Francis ducked his head as he stepped into the car. He looked awkward as he fumbled to do up his seat belt. Max leant between the front seats and did it for him. He turned and gave her a crooked smile like he knew everything was going to be all right. But something bugged Max. After what she’d heard about Mr Blue, she wasn’t sure he was the kind of person who gave up so easily.
Alex Crane wedged herself into the small passageway just outside the entrance of the Galactatron V that was orbiting somewhere between Mars and Jupiter. On either side of her she could hear the talking of the evil and foul-smelling Blastaroids who were guarding the Galactatron’s entrance. One thing Alex had learnt about the Blastaroids was that, even though they were known as some of the most evil, cruel and repulsive henchmen in the Galaxy, they also had a weakness for incessant talking. Once they started talking, they just wouldn’t shut up.
Inside the cabin HQ was Captain Clearstink Glump, the mastermind of one of the most dastardly plans to ever face planet Earth. He had decided during a brief visit to the planet that not only did he like Earth, but that it would look good in the front yard of his home in Galaxy 423 on the far side of Spectre 7. All he had to do was knock Earth out of its orbit, much like a marble out of a chalk circle, and he would have his wish. He was in the middle of toasting his certain victory with a tall glass of Viridion Blast, a mixture of ice-cream and melted chocolate he discovered during his Earth visit, as Alex affixed the Orbit Thruster onto her belt. All she needed to do was adjust the settings of the Thruster which, if she got it right, would eject the evil ship from Earth’s galaxy and place a force field around it preventing it from ever entering again. Once the process had begun, she would have sixty seconds to leave the ship and be collected by the Spyforce Space Probe which was circling nearby, or she would be flung from Earth forever.
‘Good luck, Crane. We’ll be standing by for your pickup,’ Spyforce Probe Deck radioed into her earpiece.
‘We are just minutes away from being rid of Clearstink forever,’ replied Alex.
She heard the continual chatter of the foul Blastaroids near her as she entered the final numbers of the code.
‘Byebye, Clearstink,’ she whispered. But as she pressed the detonator, a double reverse thrust from the ship’s engines forced the Orbit Thruster from her grasp and she tumbled onto the floor in front of the large, evil-smelling feet of the Blastaroid guards. They hovered over her, laughing and shouting all sorts of unintelligible things as the seconds melted away for her to make her getaway.
What was she to do? How was she to get away from these intergalactic stinkbombs? The Galactatron V was about to be thrown out of Earth’s galaxy forever and she was their newest passenger. Was this the end of Alex Crane? Would she ever get away from the incessant chatter of the Blastaroid baboons? Would she
‘Hahaha!’
Max held her pen in the air above her notebook and tried to block the laughter out of her head. They were in the car on the way to Victoria Station and Linden and Ella hadn’t stopped talking about what they could do when the Time and Space Machine was finished.
‘We could go to Alaska or Antarctica or Andalusia.’
‘Or we could travel back in time to the land of the pharaohs or the dinosaurs or King Arthur and his knights.’
Linden rolled his eyes. ‘It’d make history lessons a lot more interesting.’
Ella nodded. ‘History isn’t my favourite subject, either.’
Then they went on and on and talked about favourite films, insects they’d collected and books they’d read while Francis and Valerie talked about old times and how much they’d missed each other.
If this goes on much longer, Max thought, I’m going to be the first eleven year old in the world to spontaneously combust from too much mush.
Max looked out the window at the London streets. It was winter and the pale light reflected off the decorations that hung everywhere. Then Max remembered. It was Christmas in a few days and she suddenly realised she missed her mum and dad. This Christmas was supposed to have been the first one they’d spent together since she was three, and now she wasn’t going to spend it with either of them.
Max looked around at the others in the car.
How could someone be in a small space with four other people and still feel like they’re all alone!
‘Here we are,’ said Valerie with a quiver of excitement in her voice. ‘Why don’t you all hop out while I park the car and I’ll meet you at platform six below the clock?’
