Swamp Race

by H. I. Larry

  Voler pulled two green parachutes – or things that looked like parachutes – down from hooks on the wall. Each one was made from a big sheet of flexible plastic, stretched over a metal frame. The frames arched up in the middle, pulling the plastic into a dome shape.

  ‘Put these on,’ said Voler..

  Zac took his parachute and strapped himself into the harness. Caz did the same.

  ‘Excellent,’ said Voler. ‘Well, good luck!’ He reached over and pulled a lever on the wall.

  ‘Wait!’ said Zac. ‘What if –?’

  But then the metal trapdoor clanked open under Zac’s feet and he was falling through the air. He reached up and firmly gripped the parachute cables.

  The parachute filled up with air, slowing his fall.

  Twisting his body left and right, Zac found that he could steer the parachute in any direction. He began gliding down towards the swamp in wide, lazy circles.

  The flexible metal harness responded to his tiniest movements. It was almost like the parachute was part of his body.

  This is incredible! thought Zac. Why hasn’t Leon come up with a design like this?

  There was a sudden flash of movement in front of Zac. Caz was speeding towards him on a collision course. She was trying to knock him out of the sky!

  At the last second, Zac swooped clear of Caz’s path. Caz went spinning through the air, only just managing to keep control of her parachute.

  Trust Caz to play dirty, Zac thought to himself. He tilted his body forward, increasing his speed. He dived down towards the swamp, then pulled up at the last second and…

  He hit the muddy water feet-first and quickly began pulling off his parachute harness.

  Moments later, Zac saw Caz splash down a few metres away.

  Standing waist-deep in the water, Zac took Voler’s envelope out of his pocket. He tore it open and pulled out three soggy cards with shapes printed on them.

  Great, thought Zac. What on earth are these?

  He looked around at the swamp he had landed in. Dirty brown water stretched out in all directions. Here and there, little islands of mud rose up from the water.

  Up ahead, way off in the distance, Zac could see a forest. And to his left, two enormous mountains stretched towards the sky.

  Mountains! thought Zac, staring down at the first card. Is that what these triangles are supposed to be?

  Caz seemed to think so. Looking around, Zac saw her splashing through the water in the direction of the mountains.

  ‘I’ll wait for you at the finish line, Agent Rock Star!’ she called over her shoulder.

  Zac was about to follow her when he noticed something. Hold on, he thought. Why are there three triangles on the card and only TWO mountains?

  He peered around the swamp again. Maybe that wasn’t the answer after all.

  Then the forest in the distance caught Zac’s eye again. What if those triangles on the card were meant to be trees?

  Zac decided to follow his hunch.

  He turned away from Caz and sprinted off in the direction of the forest.

  Hours later, Zac was still wading through the swamp in the direction of the trees.

  He was almost there, but it was hard going. The hot sun beat down on him. There were spiky reeds growing everywhere. The mud at the bottom of the swamp grabbed at his feet with every step.

  Zac was starting to wonder whether he’d made the right choice after all.

  Zac whirled around, but there was nothing there. Just ripples on the water.

  He was sure he’d heard something moving behind him. Probably just a tree branch falling into the swamp, he told himself. Just concentrate on finding the blueprints.

  But then Zac felt something slither past his leg. Something big.

  OK, he thought, I definitely didn’t imagine that.

  Zac started moving more quickly through the water, trying to get away from whatever was swimming around down there.

  ‘Aaahh!’

  Something long and grey leapt up into the air in front of Zac, then splashed back down into the water.

  An eel! Zac realised with a shudder.

  But this was no ordinary eel. It was as thick as a tree trunk, with big pointed teeth. How was that even possible?

  There must be something in the water, Zac thought. Something toxic that makes the animals get like that.

  But he decided to leave the scientific explanations to Leon and concentrate on not getting eaten.

  Up ahead, there was a huge fallen tree poking out of the water. Zac waded over and pulled himself up on top of it.

