The Nightmare Vortex (5 page)

‘It says here in the event of high pursuit on snow, the Silver Snowbeast is the only way to escape. It is a twin-engine high-speed buggy that is compact, made completely of natural materials and has a built-in parachute for quick aerial getaways.'

‘Really?' Max leant her chin on her hand and focused all her energy on trying to lift her head.

Linden sensed Max wasn't listening.

‘And then there's the Minotaur, a single-seater glider that moves through the air in complete silence and runs on the wind of elephant farts.'

‘That's great,' Max murmured.

‘Max, did you stay up all night again?'

‘I've got to prove to Alex I can be a good spy.'

‘I think even spies go to sleep sometimes.'

‘Max! We're late, sweetie. Are you and your friend ready?'

If she doesn't use Linden's name soon I'm leaving home, Max thought as she dragged herself off her bed and downstairs.

When they arrived at school, Toby was the first person they saw. Suddenly Max's feeling of being a total failure reached new heights.

‘Hey, Max? Ready for your exam results?' Toby pasted on one of those grins toothpaste companies love.

Max tried to ignore him. Why do some people seem to have everything? He's good-looking, popular, has good grades and always gets everything right.

Max stepped into class and yawned as she found her desk. Mrs Grimshore started talking and Max tried to concentrate. But then something very strange happened.

‘Now class, I've come across some exceptional students in my seventy-five years of teaching, but I've rarely come across one so gifted.' Mrs Grimshore was in a much better mood than usual and, Max noticed only now, had a bright blue hairdo and giant teeth.

‘I would like to award the prize of Student of the Year to Max Remy.'

The whole class cheered. Max looked up. Was it true? Could she have finally beaten Toby? And she thought she hadn't even passed! As she walked to the front of the class she saw Toby in tears. Kids from all around called her name. ‘Max! Max! Max!'

She'd done it!

‘Max! Max! Max'

‘Max!'

Max sucked in a gulp of air and wiped a line of dribble from her mouth.

‘I'm not exciting enough for you this morning?' It was Mrs Grimshore, with her normal teeth and hair. Please don't let it be a dream, thought Max.

‘And this is for you.' Max saw the fat ‘D' on the exam paper and knew it was real as was Toby's whale-sized grin.

‘Congratulations, Toby. First place.' There was polite applause from the class. ‘But we have an equal first place. Linden Franklin.'

Linden blushed. He liked science but hated when people made a big deal of when he did well.

At the end of class, as if Max's life wasn't miserable enough, Toby and his friends made an appearance.

‘What happened, Max? Forget your brain on the day of the exam?'

Max wished the Time and Space Machine was with her now so she could program herself right out of there.

‘Maybe you were just too busy to study.' He winked at his friends. ‘Or maybe you were spending too much time with your boyfriend.'

Max fired up a deep red. After what she'd been through in the last few days, she'd had enough. She flung her hands on her hips and got ready to let him have it. ‘Listen, Jennings. You
think you're so smart but there are some kids who have done things much cleverer than you could even think of.'

‘Like what?' Toby savoured his next jibe. ‘Be a superspy?'

Linden knew Max was being baited and in the state she was in, if Toby pushed hard enough, she just might reveal their involvement in Spyforce.

‘For your information —'

An announcement cackled across the school-yard, stopping Max from saying anything else.

Linden quickly got them away from Toby. ‘Where's our next class?' he asked as he led Max away.

‘Why does he have to be such a jerk? Where does it say his name is Toby Jennings and he'll be a massive pain in the —'

‘He does seem to have developed a knack for it.'

‘Knack for it? He wrote the manual on Jerkdom. He's a fat-headed, conceited, arrogant nobody
and
he called you my
boyfriend
!'

Linden looked offended. ‘And here I was thinking I was a good catch.'

Max felt herself calm down. ‘Now that one definitely came from your mum.'

Linden pouted. ‘You don't think it's true?'

She laughed. ‘Let's just say she might have been a bit biased.'

‘Max? Can I say something that might make you mad?'

‘Depends on how long you want to live,' she said warily.

‘I think Toby picks on you because he likes you.'

Max had seen and heard some amazing things in the last few months — the Time and Space Machine, the Wall of Goodness, the Invisible Jet — but this was the most crazy.

‘Toby like me? Are you nuts? Toby can't stand me. Toby's aim is to make my life a misery. Toby's the most popular guy in school. How could Toby even possibly like me?'

‘Just a thought.' But Linden wasn't convinced and by the amount of times Max said Toby's name, he wasn't sure she was either.

The rest of Max's day blurred around her. Teachers. Classes. Students. She was worried about training and the Spyforce exam. She'd made a mess of everything so far and she really needed to do well to prove to Alex she was a good spy.

At the end of the day, Max saw her mother waving and calling from across the street. ‘Sweetie,'
she yelled in front of everyone. ‘Quickly. We're in a hurry.'

‘Do you think she deliberately tries to embarrass me?'

‘From what I've seen, I think it comes naturally.' Linden shrugged.

