The Nightmare Vortex

by Deborah Abela

  ‘Couldn’t be better,’ she moaned.

  ‘Good,’ said Alex, missing the sarcasm altogether. ‘Now try again.’

  Max straightened up, steadied herself and tried again but as she got closer to Alex, a strong jet of steam from the crater pushed her away. There was no chance of getting close to the cage.

  Alex thought about what they should do next.

  ‘The ledge.’ Her head nodded to indicate a small platform protruding from a wall behind the cage.

  Max turned the chair to face where Alex was looking. That’s not a ledge, she thought, it’s a small piece of rock that wouldn’t pass for a diving board at a baby pool.

  As Max was about to ask Alex to think of something else, a giant eruption of rocks and lava exploded from the crater striking the bottom of the cage as if in warning that there was no time to lose.

  ‘Okay,’ she muttered out loud, knowing every speck of logic was telling her she was crazy.

  Max steered the chair to the ledge and tried to keep it steady as she stood on the fluffy, cushioned seat. Her feet sank into the blue fur and made it hard to balance.

  ‘Please. Let me reach it.’ The moment she said this, another gust of steam shot out of the crater, forcing the chair forward and Max with it.

  ‘Aaaaahhh!’

  Max lurched into the air and after a clumsy somersault with not a hint of style, she landed on both feet like a gymnast performing a perfect finish. She hardly had time to be amazed before Alex spoke.

  ‘Good. Now all you have to do is use the Abseiler to hook onto the cage and swing your way down here to let me out.’

  I guess congratulations for making it to the ledge is too much to expect? Max grumbled as her fingers stretched into her pack to get the Abseiler. Just as she found it, her eyes fell on the bulging, boiling cauldron below her.

  She’d looked down and as hard as she tried, she couldn’t look away. Neither could she move her feet. Her fear of heights consumed her and cemented her to the ledge.

  ‘Max? We don’t have much time.’ Alex was feeling the rising heat of the chamber of lava and needed the young spy to act fast.

  Max couldn’t move. She tried with everything she had, but nothing worked. She was the only one who could save Alex, Ella and Linden, and she couldn’t move a muscle.

  Alex winced as the steam from the volcano rose higher and higher, prickling her nose like a small insect had been let lose inside it. But that wasn’t what was annoying her most.

  ‘Max?’

  Alex looked at Max standing on the ledge with the Abseiler in front of her. Her eyes were wide and unblinking, like a human ice sculpture. It was like Max’s body was there but her mind had checked out and chosen somewhere safe to go. Alex tried again.

  ‘Max? What are you waiting for?’

  Max didn’t hear Alex. At training she couldn’t even do a somersault without bumping into something, and now, standing on the edge of a volcano, all she could remember was holding her Abseiler close to her chest as a whirlpool of virtual rapids ran beneath her. Only this time, the lava pit below her was real. But what was also real was the possibility of never seeing Linden again. He was in danger and she had to save him, and conquering this boiling orange bubble pit below her was the first step to doing it.

  She moved to the edge of the ledge.

  ‘Come on, Max.’

  Max wiped another pool of sweat from her face but as she was about to throw the Abseiler rope, she tripped and almost fell.

  ‘Max!’ Alex watched the young spy as her body tumbled through the air. Max’s hands flew around her and only just managed to grab hold of a rocky bulge behind her.

  Alex took a deep breath. ‘Max, stay calm.’

  Calm? she thought. How exactly do I do that?

  ‘Max, you have to believe in yourself totally or you’ll never do it. Even an ounce of doubt will send you over the edge.’

  ‘Now she tells me.’ But Alex’s words worked. If Max let her fear take over she could kiss her spy career and everything else goodbye.

  The next part happened like Max was watching a spy film and the main character looked a lot like her. She took the Abseiler and fixed the rope to the wall behind her. The Venus Flytrap fibres gripped like a superspider. She then threw the device towards the cage, landing it exactly where she’d wanted. She clutched the rope and made her way towards Alex’s cage as if the spewing lava and yawning chasm were no more scary than a birdbath on a hot day.

  When she reached the cage, she flicked the release valve to open the door and jumped inside. She took her laser from her pack and burnt through the titanium rope binding Alex’s hands. Within seconds, the superspy was free.

  Alex grabbed her palm computer from her secret hidden pocket.

  ‘Prepare your PFD. I know a way out of here.’

  Max simply stared at Alex. She’d just swung across a burning pit of lava, unlocked a cage that was holding her prisoner and broke through titanium ropes to set her free. What was it going to take for Alex to say thank you?

  Max activated the PFD. ‘And then we’ll save Linden and Ella?’

  ‘There’s no time.’

  Max was getting tired of being bossed around.

  ‘I’m not going until you agree we’ll find them first.’

  ‘If we don’t stop Blue there won’t be any of Linden or Ella left to save.’ Alex focused on her computer. ‘That’s weird. The locator is reading that there’s a black hole above here.’