Francis, Linden, Max and Ella got out of the car, waved to Valerie and made their way through the afternoon crowd.
Francis looked nervous.
‘There are so many people,’ he said shakily. ‘Makes me wonder why I live in the city.’
Max moved closer to him and took his hand. If Francis had been a hermit for the last few years, seeing so many people all at once was going to be pretty freaky.
Francis looked nervously at her. He clasped her hand tight as he wiped a handkerchief across his brow with the other.
Around them the busy station was flooded with announcements of late trains, cancellations and trains about to depart. There were signs for donuts, platforms, and advertisements for new perfumes and holiday destinations. But worst of all, there were people everywhere. Ticket inspectors, police, schoolkids and business people, and they were all in a hurry.
‘Make sure we stay close together so we don’t lose each other,’ Francis shouted above the noise.
Ella slipped her hand into Linden’s.
‘There are more people here than I’ve seen in my whole life,’ said Linden as they were jostled in a dark sea of business suits and long coats.
‘It has changed since I was here last but I think the lockers were over there,’ yelled Francis as he led the way through the crowd.
‘Ouch!’ yelled Max.
Francis turned around.
‘What happened?’ he asked.
‘Some big guy in a suit just stood on my toe,’ said Max huffily.
Francis put his hand on Max’s shoulder.
‘We’re nearly there,’ he said.
Max scowled and thought about what they’d been through in the last few hours. She’d been slimed, had doors slammed in her face, was almost strangled by a crazed Geography teacher and now she was being trampled by a stampede of people who were twice as big as her.
Max forced her way between two suits in front of her and found herself with Ella, Linden and Francis standing in front of a wall of lockers. Francis stared at one locker in particular.
‘This is it. Thirty-two. My favourite number.’
Max was elbowed in the head by someone rushing to catch a train.
‘I know this is an important moment, but can we open the locker before we all get squashed to pulp?’ she said, rubbing her head.
‘Sure,’ said Francis taking a chain from around his neck. He fitted the key in the locker and turned it. With no effort at all, the door opened.
Francis removed a small leather pouch and carefully took out something wrapped in a white cloth.
Ella and Linden looked at each other in excitement.
Max stood on her toes to get a better view.
Francis unwound the cloth to reveal what they’d all been waiting for. The Time and Space Retractor Meter. A small, shiny, chrome disc with what looked like some kind of voltage meter and flashing lights.
Francis beamed in recognition like he was seeing an old friend for the first time in years.
‘This is it. The secret of time and space travel.’
Max turned to congratulate Linden and saw him giving Ella a hug. She looked away until she felt Linden tap her on the shoulder.
‘We did it, chief! Mission Matter Transporter has been successful.’
Max smiled. They had done it. They were good spies after all.
Francis rewrapped the Time and Space Retractor Meter and put it back in the pouch.
‘Now let’s get to platform six to meet Valerie
before we get trampled,’ he said.
All four of them began to make their way through the crowd, but it seemed there were even more people now than when they’d first arrived.
What happened next was so quick that afterwards, Max and Linden had trouble remembering what really went on.
Max could hear Francis’s voice shouting for her but she couldn’t see him through the crowd.
‘Max, where are you?’
‘I’m here,’ she yelled. But it was no good, Francis couldn’t hear her above all the noise.
Max began to feel scared. London was a huge city, much bigger than Sydney, and she was frightened of being separated from the others.
‘Linden! Where are you?’ she called.
‘I’m over here!’ Max heard Linden’s voice but she couldn’t see him either.
Just then, a fat man in a brown jacket pushed past Max and she just managed to see the back of Linden’s head.
‘Wait for me,’ yelled Max. But with all the noise no one could hear her. She was hemmed in by so many people that all she could see were different coats and jackets moving past.
‘Hey! Get off me!’ yelled Max, as one coat engulfed her like a net around a fish. ‘Get off me!’
