Out of this World

by Susannah McFarlane

  ‘Ah, Agent EJ12,’ said the woman looking at her watch. ‘You are right on time and right where I want you. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Professor Tekcor and this is my Moon lab. And don’t bother trying to call your precious SHINE for help. The walls of my lab block all communication signals.’

  EJ had been tricked.

  EJ and Pip were standing in Professor Tekcor’s Moon lab.

  ‘I thought your silly dog would like my Tekcy,’ sneered Professor Tekcor. ‘And then she brought you all the way to me. What a clever dog.’

  ‘But we were looking for you,’ said EJ indignantly. ‘We found you.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ snorted Professor Tekcor. ‘Do you think you could find me unless I wanted you to? I let you come here, I led you here—and now I have you exactly where I want you. You didn’t really think I would use such a simple code if I wanted to send a secret message, did you?’ said Professor Tekcor. ‘Me, the great Professor?’

  EJ looked at the Professor and tried to think who she reminded her of. She was tall with long, dead-straight black hair and dark, dark, almost black, brown eyes and long, painted nails. She was like a dark-haired version of Caterina Hill and just as mean looking with her long, rather pointy nose. What EJ noticed most was that Professor Tekcor’s face was completely wrinkle and line-free. Her skin is so perfectly smooth that it looks a little odd, thought EJ, and a little creepy.

  ‘You’re admiring my perfect skin, aren’t you?’ the Professor said with a slight curling of her lip into what EJ thought might be a smile. ‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’

  ‘I know about your AAA cream,’ said EJ, ‘and all the money you made from it. Why do you need to work for SHADOW?’

  ‘I don’t work for SHADOW,’ the Professor hissed. ‘I work for myself. But a little extra pocket money never hurts and besides, SHADOW and I had a mutual interest.’

  ‘Which was?’ asked EJ.

  ‘You,’ said Tekcor. ‘Yes, you. Don’t look so surprised, EJ12. SHADOW wanted to keep you from stopping any more of their plans and I, I wanted revenge on you, you snooping little spy-tot.’

  ‘But why?’ EJ was stunned.

  ‘You foiled my water plan, which was expensive, and you were very mean to my cousin.’

  ‘Your cousin?’

  ‘Caterina, of course. You don’t notice the family resemblance? Perhaps you aren’t as observant as you think,’ she told EJ, folding her arms. ‘Well,’ she continued, ‘twice you have stopped her and now twice you have stopped me working with her. Our plans would have been made with twice the brain power and we would have made twice the money.’

  ‘Was it Caterina who told you the location of OS1?’ asked EJ.

  ‘Of course, she told me years ago, before you put her in the security centre. But now she has escaped and do you know the best thing, EJ?’

  ‘No,’ said EJ. She didn’t think she really wanted to know either.

  ‘You helped her do it.’

  ‘I did not!’ shouted EJ.

  ‘Oh yes, you did,’ sneered Tekcor. ‘When you put OS1 into shut-down mode, just as I knew you would, the SHINE security systems also froze. Caterina all but walked out of your security centre. And now she is safely far away, on her way to start work on our next scheme. But now, that is quite enough talking. I have some data to download.’

  At last EJ had something to smile about. ‘Aren’t you forgetting? You won’t be able to do that, Tekcor. OS1 has been disabled.’

  ‘Yes but I can go back and turn it on. And then,’ Tekcor laughed a nasty little laugh, ‘then I will make it impossible for you or anyone else to ever get to it again.’

  ‘You can’t do that!’ cried EJ.

  ‘Yes I can,’ said Tekcor, picking up what looked like a white tin, not much larger than a shoebox. ‘I will just use this, my latest invention, the magnificent Tekcor SJC.’

  EJ knew that scientists, especially slightly mad SHADOW ones, couldn’t resist talking about their new inventions and their cleverness. EJ didn’t even need to ask, she just looked up at Professor Tekcor who began talking again.

  ‘Just a box, you are thinking, but you would be wrong. It is so much more. It is simply the greatest space invention since the rocket. It is the Tekcor space junk collector. I have devised a way to knock space junk off its orbit and collect it. This device simply locks onto the spaceship and, when activated, sends out rays that knock pieces of junk from their orbit. Then the SJC’s giant scoop unfolds and collects all the space junk as it falls. Simple but, if I say so myself, ingenious.’

