by H. I. Larry
‘Cipher!’ said Zac in surprise.
At some point during the zero gravity training session the rat must have crawled inside the cereal box, looking for food. Now Zac had an extra passenger.
‘This is a dangerous mission!’ Zac scolded the rat. ‘I can’t have stowaways along for the ride.’
Cipher’s nose wiggled, his little black eyes blinked.
Zac checked the time. It was 7.09 p.m. He had less than 12 hours to get the job done. He couldn’t turn back just to drop off his pet rat!
The sky began to darken. The minishuttle was moments from entering space.
‘All right, Cipher,’ said Zac. ‘I hope you can follow orders. You’re about to become the world’s first rat-stronaut.’
The Star Master was surrounded by darkness. Zac gazed at the stars. They were astoundingly bright with no air pollution in the way. He banked the mini-shuttle to get one last look at Earth. It was a colossal, glowing ball in blue, green and white. Maybe he could do some space sightseeing on the trip back.
Within a few hours Zac was getting near the Space Fortress.
I really don’t feel like dodging laser canons and space torpedoes, Zac thought. I need to find somewhere close by to leave the shuttle, then I can space-hop over to the Space Fortress in secret.
Zac checked the computer’s star maps for a good place to park. His best bet was an asteroid field nearby.
In another 25 minutes they had reached the asteroid field. The Star Master coasted right into the middle of the swarm of swiftly moving rocks.
‘Hey, Cipher,’ said Zac, jerking the joystick left and right to avoid colliding with the rocks. ‘This is just like my Pluto Pilot computer game – but a whole lot better!’
Asteroids came at the mini-shuttle from all directions. There were hundreds of them. Some were the size of a basketball, others were bigger than a house! Zac kept the Star Master ducking and diving through the field of space rocks.
He located an asteroid that looked like it could hide a bulldozer. An excellent parking spot. Zac pulled the mini-shuttle alongside and gently touched down.
Zac looked at the time. It was 11.41 p.m.
Zac carefully scooped up the rat. He pulled out the collar of his Space Master suit and tucked Cipher down the front. Zac loaded his helmet with one of the tiny oxygen tanks and hit the emergency release on the cockpit canopy. He unfastened his seat belt and felt himself drift upwards.
Zac crab-walked across the asteroid. On the other side of the jumbo space rock he made a very interesting discovery. Clamped firmly to the rough surface of the asteroid was a spacecraft. It was painted a girly pink, with flowers all over it. ‘Double Trouble’ was sprayed along the side.
‘Hey, Cipher,’ said Zac with a laugh. ‘This Agent Mirror tough guy is flying a Barbie rocket!’
Zac moved closer to check out the spacecraft. It was a decent ship, looked fast and had a roomy cockpit. But it was no Star Master.
Zac hid behind a rocky ledge. He peeked carefully over the top into the endless space beyond. In the distance, there it was – the Space Fortress.
It was a fortress! Zac could make out the laser canons sweeping back and forth, looking for a target. Dozens of tracking missiles poked from lethal launchers. It bristled with satellite antennae, radar dishes and aerials.
The sensors must be set to pick up human intruders and spacecraft only! thought Zac.
Zac realised the sensors would have to ignore the asteroids, otherwise the automatic security computer would waste all day zapping every speck of space dust that came within range.
All I have to do is hitch a ride on a rock, thought Zac.
Zac tapped the controls of his SpyPad and began scanning some nearby asteroids. He needed something the size of a small car – big enough to stay hidden behind until the last minute. He locked in the perfect asteroid.
Zac sprung from his hiding place. He somersaulted twice and landed like a ninja on his chosen rock.
Cipher did NOT enjoy being in space. He fidgeted about inside Zac’s suit, squirmed under his arm and down the sleeve.
‘Hey, hold still,’ said Zac, gripping the asteroid. ‘That tickles!’
The speeding asteroid was drawing close to the Space Fortress. Any second now Zac would have to ditch his ride and leap onto the hull of the huge space station. He relaxed his grip on the rock and curled into a ball. He hoped his rolling motion would fool the security sensors long enough to land on the Space Fortress.
