Endangered Operation

by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  Ivy frowns. “Sounds like humans are the worst.”

  “Not all humans,” you explain. “An amazing team of scientists and rangers have been working to save the kakapos from extinction.”

  “That’s right!” Player chimes in from the speakerphone. An image of New Zealand pops up on Carmen’s screen and then zooms in on three small islands. “Scientists got rid of all the predators on these three islands, so the kakapos have a place where they can live safely, just like they did a thousand years ago.”

  “Okay,” says Carmen, “sounds like VILE will be headed for one of those islands. Which one?”

  You point to one of the islands on the map, near the southern coast. “Let’s start with Codfish Island, right here,” you say. “That one has the most kakapos.”

  Carmen nods. “In the meantime, let’s all get some sleep.”

  You realize how tired you are after your night of adventure, and you happily discover that your seat tips all the way back until it’s flat like a bed. You close your eyes and listen to the gentle hum of the engines . . .

  * * *

  When you wake up, you are descending into Invercargill, a coastal city in southern New Zealand. “I’ve already arranged for a boat,” Player says over the speakerphone. “Once you land, it’s a short trip by sea to Codfish Island.”

  Ivy looks concerned. “We don’t usually do our capers right in the middle of the day,” she says. “Shouldn’t we wait until after dark?”

  “Did you hear the part about them not flying?” Zack argues. “We can’t give VILE all day to catch one.”

  Carmen looks uncertain. “What do you think?” she asks you.

  WHAT DO YOU THINK?

  ▷ If you want to go to Codfish Island right away, turn to page 78.

  ▷ If you want to wait until night, turn to page 101.

  Return to page 86.

  YOU SHUT THE METAL DOOR to the bridge and turn the lock. The captain looks up from his magazine. “What in the world are you doing?” he asks.

  “Just locking the door,” you say. “You can never be too safe, right?”

  He rolls his chair back and stands. “We’re in the middle of the Adriatic Sea, twenty miles from shore. I’d say we’re pretty safe.”

  “What’s going on?” Player asks in your ear.

  At that moment, Otter Man arrives at the bridge. He rattles the handle as he tries to open the locked door. “Hey!” he shouts. “Why is this door locked? Why are we slowing down? Let me in immediately!”

  The captain fixes you with a scowl and walks toward the door, but you step in front of him, blocking his path. “Wait,” you say. “Please listen to me. All the animals on your ship—they’ve all been stolen, taken from their homes. These people are criminals!”

  The captain laughs. “Of course they’re criminals. Who else carries a boatload of endangered species halfway around the world? That’s why I’m charging them ten times my usual rate. Now, MOVE.”

  Grudgingly, you step aside. The captain unlocks the door to the bridge and swings it open. Now or never—you rush him from behind, pushing him in the back with both your hands. He stumbles forward, colliding with Otter Man, and you slam and lock the door so that they are both stuck outside.

  “Hey!” shouts the captain.

  Otter Man pounds on the door with his fists. “THIS IS MUTINY!” he hollers. “Let me inside!” He kicks the door with all his strength, but the lock is too strong. He pulls out his phone and screams into it. “MOOSE! I need you on the bridge. MOOSE BOY!”

  “Player,” you say, “are you close? I don’t have much time.”

  “Getting closer,” says Player. “Your ship is slowing down. Just keep those engines in reverse for another minute . . .”

  “I don’t think I have a minute.” You gulp. The glass window of the bridge overlooks the entire deck, and you see Moose Boy already galloping up the stairs. Otter Man points wildly at the door, and the big man nods, backs up, and charges with his shoulder down. The whole room shakes as the door bends inward. Moose Boy backs up for another charge, and CRASH—the door comes flying off its hinges as he bounds into the room.

  “Throw the zookeeper overboard,” says Otter Man coldly, “while I get this ship moving again.”