  ‘That is ingenious,’ cried EJ. ‘Imagine being able to clean up all that junk. Why would SHADOW do that?’ There has to be catch, thought EJ. There was.

  ‘Well I am not doing it for free, you silly girl! Governments will pay me millions to have their junk collected. And if they don’t pay, they may find junk coming closer to their spaceships and satellites—the SJC collects space junk but it can also carry it to different locations. I can make a real mess if I want to, and I just might. But now it’s time for us to leave.’

  ‘Us?’

  ‘You didn’t think I would leave you here, did you?’ said Tekcor. ‘We wouldn’t want that—and Caterina can’t wait to see you again. You will be going back to Earth but this time courtesy of SHADOW space travel. You will be going straight to our HQ—we think it is time we looked after some SHINE agents. It will make a nice change from SHINE taking ours.’

  ‘But you can’t,’ said EJ. ‘I’ve ... I’ve got a science project due!’ Did I really say that? thought EJ. Was that the best I could do?

  ‘I think you will find we don’t care about your science project. But we do care about stopping your meddling in our plans. Now, move it, spy baby!’

  EJ had no choice. She picked up Pip and Professor Tekcor marched them both out of the lab. A door slid open revealing a launch station with two SHADOW spaceships, side by side.

  ‘Now get in,’ snapped Professor Tekcor, pushing EJ towards the first spaceship. ‘You know this is your only way back to Earth. Launch will be activated once I have left and the ship’s auto-pilot will take you to the SHADOW spaceport. There is no way out, EJ12.’

  Professor Tekcor opened the spaceship door and pushed EJ and Pip inside. EJ heard the door lock behind her and then there was silence. Only minutes later, EJ heard a loud noise, almost like an explosion. She knew it was Professor Tekcor taking off in the other spaceship. She was going back to OS1 to steal the entire SHINE data system. But what could EJ do? She was locked in a spaceship that was about to take off and head back to Earth, back to SHADOW. Then EJ heard Tekcor’s voice through a speaker in the ship.

  ‘Strap yourself in, EJ12. The flight deck has been activated. Launch will commence in thirty minutes. See you at SHADOW, mwa ha ha ha!’ Tekcor’s nasty laugh echoed around the flight deck.

  Locked in a spaceship, thousands of miles from Earth, had EJ12 finally met her match?

  EJ tried the door of the spaceship but it was, as she suspected it would be, locked from the outside. She had been hoping she would be able to unlock the door with her skeleton key charm but that wasn’t going to work if she couldn’t get to the lock.

  There must be a way, she thought. There must be something in here I can use to get out. EJ scanned the flight deck of the spaceship. Now that it was activated, it was all lit up. It was very similar to the SHINE deck and EJ could see the launch countdown timer. She had twenty-eight minutes until take-off. As EJ was looking frantically around, Pip jumped up on the deck.

  ‘Hey! Careful, Pip! You nearly knocked the robotic arm lever!’ cried EJ a little angrily. And then she looked at her dog and laughed. ‘Did I say “the robotic arm”? I take it all back, Pip, good girl! We can use that to get us out of here!’

  EJ took her key charm and twisted it. She then took the skeleton key and placed it in the robotic arm chamber, pressing the COLLECT button. The key was then taken up into the pincers of the arm.

  ‘Cross your paws, P
ip,’ said EJ. ‘Let’s hope this arm can extend far enough to reach the door.’

  EJ activated the arm-cam and then took hold of the joystick, guiding the arm around to the side of the ship where the door was. EJ could see the hatch door—and the lock. She was so close! She then guided the arm up until the pincers were opposite the lock. The arm reached the lock but would the pincers be precise enough to use the key? EJ raised the arm and tried to push it at the lock but the key didn’t go in. Next she twisted the pincers so that the key was facing the right way and pushed again. This time the key caught in the lock. EJ pushed again and could feel the key slide into the lock.

  ‘Don’t get comfortable, Pip,’ she cried. ‘One turn and we are out of here!’ EJ twisted the arm and could hear the buzz as the electronic lock deactivated. She raced to the door and pushed it open—and then quickly shut it again. She glanced at the camera in the corner in the middle of the flight deck. Tekcor would be watching and would know if they escaped. Thinking fast, EJ strapped Pip into one chair and then strapped herself into another. She activated her electronic diary charm, the one she had been given on her movie set mission. The diary had a photo-lab app and that was what she needed, a picture of her and Pip securely strapped in, ready for launch. She looked again at the countdown timer—she had twenty minutes left. Just enough time, she hoped, for her plan to work.