Zac landed with a soft thud. He was out of immediate danger. The security system wouldn’t shoot a tracking missile at itself! Scuttling quietly across the Space Fortress, he spotted a maintenance hatch.
Zac flicked the SpyPad selector to Laser and used it as a cutting torch. The Space Fortress was protected by solid steel, but the small hatch was attached to a couple of hinges that melted like cheap chocolate.
The red-hot metal cooled quickly in the bitter cold of space. Zac tugged the hatch back and slipped inside. He found himself in a tight tunnel used for electrical cables. Taking care not to squish Cipher, Zac crawled forwards until he discovered an airlock into the Space Fortress.
Inside the airlock, Zac took off his Stealth Master helmet. He felt around inside his space suit and grabbed Cipher. Out in the light the rat let out a tiny sneeze and blinked in confusion. Zac dropped him into the helmet for safety.
The Space Fortress was like an immense maze. Passageways lead in every direction. He needed to stay camouflaged. He spun the buckle-dial on his Space Master suit and changed the colour to match the white walls.
Zac came across countless rooms full of complex equipment. He lost valuable time searching for clues to BIG’s plan – and Agent Mirror.
Zac moved silently down a long white corridor, looking for the control centre. A murmur at the far end of the corridor caught his attention. Activating the multidirectional microphone on his SpyPad, Zac tuned in to the conversation. He could make out a voice coming through from the distant Lunar Strike base on the Moon.
‘We have the Electromagnetic Pulse Beam on standby,’ said the voice, crackling across space. ‘We will activate on your signal. I need a situation report, Agent Mirror.’
Zac crept closer to the room where the conversation came from, and took a gamble. He poked his SpyPad around the corner of the open door and snapped a quick photo with the built-in camera.
Crouching in the corridor he checked the photo on the screen. What he saw amazed him.
On the SpyPad screen were two girls – identical twin girls!
‘Pinky only needs a little more preparation before she can commence hacking into the Space Fortress system,’ said one of the girls.
‘Superb work,’ replied the voice from Lunar Strike. ‘Britney, once we scramble the webcast you will have less than five minutes to steal the Rockathon donations. We need that money swiftly transferred from the Space Fortress account to our secret BIG account. Gone without a trace. Understood?’
‘You can count on it,’ promised Britney.
Zac had never expected this. The mysterious BIG agent was actually a pair of girls? Now was a good time to check in with GIB headquarters. Zac sneaked back the way he’d come.
He ducked into an empty storage locker and dialled Leon’s direct number using the
SpyPad’s satellite phone.
‘Zac, any news?’ asked his brother, as soon as he appeared on the screen.
‘Big news,’ whispered Zac. ‘And I mean BIG news. Agent Mirror is actually twin girls, called Pinky and Britney! I don’t have much time. I overheard some of their plan. What can you tell me about an Electromagnetic Pulse Beam?’
‘EPB, eh? Interesting,’ said Leon. ‘Latest weapons technology. If they have one, the Lunar Strike base could send out a concentrated electromagnetic burst aimed at Earth. Harmless to humans but totally fries all electronic equipment. A single EPB blast would crash every computer running the Rockathon webcast.’
‘Thanks for the tip. I’m going to �
��’
But Zac never finished the sentence. Two metal claws closed around him, pinning his arms to his side. He struggled to break free.
The more he struggled, the tighter the claws gripped him. Zac could see stars – but they weren’t in space!
Zac’s feet thrashed about in mid-air. He looked around at his captor, and saw that it was a
The robot towered above him, as tall as a professional basketballer. It was built like a tank but was also painted dazzling pink – the same colour as the Double Trouble rocket.
The robot had arms that belonged on a construction crane. They ended in lethal claws that could obviously crush a car.
The robot was carrying him straight back down to the room he’d been spying on. Struggling to remain upright, he saw the twin girls step into the corridor.
‘Intruder located and captured!’ said an artificial voice behind his head.
‘Drop him!’ commanded the one called Britney.
Zac hit the cold floor, face first. It was wonderful to be able to move his arms again.