  Moose Boy grabs you. You kick and struggle as he drags you down the stairs, but he’s impossibly strong. “I’m sorry about this,” he says. “But you know how it goes.” He pulls you toward the railing at the edge of the ship’s deck, and you see the white crests of churning waves forty feet below. Moose Boy lifts you by the back of your shirt—

  CLANG. Something flies out of the darkness and attaches to a metal crate behind you. You see that it’s a grappling hook attached to a zipline. A moment later, a young woman comes flying along the zipline, then drops and lands on top of the large crate that holds the black rhino.

  You gasp, looking at this woman who appeared out of the sky. She’s wearing a red hat and a red trench coat, which whips around in the ocean breeze.

  Otter Man comes sprinting across the deck. “Stop her, Moose!” he hollers. “That’s CARMEN SANDIEGO!”

  Moose Boy drops you and charges toward the large crate where Carmen has landed, jumping and catching the top of the crate with his massively strong arms. Just as he pulls himself up, Carmen leaps over his head, somersaulting through the air and landing gracefully behind him on the deck.

  She smiles at you. “Thanks for slowing down the ship.”

  “No problem,” you say.

  Moose Boy leaps back down from the crate with an angry roar. He picks up a thick metal pipe, which he holds like a club as he strides toward Carmen. “You’ve got nowhere to run, red lady,” he booms. “And I’m a lot bigger than you.”

  “True,” says Carmen, “but he’s a lot bigger than you.” She points behind Moose Boy, who glances over his shoulder just in time to see the black rhino charging toward him. Carmen must have unlatched the door to its cage!

  The rhino thunders across the deck. Moose Boy hurls himself to the side—just in time to avoid the rhino’s horn—and right over the railing of the ship.

  You hear a splash from the dark ocean below as the rhino slows down and starts padding around the deck. Otter Man yells, “Moose, NO!” and then steps toward Carmen with his fists clenched.

  “Listen,” Carmen says to him. “Neither one of us wants your friend to drown. So here’s the deal. We let you take the lifeboat to go save your friend. You let us take this ship.”

  Otter Man scowls but nods his agreement.

  An hour later, Moose Boy and Otter Man are gone. You were able to soothe the black rhino by feeding it apples and carrots and have led it back into its cage.

  Carmen has spoken to the crew: She will pay their fee; they will return all the animals to their homes. Two of Carmen’s friends have come on board from the other ship as well, a brother-and-sister team from Boston, in the United States. You’re surprised to learn, though, that Player isn’t with them but has been talking to you this whole time from his bedroom in Niagara Falls, Canada.

  You are sitting on the stairs, holding Nadezhda in your arms as the sun rises over the eastern horizon. Carmen Sandiego walks over and sits down next to you.

  “She’s cute,” Carmen says.

  “Yeah,” you answer. “I won’t be able to hold her this way for much longer. It’s hard to remember sometimes that she’s going to be a two-hundred-and-fifty-pound apex predator soon.”

  “Well, until then, she’s lucky to have you.”

  You smile. “Carmen,” you say, “I don’t know how to thank you for saving us.”

  Carmen shrugs. “You don’t have to thank me. It’s what I do.”

  THE END

  Return to page 28.

  “NO WAY!” you tell her.

  The woman leans her face closer to the screen, staring at you with a terrifying scowl. “I tried being nice,” she says. “Now I’m going to crush you like a—”

  You pull the video device off the
dashboard and toss it out the window of the truck.

  You drive west, deeper inland, into Brazil. There is forest all around you, good habitat for the Cropan’s boa, but you want to make sure to drive far enough that VILE will have no chance of ever finding her again, even with a tracker.

  As the sun starts to rise, you pull the truck over to the side of the road and hoist the bucket down from the back. You pry off the lid and pull out the heavy sack that holds the snake, placing it at the edge of the forest and loosening the drawstring at the top.

  A couple of minutes later, a triangle-shaped head pokes out from the top of the sack. The boa flicks her tongue a few times, smelling the breeze, understanding her new surroundings. She slithers forward, extending to her full length as she stretches toward the forest.

