Missing

by Gabrielle Lord

  ‘Sophie and Ariel are locked up? And there’s another prisoner, and maybe others too? Cal, this is out of control now, you have to tell SI-6 everything!’ Winter said.

  ‘I know you’re right, but they don’t know I’m here so we’ve still got that advantage. If it looks like I can’t get them out, I’ll call in the troops. I promise, OK?’

  I could hear Winter muttering something about foolish bravado. But finally, I got to the question I wanted to ask her.

  ‘So, the word Mordred—what does it mean to you? Boges told me he was an enemy of King Arthur, but I mean what images or what things come to mind when you think of it? Text me with any ideas. They might help.’

  ‘OK, I promise I’ll get back to you on this one after I’ve done some research, and there’s something else you should consider.’

  ‘What’s that?’ I asked.

  ‘If there’s Delta 1 and 2, and also Delta 11 …’

  ‘Somewhere, there’s probably Delta 3 all the way up to 10,’ I finished her thought.

  ‘Exactly.’

  ‘With kids locked up in them,’ I said.

  ‘Could be,’ Winter said.

  ‘That’s a horrible thought.’

  ‘I’ll talk to Repro. He might have some ideas,’ Winter said.

  ‘I’ve already got a plan,’ I said.

  DAY 30

  61 days to go …

  3:00 pm

  That day, I went to training as usual, waiting for my call up to the Zenith team, throwing myself into it while my mind was almost in meltdown. I rehearsed over and over how I was going to get inside Damien’s office, grab the key to Delta 2, free Sophie and then contact BB so that we could set up a rendezvous. Then I’d need to worry about Zak and Ariel. And any other kids who were trapped in there. My mind kept spinning.

  I’d noticed before how at exactly three o’clock, Damien always clattered down the steel stairs from his office kitted out in his dark blue tracksuit and joggers, and went for a run. During this time, Elmore cleaned out his office.

  Today, I was watching and ready. I saw Damien do a few stretches near the stairs, then set off at a steady jog towards the main gates. Elmore came out of the laundry area, heading for the office. I saw him go inside with his cleaning gear stowed in his bucket.

  I came out from around the corner where I’d been innocently dawdling and quickly followed him, checking that no-one was looking before I slipped inside the building.

  Elmore was whistling softly to himself and the office door was slightly ajar. I peeked in and saw him wiping Damien’s desk, his back turned to me. I crept into the room, ducking down behind the long lounge under the banks of security screens. I glanced up. In one of them, I could see the tall figure of Damien running across the grassy area towards the beach. Elmore wiped the large windows, picked up the wastepaper bin, emptied its contents into his bucket and mopped around the floor before taking a quick look around the room.

  I crouched lower, flattening myself, as he came over to the lounge. I heard him punching the cushions into shape. I held my breath. Then released it as he left the room, closing the door behind him. In a box on the bottom shelf behind the lounge, I spotted a pile of stinger suits. I grabbed one, stashing it inside my jacket, hoping the bulkiness wouldn’t be too obvious.

  I jumped up and went straight to the key rack. I grabbed the key labelled D-2 and looked closer at the D-11 key. Next to the new label there was a tiny bit of an old tag that was still stuck onto the thick string. This must be the key to Delta 11 but I still didn’t know where that was. I couldn’t see any other Delta keys for now.

  As I turned to leave, I looked out the window and to my horror, I saw Damien running back towards the resort gates! He must have forgotten something. In my shock to be out of there, I accidently bumped one of the open laptops on the desk and it immediately flashed out of its energy-saving mode, revealing its desktop screen, full of file icons.

  I stared transfixed at the top left hand icon.

  The file was about the Mordred Key!

  I could use the Stealth Hacker program to find out the truth about the Mordred Key! But now wasn’t the time.

  I flew out of the office, skidded down the steel steps and out the door of the office block. In my haste, I crashed right into someone.

  ‘What do you think you’re doing here?’ It was Dean, the counsellor I’d met on my first day on the island.

  ‘Erm, looking for Damien,’ I said, breathless, still wild with excitement about what I’d just discovered.

