Endangered Operation

by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

  “Ahoy!” the woman shouts.

  “Where are you headed?”

  “Codfish Island,” you tell her.

  “Sorry,” the man says. “The island is off-limits to visitors. It’s a protected kakapo habitat.”

  “We’re here to protect the kakapos!” Zack blurts. “Someone is trying to steal one of those enormous parrots!”

  The two rangers look at each other with concern. “Yeah,” the woman says. “We actually got a warning from Interpol to watch out for poachers . . . but what would you four know about that?”

  “Nothing,” says Carmen. “Sorry for the trouble.”

  Carmen tells Zack to head back toward the mainland, so he turns the boat in a wide circle away from Codfish Island. Looking over your shoulder, you see one of the rangers talking to someone on his boat radio. “Let’s get out of sight,” Carmen says, “and then we’ll figure out what to do next.”

  As you sail back around Stewart Island, a cruiser appears from behind a rocky point. It’s much larger than your boat, with the Interpol insignia on the hull. “This is bad,” Carmen says. “The rangers must have thought we were suspicious and called Interpol.”

  “I see you, Carmen Sandiego,” booms a voice on a loudspeaker from the cruiser, with a heavy French accent.

  “This is Inspector Chase Devineaux. In the name of Interpol, I demand that you surrender immediately.”

  “Zack, you think we can outrun that thing?” Carmen asks.

  “That big tub? No problem.”

  Two small speedboats zip out from behind the Interpol cruiser. They look sleek and fast as they streak to either side, tossing up ribbons of water behind them.

  “Now, that’s a problem,” Zack says.

  Zack throws the throttle on your motorboat all the way forward and makes a sharp turn back toward mainland New Zealand. You’re going so fast that Carmen’s red fedora flies off her head, landing in the ocean.

  “Stop them!” Chase bellows as the two speedboats turn toward you. You are sitting in the front of the boat, clinging desperately as you bounce over each wave, water spraying all around you. Despite your speed, the Interpol boats are getting closer.

  Zack spots an area up ahead where dozens of rocky points stick out of the ocean like teeth. “No way they can make it through there!” he shouts.

  “And we can?” Ivy asks.

  Zack races into the rocky area, the Interpol speedboats following less than fifty feet behind. He weaves left and right, expertly dodging the rocks. You are amazed at his driving skill, but looking down into the water, you see other rocks close beneath the surface and worry that Zack will hit something he can’t see.

  Zack speeds through a narrow space between two rocky teeth, with inches to spare on either side. The lead Interpol speedboat tries to follow, but one of the rocks catches its side, sending it into a spinning flip. “Yeah!” Ivy cheers. “One down, one to go!”

  And then BOOM!—your boat hits a rock hidden beneath the surface, and the front flies up wildly. You are hurled ten feet into the air, landing clear of the boat in the foaming water. You go under for a moment and then bob to the surface, your friends already a hundred feet away.

  WHAT DO YOU DO?

  ▷ If you wave your arms to get Zack’s attention, turn to page 31.

  ▷ If you swim for the nearest island, turn to page 134.

  Return to page 39.

  YOU SLIP OUT THE DOOR, following the two people who may have taken Nadezhda. You look down a tree-lined path that leads toward the sea lion habitat just in time to see them turn the next corner.

  You chase after them. The zoo is empty of people at night and the paths are mostly dark, but you hear the comforting chatter of orangutans from an enclosure to your right. The sea lion habitat is at an intersection where three paths come together, but you don’t see the thieves in any direction. Are you too late?

  Something catches your eye down one of the paths: an orange plastic ball stuck halfway in the bushes. You pick it up, and it jingles with bells inside—Nadezhda’s favorite toy. Now you know she came this way. You start to run, wishing your shoes made less noise as they smack against the pavement.

