Blockbuster

by H. I. Larry

  Hastily, Zac stepped over the android. He had a sense that somewhere in this building there was a clue about ThoughtVision. Why else would it be guarded so closely? Zac thought. And by fierce, ruthless androids?

  In one corner, Zac spotted an old staircase.

  Could lead to an attic, Zac thought, placing a sneaker on the first step. That’s the perfect place to hide information about ThoughtVision.

  Suddenly –

  A flock of bats appeared from nowhere and flew straight at Zac’s face!

  Zac’s heart pounded, but he pushed the bats aside and reminded himself that he was in a haunted house. The bats were on strings. They were made of rubber!

  Just part of the film set, Zac reminded himself, breathing quickly.

  He kept climbing the stairs. At the top was a very small door. Zac firmly pushed it open.

  What lay behind was no dusty old attic! Instead, there were rows and rows of hightech laptops. Zac’s spy senses tingled. He was onto something!

  Zac raced to the nearest computer and selected Display Recent Documents. There it was – ThoughtVision_Blueprints.doc!

  Zac clicked. The screen filled with diagrams. On the left, Zac saw a picture of a movie camera. A bunch of wavy lines labelled ThoughtWaves wiggled towards it. Labels and arrows pointed in all directions.

  Zac’s brain hurt trying to understand it all. He needed Leon’s help. He plugged his SpyPad into the laptop, uploaded the diagrams then punched in Leon’s number.

  He glanced at his watch.

  Leon would be up by now. But when Zac tried to call, there was no signal!

  Gotta get outside, Zac thought. He ran in the direction of the stairs, but then changed his mind.

  The android might have rebooted his system by now, he thought.

  During his GIB Spy Academy training, Zac had learnt heaps of tricky escapes. Now was the time to try one out!

  Zac jumped onto a chair and punched out a skylight overhead. He was going to attempt a Multi-Storey Roof Jump, an escape reserved for the bravest of spies.

  Zac wriggled through the skylight and onto the roof. As he looked over the edge, he heard a noise on the staircase inside. The android was back! Good thing I didn’t take the stairs, Zac thought.

  If he took a big run-up and timed it perfectly … yes, he probably could jump off the building and land on the roof of the moving golf cart below. No android guard would think of looking for him there!

  The golf cart was in the perfect position. It was now or never!

  He sped towards the edge of the building. He took a deep breath and JUMPED!

  He was in free fall … and then …

  Zac landed squarely on the cart’s roof.

  ‘What was that?’ came a girl’s voice from inside the cart.

  Zac froze. He knew that voice …

  An image flashed into his mind of the enormous silver trailer that he’d seen earlier.

  He remembered the name ‘Caroline’ written on the door …

  Caz is short for Caroline! Zac realised with a shock.

  Caz was an enemy spy for the enemy organisation BIG. And if Caz was here at Cinemania, that meant the two were somehow linked. But how?

  Zac was racking his brains when he felt a text message come through on his SpyPad.

  Lucky he’d set it to Vibrate mode!

  Have you heard the news? BIG’s profits 50% down. Ha Ha Ha. – Leon.

  Now wasn’t the time for spy industry gossip! Zac needed proper help from Leon, like an online search to work out how BIG and Cinemania were related.

  But I can’t call Leon from here! Caz will hear every word! thought Zac.

  There was only one thing to do.

  He flung himself sideways, rolling off the cart and landing heavily in the gutter with a muffled ‘urgh!’

  Just as he had planned, the cart kept on driving. He didn’t think anyone had seen him jump off.

  Right, now to call Leon, Zac thought, dusting off his T-shirt and digging out his SpyPad.

  Then he heard a booming voice. ‘There you are!’

  Oh no, the android guards! Zac panicked.

  ‘You’re needed on set, Grave,’ continued the voice, which belonged to a beefy man wearing a ‘Film Crew’ T-shirt. His name was stitched on the back – Brutus.

  Brutus grabbed Zac’s arm. There was no getting away. Brutus gripped like an angry pit-bull.

  ‘You’re ready for your big stunt scene, right?’ said Brutus.

  Stunt scene? Zac’s brain whirred.

