Hidden Rock Rescue

by K. E. Rocha

  “Once we’re up in the air, we’ll do a full brief on the mission ahead.” Evarita’s voice carried into the cabin through speakers over Spencer’s head. He watched as three images popped up on the screen in front of him.

  The plane started moving, picking up speed. Evarita propelled them smoothly into the air, but Spencer hardly noticed. He was too focused on the screen in front of him, where pictures of Mom and Dad were displayed and, beside them, a picture of a jet-black bear. The bear was Dora, B.D.’s long-lost sister.

  “All right, we’ve reached our cruising altitude. Let’s get started,” Evarita said.

  “Certainly,” B.D. said. “To review, we have to make three rescues tonight: Jane and Shane Plain, and … ” Spencer didn’t dare look back at B.D. He knew the next name B.D. said would be the bear’s own sister’s, and that her rescue was more important to B.D. than anything. “Dora Benally,” B.D. said after a moment, adding his and Dora’s last name to make the brief sound as official as possible. “Jane and Shane are currently being held captive by Pam,” B.D. hurried on. “We believe Pam is trying to use them to gain access to Bearhaven.”

  Spencer nodded. This was what B.D. hadn’t wanted to say in front of Kate. He didn’t want to scare her with the news that Pam was going to attack Bearhaven. Pam had been training an army of eighty-eight bears, preparing them to attack Bearhaven as soon as he discovered its location. He believed Jane and Shane would lead him to the bears’ secret community so he could invade and capture the bears of Bearhaven.

  “Dora is a different story,” B.D. continued. Spencer examined the picture of Dora. “This photo was taken twelve years ago, when we—Dora, John Shirley, and I—were still mascots at Gutler University. As we are all well aware, Dora was meant to be rescued in that first-ever mission, but … she was not.”

  Spencer knew it had haunted B.D. for twelve years that only he and his brother, John Shirley, had been rescued from Gutler University but that Dora hadn’t been. Mom, Dad, and Uncle Mark had not been able to get her out. They had returned later for Dora, but all they found was a scrap of the jersey she’d been made to wear as a mascot. That green-and-gold scrap of fabric had flown as one of the flags in Bearhaven ever since, but Dora had never been seen again. That is, until last week, when Spencer had seen her himself.

  “While we were all at Moon Farm, working to rescue Kate and locate Jane and Shane, two important discoveries were made,” B.D. said as the screen changed. Now, black-and-white video footage played across it. The scene in the video was familiar, though seeing Moon Farm, Pam’s illegal bear-smuggling facility, still made Spencer cringe. The video was of Pam and Dora, side by side, overlooking the eighty-eight-bear army in the middle of the night. “Dora belongs to Pam now. He keeps her with him—separate from the bears he sells or uses in the army.” B.D. sounded disgusted by the idea of Dora belonging to Pam.

  “We believe Dora is more of a companion animal than a captive,” Uncle Mark jumped in. “I was also able to locate Pam’s home, where Jane and Shane are being held, and where we can expect Dora to be tonight.” The screen changed again, this time to a map with a blazing red dot in Nevada.

  “Finally,” B.D. said, taking over the brief again, “there’s a reason we’ve planned this mission for tonight. Evarita discovered that Pam is hosting an event at his home this evening. This party, whatever it’s for, should provide us the cover we need to make our rescues.”

  “I’ve made another discovery you all should know about,” Evarita chimed in from the cockpit. “Since Mark turned over the location of Pam’s estate to me, I’ve been working to uncover anything I can about it. Have you all heard of Hidden Rock Zoo?”

  “No,” Spencer answered right away.

  “Hidden Rock Zoo is a legendary zoo in Nevada. It had the largest collection of bears of any zoo in the country, and a state-of-the-art design,” Uncle Mark explained. “A month after opening, a private owner paid some insane amount of money to buy it. The buyer closed the zoo to the public permanently.”

  “The zoo has been a complete mystery ever since,” Evarita said. “It’s on the outskirts of a town in Nevada, but nobody bothers to even go near it anymore. There’s no point. The security is impossible, and huge walls were built to block any views inside.”

  “Let me guess,” B.D. growled. “Pam was the mystery buyer.”

  “Exactly,” Evarita said. “The location of Pam’s home is identical to the location of Hidden Rock Zoo.”

