by H. I. Larry
MOON RIDER
By H. i. LARRY
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANDY HOOK
Moon Rider
published in 2008 by
Hardie Grant Egmont
85 High Street
Prahran, Victoria 3181, Australia
www.hardiegrantegmont.com.au
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means without
the prior permission of the publishers and copyright owner.
A CiP record for this title is available from the National Library of Australia
Text, illustration and design copyright © 2008 Hardie Grant Egmont
Cover and illustrations by Andy Hook
Typeset by Pauline Haas
Printed in Australia by McPherson’s Printing Group
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
MISSION UPDATE
CLASSIFIED
In BASE CAMP, Zac found
a holo-projector with
information on his
long-lost grandpa.
In CODE RED, Zac and Leon
discovered that that the
ZacBot has kidnapped Grandpa
and taken him to the moon!
Right now, Zac and Leon are racing
home. Zac has to get to the moon
and rescue his grandpa!
CURRENT TIME:
THURSDAY 10:30 PM
CHAPTER
ONE
SCREEEEECH!
The getaway car pulled to a stop outside Zac Power’s house.
Zac and his brother Leon leapt out of the vehicle and raced along the front path to their house.
As he ran, Zac glanced down at his watch.
There were just three days left to fly to the moon, rescue Grandpa, and keep the ZacBot from turning GIB Headquarters into a junkyard.
‘Quick, let’s go to your lab!’ said Zac, opening the door and running inside. ‘If we hurry, we can get some things together before –’
‘Not so fast,’ said a stern voice from the next room.
The two boys turned. Their parents were waiting for them in the lounge room. And they didn’t look happy.
Zac’s dad stood up. When he spoke, it was in the low, slow voice he only used when Zac and Leon were majorly busted.
‘Could one of you please tell me,’ he asked, ‘why I have just received a phone call saying that my sons were caught stealing classified technology from inside GIB HQ?’
Zac and Leon stared at their father for a moment. Then they both started talking at once.
‘We needed to get back the holo-projector!’ said Zac in a rush.
‘The one Zac found in the jungle!’ said Leon, just as quickly.
‘Big Boss took it from me!’
‘He put it in the Top-Secret Zone!’
‘Leon figured out how to unlock it!’
‘We sneaked in to get it back!’
‘They caught us but we got away!’
‘And we know where Grandpa is!’ Zac and Leon finished at the same time.
Their words filled the lounge room. Their dad just stared at them, his mouth open.
Eventually, their mum spoke up. ‘Boys, your grandpa has been missing for years.’
‘No, he hasn’t,’ said Zac. ‘That was just the cover story. He’s been working undercover in the Black Jungle.’
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the little black holo-projector he had found in the jungle. He tossed it to his mum.
‘This belonged to the BIG agent,’ Zac explained.‘The one who’s planning to wipe out GIB’s technology on Sunday night.’
Zac’s mum turned the holo-projector over in her hands.
‘It turns out the agent is an android, built to look exactly like me,’ continued Zac. ‘He’s kidnapped Grandpa and taken him back to BIG’s base on the moon.’
Zac’s dad sat down heavily in a chair. He looked completely shocked.
Information overload, Zac thought. I know how he feels.
In the distance, Zac heard sirens blaring. It was GIB security. They were coming for him. As far as they were concerned, Zac was now an enemy of the agency.
‘Your grandpa’s been…kidnapped?’ his dad stammered, trying to make sense of it all. ‘But he’s been gone for seven years…’
‘I’ll explain everything,’ interrupted Leon. ‘But first we need to get Zac out of here.’
Zac nodded. While they were driving back home from HQ that evening, he and Leon had come up with a plan to get Zac to the moon.
‘There’s a spacecraft prototype in my secret lab under the house,’ Leon explained to their parents. ‘The Pulse Pod.’
‘A secret lab?’ cried their dad, who had already had enough surprises for one day. ‘I never said that you could build a secret lab under the house!’
‘Well, it wouldn’t be a secret lab if I told you about it, would it?’ said Leon.
The GIB security sirens were outside the house now. Red lights flashed in through the windows, and Zac could hear the sound of car doors slamming.
‘They’re here,’ said Leon urgently. ‘Zac, come on. We need to prep you for launch.’
‘Leon, no!’ said their mum. ‘You can’t just shoot Zac off into space!’
But before Leon could answer, they were interrupted by the sound of static.
Zac spun around. Their lounge room TV had just turned on by itself.
CHAPTER
TWO
Seconds later, a face appeared on the screen. It was a grey-haired man in a GIB security uniform.
‘Attention, Agents Rock Star and Tech Head,’ he said. ‘You are under arrest by order of GIB Command. Step outside and give yourselves up.’
The security chief glared at them through the television screen.
GIB AIRBORNE TIGHT-BEAM TU HIJACKER
‘I’ve got 20 agents surrounding your house,’ he said. ‘We don’t want to hurt you, and you can’t escape from us. Please give yourselves up.’
‘Not happening,’ Zac snarled, stepping across to the TV.
‘He can’t hear you,’ said Leon. ‘He’s only hijacked our TV signal. He can talk to us, but we can’t talk back.’
