by Felice Arena
He quickened his pace and dodged his way through the cosmetics department. I’ll just have to give him the slip like an old-school spy, Andy thought.
Andy stepped onto the escalator to the second floor. But so did Agent Gatekeeper.
At the top, a shop attendant was holding out a tray of chocolates. ‘Would you like some?’ she said.
As Andy reached for a piece, he purposefully knocked the tray out of the woman’s hand. Chocolates flew everywhere.
‘Sorry!’ he said, as nearby shoppers rushed to help the attendant. She was already on her knees gathering the sweets up off the floor, but by then Andy had moved on.
Agent Gatekeeper struggled to find a clear path around the woman and her crowd of helpers.
‘Yes!’ Andy muttered. His good old-fashioned roadblock diversion had worked.
Andy knew he had bought some time. He was already hopping off the next escalator onto the third floor. But before he could feel too smug about his clever move, Andy spotted something that snapped him back to reality: two police officers were walking his way.
And I bet these dudes aren’t shopping for chocolate, thought Andy, turning swiftly on his heels and backtracking.
‘Oh, great!’ Andy sighed. Agent Gatekeeper had already caught up and was approaching him from the opposite direction.
Andy was directly between Agent Gatekeeper and the police officers. Which way now? He had to think quick and put into the practice the intense secret-agent training he been through for the past half year.
He made a quick turn and darted through a display of ladies underwear, weaving his way towards the store toilets.
For a moment he thought he was in the clear. . .until he accidentally knocked over a mannequin.
BANG! CRASH!
‘Shoot!’ snapped Andy, as the mannequin crashed to the floor and broke in half at the waist.
Andy nervously looked back. Agent Gatekeeper and the police officers had joined forces, making a hasty beeline in his direction.
‘Nice one, doofus!’ Andy said under his breath. ‘Note to self. . .have Mum and Dad install an anti-clumsy app in my next upgrade. I bet I lose massive spy points for that one.’
Andy hopped over the broken mannequin pieces, raced down the corridor and ducked into the women’s toilets.
‘Hello! Anyone in here?’ Andy called out. The cubicles were empty.
Relieved, Andy scanned the room. There were five very tall floor-to-ceiling stalls running along one wall, and a number of hand basins opposite them. At the far end of the restroom was a window with bars on the outside.
Andy stepped up to the window, smashed the pane of glass with his fist, and ripped the bars, one by one, clear off the concrete frame. He placed them on the floor and looked out the window to the busy street below.
Okay, fake getaway set-up. . .tick! he thought, before ducking into one of the cubicles.
Andy stretched out his arms and legs, and placed his hands and feet on either wall so that he was hovering just above the toilet bowl. He then inched his way up the walls until he reached the ceiling.
If Spiderman can do this. . .so can I, he thought.
Andy knew he wouldn’t be able to hold his position indefinitely. But even with the door to his cubicle wide open, he was now completely out of view.
The angry shouts of the police officers filled the room. They banged open all the cubicle doors one after another, but failed to see Andy pressed up against the ceiling.
‘LOOK!’ one of them shouted, as he spotted the broken window. ‘I told you he came in here!’
‘How? What? These are solid bars. And did he jump? But how could he survive a three-storey drop? No wonder the Lake Geneva water police said he was no ordinary boy.’
The officers turned and charged out of the toilets. Moments later Andy heard someone else enter the room.
‘Yeah, it’s me. I lost him!’ It was Agent Gatekeeper’s voice. ‘Well. . .you try keeping up with a bionic-powered wonder kid. Yeah, okay, confirmed. Also let the General know that the police were. . .’
‘Oh! What are you doing in here?’ cried a female voice in English. ‘This is the ladies’ room. Get out, you pervert!’
‘I’m so sorry, Madam,’ said Agent Gatekeeper, his voice trailing off.
Andy exhaled quietly. He had outsmarted his chasers. But just as he was about to drop to the ground, the woman who had barked at Agent Gatekeeper entered the cubicle he was hiding in. It was the chocolate saleswoman.