Then suddenly everything went black and the ground fell away from under her feet. She was moving through the crowd much faster than she was before but her feet weren’t touching the ground. She was being carried!
She struggled underneath the coat but was held so tightly she couldn’t move or make a sound. Then she felt herself being dropped onto a seat and the muffled sound of someone yelling out something as though they were in a great hurry.
Max was in a car and she was being driven away.
Away from the station.
Away from Linden.
Away from the Time and Space Retractor Meter.
Then she realised the horrible truth.
She was being kidnapped!
Max woke with a start and felt sore and tired and confused.
‘Where am I?’ she said out loud.
She was in a large comfortable bed with her jacket and clothes folded neatly on the end. She looked down and frowned when she saw she was in a pair of pink flannelette, cloud-covered pyjamas. The room was like a cartoon-coloured adventure world. There were beanbags, toys, slides that twirled from the ceilings, whole shelves of lollies and fruit and three drinking fountains sticking out from the wall with Raspberry, Lemonade and Orange Juice written on top of them.
‘What is this place?’ she whispered to herself. ‘And where’s my backpack?’
Frantically, Max looked around her and saw the pack sitting on a table next to her. She picked it up, and after going through it, was relieved to see everything was still there, including her notebook.
Then she remembered.
She’d been kidnapped!
Not only that, there was someone asleep in a bed across the room! She put her backpack on, stood up, took a large, round, rainbow-coloured lollipop from a shelf nearby and tiptoed over to the other bed. She wasn’t going to be kidnapped without letting them know how much trouble she could be.
She stood by the bed and held the lollipop high.
‘Okay you kidnapper, take this!’ she cried.
Max brought the lollipop down just as the person in the bed rolled over and only narrowly avoided being hit.
‘Hey, what are you doing? Can’t a person get a little sleep?’ someone said from under the blankets.
Max knew that voice.
‘Linden? Is that you?’ she asked.
‘Who else do you think it is?’ he mumbled.
‘I thought you were a kidnapper.’ Max shrugged, holding the lollipop against her chest and feeling a little guilty.
Linden threw the covers off his face.
‘A little relaxed for a kidnapper, don’t you think?’
‘Sorry,’ Max apologised.
Linden sat up.
‘I could have been killed by a giant lollipop. I was hoping for a more glamorous ending to my life,’ he said.
Max put the lollipop down and rubbed her forehead as she sat on the bed next to him.
‘I feel like someone’s been using my head for a football.’
‘Yeah, me too,’ said Linden. ‘Whoever grabbed us must have given us something to knock us out.’
Max suddenly looked worried.
‘Who do you think they are? What do you think they want with us?’
‘I’m not sure,’ said Linden. ‘But from what Francis and Valerie said about Mr Blue, I’m sure he’s involved somehow and that it’s no accident it happened just as we found the Time and Space Retractor Meter.’
Max took out her notebook and tried to think calmly.
‘Ok, here’s how it stands. We’re trapped in a house, location unknown. We’ve been kidnapped by strangers, separated from the only people we know in this country and,’ Max looked at her watch, ‘we’ve got about three hours left before we need to be back in Australia.’
‘Not only that,’ said Linden, looking down at his clothes in horror, ‘I’m wearing bright blue pyjamas with toy trains on them.’
Max glared at Linden.
‘I hardly think what you’re wearing is …’
Max was interrupted by the door opening. A woman dressed in a smart suit walked in.
‘I’m Ms Peckham,’ she said gently with a friendly smile. ‘I hope you both had a good sleep. Mr Blue would like to see you now.’
Max was furious. She leapt off the bed.
‘He would, would he? Well, I’d like to see him too. I’ve got a few things to tell him.’
Linden tried to reach for Max’s sleeve to tell her to calm down, but she stepped away from him and stalked out of the room. Seconds later she reappeared, remembering she had no idea where she was, and glowered at Ms Peckham.