‘You need to go out there and explain,’ said their mum.
‘We can’t,’ said Zac. ‘They won’t listen. As soon as I go outside, they’ll just grab me and stick me in a holding cell. Probably Leon, too.’
‘He’s right,’ said Leon. ‘Zac’s the best person to stop the ZacBot. And how’s he supposed to finish his mission if he’s locked up inside HQ?’
‘But think of your spy career!’ said their mum. ‘How do you expect to keep on working for GIB if –’
‘After Sunday night, there might not be a GIB to work for!’ said Zac. ‘Not unless I go to the moon and put a stop to whatever BIG is planning.’
‘Three minutes,’ the security chief interrupted from the TV. ‘I’m giving you boys three more minutes to come out of the house. Then we’re coming in.’
Zac’s mum shook her head in disbelief.
‘Look, Mum,’ said Zac. ‘I don’t like this any more than you do. It’s bad enough having a crazy BIG android to deal with without my own agency chasing after me as well! But that’s just how it is, OK?’
Their mum glanced over at their dad for support, but he just shrugged.
Zac grabbed his mum’s arm and said, ‘When this is all over, I promise I’ll go bac
k to Agent Big Boss and explain everything.’
‘Two minutes left,’ said the security chief from the TV screen.
Zac’s mum sighed. ‘All right,’ she said. ‘You can go to the moon.’
‘Cool,’ said Leon. And without warning, he dashed out of the room.
‘Um,’ said Zac, ‘I think she meant me.’
But seconds later, Leon came back into the room. He was holding a fat metal pole with a rubber grip on the end.
‘It’s a Personal Deflector Shield,’ he said, handing the gadget to Zac. ‘To protect yourself against whatever’s on the moon.’
‘What?’ asked Zac. ‘How am I supposed to shield myself with a stick?’
But Leon had run out of the room again.
‘One minute left,’ said the chief. ‘Come on boys, there’s no point in being stubborn.’
Leon reappeared, this time carrying a tiny little torch.
‘I’ve already got a torch on my SpyPad,’ said Zac.
‘Not as powerful as this one,’ said Leon. ‘Clip it onto your GIB keyring. There’s other stuff I want to give you, but –’
‘No time,’ said Zac. ‘I know.’
‘This is your final warning,’ said the security chief. ‘Ten seconds and we’re coming in.’
‘I’m coming with you,’ said Dad, suddenly breaking his silence. ‘I want to help rescue Grandpa.’
‘Sorry, Dad,’ said Leon. ‘The Pulse Pod only seats one, and Zac needs to get out of here.’
BOOM!
The front door shook.
‘Run!’ said Leon.
‘What about the Pulse Pod?’ said Zac.
‘I don’t even know how to launch it!’
‘You’ll figure it out,’ said Leon. ‘Quick, get upstairs!’
Zac bolted.
BOOM! The front door flew off its hinges and landed on the floor.
As he raced up the stairs, Zac heard GIB agents storming into the house.
‘Where is Agent Rock Star?’ the security chief demanded.
Yeah, right, thought Zac. As if my family is going to tell you anything!
‘Don’t worry,’ came Leon’s voice. ‘I know where to find him.’
Zac froze halfway up the stairs. What does Leon think he’s doing?
‘Sir, I’m so sorry about all of this!’ Leon said. ‘The whole thing is Zac’s fault! I tried to stop him from breaking into the Top-Secret Zone and stealing that holo-projector, but he wouldn’t listen!’
Zac gritted his teeth. It was Leon’s plan that got me inside the TSZ in the first place, that jerk!
‘I didn’t want to help him escape!’ Leon pleaded. ‘But he made me do it! He kept threatening me!’
Zac couldn’t listen to any more of this. Betrayed by his own brother!
He raced up to Leon’s room, heading for the secret entrance to his lab. As he slipped through the door, he heard the chief’s voice at the bottom of the stairs.
‘Where is he now?’
No way, thought Zac. You’ve lied your way out of trouble, but don’t you dare –
‘He ran upstairs,’ said Leon. ‘Come on! If we hurry, we can catch him before he gets away!’
CHAPTER
THREE
Zac reached under Leon’s bed, feeling around for the hidden button he’d seen his brother push the day before. Then he leapt into the wardrobe and closed the door.
A second later, the floor slid away from under him and he was falling down through the dark tunnel towards Leon’s secret lab.
Compressed air blasted up from beneath Zac, slowing his fall. He touched down lightly at the bottom of the tunnel.
In the far corner of the lab, Zac could see Leon’s Pulse Pod waiting. It was tiny, even smaller than the StarMaster he had flown on his last trip into space.
The door wasn’t hard to find. It took up half the side of the Pod. Zac pulled the handle and climbed up into the cockpit.
The Pod was already in launch position, its nose pointed up at the ceiling. Zac closed the door and buckled his seatbelt.
There was a computer touch-screen directly in front of Zac. It was blank except for a little red circle in the middle marked ‘Launch’. Zac reached out and tapped the circle.
CLUNK! CLATTER-CLATTER!
There was a rush of noise above Zac. Then a wide, see-through tube came down out of the ceiling.