  ‘He’s not here right now,’ said Dean. ‘You shouldn’t be here at all.’ He frowned. ‘And you should cut down on carbs, Ryan—you’re gaining weight.’

  ‘Yep, sure thing. I’m just a bad, bad kid!’ I said, trying to laugh it off. ‘My apologies. I’m outta here right now!’

  And I jogged away, waving at Damien as he went past me with a frown on his face. I didn’t look back.

  My phone vibrated in my pocket—

  Good news bro. Found Zak!

  At least he hadn’t been captured along with Ariel. I replied—

  Awesome! Need to swap back asap—got key to free Sophie.

  His reply came back immediately—

  On my way!

  As soon as I was out of sight, I took off, heading for the coast. There was no way I could get back into the mountain through the secret rock face after what happened yesterday. Security would certainly be tighter now. I would have to go over the rocks all the way around to the big cavern. I took off my outer clothing and pulled the stinger suit on. The tide was coming in and the waves were high, crashing over me as I went. As if the journey wasn’t already hazardous enough. A couple of times I was almost sucked under by the force of the waves, but I managed to cling onto the jagged rocks, my fingers screaming with the effort.

  Mountain Bunker

  4:16 pm

  Finally, I got to the cavern entrance, and swam into it on a wave that surged all the way along the stone wharf. I noticed the outboard was back, roped very securely, behind the submersible.

  I hauled myself out of the water and onto the rock shelf. Dripping wet, I made my way to the corridor entrance, hoping like crazy I didn’t bump into anyone. All seemed quiet but I could hear shouted orders coming from the arena area and I hoped that the Zenith team and their trainers were fully occupied for the moment. Stealthily, I hurried down the corridor and knocked on the door to D-1. No answer. I hurried to D-2, pulling the key out of my pocket, hastily knocking and turning the key at the same time.

  ‘Sophie, it’s me, Cal,’ I said as I pushed the door open.

  ‘Cal! Thank goodness you’re here!’

  At that moment, I heard voices in the corridor, headed straight for us. I closed the door behind me, putting my finger to my lips. Sophie was silent beside me, listening. The voices got louder—one was Damien’s.

  ‘She needs to be transferred to the outcrop, to Delta 11,’ he said, ‘just in case.’

  Sophie looked at me uncomprehendingly. But I was beginning to understand. Damien wanted Sophie transferred to the prison on the outcrop. Brittany’s desperate flight with the torn key tag in her hand and her strange words—’Help him!’–were starting to make sense. Had she been referring to the prisoner on Delta 11? The prisoner who ‘knows what’s going on’? Was that what Damien had planned for Sophie?

  A key went into the lock. Of course he would have extra keys, I realised as I threw myself under the bed. I heard the bed creak as Sophie sat on it above me, her legs and feet centimetres away from my face.

  ‘Sophie, my dear,’ I heard Damien say from my hiding place. ‘I’ve got some good news for you.’

  ‘The only good news I want to hear from you, Damien,’ Sophie said, her voice angry, ‘is that you’re letting me out. You can’t keep me here like this!’

  ‘Well, that’s why I’m here. In an hour or so, we’ll take you by boat to somewhere where you can be picked up easily. You’ll be on your way home very soon. I’m
sorry you weren’t able to fit in with our happy community.’

  ‘Happy community? Are you joking? This place is run like a prison. As soon as I get home I’m going to—’

  ‘Going to what?’ Damien’s voice was quiet and calm … and chilling.

  ‘Nothing,’ said Sophie, realising she’d already said too much.

  ‘So, get your things ready and I’ll send someone shortly to help you with your transfer. OK?’

  4:34 pm

  I heard the door close behind him and listened as his footsteps echoed up the corridor. I scrambled out from under the bed.

  ‘Damien says I’m going home,’ Sophie said. ‘But that’s not true, is it? I heard him say “Delta 11”—is he planning to make me one of those missing kids?’

  ‘Sophie,’ I said, ‘Delta 11 is a prison on that tiny island that we can see from the beach.’

  ‘There’s really a prison?’ she asked, her face pale with shock. ‘I thought those stories were just rumours.’

