Skyfire

by Michael Adams

  Felix paused as the spotlight settled on the parents and guardians of the DARE Award winners, seated at the VIP table nearest the stage. ‘Please join me in congratulating the wonderful people who’ve raised tonight’s guests of honour,’ he said warmly.

  Polite clapping suddenly became thunderous cheering in the ballroom as A-list movie stars Kit and Katlyn Taylor swept theatrically up the central aisle. Waving to the applauding crowd, the celebrity couple, known worldwide simply as ‘KitKat’, took the two seats that had been glaringly empty at the VIP table.

  ‘Making it about them as always,’ Dylan said grumpily from the lounge. ‘Thanks heaps, Mum and Dad.’

  ‘What?’ Andy asked, wide-eyed. ‘You’re Dylan Taylor?’

  JJ clicked his fingers. ‘Your face, I knew it was familiar!’

  ‘This KitKat, even I know of them,’ said Mila. ‘Galactic Quest—I love this movie.’

  Isabel smiled. ‘Me, too!’

  ‘Yup,’ JJ said excitedly. ‘It’s the best. They’re really your mother and father?’

  ‘I’m adopted,’ Dylan sighed. ‘Guess I’m just lucky like that.’

  Zander arched an eyebrow. Yasmin caught his glance and they shared a secret headshake, both unimpressed by celebrity.

  Miss Chen reappeared at the backstage door and switched off the HoloSpace, the room seeming suddenly empty minus the lifelike 3D image. ‘Perfect,’ she said into her SmartGlasses before focusing on the DARE Award winners. ‘It is time. Is everyone ready?’

  The winners exchanged skittish looks.

  ‘Perfect,’ she said. ‘Come then.’

  ‘Without any further ado,’ Felix boomed, ‘please welcome the seven winners of the DARE Awards!’

  As the crowd roared and news drones hovered, the group walked onto the dazzlingly bright stage and shook hands with Felix before lining up beside him.

  ‘Congratulations to you all,’ he said when the applause had died down. ‘It’s a genuine pleasure to meet seven of the best and brightest hopes for the future of our world!’

  Nervous and proud, the DARE Award winners beamed out at the sea of faces.

  Felix rubbed his hands together, like he was getting down to business. ‘So,’ he said, smiling. ‘My guess is you’d like to know what prizes I can offer?’

  Zander couldn’t evade Andy’s told-you-so grin.

  ‘A question like that did come up,’ Andy wisecracked.

  Felix laughed. ‘I’m giving each of you a chance at fame, money and adventure. And that includes …’

  Time seemed to slow down. Zander could hear his heart beating in his ears. He bet the others could, too.

  ‘New InfiniFones with unlimited lifetime accounts,’ Felix said.

  The group looked at each other excitedly. The company’s phones were the hottest items on the market.

  ‘Plus, you’ll get to try Infinity Air’s brand-new SpaceSkimmer ultra-fast jets!’ Felix continued. ‘You’re each getting a seven-day world-travel open ticket that’ll give you a chance to visit each other and get to know your fellow winners!’

  Excited gasps filled the hotel ballroom. Felix’s ultra-fast jets flew at the edge of space! Felix raised a hand to quiet down the audience’s enthusiasm.

  ‘Then I’d like to invite you to join me for seven days aboard the biggest, most technologically advanced vessel on the ocean …’

  The air pressure in the ballroom seemed to increase.

  ‘… the Infinite Horizon.’

  The teens traded high fives as the ballroom broke out in applause once again.

  Felix grinned. ‘So, I take it you’ve all heard of my boat?’ he asked.

  They nodded eagerly. Calling Infinite Horizon a boat was a crazy understatement. It was a floating city that was an invitation-only destination for the world’s richest, smartest, most famous and powerful people.

  ‘On board the Infinite Horizon, you’ll get to talk about your ideas and plans with some of the best and brightest minds on the planet. Writers, inventors, doctors, scientists, artists, programmers, filmmakers, astronauts and more, will all share their experiences and advice with you. My hope is you’ll find the mentors you need to grow and achieve your dreams.’

  The crowd cheered.

  Felix held up a hand. The audience simmered down.

  ‘There’s one last thing I should mention,’ the trillionaire said.

