Andy Roid and the Missing Agent

by Felice Arena

  PUFFIN BOOKS

  ANDY ROID

  AND

  THE MISSING AGENT

  Andy and Judd have blown their cover – so when Judd goes missing, can Andy risk going after him? With the police, the Agency and the evil Blaireau Corporation looking for him, this time it’s Andy versus the world!

  CONTENTS

  PREVIOUSLY

  1 SPEED

  2 SOAR

  3 SAFE HOUSE

  4 SENSES

  5 ACROSS THE LAKE

  6 LUCERNE

  7 BRAVE AND LOYAL

  8 CODE BREAKER

  FROM THE AUTHOR

  Books in the series

  1: ANDY ROID and

  the Superhuman Secret

  2: ANDY ROID and

  the Field Trip Terror

  3: ANDY ROID and

  the Camp Howl Crusaders

  4: ANDY ROID and

  the Heroes of the Night

  5: ANDY ROID and

  the Turbine Runaways

  6: ANDY ROID and

  the Sinister Showdown

  7: ANDY ROID and

  the Unexpected Mission

  8: ANDY ROID and

  the Tracks of Death

  9: ANDY ROID and

  the Missing Agent

  10: ANDY ROID and

  the Avalanche of Evil

  . . .WHEN YOU’RE HALF BOY, HALF MACHINE,

  IT’S HARD NOT TO BE A HERO. . .

  PREVIOUSLY . . .

  Andy’s definitely not a regular kid – his parents are government scientists, specialising in robotics. After a terrible accident, they’ve rebuilt him using their latest, untested research. His parents nicknamed him Andy Roid, but it’s more than just a nickname: it’s his government code name.

  Andy’s rebuild has given him superhuman powers, and now Andy has been recruited by the government as a secret agent. His friend Judd is his partner, and Reggie is his online tech support, along with Brad, his partly bionic pet rat.

  Now his parents have upgraded his powers and hardware, and Andy and Judd have been sent undercover with Agent Granny. Their mission: to track down the headquarters of the Blaireau Corporation, a faceless group of bad guys funding evil around the world.

  But a suspicious man has been following Judd. And now their main suspect, Professor Christophe Farrient, has turned out to be on their side, and a deadly assassin is in hot pursuit. It’s a life-and-death situation, a high-speed chase where anything could happen.

  And things are about to go from bad to worse. . .

  ‘He’s gaining on us!’ Andy cried. ‘Floor it, Agent Granny!’

  ‘What have I told you about calling me Granny?’ she snapped, crunching the gear stick and revving the guts out of the engine.

  ‘Sorry, Bev,’ Andy said.

  ‘Would one of you please tell me what’s going on?’ shouted Professor Farrient, who was holding on tightly to his seat-belt in the backseat.

  Agent Granny, Andy and Farrient were racing through the Swiss countryside towards the Jura mountain range. Hot on their tail was another car.

  ‘We’ll explain everything once we lose this guy,’ said Andy, looking back over his shoulder. ‘That’s if we can. This is an all-out drag race and we’re about to lose! Step on it, Bev!’

  ‘We’ll have a better chance once we reach the hills and start climbing,’ she snapped, the speedometer now clocking over 155km per hour. ‘These flat roads down here in the valley are not doing us any favours. But this isn’t just any Ford. This one has a few Agency extras.’

  In the back, Farrient was clearly upset. ‘Listen, I was almost killed today on an exploding railway bridge. Now I’m in a high-speed car chase. Please, tell me, who are you?’

  Agent Granny nodded. ‘Give him the basics,’ she said to Andy.

  Andy turned back to face Farrient. The scenery whooshed past in one streaky blur, making him feel a bit dizzy.

  ‘We’re agents. Spies. Operatives. We’re trying to locate the secret headquarters of one of the most evil criminal organisations in the world – the Blaireau Corporation. And you were our link to them.’

  ‘Me? Why me?’ said Farrient.

  ‘I’ve hit top speed,’ interjected Agent Granny, her hands gripping the steering wheel. ‘But he’s almost on us!’

