The Hollywood Mission

by Deborah Abela

  Suddenly Steinberger seemed to be gasping for air.

  ‘Steinberger? What’s wrong?’ Eleanor watched as the agent grabbed his chest and tried to suck in great clumps of air. ‘Steinberger?’

  She was about to contact other Spyforce personnel to help the ailing agent when the reason for his discomfort appeared on the screen.

  ‘Hello, Steinberger.’

  It was Frond, the head of the Plantorium at Spyforce. Using only plants for her ingredients, she could make any potion from invisibility cream to anti-sag buttocks lotion and was the only known cause of breathlessness in Steinberger apart from a good bout of jogging.

  ‘I got here as soon as I could.’ She noticed the palm computer and pushed her rose-shaped glasses along her nose. ‘Oh, you’ve made contact already. Hello, everyone.’

  ‘Hello, Frond,’ breathed Eleanor, relieved that Steinberger’s heart wasn’t giving out on him after all. At least not in the way she thought.

  Unable to speak, Steinberger stared at Frond as her long, red lab coat swirled beside him and her hair rose above him like a miniature Tower of Pisa.

  Ben whispered to Linden, ‘Hasn’t he told Frond how he feels about her yet?’

  ‘Not yet.’ He shrugged.

  Ben’s eyes widened. ‘We used to take bets on when he was going to tell her. Looks like I lost by about five years.’

  ‘We’ll get started straightaway,’ Max told a breathless Steinberger.

  ‘Bye, everyone,’ Frond answered.

  Eleanor shut down the palm computer.

  ‘What should we do about Aspen?’ Max asked.

  ‘Your dad told me about that. It’s very important that we do nothing that seems unusual,’ Eleanor instructed. ‘Which means going skiing as planned. While you’re there, listen out for anything about the industry that may give you clues as to what is happening.’

  ‘What should we do first?’ Linden moved to the edge of the lounge excited about the idea of another mission.

  ‘The pact,’ Ben said decisively.

  ‘The what?’ Max asked incredulously.

  ‘The pact,’ Ben repeated. ‘You know, where we all hold —’

  ‘Hands. I know,’ Max sighed.

  ‘Linden told us how you do it before every mission,’ Eleanor added.

  ‘Did he?’

  Linden smiled broadly as he took Max’s hand and one by one they each swore to look out for each other always.

  A sound from the wardrobe sent Eleanor’s head turning in that direction. Max’s brain was alive with a million excuses she could use to get out of the questions that were about to flow, but all Eleanor asked was, ‘How’s Toby?’

  Max frowned. ‘Sorry?’

  ‘Toby? Your friend from school?’

  ‘Good.’ Max had been ready for almost any question except that one.

  ‘Good,’ said Eleanor, but Max could tell she knew more than she was letting on.

  ‘Have a great trip and we’ll see you when you get back.’ Eleanor kissed them goodbye and Ben gave both their heads a rub before they left Max’s bedroom.

  When the door closed, Toby leapt out of the wardrobe wearing a long, oversized gown. ‘A mission? How great will that be?’

  ‘It’s for us, not you,’ Max said abruptly.

  ‘You know, anyone would think you didn’t like me, Max Remy.’

  ‘Would they now?’ she fumed.

  ‘Yeah. Lucky we know otherwise.’

  He noticed a piece of fluff on his gown. ‘Hey, Max, I think you’ve dropped your brain.’

  ‘Why don’t you —’

  ‘Oh, Max?’

  It was Eleanor. Max booted Toby under the bed with a firm shove just as the door swung open and Eleanor walked in.

  ‘I also wanted to —’

  ‘Yes?’ Max asked a little too eagerly.

  Eleanor stopped. ‘I wanted to let you know Quimby is getting a mission pack ready for you both for when you return from the snow.’

  Quimby was the Spyforce inventor who equipped spies with special devices for each mission.

  ‘Excellent. Quimby’s great, isn’t she? Always one step ahead.’ Max knew she was rambling but found it hard to stop. ‘Spyforce sure is lucky to have her. In fact, I don’t know what they would do if —’

  ‘We’ll be ready to start the mission the moment we get back,’ Linden stepped in.