  “You mean … ” Spencer started, trying to understand. “Pam lives in a zoo? Mom and Dad are locked up … in a zoo?” Creepy.

  “Yes. Well, Pam lives in what was a zoo.” Evarita’s voice filled the small plane’s cabin. “The year after Pam bought Hidden Rock Zoo, millions of dollars were spent on renovations, but the company that did the work was sworn to secrecy. They could never reveal even a single detail about the work they did on the property.”

  “So it could look like anything now,” B.D. said, his voice grim.

  As though to fight the sudden darkening of the mood in the plane, a colorful, cartoonish map appeared on the video screens. Hidden Rock Zoo! was printed in bright red letters at the top of the map.

  “All we have to go on is an old zoo map,” Evarita said. “But it’s better than nothing.”

  Spencer handed Uncle Mark a nose. They were in the back of Bearhaven’s plane on the ground at a private airport twenty minutes from Hidden Rock Zoo, and Uncle Mark was halfway through disguising his face with prosthetics. Spencer couldn’t take his eyes off Uncle Mark gluing a fake forehead over his own natural one, changing the whole shape of his face. Once he added the prosthetic nose, Spencer knew his uncle would look like a total stranger. Spencer was happy to watch Uncle Mark completing his disguise: The prosthetics were a good distraction from the rising tension on Bearhaven’s plane.

  “All right, I’m finally getting somewhere,” Evarita broke the silence. She was sitting cross-legged in one of the swiveling passenger chairs. Her laptop was open on her lap, and papers were spread out on the floor of the plane around her.

  “Have you ID’d any of them?” B.D. asked from his place beneath the scrolling copper shell. Neither he nor Aldo had moved from their seats since takeoff. Once Evarita landed Bearhaven’s plane, they’d discovered that even getting within a hundred miles of Hidden Rock Zoo was way more dangerous than expected.

  Spencer looked away from Uncle Mark’s changing face to peek out one of the windows again. The private airport was packed with planes, all of them much creepier, and more sinister-looking, than Bearhaven’s plane. The one parked right beside them was all black, except for the tail and the tips of the wings, which were bloodred. Another plane was white with a logo painted in gray on the body. The logo faded into the white of the plane, like it wasn’t really meant to be seen. It showed a single bear paw. Spencer didn’t know why, but the ghostlike bear paw gave him a very bad feeling. Almost as bad a feeling as the name printed on another plane in the row. Hook, Line, and Skinner it read. That plane had tipped Evarita off. There was something very wrong about the kinds of planes crowding the private airport.

  “Yes,” Evarita answered B.D. “And it’s exactly what I was afraid of. Hook, Line, and Skinner belongs to Lucian Line, a known international animal dealer. And the plane with the red on it is Vera Degarmo’s. She’s another black-market dealer.”

  “What about the one with the gray bear paw?” Spencer asked.

  “I can’t ID that one, but Sal Vintone’s plane is here, and Hanjo Lu’s.” Evarita shot Uncle Mark a look.

  “All animal dealers,” Uncle Mark said.

  “What are they all doing here?!” Spencer asked. As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew exactly what all those animal dealers were doing here. They were here for Pam’s party. The very party Bearhaven’s team had planned its whole mission around.

  B.D. was apparently thinking the same thing. “My guess is tonight’s party is not going to be a happy celebration for Pam’s frien
ds and family,” he said.

  Spencer reached for the jade bear in his pocket, hoping to calm his racing mind. But when he realized there was nothing there, Spencer’s stomach flipped over. The jade bear was still lost in Bearhaven.

  “So there will be some illegal animal dealers at Hidden Rock Zoo when we arrive tonight?” Aldo asked. The bear sounded hopeful, like maybe Evarita could offer another explanation.

  Evarita sighed. “Unfortunately, I think Hidden Rock Zoo is going to be swarming with illegal animal dealers and all kinds of unsavory characters tonight.”

  “I say we move forward as planned,” Uncle Mark said. Spencer looked at him. His usually blond uncle had tucked his wavy hair into a perfectly gelled dark brown wig. His eyebrows jutted out much farther than they normally did, and his nose was bigger. Uncle Mark was totally transformed. He went on, “Whether or not the party is for animal dealers, it will still give us a way into Hidden Rock Zoo, and a distraction for the mission once we’re in.”