  ‘We were watching you because of your recent dealings with them,’ said Andy. Through the back window, he could see that the BMW was almost tailgating them.

  ‘I’m not dealing with criminals,’ said Farrient, pushing his grey hair from his face. ‘A group approached me wanting to fund my bio-robotics lab, but then they said I would have to help them develop robotic weapons. I turned down their offer. There’s no way I’m going to help build weapons. But by then they had given me some money, so I arranged to meet Boris Mueller. . .’

  ‘The guy from your fundraising dinner?’ asked Andy. ‘The one in the BMW behind us?’

  Farrient whipped his head around to stare at the driver pursuing them.

  Farrient’s face turned a sickly shade of white. ‘That’s Boris!’ he said. ‘He was trying to get me to reconsider the offer. But all I wanted was to give him back the money.’

  ‘Saying no to the Blaireau Corporation has put your life in grave danger,’ said Andy.

  ‘You’re a public figure,’ Agent Granny said. ‘They tried to make your death look like an accident. But now you really do know too much. . .’

  She glanced in the review mirror. ‘Hold on, lads. It’s time for a little mountain driving.’

  Agent Granny took a hard right, burning some major rubber. She crunched through the gears again and zipped up the road leading to the heavily forested mountain.

  Boris was only seconds behind.

  The cars roared up the tight, snaking road, hugging and power-sliding through the hairpin bends like giant slot-cars.

  VRRROOOOOOOMMMMMMM!

  ‘Did you ever meet Boris anywhere that might lead us to the Blaireau headquarters?’ asked Andy.

  Suddenly, Agent Granny oversteered a bend, causing the rear of the car to swing wide.

  Terrified, Farrient put his hand over his mouth. He looked like he was going to scream. For a moment Andy thought he was going to lose it completely. After taking a minute to calm down, Farrient said, ‘No. We always met in public, and they contacted me by email. We would meet –’

  BANG! BANG! BANG!

  ‘Get down!’ Andy cried.

  Farrient ducked in his seat. More gunshots whizzed past the car.

  ‘No problems,’ Agent Granny said coolly, revving and braking through bends like a professional rally-car driver. ‘This car’s totally bullet-proof. Right, let’s see if we can lose this sucker!’

  Agent Granny suddenly veered off the main mountain road and roared up a steep dirt track, ripping a trail of gravel and dust behind her.

  BANG! BANG! BANG!

  ‘He’s still with us,’ Andy cried.

  PING! PING! PING!

  The bullets ricocheted off the car.

  Farrient gasped and closed his eyes.

  ‘We’re not going to be able to shake him off,’ Agent Granny shouted at Andy. ‘Use whatever powers you have to get rid of this clown.’

  ‘I don’t want to kill him,’ Andy said.

  ‘Did I say to kill him?’ said Agent Granny. ‘We’ve got orders not to harm him. Just slow the car down. Use your laser finger. Take out one of his wheels or aim for the engine.’

  ‘Why can’t I just use my powers to catch him and bring him in,’ complained Andy, ‘instead of racing around like hard-core rev-heads?’ He stood on his seat, preparing to climb through the sunroof of the car.

  ‘Well, this is more fun!’ Agent Gr
anny grinned. ‘But seriously, now that we know he’s directly connected to the Blaireau Corporation he’s worth more to us free so we can track him. Now hurry up! This track is a dead end.’

  With one hand, Andy snapped off the sunroof’s glass top. He stuck his head up through the open roof. It was seriously gusty, and his hair whipped against his face.

  Andy’s ears popped as they motored up the mountain. He could see clear across the valley far below. He spotted Nyon in the distance and the lake. It looked like a tiny toy town.

  ‘Watch out for potholes,’ he called down to Agent Granny. ‘I don’t want to lose my balance. It’s a long way down.’

  BANG! BANG! BANG!

  Andy ducked back inside the car.

  ‘Whoa! That was close,’ he gasped. ‘But my upgraded reflex sensor chips can deal with that, easy.’

  Once again Andy raised his head through the car roof.

  BANG! BANG! BANG!

  A spray of bullets headed Andy’s way, but this time he was ready for them. It was as if they were moving in slow motion.