  A moment passed.

  ‘There’s nothing going on that we need to know about, is there?’ Eleanor asked.

  Linden thought fast. ‘From what Steinberger told us, I think there probably is. We’ll do our best to find out all we can while we’re away.’ He looked earnestly at Eleanor as Max sat on the bed, her lips glued together for fear of what might come out.

  ‘Right.’ Eleanor turned and narrowly missed stepping on Toby’s hand as she left.

  Max locked the door. Toby stood up and brushed himself down. ‘Boy, that was close. You were nearly caught that time. You need to be more careful.’

  ‘Me be careful? It’s your fault I’m in trouble in the first place. If you hadn’t stolen the Matter Transporter …’ Max was so angry she hardly knew what to say first.

  Until it came to her.

  ‘I want you to go home. We’re about to go on a serious mission and we can’t afford to have anything or anyone mucking it up.’

  ‘Are you serious, and miss all this fun?’ Toby laughed again.

  ‘I mean it,’ Max said pointedly.

  Toby eyed her with a determined stare. ‘But what about your dad? He’ll get suspicious if I don’t turn up to filming.’

  ‘I’ll tell him you’re busy. And besides, what about your parents? Won’t they be worried?’

  ‘Doubt it.’

  ‘Why’s that?’ Linden was curious.

  ‘Because they’re in Austria.’

  Max was stumped. ‘Austria?’

  ‘They’re heart specialists and were asked to go there to help with research.’ Toby shrugged. ‘It’s no big deal. I live with Aunt Mable who’s eighty and lets me do whatever I want. She thinks I’m staying with friends.’

  Linden stared. ‘Don’t you miss them?’

  ‘My parents?’ Toby pulled his gown around him. ‘They’ll be back.’

  ‘What about school?’

  Toby grinned. ‘Aunt Mable’s eyesight isn’t great without her glasses, so a note’ll be no problem.’

  Max felt bad about Toby’s parents just leaving him like that, but if she let him be part of the mission, she could be kicked out of Spyforce.

  ‘You still have to go.’

  Toby paused. ‘No.’

  This was as good a stand-off as Linden had ever seen. It was the gunfight at the OK Corral, the lion eyeing off the gladiator, the crew about to mutiny on The Bounty.

  Max had to get Toby out of there. ‘Don’t you think you’ve caused us enough trouble already? Then again, that’s all you are, Toby Jennings. Trouble. From the moment I met you you’ve been nothing but a major nightmare to me and the only way my life is going to be anything other than miserable is if you disappear from it completely.’

  Toby looked hurt. ‘You really mean it?’ he asked softly.

  ‘Yeah, I mean it,’ she said, not so forcefully this time.

  ‘Okay.’ Toby dropped his dressing gown to the floor and made his way to the middle of the room. ‘See you, Linden. It was fun hanging out with you,’ he said sadly before turning to Max. ‘Bye, Max. I’ll give you this when you get home.’ He held the Matter Transporter towards her. ‘I never meant to cause you any trouble.’

  He entered the coordinates into the Matter Transporter.

  ‘Give me back the …’ but it was too late. With a small ffffttt and a flash of green light he was gone.

  ‘I’d better get ready for dinner.’ Linden left the room quietly, leaving Max standing in a pool of guilt that was deep enough to dive into. She tried to step out of it by telling herself it was wrong of Toby to steal the Matter Transporter and it was agai
nst the rules for him to be involved in a mission.

  It didn’t help.

  What she said was true. She did want Toby out of her life. So why, after she got what she wanted, did she feel so terrible?

  She’d done it. Max Remy had captured one of the most fiendish villains the world had ever known. On the surface he was all charm but inside was the heart of a pure criminal. She’d scoured the world to find him, and now his unlawful days were over.

  ‘So, Baron Von Jenkins, what do you have to say for yourself?’

  The Baron adjusted his monocle and straightened his gold-embroidered waistcoat as the wind outside his ancient castle headquarters blew softly against them.

  ‘That I’m innocent and have been set up.’

  Max laughed as she snapped a pair of handcuffs around Von Jenkins’s wrists. ‘Set up? Come on, now. You’re one of the most evilly cunning people in the world, how would you let yourself be set up?’