‘Great. So it's for life.' She sighed. ‘Better go. Training's going to be fun compared to what Mum's going to do to me when she hears about that exam.'

Despite what Max expected, training wasn't so bad after all. Like things suddenly clicked and her body started to cooperate. She successfully manoeuvred her way through the Infra-red Night Vision Enemy Hideout course and managed to infiltrate a maximum security Bad Guy Lair to save a captured Spyforce agent. At the end of the session, she was exhausted and stood before Alex hoping she'd be happy too.

Alex looked up. ‘That's all for today.'

That was it? After finally being good at something, that's all she had to say? Max was starting to get sick of how hard it was for Alex to say anything nice.

She and Linden turned and started to walk out, when Alex stopped them.

‘Max? Can I see you for a minute?'

See me? What for? Max had that awful being-sent-to-the-principal feeling.

Linden gave her a warm smile. ‘I'll wait outside.'

‘Sit down,' Alex said.

Max sat not knowing what was going to happen. Please don't tell me I'm not spy material, she pleaded silently. Please don't tell me that.

‘I know you think I'm being hard on you, Max, but the best lesson I've learnt in life is that you have to look after yourself. Once you know that, no matter what situation you get caught in, no matter how frightening, you'll be able to give it your best shot to get out of it.'

‘That's not true!'

Alex's head tilted in annoyance and Max thought maybe she'd been too harsh.

‘Well, not all of it anyway.' Max felt scared, but now that she'd started, she had to keep going. ‘It's good to be able to save yourself but there's nothing wrong with relying on other people as well.'

Alex's expression softened like she was trying to work out how to say the next part.

‘Can I tell you something you can never tell anyone?'

Max felt her body stiffen. She'd wanted so badly to be friends with Alex, but now she was about to tell her something secret all she wanted to do was run.

‘I'm not sure what you know about me, but I was the youngest person ever to be inducted into Spyforce.'

Max perked up. ‘I know. You were nine years old and always wanted to be a spy since reading about them when you were little and because your dad was in Spyforce too.'

‘He was the bravest man ever, but during a dangerous mission we were on, he died.'

Alex's lips sandwiched tightly together. This must have been the mission that had been deleted from the book.

‘There was another spy on the mission with us. He was my dad's best friend. I'd known him all my life and called him Uncle Larry. I was fifteen. We were in the building of an enemy agent that had been blown up and was collapsing around us. Walls and ceilings were crashing down and the floor was crumbling like chalk dust under our feet.' Alex's words were like an ice storm, sticking Max to the spot.

‘I was following Uncle Larry and my dad was
following me, making sure I was okay. We were running along a corridor dodging falling debris when I heard this crash behind me. The floor between Dad and me had collapsed into a dusty pit, leaving Dad trapped beneath a tangle of beams. I turned to Uncle Larry for what we should do next as another piece of roof crashed behind us. Uncle Larry looked me in the eye and said. “We'll have to leave him.” I wasn't going anywhere without my dad, but then Dad spoke up and told us to get out before we were killed.'

Alex took a quick gasp of air.

‘I only saw him for five seconds after that, before the floor beneath him gave way and he was gone.'

Without another word, Alex picked up her bag and walked away.

Linden stuck his head round the door and saw Max alone on the bench. The way her shoulders drooped, he knew things hadn't gone well.

He sat down beside her. ‘Max, sometimes things don't go the way we want them to for a reason, even if we can't see it at the time. That was one of Mum's best sayings.'

Linden could see she didn't want to talk. ‘Come on, let's go.'

At home, Max's mother was waiting at the door. ‘Max, Linden. Come in.'

Something was wrong. Max could feel it. Max's mother had this gigantic smile and sounded so sweet it felt like a dental hazard just standing near her.

And another thing. She'd actually said Linden's name.

‘Mrs Grimshore called.'

Of course, Max thought, she knows about the exam.

‘She was shocked by your performance and asked if everything was okay at home. Of course I said it was and suggested that perhaps your friend's visit was too distracting and wouldn't happen again if things didn't improve.'

‘Okay,' said Max in a wilting tone.

Linden was surprised. He knew Max hated being spoken to like that and that her exam had nothing to do with his stay. Usually she would have defended herself, but all she could think about as she climbed the stairs to her room was Alex and her dad. Everything else seemed a long way away.

Alex Crane and Max Remy ran through the tangle of collapsed columns, roof beams and broken glass and jumped aside just in time to avoid a barrel-sized potted plant that rolled their way.

‘Are you two okay?' Agent Crane called from behind.

‘Yeah, Dad. You?'

‘Yeah.' He gave one of his famous lopsided smiles to his daughter and her friend. He was proud of both of them as they ran through the collapsing building without a shred of fear.

The building was an old warehouse on the Hudson River in New York, and Max, Alex and her dad had infiltrated it to stop the forgery of great artworks that Spyforce had traced there. Only, a deadly tip-off by an arch enemy now saw the building collapsing around them.

Without warning, a loud crash punctured the rumbling din. Alex and Max were pushed forward by the blast and fell to the ground. When they looked behind they saw a giant slab of floor had collapsed and Alex's father with it.

