The Amazon Experiment (11 page)

In the damp and darkened corridor leading away from the giant compost room, Max, Linden and Suave wiped off a few stray worms and began covering themselves in invisibility cream Steinberger had pulled from another pocket. Steinberger explained the rest of his plan.

‘Max and Linden, you go to the roof and destroy the mind control device. Suave, once you're invisible, go to the distillery and get me a lab coat. There were some hanging just inside the door. That way I can masquerade as a scientist and save Frond.' He looked down at his Amazon-soaked, worm-slimed suit. ‘And I may be a little noticeable dressed like this.'

‘As good as done.' Suave was back to his normal Suave-self now they were worm free.

‘Next, do you think you can fly Blue's helicopter?'

‘The FZ-511? It'll be my pleasure, sir.'

‘Excellent. Here are the keys. She's on a helipad at the end of a small track behind the mansion. We'll all meet you there in twenty minutes.'

‘Will that be enough time?' Max asked as her legs and waist became invisible.

‘It has to be,' Steinberger said sombrely. ‘Once
Blue knows Frond has gone, there's no telling what he'll do.'

Max, Linden and Suave applied the last of the cream to the visible parts of their bodies.

‘Max and Linden, you'll need your super-grip gloves, so retrieve your bags from the compactor outside the kitchen. Once you're on the roof, I'll send you a signal on your palm computers to destroy the mind control device with your lasers. But wait for my signal. I will need to keep Frond calm as she comes round and lead her out of the lab with the minimum of fuss.'

Steinberger gazed proudly at where his team would be if he could see them. ‘I am prouder of you than any Spyforce mission leader has ever been.'

His eyes moistened with tears and as much as Max knew it was an important moment, it wasn't time for any crying.

‘May the Force be with you,' she announced.

‘May the Force be with you,' the others sang musketeer-style.

Suave opened the door to the corridor and quickly made his way to find a lab coat, while Max and Linden hurried to the compactor and found their packs. They were smothered in soggy food and sauces. ‘I should have guessed,' Max moaned. She
had a habit of attracting garbage while on missions.

They wiped the packs down as best they could and began to apply the invisibility cream to them, just as an aproned man came out of the kitchen and witnessed the disappearing bags. They rubbed the cream in faster and within seconds both had vanished.

Max and Linden held their breath, standing as still as they could, waiting to see what the man would do. He stared at the space where they were crouched.

Please go away, Max pleaded silently.

The man shook his head. ‘I think I need a holiday,' he said before walking back into the kitchen.

‘Now let's get out of here,' Linden breathed.

They snuck past a group of suited men laughing to each other importantly, and made their way out the front entrance.

‘Feel that heat,' Max sighed quietly to Linden as the jungle temperature hit her.

‘It's a scorcher, all right.'

It wasn't Linden who answered.

Max flung her head to the right to see a burly guard standing beside her. She held her breath, not knowing what to do.

‘What?' a guard to the left side of them asked.

‘Feel that heat. Isn't that what you said?'

‘Wasn't me.'

Max and Linden stood frozen between the two guards, who looked suspiciously around.

‘Must be getting to me.' The first guard wiped his brow as Max and Linden tiptoed past and made their way silently into the front yard.

Linden stopped. ‘Max?'

‘Ooph.' Max head-butted Linden's pack. ‘Did you have to stop so suddenly?'

‘I wanted to make sure you were there,' Linden whispered. ‘And not back there making conversation with the guards.'

‘Funny,' Max answered. ‘Let's go round the corner where they won't hear us. And before you kill me with your hilarity.'

After putting invisibility cream on their supergrip gloves and slipping them on, they were about to start climbing when they were interrupted by something they'd forgotten.

‘The dogs!' Linden stared at the two growling animals, circling them and sniffing the air. He ran to the corner of the mansion to see if the guards had noticed. ‘We've got to quieten them down before the guards hear.'

‘The Hypnotron?' Max suggested.

‘Will it work on animals?'

‘We're about to find out.'

