Rocky Road

by Susannah McFarlane

  Guess I was wrong, thought EJ, there is somewhere less glamorous than the toilets after all. But it was quiet and she was all alone, which is exactly what she needed.

  EJ took out her spy-pod, switched it to playback and listened. As the song, or at least what was left of it, played back through EJ’s headphones, she took out her phone, scrolled to the notepad app and keyed in the extra words from the chorus she heard.

  That doesn’t mean anything at all! thought EJ, crinkling up her nose and looking at what she had written. Perhaps the headset was just broken after all. But then EJ thought back to the Shady Lady interview she had watched in the limo and to something the interviewer had said. She had said that the Pink Shadows song lyrics were ‘like a code’. Perhaps they weren’t like a code, perhaps they were a code. A code EJ needed to crack. She looked at the words again and, with a pen and paper began moving the words around, re-arranging them to see if she could get them to make sense.

  False Song? Was that something? False Song in code? But what was a false song? EJ tried again.

  Was it something about the Last Song? wondered EJ. That made more sense than a False Song, she thought. And, hold on, Up Load Code, that had to mean something, but what?

  Nothing seemed to make sense. At least some words looked like they might mean something, but not the whole sentence. EJ was sure that these words, in the right order, did mean something, something to do with SHADOW. EJ tried another word order.

  ‘Hmm, is that it?’ said EJ to herself. Upload the last song? Maybe that made sense but the rest of the sentence didn’t seem to mean anything. Or did it? Was False Note something? Was it something in code? EJ felt all the possibilities were now just whirring around in her head but she kept going. EJ tried another word order.

  EJ looked at what she had written and then smiled to herself. ‘That’s not right but now I am pretty sure I know what is,’ she said as she quickly scribbled it down, afraid it might fly out of her head.

  Up Load Code. Yes, thought EJ. I am pretty sure the message is talking about an upload code. That would explain SHADOW’s internet activity, they are uploading codes. And that upload code could be in the last song, the last song of something. Maybe it means the last song of the Pink Shadows’ concert.

  That could make sense, EJ decided but she still didn’t understand what False Note was. She was, however, pretty sure she had the right word order and that the message was a code from SHADOW. And, that could only mean one thing—Shady Lady had to be connected to SHADOW. She was singing the message so she just had to be, didn’t she? thought EJ, her mind spinning with what that meant.

  A1 was right. It is all too much of a coincidence, thought EJ. How could we not have picked it up? The Pink Shadows, how could we not have got that? And Shady Lady? Of course, ugh, it’s so obvious—once you know.

  EJ again thought back to the interview. What else had Shady Lady said? She had said that she was taking a message to her Shadow peeps. Now it began to make sense to EJ. Could it be that Shady Lady really was ‘taking a message’, a code, to her peeps and that her peeps were SHADOW agents? The Decoder Tour—that was how SHADOW had been communicating with their agents, through the songs! Shady Lady had been hiding the messages in the songs and the agents had been using the headset hair to decode it. Who would ever have suspected crazy pink hair would be the key to a secret message system? Then again, who would have thought that Shady Lady was a SHADOW agent? She had to be but were the other band members involved too?

  With a sudden chill, EJ remembered what else Shady Lady had said. ‘And for our last song at our last gig, we will play a brand new, never before heard re-mix of “Rock ’n’ Shine”. It will be chaos!’

  EJ needed to call A1 to tell her what she had found out. She took out her phone and called. A1 answered immediately.

  ‘EJ12, what is your report?’ asked A1.

  ‘Shady Lady works, as you suspected, for SHADOW. I’m not sure about the rest of the band.’

  ‘I thought so,’ said A1. ‘I never did like the way she treated her dog. That should have been another clue. What else did you find out?’

  ‘She has been sending messages to SHADOW agents via their songs and I think, but am not yet completely sure, that it all has to do with something you can upload called False Note. I don’t know what that is yet but I think we can assume it is not good. And I think there are hundreds of SHADOW agents here, A1, all wearing pink hair and all waiting for the code in the final song.’

  ‘You must find out about that code before they do, EJ,’ said A1.

  ‘I know. When the band goes back on after interval I’m going backstage to see if I can. Oh, and A1?’