  ‘I went out there. I’ve seen it. I talked to the guy who’s locked up there.’

  Sophie’s eyes went wide.

  ‘Look,’ I said, ‘let’s get out of here and then I’ll tell you everything.’

  Checking that the coast was clear, we stole out of Delta 2. I told Sophie about Ariel being captured. ‘I don’t think she’s locked up here,’ I whispered. ‘I knocked on the door,’ I said, pointing to D-1, ‘before I unlocked yours. There was no-one there.’

  Silently, we fled down the corridor, out into the large cavern and along the stone ledge past the submersible, heading for the opening to the coast and the ocean. I couldn’t risk staying to search for Ariel. I’d have to come back for her.

  I gave Sophie the stinger suit to wear, praying that the jellies would keep out of this crashing surf. I knew they were more likely in quieter waters but that was no guarantee. The tide was even higher now and a couple of times we had to cling on in order not to be swept away.

  Halfway to shore, Sophie lost her footing and I grabbed her wrist tight, as we struggled not to be swept out to sea. The swell was getting bigger with each passing minute.

  Finally, exhausted, we made it to shore and headed inland near the resort compound.

  ‘I’ve got somewhere safe to take you,’ I said, ‘if I can ever find it again.’ I was thinking of Ariel and Zak’s cave where, hopefully, Zak would be waiting. If they’d managed to stay hidden for months, chances were that Sophie would be safe there too until we could make our escape from the island.

  We were both weary and wringing wet, but we forced ourselves to start climbing towards the rainforest. I realised I didn’t know exactly where Zak and Ariel’s comfortable cave was, and I knew I had to get the key back before I was missed.

  But when they came back to get Sophie and found her missing, the whole place would be in uproar. Not even those problems could take away the excitement I was feeling underneath everything else. At last I had some way of discovering what the Mordred Key was all about. I couldn’t wait to get back into Damien’s office with the Stealth Hacker!

  Painfully slowly, we made our way through dense jungle. I was parting some heavy vines when I saw a movement ahead—something creeping stealthily a few metres away. I put my arm out to stop Sophie from taking another step and as I did so, someone pounced on me, knocking me down. I scrambled to get up.

  A figure loomed over me, with a bow and arrow. I heard Sophie’s sharp intake of breath.

  ‘Zak?’ I hissed.

  ‘Cal?’

  ‘Nice take-down, Zak,’ I said, getting to my feet, brushing the mud off my knees. Zak put his bow and arrow down.

  ‘Sorry,’ he said.

  ‘OK, you two,’ said Sophie, startled. ‘What’s going on?’

  Katz Cave

  5:35 pm

  We filled Sophie in as Zak led us back to his cave. At the end of his story, his face was etched with concern for his sister.

  ‘So how did Ariel get caught?’ I asked.

  ‘We followed you into the mountain as planned and gave you a few minutes to find Sophie,’ Zak said. ‘We knocked over some equipment in that big cavern to distract everyone, then ran for it. We were almost outside when someone grabbed Ariel. Before I could go back in, she kicked the branch out of the way so the door would close. Crazy girl!’

  ‘Brave girl,’ said Sophie. ‘Thank you,’ she added quietly.

  ‘I searched the mountain corridor for Ariel. I’m sorry, I don’t know where she is. But don’t worry, Zak, I promise I’ll help you find her,’ I said, as we went through the well-camouflaged opening to the cave.

  Zak’s face paled, then he gave a small smile, ‘Thanks Cal, I know you will.’

  Then I told Sophie more about my night journey to the outcrop. ‘There’s a guy there, locked up in a cement bunker. He asked me to help him but when I asked him who he was, he couldn’t tell me.’

  ‘What do you mean, couldn’t tell you?’ asked Sophie, pushing wet hair back from her face, wrapping herself in the sarong that Zak gave her.

  ‘He literally didn’t know who he was. I couldn’t get any sense out of him. He only seemed able to say two things: “Help me” and “I don’t know”. His voice sounded—rusty.’

  My mobile chimed and I grabbed it. It was a text from Winter. I read it out.