  You turn a corner around the Elephant Park—and then you see them. About fifty feet ahead are two people, backs turned to you, huddling over an official zoo map. One of them is an enormous man dressed in a fur-hooded parka. The other is a young woman wearing what looks like a tiger costume.

  They’ve put Nadezhda’s carrying case down on the ground, a metal cage with a blanket on the bottom for her to sleep on. The baby tiger stares out at you through the wire bars, her eyes big and scared. You hold a finger up to your lips. Shhh.

  “This stupid map doesn’t make any sense,” complains the woman in the tiger costume. “Straight past the orangutans, left at the sea lions, and we should be at the west entrance.”

  The large man shrugs. “Don’t look at me,” he says. “Remember, fighting is my job. Figuring things out is your job.”

  “Fighting and figuring things out are both my jobs,” she snaps. “Your job is carrying stuff. Now, give me some room so I can think.”

  Nadezhda meows—a long, vibrating sound full of sadness and fear. The woman in the tiger costume turns around. “Stop that whining,” she says to Nadezhda. “You’re an embarrassment to all tigers—”

  And then she sees you.

  “Moose Boy,” she says, “I think we have company.”

  “Oh hello,” Moose Boy says to you. “I’m Moose Boy, and this is Tigress. Maybe you could help us out here. We’re looking for the west entrance, but we’ve been going in circles.”

  Tigress rolls her eyes. “I think what my muscle-brained friend means to say is, you’re about to be cat food!” She opens her hand dramatically to show claws like daggers at the ends of her fingers. Uh-oh.

  WHAT DO YOU DO?

  ▷ If you talk your way out of it, turn to page 14.

  ▷ If you run, turn to page 52.

  Return to page 5.

  YOU STEP OUT of the bushes. “Hey!” you say to Tigress as she walks past. “I know you took my tiger cub, and I want her back. Now.”

  Tigress turns around slowly and looks you up and down. She holds out her hand as if she’s examining her nails—long and sharp, like actual cat claws! You realize that this person really is dangerous and wonder if you’ve made a mistake by challenging her.

  “Tsk, tsk,” says Tigress, walking toward you menacingly. “Don’t you know that tigers have nasty tempers?”

  Moving faster than anyone you’ve ever seen, she somersaults toward you. She lands on all fours and then sweeps out her leg, tripping you onto the pavement.

  “Stay down, zookeeper,” Tigress taunts. She stands over you, her hands on her hips, a cruel smirk on her face, and then wheels around to walk away. “You’re never going to see your precious widdle baby tiger again.”

  You watch from the ground, rage bubbling in your chest. No, you think, I’m not letting you get away that easily. Although you’ve never been in a fight in your life, you leap to your feet and charge Tigress from behind, wrapping your arms around her and tackling her into the bushes. She shrieks in surprise as you both hit the ground.

  As you roll through the dirt, Tigress pushes away from you and leaps to her feet. She really is like a cat, you think. She flashes all ten claws, the points glinting in the streetlight like daggers.

  “I know you probably don’t care,” you say, “but Nadezhda is an Amur tiger, an endangered species!”

  “The only endangered species here is you,” Tigress sneers. She puts one clawed hand around your neck and draws the other back to strike. This could be the end . . .

  “No need to be catty,” says a voice from behind Tigress. Carmen Sandiego stands on the other side of the path, leaning against the lamppost like she doesn’t have a care in the world. “Now, get your claws off the zookeeper.”

  Tigress releases you and turns to face her new enemy. “Carmen Sandiego,” she
growls, “how many times do I have to beat you?”

  “At least once.”

  The two stand face-to-face, about ten feet apart. Tigress opens and closes her hands, her body tense, as if getting ready to pounce. Carmen watches her carefully, and you have the sense that these two have a long history together.

  But then Tigress turns away. “You’re not worth it,” she says. “And anyway, you’re too late. Your precious kitty cub is long gone.” And with that, Tigress sprints away into the darkness.

  “Are you going to chase her?” you ask.