Uh oh, Andy thought, not moving an inch and looking directly down at the top of her head. Don’t look up, please don’t look up and don’t. . .oh, no!
BRRRRUUPPP!
Andy winced. The chocolate lady let rip. Several times. This was not pretty.
Andy couldn’t remember having been in a grosser or more awkward situation in his entire life. He had no choice but to remain completely frozen, hope she didn’t look up and do his best not to breathe in.
● ● ●
Andy hid in the restrooms for another twenty minutes before sneaking back onto the streets of Lucerne.
Looking down at his palm-screen GPS he dashed across a busy intersection and headed for the Dying Lion monument. He made his way onto a covered wooden bridge that spanned the river.
Andy weaved his way through the tourists strolling along the narrow footbridge. He was on high alert for anything that seemed suspicious. Then suddenly he stopped dead.
Just up ahead he spotted someone else he recognised – he was mean-looking, and built like a WWF wrestler. His head was shaved and shiny.
It was the mysterious man who had recognised Judd back in Nyon and followed them.
Andy ducked behind a group of teenagers and continued to follow the man from a distance.
Talk about striking it lucky. . .or maybe unlucky, he thought. His heart was racing. Was the man searching for Judd, too? Or even worse – had he already found him? But there was no sign of his friend. And no sign of the police officers or Agent Gatekeeper, either.
Andy shadowed the mystery man, who had just taken a call on his mobile.
With his acute bionic hearing, Andy could hear the conversation.
‘So the kid’s here?’ the man said in Swiss. ‘He’s like his parents – he has guts, I’ll give him that. And where’s his friend? He what? No, no one at the Corporation tells me anything. I’m just the muscle! What happened? Seriously? Boris reckons the car went over the cliff and flew away? Has he gone nuts?’
Andy gasped. Judd’s theory was that this guy was connected to his parents’ death. Now it seemed that he was connected to the Blaireau as well.
No wonder Reggie couldn’t get any information on the man or what happened to Judd’s parents, Andy thought. The files on the Blaireau Corporation were so top secret that even the General didn’t have full access. At least he hasn’t found Judd yet, thought Andy.
‘I was just about to call her. . .Yeah, I just want to make sure she doesn’t get any ideas about bolting,’ he said. ‘Yeah, I get it. It’s a problem. She knows too much.’
Who was she? Andy wondered. And if she wanted to run, what was stopping her?
‘She’s not stupid. She’s a code-breaker. . .I’m sure she’s worked out that something’s up. Leave it to me. I’ll do it now before I track down the kid. I know he’s around here somewhere.’
The man walked off the footbridge and along the esplanade. Andy’s hand began to flash red again. There was no way he could receive the message as a hologram now. He tapped his menu screen and converted it to text format. It was his dad.
Andy. . .We understand you want to help Judd, but at what cost?
The man abruptly stepped into a coffee shop. Andy quickly slipped his hoodie over his head and approached the shop window, making sure to keep out of the man’s line of vision.
The man put in an order at the counter, made his way to a table, and took a laptop out of his shoulder bag.
Andy was torn. Should he keep going or keep an eye
on the man? He wanted to find Judd as soon as possible. But he didn’t want to miss what could be an incredible opportunity to find out more about the Blaireau Corporation.
Andy knew he was causing a lot of headaches back at the Agency. If he came up with some valuable new intelligence they might be willing to forgive him. He decided to stay put. He looked back at the message from his dad:
Remember the new applications I was working on as part of your upgrade? Well, via the Turbo dashboard we’ve been able to activate one of them. Look for the image of a mirror on your menu screen. It’s awesome – if I do say so myself! Be safe.
Andy tapped on the icon. The window that popped up read:
This is the Mirror Hack app. It will allow you to hack in to computer and mobile devices, mirroring your target’s screen. You can use your keyboard to hack their computer or you can record whatever appears on their screen. Just point your right finger at the device you want to mirror, and that user’s screen will appear on your left-hand palm. All the mirrored data will be in the history file – it’s the icon that looks like an elephant. But we still haven’t been able to get it to record audio. Mum & Dad xx
‘Nice one!’ Andy grinned. He immediately activated the new app and pointed his finger towards the laptop.
