Frozen Fear (3 page)

Zac's spying missions had taken him to some far-off places. And he'd certainly con-quered some tough enemies. But somehow, the Great Icy Pole felt different.

It was lonely.

It was lawless.

It was dangerous and bitterly cold.

It felt like anything could happen to you out here. And if it did, no-one would ever find you.

Zac was now an experienced solo spy. But for the first time in his spying career, he was going to be alone on this mission.

Really and truly alone.

CHAPTER
FOUR

Zac's pirate-frightening side mission had eaten up a lot of time. It was 9.12pm already!

They were almost at the Great Icy Pole. Fox had to cram Zac's cold weather survival instructions into half the time he'd planned.

‘Here's your snowsuit and thermal underwear. Also your hat, goggles and gloves,' said Fox.

Zac nodded. Pretty standard stuff.

‘And this is…well. It's a little bit special,' said Fox, holding up what looked like an oversized doggy pooper-scooper.

‘The Great Icy Pole is one of the world's last true wilderness regions,' Fox continued. ‘Naturally, there's no plumbing down there. And the ground is frozen solid. So when you do your business, you just…'

Fox snapped the pooper-scooper open and closed.

‘…take it with you!' he finished, blushing a violent red.

‘I think I'm going to be sick,' said Zac.

This was a long, long way from being cool.

‘Look! Here's where we're going to land,' said Fox, glad to have finished the toilet conversation.

The helicopter touched down behind a towering wall of ice. Even in the gathering gloom of night, the glacier shimmered like sugar. Beyond the glacier, a plain of solid ice stretched right out to the horizon.

Wind howled across the ice. A gang of penguins huddled together for warmth, beaks tucked into their chests.

‘This is a covert operation, Zac. There's a group of scientists based at the seal research station over there…'

Fox pointed. Zac could just make out an igloo-shaped building way across the ice.

‘We believe they are harmless enough. Still, you mustn't let them know you're here. The idea is to watch for suspicious activity without anyone knowing they're being observed.'

Zac nodded. He jumped from the helicopter.

‘And remember. Meet the pick-up team back here tomorrow or you're a goner,' called Fox, waving a cheerful goodbye.

Then, in a flurry of snow and icy wind, the helicopter was gone.

Zac switched on his torch and looked

around. It was the same blank whiteness in every direction. Even an experienced spy like Zac could easily lose himself in a place like this. He took out his compass.

Zac wasn't used to using such old-fashioned equipment. But he had no SpyPad with GPS to rely on here.

Zac paced slowly forward. Icy wind blasted him backwards. It was hard going.

For hours, Zac searched for something – anything! – out of the ordinary. But apart from the seal research station, the entire Great Icy Pole seemed deserted.

Zac started feeling annoyed.
Was it
possible GIB was wrong about the so-called
suspicious activity going on down here?

There was absolutely nothing to see except a lone seal flapping slowly along the ice.

A seal!
How cute,
as his mum would say. Zac bent down for a closer look. There was something funny about the seal. Something about its left flipper didn't look quite right.

The seal flopped onto its side. It must be injured! Zac wondered if there was anything he could do. He didn't know much about seals. But he couldn't just leave behind an animal sick and in pain.

The seal seemed to be going from bad to worse. Now there was smoke pouring from its ears.

Hmm,
thought Zac.
I'm no expert, but that
doesn't look normal.

Zac reached out and touched the seal. Instead of being warm and soft, the seal felt hard and cold as metal. Then Zac realised – the seal wasn't real. It was robotic!

How could Zac have missed all the clues before? The robotic seal had a suction cap for a nose and a strange kind of drill attached to its head. It felt like metal because it
was
metal!

By now, the robotic seal had completely stopped working. Zac flipped it onto its back. There was a row of press-studs down the seal's furry tummy. Zac tore them open. Underneath, he found the seal's mechanics.

Where the seal's heart should have been, red and blue wires ran into a homing device. There was even an in-built clock.

Time was slipping away fast!

If Zac could rewire the seal, maybe it would quickly lead him to the suspicious activity he was looking for! A robotic seal seemed like a sure sign that something funny
really was
going on.

Zac unzipped a pocket on the arm of his snowsuit. He'd stashed a miniature tool kit there, just in case. It was almost impos-sible to use such tiny tools with his thick gloves on.

But he couldn't take his gloves off! Fox said he'd risk frostbite if he did. A frost-bitten hand would turn black and eventually drop off, dead.

That was about the grossest thing Zac could think of. He kept his gloves on as he tinkered away.

There,
thought Zac, attaching one last blue wire to a red one. He flicked the seal on. Instantly, it clapped its flippers and meowed like a cat.

Zac switched off the seal.

That can't be right!

Zac fiddled with a few more wires.

How about that?

He turned the seal back on. This time it moved its flippers perfectly. Only trouble was, the seal kept doing big, loud burps.

One last time, Zac fiddled with the wires. He tried the seal again. That was it! The seal was working, all right.

In fact, it was taking off at top speed across the ice!

CHAPTER
FIVE

WHOOSH! WHIRR!

The robotic seal sped away. Zac raced after it across the ice. But running was impossible! Zac slipped. He slid about. He fell flat on his bum a hundred times over.

Where is the seal heading?
Towards the seal research station, it looked like.

Does that mean the researchers are up to no
good, after all?
wondered Zac.

By this time, he was panting hard. The GIB training manual said that a spy must be in peak physical condition at all times. And Zac was. But still, he was no match for a machine. He was exhausted.

They neared the research station. Out-side was a row of gleaming new skidoos. There was no-one around. The first skidoo even had keys dangling from the ignition. Obviously the seal researchers weren't expecting company.

I'll have it back before they even know I've
taken it, thought Zac. And just to make sure…

A storage chest of firewood stood beside the skidoos. With all his might, Zac dragged the heavy chest in front of the research station door. The researchers would be locked in, at least for a while.

Zac didn't know whether they were good or evil yet. But he wasn't taking any chances.