by Greg James
‘It’s him!’ said Murph quietly. ‘Look at that light. He’s using his tele-tech to take control of the helicopter. Carl, can you track it?’
‘I certainly can,’ replied Carl, leaning over Jasper and tapping some buttons on the Banshee’s control panel. A flashing red dot appeared on his display as the helicopter vanished into the murk. ‘Let’s just give them a short while to get clear, and we’ll see where he’s off to with his little friend.’
‘Mr Drench,’ Mary said. ‘When we get a minute we simply must have a chat about how weird that was.’
‘Definitely,’ agreed Murph, ‘but now is probably not the moment.’
‘Time to engage in a delicate spot of vamoosing, then, perhaps?’ suggested Sir Jasper. ‘I’ll get the old kite fired up and follow you back to the coast – and you can be orf on your rescue.’ He backed his wheelchair away from the control panel and made for the ramp at the back of the Banshee.
‘You’re not coming?’ asked Murph softly.
The wheelchair stopped. ‘I told you. You don’t want a creaky old duffer like me getting in your way,’ said Sir Jasper, with a bravado that sounded distinctly false to Murph’s ears. ‘I’m supposed to be retired, you know. Time for a cup of tea and a sit down.’ He restarted the wheelchair and rolled down the ramp.
‘You brought us here on a rescue mission,’ said Murph, following him. ‘You piloted the Banshee down to an exploding underwater prison without thinking of your own safety. And you saved our lives. That all sounds pretty heroic to me.’
Sir Jasper coughed. ‘Well, thank you very much, young sir. You’re too kind to an old man. But without a Cape … what use can I really be?’
‘I don’t have a Cape!’ Murph argued. ‘I never did! And now Flora doesn’t either.’
Carl broke in kindly. ‘You’ve done more than enough, Jasper. We’ll take it from here. You get yourself home safe.’ He took a long look at Murph as Sir Jasper rolled back into Gertie and set about her controls.
‘Toodle pip for now!’ Sir Jasper cried over his shoulder.
Murph turned back to the Banshee. He thought he understood Carl’s look. It wasn’t fair to try to convince Sir Jasper into pursuing the villain who had caused him so much pain. He would have to follow his own path. But Murph couldn’t help feeling frustrated.
‘Right,’ Carl was saying, climbing over into the pilot’s position his friend had just vacated and folding out a chair. ‘Let’s get airborne. You lot take care of my Flora back there, and Nellie – you come up here and take her place. Will you do that for me?’
Nellie let out a minuscule squeak of excitement and bounded up to the co-pilot’s place. This was the flight she’d been promised.
‘Buckle up,’ Carl told her, ‘it’s looking nasty out there.’ He flicked a few switches on the control panel, and the jets screamed into life.
As the Banshee lifted off into the driving rain, a lone ray of sunlight broke through the clouds, sending a rainbow arcing across the crashing waves.
‘Very pretty,’ said Carl approvingly. Behind him, a clattering sound reverberated off the metal walls of Shivering Sands as Gertie’s rotor blades started up.
Gleaming blue and jet black, the two cars hovered beside the metal towers.
Carl turned his attention back to the route ahead. ‘Good to go, Little Nell?’ he asked.
Nellie nodded.
‘Rotate engines ninety degrees, and let’s fly.’
The Banshee shot forward as Carl steered them low over the water, kicking up a wake of spray as it zoomed through the rainbow and pierced it with a vapour trail of different shades of blue.
Murph gazed out of the back window to take one last look as the towers of Shivering Sands grew smaller and smaller.
Carl made for a deserted headland and gained height as they came over the coast.
‘Let’s have a look, then,’ he said, tapping a few more buttons and inspecting the control panel. ‘Magpie’s headed off to the south. You’re right, Murph. He’s not expecting to be followed.’ He grinned savagely for a brief moment before radioing Jasper. ‘OK, my friend, this is where we say goodbye!’
‘Roger, old scout,’ replied Sir Jasper. ‘See you all back at base soon. I’ll get the kettle on. Good luck, Zeroes!’
The Super Zeroes all craned round to the back window to give him a little wave, squashing Murph’s face against the glass in the process. They saw Sir Jasper salute smartly in Gertie’s cockpit before leaning on the control stick and peeling smoothly away.