  Andy raised his forearms and used them as shields. The titanium plates in his arms blocked off each shot.

  TWANG! TWANG! TWANG!

  He thought about how happy his parents would be that he was putting his improved technology to good use.

  Boris leaned back into the car and accelerated even more. The BMW was now so close that Andy could see him sneering through the windshield.

  Boris looked him straight in the eye and grinned evilly. He looked so cocky and full of himself.

  Here’s something to wipe that smile off your face! Andy thought.

  He pointed his left forefinger at the hood of Boris’s car and activated his laser gun.

  ZAAAAPPP!

  But nothing happened. The car still sped towards them, completely unharmed. Andy hadn’t even put a dent in it.

  Once again, he was dodging shots from Boris as he fired out the window.

  Andy tried again. This time he aimed for the wheels.

  ZAAAAAAAPP!

  ‘Laser-proof!’ Andy said as he dropped back down into the car.

  ‘I guess his car has some extras as well,’ said Agent Granny, taking a hard turn to the right and then another to the left.

  Farrient was asking question after question as he was tossed around in the back seat, but Andy wasn’t listening.

  ‘I guess it’s time to use our Agency extras.’ Agent Granny grinned as they reached the end of the track and burst on to a flat grassy field at the top of the mountain.

  At the end of the field the ground dropped away and Andy could see blue sky and clouds.

  ‘CLIFF!’ he yelled. ‘That’s a cliff straight ahead!’ Andy’s voice cracked. ‘It’s a dead end. . .literally!’

  ‘AAAAARRRRRRRRRGGHHHHHHHH!’

  Andy and Farrient screamed in unison, as the car rocketed off the edge.

  The car went into freefall. Andy felt as if his feet had been pushed up through his body and into his throat.

  ‘Are you CRAZY?’ he yelled.

  But Agent Granny just laughed and pressed a large red button on the dashboard.

  Suddenly the car seemed to jerk upwards. Then the front tipped and they started soaring forwards.

  WHOMP!

  Two white canopies exploded through hatches on the car’s boot and bonnet, and opened up like wings.

  Andy gasped.

  He looked back to see that Boris had stopped his car at the edge of the cliff.

  ‘We’re flying! I don’t believe it! We’re totally flying! WOO-HOOOO!’

  ‘We’re technically gliding,’ Agent Granny said as she calmly flicked through a number of flashing controls on the dashboard. ‘The chutes have caught the thermal airstream. I told ya, this isn’t just any car. How are you doing back there, Mr Farrient?’

  Crunched up like a ball in the back seat, Farrient was shaking and perspiration was streaming down his forehead.

  ‘My heart,’ he panted. ‘I think it actually stopped. I thought I was never going to see my daughter again. Please, just get me home.’

  ‘Hang in there, Professor,’ Agent Granny said. ‘We’re okay now. Just have to activate a few things here so we can’t be followed. Andy, stick your head out of the window and take a look at the side of the car.’

  ‘Whoa!’ Andy exclaimed. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. ‘It’s changed colour. It’s like a 3-D image of the sky. Even the wheels have changed.’

  ‘It’s called moving-camouflage,’ said Agent Granny. ‘The special panelling of the car functions like a screen and allows total internal reflection and the optical bending of light. So in effect we’re invisible to the human eye.’

  ‘Awesome!’ Andy sighed.

  Farrient sat up in the back, but he still looked a little sick. ‘What are you, Andy? Are you even human?’

  Andy nodded. ‘Of course I am. But I’m kinda like this car,’ he said. ‘I come with a few Agency extras.’

  He knew that once they were safely back on the ground, someone from the Agency would have to explain his powers to the professor.

  The car gently floated over the rolling valleys and farmland roads that they had just been racing across.

  Agent Granny steered the vehicle over the town of Nyon. Andy thought about the mysterious man who had followed Judd there. The only information Reggie had been able to get on him was that he was from the Swiss city of Lucerne. The same place Judd’s parents had been killed while on a mission.

  ‘So, where are we going?’ Andy asked Agent Granny, as they glided over a large lake.

