Drama Queen

by Susannah McFarlane

  It was another part of the Spy Movie 2 script, scene 44. This script sounds a lot like what SHADOW is trying to do, thought EJ. Does ‘follow 44’ mean follow the script of scene 44? It could but what does ‘to the letter’ mean? Is it the same code as the last script message? It was worth a try. EJ counted out the words but the first set of words made no sense at all. On hovering another over still

  EJ tried mixing the words up but they didn’t make sense in any order. I’m counting words, thought EJ. What if I count letters, what if I ‘follow to the letter’, will that work? letters.

  EJ enlarged the first sentence and counted the

  SCENE 44

  EJ quickly counted through the numbers for the first set, 5-21-24-15-42. The fifth letter was T. The twenty-first letter was H. The twenty-fourth letter was R. The fifteenth letter was O. The forty-second letter was W.

  T-H-R-O-W spelled out EJ. Now this is looking more promising. Let’s try the second set, let’s see, 39-24-8-16-2-3. The thirty-ninth letter was O. The twenty-fourth letter was, as last time, R. The eighth letter was A. The sixteenth letter was N. The second letter was G. The third letter was E.

  O-R-A-N-G-E. THROW ORANGE

  Throw Orange. Was that it? Was that the message? Orange what? But then, all of a sudden, EJ got it. Orange Balls! The balls in the bottles, the bottles with the big letter S on them. Why didn’t she think of that? S must stand for SHADOW. The bottles contained the balls that SHADOW was using to absorb the water. When Sydney was told she was about to shoot the bridge scene, she had requested instructions and the instructions came in the text, telling her that she needed to throw the orange balls over the bridge into the reservoir. And she would be able to do it because she would be on the bridge filming scene 44. It wouldn’t even disrupt filming because no one would ever suspect anything wrong was happening because Sydney would be doing exactly what it said in the script! A spy playing a spy, it was the perfect cover—who would ever suspect it? EJ needed to report into SHINE. She took out her phone and texted.

  Within seconds, A1 sent back a text.

  Why? wondered EJ but before she could ask there was another text.

  So how do I stop her? thought EJ. Again, she was just about to text her question when A1 texted back.

  At least getting a sample shouldn’t be a problem, thought EJ. She knew the balls were in the cupboard. She checked the tracker and was relieved to see that Sydney hadn’t moved from the set. EJ took a charm from her bracelet that looked like a bottle, twisted it and was soon holding a small glass bottle, a charm that was used for scientific testing. An agent simply put a sample into the bottle and pressed the button on the neck. Microchip technology inside the bottle then tested the composition of the sample and transmitted the data back to SHINE lab for analysis. The lab would then text the agent their findings. EJ had used it before, on a marine mission, and it was easy. At least it was easy once you had the sample.

  When EJ went to open the cupboard she had seen Sydney take the bottles from she hit a problem. The cupboard was locked but it wasn’t a key lock so her universal key wouldn’t work. It looked like some kind of card-swipe lock but Sydney hadn’t used a card—or had she? In her mind, EJ replayed what she had watched Sydney do and then remembered that she had stroked her cat under the chin before and after opening the cupboard. EJ looked at the little pendant on the cat’s collar, the one that was so heavy.

  ‘I wonder,’ she said as she felt around the edge of the pendant. ‘Hold on, little one, I won’t hurt you. I just want to look at your pretty pendant.’ There was a small clip on the side that EJ pushed up. The back of the pendant flipped out and a small metal card fell out. As EJ took the card and slid the back of the pendant into place again, she noticed the cat’s name inscribed on the back.

  That’s a funny name, thought EJ. Does it mean something important? She pressed her word app on her pad and quickly keyed in the name. She smiled when she saw what appeared on the screen.

  ‘Not you too,’ she said to the cat. But Skygge just rolled over and went back to sleep.

  EJ took the card and swiped it. The lock released and she opened the cupboard door. She took out the three bottles and carefully took a little ball from each, placed them in her test flask and pushed the button. While she was waiting for the results to come back from the SHINE lab, EJ checked the star-tracker. It had started to flash.

  ‘Uh-oh,’ she said to Skygge. ‘It seems that your owner is on the move.’

