Golden Spy

by Jill Marshall

  Janey groaned. Her mum. Six weeks’ holiday ahead of them, time off work, day trips planned, and now Janey was going to disappear.

  And suddenly she decided. This time it was going to be different.

  ‘Just leave Mum to me,’ she said with a smile. ‘But send us an email to let me know where we’re staying.’

  Still grinning, Janey ran into the house. She threw her arms around her mum and gave her a big squeeze.

  ‘You must have had a good last day,’ said her mother breathlessly.

  ‘I did,’ said Janey, although she wasn’t about to reveal why. ‘And I’ve changed my mind. Let’s go on holiday.’

  ‘Really?’ said Jean, pleased and very excited.

  Janey nodded. ‘I’d really love to go to Florida. Tonight!’

  ‘Well, we don’t need to . . .’ Jean Brown stopped, and then threw her hands in the air. ‘Oh, why not? I’m sure I can get something on the Internet.’

  Strangely enough, the Hallidays had decided to do exactly the same thing and had emailed suggesting two side-by-side villas, next to a pool and close to all the main attractions. They’d even managed to get four seats on a very small plane leaving that very evening. Oh, and Mrs Halliday was happy to book the whole thing on her credit card, and Janey’s mum could just pay her back. Sometimes, thought Janey, having a dad who was head of a spying organization definitely had its perks. As her slightly bewildered mum started to pack, Janey ran upstairs to tell G-Mamma.

  ‘OK,’ said G-Mamma sniffily. ‘But don’t you go getting sunstroke, and do not have too much of a good time without me.’

  Janey laughed. ‘I’m going on a mission, remember, not a holiday.’

  ‘Hmph. Well, choppity-chop, we’d better get you ready,’ said G-Mamma.

  The Wower door hissed closed behind Janey.

  ‘Wow me,’ she said firmly. Then she closed her eyes dreamily as the magical transforming mist descended around her.

  When she stepped out a few minutes later, G-Mamma squinted at her and then stumbled around the lab screaming, ‘My eyes, my cherry-pie eyes – I’m blinded!’ She stopped abruptly. ‘You look like an Oscar statuette. Blondette, the Oscarette!’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ Janey turned to look at herself in the long mirrored door of the Wower . . . and clapped a hand over her mouth. G-Mamma was right! Janey’s silver Jane Blonde outfit had been exchanged for a gleaming golden SPIsuit, like the wetsuits she had seen surfers wear. In place of her Ultra-gogs was a pair of large coppery sunglasses, with diamanté trim along the frame. On her feet were summery flip-flops, golden to match her SPIsuit, while her ponytail, sleek and platinum blonde, peeked out of a very cool khaki-coloured cap.

  ‘What happened?’ she asked, stunned.

  G-Mamma rifled around in a cupboard as she explained: ‘Golden SPIsuit. Perfect for the summer! And I guess it was time you had an upgrade! Now, your sunglasses function just like your Ultra-gogs, apart from the diamond glass-cutter studs in the frames. Might be useful – you never know. Groovy cap – that’s a PERSPIRE: a Personal SPI Remote Educator, or a tiny computer to you. And, finally, those flip-flops. The new Fleet-feet design – we’re calling them Flip-Flop-Fleet-feet. Four-Fs for short. Just as fast, just as springy, but the left one works like a circular saw if you whizz it along on its side. Oh, and the right doubles as a Frisbee. Perfect for the beach.’

  Janey couldn’t stop staring at her reflection, and then she started to giggle. If her outfit was this over the top, what was Alfie’s going to be like?

  Suddenly G-Mamma stopped rummaging. ‘You’ll be needing this. A surfboard-sized Aeronautical SPI Conveyor!’

  ‘Wow,’ was just about all that Janey could manage.

  Anyway, it was time to go. Pushing the surfboard ASPIC through the fireplace passage, Janey turned and gave G-Mamma a quick hug.

  ‘Send me a postcard,’ said her SPI:KE in a small voice, two of her several chins wobbling dangerously. ‘And don’t worry – I’ll take good care of Trouble.’

  ‘Thanks, G-Mamma. I’ll contact you on the SPIV. Bye, Twubs! I’ll miss you!’

