Antarctic Attack

by Adrian C. Bott

  CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR

  COPYRIGHT PAGE

  There’s nothing quite like having a secret den. Whether it’s a treehouse, a basement or just a private place of your own, it’s good to have somewhere you can unwind and be yourself.

  Axel’s secret den was very unusual. It was a cave dug out of the earth below his house.

  There were two ways you could get into the secret lair. Either you could go down the steps into the cellar of the house and walk through the large robot-shaped hole that had been smashed through the wall, or from the backyard you could press a button on a remote control and part of the lawn would fold away, revealing the cave below.

  Most boys wouldn’t have been able to make a den like that, but then most boys didn’t have a shape-shifting robot for a friend. And Axel did.

  The robot’s name was BEAST. He was a runaway, hiding at Axel’s house. Right now he was playing table tennis with Axel. The bat looked ridiculously tiny in his huge robot fist.

  BEAST had a sad history. A greedy, evil company called Grabbem Industries had built him. He was supposed to be a super-powered suit of armour that would let young Gus Grabbem Junior help his father smash things up; but when BEAST found out that the things he was meant to be smashing up were things he loved, such as plants, animals and … well … most of nature, he decided to get out.

  Now Axel and BEAST were a team. They worked together to fight Grabbem Industries, and anyone else who threatened the planet.

  Over the weeks since BEAST had crashed into his life, Axel had kitted out his secret den with all sorts of cool stuff. It really helped that his mum Nedra was good friends with Rusty Rosie, who ran a scrapyard. That meant Axel could get hold of lots of secondhand items that just needed a bit of fixing up. It also meant some welcome company for Nedra, who’d been lonely since Axel’s dad had mysteriously disappeared the year before.

  The den had a fridge, a sofa, most of a multi-gym, an exercise bike, a desktop computer, a pool table, a table-tennis table and an enormous TV. For some reason, the TV had a moustache permanently glued in the middle of the screen, which meant that almost everyone who appeared on it got a moustache.

  Axel was sweating as he smacked the ping-pong ball back and forth.

  Playing against BEAST was like playing a video game with the difficulty set to max. His robot reflexes were astoundingly quick. But there was a problem. BEAST didn’t seem to want to win. He never took advantage of Axel’s mistakes. So usually they just ended up batting the ball between them until Axel got tired.

  ‘Arrrr!’ Axel yelled suddenly, and slammed the ball as hard as he could.

  It shot past BEAST’s head, rebounded off the cave wall and vanished under the fridge. BEAST watched it go, turned back to Axel and blinked his luminous eyes.

  ‘YOU ARE ANGRY,’ he said.

  ‘Yeah,’ said Axel. He flung himself onto the sofa. ‘Not with you, though,’ he quickly added, before BEAST began to fret (which he often did). ‘I’m just tired of being cooped up in here with nothing to do.’

  BEAST tilted his head. ‘BUT WE HAVE FUN TOGETHER.’

  Axel sighed. ‘I know. But we haven’t heard from Agent Omega for ages! Think how much fun we could have if you had a new set of apps!’

  BEAST’s apps were what let him change form into new shapes with new powers. Their mysterious friend Agent Omega had promised them a new set of apps with each mission to fight Grabbem Industries, but so far they had only been sent on one. At least he’d sent them some experimental apps to test out in the meantime.

  Just then, the gong went. CLANG!! Axel had left an old dinner gong next to the cellar entrance, because there was no door to knock on.

  ‘Come in!’ he yelled.

  Nedra, his mother, came in, carrying some cans of drink. She set them down on the big wooden cable spool that Axel used for a table. ‘Break time,’ she said.

  ‘Thanks, Mum!’

  Behind her came Rusty Rosie, who looked around at the secret lair and grinned. ‘Wow. This place is really comin’ along, mate!’

  ‘I guess,’ Axel said. ‘Mum, I was thinking … we haven’t seen any sign of Grabbem for ages, so I thought maybe BEAST and I could, well, you know …’

  ‘You want to go out on a joyride, don’t you?’ said Nedra. Her eyes narrowed. ‘Axel, we’ve been over and over this. BEAST isn’t a toy.’

  ‘But I never get any practice with him!’ Axel groaned. ‘We’re supposed to be a team. All we ever do down here is play games, muck around and wait for a call that never comes!’