  There was a child star called Dave ‘Grave’ Danger – the most extreme stuntman ever. He was 12, Zac’s age. Brutus must have seen Zac’s commando roll and mistaken him for Grave!

  ‘In here,’ said Brutus, steering Zac into a film studio as big as an aircraft hanger.

  On the door, a sign read:

  Zac looked around. The studio was crawling with people wheeling cameras and shouting into megaphones. Straight away, someone rushed towards Zac and fluffed his hair. His nose was dabbed with make-up.

  The make-up part was weird. Zac had hated it when enemy agents had given him a make-over as revenge, and he sure didn’t like it now!

  Still, he thought, it’s nice to be treated like a star for once.

  ‘OK, Grave,’ said Brutus, checking a clipboard. ‘First up is the scene where you run through a glass window.’

  Zac nodded. No worries! Bet they preshatter the glass so it only looks like you’re breaking it, he thought.

  ‘Then,’ said Brutus, ‘you wrestle Bessie.’

  The entire set went silent as Brutus led Bessie in on a massive silver chain. Bessie was a wild black bear!

  In a lame attempt to make her look friendly, someone had tied a pink collar around Bessie’s neck. It didn’t work. Bessie’s lips were peeled back in a snarl, giving Zac a perfect view of her big, white fangs dripping with gloopy spit. Great.

  Spy school didn’t cover wrestling black bears. But if Dave ‘Grave’ Danger can do it, so can I, figured Zac.

  He quickly glanced at his watch, and grimaced. It was already 8.31 a.m.!

  Zac desperately needed to keep going with the mission. But if he told the crew he wasn’t Dave ‘Grave’ Danger, they’d call security. And Zac didn’t want to mess with those androids again.

  Then he had an idea. He let out a highpitched scream.

  ‘Where is the lemon-flavoured orange drink and brownies I asked for? I cannot work under these conditions!’ He tossed his head and pouted. ‘I WANT to go back to my dressing room RIGHT NOW.’

  Zac was stacking on his best impression of a celebrity tantrum.

  And when I’m back in Grave’s dressing room, I’ll sneak off, Zac thought.

  The crew just stood and watched Zac’s tantrum. No-one seemed surprised.

  ‘OK, Grave,’ said Brutus. ‘I get it. You’re too scared to wrestle Bessie.’

  Too scared? I’m not too scared, Zac huffed to himself. I’m just too busy! But he couldn’t go back to the dressing room now. The next quickest way out was for him to just wrestle Bessie and then make a run for it afterwards.

  ‘Forget the brownies,’ said Zac sulkily.

  Brutus lead Zac over to a thick piece of glass. On the other side, he could just make out the blurry shape of Bessie standing on her hind legs, flexing her claws.

  ‘Quiet, please,’ called a voice. ‘Roll camera – and – ACTION!’

  Zac smashed into the glass window at top speed. Glass showered down around him.

  Cool! he thought. Now to wrestle Bess–

  Bessie landed heavily on Zac’s back, growling dangerously.

  It was like being hugged by a loving aunt – who’s hairy and stinks of salmon.

  Suddenly Zac remembered something

  his grandma had told him.

  Or was that alligators? wondered Zac. His grandma tended to talk a lot. Either way, now was the time to try out her advice!

  Zac grabbed Bessie’s slobbery muzzle. The enormous bear gave a ‘humph
?’ of surprise. Then she let go of Zac! She rubbed her snout and looked hurt.

  ‘CUT!’ yelled the director. ‘Not bad, Grave. But you need to look … braver. Let’s do it again.’

  Zac shrugged. Surely it wouldn’t be long until he could sneak away …

  ‘ACTION!’ bellowed the director.

  Zac ran towards a second sheet of glass. But before he got there, the director yelled out, ‘CUT!’

  What now? thought Zac, frustrated.

  ‘There’s a hair on the camera lens. Let’s go again.’

  Now Zac could understand why it sometimes took a whole year to make a movie! After every take, a new sheet of glass had to be brought in.

  Bessie’s fur was brushed and Zac’s make-up touched up.

  Precious time slipped away. 9.12 a.m. 10.43 a.m. Soon it was midday!

  ‘OK, let’s break for lunch,’ called the director at last.