  And, from the way the little star was flashing on the tracker, Sydney Radisson was moving quickly. Quickly back in the direction of the trailer—and EJ12.

  EJ quickly put the bottles back in the cupboard and locked it. She then gently put the card back in Skygge’s pendant, stroking the little cat under her chin, just like Sydney had. Skygge began to purr.

  ‘You’re not a very good agent,’ she said to the cat.

  EJ checked the tracker again but she didn’t need to; she could hear footsteps coming closer. It was Sydney. There was no time for EJ to leave the trailer.

  ‘Think fast, EJ,’ EJ said to herself as she heard the trailer door opening. ‘Think really fast.’

  ‘You again! How did you get in here? What are you doing in my trailer? And what on earth are you doing with my orchids?’

  EJ was standing next to the coffee table holding the enormous bunch of orchids in her arms, unfortunately most of them upside down. Water was dripping onto the white carpet.

  ‘I’m, um, ah, I am here to fix your flowers, Ms Radisson,’ she said.

  ‘By holding them upside down?’

  ‘Um, yes, well, it is good for the circulation of nutrients,’ spluttered EJ. ‘It is the latest thing in floral care,’ she continued. ‘Everyone’s doing it in L.A.’

  ‘Oh, are they?’ asked Sydney, sounding a little more interested. ‘But there was nothing wrong with my flowers.’

  ‘Oh but there was, Ms Radisson,’ began EJ. ‘You need to regularly rotate flowers. You see.’ And with that, EJ began spinning the flowers around. As she did, water sprayed all over Sydney.

  ‘Stop! You’re drenching me!’ said Sydney.

  EJ stopped spinning the flowers. It had not been her best idea.

  ‘Well finish up and scram,’ said Sydney as she roughly scratched under Skygge’s neck then opened the cupboard. She grabbed the orange bottle and shut the cupboard again. Almost without EJ noticing, she put the card key back in Skygge’s collar.

  ‘Make sure you are gone when I come back,’ Sydney snapped. ‘I have a helicopter to catch.’ And with that she swept out of the trailer.

  EJ, still with a few bedraggled dripping orchids in her hands, walked to the door and watched in dismay as Sydney climbed in to a helicopter that had been waiting in front of the trailers. As a woman with a walkie-talkie strode past the trailer, EJ called out to her, ‘Where are they going?’

  ‘The reservoir, for the bridge scene,’ the woman replied. ‘The director wants to get there quickly, while the light is still good.’

  ‘Oh, right, thanks,’ said EJ. Oh no, she thought to herself, watching the chopper lift high into the sky. She couldn’t believe that she had just let Sydney walk out the door with the bottle of balls that she was going to throw into the reservoir. And if Sydney did that, the city’s water supply would be in real trouble. How was she going to stop her now?

  It was her phone again. Another message from SHINE. EJ looked at the screen and saw that it was the results of the test from the SHINE lab. But were they too late?

  But EJ didn’t feel like she had done good work at all. She hadn’t found out Sydney’s secret early enough, she had messed up in the trailer and now she had let Sydney go to the reservoir. All those things were adding up to a failed mission, something EJ had never done before. She went back into the trailer and stuffed the rest of the orchids in the vase. As she did, she noticed the heart charm on her bracelet. She twisted it and an inscription appeared on the back of the charm.

  That’s what
Mum said, thought EJ. Now SHINE is saying it as well. Don’t worry about silly little things, focus on the important things.

  ‘Pull yourself together, EJ12,’ she said to herself. ‘I can do this. I know everything I need to. I know Sydney Radisson is going to throw the orange balls into the reservoir. I know which one she is going to because I can follow her on the tracker and I know that, if I need to, I can stop the reaction happening by throwing the blue balls in. There is just one thing I don’t know: how am I going to get to the reservoir?’

  And then EJ remembered her BESTies. She opened up the BEST app on her phone and flicked through with her finger until she got to the fastest person she knew. She pressed the call button. It rang only once before it was answered.

  ‘Hey, what do you need, EJ?’ It was KM12.

  ‘A lift,’ replied EJ. ‘Quite quickly.’

  ‘That’s what I do,’ said KM12. ‘Meet me at the delivery area. I’ll be there in no time.’

  EJ ran to the delivery area where the truck had first dropped her. There was no one around but there was also no sign of KM12.