Max took her Hypnotron out of her bag. The dogs whimpered at the small marble-sized device seemingly floating before them. With one small squeeze, a blast of golden light shot into their eyes.

Linden looked at the guards. They were talking to each other but stopped when they heard the dogs whining even louder. ‘They're coming.'

‘Quick,' Max pleaded to the device as the thirty seconds ticked closer.

The guards surveyed the area as they thudded towards the whining dogs.

‘Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine …' Max counted.

‘Thirty,' Linden whispered. ‘Lie down.'

The dogs did as they were told. The guards came up and stood beside an invisible Max and Linden.

‘What's up, fellas?'

Max and Linden barely breathed.

The guards looked around to see what had upset the dogs.

‘Must have been a snake,' one suggested.

‘Think they'd be used to them by now.'

‘Are you?'

‘Nope. Things give me the creeps. Let's get back.'

Max and Linden waited until the guards had turned the corner before they made their move. Max placed one hand on the wall. ‘Here goes.' She then placed another and, taking a deep breath, hoisted herself up. ‘Hey, these are great.'

Linden started climbing beside her. ‘I bet this is how Spiderman felt when he first got his spider powers. You going to be okay with the height?'

Max smiled. ‘Sure, all I have to do is not look down.'

‘That's a great idea, I wish I'd thought of it.'

‘Stick with me and you'll learn all sorts of things.'

They quickly made their way to the top of the roof and, finding the mind control device, contacted Steinberger. ‘We're in place,' Max typed.

They pulled out their lasers and awaited their next instructions.

 

Having buttoned a lab coat over his damp and crumpled suit, Steinberger put on the pair of safety glasses that were in the pocket, pushed his hair under a hair net, and strode confidently down the
mansion's elaborate corridors to the distillery and to the greatest moment of his life.

He felt proud. He felt brave.

But when he stepped inside the distillery, he felt petrified.

His breath shortened when he saw Frond. His hands shook and his brow dotted with the usual splatter of nervous sweat.

‘May the Force be with you,' he whispered to himself as he patted down his coat and concentrated on walking over to her without falling down.

‘Dr Frond, I just wanted to say what a pleasure it is to work with someone as talented as you.'

Frond looked up from the Spyforce manual and for a moment Steinberger thought he saw a glimmer of recognition in her eyes. ‘Have we met before?'

Steinberger's heart faltered. He wanted to tell her it felt like he'd known her all his life. ‘Only briefly, during various group briefings.'

‘Oh.' Frond was still curious.

Steinberger looked up and noticed Blue in the observation room with his back to the glass. He had to get Frond out of there before Blue turned around and saw them.

‘I think the lab's work on the sleeping sickness formula was inspired. And now you're working on an elixir for life?'

‘Yes. It will be fantastic. Excuse me for a moment.'

Steinberger melted. He would have thrown himself into a bubbling vat if she'd asked. He gazed at her as she moved to the steaming elixir nearby. Then something he saw on the bench made him snap out of it. A large collection of plant and animal samples.

Including a jar of triatoma bugs.

‘The bugs,' he whispered.

As Frond measured another ingredient into her elixir, Steinberger discreetly took out his Mini Transporter Capsule and, feeling like a bank robber in broad daylight, placed a few bugs inside. He entered the Spyforce coordinates and pressed
send
. The bug was on its way. He hoped it wasn't too late.

He then reached into his pocket for his palm computer. As Frond stirred her steaming creation, he pressed
send
again, this time on a preprogrammed message. Milliseconds later, Max and Linden got their call.

 

‘It's Steinberger.' The two invisible spies jumped to their feet and held their lasers steady.

‘All set?' Max was ready to enjoy every minute of destroying Blue's device.

‘Definitely,' Linden replied.

‘Fire.'

Two sharp red beams cut through the air and blasted into the heart of the mind control device. Melting steel and burning cables sizzled and cracked before them. A veil of bitter-smelling smoke stung their noses. Then, finally, the machine collapsed into itself like an ice-cream cake in the sun.