  ‘That’s because of the Nightmare Vortex.’

  ‘The what?’

  ‘The Nightmare Vortex,’ said Max like it was no big deal. ‘This creepy world Blue has created that makes you face your biggest fears. Aaaahhh!’ Another gooey fountain of burning lava only just missed Max’s face. ‘We got sucked into it just after we left Roy at the supply area.’

  ‘Roy?’ Alex looked worried. ‘Was he tall with a tuft of hair and a fuzzy long beard like a bushranger?’

  ‘Not even close.’

  ‘He’s one of Blue’s.’ Alex said it with a ring of doom in her voice.

  Max’s throat seized up as another drop of sweat trickled down her nose.

  ‘That confirms what we suspected. Blue has agents here. He also created a device that electromagnetically activates the molecules in the earth’s core to artificially heat up to such a degree as to cause a volcanic eruption on this island. The Nightmare Vortex can only exist in a state of heightened electromagnetic activity. We have to find the device and destroy it before the island explodes and us with it.’

  The volcano was getting more active each second, forewarning Max and Alex of what was to come.

  ‘Ready?’ yelled Max above another blast.

  ‘Ready.’ Alex clung onto Max as she prepared to take off.

  ‘Waaaaaa!’ Max didn’t have a natural flare when it came to the PFD and this time was no different. The two spies wobbled through the air, dipping and swinging through smoke and hot steam, only just managing to avoid explosions of lava and ash.

  ‘Watch out!’ Alex warned.

  Max was heading towards a red-hot pinnacle of rock directly in front of them.

  ‘Pull back!’ Alex yelled.

  ‘I’m trying.’ Max tried to direct the flying device but the heat and volcanic blasts were interfering with the controls and it wouldn’t do what she wanted it to.

  ‘Max!’ Alex clung onto Max as the PFD spluttered through the steaming cavern, unable to gain height and taking them straight towards a burning mountain of rock.

  ‘Max, lift up!’

  Max was using all her strength to fight against the jet force streams of volcanic pressure that were taking them straight towards the giant, red-hot pinnacle. Lava shot up around them like fireworks as they neared the rock. The PFD swirled and tumbled as Max tried to gain control.

  ‘Come on, you hunk of flying rubbish,’ Max seethed as she gave the lever one final yank. The PFD lifted and Max and Alex only just avoided being turned into well-fried human
pancakes.

  The PFD soared over the rock, past another pool of boiling, spluttering magma and with a few more awkward turns and swivels, Max directed the device to the roof of the cavern, where they only just squeezed through the narrow mouth of the underground cave. Max was pretty pleased with herself as she landed the PFD with only a few near tumbles.

  They stood on a stone walkway of the castle overlooking an orange and black-tinged sea.

  Alex unhooked herself from the device. ‘Remind me next time to take the bus.’ Then she smiled.

  Max couldn’t believe it. Her whole body tingled like the smile had been loaded with electricity. She was standing on the stone path smiling with Alex like two great superspies who had just escaped death. She knew now they’d be friends.

  ‘Now let’s get to Harrison.’

  Using the locator on her palm computer, Alex found the exact location of their chief. Together they raced down the moonlit walkways, across a stone maze of moats and bridges until they found him in a small room overlooking the awards hall, clustered with other Spyforce agents around a pool of humming computers.

  ‘Alex, Max. What have you found out?’ he asked like he wasn’t even surprised to see them.

  Alex calmly explained Blue’s plans of using the volcano to blow up the island. Max just stared. It was as though they were chatting about what to have for dinner, not discussing the possible destruction of the island and everyone on it. Max couldn’t stand all the calmness.

  ‘And he’s using the Spectral Hologram Mark III,’ she burst in proudly.

  ‘So, it’s what we expected.’ Harrison looked serious. ‘Blue’s completed the Electro-Magnetron and is conducting the operation externally.’

  The door opened and Irene rushed in. She wrapped Max in an all-enveloping hug. ‘Oh, you’re safe. I was worried sick. Are you okay?’

  As Max struggled to release herself from Irene’s arms, Harrison spoke into a transceiver hidden in a carnation on his suit and instructed the team back at headquarters to aim the Spyforce Electromagnetic Neutraliser at the coordinates of the island. He then gave Alex a Volcanic Coolant to lower the temperature of the volcano. ‘Alex, pour this into the mouth of the volcano as soon as you can. Frond says it will help cool the magma while the Neutraliser is set in place.’

  Alex took the coolant and left without a word.

  ‘Hopefully we’re going to be too late … I mean, not too late,’ Harrison said almost to himself.

  Max was getting more and more annoyed. There was one thing everyone seemed to have forgotten.

  ‘What about Linden and Ella? They’re on a beach about to be eaten by giant Coconut Crabs.’

  ‘Coconut Crabs?’ Irene said knowingly. ‘Mean little so-and-sos when they want to be. Come with me.’