  ‘Yes, EJ?’

  ‘You know that download link you received with the Pink Shadows song? I don’t think you should open that.’

  ‘No,’ said A1, ‘neither do I. Well done, EJ12, and be careful,’ said A1. ‘ SHINE out.’

  Through the door, EJ heard an announcement in the foyer. ‘Please take your seats. The Pink Shadows’ final performance is about to recommence. You won’t want to miss it.’

  I might just have to, thought EJ. There was no time to lose.

  Still outside, EJ walked around to the back of the stadium, following the signs to the backstage door. This is where the bands performing could enter and leave the stadium without having to push through crowds of fans. With her pass, EJ had no problems getting past the security guard. She simply smiled and flashed the pass and the woman smiled back as she stepped aside and opened the door for her. Too easy. EJ was in but where should she go now?

  She could hear the Pink Shadows playing so she followed the sound until she was standing on the side of the stage. She could see all the spotlights and ropes of the curtains and, most excitingly, she could see the band. EJ wished she could stay and watch the show but she needed to find out what was going on before the band came off stage. EJ stepped back and slipped around to the back of the stage area. She saw a door and a sign to the dressing rooms. Perfect, she thought. If I can get into Shady Lady’s dressing room, maybe I can find out what False Note is. She slowly turned the doorknob, opened the door a fraction and peered through the crack. There were more doors. One had a pink and black star on it and a sign.

  And sitting on a chair to the side of the door, there was another security guard, bigger, stronger and, this time, not very friendly looking at all. EJ knew her backstage pass wasn’t going to work here but she had to get into that dressing room. But how? EJ thought hard, what would work? Then, as she fiddled with her charm bracelet, she saw the little microphone. Of course! It was time for micro-speak. EJ took the charm and twisted it. The charm expanded to the size of a real microphone but on its side was a dial. There were more than twenty voice types around the dial and then another dial for voice style. There were many possible combinations: baby tired, baby excited, very old woman excited or angry or whispering, young girls, whispering or sad or excited ( they could use Isi for that one, thought EJ giggling a little to herself), young man, whispering effect. EJ fiddled the dials until she found the one she was looking for. Here goes nothing, she thought as she turned the dial to woman’s voice, then the next dial to loudspeaker effect. She turned up the volume and spoke into the microphone.

  ‘Attention all backstage security staff!’ A voice EJ didn’t recognise boomed out of the microphone. This is so cool, thought EJ, it doesn’t sound anything like me. I sound like my mum! I could really have fun with this. She started speaking again. ‘This is not a drill. We have a security breach. Report stage left immediately. I repeat, this is not a drill. All security staff report immediately.’

  As EJ hoped she would, the guard got up and began to run down the corridor, away from the dressing room. Quickly EJ opened the door and dashed across to Shady Lady’s dressing room door. EJ turned the door handle, hoping the door would be unlocked. She was in luck, it was. EJ took a quick look up and down the corridor to check she was still alone and then turned the handle again a
nd entered the dressing room.

  She was in. And she was face to face with a very small but very angry Chihuahua, a Chihuahua growling at EJ and baring some unexpectedly large and sharp-looking teeth. It was Pinky-poo, Shady Lady’s over-primped pooch.

  The fluffy little dog was sitting, bow on its head, on a satin cushion on the dressing table in front of a large mirror surrounded by lights. EJ sniffed—the dog had even been sprayed with perfume. EJ thought dogs smelled better as dogs.

  Next to Pinky-poo’s cushion was a laptop computer. Not your usual rock star equipment but, as EJ now knew, Shady Lady was not your usual rock star. EJ needed to look at that laptop. She moved towards the laptop but then jumped back quickly as Pinky-poo once again growled and bared her teeth. EJ tried moving forward again, this time super slowly but again the dog growled. How was she going to get past precious Pinky-poo?

  ‘Hello puppy! Aren’t you a pretty puppy?’ said EJ in a high-pitched voice she hoped Pinky-poo would like. Pinky-poo didn’t like it and began to growl, a squeaky but still very angry growl and then she began to yap, loudly. Really, really loudly.

  ‘Shhh, it’s okay,’ said EJ, fearing the noise would be heard by a security guard.