‘Zac Power, I presume?’ said the other one, Pinky.
‘So this is the spy Lunar Strike warned us might show up,’ said Britney, narrowing her beady eyes. ‘You don’t look like much. Certainly nothing Boltz here can’t handle.’
Zac wobbled to his feet and massaged his arms, remembering the claws closing around them.
‘So, BIG is still hiring girls?’ said Zac, thinking of Caz, the last BIG agent he had encountered.
‘Oh, BIG is hiring A LOT of girls,’ giggled Britney, winking at her sister. ‘Rockets, robots and robbery – that’s our business. Right, sis?’ She turned to Pinky for a high five.
‘At the moment it’s robbery,’ continued Britney. ‘But what say we take a break? We have some time to kill before we can transfer the money. Boltz, bring our guest into the control room. Be gentle – no need for the Gorilla Grip this time.’
Boltz lifted Zac and tucked him under one arm, like you would a bag of chips. It clunked into the control room and tossed Zac into a chair.
‘The money transfer will go through in a few hours,’ said Pinky. ‘Then we’ll leave you in peace. Of course, you will be trapped on this space station. But if you behave yourself, we’ll play nice and leave you with enough oxygen to breathe.’
‘We’ll let GIB know where you are,’ continued Britney. ‘Although when we’re finished with you, it might be a bit embarrassing facing a rescue crew. Because, Zac, it’s time for –’
‘EXTREME MAKE-OVER!’ squealed the sisters, clapping their hands.
Pinky fetched a large bag of cosmetics. Britney gave Boltz a nod. The mechanical monstrosity moved in behind the chair and pinned Zac’s arms behind him.
‘You won’t be needing this with what we’ve got in mind,’ said Pinky, snatching Zac’s helmet and chucking it into a corner.
She began teasing up Zac’s hair with a comb as she whistled an annoying Taylor Swift tune. Britney got to work with mascara and eye-shadow.
Zac watched precious time tick away on the control room clock. It was already 3.33 p.m. He couldn’t believe he was in space, having a make-over at the hands of BIG twin girls!
Pinky was busy spraying Zac’s hair with hairspray and using a pencil to colour in his eyebrows.
This is getting ridiculous, Zac thought.
Britney was colouring his cheeks rosy red. On went the dabs of lipstick.
Make these crazy twins stop! thought Zac, wondering how long they could keep this up.
‘One more touch,’ cackled Pinky, adding so much black pencil around Zac’s eyes that he looked like a frightened panda when the girls triumphantly held up a mirror to show Zac.
‘C’mon, sis,’ said Britney. ‘We better head down to the central computer and get ready to scoop the loot!’
Zac looked at the clock again. There were only two and a bit hours left to save the Rockathon. Will that be enough time?
The Mirror twins skipped out of the control room, leaving Boltz to watch over Zac.
Zac could hear the metal beast’s brain whirring –
Then he heard another sound. He looked down to see Cipher darting between the robot’s feet. Boltz saw the rat at the same instant.
No! thought Zac. I’ll be scraping poor Cipher off the floor.
But Boltz let out a scream that echoed around the control room. Cipher had chewed through the robot’s balance cable. It wobbled and then tipped over, crashing to the floor. Flames started shooting from its ears!
‘Cipher, my hero!’ whooped Zac, leaping to his feet.
But the rat took one look at Zac and scampered back to the safety of the Stealth Master helmet.
‘Do I really look that bad?’ asked Zac, touching his frizzy hair.
He reached into his backpack and found a tissue, then used it to wipe off the worst of the make-up. He ran a hand through his hair to smooth it down as best he could.
Boltz was out cold, but Zac wasn’t taking any chances. He knelt down beside the fallen robot and whipped out his SpyPad. Using the laser he cut through the hatch at the top of its head and unplugged its electronic brain. A final wisp of smoke curled up from the trashed machine and it sagged in a sad heap.
Crunch time. Zac needed to work fast. He dug out the handful of Leon’s virus discs and slotted one into his SpyPad. The screen came to life.