  ‘I’ll be in my trailer!’ Zac answered, disappearing into the shadows.

  The back of the studio was a jumble of camera equipment, lights and dusty old sets.

  Anything could be hidden back here, thought Zac. Hey – what’s that?

  Zac noticed a door, bolted shut. A sign read, ‘Camera Tests’.

  Something clicked in Zac’s mind. Those blueprints said ThoughtVision was some kind of camera.

  This might get the mission back on track, thought Zac.

  Zac grabbed the SpyPad from his pocket and flipped it over. He slid the back casing off and pulled out a skeleton key. It was a special GIB issue key that could open any lock in the world.

  Zac jiggled the key in the lock. It was stiff, but it opened. He inched the huge metal door open. Pressing close to the walls, he sneaked into the room.

  A man sat on a chair facing away from Zac. He was looking into a movie camera. Zac couldn’t quite make out who was behind the camera.

  ‘You can trust me,’ the man sitting in the chair said. He sounded like he was about to cry.

  Then Zac noticed a screen above the man’s head. As soon as the man said anything, the screen displayed different words above his head.

  ‘I would never betray BIG,’ the man stammered. But the screen said:

  I HATE BIG.

  ‘I know what you’re really thinking!’ said a girl from behind the camera.

  It sounded like Caz. And she was obviously using a ThoughtVision camera.

  What evil technology! A camera that read thoughts as it filmed. But why would BIG want a camera like that?

  Suddenly, the pieces dropped into place in Zac’s mind. BIG’s profits were down. And that news report, back in the hotel, had said spies needed quicker ways to work!

  Questioning people with a camera that read minds would be the quickest possible way to find out all sorts of secrets. It would be way more reliable than any truth serum or special investigations.

  A movie studio would be the perfect front for an operation like Thought Vision. BIG probably invented Cinemania to cover its tracks.

  That explained why the films Cinemania made were so terrible. A movie like Short Fuse, where a kid wrestled a bear, would be box office poison!

  ‘Soon we’ll have people working these cameras full-time,’ Caz crowed. ‘We can’t afford to waste our own good people on boring work like that.’

  ‘I see,’ said the man in the chair. But the screen displayed his true thoughts:

  I HATE YOU!

  ‘We’re going to brainwash enemy spies, including that loser Zac Power,’ said Caz, starting to giggle. ‘Zac Power’s going to work for BIG!’

  At that moment, all Zac wanted in the world was to yank Caz’s bushy pigtail.

  How would BIG try to brainwash him? And more importantly, how dare Caz call him a loser?

  He was furious, but he took some deep breaths. Stay calm, he told himself, she’s about to spill the beans on her evil plan.

  ‘Using Cinemania Studios as our front, we’ve shot a new spy movie, Covert Operations,’ said Caz, sounding thrilled with herself. ‘It’s packed with subliminal messages.’

  Subliminal messages? thought Zac. He knew they were words or pictures in a film that flashed up too fast for you to notice. Subliminal messages could convince you to do things against your will. Things like working for BIG!

  Suddenly, he heard something. Beep! Beep! It was getting louder.

  Annoyed, Caz looked up from the ThoughtVision camera. ‘What is it, G5-382?’ she snapped.

  There was the clank of metal. Zac peered out from behind a stack of boxes.

  Another android security guard!

  ‘Heat sensors engaged,’ said the android in its dull robotic voice.

  ‘What?’ asked Caz, irritably.

  ‘Human heat detected in north-east quadrant of the room,’ droned the android.

  Oh no! Zac was busted!

  The ThoughtVision camera was so close and bringing back that prototype was an essential part of his mission! But if Zac didn’t scram right that very second, Caz and BIG would get him for sure.

  I’ll have to capture the camera some other way, Zac thought grimly.

  He scanned the room for ways to escape. But Caz had blocked one door, and the android was guarding the other!

  There was an air vent high up on the wall. Zac lunged onto a wobbly stack of packing crates. He leapt at a pipe running along the ceiling. Then, swinging like a monkey along the pipe, he kicked in the air vent.

  Now to wriggle through the hole …

  ‘It’s Zac Power!’ Caz squealed. ‘You androids are supposed to be saving us money. Now show me you’re worth it! Get him!’