‘Safe home!’ added Carl. ‘And thanks for everything.’
‘It’s been a pleasure, my friend,’ came Jasper’s voice in reply. ‘As always.’
And with that, the Banshee flew on alone, following the blinking red dot that would lead them to their unsuspecting enemy.
22
Behind the Waterfall
Carl continued to gain height until the Banshee was surrounded by thin wisps of cloud.
‘Keep her at this altitude, Nell,’ he said. ‘Don’t want any prying eyes seeing where we’re headed.’
Murph squinted at the display in front. ‘Carl, look! The tracker – it’s stopped. I think Magpie must have landed.’
Mary pushed forward and looked over Carl’s shoulder at the glowing map. ‘Seems like they’re in the middle of hills. No buildings nearby or anything.’
‘Magpie’s secret lair,’ breathed Hilda.
‘Must be. We always suspected Magpie had another base besides Scarsdale,’ Carl said. ‘A place where he was carrying out his experiments. He must have captured our Angel there. How she found it by herself I’ll never know.’
‘And now, thanks to Murph, we’ve just discovered where it is too, thirty years later,’ said Flora emotionally. Murph turned to look out of the window and did a bit more private blushing.
Carl steered the Banshee down through the clouds until they were skimming along at treetop height.
‘Looks like he’s somewhere along this valley,’ he said, piloting them into a gorge between steeply sloping hills. A stream wound along the valley floor, and Murph could see a few sheep running away up the hill, startled by the scream of the jet engines.
They carved their way through the narrow valley as Carl and Nellie flew them expertly through its many twists and turns. As they reached a relatively straight section, Carl turned in his seat to address the Super Zeroes.
‘We’ve got the element of surprise, so Magpie won’t be listening out for us,’ he began. ‘Let’s see if we can keep it like that. From here on, silence should be our watchword wherever possible.’
‘DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!!!!!’ shouted Murph suddenly at the top of his lungs.
‘No need for that kind of language, Murph,’ said Carl, affronted. ‘Especially after I was just saying that –’
‘No, not the rude word!’ yelled Murph, pointing frantically out of the windscreen. ‘DAAAAAAAAAAAM! A massive DAAAAAAAAAAM! Right ahead!’
They had emerged from a bend in the river. There, blocking the entire valley with an expanse of grey concrete, was an enormous dam. Two curtains of water cascaded down it on either side, plunging into a deep pool at the bottom. And the Banshee was about to crash straight into it.
‘It’s not come up on the radar,’ muttered Carl. ‘And it’s not marked on the map …’
‘Bwark!’ squawked Billy unhelpfully as both feet inflated simultaneously. ‘We’re gonna CRAAAAAAAAAAAASH!’
‘There’s no time to pull up.’ Carl fumbled for the control stick.
Nellie reached out one of her hands to stop him. She’d narrowed her eyes and was peering directly at the left-hand waterfall through the cockpit window.
‘Yes!’ breathed Carl. ‘I see it! Well spotted, Little Nell!’
Nellie moved the control stick to the left, steering them directly towards the sheet of plummeting water. Murph detected a slight flash from behind it – a blink of light reflecting on metal.
‘There’s something in there!’ he
realised, at the same time as Carl cried out, ‘Grab hold of something and make sure Flora’s comfy! We’re coming in hot!’
The Banshee smacked into the wall of water. Nellie was straining her eyes so intently it looked as if they might actually pop out. Her knuckles were white on the control stick, and just as they passed through the waterfall she slammed it sharply right.
With millimetres to spare, the flying car slipped into a wide, low hangar built into the side of the dam.
‘It’s going to be a bumpy landing!’ Carl yelled.
The Super Zeroes slipped and slid around as the Banshee screamed into the hangar and slammed into the floor. They were only saved by Billy, who ballooned his entire body to prevent them all being thrown forward into the cockpit window.
‘I’m the human airbag!’ he exulted as they bounced into him.
The Banshee crunched to a halt centimetres away from a large black helicopter.
