by H. I. Larry
Then Zac had a brilliant idea. He fished out the ugly knee-high socks from the Pyramid-Pack. Then he carefully scooped up the beetles and put them in the sock. Before long the sock was glowing as brightly as a torch. The beetles wriggled a lot but Zac tied a knot in the end so they couldn’t escape.
Don’t worry, he promised them. I’ll let you go later. Then he held up the sock-torch to have a look around.
On the side of the hole he saw another carving:
This was nothing that he’d learnt at school and he didn’t have his SpyPad decoder with him. I’ll just have to work it out for myself, Zac realised.
He looked carefully at the pictures. The first one was obviously a door. The second one was a figure with its finger to its lips – it looked like his mum when she wanted him to be quiet or when something was a secret. Maybe there’s a secret exit around here? thought Zac.
Zac shone the torch around and there in the ground was a small hook. He pulled it, and instantly a rock slid back in the wall to reveal a passage leading up. It was very narrow. Zac would have to wriggle through it on his stomach. And what if it didn’t lead back up to the main passage? He was just going to have to risk it.
But Zac knew this was probably the only way out of this hole. He was going to have to just risk it.
CHAPTER
FIVE
Zac started wriggling up the passage. It was a tight squeeze and he couldn’t see any light ahead. But the tunnel was sloping upwards and to Zac’s relief it wasn’t long before he climbed back into the main passageway.
His SpyPad was on the ground near the edge of the hole. Zac grabbed it and checked the time.
It was already dawn and he was no closer to finding Agent Track Star. Suddenly, the ground trembled again. Zac covered his head as pebbles pelted down. They were becoming stronger. Zac had to hurry!
Zac tied his beetle-torch to his PyramidPack as he hurried along. Ahead of him the corridor went off in two different directions. Which way should I go? There was no way he wanted to end up down another hole.
Then Zac saw something out of the corner of his eye. There was writing on the floor of the left-hand passage.
He shone the SpyPad’s glowing screen at the spot but the word instantly vanished. Zac was puzzled for a moment. Then he had an idea. Maybe whatever it is can only be seen with ultraviolet light.
Zac shone the beetle-torch over the ground. Sure enough, stamped on the ground, was ‘GIB’! Agent Track Star must have used the GIB Invisible Stamp-pad to leave a clue! It was a way for GIB agents to leave secret messages for each other.
Usually Zac had to turn on the ultraviolet screen in his SpyPad to see the invisible ink. But the beetle-torch was doing the same job. Agent Track Star came this way, thought Zac. I must be on the right track.
Zac shone the beetle-torch down the left-hand tunnel. More glowing marks appeared, leading all the way down.
This mission just got a whole lot easier, chuckled Zac.
He followed the marks for a while but then, quite suddenly, they stopped. The tunnel ended at the doorway of a small room. Zac looked in. On the back wall was a giant painting of a human with a cat’s head. Zac took a step backwards. He was more of a dog person than a cat person. And there was something very dodgy about this cat.
Zac knew that a spy must always trust his gut instincts. He picked up a rock and rolled it into the middle of the room.
ZZZZZZZAPPPPPP!
A zap of light shot out of the cat’s eye and blasted the pebble into a smoking pile of dust.
Being careful not to step any further into the room Zac held up his torch and took a better look at the painting. Over the cat’s eye was something that looked like a glass marble cut in half.
An ancient magnifying lens! thought Zac.
He was pretty sure he knew what was going on. But he wanted to check. He rolled another rock into the room and watched carefully. When the rock fell into the cat’s path a lever behind its eye flipped up. This allowed a ray of sunlight to come through a hole behind the eye. When the sunbeam hit the magnifying glass, it acted like a laser beam. Anything that crossed its path would be instantly destroyed.
Zac was impressed. Of course, during the night it wouldn’t work at all. But during daylight it was deadly.
Zac couldn’t resist trying the laser out one more time. He took off his hat. It was the one his mum always made him wear in the sun. It was totally ugly and scratchy too. Zac flicked the hat into the room.
Pfffffft!
It disappeared into a puff of smoke.
