Mission In Malta (3 page)

‘We've made some improvements to the Time and Space Machine.'

Max's Uncle Ben stood in the underground lab at their farm in Mindawarra, gulping down the last of a cheese and chutney sandwich.

‘Improvements?' Max tried to subtly slide away from Linden, who was sitting just that little bit too close to her on a bench. Each time she'd looked at him since arriving at the farm, all she could see was his diving lips and sudden kiss.

So she concentrated on her uncle instead. ‘What's to improve? I thought it was perfect as it was.'

‘Yeah, after you fixed Max's slimy landings so she stopped smelling like the back end of a cow, I thought you'd done everything.' Linden smiled as he recalled Max's troubles with the early version of the Time and Space Machine. ‘Remember, Max? There was your landing in Larry's feed trough, the garbage compactor outside that London restaurant, the compost bin, the pile of cat poo … boy, did you stink!'

Max suddenly forgot about the kiss and turned towards Linden's chuckling face. ‘What part of my irritated expression aren't you seeing?'

Linden stopped laughing and focused instead
on finishing his ham and alfalfa roll.

Ben made a sloppy attempt at stifling a smile. ‘Science never stands still, Max, you know that. And since Eleanor had a big hand in this, she'll take over from here.'

A series of loud banging sounds thundered from outside.

‘What's that?' Max threw her hands over her head and ducked.

Linden pulled an apple from his pocket. ‘Larry.'

Larry was Ben and Eleanor's pig. The banging continued.

‘What's he trying to do, break in?'

‘No.' Linden took a bite. ‘He'd use the door if he wanted to come in.'

‘Is it …' Max knew she'd regret asking but went ahead anyway, ‘about the weather?'

Ben, Eleanor and Linden were convinced they could predict the weather from Larry's behaviour.

‘No, Morse code,' Ben answered as if that somehow explained everything.

Max tried to stop her mouth from asking anything more, but it didn't work. ‘Morse code?'

‘Yes,' Eleanor filled in. ‘He's trying to improve himself, so we've been teaching him Morse code. He's a very quick learner.'

Max squinted in a mental fog, not quite understanding. ‘So instead of
acting
strangely to predict the weather he can … tell you?'

‘Yes, that and other things. He's just tapped out “hello”.' Eleanor smiled proudly. ‘He's always had such lovely manners.'

There was a drawn-out silence as Max stared at her uncle and aunt. For brilliant scientists who were part of the world's most elite intelligence agency and were responsible for the invention of some of science's most advanced devices, they had the habit, at times, of sounding a bit mad.

‘So.' Max took a deep breath. ‘Tell me about these improvements.'

A scratching sound came from the door of the lab, followed by a muffled bark.

‘Can I let Ralph in?' Linden asked Ben.

‘He'll only sit out there and whine if you don't.'

Linden jumped up and opened the door to let in a great furry mountain of a dog. ‘Now, you be good with Max,' Linden warned.

Ralph, whose enthusiastic hellos used to fall just short of almost killing Max, calmly walked over with his smelly dogness and climbed onto the seat beside her. Linden gave him a vigorous rub on the back. ‘You don't want to miss out, do you, boy?'

‘No, we wouldn't want that,' Max snipped. ‘Maybe now we can get on with the demonstration?'

Ralph barked in agreement and breathed great doggy breaths all over her.

Eleanor stepped up to a platform in the centre of the lab where the Time and Space Machine sat in a perspex frame beside a leather belt specially made to carry the device. ‘Spyforce asked us to do a little fine-tuning of the machine, and after months of experimenting we've successfully installed a mapping and surveillance tool. It operates much like before, but now it can produce images of the world that are so sharp that geographic coordinates can zoom in to reveal what brand of chips someone on a street in Sweden is eating.'

‘From anywhere in the world?' Max asked.

‘Anywhere.' Ben reached into his pocket. ‘Jube, anyone?'

Linden finished the last of his apple. ‘Yeah, thanks.'