‘This is it!’ whispered Murph after a long pause in which the only sounds were breathless sighs of relief. ‘We’ve found Magpie’s secret lair! Nellie, you did it!’
Nellie shook her hair back over her face, but it didn’t entirely hide her smile.
‘Think we might have lost the element of surprise though,’ said Carl grimly. ‘That was a noisy entrance.’
‘Then there’s no time to lose,’ decided Murph. ‘Super Zeroes – let’s get in there and get Angel back.’
Mary gripped her umbrella: ‘Mary Canary ready for action.’
‘Hilda?’
‘Artax and Epona ready for action, SIR!’
‘Billy?’
‘We’re gonna DIIIIIIIIEEEEE. But also, Balloon Boy active.’
‘Nellie?’
Nellie gave a tiny salute and an equally tiny squeak to accompany it.
‘Carl?’
‘Always.’
‘Flora?’
Flora made as if to struggle into a sitting position, but Carl put a gentle hand on her shoulder.
‘You stay here, my love. You’re still weak,’ he said. ‘We’ll get her back.’
She nodded at him. ‘I know you will.’
Finally, Carl turned to Murph. ‘And what about you, Kid Normal? Are YOU ready?’
Murph squared his shoulders as Carl flicked the switch that opened the Banshee’s side door. ‘Ready,’ he confirmed simply.
Together, Carl and the Super Zeroes left the Banshee and started out across the floor of the hangar. It was bare grey concrete – the same material as the dam outside – and filled with noise and spray from the waterfall. The huge helicopter had its ramp down and, they quickly confirmed, was silent and deserted.
‘There, look,’ said Murph, pointing to a small metal door set into one wall. They followed him over. ‘Seems like the only way in.’
‘I don’t care what happens next,’ said Billy, ‘as long as that door doesn’t appear to open on its own like one of those creepy ones in a horror film. That never fails to freak me out.’
The door appeared to open on its own like one of those creepy ones in a horror film. A high-budget, high-tech horror film though, because instead of creaking open and going ‘eeeeeeeeeee’, the door slid smoothly to the side with a barely audible hiss.
Billy freaked out anyway, his whole head ballooning in panic and making a large, trombone-esque noise that reverberated off the walls.
‘IF a FWAPP!’ he said through his suddenly massive lips.
‘It’s not a trap, Billy, it’s a lift,’ said Hilda kindly.
‘Fur boors wopened wom wear woam!’
‘The doors didn’t open on their own,’ she replied. ‘I pushed this button.’
‘How on earth can you understand what he’s saying?’ Mary wanted to know.
‘Faff wha WHY wamma mow!’ added Billy, which explained nothing.
They stepped into the lift, which was large and silver, and the doors closed smoothly.
‘Great,’ said Murph sarcastically. ‘More lifts.’
‘I wonder what this place is,’ pondered Mary. ‘Some kind of old military bunker or something?’
(As you’re our favourite reader, we can tell you exclusively that Mary was absolutely right. It was indeed a former military bunker, built into the hillside behind the dam long ago for a war that never came. Magpie took it over after the army abandoned it. It’s not relevant to the story, but you should feel very smug that you alone now have this information. Keep it to yourself though, OK? This is our little secret. Don’t tell all the other readers, we don’t like them as much as you. They smell.)
After a minute or so the lift lurched to a stop. The Heroes inside steeled themselves. This was it. Whatever secrets Magpie had been keeping all these years were concealed in this place. It was the dark heart of all his plans. The lift doors slid open.
They were looking out across a huge, poorly lit room with metal control panels and screens set into the walls. There was a constant, buzzing hum from the banks of equipment – and the panel of lights nearest to them was flickering eerily, not to mention irritatingly.
‘Why do the places villains hang out always have really substandard lighting?’ demanded Mary.
‘The quality of the lighting is likely to be the least of our problems,’ reasoned Murph tensely, peering off into the murk.
High up towards the centre of the room was an odd, pulsating reddish glow. Gingerly, they began to edge towards the source of this unearthly light.
It was coming from a huge glass structure suspended from the ceiling. The glass was bell-shaped, and it was filled with a smoky, purplish-red light that seemed to be swirling around a large indistinct shape in its very centre. Thick electrical wires snaked from the metal panels in the ceiling and were plugged into various points around its outside.