  Nedra sat down next to him. ‘I know it’s frustrating. But Agent Omega was very clear. “Stay out of sight,” he said. “Keep your heads down.” So that’s what we have to do.’

  Axel glanced at the silent computer across the cave. ‘I wish he’d call. It’s been so long. What if they’ve caught him?’ Agent Omega was a double agent within Grabbem’s ranks.

  ‘If they had, they’d be coming after us next,’ Nedra said. ‘All the more reason to stay hidden.’

  Axel picked up a can of fizzy drink. He felt like one himself – one that had been shaken up until it was on the verge of bursting. He popped it open. With a hisssss, foam erupted out of the can and spurted onto the ground. Great.

  ‘Couldn’t they just run around the house a few times?’ Rosie suggested.

  Nedra folded her arms. ‘Not happening.’

  Rosie shrugged. ‘You’re the responsible adult. Your call. I’ll say this, though. I dunno about BEAST, but young Axel here is going to go stir crazy if he doesn’t get out soon, and that’s a fact.’

  Axel gazed at BEAST, remembering how good it felt to climb inside the robot’s padded chest and wear him like a power armour suit. When that happened, he was no longer a skinny boy who needed strong glasses and hid from bullies in the school stationery cupboard. He was powerful. He could fly, lift trucks, and even shoot beams of energy, if the right app was installed …

  Boop-de-doop, sang the computer suddenly. Beep-boop-dee.

  Axel’s eyes widened.

  ‘It’s him,’ he yelled. ‘It’s Agent Omega. He’s finally calling!’

  Axel dived across the room and clicked on accept incoming call.

  For a second there was silence, and he thought he must have been too late. But then the screen changed and showed a grainy image of Agent Omega hunched in front of his own computer.

  ‘Where have you been?’ Axel burst out.

  ‘Keeping my head down,’ Agent Omega said, ‘and I hope you’ve been doing the same.’

  ‘Oh, he has,’ interrupted Nedra. ‘I’ve made sure of that.’

  Agent Omega peered at his screen. ‘Looks like you’ve been hard at work. Nice lair you’ve built. Is that a pool table? Maybe we can have a game sometime. Anyway, I’ll get right to the point. I have a mission for you.’

  ‘Yes!’ Axel punched the air.

  ‘You might not feel that way once you’ve found out where you’re going,’ Agent Omega warned. ‘You’ll want to dress warm. I’m sending you to Antarctica.’

  ‘Antarctica!’ Axel echoed. ‘That means snow, ice …’

  ‘Seals,’ said Nedra.

  ‘Whales,’ said Rosie.

  ‘AND PENGUINS!’ said BEAST happily.

  ‘Yes, all of those,’ said Agent Omega, ‘and one other thing. Oil. I’m certain that’s what Grabbem are after. Axel, take a loo
k at these pictures. You, uh, might want to get BEAST to look the other way. They’re pretty upsetting.’

  Axel turned around, but BEAST had already heard and had begun playing a game of pool with himself, humming softly all the while.

  ‘Animals have been found covered in oil in the extreme south,’ said Agent Omega.

  Axel’s screen flashed up an image of a penguin covered head to foot in filthy sludge. The next image: dead fish floating in an oil slick. The next, a baby seal streaked with black stains.

  ‘You don’t have to show me any more. I get the idea,’ said Axel. He felt sickened and angry. Grabbem were going to pay for this.

  ‘I just want you to know what’s at stake. Grabbem have been running an operation in Antarctica for some time now, and they’ve been doing it in secret. They’re sneaky.’

  ‘Why would Grabbem go after oil in the Antarctic?’ asked Nedra. ‘Sure, there’s meant to be oil there, but isn’t it too hard to get to, because of the ice sheet in the way?’

  ‘That’s where the Devastator comes in.’

  Axel felt a chill. ‘The Devastator? Sounds scary.’

  ‘It is. From what I can tell, it’s a gigantic vehicle with some kind of huge gun, or drill. Grabbem are going to use it to punch right through the ice to the oil beneath. It has to be charged up before use, and it’ll be ready in twelve hours.’

  Twelve hours to save Antarctica, thought Axel. ‘I’m in,’ he said. ‘What do you need us to do?’

  Agent Omega typed rapidly. ‘I’m sending BEAST the co-ordinates for the region where the most pollution was found. The Grabbem base must be somewhere within that area. You’ll have to search for it.’