  The ballroom was so quiet, Zander was sure he could hear champagne fizzing in crystal flutes.

  Ever the showman, Felix let the moment stretch. ‘At the end of our time together on the Infinite Horizon, I’m going to give each of you …’

  He looked at seven expectant faces.

  ‘… one … million … dollars!’

  The Infinity Hotel ballroom erupted into a frenzy.

  A SPECIAL NEWS REPORT

  * * *

  * * *

  Who DARES wins!

  * * *

  Seven lucky teenagers are on top of the world after trillionaire Felix Scott named them as the winners of his DARE Awards in a glittering ceremony at the Infinity Hotel last night. The teens will each receive $1 million, spend a week flying around the world on Infinity Air’s new SpaceSkimmers, enjoy another week on the Infinite Horizon, and be able to keep in touch with each other for life on free InfiniFones.

  Here’s the lowdown on the lucky seven prize winners.

  Two years ago, American skater Andy Freeman, now 15, set up Scoop, a blog where he publishes investigative stories exposing criminals who rip off kids. ‘My dream is to build Scoop into a worldwide network where kids can publish their own articles and become investigative journalists, too,’ says Andy. Andy’s dad, a decorated LA cop, couldn’t hide his tears when his son dedicated his award to his late mother. ‘She was a really brave reporter.’

  Born in Haiti, Dylan Taylor, also 15, lives in Australia with his superstar parents, A-list movie stars Kit and Katlyn Taylor—better known as KitKat. A self-confessed ‘underwater nerd’, Dylan is a future marine biologist. ‘Only five percent of the ocean has been mapped,’ he says. ‘My dream is to explore the secrets of the sea and encourage people to save its species and habitats.’

  Fourteen-year-old Yasmin Adib greets customers at her parents’ tourist shop in Cairo, Egypt with the question, ‘What makes you happy?’ Her LiveFoto recordings of their answers adorn the shop walls and her website, Yasminshappinessproject.com. ‘My dream is to get answers from people all over the earth,’ she says. ‘I think showing how similar we are can help make a more peaceful world.’

  * * *

  * * *

  You may not have heard of Greece’s Zander Demeter, 16, but chances are you love NEO Avenger, the asteroid-smashing, free game app he created. The app also gives NASA access to the unused computing power of millions of devices to help it search for real asteroids that could destroy the earth. ‘My goal is to develop more fun apps but also protect humanity from the many other threats we face,’ explains Zander.

  Isabel Garcia, 15, grew up in a tough part of Bogotá, Colombia. Her viral video campaign, Libros no Armas (Books not Guns), encourages local kids to take a pledge to stay at school and refuse to join gangs. More than ten thousand kids have made videos. ‘School attendance is on the rise,’ says Isabel. ‘The criminals aren’t happy but I don’t care and I won’t back down. I want kids in Colombia to have the same opportunities as everywhere else.’

  Maths genius Mila Cortez, 14, lives with her parents at the Chilean base in Antarctica, one of less than a hundred people to have ever been born in the South Pole region! Her dream is just as out of this world: to be the first person on Mars. ‘Already I discovered a new planet using the telescope of the base,’ she says. ‘I even got to name it after my favourite ballet—Planet Nutcracker!’

  From Seoul, South Korea, Park Jae-joon, or JJ, 15, lost the use of his legs in a car accident when he was two. But he can now walk and run faster than most boys his age, thanks to the advanced robotic leg mecha he designed for hims
elf! Now he wants to use his inventing skills to make a better world. ‘My goal is to invent medi-bots to help people in countries where there aren’t enough doctors,’ JJ says.

  Listening to her father’s pigeons coo softly in their rooftop aviary, Yasmin sat with her journal on her lap, looking out at the Great Pyramid and its two smaller sisters shimmering against the desert horizon. The streets below Giza’s sprawl of low-rise buildings bustled with traffic as hawkers and hustlers went about their business to the constant soundtrack of honking horns. Even on a Sunday, Giza, like the rest of Cairo, was always moving, always noisy.

  Yasmin smiled to think of everyone going about their normal activities on a day that was going to be anything but normal for her. Today she would take her first SpaceSkimmer flight, shooting up into the upper atmosphere over the Mediterranean, before landing in Athens so she could visit Zander for a few days. She couldn’t believe the day had finally arrived. Her adventure was about to begin!