‘Dad!' Alex screamed as she saw him pinned under great weights of steel and concrete.

Max and Alex pushed the blanket of rubble off
them as they crawled over the crumbling pile of debris towards him.

‘Stop. It's too dangerous,' Alex's father called.

‘We're not leaving you,' Max shouted, but the floor's crumbling hold began to give way. They had to save him. He was one of Spyforce's best agents. And he was Alex's dad. If they could only reach out a little further. Just a little

Max was pulled from her nightmare by the vibrations of her palm computer. She looked at the blinking device and knew she'd fallen asleep while studying again.

‘Will I ever sleep in a regular bed like normal people?' she muttered as Steinberger's image appeared on the screen.

‘Ah Max, you must have been up early,' he said cheerily.

‘Sorry?' She was struggling to make sense of the world.

‘I was worried I might find you in your pyjamas. You seem to be a late starter.'

Max looked at her clothes.

‘Yeah. It feels like I never went to bed.'

‘I wanted to wish you luck for your exam. I'll be supervising. It's normally Dretch but he's been called away.'

‘That's a shame,' said Max, a creeping chill covering her at the mention of that name. ‘Has Alex told you how we've been doing?'

‘Not yet. She likes to give a full report at the end.'

‘Oh.' Max was hoping she'd said something.

‘I'll see you both in an hour.' Steinberger zapped off her screen.

Max tried to shake off the nightmare and felt as helpless as Alex did at not being able to save her dad.

‘Max, are you decent?' It was Linden.

‘Are you?'

‘I try to be.'

‘Come in then.'

Linden was as perky as ever. ‘Ready for the exam?'

‘Is a Micro Subsonic Atomiser a great way to drive bad guys' ears crazy underwater?'

‘Was Anna Purday the first agent to cross the Himalayas using only the Polar Sustenance Shield?' Linden added.

‘Was 1972 the first year Spyforce won the Agency of the Year Award?'

Linden smiled. ‘Been studying, eh? It's a long exam. What about your mum?'

‘She's shopping, which means she'll be all day.'

When Steinberger reappeared, Max and Linden were ready for him.

‘Each of you will sit on opposite sides of Max's desk. The exam will appear on your palm computers with me sitting in the corner of your screens to supervise. Don't let that put you off. I'll be very quiet. You have three hours and your time … starts … now.'

Linden shot a quick wink at Max for luck and they began.

Max looked at the first question and was relieved when she saw she knew it. Her fingers scurried across the keys like frantic ants, eating up every question and racing to the next. When the final moments ticked over, the exam disappeared and Steinberger's face filled the screen again. ‘Time's up.'

Max and Linden flopped back in their chairs.

‘On behalf of Spyforce, I'd like to thank you both for all your hard work this week. Spy work can be very difficult, especially while trying to keep up your regular life without anyone knowing about your alias. Even the best spies find that hard. And
now,' he said with an enlivened pause, ‘we have a job for you.'

‘A mission?' Max perked up. After all this time they were finally going on another mission.

‘Kind of.' Steinberger looked uneasy. ‘Quite a few agents here have been struck down with a very bad flu. Pesky thing. We can walk on the moon but we can't control some sniffles and a stuffed-up head. Anyhow, we need your help.'

Linden's head filled with images of glaciers in New Zealand, deserts in Algeria, reefs off New Caledonia. ‘Anything, Steinberger. Just name it.'

‘We'd like you to be waiters at the Annual Spy Awards Night.'

Waiters? Not only had Max not been invited but she was asked to be a waiter.

It wasn't quite what Linden had expected but he thought it could be fun. ‘Sure.'

‘Excellent.' As Steinberger told them what their duties would be, Max scowled. I'll never see any action as a waiter. All I'll see is soup and trays and the backs of people's heads as they tuck into a life that is exciting and adventurous and has nothing to do with me.

‘Ben and Francis have agreed to let you use the
Time and Space Machine as Sleek also has the flu and his sinuses really play up when he travels long distances in the Invisible Jet. Your mother has been told they'll pick you up tomorrow morning at seven and you'll be home late. That will give you plenty of time to finish your cleaning duties once the awards are over.'

Why is there always something wrong with my life? Max thought. When school is good there's always Toby. When home is good there's Aidan, and now that I'm about to go on a great adventure there's a big pile of dirty dishes.

‘That's all for now. I'll see you tomorrow when you arrive at Spyforce,' Steinberger finished cheerfully.

Linden looked at a deflated Max. ‘It could be worse.'

‘How?'

‘We could have been asked to clean the toilets.'

‘Errrr.' Max threw her pillow at Linden.

‘Just trying to be helpful.'

As Max and Linden talked about the exam, a gloved hand outside Max's house clutched a radio transmitter and a man spoke into his jacket lapel. ‘Radio transmission complete. What would you like me to do now, boss?'

A voice whined from the other side of the world.

‘We've just been delivered a little bonus. Not only will we be the new owners of a brand-new Time and Space Machine but we almost have all we need to finally undo Harrison and Spyforce.'