Blue's Revenge (10 page)

‘Seems how it is to me.'

‘But why would Blue pretend she was dead?' The truth had been so mangled Max wasn't sure what to believe.

Dretch looked away and seemed to be having trouble getting ready to say the next bit. ‘I think it's to get you both out of the picture.'

‘Us?' Linden was confused.

‘He wanted to hurt you, Max, so badly that you'd want to quit the Force. Linden, being so loyal, would follow, which would get rid of two of his most frustratingly successful foes.'

‘We were being played like kids,' Max quietly fumed.

‘Played, yes,' Dretch agreed. ‘But not like kids.'

The idea that Max had wasted time coming back to Australia when her mother might still be alive and in danger ate into her so much that she wanted to smash things up and cry at the same time.

But she took a deep breath and did something else instead.

‘I'm going to find her.'

Toby edged closer as Linden looked at Max. ‘Are you sure?'

‘Yes.'

‘But we don't know where Blue is.'

‘We do now.' Dretch mumbled. ‘He's in a castle in the north of Scotland. Quimby has been leading a team to crack Blue's security shield, and with the help of the jacket's location device and X-ray Spectrogram, she's discovered his exact location as well as a layout of the castle's interior.'

‘Are Alex and Suave going?' Max asked.

‘They have been coordinating field agents in a major search for Sorenson, who we believe is in hiding awaiting further orders from Blue. Alex in particular is determined he doesn't cause any more damage or get away from them this time.'

‘So no-one has been sent to help Harrison and my mum?' she asked sadly.

‘Harrison has given strict orders for no-one to go after him until he gives the word.'

Max stared at the dour and scarred face of Dretch on the screen before her. She'd heard he was a brave and unconventional agent and seen him win the Lifetime Achievement Award at the last Annual Spy Awards night,
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but she still wasn't entirely sure she should trust him.

‘Why are you telling us this?'

‘It's no secret that on my last mission with Harrison, we didn't agree on strategy. Harrison insisted we follow his plan, which resulted in injuries that made me unable to continue as a field agent. I should have stood by what I thought was right, but I didn't. This time I am. Harrison being alone with Blue without backup is a mistake.'

‘Why didn't Steinberger tell me about my mother?' Max asked.

‘He wanted to make sure it was true first. And he thinks you've been through enough without upsetting you again. He wasn't very happy with me when he found out I'd told you.'

‘So Steinberger doesn't know you're talking to us?' Linden guessed.

‘Not exactly. You know he's a stickler for rules … but sometimes a mission calls for rules to be broken,' Dretch said firmly. ‘I believe a good agent acts on what they know, and we know that two people are in danger who need our help. And besides, I know you've broken a rule or two to complete your missions in the past.' He paused. ‘You have good instincts. Trust them,' Dretch continued. ‘And even though Harrison thinks you're too close to this mission, I think you're perfect for it.'

‘So we should go?' Max asked.

‘You need to do what you think is right,' Dretch answered firmly.

Max caught Toby's eager eye and suddenly knew what she had to do. ‘We have to go and save them.'

Dretch looked through his spaghetti fringe and gave what could have been a smile, as if he had expected Max to come up with this answer all along. ‘I have sent a map to your palm computers. It includes a layout of the grounds and the castle, and coordinates for the Time and Space Machine. Even though Harrison chose not to risk using the Time and Space Machine near Blue, time is against us so we have no choice. I've transported some gadgets to your destination using the Mini Transporter
Capsule. You'll find them in a small sack under a stunted tree on the clifftop where you land.'

‘Got it.' Max felt herself move easily into action.

‘Quimby has identified an unusual energy field in one of the sections of the castle. She's not sure what is causing it, but I have marked it out on the map as an area to avoid, at least until she works out what it is. And remember, no-one except me knows you're going on this mission.' Dretch looked around as if he heard a sound behind him. ‘Better go. Send me a message when you're there,' Dretch muttered, before fumbling with his computer and sending Max's screen blank.

‘What was that all about?' Toby's eyes were on fire as he jumped up from the floor.

‘Nothing. You already know too much,' Linden said abruptly.

‘It's to do with that spy stuff you write about in your journal, isn't it, Max?' Toby had stolen Max's spy notebook at school and read it out loud during a fire drill.
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‘And Spyforce. You wrote about Blue and gadgets and Time and Space Machines! So it's all true?'

‘You really have to leave.' Linden stood up and faced him squarely. ‘Max and I need to be some where.'

‘It is all true, isn't it?' Suddenly Toby looked struck. ‘And we've done this before, haven't we? That's why I keep getting these images in my head of the three of us in weird places, like in the snow and in restaurants and an American film studio.'

Max knew there was no way she could deny it. Even though Toby's memory had been erased after their mission in Hollywood, it seemed bits were coming back to him.

Toby eyed Linden carefully. ‘And if anyone's going to ask me to leave, I think it should be Max.'

Both boys turned to face her.

Max knew she had to make a decision fast. Toby could be annoying, but he was also really smart, and if it wasn't for him being with them in Hollywood, they wouldn't have completed their mission and Linden would be dead. She also knew this might be the last time they'd spend together before he left to live in Europe, and that was the final thing that helped her decide.

‘Can you leave straight away?'

Toby shot Linden a victory smile before answering. ‘I'll call Aunt Mable and let her know I'm staying at a friend's place tonight.'

Toby picked up the phone on Max's desk while Linden gently pulled her aside. ‘He doesn't have to come. You two don't even like each other.'

‘I know, but Dretch said to trust my instincts and my instincts tell me we'll need him.'

Even though Linden was unhappy about it, it was obvious Max had made up her mind and wasn't about to change it.