  ‘And the Devastator?’

  ‘If you can find the Grabbem base in time, we can shut this operation down before the Devastator is fully charged.’

  ‘Just one more thing …’

  ‘You need apps,’ Agent Omega said, ‘and oh boy, do I have a set of apps for you!’

  BEAST stood up suddenly from his solitary game of pool. ‘RECEIVING DATA,’ he said, sounding as happy as a toddler who’s just heard the ice-cream van coming.

  ‘The apps you can have for this mission are SKYHAWK, SHARKOS, SNOWDOG, HECKFIRE and LAZBOLT,’ Agent Omega explained.

  Behind Axel, Rosie whistled. ‘Sweet. I’m kind of jealous.’

  ‘I already know about SKYHAWK, SHARKOS and LAZBOLT,’ Axel said.

  SKYHAWK was a jet-plane-like form that had no weapons, but could fly above the clouds at mind-boggling speeds. SHARKOS was BEAST’s special underwater form, an armoured submarine that could drop mines and electrify the water like an eel.

  As for LAZBOLT, it was a laser blaster, one of the experimental apps Omega had sent through for them to test. It couldn’t move fast, but it put out a beam that could slice a tank in half as easily as unzipping a jacket. BEAST’s forms always took something away as well as adding something, so LAZBOLT gained firepower but lost speed.

  ‘What do the others do?’ Axel asked.

  ‘Near as I can make out, SNOWDOG is some kind of snowmobile-like form equipped to handle icy conditions.’

  Axel nodded. ‘And HECKFIRE?’

  ‘No idea. I put that one in because it was marked as super-dangerous. Figured you could use a little danger on your side.’

  ‘ELEVEN HOURS AND FIFTY-FIVE MINUTES UNTIL DEVASTATOR ACTIVE,’ said BEAST.

  ‘Oh, and I programmed BEAST with a timer,’ added Agent Omega. ‘That’s how long you’ve got before the Devastator comes online. Don’t waste any time. Every second counts.’

  ‘Got it. And thanks.’

  ‘Good luck.’ With a quick salute, Agent Omega vanished.

  Axel felt like he was walking on air. Finally, after all these weeks of bouncing off the walls, a mission! He went to open BEAST and climb inside, but the look on his mother’s face stopped him. ‘What?’

  ‘Stay and eat something. I don’t want you racing off before you’ve had your lunch.’

  ‘But Mum! This is urgent!’

  Nedra glared at him. ‘How are you going to protect the environment from Grabbem if you can’t even look after yourself?’

  Eleven hours and fifty-four minutes left, thought Axel. And every second counts.

  ‘I’ll be okay. I know I will!’

  Nedra threw up her hands. ‘Fine, I give up. Go and save the world on an empty stomach! Come on, Rosie. Let’s get out of here before the place fills up with rocket fumes.’

  The moment they left, Axel quickly opened the transparent panel on BEAST’s chest and climbed inside. He pressed a control and the upper entrance to the secret lair slid open, letting in the daylight.

  ‘Let’s go, BEAST,’ he said.

  BEAST fired his thrusters. Together they rocketed upwards, out of the secret lair and high into the sky above the house. After being stuck inside for so many long weeks, Axel finally felt the thrill of freedom.

  ‘We need to get to Antarctica, fast. BEAST, shift form to SKYHAWK.’

  BEAST’s legs lengthened and his arms converted into the sleek wings of SKYHAWK, his jet-fighter form. His head became longer, more streamlined.

  Axel braced himself. ‘Give me maximum thrust!’

  With a KA-BOOM! of igniting jets, SKYHAWK tore through the sky.

  Down on the ground far below, people looked up in sudden confusion. What was a high-speed plane doing in this part of the country?

  Now positioned on his stomach, Axel relaxed in the cockpit. Using the controls, he guided SKYHAWK steadily up and up until they plunged into the cloud barrier. Everything was lost in a world of white mist.

  Moments later, they broke through above the clouds. The view took Axel’s breath away.

  When you are high enough up, there is no such thing as a rainy or overcast day. The weather, whatever it may be, only ever goes up as high as the cloud level. The sun is always shining above the clouds, and if you have a way of reaching them, you can prove it for yourself.