  Meanings for Mordred … a character from King Arthur. Treacherous, traitor to the king. A close rellie, but while Arthur’s away, Mordred rebels. Tries to take over kingdom. Mordred = rebellion against rightful authority. Aka a destructive force. Hope that helps! Wx

  So a Mordred Key might be connected to taking over something or someone and trying to replace it or them. Didn’t ring any bells for me.

  ‘Do you think the Mordred Key is something to do with Delta 11?’ Sophie asked. ‘That’s the most secret place around here. That would be the place to keep something hidden.’

  ‘Your guess is as good as mine,’ I said. ‘But I’m hoping to get more information very soon,’ I said, describing my visit to Damien’s office and what I’d seen on his screen. ‘Maybe Mordred is about replacing something legitimate with something bad.’

  Zak frowned. ‘That could mean a lot of things,’ he said.

  ‘It could,’ I agreed. ‘But it’s a start. And if I can get hold of whatever’s on Damien’s computer, we might find out a whole lot more.’

  With a stick, I did a sketch of the sword with the serpent wound around it on the sandy floor of the cave. ‘This is what the icon for the Mordred Key looked like.’

  ‘Swords and snakes,’ said Sophie. ‘Not crazy about either of those.’

  ‘Sophie,’ I said, looking up from the drawing, thinking of Winter and Boges. ‘You really could be more helpful back on the mainland. I know my friends Winter and Boges would like you. You could be a member of the team. You’re in constant danger here and—,’ I was cut off by the sounds of people yelling and shouting.

  ‘What’s that?’ Zak asked.

  Down at the resort, the loudspeakers blared.

  6:01 pm

  At first I thought Sophie’s absence from Delta 2 had been discovered but a loud noise outside the cave had us all on our feet ready to bolt.

  Someone was coming straight for the cave!

  Before we could take any action, the cave’s narrow entrance between the leaves darkened as a figure approached.

  Ariel!

  ‘I escaped!’ she cried, as she dived inside. ‘They had me locked up in one of the storerooms in the mountain, but when they went in to check I was still there, I was ready for them and took them by surprise!’

  ‘Thank goodness you’re safe!’ said her brother, hugging her tightly. ‘I was so worried about you. We were going to rescue you!’

  ‘Well, I’ve saved you the trouble! Really, I’m fine, don’t worry. But I’m scared I might have brought the search party here,’ she said.

  ‘We should split up,’ I said. ‘If the cave is discovered, we’ll be trapped like rats an
d they’ll catch us all. We’ll meet back here later when it’s safe.’ Within seconds, we’d scattered in different directions, taking cover wherever we could find it.

  I crawled into a narrow space between a huge rotting tree trunk and a vine-covered rock, hoping my friends had found good hiding spots.

  The searchers came closer. Now I could hear their words clearly as they called out to each other.

  ‘She can’t have gone far. Fan out more.’

  ‘Watch out for the Gympies!’

  I sensed someone walking close to my hideout. Out of my peripheral vision, I could see sneakers moving through the leaves. All he needed to do was take two steps in my direction and he’d tread on me! I willed myself to shrink even more.

  The shoes moved away and I let out a silent sigh of relief. But then came another pair, even closer. This time it was Damien. ‘Have you found anything, Chloe?’

  ‘There are some broken leaves here,’ I heard her reply. ‘Someone’s passed by recently.’

  From higher up the mountain, somebody yelled and I was very grateful to hear them, because the next thing Chloe said was, ‘Must have been those guys up there. We should join them and see if they’ve found anything.’

  Ten minutes later, all was still. The search party had gone high up the mountain. I waited another five minutes and then, moving with great stealth, I crawled out of my hiding place. Everything was quiet. Movement nearby made me start in fright. Then a voice. ‘It’s OK, Cal. It’s me. And Ariel. We dug under this boulder ages ago in case we needed a bolthole.’

  I watched as Zak and Ariel brushed mud and leaves off their arms.

  ‘Where’s Sophie?’ I asked.

  Zak and Ariel looked at each other. ‘Maybe she’s already back at the cave?’