  She stops at the base of a tree and raises her head, like she’s looking at you with one black pebble eye. You are struck by how beautiful she is, more than five feet long, with a yellowish body and a black diamond pattern along her back.

  The snake climbs the tree, coiling her body around and sliding up the trunk in a way that seems to defy gravity. Although you feel a bit silly, you wave goodbye. You hope that Carmen can rescue all the stolen animals, but even if she can’t, you are proud that you have rescued this one.

  In a few seconds, the Cropan’s boa disappears into the canopy of leaves overhead.

  THE END

  Return to page 112.

  YOU TURN AND RUN back down the path the same way you came.

  “Get back here!” Tigress shouts from behind you. You glance over your shoulder to see her streaking toward you incredibly fast. She swipes at you as you turn a corner, her razor-sharp claws slicing holes in the back of your shirt.

  The sea lion habitat is straight ahead, and you sprint toward it, looking for a way to shake Tigress. Desperately, you put a hand on the fence that surrounds the sea lion pool and vault right over, falling ten feet into the water.

  The sea lions are asleep at this time of night, so you have the pool to yourself. You start swimming to a rocky outcropping where the sea lions sun themselves during the day. There’s a splash behind you—it seems that Tigress isn’t afraid of getting wet.

  As you pull yourself, dripping, up onto the rocks, you look around for some escape. You spot an enormous hose hanging from the stone wall, which the zookeepers use to wash the habitat. You pull it down as Tigress climbs out of the water behind you, hair drenched and matted to her head, snarling with fury.

  “I already sounded the alarm,” you lie. “The police will be here any minute.”

  “Is that so?” she sneers. “Then I guess I better deal with you quickly.” She stalks toward you, ten claw-tipped fingers ready to strike. Are those claws part of her costume, you wonder, or part of her?

  Moving quickly, you twist the metal handle that controls the enormous hose. You feel the water surge through and point it toward Tigress, blasting her with a stream that sends her hurtling back into the pool. As Tigress shrieks in frustration, you run for a ladder that leads out of the sea lion habitat.

  You climb the ladder quickly, looking over your shoulder to see Tigress climbing back out of the pool to chase you. When you’re almost at the top, powerful hands reach down and lift you onto the path. It’s Moose Boy. You kick against the railing to try to break free, but his grip is so powerful notices.

  “What are you going to do with me?” you plead.

  Tigress stands at the bottom of the ladder, wiping water of her eyes. “The people we work for have a little rule,” she says. “No witnesses.”

  THE END

  Return to page 83.

  “YES,” YOU SAY. “I’ll do it!”

  Coach Brunt gives you a thunderous clap on the back. “I had a good feeling about you,” she says merrily. “Welcome to VILE Academy.”

  A few weeks later, classes begin. You meet the recruits who will be your classmates: petty thieves, white-collar grifters, and others who have shown a talent for crime. You take classes from five criminal masterminds, learning important skills like self-defense, pickpocketing, and forgery. You make friends with the other students.

  Coach Brunt seems to favor you, and one day she gives you a gift: an English mastiff, one of the largest and most loyal breeds of dog. You name him Brutus and train him to fetch things for you, to sniff out valuables, and to attack on command. Some of the other students are jealous, but Brunt insists that Brutus is much more than a pet.

  A few weeks later, Brunt gives you a second gift, a falcon chick that you raise by hand. You name her Betty, teaching her to deliver small packages and to wear a camera around her neck for airborne spying.

  After months of training, you pass your final exams and graduate to become a VILE operative. You plan to take Brutus and Betty out into the field to give you an edge on every mission.

  You even pick the perfect VILE code name: the Zookeeper.

  THE END

  Return to page 20.

  “I’LL STICK WITH ZACK AND IVY,” you say.

  As the jet approaches São Paulo, you see an enormous metropolis sprawled beneath you. Player tells you that São Paulo is Brazil’s largest and richest city, with more people than any other city in the Southern Hemisphere. It’s also a tremendous center of industry and one of the fastest-growing cities in the world.