  Pinky-poo obviously didn’t think it was okay and yapped even more loudly than before.

  ‘Pinky-poo, come on, please stop,’ pleaded EJ. Pinky-poo began to howl. This was not good. Then EJ remembered her charms. She took the dog-bone charm and twisted it and waited. In a moment she was holding a small bone-shaped tin. On the tin was a label.

  Dog treats! I really hope they’re the kind she likes, thought EJ as she unscrewed the lid and took out a little biscuit. Yuk! It smells revolting. I hope it smells better to a dog than it does to humans, thought EJ, scrunching up her nose.

  ‘Here, Pinky-poo, look what I have for you,’ squeaked EJ, holding the biscuit as far away from her nose and as close to Pinky-poo as she could.

  Pinky-poo sniffed and then, as if EJ had waved a magic wand, began wagging her tail as she jumped off the table and trotted over to EJ. Kneeling down, EJ gave her the biscuit. Pinky-poo chewed it, wagging her tail furiously—her tail with a little pink and black bow tied to it. EJ gave her another one and the dog started licking her like a new best friend. Well, a dog best friend, anyway. EJ had Pinky-poo eating out of her hand.

  EJ noticed the poor dog’s claws had been left long and had little stickers on them—the poor thing had been given a pedicure, no wonder she was so irritated. EJ gently peeled the stickers off Pinky-poo’s claws. The Chihuahua started licking her more. As EJ lifted her head, trying to avoid the dog’s licks, she noticed that the laptop screen had come on. As Pinky-poo had jumped, she must have hit one of the laptop keys. There in the middle of the screen was a single word that EJ knew all too well, and below it, something else in small writing. She tucked Pinky-poo under her arm and crossed to the laptop. Leaning closer to it she read the small writing.

  ‘Good girl, Pinky,’ said EJ, taking the pink and black bow off the dog’s tail and giving the dog a pat. ‘I think you would make a great SHINE agent.’

  EJ clicked on the mail message. The screen flashed and a prompt appeared.

  EJ thought that might happen. What would Shady Lady’s password be? EJ looked at the little dog now sitting on the floor happily chewing on one of Shady Lady’s boots and smiled as she keyed in P-I-N-K-Y-P-O-O. She hit enter. The email opened.

  ‘Too easy!’ said EJ. ‘Thanks again, Pinky.’ The email was short but very informative.

  SL1—that must be Shady Lady’s code name. EJ checked the time. It was 9:25, which meant Shady Lady would be here at any minute. Then EJ heard the audience roar. A moment later EJ heard footsteps coming along the corridor. The second half of the show was over and the band had left the stage. Shady Lady and the others were coming back to their dressing rooms to get ready for the encore, the final song. And EJ was standing in Shady Lady’s dressing room. This was not good. EJ closed the message and marked it as unread, she didn’t want Shady Lady to know someone had read it. She also didn’t want Shady Lady to find her in the dressing room. EJ looked around for somewhere to hide. There were costumes and guitars everywhere ... Then EJ saw another door with another sign.

  The footsteps were getting louder. EJ had no time to think of anywhere else to go. She also realised that Shady Lady would see that Pinky-poo’s bow and stickers had been removed. She scooped up Pinky-poo, opened the door, darted through then quietly shut it behind her. As that door shut, the dressing room door opened and Shady Lady burst in. EJ activated the hyper-hear listening device on her spy-pod and could hear every word Shady Lady said.

  ‘Pinky-poo! Come here my baby. Pinky-poo! Where are you, darling?’ called Shady Lady. ‘Hiding again, you naughty little girl! Well, Mummy will find you but right now clever Mummy has a secret agency to shut down.’ She laughed to herself as she sat at her laptop and dialled in for her call with SHADOW HQ.

  ‘This is Shady Lady, rock star and SHADOW agent of the year reporting in to SHADOW HQ about False Note.’

  A voice came through the laptop speakers. ‘Voice recognition confirmed. Proceed with report, SL1.’

  ‘ SHADOW agents are in place in the stadium and ready to receive the final upload code for False Note,’ said Shady Lady. ‘We have instructed them using Headset Hair, my compliments to whoever came up with that idea.’