  It was a squeeze, but luckily Zac was just small enough to slip through the vent.

  There was no way the massive metal android could follow him!

  Zac popped out the other side, Caz’s furious screams ringing in his ears.

  Zac spotted a brand-new black Harley Davidson parked nearby. He grabbed his GIB skeleton key and started the ignition. The Harley rumbled to life.

  Zac’s SpyPad bleeped an alarm.

  Zac still had just enough time to stop the premiere, and capture the ThoughtVision camera.

  Zac realised Caz would be at the premiere, and she could lead him to the prototype.

  Zac tapped ‘Nightshade Theatre’ into his SpyPad’s GPS system, and roared out of the studio lot.

  His mind was racing as fast as the bike. There’d probably be a red carpet at the premiere, and paparazzi taking photos.

  Zac checked his outfit. Skate shoes, sweaty T-shirt, dirty jeans. His hair product had long since melted away.

  He couldn’t turn up to a red carpet event looking like that. A spy has standards!

  Zac needed a cool new suit. Not too formal, maybe a scruffy jacket and skinny trousers, like rock stars wear.

  But where would I get something like that? Zac wondered.

  ‘Turn left here for the Hollywood Walk of Fame,’ said the SpyPad in his pocket. ‘Shopping mall and the Nightshade Theatre.’

  Just what Zac needed!

  With a screech of tyres, Zac took a sharp left onto the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He pulled up outside a shop called Leroy’s Outfitters to the Stars.

  The shop was packed with amazing clothes. One wall was full of T-shirts, another of motorbike boots. He’d never seen so much cool stuff in one place before. He just couldn’t leave without trying a few things on. Surely he had time …

  A few outfits later, the sound of the radio snapped him back to reality.

  ‘Another sunny day in Hollywood. The time is 3.00 p.m.’

  Zac raced out of the shop with his new suit on. He’d wasted too much time! He had to get to the Nightshade Theatre.

  Zac was concentrating so hard, he didn’t notice a shadowy figure behind him – Ugh!

  Someone shoved him in the back!

  Zac tumbled forward, his hands out in front of him to break his fall.

  But it wasn’t hard concrete he felt as he fell. It was something squishy.

&n
bsp; WET CEMENT!

  Zac was on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, where stars left their handprints in the cement. And someone had replaced the ordinary footpath with the quick-drying kind. Zac was stuck fast!

  He looked around for help, but everyone was busily rushing into shops. Joggers wearing sweatbands jumped over him and glamorous mothers pushing prams swerved around him.

  Time raced on. 3.17 p.m. 4.06 p.m. 4.45 p.m.! But Zac wasn’t going anywhere.

  Until he remembered something.

  Leon made him keep a Dyna Write pen in his pocket at all times. ‘You might need it to do Sudoku puzzles,’ he’d said. ‘The explosive device hidden inside could be useful, too.’

  If Zac could detonate the Dyna Write pen, he could explode the cement around his hands and escape.

  But how am I going to get the pen out of my pocket when my hands are stuck fast? Zac wondered.

  Zac was no gymnast, but his spy training kept him strong and flexible. If he could get upside down, the DynaWrite pen might drop out of his pocket.

  He launched himself skywards. Kicking his legs wildly, he held the handstand. But the explosive pen stayed in his pocket!

  Zac wiggled his body. He felt the pen moving. He wiggled a bit more.

  At last! The DynaWrite pen fell out onto the cement.

  Now, to detonate! thought Zac, kicking his legs down.

  He didn’t know the rules on detonating an explosive device with your nose. Perhaps there weren’t any?

  Hardly daring to breathe, Zac tapped the red button on the end of the pen with the tip of his nose. He leant back as –

  His hands were free! And his nose was still attached to his face!

  He checked the time on his watch.

  Zac was too late. Covert Operations had already begun!

  The movie had started, but Zac wasn’t quitting. Showering concrete dust, he ran down the Hollywood Walk of Fame towards the Nightshade Theatre.

  Zac knew he had to get inside the cinema to stop innocent spies being brainwashed. But if he saw a single second of the film, he could be brainwashed himself!