  “No point,” says Carmen. “She won’t tell us anything, and unfortunately she’s right, for once. I couldn’t catch up with the van, which means that Nadezhda is gone for now. But don’t give up. My friends and I have a few tricks of our own—”

  “Wait . . . What’s that?” you interrupt. You spot a piece of paper lying in the bushes. Did Tigress drop it during the fight? You snatch it up and see that it’s some sort of checklist:

  ☑ Hawksbill turtle

  ☑ Black-footed ferret

  □ Cropan’s boa

  ☑ Amur tiger

  ☑ Black rhino

  ☑ Bonobo

  □ Kakapo

  ☑ Gooty tarantula

  ☑ Komodo dragon

  ☑ Pangolin

  ☑ Giant panda

  ☑ Red wolf

  “It’s a list of animals,” you say, showing it to Carmen.

  “What’s a pangolin?” Carmen asks.

  “It’s sort of like an armored anteater. When they’re threatened, they roll up into a ball, and their scales are so tough that a lion couldn’t bite through them. It’s sad, though—pangolins have been hunted so much that they’re in danger of going extinct.”

  “That’s awful.”

  “Actually,” you say as it dawns on you, “all the animals on this list are rare, and most of them are endangered! Like the black-footed ferret—they live in North American grasslands, with fewer than four hundred left in the wild.”

  “VILE must be collecting rare animals,” says Carmen thoughtfully, “just another treasure to steal. I’m not going to let that happen.”

  “Can you stop them?”

  “Maybe we’ll stop them together. I’m going to need someone with your expertise to help chase down all these animals. Will you come with me?”

  You nod. After everything that’s happened, you know you want to help in any way you can.

  “Look,” Carmen continues, “there are only two animals on the list that haven’t been checked off: the Cropan’s boa and the kakapo. The only question is, which one should we go after first?”

  WHICH ONE?

  ▷ The Cropan’s boa—turn to page 8.

  ▷ The kakapo—turn to page 39.

  Return to page 67.

  “THANK YOU,” you tell Carmen. “Thank you, but no. I love my old job, and a lot of animals depend on me.”

  Carmen smiles. “You’re a good person,” she says. “The animals are lucky to have you.”

  The helijet is an amazing vehicle, able to travel at supersonic speeds and then land anywhere without needing a runway. You reach Austria before dawn, and Carmen drops you in Lainzer Tiergarten, a large wildlife preserve on the edge of Vienna. You hug goodbye and then walk down the steps from the helijet, waving as it lifts off into the morning sky.

  That same afternoon, you are back at work at the Schönbrunn Zoo, walking through the gates surrounded by a familiar crowd of tourists and families. You check the board that shows everyone’s assignments and find that your first job for the day is cleaning out the orangutan habitat—not exactly glamorous work. For a moment you wonder if you should have chosen a thrilling life with Carmen instead, but as you watch the happy faces of visiting children, you know you did the right thing.

  A few days later, you see on the news that Interpol has busted an illegal zoo with a dozen rare animals from around the world. It seems that the zoo was built on a private island off the coast of Greece. You watch an interview with the officer in charge, whose name is Inspector Chase Devineaux.

  “I have been tracking these animals for months,” he explains. “And then I received an anonymous tip to investigate a remote island in the Mediterranean Sea. Let this be a warning to all criminals: Nowhere in the world is safe from Chase Devineaux!”

  The billionaire who owns the island is arrested and the stolen animals are returned to their homes, including Nadezhda. At first, she seems unsettled by her adventure, but within a few days, she is her usual self, hiding and playing and learning how to be a tiger.

  THE END

  Return to page 129.

  “LET’S JUMP IT,” you say.

  Zack pumps his fist in the air. “All right, let’s do this!” He backs the car up about fifty feet, lines up with the bridge, and guns the engine a few times.

  Now that the decision is made, Ivy is supportive. “You got this, bro!”