‘I guess you’ll have to lead the way,’ she said.
‘Certainly, but I suggest you put your slippers on first. It can get cold on the marble floors,’ said Ms Peckham as she picked up two pairs of slippers.
One pair were shaped as fluffy yellow ducks while the other pair were two baby bears.
Linden sighed. ‘This is going to do nothing for my reputation as a man of fashion.’
It was hard to know who Max was more angry at, Mr Blue or Linden. Unfazed, Linden put on his slippers and backpack and did everything he could not to catch Max’s eye.
Outside the room there was a small humming machine that looked like a mini hovercraft waiting for them.
Max and Linden stared.
‘This is our Mobile People Mover. Or MPM. It’s really quite safe,’ smiled Ms Peckham. ‘And it is a bit of a way.’
Max and Linden looked at each other. They weren’t sure whether to trust her but knew they had little choice. Max shrugged her shoulders and stepped into the MPM. Linden followed and they held onto the sides not knowing what to expect. Ms Peckham got in after them and with a gentle whirring sound, the MPM took off and sailed across the floor and up to the high ceilings like a small glider.
‘This is awesome!’ said Linden.
The MPM sailed through brightly lit corridors filled with sensors that opened and closed doors as they approached. Television screens as flat as paper were hung every few metres along the walls and robotic arms moved out from the walls to do everything from water plants to open and close curtains. There were also vending machines snuggly nestled into walls containing everything from lollies to hot snacks, drinks and even games. At the end of one corridor, they glided into a large, glass-roofed area that resembled an overgrown greenhouse with trees, birds and, amazingly, a waterfall.
‘This is Mr Blue’s nature reserve. If you look closely enough you’ll see a giant panda and her baby,’ said Ms Peckham proudly. ‘Mr Blue is a great lover of animals and is one of the few people to successfully breed them in captivity. He is on the verge of completing a series of experiments that will hopefully bring pandas back from the brink of extinction.’
>
Animal conservation! This didn’t sound like the evil Mr Blue Max and Linden had been told about.
The MPM then turned and headed for the lip of the waterfall.
Linden yelled, ‘Watch out! We’re going to crash!’
Ms Peckham smiled at them and said, ‘Hold on.’
Max and Linden grabbed onto each other and closed their eyes.
Max shouted, ‘I know it’s a bad time, Linden, but there’s something I want to tell you.’
‘What did you say?’ Linden yelled back.
‘There’s something I want to tell you,’ Max shouted again, as the thundering wash of the water came closer and closer.
‘I can’t hear you,’ Linden cried.
But it was too late. Just then Max and Linden screamed as the MPM headed straight into the waterfall.
When they came to a standstill, Max and Linden opened their eyes and saw Ms Peckham standing on a shiny metal platform next to their hovering MPM.
‘I told you it was perfectly safe, and here we are,’ she beamed.
Max and Linden realised they hadn’t died in the waterfall and tried to take in their new surroundings. They were high above the ground in a giant metallic room that looked like a darkened aircraft hangar. Behind Ms Peckham was a large, silver door that seemed to be vibrating with a pulsing light. There were no walls, just the door with a camera fixed above it, a platform and a seemingly endless abyss on either side. Nothing else could be seen except a window of light above them, which they assumed was the back of the waterfall they had just navigated.
‘But how …?’ began Linden.
‘With this,’ said Ms Peckham, holding out a small electronic device. ‘Just before we passed through the waterfall, I activated the hydrogen atoms in the water so that they stood aside. That’s why we aren’t wet, to answer your question.’
Linden’s mouth fell open. ‘Come in,’ said Ms Peckham, gesturing towards the door.
As Max and Linden stepped out of the MPM onto the platform, the camera followed their every move. Ms Peckham put her palm against the door. The light coming from it pulsated strongly before it opened, like it had read her palm print as some kind of identity pass.
In Search of the Time and Space Mach Page 9