  After you land, Carmen hires a smaller propeller plane to carry her out over the forest where the boa lives. You, Zack, and Ivy rent a car and drive out into town.

  While Ivy shops for electronics, you pick up some supplies to help catch the Cropan’s boa: a snake hook, a large plastic bucket, and plenty of insect repellent. Zack meanwhile buys hot dogs from an outdoor stand. When he brings them back to the car, you are surprised to see that they are topped with corn and peas and have mashed potatoes lining the bun.

  Zack just shrugs. “Different countries like different stuff on their hot dogs,” he explains, “but in my experience, they are all delicious.” He takes a bite and nods enthusiastically. You take a bite and agree—delicious!

  Zack hops into the driver’s seat of the rental car, and you head out of town—he’s the official driver for Carmen’s crew. You ride up front so that Ivy can use the whole back seat as her workshop. She’s busily attaching different parts with screws and wires, although it’s hard to see yet what the tracker will look like when it’s done.

  After a few hours on the highway, you turn onto an unpaved side road, following a map toward the spot where you’re supposed to meet Carmen. On either side, the forest seems eager to reclaim the road, with branches sticking in front of your car and vines creeping out over the dirt. Your car bounces and lurches.

  “Stop bumping, bro,” Ivy complains. “It’s like a roller coaster back here. You’re knocking my screws loose.”

  “You do your job and I’ll do mine,” Zack answers irritably. “Anyway, have you seen this road? It’s not exactly the interstate.”

  You come to a place where the road crosses a river called the Rio Juquiá, but a sign says that the bridge is closed for repairs and suggests a detour. Zack moans in frustration, then gets out of the car and walks out across the bridge. It’s shaped like an arch, made of concrete, with supports that go down into the river. Only the middle section is missing, maybe a five-foot gap. He gets back in the car and slams the door confidently.

  “I can jump it,” he says.

  “We’re not going to jump it,” says Ivy. “Let me see the map. Look—there’s another way across down here.”

  “That’s, like, two hours out of our way! Come on, Ivy, you know Carmen is waiting for us. I’m going to jump it, and that’s final.”

  “You’re not going to jump it, and that’s final.”

  “Which one of us knows more about driving?”

  “Which one of us knows more about not being a knucklehead?”

  Zack crosses his arms across his chest in annoyance.

  “Looks like we’re gonna need a tiebreaker.” They both look to you
.

  WHAT’S YOUR VOTE?

  ▷ Jump the bridge—turn to page 93.

  ▷ Take the long way around—turn to page 26.

  Return to page 8.

  “LET’S GO AFTER THE SNAKE NOW,” you say. “I don’t want to risk VILE catching her.”

  “Okay,” Carmen agrees. “We can catch her and move her before VILE ever has a chance.”

  Zack drives back and forth along the road while you all listen carefully to the beeping of Ivy’s tracker. When you reach the point where the beeping is fastest, Zack stops the car and pulls over to the side, halfway into the forest.

  “We’re on foot from here,” you say.

  The forest is thick, the ground choked with low-lying bushes, the spaces between the trees crisscrossed with vines. “Is there anything dangerous in there?” Ivy asks.

  “This is jaguar habitat,” you reply, “but you could spend years in the forest and never see one. The most dangerous animals are the mosquitoes, which can carry some serious diseases, so everyone bug-spray up.”

  Zack stays in the car to keep a lookout and be ready for a quick getaway. You, Carmen, and Ivy spray on bug repellent and then push into the forest. You move slowly, wading through the tangle of plant life. Every fifty feet or so, Ivy holds the tracker in the air and you all listen for whether the beeping is getting faster or slower.

  The air under the trees is hot and feels heavy on your skin. Bugs swirl around your heads, and creeping plants catch and scratch your legs with every step. Sometimes it feels like you’re going in circles trying to follow the beeps. You’re getting irritable.