  ‘We will pass the compliment on to AX,’ said the voice. ‘Please continue with your report.’

  EJ jumped when she heard that. AX? It was Adriana. She hadn’t wasted much time after her last plan, Operation Lights Out, had failed. And, as EJ remembered back to her mission in Black Cave Mine, did that explain why Adriana had been listening to the Pink Shadows music? Had she been working on Headset Hair then?

  ‘Just to recap,’ continued Shady Lady, ‘little bits of the code for the computer virus False Note have been encoded into all our songs. With so many of the songs downloaded, there are now bits of code sitting on thousands of computers everywhere. The False Note virus has grown and has been spread further than we could have hoped and is now ready for activation. Once activated, the False Note virus will invade each computer’s hard drive and scramble everything. The computers will be useless.’

  EJ was listening, stunned, not only to what Shady Lady was saying but to her voice. She sounded nothing like the rock star on television, instead she was very precise and businesslike. EJ felt a little sad. The Pink Shadows was one of her favourite bands. Was the band nothing more than a cover for an evil spy agency or was it just Shady Lady? Her mum had never liked Shady Lady, she always said you couldn’t trust someone in heels that high.

  Shady Lady continued her report, ‘We have managed to email hundreds of agents inside SHINE and plant bits of the virus code. The silly SHINE agents have downloaded them themselves, thinking they are just song downloads. By sending the virus out in small parts, we have been able to escape detection by virus protection software. It is, simply, brilliant.’

  A1’s email, thought EJ. Even A1 is building the virus! Then she thought of her family’s computer at home. We are building the virus. Millions of people will be.

  ‘Excellent work,’ the voice replied to Shady Lady. ‘We are impressed.’

  ‘I look forward to seeing just how impressed when I check my bank account,’ said Shady. ‘The final song tonight has been re-written with the upload code. Once our agents upload it, the virus will be activated and nothing will be able to stop it. I am sending through the code now. It will rock SHINE completely. False Note will shut SHINE down and no one will ever know how it happened.’

  Except for me, thought EJ. I have to work out how to stop Shady Lady singing that final song.

  Shady Lady was still talking but EJ had heard enough. She needed a plan and quickly. Then Pinky-poo barked.

  ‘Shhh, Pinky, not now, she will hear you. Oh, no she won’t,’ said EJ remembering the soundproof room. ‘But that has given me an idea,’ she said as she looked at
her spy-pod. ‘Okay Pinky, now bark!’ EJ held up a Chum Chew and Pinky barked with excitement. EJ recorded it on her spy-pod then gave Pinky the treat. She then linked her spy-pod to her micro-speak and recorded the barking. She set the micro-speak for repeat play, pushed the pause button then placed the micro-speak in the far corner of the room.

  ‘Just one more thing,’ said EJ as she turned the light off. Then, just to make sure it stayed dark, EJ clicked her sneakers again, waited for the heels to fully extend before stretching up, holding Pinky with one hand and removing the globe from the light with the other. The practice room was now in complete darkness but, as an experienced night mission agent, EJ could handle that.

  Still holding Pinky under one arm, she quietly opened the door between the practice room and the dressing room, just a little, then activated the play button on the micro-speak with her spy-pod remote. EJ hid behind the door. The noise of Pinky barking filled the room.

  ‘Oh, Pinky-poo, is that you, darling?’ cried Shady Lady getting up and moving towards the practice room. ‘What are you doing in there, you naughty dog? You know you are not supposed to leave your cushion!’

  Come on Shady Lady, keep walking, thought EJ, keep walking.

  Shady Lady was moving closer towards the practice room. EJ held her breath—and gave Pinky another treat to keep her occupied.

  ‘I can’t see you, Pinky, the light isn’t working. Come on, Pinky-poo, come to Mummy.’

  The micro-speak kept playing the barking noise and Shady Lady kept walking towards it. EJ could sense Shady Lady was nearly at the back of the room. Like lightning and with Pinky under her arm, EJ stepped out from behind the practice room door and into the dressing room, shutting and then locking the door behind her. Shady Lady had been locked in the practice room—the soundproof practice room. EJ put her spy-pod against the wall and did a quick check with her hyper-hear.