The tube sank down over the Pulse Pod, surrounding it completely.
‘This way!’ said a voice from across the room. ‘Look, there he is!’
It was Leon. He raced over to Zac, followed by six GIB security agents. But it was too late. The tube around the Pulse Pod had now stretched all the way to the floor, sealing Zac inside.
The security chief began hammering his fists on the outside of the tube, ordering Zac to come out.
I don’t think so, Zac thought smugly. Suddenly, he heard a loud humming sound somewhere below him. The Pulse Pod began to rattle and shake as its engine kicked into gear.
The security chief jumped back.
The humming sound got louder and louder. Zac could see the security chief shouting, but the noise inside the tube was so loud that he couldn’t hear a word.
The Pulse Pod shook violently. Zac grinned at the security chief and waved goodbye. Then…
KABOOM!
Zac was blasted up through the tube like a spitball in a giant straw. A hatch opened up at ground level, and the Pulse Pod tore through it into the sky.
Zac was travelling faster than he had ever travelled in his life. The surge of speed threw him backwards. It was like being crushed down into his chair by a giant hand. He couldn’t move and he couldn’t see a thing. This is awesome, he thought. So totally awesome!
The Pod’s windows glowed bright red as it pushed through the atmosphere. The whole world was a blur. Everything was shaking and vibrating. The engines roared in Zac’s ears.
Zac closed his eyes. It felt like the Pulse Pod was going to tear itself apart.
And then suddenly, everything stopped. There was silence. Zac opened his eyes. Above him was black sky, dotted with white stars. And below him, the earth looked massive.
Zac breathed a long sigh and relaxed his grip on the arms of his seat.
I made it out of the atmosphere, he thought.
As he let go of the seat, Zac realised that gravity was no longer weighing his body down. He was floating! It was an incredible feeling, even if the Pod was so small that there wasn’t anywhere to float to.
Zac glanced at the control panel in front of him. A 3D map of the solar system had appeared on the screen.
Most of the planets were blurred with grey. They must be out of range, Zac thought. He tapped at the image of the moon to select his destination. The screen glowed under his finger.
DESTINATION SELECTED: MOON.
Estimated Time of Arrival:
30 HOURS. 7 MINUTES
TOUCH SCREEN TO ENGAGE.
Zac tapped the screen again. The Pulse Pod slowly turned around, and the moon came into view in the distance.
With a slight jolt, the Pod broke free of Earth’s orbit and took off into the darkness of space.
CHAPTER
FOUR
Two hours later, Zac was still staring into black space.
He had been trying to pass the time by playing Laser Fortress on his SpyPad. But he was still so angry that he kept thinking about Leon’s betrayal and losing the game.
After being eaten by the Galaxy Troll for the tenth time in a row, he gave up and threw his SpyPad into his backpack. Then he turned his full attention to raging at his brother.
I should have known that stupid nerd would chicken out on me! he thought bitterly. That’s why they pulled him from field duty in the first place, because he’s a coward and a –
BEEP!
He glanced down at the Pulse Pod’s computer screen.
INCOMING CALL: LEON POWER
Zac punched the answer button. ‘What do you want?’ he growled.
&
nbsp; ‘It worked!’ said Leon. ‘They totally believed me!’
‘Huh?’ Zac said.
‘Sorry I had to pretend to sell you out back there, but it was the only way to make GIB think I was on their side.’
‘Pretend?’ Zac blinked.
Leon raised an eyebrow. ‘So that I could keep helping you with your mission!’ he said. ‘You didn’t think I actually meant all that stuff, did you?’
‘Er…no,’ Zac lied. ‘Of course not.’ But suddenly he felt very guilty about how angry he’d been.
‘Anyway,’ Leon went on, ‘Agent Big Boss told me everything. It turns out we were right, Zac. GIB knew where Grandpa was all along. They even figured out that he’d been kidnapped by BIG.’
‘So why didn’t they tell us?’ Zac frowned.
‘GIB wanted you to focus on taking down the ZacBot,’ said Leon.‘They thought that Grandpa’s kidnapping would distract you.’
‘So they were just going to let him stay kidnapped?’ said Zac angrily.
‘Hey, I’m just telling you what Big Boss told me,’ Leon said. ‘I didn’t say I agreed with him.’
‘All right,’ said Zac. ‘So have you figured out where Grandpa is?’
Leon started typing at a computer in front of him. ‘Yep. Take a look at this.’
A fuzzy video recording began playing on the Pulse Pod’s touch-screen.
A BIG space shuttle was touching down on the dark side of moon. Just as it was about to land, a hole spiralled open in the ground, swallowing up the shuttle.
‘Whoa,’ said Zac. ‘What was that?’
‘That,’ said Leon, ‘was the ZacBot entering BIG’s new Central Command. After you blew up their old volcano base, BIG moved to this hidden facility beneath the moon’s surface.’
‘Underground HQ,’ said Zac. ‘Looks like they copied the idea from us.’
‘I’m sending details through now,’ said Leon. ‘You’ll need to land the Pulse Pod outside their security area, and then make the rest of the trip on foot.’
‘There’s a spacesuit under your seat,’ Leon added.