‘Me too,' Eleanor added.

Max sighed. No matter what important scientific discovery was being unveiled, Ben, Eleanor and Linden could always be interrupted for food. Max knew she'd have to wait until they'd all had a good chew before science could move forward.

‘When you switch on the Time and Space Machine,' Eleanor continued, ‘a virtual picture of the earth will appear on the screen. Simply type in where you want to go and the machine will zoom in to find it: a city, a street or even someone's house. All supported by extremely high-resolution imagery. It's like a massive surveillance camera with a powerful optical zoom lens.'

‘And that's what we do when we want to travel too?' Linden asked.

‘Exactly the same. When the image of where you want to go appears on screen, press or say “transport”, just like before, and you'll be there around fifteen seconds later.' Eleanor's face filled with a cheeky smile. ‘Come and try it out.'

Max, Linden and Ben walked up to the platform.

‘Max, where would you like to search?' Ben asked.

Max's eyebrows wriggled across her forehead, before she looked up. ‘Venice.'

‘Venice, eh?' Ben nudged Max and gave her a wink.

Venice was the location of their last mission and the home of Luca Cavello, the very Italian and very good-looking spy they worked with.

Max blushed and looked away.

‘Simply type in the word “Venice” and the screen will immediately display the coordinates of the city before revealing your chosen destination. And …' Eleanor paused, ‘there she is.'

The magnificent city of canals appeared before them, gleaming in the early morning light.

‘I wonder if Luca's home?' Linden asked.

‘We can see,' Eleanor said. ‘Where does he live?'

‘Rio della Verona canal. I can't remember the number, but it was around the middle. Wasn't it, Max?'

Before she could answer, Max watched as the Cavello Family Palazzo appeared before them, and on the top balcony, reading a book in the early light, was Luca. Max momentarily stopped breathing.

‘Are you okay?' Linden asked.

‘Yes,' Max wheezed through an inhaled breath. ‘I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be okay? Don't I look okay?'

Linden knew what he saw and what was good for his health. ‘No, you look great.'

‘It's like a virtual visual search engine for the entire planet,' Eleanor whispered. ‘It's linked to a
satellite that transmits to a database at Spyforce Headquarters in London and is updated every few minutes to even include weather and traffic conditions.'

‘It'll be great for future missions,' Ben said. ‘Like having a giant pair of binoculars where you can see people on the other side of the world. Oh, and Quimby's been working alongside us and has created a Tracer Bug that can be planted on a person you'd like to trail. Whether it be a fellow agent you need to cover or a suspicious character you're following, attach the bug and the machine will lead you to them. It's very cutting edge.' Ben nodded proudly. ‘Any more of those cheese and chutney sandwiches?'

Max's palm computer buzzed in her pocket. ‘It's Steinberger.' Steinberger was the ever-efficient, shiny-shoed Administration Manager of Spyforce. ‘They must be ready for us to start the mission.'

Ben stepped off the podium and walked to a small lounge area complete with bean bags, comfy chairs, a fluffy rug and a coffee table. ‘Bring your computer here, Max, and I can hook it up so we can see Steinby's message on the big screen.'

Max followed her uncle. ‘You have a lounge area in the lab?'

‘This is where I do some of my best thinking.'

Ben plugged a cable into the side of Max's computer while Linden pressed a remote control to lower the projection screen. Steinberger appeared before them, larger than ever.

‘Ah, this is a pleasant surprise.' The Administration Manager's smile was so wide it was in danger of flying off the edge of his face. ‘I was expecting to have the pleasure of the lovely Max Remy's company, who I am always very happy to see and chat with – oh, I do look forward to our chats more and more, Max – but to have all four of you there is really just another way of making my already grand day simply perfect.'

Steinberger liked to talk. A lot.

His face twisted into a quizzical frown. ‘When was the last time I visited Mindawarra?