Moments later, the screen appeared on Andy’s palm. The man was making a video call.
A woman’s face appeared on the screen. Her face was flushed bright red, her dark-blonde hair hung over her blue eyes. She looked angry. The man had earphones and a mic and Andy couldn’t hear the conversation. In less than a minute, he ended the call.
As the man gulped his coffee, Andy quickly clicked on the history file and sent it to Reggie. He hoped that he could use the call information to track down where the woman was being held. And he hoped that Reggie wouldn’t tell the General.
But now I have to get out of here, Andy thought. I’d better find Judd before this guy does!
On his way up the hill, Andy noticed people pointing at something.
He looked up and saw a brightly coloured hummingbird flying very low through the crowd.
It was coming straight at him, then it stopped and fluttered directly in front. It hovered only centimetres away from Andy’s face before flying off.
Moments later the bird reappeared, flapping its wings near Andy’s right shoulder. When Andy turned to take a closer look, the hummingbird once again shot away into the sky.
‘Bizarre,’ Andy muttered as he reached the monument.
The Dying Lion sculpture was a lot bigger and more beautiful than Andy had thought it would be. It was carved into the cliff face of an old sandstone quarry that overlooked a pond, and it was as long as two small cars. Tourists stood along the path taking photographs.
Andy walked through the crowd, hoping to spot Judd. He was feeling exposed and a bit afraid. He looked around nervously, for the police, the General’s agents, the Blaireau, the man who was tracking Judd. . .
He brushed past an old gypsy woman who was begging around a crowd of tourists. She was wearing all black, and had a veil covering her face. She put her hand out for money.
‘Sorry,’ said Andy in Swiss. ‘I don’t have any change.’
But the gypsy persisted. She stuck out her other hand.
Maybe she didn’t understand, he thought. ‘I’m sorry,’ Andy said again, trying French. He stepped past her.
‘Don’t be such a cheapskate, Bionic Boy,’ the gypsy hissed.
The gypsy lifted her veil slightly.
‘Judd!’ Andy said. ‘What the?’
‘Shhh! Dude. . .stay cool,’ Judd snapped back. He had thick makeup caked on his face and was wearing a frizzy black wig. ‘Don’t blow my cover.’
‘Sorry, sorry,’ Andy whispered. ‘Whoa, you’re one ugly girl.’
‘It’s nice to see you too, dude,’ Judd said. ‘I’m glad you worked out my clue.’
Andy pretended to search in his pockets for change. ‘So we’ve got to get out of here,’ he whispered. ‘I just saw the guy who followed us in Nyon and he’s from the Blaireau for sure.’
‘Where?’ asked Judd, his voice hardening. ‘I’ve got to find him. Take me back to where you spotted Shadow X!’
‘Shadow-who?’
‘Shadow X – it’s one of the Agency’s classification names for highly dangerous suspects who haven’t been identified,’ said Judd. ‘Come on, dude. You should know that. You’re the one who always does his homework. It’s spy-lingo 101.’
‘Oh yeah, yeah,’ Andy said, vaguely recalling that fact from all the theory he was meant to have learnt while training to be an agent.
‘Lead me back to him – now!’ Judd ordered.
‘Hold on,’ Andy snapped. ‘Do you have any idea what you’re going to do when you find him. . .this Shadow X? I think we should call the General in.’
‘No way,’ said Judd. ‘I know in my gut that he recognised me, and not in the same way an agent spots another agent. No, this jerk is responsible for what happened to my parents somehow. I just know it. I’m going to get some answers out of him. And then I’m going to make him pay for what he did. That’s why I wanted you to come. You’re my weapon of choice, dude. I’m not that clueless.’
Andy was shocked. ‘Is that what this is about?’ he said. ‘No way. I’ll help you track him down, but only so we can hand him over to the Agency. Getting revenge won’t bring your mum and dad back. I can understand –’
‘No, you can’t understand,’ snapped Judd, growing more frustrated. ‘You don’t know what it’s been like for me. . .I owe them this.’