‘Sounds nasty,’ said Zac, looking over at Cipher. ‘If the Mindwarp Worm does what it says, we could ruin the Rockathon robbery AND fry all the computers on the Lunar Strike base.’
Zac moved over to the control console and plugged in his SpyPad. He set it to Voice Scrambler. He would still have a sample of Britney talking, from eavesdropping on their conversation. If he could fool the BIG people at Lunar Strike for a few seconds, his plan would work.
Zac cleared his throat and spoke into the SpyPad. ‘Testing, testing.’
He surprised himself. The voice that came from the SpyPad speakers was high and whiny – but sounded more like Pinky. It’d do nicely.
He contacted the base. ‘Lunar Strike, this is Space Fortress, please respond.’
‘This is Lunar Strike. Go ahead, Space Fortress.’
‘BIG hacking preparation is complete,’ fibbed Zac. ‘Request that you network with our central computer for final check.’
‘Roger that,’ came the reply. ‘Network link operational. Lunar Strike out.’
Zac was cutting it close!
He used his SpyPad to inspect the computer files. He discovered that Pinky had already hacked into the system on the Space Fortress and was connected to BIG’s secret account. She was all set to steal the Rockathon donations, as easily as taking money out of an ATM.
And that was her mistake!
Zac clicked on the secret BIG account and reversed the transfer. Instead of money going OUT of the Rockathon account, suddenly billions of dollars were being donated to the victims of the tsunami – by a very generous organisation called BIG!
Zac gave a satisfied laugh as he loaded up the Mindwarp Worm. He hit send, and Leon’s devilish virus went to work.
Within seconds, a panicked voice from Lunar Strike came through the speakers. ‘Space Fortress, we have a problem!
Please respond urgently! We are getting severe malfunctions all across the base! Space Fortress, can you provide any information?!’
‘This is Space Fortress,’ said Zac into the microphone. ‘I have some information for you. Eat Worm, hackers!’
Suddenly, Zac heard very annoyed shrieks coming down the corridor. The Mindwarp Worm had obviously gone to work on Pinky and Britney’s equipment as well. They would probably have spotted Zac’s ‘withdrawal’ from BIG’s account, too.
Time to bug out, thought Zac, quickly grabbing his helmet and Cipher, and running out of the room.
‘Boltz! My beautiful baby Boltz!’ wailed Pinky.
Zac glanced back over his shoulder as he raced down the corridor. The Mirror twins were standing in the doorway of the co
ntrol room staring at the wrecked robot.
‘Power, you’re finished!’ screamed Britney.
Zac broke into a sprint. He dropped Cipher down the front of his Space Master suit as he ran. ‘Sorry, little pal,’ he said to the rat. ‘It’s the last time you’ll have to travel in my armpit, I promise.’
With his SpyPad set to Locator, Zac scanned the Space Fortress, looking for a likely escape airlock.
‘Down here for 20 metres, up two levels, turn right, then straight ahead!’
In a minute, Zac had his helmet back on and was out in space. He looked around for a passing asteroid that would take him back to his mini-shuttle. With some frantic space dog-paddling, and even some galactic back-stroke, he made it!
Zac knew the furious Mirror twins weren’t far behind. He jumped into the Star Master and sealed the cockpit. He punched the engine ignition button. He did a sweeping turn around the Space Fortress and pointed the mini-shuttle towards Earth.
The Double Trouble rocket was right on the tail of the Star Master for a few moments until –
Zac breathed a sigh of relief as he looked in the rear-vision mirror. The twins had crashed the Double Trouble into an asteroid and damaged the engine – a smoking tangle of metal was where the tail fin used to be! In the rocket’s cockpit he could just make out Pinky and Britney, red-faced and bellowing, making very rude gestures in his direction.
Zac lifted Cipher out of his suit. ‘Couldn’t have done it without my robo-buster rat!’ he said, putting Cipher on the floor.
His SpyPad beeped. ‘Zac, Agent Bum Smack here,’ said his mum. ‘I hope you remember you have a guitar lesson this morning!’
‘Sure, Mum,’ groaned Zac, trying to sound interested. ‘I’m on my way now.’
He hung up the phone.