  ‘Hey, what are you waiting for?’ whispered a voice.

  ‘KM, is that you?’ whispered EJ.

  ‘Who else would it be, EJ?’

  ‘But where are you?’

  ‘I’m up here.’

  EJ looked up to see KM12 hovering above her in what looked like a bike crossed with a helicopter. It was a tandem bike and KM was on the back seat. In the middle of the crossbar between the two seats, was an upright pole with helicopter blades at the top. EJ could see the blades spinning around but they were completely silent.

  ‘It doesn’t make any noise?’ asked EJ.

  ‘Of course not,’ replied KM. ‘What kind of secret agent flies a noisy helicopter? This mini-chopper is super-quiet, super-quick and super-easy to fly. It’s just like a riding a bike, just a bit higher up!’ KM flew lower. ‘Jump on, EJ!’

  EJ climbed on and held on to the handlebars. As she climbed on to the front seat, she saw a button marked E.

  ‘What does the “E” stand for, KM?’ she asked.

  ‘It’s the extender seat. Push the button and your seat can extend out to twenty metres.’

  ‘Does it really?’ asked EJ. That gave her an idea.

  ‘Okay, where to, EJ?’ asked KM.

  ‘Sydney Radisson is flying to the reservoir in a chopper. I put a tracker charm on her so we can follow her,’ said EJ turning around and handing over her spy-pad to KM, who locked it into her dashboard. ‘From the direction it is flying in, I think it is heading to the largest reservoir, just north of here. If I’m not mistaken, the chopper will land Sydney Radisson on the bridge that runs across the reservoir and then be used in the last scene. We need to get to the bridge, but make sure that no one sees us.’

  ‘I’ll do my best,’ said KM as she pulled the mini-chopper up into the sky and steered away from the film shoot. ‘Let’s do this EJ!’

  EJ and KM flew over the location set, over fields and roads, all the time checking where the other helicopter carrying Sydney Radisson was.

  ‘They will be approaching the reservoir any minute, KM,’ cried EJ through the wind that blew around them. ‘Will we catch up?’

  ‘Don’t worry, EJ, we will,’ KM replied. ‘Look ahead, we’re nearly there.’

  EJ looked straight ahead and saw that they were approaching a ring of hills. As they swooped up to the top of one hill, EJ saw that the hills formed a natural basin, a basin filled with water. It was a giant lake that stretched almost as far as you could see and, between two hills on one side, was a concrete bridge.

  ‘Look, KM, there’s the bridge,’ cried EJ. ‘And yes, there’s Sydney’s chopper landing on it. Careful, KM, we mustn’t let anyone see us.’

  ‘No problem,’ cried KM. ‘Hold on I’ll take us around to the other side.’

  KM veered the mini-chopper sharply and flew near the edge of the reservoir and then down close to the water’s surface.

  ‘Perfect, KM!’ cried EJ. ‘Now can you take me under the bridge and hide us next to the bridge pylon?’

  ‘You got it, EJ!’ cried KM.

  As KM flew under and along the bridge, EJ peered at the star tracker. The yellow flash that was Sydney Radisson had stopped moving. EJ kept watching as the red flash that showed her location came closer and closer to the yellow flash.

  ‘Okay, KM, let’s slow down, a little bit more, a bit more and, there, stop and hover!’

  KM pulled the mini-chopper to a halt and the mini-chopper hovered just above the water’s surface, obscured by the bridge pylon. The star tracker now showed the yellow flash on top of the red flash. Below the bridge, EJ and KM were directly under Sydney Radisson who was on top of the bridge preparing to do her scene.

  For a moment there was silence, then EJ heard the director’s voice.

  ‘And, ready people, cue helicopter and action!’

  The director had started to film scene 44. EJ heard the chopper above the bridge and then a woman’s voice shouting.

  ‘It’s over, White! It’s all over!’

  ‘No, I still have the bottle,’ cried Sydney.

  EJ was a little surprised that Sydney got her line right the first time, but, then again, she now knew that Sydney was not who she pretended to be. Maybe she was pretending to be forgetful last time.

  ‘You are surrounded,’ cried the other actor. ‘Hand it over!’