  But first Yasmin had to pack. She put her journal down on the side table, got up and went down the stairs to her little bedroom. As always, her eyes drifted to the walls. Like the ceiling of her family’s shop on the ground floor, she had covered them with hundreds of LiveFotos. Yasmin smiled as she thought about how she could use her DARE Awards prize money to travel to every country in the world and ask everyone she met, ‘What makes you happy?’ She imagined a day when Yasminshappinessproject.com could become a TV series that would help turn the world into a more understanding and peaceful place. But that was in the future.

  Right now, she wanted to prepare a smart look for when she arrived in Athens. Yasmin combed her long brown hair and put on her favourite jade shirt, blue jeans and her sneakers. ‘Yes, that will do it,’ she said to her reflection.

  Yasmin picked up her InfiniFone from where she had left it charging overnight. She smiled as she read through the new comments visitors had posted to her website.

  But what was more puzzling was the odd text message that had come through sometime in the night, from an unknown number.

  The symbol must be some sort of strange spam, Yasmin thought.

  ‘You look like you’re a million miles away already,’ her grandmother, Radha, said, up from the shop, where she often helped out, charming the customers.

  Yasmin looked up from her phone. ‘Do you need help in the store?’

  Radha shook her head. ‘Just a few people browsing. Mahmoud can handle it.’

  Yasmin smiled. ‘Of this you are sure, Grandmother?’

  ‘I told him he must stay behind the counter,’ Radha said with a cheeky grin. ‘And keep his oven mitts on!’

  It was a familiar joke. Mahmoud was many things—gentle, generous and protective of his little sister—but he was also clumsy. And that wasn’t great when the family store was filled with delicate plaster and glass souvenirs. But Mahmoud was only clumsy when he was on two legs. Put him on two wheels and he was the best Cleopatra Pizza motorbike delivery driver in the whole of Cairo. His daredevil riding style was a constant source of worry for their parents, but for Mahmoud his job meant he got paid to practise the skills he would need to achieve his ultimate dream of becoming a movie stuntman.

  ‘Anyway, it’s not for long,’ Radha continued. ‘Your parents will be back soon.’

  ‘And just where are Mum and Dad?’ Yasmin asked.

  ‘Secret mission,’ Radha said, mischievous old eyes on the pile of clothes and empty suitcase on her granddaughter’s bed. ‘Just don’t pack yet, OK?’

  ‘What does that mean?’ Yasmin said. ‘Tell me!’

  Her grandmother shook her head. ‘Come here,’ she said, arms outstretched. ‘I’m going to miss you, child.’

  ‘I’ll miss you, too, Grandmother,’ Yasmin said, hugging her tight.

  Radha held her a moment longer. ‘Can I ask you just one favour?’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘Take me with you!’

  Yasmin laughed. ‘I wish I could.’

  Radha reached into her pocket, pulled out a small glass vial filled with sand and handed it to her granddaughter.

  ‘What is this?’ Yasmin enquired.

  ‘A little bit of home to take with you wherever you go,’ Radha said. ‘If you really do get homesick, you can pour some sand out and always feel Egypt between your fingers—or toes!’

  Yasmin grinned. ‘Thank you, Grandmother.’

  They hugged again. Radha pulled free, eyes twinkling. ‘I’ll go and make us some tea.’

  Yasmin smiled at the sound of one of her grandmother’s beloved action movies coming from the little wind-up TV she kept in the kitchen. But her amusement soured when she heard angry voices downstairs.

  ‘Oh, Mahmoud,’ Yasmin sighed, picturing him tripping over something breakable. ‘What have you done now?’ She rushed down the stairs and through the beaded doorway at the back of the shop.

  Her mouth dropped open at what she saw.

  Three uniformed policemen were shooing tourists away from the store’s front door. Another one reached up to spray-paint the lens of the store’s security camera. But worst of all, an older man in a suit and mirrored sunglasses held Mahmoud up against the wall by the throat.

  ‘Hey!’ Yasmin cried. ‘What’s going on?’

  Dylan’s head was still spinning when the SpaceSkimmer touched down in LA after its short flight from Sydney. It was hard to believe he had flown halfway around the world in just three hours—and in a plane that nearly went all the way to space! He gripped his backpack and stepped out of the Infinity Air terminal into the cool LA evening.