  ‘You laugh now, Ms Remy, but even the most clever of us sometimes find we haven’t been clever enough.’

  This was unlike Von Jenkins. Max felt herself starting to believe him and was furious that he would try to fool her. It had taken her a long time to track down his hideout and she wasn’t about to let him get away now.

  ‘I’ve had enough talk.’ She placed a chain around his ankles and waited for the Invisible Jet to arrive that would transport them both to Spyforce HQ. ‘I suggest instead of talking you enjoy your last moments of freedom, because when we’re done with you, you’ll be going to prison for a very long time.

  ‘Wait!’

  Max turned to see agent Linden Franklin climbing the rocky cliff behind her.

  ‘We were wrong. The Baron was set up. He’s really a good guy.’

  Max baulked. Could this be true? Could the Baron really be innocent? She stared at his cool stance as a sinister smile rose up his face. Had she really let herself be duped? Was she

  The plane jolted in the air. Max grabbed the armrest so tightly she expected there’d be finger indentations if she ever decided to let go. Her father reached over, slowly prised her fingers away, and held her hand.

  ‘Look out there.’ He nodded at the window next to Max. ‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’

  Outside were snow-covered mountains jumbled together like giant tenpins in some freakishly big bowling alley. The sun sluiced over the landscape in a blinding glow as the plane dipped its wings and began a wide sweeping arc towards the runway.

  ‘This part might be a bit bumpy but the guy at the front’s been flying these planes longer than you’ve been alive.’

  Max’s dad had the kind of voice that made you feel calm. That people paid attention to. At the studio, his directions were always given in a relaxed, gentle way and everyone listened and did what he said.

  Max smiled and looked at Linden who was staring out his window and chatting with Mee Lin. She thought back to the night before. She felt bad about what had happened with Toby, and even though Linden hadn’t said anything, she could tell he thought she’d overdone it.

  After a few more bumpy turns and silent mini freak-outs from Max, the plane touched down. They stepped onto the tarmac and the cold wind hit their faces as if they’d been slapped with frozen towels. Max pulled her jacket around her as they made their way to a swish car.

  ‘How many of these cars does your dad have?’ Linden asked as they stepped into a warm interior the size of a small lounge room.

  ‘Not sure,’ Max answered, happy that Linden was still talking to her.

  The car made its way up a snaking mountain path, past snow-filled trees and frozen waterfalls. A white blanket of powdered snow covered everything and when they reached their hotel, there were cosy fireplaces, thick fluffy rugs and as many hot chocolates as they could drink. Their rooms were the size of a small street and when Max pulled aside her curtain, the shiny white slope of one of the tenpins swooped in front of her like her own private ski run.

  ‘Mee Lin has something for you both,’ Max’s dad announced. Mee Lin handed two sets of snow clothes to Linden and Max.

  ‘I hope you like them.’

  Linden held out aqua blue pants with a white stripe on the side and a straight cut jacket with a waving white stripe across his chest. Subtle, stylish and very wearable.

  ‘Excellent. Thanks, Mee Lin.’

  Max’s, on the other hand, was a giant pink snow suit with cream swirls.

  ‘I know how much you liked the dress, so I thought I’d buy you this,’ Mee Lin said happily, as if she’d handed Max the keys to a secret underground chocolate supply.

  ‘Thanks. It’s really … unique,’ Max barely managed.

  ‘You two get settled in and we’ll meet you in the foyer in ten minutes for a ski.’

  Max stared at the suit, then noticed Linden slowly creeping towards the door.

  ‘Go on,’ Max dared him.

  ‘What?’ he asked innocently.

  ‘Say something about the suit.’

  ‘Sorry?’ Linden was running low on ‘innocent looking’.

  ‘The suit? What do you think?’

  He pulled the collar of his jumper away from his neck. ‘Is it warm in here or …’

  ‘Linden.’

  He couldn’t ignore the warning oozing out of that one word. Linden had no choice. He couldn’t lie, she’d pick that straightaway and he couldn’t tell her the truth, because even if he’d been dropped on his head at birth, he’d never be that stupid. He decided. There was nothing more to do … other than beg.