  “I agree,” B.D. said.

  “All right.” Evarita shut her laptop and put it aside. “The catering truck is already here anyway, and I’d hate to see you waste your disguise, Mark.” She raised an eyebrow, looking at Uncle Mark.

  “You can call me Alfonso,” Uncle Mark replied.

  Spencer laughed, and the tension in the plane seemed to lift a little bit.

  “Now your turn, Spence.” Uncle Mark handed Spencer a wig and a pair of angular black glasses.

  Spencer tugged the wig down over his own shaggy brown hair and slipped on the glasses. He turned back to the mirror Uncle Mark had propped up in one of the drawers. Between the shoulder-length blond hair, the glasses, and the white chef’s jacket he had already changed into, he barely recognized himself.

  “You can call me Rex,” he said, picking the first thing that came to mind.

  Uncle Mark chuckled. “You got it, Rex. Evarita, will you help B.D. and Aldo switch from BEAR-COMs to Ear-COMs?” Uncle Mark nodded toward the translating devices around the bears’ necks. Spencer knew the BEAR-COMs had to be left behind on the plane with Evarita. The bears would switch to the more discreet technology, the Ear-COMs, for the mission ahead. Spencer lifted a hand and adjusted his own Ear-COM, the one Professor Weaver had made just for him, adapted from an old Ear-COM of Mom’s. It fit into his ear just like a hearing aid would.

  “Of course,” Evarita answered.

  “Come on, Rex.” Uncle Mark started toward the door. “We’ll get the truck ready.”

  Spencer followed Uncle Mark out of the plane and down to the ground where a catering truck Evarita said had been delivered by “a friend to Bearhaven” was parked.

  Creative Pastry was printed in swirly black letters on the sides of the catering truck. Uncle Mark opened the back doors.

  The far end of the truck was taken up by a huge fridge. Spencer could see through the fridge’s glass doors to an enormous, three-tiered cake. Glass bottles of milk and cream filled the remaining shelves. The rest of the truck was lined with rolling carts piled high with smaller desserts.

  “Are these real?” Spencer asked, reaching for a mini chocolate mousse from a nearby tray. In the center of the chocolate treat was a dark chocolate disk imprinted with a golden bear. The chocolate mousses looked decadent—and expensive. But most of all, they looked like something Pam would definitely want to serve at his party.

  “You bet,” Uncle Mark answered. “Evarita had them made by a pastry chef a few towns over from here.”

  Spencer put the chocolate mousse back on its tray. “Where will the bears and Mom and Dad hide?” He looked around the truck. This was supposed to be their getaway vehicle at the end of the mission.

  Uncle Mark climbed into the truck. He went to one of the fridge doors and pulled it open, revealing a big empty space.

  “But … ” Spencer started, confused. Where were the milk jugs? And the cake? Uncle Mark closed the door again, and they reappeared.

  “The doors are a foot thick, glass in the front, and a screen in the back playing an image of the inside of a fridge,” Uncle Mark explained. He opened the door to the fridge again.

  “But it looks so real!” Spencer exclaimed.

  “That’s the idea.”

  “Team.” Evarita’s voice was suddenly in Spencer’s ear, coming loud and clear through the Ear-COM. “We’re all set up here.”

  Now that Evarita had said Team, his Ear-COM would be connected to hers, B.D.’s, Aldo’s, and Uncle Mark’s until one of them said Disconnect. By now, Spencer was used to the technology. He knew if the whole team communication was disconnected, and he wanted to speak to any one member of the team, he’d say just their name and their Ear-COMs alone would connect.

  “Great, we’re ready for you,” Uncle Mark said. He stepped to one side of the open fridge door. A moment later, B.D. descended the stairs from the plane to the catering truck in a few long strides. Aldo followed, and Uncle Mark closed them into the fake fridge.

  Evarita came to stand beside Spencer. “Good luck.” She gave his shoulder a squeeze.

  “Thanks.” Spencer forced a smile. He tried to block out the rows of menacing, empty planes around them. We’re probably going to need it.

  Uncle Mark pulled the Creative Pastry truck onto a narrow paved road marked Hidden Rock Zoo, Private Property. Spencer spotted a black Rolls-Royce up ahead, following the dark lane as it wound closer and closer to a looming stone wall.