Andy was torn. Was he going to join Judd or not?
He remembered Judd saying that if he ever came face to face with his parents’ killers, he was going let them have it. Andy knew what he’d meant: he wanted to hurt them, maybe kill them.
He knows I don’t want to be a weapon, thought Andy. I don’t want to be a part of that. But he’s my best friend. . .
Judd glared at him. ‘If you don’t want to go with me, then fine.’ He stormed off. He looked funny as he dragged his old lady’s dress behind him.
Andy was about to chase after his friend, but then he saw something that almost made his heart stop. It was Shadow X marching their way.
‘Shoot!’ he gasped.
Andy could tell that Shadow X hadn’t spotted them yet. He was still looking around, but he was only about forty metres away.
I’ve got to do something before he sees us, he thought. He’s probably armed. We can’t afford an all-out battle in broad daylight.
Andy knew that he couldn’t risk anyone getting hurt, or worse, killed. And he didn’t want to lose what could now be a strong lead to the Blaireau Corporation – something that would surely gain him some points back with the General.
We have to play this game offensively, not defensively, thought Andy, swiftly initiating his 3-D projected holographic imaging app and beaming a lifelike duplicate of himself onto the wall of a building a few metres directly in front of Shadow X.
‘That’s it,’ Andy said under his breath, as he spotted Shadow X’s reaction to seeing the holographic double. ‘Yes, yes, go for it.’
The menacing man immediately made a beeline for the fake Andy. Andy continued to project his image along the building’s wall, before having it turn into a dark laneway. Shadow X picked up his pace and chased after it.
Seconds later Andy zapped off his projection and ran after Judd. He had bought them some time. . .for now.
‘Of course I’ll go with you,’ Andy said when he caught up, looking nervously behind him. ‘I’ll help if I can. But we’ve got to find somewhere less exposed. The Blaireau, the Agency and the cops are all after me. Plus, there’s this weird hummingbird around,’ he added.
Judd stopped. ‘That’s not good,’ he said. ‘Did you catch sight of its eyes? Were they red?’
Andy was confused. ‘Do you mean the hummingbird’s eyes? Um, I don’t think so. I mean, I’m not sure. I wasn’t really lo
oking that closely. Why?’
‘I’ve seen it too. I think it might be a robotic camera or a real bird augmented with a camera. Someone has eyes on us now, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the Blaireau. Remember, they deal in bionics and robotic weapons.’
‘Seriously?’ said Andy, impressed. ‘That’s kind of awesome, and scary.’
‘Yeah, it is. So laser its feathery humming butt next time you see it, okay?’
Andy wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He hoped the hummingbird wouldn’t appear again.
Hiding behind a food stand at the Lucerne train station, Andy waited for Judd to change out of his gypsy woman disguise.
While he waited, a text came through from Reggie:
That call was to a number in the Valais Canton area – high up in the mountains of southwestern Switzerland. I don’t know where exactly, but the closest town is a place called Morgins. Whatever you’re doing, try and stay safe.
‘Right!’ said Judd, joining him, back in his usual clothes. ‘Now, let’s kick Shadow X’s butt. Where did you see him last?’
‘It was over there, near platform three,’ Andy lied, hoping to stall Judd and convince him to reconsider his revenge attack. ‘But I wanted to ask you something first. What’s the connection with the Dying Lion statue? Does it have something to do with your parents?’
Judd nodded. ‘My parents were never allowed to tell me where they were when they were on a mission, of course. It was all totally classified,’ he said, as they walked through the station.
Andy was keeping an eye out for anyone who looked suspicious, but Judd didn’t seem to care. He just wanted to find Shadow X.
‘But my mum sent me clues,’ he said. ‘It was like a game. The last clue I ever got from her was to be brave and loyal. . .It took me ages, but I finally figured out that she had been here in Lucerne. She loved anything to do with clues and puzzles. She was the best code-breaker the Agency ever had.’
Andy stopped. ‘Code-breaker?’ he said, breathless.
‘Yeah, why? What’s going on? What’s freaking you out?’ Judd asked.