Excellent!
After seeing the rocks and the hat blasted away there was no way Zac was going to risk walking in there. He needed a way of covering the cat’s eye.
Zac felt in his pocket. He had a couple of paint bombs that would do the trick. But they would also wreck the wall-paintings and he didn’t really want to do that. The paintings were old and faded but they were kind of cool too. Plus his mission was to repair damage, not make more.
So Zac pulled out some chewing gum and a rubber band instead. Perfect! Zac quickly chewed the gum into a ball and then flicked it across the room with the rubber band.
Keeeeeeeee-SPLATTTT!
Bullseye! The gum was now covering the magnifying lens. But Zac didn’t have time to feel pleased with himself.
Every second counted.
He had to keep moving.
CHAPTER
SIX
Zac quickly walked through the Cat Room and out another door on the far wall. The passage continued for a bit and then Zac found himself in another room.
Cool! The Mummy Room.
Lying on a table in the middle of the room was a golden sarcophagus. Zac knew that this was a kind of coffin mummies were kept in. The room was cold. And really dark. In fact, it was kind of creepy. But Zac wasn’t the type of kid who got scared. He especially wasn’t the type to be scared of some old, dead mummy.
Suddenly Zac heard a banging noise.
It seemed to be coming from inside the sarcophagus! Most kids would probably have run away screaming at this point. But not Zac. There must be a simple explanation, he thought. I’ll just open up the sarcophagus and see what’s inside. But all the same his heart was beating hard as he walked towards the noise.
Crrrreeeak!
The sarcophagus was very heavy to open. Inside was a figure about the same height as Zac, wrapped from head to toe in bandages.
Its arms rose up from its sides, like a zombie, and it moaned as it took a step towards him.
It can’t really be a mummy, thought Zac. I need to get those bandages off and see what – or who – is underneath.
He reached into the Pyramid-Pack and his hand closed around something that felt like a can of fly spray. That wouldn’t be much use. Zac checked the label. Bandage- B-Gone, it said. Super strength instant bandage remover. Leon had thought of everything when he put this Pyramid-Pack together!
Just as the mummy lurched towards him, Zac sprayed the figure with the Bandage-B-Gone.
A massive cloud instantly billowed up in the air as the bandages dissolved. Zac heard coughing coming from inside the cloud.
‘Who’s there?’ he asked, sharply. ‘Show yourself.’
‘It’s Agent Track Star,’ came the reply. Zac was puzzled. Agent Track Star didn’t sound how he was expecting him to sound.
When the cloud cleared Zac gasped at what he saw. He now knew why Agent Track Star sounded different.
Agent Track Star was a girl!
‘I got caught in a booby trap,’ explained Agent Track Star when she stopped coughing. ‘One minute I was walking along and the next thing I knew I was wrapped up in bandages inside that sarcophagus. Thanks for rescuing me. You must be Zac Power. I’m Caz.’
Zac looked at her suspiciously.
‘What are you doing in here anyway? You were supposed to be guarding the pyramid from the outside,’ he said.
‘I thought I heard tomb raiders inside,’ replied Caz. ‘I decided
to go in and save the Golden Sun Diamond.’
Suddenly Caz’s eyes filled with tears. For a horrible moment Zac thought she might cry.
‘But I can’t do it on my own,’ she said. ‘I need help.’
‘I’ll help you,’ said Zac. ‘We’re both GIB agents after all. We’re supposed to help each other.’ Caz smiled gratefully.
‘Cool. Follow me,’ she said. And she took off down a corridor.
Zac had little choice but to follow her.
There wasn’t much time left.
He hoped Caz knew what she was doing. She led him down winding passageways and in and out of rooms, all at a really fast pace.
‘You know your way around here pretty well,’ Zac said. He was getting puffed trying to keep up.
‘I’m the top scorer on Pyramid Panic,’ said Caz proudly. ‘I know this place backwards.’
Finally Caz stopped.
‘This is the Treasure Room,’ she said.
Zac gasped. Around the walls were piles of gold coins and sparkling jewels. Right in the middle was a giant statue with a lion’s head. And in its hands was the biggest jewel Zac had ever seen. It was easily the size of a basketball.