  EJ knew this was the moment in the script when Agent White threw the bottle off the bridge.

  ‘Okay, KM,’ she cried. ‘When Sydney says her next line, that chopper is going to swoop down just under the bridge and then straight back up again. When I say “now”, I will press the extender button and shoot out from under the bridge to catch the bottle. I need you to keep the chopper steady and then hit the E button again to bring me back under the bridge. It will need split-second timing.’

  ‘You are going to catch the falling bottle? Way to go, EJ12!’ said KM.

  For a moment there was silence and then Sydney said her line. ‘Never. Stand back or I will throw it off the bridge.’

  That was Sydney’s cue to throw the bottle. EJ knew it was her cue as well.

  ‘Now, KM, now!’ cried EJ.

  EJ pressed the button and the seat shot forward. She leant out and with her arms out-stretched, looked up to the bridge. She saw something falling. Keeping her eye on it the whole time, she never noticed another, third helicopter, far on the other side of the reservoir that was filming the long-range shots. Thwack. The bottle hit EJ’s hands hard but she held on. She felt a jolt as KM hit the E button again and she was pulled back under the bridge. It was all over in seconds but EJ had done it: the reservoir was safe. Then, above her, on the bridge, she heard Sydney Radisson’s final line.

  ‘Well, you won’t catch me.’

  ‘I’m not so sure about that,’ said EJ, as she watched the helicopter above fly away with Sydney on board. Then EJ spotted the lipstick charm on her bracelet. She knew just how to trap Sydney. ‘KM, we need to get back to Sydney’s trailer before she does. Ms Radisson has one more scene to play.’

  ‘You again!’ shrieked Sydney Radisson as she entered her trailer to see EJ sitting on her sofa. ‘Why are you in my trailer this time?’

  ‘I was told to bring this straight to you, Ms Radisson,’ said EJ. ‘It is a new lipstick that’s just been released in New York.’

  ‘Well, why didn’t you say so, girl,’ cried Sydney. ‘Gimme, and try not to fall on me this time.’

  Sydney didn’t notice the little smile on EJ’s face as she passed her the lipstick. ‘Ooo, lovely colour,’ the movie star said, and immediately applied the lipstick to her lips. The moment she did, Sydney seemed to enter a kind of trance.

  ‘What is your name?’ asked EJ, wanting to make sure the truth charm was working.

  ‘Madge Black,’ replied ‘Sydney’.

  Oh, that’s a surprise, thought EJ. It is certainly working. ‘Okay Madge, tell me, is
there anything fake here?’

  ‘My nails.’

  ‘Yes,’ replied EJ, ‘go on.’

  ‘So is my hair and I can’t act very well either.’

  Tell me something I don’t know, thought EJ. ‘Why did you join SHADOW?’

  ‘They gave me stuff—oh and she said I could have this really cool beauty cream.’

  ‘She? Who’s she?’ EJ realised she now had a chance to find out who was the brains behind this plot.

  ‘Professor Tekcor. She’s always talking about space but she has also invented some seriously cool cream that makes all your wrinkles go away. Something to do with gravity, I think. Anyway, she said I could have some.’

  ‘If you agreed to destroy the city’s water supply?’ asked EJ.

  ‘Whatever,’ Sydney said. ‘She said she’d fix it once she got her friend back. Hey, you, what...’

  EJ saw that Sydney’s eyes were becoming more focussed. The truth charm must be wearing off.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ Sydney repeated.

  ‘Nothing, Madge,’ replied EJ to a startled ‘Sydney.’ But this time it was EJ who slammed the door of the trailer—after all she did have some experience in door-slamming herself—and then she locked the door from the outside and whistled sharply. The trailer jolted as a delivery truck lurched it forward. But this time it was a new delivery truck, one with a bright yellow light bulb painted on the door.

  ‘Take her away, KM12. Now, that’s a wrap!’

  And with that, KM12 drove away with Sydney Radisson banging on the door.

  Which reminded EJ, she needed a special delivery herself. She took out her phone and keyed 4-6-6-3. A voice answered immediately.

  ‘ SHINE Home Delivery Service—straight to your door, any time, anywhere. We have your location, EJ12, and we are on our way.’ EJ looked at her watch. If they were quick, she would make it home for the evening movie on TV.