  ‘Okay, Pip, smile, no, I mean frown! We need to look as if we are trapped and strapped, heading back to Earth and SHADOW.’

  EJ held the diary out and snapped. Seconds later a photo came out of the bottom of the pad. She took the photo and positioned it just in front of the flight-deck camera.

  It’s not brilliant but it may just work, thought EJ. If Professor Tekcor is not looking too closely, she may just think we are still in here. At least it might work for long enough to give us time to escape. ‘Come on, Pip, let’s get out of here!’

  EJ pushed open the door and they jumped out of the ship. They ran down the launch pad stairs and back into the space lab. In the corner, EJ could see her lunar buggy.

  Yes! thought EJ but as she approached the vehicle, she could tell she wasn’t going anywhere in it. The front wheels were crumpled and the bubblescreen smashed. Sadly EJ pressed the Eco-Deco button that all SHINE equipment had to ensure environmentally responsible gadget disposal, and stood back as the buggy disintegrated. There were the usual loud farting and gurgling noises but at least, this time thankfully, EJ was saved from the disgusting smell by her helmet.

  Now what? EJ looked around and then down at her bracelet, flicking through the charms to see if there was one that might help. She came to the Moon charm. ‘Plan for the unplanned,’ A1 had said and being stranded on the Moon was certainly unplanned. EJ twisted the charm and waited. A large Moon-shaped bag appeared. EJ unzipped the bag and pulled out two jet-packs, that looked like SCUBA tanks in a back pack, one for EJ and one for Pip.

  ‘Get ready, Pip,’ said EJ. ‘We’re going Moonwalking!’

  With their jet-packs and breathing apparatus on and secure, EJ and Pip were ready to leave the space lab.

  ‘Now we just need to open the crater roof,’ said EJ and she walked over to the lab’s control panel. The roof control was easy to find but EJ was surprised and delighted to also see a laptop and another Tekcor SJC lying on the bench.

  ‘So, Professor Tekcor, did you mean to make those easy to find as well?’ chuckled EJ, picking up the laptop and the Tekcor SJC. ‘I think SHINE will be rather interested in these.’ Then she patted Pip’s helmet. ‘It’s time for us to blast off. Come on, Pip.’

  Then EJ heard a blasting noise from the launch room.

  ‘That’s the second SHADOW rocket taking off,’ EJ said to Pip. ‘They will soon discover we are not on board. We need to hurry.’

  EJ pressed the roof button and immediately the ceiling drew back. EJ turned on her jet-pack and then Pip’s. The jets flared into action and lifted them up and EJ found she could change direction by moving her arms and legs just as if she were swimming.

  ‘Follow me, Pip!’ cried EJ. Pip moved up next to her, like a dog paddling in water, and the pair flew up out of the crater and back on to the surface of the Moon. The jets carried them quickly but not quickly enough.

  It is going to take too long this way, thought EJ as she reached for her rocket charm. I think we need to upgrade our transportation!

  EJ activated the charm and was soon holding a small remote control. There was a pinging noise as the rocket remote turned on and began to beep. The beeps became gradually quicker and quicker.

  That’s good, thought EJ. The quicker the beeps, the closer Shining Star 1 is to finding us.

  And then as EJ and Pip jetted over a crater-top, there was one long beep and Shining Star 1 loomed up in front of them and stopped, hovering. EJ clicked the remote to activate the access chamber. A small door opened on the side of the ship.

  ‘Come on, Pip,’ cried EJ jetting up to the door. ‘In here.’

  EJ and Pip jetted into the chamber. EJ turned off both jet-packs and shut the access door. She then opened a second door into the flight deck. With the second door closed, they were safe to take off their helmets. As they did EJ heard a familiar voice from the deck speakers.

  ‘This is SHINE Control. Come in, EJ12. Can you hear us?’

  EJ was back on safe ground, well, floating above safe ground.

  ‘Yes! This is EJ12. Am I pleased to hear you guys! You aren’t going to believe what has happened.’