  Looking down, he saw the eel circling the tree, getting ready to leap up and attack again. Eels are so gross, he thought to himself, getting out his SpyPad.

  He set it to Laser and pointed the SpyPad down at the water. Then he adjusted the beam setting to Maximum Power.

  At first, the eel didn’t seem to react. It just kept on swimming in circles around Zac. But then the water started to steam and bubble, boiling in the heat of the laser.

  The eel leapt out of the water again. It let out an ear-splitting screech and snapped its jaws at Zac.

  Zac ducked out of the way just in time, grabbing hold of a branch to steady himself.

  The horrible creature crashed down into the swamp and slithered away.

  Zac let out a long sigh and waited for the water around him to cool down again. He scanned the area with his SpyPad.

  No sign of Caz or the DSD.

  Then Zac noticed something that made his eyes light up. It was one of the little mud islands that dotted the swamp. Most of these islands had only a few little bushes or weeds growing on them.

  But this one was different. There were three trees sitting on top of it.

  Zac pulled Voler’s cards out of his pocket and glanced at the picture of the three triangles.

  This must be it!

  Zac dived down into the water and hurried across to the mud island. He climbed up between the trees and looked around for some clue about what to do next.

  ‘If these trees are the triangles,’ Zac said, thinking out loud, ‘then the next thing I need to find is something round.’

  Great, thought Zac. Now what?

  His eyes flashed to the sky. Hovering through the air towards him was what looked like a black metal soccer ball.

  Well, I guess that would be the round thing I’m supposed to be looking for.

  Unfortunately, this particular round thing also happened to be firing lasers straight at him.

  Zac crouched down behind one of the trees.

  Zac had seen Voler use a weapon a bit like this before, the first time they had met. He knew that it had motion sensors which triggered the laser blasts. It was called a Laser Orb.

  Another blast from the Laser Orb shattered the tree into splinters.

  Don’t move, Zac reminded himself. If I don’t move, it can’t see me.

  Zac froze on the spot, his fingers digging into a pile of sticky mud on the ground. The Laser Orb hovered closer to him.

  It spun around slowly, looking for any sign of movement.

  Closer, closer…

  Suddenly, Zac leapt up into the air and threw a massive glob of mud at the Orb’s motion sensors.

  The Orb shuddered in mid-air, then hovered quietly on the spot.

  Zac stood up slowly, making sure the motion sensors really were disabled. But the mud had stuck and was now drying over the Orb.

  ‘Congratulations, Zachary,’ said a familiar voice. It was Voler. His voice was coming from a speaker inside the Orb.

  Two small handles had suddenly appeared from underneath the Orb.

  ‘Well?’ said Voler’s voice. ‘What are you waiting for?’

  Zac stared at the Orb floating above his head. Then he leapt into the air, grabbing hold of the handles.

  Shuddering slightly under Zac’s weight, the Orb lifted him into the air and zoomed away across the swamp.

  For the second time that day, Zac found himself soaring hi
gh above the Murky Swamp. Voler’s Laser Orb was surprisingly fast, and not easy to hold onto. Zac’s arms quickly got tired, and a couple of times he almost lost his grip.

  The Orb zoomed through the air, guiding Zac past more and more of the same endless swamp. But there was still no sign of the plastic toad with the DSD inside.

  This place is massive, thought Zac. Those blueprints could be anywhere!

  Zac looked back over his shoulder. Caz was beneath him, sitting aboard a shiny orange hovercraft!

  That must be one of the vehicles that Voler left for us to find, Zac realised.

  The hovercraft tore across the swamp, bucking and bouncing, sending an enormous spray of water out behind it.

  Caz looked up and saw Zac hovering above her. She shot him a look of pure hatred. But she seemed to decide that Zac was heading in the right direction. Caz brought the hovercraft around, ready to chase after Zac.

  But Zac was moving too quickly for her. The Laser Orb kept on pulling him through the air, and before long Caz was just a speck in the distance.