  An hour and a half later her mum, Mrs Halliday, Alfie (in blue silky board shorts, rash shirt and Four-Fs) and Janey (with a skirt and T-shirt over the golden glamour of her spy outfit) climbed the steps to the plane. We look exactly like what Mum thinks we are: tourists, on holiday. As if, thought Janey.

  villa del sol

  The holiday villas were in a tiny complex in Orlando – four tall terraces around a sparkling kidney-shaped pool, each painted a different ice-cream shade: vanilla, strawberry, pistachio and coffee. Jean Brown’s eyes widened as the chauffeured car pulled through the great iron gates.

  ‘Villa del Sol,’ she read aloud as they passed the sign. ‘Villa of the sun, I suppose. Nice. Maisie, you really did get an amazing deal with this place.’

  Janey knew that ‘Sol’ had more to do with Solomon Brown, one of her father’s identities, but she just smiled sweetly at her mum and waited for the car to stop. It was dark, almost midnight, in Florida despite the fact that they had just flown for ten hours through the night, but the chauffeur seemed more than happy to lug their suitcases and surfboards to their respective holiday homes and flick on the lights for them. ‘Thank you,’ said Jean, self-consciously holding out a few dollars as a tip.

  The chauffeur waved it away. ‘No problem. Courtesy of Villa del Sol, ma’am. Now make sure you use that air-conditioning – it’s so hot during the day it’s a wonder the pool doesn’t bubble.’

  ‘Erm, thank you,’ said Jean again, and the chauffeur tipped his hat at Janey and set off in the car again.

  ‘I’ll just go and see what the Hallidays’ villa is like,’ Janey said, after a quick glance around the tiled ground floor with its little kitchenette and cane lounge furniture. Jean was already fiddling with the control for the air-con, so she slipped next door.

  Alfie was sprawled across the large cane sofa as Mrs Halliday bustled around the kitchenette, making tea. ‘Your father thought of everything, Janey,’ she said, after checking that Mrs Brown wasn’t behind her. ‘Lady Grey tea, my favourite.’

  ‘So where’s the Spylab?’ Janey didn’t want to waste any time. As soon as her mum was asleep they could set off in search of Copernicus.

  ‘Give us a break – we only just got here!’ Alfie slipped off the sofa on to the tiles. ‘Oooo, cooler down here.’

  Mrs Halliday rattled some cups and saucers. ‘I think Alfie’s right for once, Janey. We should gather our strength, and make sure your mum’s all settled in so she doesn’t suspect anyth— oh! There you are, Jean. Cup of tea?’

  Jean looked from one to the other of them. ‘So she doesn’t suspect what?’

  She’d heard. Janey forced her jet-lagged brain to think of something, and quickly. ‘Erm, Mrs Halliday just admitted that she knows the person who owns these villas, so we’ve got them really cheap.’

  ‘Oh, but we can pay full price . . .’ As Jean reacted in exactly the way Janey had known she would, the crisis was averted.

  ‘If we don’t have to, why should we?’ Mrs Halliday passed Janey a cup of tea with a grateful look. ‘They weren’t booked for these two weeks, so we’re doing them a favour, really.’

  Janey’s mum seemed satisfied with this. After a few slurps at her tea she put the cup down. ‘I know I’ve just sat down for ten hours straight, but I’m suddenly exhausted. And it is midnight here after all. Janey, you and I are off to bed.’

  ‘And so are we.’ Mrs Halliday stifled a yawn. ‘Then we can make the most of tomorrow.’

  ‘Yeah. Can’t wait to see Mickey Mouse,’ said Alfie.

  ‘Aww,’ said Janey.

  ‘I was joking. Du-uh.’

  Laughing, Janey and her mum trotted back to their pale-green temporary home. She was actually very tired, Janey realized. With no Wower to revive her and keep her alert, sleep was upon her as soon as her head hit the cool linen pillow . . .

  The sun streaming throu
gh the wooden blinds woke her after what seemed like only seconds. She could hear her mum having a shower, singing to herself, so Janey ambled downstairs and had a good look at their surroundings. There were no fireplaces, no cellars and no unexplained cupboards, so there was no obvious location for a Spylab, but Janey was pretty convinced there must be one around. It was already warm, so she stripped off the pyjamas that covered her golden SPIsuit and lifted her face and arms to the sun.

  ‘And Janey Brown steps up to take her dive . . .’ said a sarcastic voice somewhere above her head.

  Alfie was leaning out of his bedroom window. ‘Come down,’ Janey said to him. ‘It’s really gorgeous.’

  ‘We’ve got work to do, remember? Your dad sent this through,’ he added in a whisper, dropping a piece of paper to the ground.