  It was like entering heaven. Brilliant sunlight lit up a realm of billowy, pillow-soft clouds. They looked almost solid enough to walk on, like a colossal marshmallowy mattress reaching into infinity.

  ‘How long till we reach Antarctica?’ Axel asked.

  ‘THREE HOURS.’

  ‘Whoa. Maybe I should have let my mum make lunch.’

  ‘BEAST HAS EMERGENCY FOOD SUPPLIES, IF YOU REQUIRE THEM.’ A little tube popped up in front of Axel’s mouth.

  Axel eyed it suspiciously. ‘This is food?’

  ‘LIQUI-NUMS ARE NUTRITIOUS AND CONTAIN EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO SURVIVE!’ BEAST chanted happily. ‘BEAST HAS ENOUGH FOR TWO WEEKS.’

  Axel had never heard of Liqui-Nums. They must be some Grabbem project. Probably one that never made it out of the research labs. He sucked experimentally on the tube.

  Sludge flooded his mouth. It tasted as if a cherry had fallen into a bucket of wallpaper paste, done a bubbly fart and climbed out again.

  There was nowhere to spit it out inside BEAST’s head, so Axel had to swallow it. ‘BEAST, that stuff is gross!’

  ‘YOU ARE BEAST’S PILOT, AXEL. BEAST WILL NOT LET YOU STARVE.’

  ‘Better save the emergency food for real emergencies,’ said Axel, thinking, It would have to be one heck of an emergency to make me eat THAT stuff.

  ‘How are we going to pass the time?’

  Luckily, BEAST had an on-board movie player, so Axel was able to leave the flying up to BEAST and relax with some of his favourite cartoons. After that, they spent a half-hour singing together, with BEAST beatboxing and Axel making up rap lyrics.

  Then BEAST closed his canopy screens to make it dark so Axel could doze for a while, with BEAST carefully steering them on their way above the clouds.

  Meanwhile, deep within Grabbem’s secret Antarctic base, a boy called Gus Grabbem Junior was running down a steel-walled corridor. In his hand he held an electronic key labelled ‘Devastator’. The ghoulish grin on his face meant he was looking forward to doing someth
ing very, very nasty. That grin would have made hardened headmasters shudder. It was the kind of grin you might see on a wolf who’s just been given a job as a shepherd.

  A chime rang. Axel woke up to find he’d dribbled on BEAST’s comfortable padded lining. ‘Hmm? Wha–? Urrrr. Sorry, buddy. I guess I fell asleep.’

  ‘YOU HAVE BEEN ASLEEP FOR SEVENTY-SIX MINUTES,’ said BEAST.

  Axel’s stomach growled loudly.

  ‘WOULD YOU LIKE SOME LIQUI-NUMS?’

  ‘No! I mean, no thanks. Are we nearly there yet?’

  ‘YES. THAT IS WHY I WOKE YOU.’

  ‘Better let me take over the controls so I can bring us down.’

  BEAST’s internal displays lit up. Axel felt a shock as he saw they were only a few metres above the sea, which was the intense blue colour of a bubblegum slushie and looked about as warm. In the far distance was a lonely-looking ship, a trawler of some kind.

  ‘Geez, BEAST, we’re flying a bit low, aren’t we? Those fishermen might see us!’

  ‘BEAST IS SORRY. OUR FLIGHT PATH IS QUITE SAFE. BEAST DID NOT MEAN TO SCARE YOU.’

  ‘It’s okay. Let’s take a look at Antarctica.’

  Up ahead, the sea came to an end and there began a great rolling plain of white, with patches of grey-black showing through, and mountains like mounds of cake icing in the distance. It looked pure, unspoilt and lonely. You could shout forever in those fields of blowing snow and nobody would hear you.

  We’re at the end of the world, thought Axel. People aren’t meant to live here. Just the creatures that already do.

  ‘What a view,’ Axel breathed. ‘Wait. Are those penguins?’

  BEAST’s tracking cameras zoomed in on the coastline. Sure enough, there was a group of penguins flocking together on the shore. EMPERORS? the display read.

  Axel laughed with joy. ‘Look at them! They’re amazing!’

  And they were. Tall, somehow silly and noble at the same time, the penguins wobbled up and down the rocky beach. Some of them slid into the water to fish. Little grey chicks looked up at their parents and their mouths gaped, waiting for food. Axel wanted to climb out and play with them, but he knew they needed to be left to themselves.