  Still clinging to the Orb, Zac craned his neck to look up at his watch.

  In just over three hours, Voler’s jet would fly away and Zac would be stranded in the swamp. And who knew where this flying ball was taking him? Zac began to wonder whether he should just let go of the Orb and continue his search back on the ground.

  But the Orb had other ideas.

  Suddenly, the Laser Orb took a sharp turn to the right. Zac’s left hand slipped off the Orb and he had to scramble to get his grip back.

  Now Zac could see the end of the swamp coming into view below him. Tall trees grew up from the mud like a green wall, all along the water’s edge. With a jolt, Zac felt the Orb begin flying downwards. It was coming in to land.

  Zac flew lower and lower, until his feet were almost touching the surface of the water. The Orb reached the swamp’s edge and came to a stop between two trees.

  I guess I’m here, thought Zac, dropping to the ground. Wherever ‘here’ is.

  As soon as Zac let go of the Orb, it whizzed up into the sky and flew away.

  Zac pulled out Voler’s clues again. The last card was all dark except for a white rectangle. He started walking through the trees, looking for anything that might be a good match.

  Walking deeper into the forest, Zac saw a shape that looked darker than the trees around it. He walked over for a closer look. It was the entrance to a big stony cave. Zac’s spy senses tingled.

  He switched on his SpyPad’s torch and stepped inside.

  Zac’s torch wasn’t the only light in the cave. Further inside the cave, something else was glowing.

  Zac headed in the direction of the light. Is there someone else in here? he wondered. Surely there was no way Caz could have overtaken him!

  Zac rounded a corner and finally found the source of the light. It was an enormous computer screen showing a map of the Murky Swamp.

  Ah, Zac thought to himself. The screen must be the white square on the clue card.

  The map on the screen was black and white – except for one little island that was glowing bright red.

  That must be where the X-Beam blueprints are hidden! Zac realised. He quickly pulled out his SpyPad and carefully snapped a photo of the map. But then a sudden noise from outside broke his concentration.

  Back out in the swamp, someone had just let out a terrified, ear-splitting scream.

  Zac raced out of the cave and back towards the swamp. He reached the edge of the water and saw right away who had been screaming.

  It was Caz. She was standing aboard her little hovercraft, cracking her Electromagnetic Whip at a massive crocodile.

  Caz brought the whip down again and again, sending sparks flying. But the crocodile didn’t even seem to notice that it was being hit.

  The hovercraft rocked back and forth, and Zac could see that it was only a matter of time before the croc knocked Caz right into the water.

  Zac sighed. He knew what he had to do.

  He jumped back into the swamp and began wading out. Towards the crocodile.

  But as he got closer, he realised that it wasn’t a real crocodile at all. Instead of scales, the croc was covered in grey steel plating. Instead of eyes, two red lights blinked menacingly in Caz’s direction.

  It was a robotic crocodile! It must have been planted there by Professor Voler.

  As if the real animals in this place aren’t bad enough! thought Zac, remembering the eel.

  He crept up behind the robocodile, trying to keep from being seen. Zac remembered something he’d seen on Leon’s favourite nature show, Creepy Creatures.

  Zac leapt up onto the robocodile’s back, just as it took another lunge at Caz.

  The robocodile’s mouth snapped shut. Zac grabbed onto the closed jaws and held on tight.

  For a second he thought his plan had worked. But then the robocodile snapped its mouth open again, flipped Zac over and threw him into the swamp.

  I guess that rule only works for real crocodiles, thought Zac, getting to his feet. He decided to switch on his Electro-Armour just to be safe.

  Caz cowered on the hovercraft, but the robocodile had already started swimming towards Zac.

  Zac turned and ran through the shallow water, but his feet kept slipping into the mud, slowing him down. In seconds, the robocodile was right on top of him. It stretched its mouth wide. Looking up, Zac saw row after row of razor-sharp steel teeth.