‘It looks like a birdcage,’ marvelled Murph, creeping closer and examining a large control panel that rose out of the floor a few metres from the glass structure.
The panel was covered with complicated screens and dials. One small green dial was marked STASIS TEMPERATURE.
There was a brass plaque at the very top, into which were carved the words PROJECT WINTER underneath the neat, stencilled outlines of three black-and-white birds.
‘Magpies,’ breathed Murph. ‘Three magpies!’
‘One for sorrow,’ began Billy.
‘Two for joy,’ Hilda joined in.
‘Three … for a girl?’ Mary asked tentatively.
She was interrupted by the clatter of footsteps on the metal floor. Carl had rushed past them and was running towards the glass cage.
They all dashed after him.
Carl stopped underneath the cage and craned his neck upwards. It was still hard to see through the glowing gas, but now they could just make out the figure of a girl suspended in the centre of the glass. She was frozen mid-jump, with one leg outstretched and her hands clenched in a combat stance. Her long hair flowed out behind her.
‘I don’t believe it,’ muttered Carl to himself. ‘It’s her. It’s Angel. She’s here.’
‘Goodness me, what a dramatic moment,’ broke in a cruel, cackling voice from somewhere away in the gloom. ‘How very touching. And how very tragic it’s about to become.’
23
Project Winter
They all spun around to try to locate Magpie. He was nowhere to be seen, but Murph thought his voice had come from somewhere near a large metal plinth all the way towards the back of the huge room. As he watched, a small metal cube with red lights suddenly appeared on top of the plinth as if from nowhere. It slotted into place with a small click.
‘Look! Over there!’ he cried.
Carl had spotted it too. ‘That’s the Proximity Detonator,’ he murmured. ‘He’s deactivated the bomb. Thank goodness.’
‘I told you I would,’ hissed Magpie’s voice, startlingly close to Carl’s ear. His approach had been silent and invisible.
The caretaker whirled around in alarm. ‘Show yourself! Coward!’
‘Keep
your ears open,’ Murph told the other Super Zeroes as they backed into an uneasy circle. ‘He could be anywhere. Eyes peeled for his lightning.’
‘Well done on finding my research facility, Chauffeur,’ Magpie went on, his disembodied voice ping-ponging across the laboratory this time as he taunted Carl, before coming to rest somewhere near Angel’s cage. ‘Like father like daughter, it would seem, eh? Tell me, how does it feel to find out your daughter’s still alive, only to realise that there’s nothing you can do to rescue her, and you have nobody to help you but a gang of useless children?’
‘We’re not scared of you!’ shouted Murph.
‘Perhaps. But that’s only because you’re STUPID!’ Magpie was close, too close – whispering right in Murph’s ear.
‘Now, which power shall I take first?’ Magpie mused. ‘The horses?’ he whispered to Hilda. She blanched. ‘The storms?’ An invisible breeze disturbed Nellie’s long hair. ‘Or what about … flying? Yes, real flight would be a wonderful thing. I could finally live up to the name you fools gave me all those years ago.’
Instinctively, the others moved to surround Mary protectively. ‘You’ll have to come through us first!’ shouted Carl.
‘With pleasure!’ said Magpie, as a huge blast of purple light shot over their heads. A warning volley. They ducked as one to avoid it, but as they began to get back to their feet, Magpie fired another jet from behind them and they hit the floor again.
‘Who knew invisibility would be such fun?’ Magpie laughed. ‘I could keep this up all day, watching you bob up and down like the powerless puppets you are. But it’s time to get serious. This next one’s going to hurt.’
Murph might not have been able to see it, but he knew the villain was gazing right at him. He could feel that strange sensation in the air again, like wings of thin metal brushing his skin.
‘Zeroes, get ready! He means business this time,’ he said wildly. ‘Prepare Capes!’
Billy ballooned a fist experimentally and Nellie shut her eyes as the friends desperately tried to determine where Magpie’s next strike would come from. Hilda adopted her usual combat stance. She looked agonised as her two delicate horses began popping and neighing their way into being. Just the thought of them falling into Magpie’s hands was unbearable.