  ‘Please don’t make me say anything. There are too many things I’ve planned to do when I’m older.’

  Max sighed and sank onto her bed. ‘At least I won’t run into anyone I know here.’ Then she needed to ask something else. ‘Linden, do you think I was wrong to ask Toby to leave?’

  Linden stopped. ‘I think you said what you needed to say.’

  Max gave him a half smile. It was true, but she still didn’t feel any better.

  But then something happened that made her guilt disappear completely. There was a green flash of light and a familiar quiet ffftttt sound.

  ‘Did your dad pick the swankiest hotel or what?’ Toby stood before them in a blue snow jacket and matching pants.

  Max was furious. Not only because his suit looked better than hers, but she now realised Toby had never had any intention of staying away.

  ‘I went home to say hello to Aunt Mable. This Matter Transporter is great. You can travel the world and still pop home for lunch.’

  ‘Don’t get too used to it.’ Max was annoyed that she’d wasted good quality guilt on him and strode into the bathroom.

  ‘This is better than I expected.’ Toby surveyed the room, opening fridges and wardrobes, and checking out the TV guide.

  Max came out dressed in her snowsuit. ‘One word,’ she warned. ‘Not one word.’

  The boys were quiet. Even Toby knew not to comment. ‘I think I might try all the restaurants to see which one has the best hot chocolates.’ He pulled his beanie down low and quickly made his exit.

  Max hadn’t been skiing for a while but despite being the clumsiest person alive, she was actually quite good. Her fury at Toby melted away as she and her dad raced down slopes of fresh powdered snow. Mee Lin had been skiing since she was a kid and Linden, who had never been on a snowboard in his life, made it look as if he’d been born standing on one.

  At the top of the mountain, Max and her dad decided to try different runs. ‘Meet you at the bottom,’ her dad cried before skiing away.

  ‘Okay.’ Max turned and, making her way through a crowd of skiers, slammed into the padded bulk of a man.

  ‘Sorry,’ she apologised before realising it was Raychik. ‘Oh, hi.’

  He coughed and grumbled something about needing to be here before he disappeared into a swarm of beginner skiers as they wobbled and fell and got tangled in their stocks.

  ‘What’s he doing here?’ Max queried out loud.

  She
shook off the weird vibe the unexpected meeting had given her and made her way to the top of the ski run. She started thinking about Toby and how it must have been hard to have both parents live away from him, when her thoughts were cut short by what happened next.

  A skier shot out from the bushes in front of her, only narrowly avoiding clipping her skis. ‘Hey,’ she yelled, but the skier didn’t stop or signal and instead swooped across the snow and aimed directly at her. Max tried to ski faster but soon the skier was beside her and shot Max a malicious grin before ramming into her. She regained her balance but not her direction and careened straight into the forest.

  Max manoeuvred her skis around mounds of rocks and smaller trees, each one a potential silent killer. She could see another run beyond the trees and knew she only had to go a little further to reach it, but her skis landed badly on a jagged outcrop and flung Max into the air, causing her to come crashing down with a dull, painful thud.

  The next thing she remembered was someone leaning over her, asking if she was okay. She opened her eyes and let out a brief gasp. It was Raychik.

  ‘I saw someone skiing recklessly just after we bumped into each other,’ he wheezed and coughed. ‘There are always cowboys on the mountain showing off.’

  Max tried to work out where she was.

  ‘I used to be a ski patroller when I was younger,’ Raychik explained as he checked her over. ‘You’ll be a bit sore tomorrow but nothing’s broken.’

  Max was groggy and her eyes felt weighed down by steel. The next time she opened them, she was in the medical centre with her dad standing over her.

  ‘Max? Can you hear me?’

  After she was given the all clear by the medical staff and way too much fuss by her dad and Mee Lin, Max was taken to the hotel and cushioned up in front of the fire.

  ‘Lucky Raychik was there when he was.’ Her father smiled at her in relief. ‘He’s right. There are always fools on the mountain trying to prove they’re invincible.’ He kissed her forehead and left her with Linden while he went to get them something to eat.