  Headlights flashed into the passenger-side mirror. Spencer tried to see who had pulled in behind them, but the bright lights got into his eyes and he had to look away.

  “There’s someone behind us,” he said, feeling uneasy.

  “That’s a good thing,” Uncle Mark answered. “The guards will spend less time on us if there’s a guest waiting to get in.”

  They drove around a bend in the lane, and the front gates of Hidden Rock Zoo came into sight. The gates were made of iron and wood—two massive, solid doors that, when they were closed, wouldn’t allow so much as a glimpse of the property beyond. The gates stood open now, though, with a guardhouse beside them. Two burly-looking guards in black uniforms stared out at the three incoming vehicles.

  Uncle Mark slowed their catering truck to a stop as the Rolls-Royce pulled up to the guards. The two guards stepped around to either side of the car, scrutinizing the passengers and checking a clipboard that the guard on the left was holding. A moment later, the Rolls was waved through the gates. Uncle Mark pulled up and rolled down his window.

  Spencer stared at the black button-down shirt the guard closest to him was wearing, avoiding the guard’s eyes. Hidden Rock Security was stitched in silver thread on the guard’s chest. Below the words, the silhouette of a crown had been embroidered.

  “Name?” the guard closest to Uncle Mark asked.

  “Alfonso Rioal, from Creative Pastry,” said Uncle Mark.

  “Caterers already arrived,” the guard answered flatly.

  “We’ve just got the special-order dessert,” Uncle Mark answered. He sounded completely calm.

  “Guy, you know anything about a special dessert?” the guard beside Uncle Mark called, searching the paper on the clipboard in front of him. The guard near Spencer, who must be Guy, walked back around the truck to stand with his partner.

  “No,” Guy replied with a shrug.

  “All right,” Uncle Mark said, acting as though he was trying to be patient. “Well, I’ve got a three-tiered cake and two hundred custom mini chocolate mousses in the back. Already paid for.”

  The guards exchanged a look. Guy glanced at the car behind the Creative Pastry truck. “What’s the kid doing here?” he asked, returning his attention to Uncle Mark.

  “The kid?” Uncle Mark looked over at Spencer. “Oh, him? He’s the chocolate taster. A prodigy. He has the best chocolate senses of anyone in the business.” Spencer nodded stiffly at each guard, afraid to say anything and accidentally blow his own cover. They stared blankly back at him, obviously uncertain ab
out whether or not to believe that there was such a thing as a chocolate taster in the first place.

  “But, anyway, can we drop off the dessert or not?” Uncle Mark pressed on. “Like I said, these specialty chocolates are paid for, so whether I take this delivery where it’s supposed to go or you turn me away and I take it back doesn’t make much difference to me.”

  “Guy, start clearing the next car,” the guard nearest Uncle Mark said. “I’m gonna check their truck.”

  Uncle Mark swung his door open and hopped down from the driver’s seat. Spencer stayed frozen where he was, listening to Uncle Mark unlatch the back door of the truck. He felt the truck dip a little as someone climbed into the back. He held his breath.

  Just then, Guy called out, “This car is clear.”

  The truck dipped again. Whoever had climbed into the back—Spencer guessed it was the guard—had jumped back out.

  “All right, go ahead.”

  Yes!

  Uncle Mark climbed back into the driver’s seat.

  “Thanks.” He nodded at the guards, then pulled through the gates into Hidden Rock Zoo.

  Uncle Mark steered them through what seemed to be a tunnel made of trees. Straight ahead, an enormous, sparkling fountain stood at the entrance to Pam’s estate. There were five metallic bears, four of them golden, standing on all fours. Each one faced a different direction, and spouted water from its mouth. In the middle of the four gold bears, a silver bear, twice as big, stood up on its hind legs. Spencer shuddered. It looked like the bear was glaring at him, ready to attack. There was a crown on top of the silver bear’s enormous head. A geyser of water shot out from each of the crown’s points. Spotlights were trained on the fountain from all directions, and the gushing water reflected the light in harsh beams. Spencer had to look away.

  The road they were on forked in opposite directions. The fork to the left was the darker of the two, leading out into what looked like a big open field. Spencer squinted into the dark. Mom and Dad were here somewhere. They could be just a few yards away for all Spencer knew! He strained his eyes, desperate to see something.