  ‘As if I’d forget.’ Janey stuck her tongue out at him as she scooped up the note, quickly turning it into a grin for her mother when Jean appeared in the doorway.

  ‘Morning, darling,’ said Jean, in a happy sing-song voice. ‘Alfie, I thought we could all have breakfast together and work out what to do today. Ask your mum for me, will you?’

  Alfie withdrew his head from the window and Jean put her arms around her daughter. ‘Isn’t this lovely? What a fabulous idea. I vote for Disney World today.’

  ‘No, SeaWorld,’ said Janey quickly. She had caught a quick glimpse of her father’s note – a picture of an ear, followed by the SeaWorld logo – and knew that was where he wanted them to start their search for Copernicus. SeaWorld sounded like ‘C’ World, and it would be just like Copernicus, who was often referred to as The Big C, to turn a place full of sea creatures into CWorld.

  ‘I want to go to SeaWorld,’ she repeated.

  ‘Sounds neat to me,’ said Alfie, as he joined them for breakfast. He caught Janey’s eye and winked.

  ‘OK,’ said Jean with a smile, fanning through tourist leaflets. ‘We’ll get a bus.’

  ‘No need,’ said Mrs Halliday, who had now appeared at the table. ‘The chauffeur’s at our disposal while we’re here.’

  ‘This really is the most incredible find.’ Jean Brown gathered up her leaflets, shaking her head in pleased bewilderment, then went off to prepare herself for the day ahead.

  Now that the spy team was alone, Mrs Halliday leaned in. ‘That was a good bit of advice from your father. Looking for a squid in the ocean, even a mutant one, is a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack . . .’

  ‘And SeaWorld is exactly the kind of place The Big C would base his operations.’ Janey nodded. ‘Let’s go.’

  ‘Hang on,’ said a voice from Janey’s SPIV. ‘First things first. Get your blonde behind to the villa vinivula . . . la.’

  ‘The what?’ said Janey.

  Her SPI:KE tried again. ‘The Villa Vanilla,’ she intoned slowly. ‘That’s not easy to say.’

  ‘Will do!’ said Janey, and G-Mamma’s face disappeared from view. Just then Janey caught sight of her mum coming back from their villa. ‘Hey, Mum! Just realized I forgot my . . . er . . . hat! Back in a mo.’

  Janey raced into their pistachio-coloured villa and pelted upstairs. The vanilla villa was next door, and she’d had an idea how to get inside it without being seen by her mum.

  She flung open the French windows and ran out on to the little balcony. There was a matching one in all the villas, including the vanilla one . . .

  Janey jumped as high as she could and smacked her feet against the balcony floor. Bang! With a familiar little explosion, her Four-Fs launched her into the air. Tucking her head under, Janey vaulted over her own balcony, somersaulted through the air and landed neatly on the Villa Vanilla balcony. She peered in the glass and the door swung open. ‘Retinal recognition. Great!’

  As Janey entered the Spylab that covered the whole of the first floor of the villa, she heard an unmistakable ‘miaow’ – and her heart leaped. Trouble was here! G-Mamma must have Satispied him over to Florida! Janey gave him a quick stroke and a hug, then pointed to the cat flap at the bottom of the French windows. ‘This is your home while we’re here. Have a swim if you want, but don’t act like you know us.’

  The Spycat blinked his green eyes at her, taking in every word, then stalked off in search of further entertainment. As quickly as she could, Janey sprang back to her villa and ran out of the front door, grabbing her PERSPIRE on the way.

  ‘Sorry, took ages to find it,’ she explained breathlessly as her mother looked pointedly at her watch.

  Jean glanced past her at something strolling along the line of the hedge. ‘Good grief. Look at that cat – it’s exactly like the one . . .’

  ‘Let’s go!’ chorused Alfie, Mrs Halliday and Janey, and with a quick nod of his capped head Ronnie the chauffeur eased out through the gates and swung the car on to the highway.

  It was very useful having a driver who knew his way around Orlando (and was probably armed with some useful SPI-buys, Janey guessed). Cooing over the wide boulevards, the palm trees and the melting blaze of sunshine, the Villa del Sol guests sat back in the car and enjoyed the ride. Within a short space of time they pulled up at the turnstiles ushering visitors into the exotic land of SeaWorld.

  Alfie burst through the turnstile first, clutching his map. ‘Look at all these white-knuckle rides! Yesss! Let’s do Atlantis first.’

  ‘Job to do, Alfie,’ said Mrs Halliday in an undertone, striding along behind him.