  Blinking in the harsh brightness of the city lights, he saw Andy grinning at him from the kerb, looking every inch the rad skater in his black long-sleeved shirt, camouflage pants and high-top sneakers. Dylan suddenly felt a bit daggy, and chilly, in his Hawaiian shirt, khaki trousers and boat shoes.

  ‘G’day, mate!’ Andy hollered in a fake Aussie accent. ‘Welcome to LA!’

  Dylan grinned. ‘Yo, like, totally hello, dude,’ he drawled in an equally terrible American accent.

  The boys burst out laughing and high-fived.

  Their driverless AutoTaxi hummed along the Pacific Coast Highway, passing airport hotels, gas stations, fast-food joints and the seesawing metal towers that pumped oil from beneath Los Angeles.

  ‘So—the SpaceSkimmer flight?’ Andy said. ‘Spill!’

  ‘A-may-zing,’ Dylan enthused. ‘You go weightless for a second! And above the plane, it’s black like space! And you can see all across the earth for hundreds of kilometres! And the InvisiLounge! Oh, mate, it’s … it’s … fully sick.’

  Andy’s blue eyes sparkled with mirth. ‘“Fully sick”? I assume that means “totally awesome” in Aussie speak?’

  Dylan nodded as his phone beeped with a new message. ‘Probably just another fan, texting me a love poem,’ he joked. ‘How many have you got now, mate?’

  ‘Just as many as you!’ Andy shot back, pulling out his InfiniFone. ‘Then there are the weirdos who send through stuff I can’t even understand.’

  ‘Like what?’ Dylan asked, intrigued.

  ‘Like this,’ Andy said, turning his phone screen so his friend could see the strange symbol that had arrived that afternoon.

  Dylan held up his own phone.

  ‘Mate, I got one of those, too.’

  Andy looked at Dylan’s screen.

  ‘Unknown number?’ he asked.

  Dylan nodded.

  ‘When did you get yours?’

  ‘Just before I flew out of Sydney. I thought it was spam.’

  ‘Do the pictures mean anything to you?’ Andy asked.

  ‘I might speak Aussie, but I don’t speak “random symbols and numbers”,’ Dylan replied. ‘How ‘bout you?’

  Andy shook his head. With a quick swipe, he copied his symbol and searched the internet for a match.

  ‘Hmm,’ he said. ‘Now that is totally whack.’

  Scouring all the electronic knowledge in the world had returne
d just a single result—www.gamesthinker.com.

  ‘Did you just find “games thinker”?’ asked Dylan, who was searching his image, too.

  ‘Yep. Open site,’ Andy told his phone and a webpage flashed onto his screen.

  The seconds ticked down as they watched.

  ‘What’s it counting down to?’ Dylan asked.

  ‘I haven’t got a clue,’ Andy said, ‘and I hate that feeling.’

  Before he could muse further, Dylan cried, ‘Whoa, check that out!’ pointing out the back window. ‘That’s what I want!’

  Andy saw what he was talking about. An Infinity Transport flying-car prototype, sleek and golden, like an aerodynamic teardrop, was floating through the air above the cluster of yachts moored at Marina Del Ray.

  ‘Felix’s people have been testing them around the city for the past few months,’ he said.

  Dylan nodded. ‘It would’ve been cool if we could’ve gotten one of those to take us to Laguna Beach.’ He rubbed his hands together excitedly. ‘Mate, I can’t wait to get in the water tomorrow.’

  During their 3D hologram chats via HoloSpace in the month since the DARE Awards, Dylan and Andy had planned to head to Laguna Beach, just south of LA, to snorkel. Dylan was desperate to see the incredible reef and sea life and show his new mate what snorkelling was all about.

  ‘That’s tomorrow’s fun, but tonight, we’ve got bigger fish to fry …’ Andy said.

  ‘OK,’ Dylan chuckled, ‘what’s bigger than me swimming with leopard sharks?’

  Andy grinned. ‘I’m onto a new Scoop story. This guy—Ethan—came to see me today. He needs help because some hacker creeps threatened to ruin all his school grades unless he pays them serious money.’

  ‘Well, that sucks.’

  ‘It does … except we’re not going to let him get ripped off like that.’