  The tires squeal as Zack punches the gas and the car leaps forward. You careen over the uneven road, picking up speed, the engine roaring . . . and then your stomach lurches as the wheels leave the concrete and you are in the air. A moment later, you come down on the far side with a gut-wrenching crunch.

  The car fishtails sideways as Zack furiously turns the wheel, trying to keep control. You spin one way, then the other, and then crash into a tree. An airbag pops out of the dashboard into your face.

  “WOOOOOOOOO!” Zack hollers. “HOW SWEET WAS THAT?”

  “Not that sweet!” Ivy says, getting out. “Look at our car!”

  You get out too and see that the front bumper is crumpled against the trunk of the tree. Smoke pours from under the hood, and one wheel is twisted into the air, spinning on a bent axle.

  “But you can fix it, right, sis?” Zack asks nervously.

  “Sure, I can fix it—in a garage, with all my tools and a couple thousand dollars of new parts.” She sits by the side of the road and crosses her arms in fury.

  Player arranges for someone to come pick you up and drive you back to São Paulo, but by the time you get a new car and meet up with Carmen, Ivy’s tracker can’t find any signal from the snake. You assume that VILE got there first and that the Cropan’s boa is long gone.

  THE END

  Return to page 57.

  “WELL,” YOU SAY, “I’m just a zookeeper. Of course I want to get Nadezhda back, but I can’t get involved with dangerous criminals.”

  “I understand,” says Carmen, sounding disappointed. “Just tell me where they went.”

  “The fastest way out would be the west entrance,” you say. “If they’re looking at a map, that’s where they would have gone.”

  “Got it,” says Carmen, and then, “Player, can you direct me to the west entrance?”

  “Who are you talking to?” you ask.

  “Never mind,” says Carmen, dashing off down the path.

  For a moment you stand dumbstruck in the middle of the dark zoo. But then you remember Nadezhda and again dial the police on your phone. “Hello,” you say, “I’d like to report a robbery at the Schönbrunn Zoo.” When the woman on the other end asks what was stolen, you tell her that it was a baby tiger. At first she sounds skeptical, but then she says that she’ll send someone right away.

  Five minutes later, you hear sirens and you meet the police as they enter the zoo. When they ask you what happened, you tell them every detail you remember . . . except you don’t say anything about Carmen Sandiego, the mysterious woman in red. You have a feeling that she’d rather be kept a secret, and that she might be your best chance of getting Nadezhda back.

  As the days and weeks pass, though, Nadezhda doesn’t come back. The police say the investigation is ongoing, but they never seem to make real progress, and you fear that the trail has gone cold. You also read about thefts of other rare animals around the world: a black rhino airlifted out of Nairobi National Park in Kenya, a bonobo snatched from the Twycross Zoo in England. Is it a pattern, or just a coincidence
? You suppose you will never know.

  And you never see Carmen Sandiego again.

  THE END

  Return to page 35.

  YOU TELL CARMEN, “I’ll stick with you.”

  After you land in São Paulo, you and Carmen take off again, this time in a small propeller plane. A local pilot sits up front at the controls while you and Carmen ride in the back seat, with barely enough room for the two of you. The windows are wide open, and you stick your head out to watch the ground rolling past beneath you.

  You are heading toward the area where the Cropan’s boa was found, flying low enough to see cars on the road and tractors in the field. You pass over a river, which your pilot tells you is the Rio Juquiá.

  “What are we looking for?” the pilot asks.

  “I’m not sure,” Carmen admits. “Let’s get as low as we can and try to spot anything suspicious.”

  “Going down,” the pilot says, bringing the plane into a dive until you are only about five hundred feet above the ground. You circle around the area once and then twice. The forest has a thick canopy like a green carpet, so you can’t see anything beneath the treetops.

  Carmen notices a small dirt road that leads deeper into the forest and asks the pilot to follow it. You notice two parked motorcycles but can’t see any people.