  Janey crouched down and spread the park map on her lap. It really was a shame they were on a mission; there was so much to see – the mysterious manatees that sailors used to mistake for mermaids, the dolphins and seals who performed regularly throughout the day. But they had to focus, pick up on Copernicus’s trail quickly. And as soon as Janey saw one particular word she knew where they ought to go.

  ‘How about Shamu the killer whale?’ she asked innocently.

  Jean agreed readily as Alfie and his mother gave Janey an identical sharp-eyed look and then nodded. They set off across the park, traipsing through the blistering heat, and eventually arrived at Shamu’s Happy Harbour.

  ‘Shamu’s show is in twenty minutes,’ said Jean, studying the agenda. ‘Let’s see that and then think about getting some lunch. Or a drink at least. I’m exhausted already.’

  Mrs Halliday was fanning herself with her handkerchief, also looking rather wilted; even Alfie was wiping his forehead and puffing loudly every few minutes. Janey was the only one standing up to the heat. The PERSPIRE must be keeping my head cool, she thought. They shuffled up to the ticket booth and took their seats around the pool while the arena filled up with tourists.

  Suddenly there was a blast of music, and two keepers stepped out on to the platform beyond the pool, waving with both hands and smiling broadly. ‘Welcome,’ one of them called through his microphone, ‘to Shamu’s Happy Harbour!’

  The crowd clapped and whooped, but then quietened down as the other keeper said, ‘But it’s not as happy as usual today, is it, Ben?’

  ‘It’s not, Jeremy. Shall we tell the audience why?’

  Ben the keeper nodded and turned to the crowd. ‘We’ve got a bit of sad news for ya. Shamu isn’t feeling so good today.’

  A disappointed ‘Awww’ rippled across the audience.

  ‘That’s right, Ben. We don’t think Shamu can come out to play today.’

  ‘Booooo,’ called someone in the crowd. Jeremy and Ben suddenly grinned and turned to each other. ‘D’ya hear that, Jeremy? I think our friends will be sad if they don’t get some entertainment.’

  Ben nodded as if he’d suddenly thought of something. ‘Hey, how ’bout we bring out Helios instead?’

  ‘We could do,’ said Jeremy slowly. ‘Whaddya think, guys? Should we bring out Helios, our brand-new killer whale?’

  The odd person clapped and cheered, and then suddenly a chant filtered down from the back of the arena. ‘Bring out Helios. Bring out Helios.’

  ‘It’s his first time . . .’ warned Ben.

  ‘Hel
ios! Helios!’

  Janey joined in, clapping her hands, but Alfie frowned. ‘Helios?’ he muttered. ‘I think you’ll find that’s Greek for sun.’

  Janey gasped as Helios appeared and arced through the air. The Sun King, she thought. That was one of the names that the power-mad Copernicus had bestowed upon himself.

  The killer whale plunged back into the pool in a deluge that soaked all of the front three rows. Jean wiped her dripping face. ‘Well, at least I feel a bit cooler now,’ she said.

  Jeremy and Ben belched out hearty laughs. ‘Sorry, guys! You folks at the front might want to move back a little. Helios is coming right atcha!’

  Janey’s spy instincts tingled. A new killer whale – named for Copernicus, performing for the first time, on the very day that the spy team came to see the show? Interesting. Two minutes later, as she stared, terrified, into the open jaws of a killer whale, she knew just what her instincts had been trying to tell her.

  dining with helios

  Copernicus had trained this killer whale to kill Jane Blonde. And now Helios had launched himself right out of the pool, aiming straight for Janey’s group. His terrifying, needle-teethed jaws were wide open. Janey was almost mesmerized by the cavernous depths of the whale’s mouth.

  And then she snapped into action.

  ‘Out of the way!’ She pushed her mother along the flooded bench where Jean collapsed in a bundle on the floor. Mrs Halliday rushed to her side, while in that instant Alfie and Janey upended the bench, aiming it inside the fast-approaching, murderous mouth. Helios’s jaws snapped together in seconds, shattering the bench into splinters, but that gave Janey enough time to sprint past the whale, vault the tangled remains of the metal-and-perspex guard rail that was supposed to separate the whale from the audience and jump into the pool.

  ‘Janey!’ Alfie screamed, but Janey was only aware of one thing – she had to get rid of that whale before it got rid of her. Permanently. She glanced at the stands from the middle of the pool and was thrilled to see Helios floundering back to the water. She really was turning herself into fish bait.