‘Too long, Steinby.' Eleanor squelched onto the edge of Linden's bean bag. ‘If you come to visit, I promise I'll make you my famous chocolate mud cake with caramel sauce and vanilla cream.'

‘You have a date.' Steinberger wilted ever so slightly. ‘How's Larry?'

‘Never better,' Ben replied. ‘He's learning Morse code.'

‘That'll come in handy.' Steinberger nodded.

Handy for what? Max winced in confusion.

‘I know it's outdated and technology has given us other ways of communicating, but even now some agents find it comes in handy. Why, when I was young I remember a time when …'

‘Do you have any news about the mission, Steinberger?' Max interrupted.

‘Oh, dear me, yes. Forgot myself for a moment there. This is going to be a very special mission. One I'm sure you're both going to complete without a hitch.'

He stared back at them importantly from the screen. And said nothing more.

‘Well, what is it?' Max asked.

‘I can't say any more now, I'm afraid, but Mr Harrison is very eager to brief you and would like you to come to Spyforce Headquarters as soon as possible.'

‘We'll be right there.' Max closed the connection before Steinberger could say any more. She unplugged the cord to the projector and slipped her computer into her backpack.

Ben had never been a fan of farewells and his bottom lip turned down and began to tremble. ‘But you've only just arrived,' he said softly.

Max slipped the straps of her pack onto her shoulders and walked over to the podium. ‘I know,
but you watch; we'll be back so soon you'll wonder whether we were even gone.' She threw a wide-eyed look at Linden and nodded him over.

‘Max is right.' Linden dragged himself up from his bean bag. ‘The world needs us, Ben, and you wouldn't want us to say “no” to the world.'

Max lifted one eyebrow at Linden, who now stood beside her.

‘A bit over the top?' he asked.

‘A little.'

Eleanor gently took Ben's elbow and kissed him on the cheek as he blinked away a few stray tears. She took the Time and Space Machine and the belt beside it and handed it to Max. ‘Good luck.'

‘Thanks, Eleanor.' Max fastened the belt under her shirt and turned to Linden. ‘Ready, partner?'

Linden slipped on his backpack. ‘Ready.'

‘Let's hold hands for the pact.' Ben held one hand out to Max and took Eleanor's with the other.

‘Hold hands?' Stunned dread plastered itself all over Max's face.

‘Yeah. Like we always do,' Linden replied easily.

‘Oh. Yeah. Right.' But Max did nothing.

Eleanor, Ben and Linden stared as Max's mind filled with images of clumsy fish-smelling balcony kisses in Greece.

‘Lots of girls would be lining up for the chance to hold my hand,' Linden whispered. ‘So if you don't hurry you might miss your chance.'

Max laughed nervously and rubbed her clammy hands against her pants. Get a grip, she silently scolded herself. It was Linden. The same Linden who made her smile, was always beside her when missions got tough and made her feel good whenever she was down.

She put the Time and Space Machine on her belt, swept her hair out of her eyes, straightened her shirt and – when she'd run out of other stalling tactics – took Eleanor's hand before reluctantly reaching out and lightly taking Linden's.

‘If Linden should come to harm or get lost or be in danger in any way,' she said quickly, ‘I, Max Remy, will do everything I can to help him and bring him to safety.'

Linden repeated the pact for Max, staring directly in her eyes. Max felt her face light up in a fiery, everyone's-looking-at-me red. She quickly dropped hands and turned away to see even more tears teetering on the edges of Ben's eyelashes. She pulled the machine from her belt.

‘Travel carefully,' Ben sniffed.

‘We will.' Max entered the coordinates of
Spyforce headquarters in London. An image of the city and the agency appeared before her.

‘May the Force be with you,' Ben's voice cracked.

‘Uh huh.' Max grabbed Linden's hand more forcefully this time to avoid Ben's fast approaching blubber fest.

‘And don't forget to …'

Max pressed
transport
and, with a small
ffftt
sound, she and Linden were on their way to London, England.