  ‘You’ll see,’ she said, as the car began its descent.

  When they reached the other side of Lake Geneva, Agent Granny landed with a bumpy drive down an isolated country road. It was like landing in a small plane.

  ‘Welcome to France,’ said Agent Granny as she pressed a button that retracted the white canopies.

  ‘Thank heavens we’re back on the ground,’ Farrient sighed. He looked desperately relieved.

  Agent Granny started the engine again and drove for a short distance before turning into a long driveway lined with rows of grapevines.

  Ahead was a very old farmhouse, surrounded by green hills. It was more like a mansion or a castle, with white walls and a pointed roof with three levels of windows with shutters.

  ‘Whoa,’ said Andy. ‘That’s the coolest safe house I've ever seen.‘

  Then he had an incoming call. . .

  ‘Andy, it’s me!’

  It was Reggie Hopkins. His voice was coming in loud and clear in Andy’s head, thanks to the direct-call capabilities that had been installed during Andy’s pre-mission upgrade.

  Andy’s friend Reggie had also been recruited as a teen agent. But the government had wanted him for his brains and tech knowledge. He was trained as a specialist in data and computer analytics. Working out of a command centre in his bedroom, he was Andy’s go-to man for information and general data support.

  ‘I just had the weirdest call from Judd,’ Reggie said. ‘He told me that if the General asks me about the information I recently fed you guys I’m not to tell him anything. Judd said you would understand.’

  But Andy didn’t understand. Why wouldn’t Judd want the General to know? The General wasn’t just his boss – he was also Judd’s grandfather, and since Judd had lost his parents over a year ago, he was his only family.

  ‘Andy, I’m pretty sure that Judd’s gone rogue,’ said Reggie. ‘He hasn’t checked in and I can’t locate him. I can’t withhold information from the General and the Agency. I don’t want to lose my job. It’s the greatest thing I’ve ever done. But Judd said you owe him. He said he needed us to be brave and loyal. He’s acting so strange. That doesn’t even sound like him. He never says things like that. What should I do?’

  Andy felt confused. Judd was his best friend and his mission partner, so why would he go off on his own?

  Andy had known something was wrong as soon as they h
ad found out they were going to Switzerland, but Judd had refused to tell him what the problem was or why he was acting strangely.

  ‘I don’t know what’s going on either,’ Andy said to Reggie. ‘Or what to do about it.’

  ‘What was that?’ asked Agent Granny.

  ‘Um, nothing,’ said Andy. He pointed at his ear and mouthed, ‘Reggie.’

  ‘I’m sure he’ll get the full report from the General very shortly,’ she said, as she brought the car to a stop and turned the engine off.

  ‘Nothing?’ Reggie repeated nervously. ‘You want me to do nothing?’

  Andy tapped out a message to Reggie on the touch-screen embedded in the palm of his left hand.

  Can’t talk properly right now. Agent Granny and Farrient will hear. I know it will be difficult, but I think you should keep quiet. I’ll try and find out for sure what Judd’s up to and where he is, but I think I have an idea what’s going on.

  It didn’t take much for Andy to work out that Judd was probably halfway to Lucerne by now.

  He felt sure that his friend was on an unauthorised, solo mission to track down the guy who had been following them. Andy knew that Judd must think that somehow, in some way, the man was connected with his parents’ death.

  The General shook Professor Farrient’s hand and told him he was now under government protection. The farmhouse was going to be their hideaway until they could safely move to a more secure location.

  Andy knew Farrient would never be able to go back to his old life again, and he felt for him.

  He remembered his friend Molly, the first girl he had really liked. She had gone back to her old school and Andy had been forced to say goodbye all over again. As a secret agent he was no longer allowed to be in contact with her.

  ‘And there’s someone else here who’ll be happy to know you’re okay,’ the General said to Farrient.

  Stepping out from the farmhouse was Farrient’s teenaged daughter, Sara. Her straight golden hair was swept messily across her face. She walked carefully down the drive, using a white cane.

  Andy had never seen her use a cane before, but it was amazing to see how quickly she reached and tapped for objects around her, as if the cane was an extension of her own body.