‘The statue is the Golden Sun King,’ whispered Caz.‘And in his lap is the Golden Sun Diamond.’
‘It’s amazing it’s never been stolen,’ said Zac. Caz nodded.
‘Yep, apparently there’s some curse protecting it from thieves,’ she said. ‘It’s said to be guarded by a huge army of scorpions…’
Just then, the floor rumbled again.
RRRRRRUMMMMBLU!
This time it wasn’t just pebbles that fell from the ceiling. It was rocks the size of Zac’s fist! It felt like the pyramid was beginning to collapse.
‘We’ve got to leave,’ yelled Zac above the noise.
‘No!’ yelled back Caz. ‘The diamond isn’t safe in here. We must take it back to Headquarters.’
Zac looked at Caz. Although she was supposed to be a top spy she seemed like a little kid to Zac. She doesn’t even look strong enough to lift that diamond, thought Zac. But she also seemed pretty stubborn. He could tell there was no way she was leaving without it.
‘Let me get it,’ Zac said, taking a step towards the statue.
Caz grabbed his arm.
‘Look out!’ she cried, pointing downwards. In front of Zac was a wide trench. Out of it was coming a strange hissing sound. Then a giant cobra, thicker than Zac’s leg, rose up out of the trench. It stared at him with its black, beady eyes.
Seconds later another one appeared beside it.
Then another.
And another.
CHAPTER
SEVEN
Zac stood very still. He knew that the slightest movement would cause the cobras to strike. But the snakes hadn’t seen Caz. She was hidden behind Zac.
‘Caz,’ Zac whispered. ‘Get my iPod out of my Pyramid-Pack.’ He felt Caz reach into the Pyramid-Pack and pull out the iPod.
‘Now, find the album called Music for Soothing Savage Beasts,’ Zac said, ‘and plug it into my SpyPad so it plays through the speakers.’
‘Which song?’ whispered Caz.
‘Track seven,’ Zac replied. At least he hoped it was track seven. He held his breath.
For a terrible moment he thought the iPod’s batteries had gone flat. But then the track started.
Phew! It was the right track after all: ‘Snake Charming Song’. The moment the cobras heard the music they began swaying backwards and forwards, like fans at a rock concert.
‘Nice work, Zac!’ said Caz, looking impressed. ‘Now, grab the diamond.’
Zac jumped across the cobra pit. The snakes paid no attention to him at all. Zac reached out to pick up the diamond. But then he stopped. He remembered what Caz had said about the curse. He didn’t believe in that stuff, of course. All the same though, he couldn’t help feeling that something wasn’t right. But there was no time to worry about it.
Zac grabbed the diamond. Underneath was a big dark hole. Zac froze, waiting for something to happen. But nothing did. Zac relaxed. The curse was obviously just made up to scare people.
‘Caz,’ called Zac. ‘I can’t jump across the pit with this – I’m going to throw the diamond across. Do you think you can catch it?’
Caz nodded. So Zac threw the diamond. To his surprise Caz had no trouble catching it. In fact, she caught it with one hand and then twirled it on one finger. Then she shoved the diamond in her backpack.
‘Thanks Zac,’ she grinned. ‘I’m off to HQ.’
‘Hang on,’ said Zac. ‘We can go there together.’
Caz seemed different all of a sudden.
She laughed. It was a nasty laugh.
‘Oh, I’m not going to GIB’s HQ,’ she said. ‘I work for BIG now. And I’m going to get a massive promotion when I come back with this diamond.Thanks for helping me steal it.’
BIG! Zac had heard about them. They were the most evil and devious spies in the business. Now it all made sense.
‘You’re a double agent!’ exclaimed Zac.
‘That’s right,’ smiled Caz. ‘I’ve been pretending to work for GIB while all along I was spying for BIG. Well Zac, it’s been fun but now I’m going to have to leave you alone with these snakes.’
‘But I rescued you from the sarcophagus!’ said Zac angrily. ‘You’d still be stuck in there if I hadn’t come along!’