‘Should we tell Ben and Eleanor?' she asked.

Linden thought about it. They would worry if he and Max went missing, but they couldn't risk telling them in case they refused to let them go. ‘Maybe just leave a note.'

Toby got off the phone. ‘Everything's set. What do I do now?'

‘Go downstairs, say goodbye to Eleanor and Ben and tell them that Linden and I are really tired and are having a sleep. Then meet us in the park at the end of the street. I'll tell you the rest from there.' Max pulled out a jumper and beanie from her drawer. ‘And take these. It's going to be cold in Scotland.'

‘Aye aye, captain.'

Toby left the room with a wink. Max began to scribble a note to her aunt and uncle before she stopped. ‘What if things go wrong? What if we never –'

‘We'll be fine, Max. I know we will.'

As they both took their Impact Suits and Undetectatrons from their packs, Linden flashed Max a smile to drive away the worry from her eyes. Even though he knew they were good spies, he also knew that with everything that had happened on their previous missions, Blue wouldn't waste any chance he got at doing away with them once and for all.

‘And this,' Blue explained with a small but self-important wave, ‘is where all our most valuable experimentation takes place and inventions are created.'

Harrison peered down from the uppermost platform that circled the inner castle walls of Blue's cavernous laboratory. It was a curious mix of modern and ancient: a high-tech scientific lab, surrounded by the ancient stones and roughly chiselled stairs of an old and regal fortress.

‘At present we have over three hundred different projects at various stages of completion, some of which are very exciting, I can assure you.'

Harrison watched the battalion of white-coated and masked technicians and scientists working with fierce concentration. He didn't let it show, but he quietly marvelled at the sophisticated technology and highly advanced equipment.

Kronch hovered behind the two men and sniggered while Blue smiled teasingly. ‘I'll bet it would be a dream come true if Spyforce had access to even a smidgen of what you see before you now.'

The lab was good, but without the genius of Frond and Quimby, or the minds of Ben and Francis, who had invented the Time and Space
Machine, Harrison knew Blue's lab would never be as good as the one at Spyforce.

‘If you're doing this to impress me, you're wasting your time.' Harrison's voice had an almost bored tone.

‘Oh, Reginald, believe me, it has been a long time since I have felt the need to impress anyone. I am simply a student of science enjoying its many and varied wonders.'

‘A student with a healthy streak of megalomania.'

Blue fixed Harrison in his gaze like a marksman lining up his target.

Harrison sighed. ‘Why don't you just tell me why you have summoned me here.'

‘No room for any fun, eh, Reginald? Just like always. But you are right, we are both very busy men.' Blue's eyes became alive with a renewed energy. ‘As much as I resented your little attempt to lock me away in prison, it gave me a chance to think about my life and what I have done with it. I accept that there have been times when I deviated a little from what could be construed as the best of intentions, and as a result of my thinking, I am a changed man and now wish to alter the way I live.'

‘You've changed your ways? And what about
your little plan to send Sorenson to attack Spyforce personnel?'

Blue's eyebrow twitched. ‘Sorenson was a momentary slip into former bad habits that I assure you will not happen again.'

Harrison sniffed. ‘Go on.'

‘I know we have differed in the past about how to run an intelligence agency, but I finally see the sense of how you operate Spyforce … if only you could expand your operations, think of how much greater Spyforce could be.'

Harrison stared blankly into Blue's sincerity-coated look. ‘So what is it you want?'

‘I want you and me to work as a team again. With my resources and money and your brilliant team with its impeccable record, we could create the most profitable, efficient and successful agency either of us could have ever dreamt of.'

Harrison was momentarily silent.

‘You know, the trouble with you, Theodoran, is that you dangle things in front of your enemies that may make
you
leap and wag your tail, but simply hold no attraction for them.' Harrison again buried his hands into his jacket pockets and looked down at the lab. ‘The one thing your offer does do is prove how very different we are.'

A venomous sneer worked its way onto Blue's lips while Harrison prepared for his final remark. ‘Spyforce is one of the finest spy agencies in the world. You are right when you say we have an impeccable record, and I have no intention of tarnishing that now by joining forces with a man who has no idea about honesty, loyalty or the fundamentals of what is right. No matter what offer you put in front of me, I will never work with your low and scheming ways. Is there anything else?'

The jovial Blue had been nudged aside by a Blue who simmered with anger. His body became rigid with fury. ‘I have invited you into my home and all you do is insult me.' He sucked in a deep breath. ‘And turn down an extraordinary offer you will never receive again.'

‘I can live with that,' Harrison declared.

Blue tried to maintain his calm. ‘Well, if you don't have the sense to join forces with me, are you at least interested in rescuing Max's squealing mother and in me calling off the orders to hurt your precious Spyforce agents?'

Harrison paused. ‘I will do all I can to protect innocent people from you.'

‘Now, at least, you're making sense. You can
have all that immediately.' Blue's eyes narrowed. ‘As soon as I take possession of one thing.'

‘Which is?'

‘The Time and Space Machine.'

Harrison turned to Blue and knew he was about to seal his fate. His face softened for the first time since he'd arrived at Blue's castle. ‘For you to even ask that, Theodoran, only confirms your complete lack of understanding of me or any of the principles Spyforce stands for.'

Blue's expression froze as if he'd been hit by a sudden ice storm. His mouth twisted into an ugly sneer of hate.

‘Take him to the Portal Room.'

Kronch sprang forward as if he had been waiting for this very moment. He pinioned Harrison's arms behind him, wringing them between his sausage fingers into a painful twisting burn.

Blue seethed as he watched the head of Spyforce being led away. ‘You have crossed me for the last time, Reginald Harrison. Let's see how clever you are now.'