  EJ and Pip were safely back and strapped in at the flight deck of Shining Star 1 as it sped towards OS1. EJ was updating SHINE Control on Professor Tekcor’s plan to take her to SHADOW and to attack OS1 once more.

  ‘Way to go on the escape plan, EJ!’ cried IJ12.

  ‘I will be most interested to inspect that laptop,’ said TO10. ‘Not to mention the SJC.’

  ‘You have done an exceptional job, EJ12,’ said A1. ‘But I think we will bring you home now.’

  ‘But it is not over yet, A1,’ said EJ. ‘Professor Tekcor is on her way to OS1 and I am the only one who can get there to stop her in time. She plans to download the SHINE data and then wrap the satellite up in a storm of space junk with her new invention. OS1 will be destroyed unless I stop it.’

  ‘There is nothing you can do, EJ,’ said A1. ‘We are going to have to destroy OS1 before Professor Tekcor gets there. We can’t risk it.’

  ‘But how will we do that?’ asked EJ.

  ‘We will have to activate its Eco-Deco system. We can launch another satellite but SHADOW must never get our secret information.’

  ‘There must be another way,’ cried EJ. ‘IJ12, do you remember your ‘brothers away’ invention?’

  ‘Of course, EJ,’ said IJ. ‘But that was just for fun although...’

  EJ knew what that silence meant. Isi, IJ12, was thinking. That was good.

  ‘Maybe there is,’ said IJ12. ‘If we can re-activate OS1, we can turn on its sensors. If we can turn on its sensors, I think we can then program the force shield to go on to maxi-repel. The moment Professor Tekcor’s ship comes close it will bounce it away.’

  ‘That could work,’ said A1. ‘But that means EJ will need to get close enough to OS1 before Professor Tekcor,’ said A1.

  ‘Don’t worry about that, A1,’ said EJ. ‘I’m switching to turbo rockets. Shining Star 1 will travel at twice the normal rocket speed and Professor Tekcor, thinking I am on my way back to Earth, will never think she is in a race. But she is and I am going to win! Shining Star 1 switching to turbo. On my count ... 5,4,3,2,1—turbo rockets ignited.’

  EJ was thrown back in her seat as Shining Star 1 thrust forward and streaked across space. She watched the radar to keep a lookout for OS1. Suddenly, she saw it—and something else.

  ‘SHINE Control, this is Shining Star 1. OS1 is now on radar but so is an unidentified ship. That will be Tekcor.’ EJ waited a few seconds. ‘I have passed her and am approaching OS1.’

  ‘Shining Star 1, this is
IJ12, way to go EJ,’ said IJ. ‘Now if you can fire a seeker-capsule at the shutdown button, it will turn OS1 back on and we can re-program it for maxi-repel from here. You will then need to fly away from OS1 to make sure you are not caught up in the maxi-repel. Can you do that, EJ?’

  ‘Consider it done, IJ,’ said EJ. She checked her radar and took hold of the capsule-launcher joystick. She switched the radar to camera mode and waited as OS1 came on screen. EJ could clearly see the red button.

  ‘I have visual, SHINE Control,’ said EJ. ‘I have lock.’

  ‘Fire, EJ,’ said IJ.

  EJ fired. She watched the capsule shoot out and followed it, nervously, on the radar. She need not have worried: she had aimed perfectly. The capsule hit the button and immediately, OS started to rotate and its lights began to flash.

  ‘Bullseye!’ cried IJ. ‘Now watch this!’

  ‘You’d better hurry, IJ,’ cried EJ as she turned Shining Star 1 and sped away from the satellite. ‘Professor Tekcor’s rocket is approaching!’

  ‘I’ve got it,’ replied IJ. ‘Tekcor away!’

  EJ watched as Professor Tekcor’s ship approached OS1. For a moment the satellite’s lights all went dark again and then, there was a large flash and Teckor’s rocket was suddenly nowhere to be seen. She seemed to have vanished. OS1 had knocked her away.

  ‘Way to go, IJ12,’ cried EJ. She was proud of her friend. ‘Not bad for a spy-tot hey, Professor Tekcor,’ EJ said to herself.

  ‘Beginner’s luck,’ said a cold voice over the speakers. EJ knew it wasn’t SHINE Control. ‘You win this time, EJ12, but you won’t be so lucky next time, I promise you. Goodbye, spy-tot.’

  And for a moment there was silence. Then a much nicer voice came over the speaker.