  Uh-oh, he thought, trying to dart out of the way. But the robocodile lunged right for him. Its mechanical jaws came down on top of Zac, right across his chest.

  Luckily, Zac’s arms were up in the air, and the robocodile’s metal teeth crunched down hard on his Electro-Armour.

  The armour sent a surge of electricity into the robocodile’s mouth. The croc shot up into the air, twisting and sparking. Zac could see that its systems had been fried instantly.

  Zac dived out of the way as the robocodile came crashing into the water, completely destroyed.

  Zac stood up and paddled over to Caz’s hovercraft.

  ‘I thought you were done for,’ said Caz, sounding almost disappointed that the croc hadn’t finished him off. ‘He bit you straight across the chest! How’d you survive that?’

  Zac lifted up his shirt to reveal the Electro-Armour hiding underneath.

  ‘Hey!’ Caz protested.‘How come you’ve got armour?’

  ‘I wouldn’t be complaining if I were you,’ said Zac. ‘This armour just saved your life!’

  ‘Well, I’m fine now,’ said Caz, crossing her arms. ‘So you can get out of here.’

  But when Zac looked down and saw the time, he knew it wasn’t going to be that simple.

  There were only two hours left! He cringed as he realised what he was going to have to do next.

  ‘Well?’ said Caz. ‘What are you waiting for? Get lost!’

  ‘No,’ said Zac. ‘Let me onto that hovercraft.’

  ‘Yeah, right,’ Caz laughed.

  ‘I know where the plastic toad is hidden,’ said Zac. ‘But we’re going to have to go together.’

  ‘I’m not going anywhere with you, Rock Star,’ Caz growled.

  ‘You think I want to be stuck with you?’ said Zac. ‘In two hours, Voler’s going to fly off and leave us both behind. You can’t even stay alive in the daytime without my help. Do you really want to be stuck here at night?’

  ‘No-one asked you to help me,’ Caz spat. ‘I had it all under control.’

  ‘Really?’ said Zac, raising an eyebrow.

  Caz glared at Zac, but was silent.

  ‘Look,’ Zac said, trying to keep calm. ‘You’ve got the hovercraft, but no idea where the plastic toad is. I’ve got a map to the plastic toad but no way to get there. The only way we can get out of here is if we work together.’

  Caz stared at him, weighing up her options. Then she let out a groan of disgust.

  ‘Fine,’ she said. ‘Get on.’

  The hovercraft tore acro
ss the surface of the swamp, towards the island where the X-Beam blueprints were hidden.

  Even though it was Zac who knew the way to the island, Caz had refused to let him drive. So Zac sat looking over Caz’s shoulder, shouting directions over the roar of the engine. He kept his SpyPad hidden in his pocket, and only checked the map when he was sure Caz wasn’t looking.

  Apart from that, they kept silent.

  They may have been working together now, but they both knew that their agreement would be over as soon as they stepped off the hovercraft.

  Even now, sitting behind Caz, Zac was half-tempted to shove her overboard and drive off without her. But he sighed instead and checked the time.

  ‘Right!’ he shouted to Caz. ‘No, wait – turn left!’

  Everything looked so different from the ground. It was hard to figure out which way they were supposed to be going.

  But then he saw it. Up ahead was an island of mud with two big trees knocked down and arranged into the shape of an X.

  X marks the spot, thought Zac. This had to be it.

  ‘Over there!’ he called.

  Caz guided the hovercraft over to the island and brought it to a stop.

  Zac stood up and reached for his SpyPad, ready to check the map one last time.

  Caz lashed Zac across the back with her whip. Zac’s Electro-Armour sparked and kept him from getting hurt, but the impact was enough to send him staggering overboard.

  Zac got to his feet and clambered up onto the island, right behind Caz.

  Caz raced around the island, searching frantically for Voler’s plastic toad.

  Zac, meanwhile, headed straight for the centre of the X-shape made by the fallen trees. He found a patch of long, brown grass and started digging through it.