Linden wiped his brow with his sleeve. ‘Some of my best work, I think.'

Max shrugged. ‘I've seen you do better. Now let's get to the helicopter.'

The two spies packed their bags, crept to the edge of the roof and began their super-grip descent to the ground, with Max concentrating on each move and on not looking down.

 

Frond slumped against her workbench like a puppet whose strings had been suddenly cut. Steinberger swept in next to her and held her up. He had just seconds to get her out of there.

‘Frond, it's me, Steinberger. You've been kept against your will by a mind control device in Blue's
distillery in the Amazon jungle. I'm going to get you out of here and back to Spyforce.'

Frond was confused. ‘I've been what?'

Steinberger smiled in relief. The real Frond would never be capable of agreeing to work with Blue.

‘Have I done anything bad? I can't seem to remember what I've been doing.'

Steinberger touched her hands. ‘You could never do anything bad.'

Steinberger was finally speaking to Frond without stumbling, but before he could say any more, he looked up and saw what he'd been dreading. Blue had seen them and was waving his hands and yelling into a phone.

‘There's no time to explain. We have to go. Do you trust me?'

Frond paused momentarily before saying, ‘Of course.'

Steinberger's heart leapt over itself. ‘Let's go, then.'

Grabbing the Spyforce manual and slipping it under his lab coat, Steinberger asked Frond, ‘Do you know a quick way out?'

‘I don't even remember how I got here,' she answered sadly.

Steinberger smiled reassuringly. ‘Looks like we'll have to find one together.'

They ran out of the distillery and down long and winding corridors, lined with elaborate chandeliers, busts of Blue on marble stands and walls filled with portraits of him posing as a great explorer.

A piercing whistle shot over their heads. They turned to see two of Blue's guards aiming stun blasters at them.

‘In here.' Steinberger grabbed Frond's hand and took her through a small door. They rushed past baskets of sheets and clothes, the noise of washing machines and the steam of heat presses.

‘Sorry.' Steinberger apologised after almost bowling over a weighty woman in a white uniform, but seconds later they heard her scream. The guards had pushed her aside into a basket of washing. Her legs fumbled through the air as the guards ran past her.

‘Duck!' Steinberger shouted to Frond. They leapt behind a clothes rack, only barely missing being blasted.

Steinberger then noticed an exit through racks of starched lab coats. ‘This way.'

They crawled along the ground while the guards
angrily overturned baskets of laundry and pushed through racks of clothes in search of the two escapees.

Another shot from the stun blasters whistled past them. Steinberger saw a large fan and a barrel of soap powder and had an idea. ‘Use this to cover your nose.' He handed Frond a folded and ironed handkerchief. He carefully pulled the fan so it faced into the barrel as the goons' search brought them closer and closer. He switched on the fan, filling the air with an irritating white soapy cloud. Hoping the dust from the powder would provide cover, Steinberger sprang towards the exit, removed the key and opened it quickly. He then pulled Frond gently through and locked the door behind them as the goons fell into uncontrollable sneezing.

‘That'll give us some time,' he predicted as he and Frond ran to the path at the back of the house that he hoped would lead to the helipad.

Frond's beehive hairdo flopped around her ears and Steinberger's shoes once again struggled with the uneven ground beneath them.

Minutes later they heard the crash of the laundry door breaking, followed by sneezing and the thud of heavy footsteps thundering after them.

But then they heard something else. The propeller blades of a chopper coming to life.

‘This way,' he puffed excitedly, holding the Spyforce manual in one hand and Frond's hand in the other. After a few more hurried steps, the track ended abruptly at the helipad. The wind from the chopper blades was blasting overhead. Max and Linden, having applied the Invisibility Cream antidote, waved furiously as the agents ran towards them.

They also saw the guards.

‘Quick,' Max called out. ‘They're behind you.'

Suave had the controls poised for take-off. Steinberger reached the craft first and, with Max and Linden, helped Frond inside.

‘Welcome back,' Linden beamed.

‘Thank you,' Frond breathed.