‘You didn’t rescue me,’ Caz sneered. ‘I didn’t become the top player on Pyramid Panic without learning where all the booby traps are! I only pretended to be trapped so you would feel sorry for me and help me steal the diamond. Why should I do the dangerous work when I could trick you into doing it instead?’
Zac stared at Caz in shock. He couldn’t believe anyone could be so devious.
Caz pressed a button on the side of her spy shoes and two lines of wheels dropped into position. The shoes were instantly transformed into rollerblades.
‘Bye, Zac Power!’ said Caz. ‘You’re not a bad spy.You’re almost as good as me.
Maybe you should join BIG too?’
‘I’d never work for BIG,’ said Zac angrily.
‘That’s too bad,’ said Caz, shrugging.
‘See you later, loser!’ And she skated towards the door.
Zac checked the time.
Things were going terribly wrong. Caz was escaping with the Golden Sun Diamond and Zac knew it wouldn’t be long before his iPod went flat.When the music stopped those cobras were going to attack him for sure. And then things got even worse.
Zac heard a low, rumbling sound.
At first he thought it was another earth tremor. But then he realised the sound was coming from the hole that the diamond had been covering!
In shock Zac watched as a giant scorpion scuttled out of the hole. It was twice the size of his hand! Another scorpion followed behind the first. And another.
Then hundreds of scorpions came flooding out, like water from a burst pipe. Zac couldn’t help noticing that their tails were already up in the sting position. And they were heading straight for him.
CHAPTER
EIGHT
Zac tried to leap out of the way. But he was too late. The scorpions swarmed all over him. So Zac stood very still, hoping that they would think he was a rock.
The scorpions ran under his clothes and over his face. Their legs were very ticklish, but Zac didn’t feel like laughing.
It’s only a matter of time before I get stung, he thought.
He just hoped there was some antivenom in the Pyramid-Pack. But to his amazement the scorpions ran right over him and out the door.
They’re chasing Caz! realised Zac. They know she’s got the diamond!
What should he do? I could just wait until the scorpions catch her, thought Zac.There was no way she could outrun that many angry, giant scorpions, not even on skates.The other option was to rescue her. If he did then she would have to admit that he was the better spy. And she’d have to apologise for calling
him a loser!
Zac liked that idea. But how was he going to rescue her?
He checked his Track Changer sandals. Maybe there was an animal on that dial that could help him out.
Fox? No good.
Coyote? Nup.
Kangaroo? Bingo!
He switched the shoes to ‘Kangaroo’ and took an enormous jump.
SPPPRRROOOOINGGGG!
Zac leapt straight over the snake pit and took off down the passageway. It wasn’t long before he could see Caz up ahead. She was skating fast, but the scorpions were catching up.
Zac jumped as hard as he could. Soon he was right behind the scorpions. Zac bent his knees. This next jump was going to have to be the biggest one he’d ever done.
SPPPRRROOOOINGGGG!
With an enormous jump Zac leapt over the swarm of scorpions and landed right behind Caz. He reached out and grabbed her backpack firmly in his hand. She jerked to a halt as he turned and jumped back over the scorpions.
‘Hey!’ yelled Caz angrily as she found herself pulled backwards through the air. ‘What are you doing?’
‘I’m rescuing you,’ replied Zac.‘We have to return the diamond or you’ll be stung by those scorpions.’
‘There’s no way I’m being rescued by you, Zac Power!’ snarled Caz.
Still in mid-air she wiggled her arms out of the backpack and fell to the ground in a commando roll. She landed right in the path of the scorpions. But they scuttled right over the top of her without even stopping. They were after the bag with the diamond in it. And the bag was now in Zac’s hand!
The walls began to shake again. They shook so much it was like the pyramid had suddenly been turned into jelly.
‘Forget the diamond!’ yelled Caz. ‘This place is about to collapse. I’m outta here!’ Then she skated off into the darkness.
Zac checked his watch as he bounced back towards the statue.
There was no time to chase Caz now. As much as he hated to do it, he would have to let her escape. He had to stick to his mission now and return the diamond.
