Mind Games (2 page)

Zac said nothing. Whatever Bladesville had in store for him, he could deal with it. Couldn't he?

‘Oh, yeah,' Gorman went on. ‘Leon reckons it'll take the hackers 24 hours to breach the last firewall.'

Only 24 hours? Zac did some quick calculations in his head.

Now
he was freaking out!

‘Says here the mission started at 9am today, so that means I've only got until 9am tomorrow to fly to Bladesville and stop the hackers. And it's – ' Zac glanced at his watch – ‘already 6.51pm!'

Gordon looked guilty for a moment.

‘Yeah, sorry about the delay in getting you on the mission, Zac. First time and everything, you see.'

Gorman coughed nervously. But Zac could see there wasn't any point getting angry. Gorman was doing the best he could. Was it his fault his best was, um, not really very good?

Gorman opened the van's glovebox.

‘I nearly forgot these,' he said, passing Zac a pair of wraparound glasses with a computer-game controller attached.

‘These aren't going to explode too, are they?' Zac asked, thinking of the grey sneakers.

‘No, they're virtual-reality glasses,' said Gorman vaguely.

Zac put the glasses on.

It looked exactly like he was sitting in the cockpit of a fighter jet. Zac grabbed the controller. On screen, it looked like he was touching real fighter-jet controls.

‘Woah!' said Zac. It was the most realistic virtual-reality flight simulator ever.

‘Isn't it incredible?' said Gorman. ‘Ever piloted a fighter-jet before?'

Zac hadn't, but he couldn't wait to try. He took hold of the steering yoke. He sped off down the tarmac. He engaged the throttle. Then, with a loud, realistic whoosh of air, he was airborne!

Up Zac flew. He burst through the clouds. He was 20,000 feet and climbing.

He fiddled with the controls. One was for speed, one was to turn left and right.
This flying thing doesn't look so hard,
thought Zac.

Then Zac heard a warning siren.

A message flashed on his virtual computer screen.

. . . STORM ALERT! . . .

The sky went dark. Purple lightning slashed the sky. The plane shook violently. Zac's fighter had been struck!

The fighter jerked one way, then the other. Zac couldn't get control of the steering. His computer screen flashed again.

. . . LOSING ALTITUDE! . . .

The plane nose-dived.

Helpless, Zac watched the altitude drop from 20,000 to 10,000 feet in a few seconds. He broke through the clouds. Right below was a mountain range.

He was going to crash!

Zac braced himself for impact. The fighter spun onto its back and slammed into the mountains. It burst into flames.

. . . GAME OVER! YOU LOSE! . . .

Zac ripped off the virtual-reality glasses. He was sweating. The plane crash had felt so real!

‘All right, Zac?' asked Gorman. ‘Computer games are so advanced these days. And so addictive! They really play mind games with you.'

Ghost-white, Zac nodded.

‘Well, don't worry. We're at the airport now,' said Gorman cheerfully.

The van turned into a secret side entrance. The tarmac was just ahead. And there, waiting for Zac, was a miniature fighter jet.

‘Probably should've told you before,' said Gorman, absent-mindedly. ‘You're flying yourself to Bladesville. The flight simulator was your training.'

Zac said nothing.

A spy always keeps his cool.

‘That's OK with you, isn't it, Zac?'

CHAPTER
THREE

Zac strode casually across the tarmac towards the mini-fighter jet. He raced up the stairs to the cockpit. The controls looked almost the same as the ones in the flight simulator. A radio headset sat on the pilot's seat.

Zac put it on and heard a voice.

‘Zac Power, this is Air Traffic Control.

The time is 8.09pm. Weather conditions fine. You're cleared for take-off on runway three.'

Zac took hold of the yoke. He engaged the throttle and the engine growled.

The fighter jet taxied across the tarmac. Zac angled the yoke upwards and pushed harder on the throttle. The jet gathered speed. Then, with a loud thump as the wheels folded up, Zac was in the air.

But this time, it was for real!

Steadily, Zac climbed. He pierced the clouds. The sun was out and there was no wind. Perfect flying conditions!

Zac tipped the yoke forward. The plane dipped down. He pulled the yoke up again. The plane shot upwards. He pulled the yoke sharp right. The jet flipped over onto its side!

Cool! Zac tried the left-hand side. He shot into a wicked loop-the-loop.

Maybe this wasn't getting him to Bladesville as fast as possible. But it was
so
worth it!

A voice crackled in Zac's radio headset.

‘Come in, Zac Power.'

‘Power here,' said Zac, as confidently as he could.

‘Weather conditions in your airspace have declined,' said Air Traffic Control. ‘A freak electrical storm's heading your way.'

Zac looked around. The brilliant sunshine had gone. Heavy black clouds were everywhere.

The fighter started to rattle and bump. Turbulence!

‘Suggest emergency landing,' said Air Traffic Control.

Zac looked at his watch.

If Zac landed now, it'd take him forever to get to Bladesville and find those hackers. Freak storm or not, Zac was going to have to keep flying.

‘Request permission to continue to Bladesville,' said Zac.

There was silence from Air Traffic Control. The fighter roared into a really rough air pocket. The entire cockpit shook. For a second, radio communication drop-ped out.

The radio came back on. ‘Permission granted. Proceed at your own risk.'

Grimly, Zac flew on. Wind rattled the windscreen. The plane lifted and dropped in the wind.

It was worse than a fun-park ride.

The fighter was equipped with rocket-assisted ejector seats. Zac checked where the lever was, just in case. Beside the lever, Zac noticed a button labelled ‘Vertical Supersonic'.

Zac took a deep breath. Could this button possibly do what he hoped? If it climbed at supersonic speed, there was a chance Zac could make it above the storm and out of danger.

Just then, the cockpit lit up as lightning crackled across the sky.These were the conditions that made Zac crash the simulator!

Without thinking, Zac slammed his hand down on the Vertical Supersonic button. Immediately, the fighter jet responded. The nose rose steeply until the plane was speeding straight up.

Then…

BOOOOOOM!

A sonic boom!

Zac had broken the speed of sound. He'd gone supersonic!

He streaked upwards, leaving the storm behind him. His hands shook. Going Vertical Supersonic had been as scary as it was awesome.

CHAPTER
FOUR

Zac jammed on the breaks. He'd been flying so fast he'd hardly noticed he was almost in Bladesville.

Now he had to figure out how and where to land. He had a closer look at the instruments and dials flashing on the dashboard. He noticed a button labelled ‘Engage Stealth Shield'.

Zac hit the button.

Instantly, his mini-fighter jet vanished from his radar screen.The stealth shield had turned him invisible!

Zac looked up the location of Blades-ville Airport. It was 50 kilometres out of town. He checked the time.

It was already 11.34pm!