what do BIG have planned
for Zac on the dark
side of the moon?