  Irene took Max to the kitchen, where her hands flew through the air, chopping, grating and squeezing a mixture of herbs and roots. ‘When I was a kid I used this to stun crabs when I went fishing for them with my mum. Sprinkle it all over Linden and Ella and those crabs’ll be sent packing. It’s like using vinegar on leeches. They hate it but it won’t do them any harm.’

  She could see Max was scared and leant down close to her.

  ‘Don’t worry. Your friends will be fine once they have this.’

  Max found the exact location of Linden and Ella using Irene’s palm computer as Irene put the jar of anti-crab mixture in her pack.

  ‘Good luck, treasure.’ Max felt better after Irene’s words and with slightly more grace than usual, but not much more, she flew through one of the tall stone windows of the kitchen. She soared into the night air, starting to feel confident with the PFD until something happened. She looked down.

  ‘Aaaahhhh!’ She was flying high above the swirling ocean as it crashed against the cliffs. She felt dizzy at how high she was and at the prospect of plummeting to a watery doom. The PFD dipped dangerously low and her nerves slid from brave to petrified as the churning ocean came closer and closer.

  ‘Max! We’re here!’ A small voice rose above the roaring waves.

  ‘Linden?’

  ‘We’re down here.’

  Max could see two people on the beach below her waving and circling their arms. Linden and Ella. She snapped back into action and pulled the PFD up from its tumbling nosedive. Suddenly, Max’s fear of heights disappeared. Linden was in danger and she had to save him.

  Unfrazzling her nerves, she gripped the lever firmly and manoeuvred the PFD through the buffeting winds towards the beach. As Max landed with a small pffffttt on the sand, she saw that not only had the crabs begun nipping at their clothes but the tide had come in as well and was swirling around their knees.

  ‘Max, you’re here!’ Ella cried.

  Linden beamed. ‘About time you turned up.’

  Max smiled, every particle of her body was doing mini somersaults in relief at finding Linden and Ella.

  ‘I’ve been busy,’ she joked.

  ‘Not interrupting anything, I hope.’

  ‘Yeah, but I’ll let you make it up to me some other time.’ She grinned wickedly at Linden as she sprinkled Irene’s mixture over the crabs and within seconds the oversized crustaceans dropped off Linden’s and Ella’s clothes like bowling balls and headed for the sea.

  ‘Something special you whipped up in the kitchen?’

  ‘Yeah, and I saved you some for when we get back.’

  Max cut through their ropes with her knife, and when they were free they all adjusted their PFD’s ready for take-off.

  ‘Did they find Blue?’ Linden asked.

  ‘Yeah, but I’ll tell you all about it when we get back.’

  They activated their PFDs and flew into the night. Ella was a natural, of course, but as Max sailed high above the sea towards the orange glow of the force-field, she felt herself finally get the hang of the device. She noticed Linden look towards her and smile. She’d saved her friend and if Harrison and Alex got there in time, Blue would have been defeated. As she soared towards the tall stone castle of the awards night celebrations, nothing else mattered.

  When they arrived back in the kitchen, Irene ran up to them. ‘Harrison and Alex did it. The Neutraliser worked. The volcano is quiet and Blue’s plans have been crushed. But quick. There’s something happening in the awards room you’ve got to see.’

  Irene hustled them out of the kitchen just in time to see Harrison accept the final award of the night: Spy Agency of the Year. They stood watching their chief proudly, knowing that intelligence agencies across the world had been saved and not one of them knew they were even in danger.

  Linden looked at Max. ‘Next time I’m coming with you. Those crabs were no fun at all.’

  ‘Sure, if you’re up to it.’ Max smiled.

  The three spies wilted in their tall wooden chairs. Linden’s and Ella’s clothes were in tatters and Max was covered in just about every foodstuff there was in the kitchen.

  ‘I think we did it,’ Ella said, happy to no longer be warding off hungry crabs. But just as they thought their night was over, Irene approached them. The way her hands sat on her hips, they knew she didn’t have good news.

  ‘Think you can sit down on the job, eh? There’s a lot more work to do yet and I leave a kitchen as clean as I find it. Let’s go.’

  The kitchen was a disaster area.

  ‘This’ll take all week,’ Max grumbled.

  ‘If you add a little elbow grease and cut out the lip flapping it should only take you a few days.’ Irene smiled cheekily. ‘Now let’s go.’

  They started scrubbing with all the enthusiasm of sloths with a heavy dose of sleeping sickness until Linden noticed something.

  ‘Max?’

  ‘Mmmm,’ was all she could manage as she scrubbed pots almost as big as herself.

  ‘I think your pack’s trying to tell you something.’

  Max’s pack was moving and gurgling like there was a small animal inside.

  ‘Make any friends in your travels?’ Linden flashed a p
layful smile.

  ‘Not that I want to keep.’ Max approached her pack that sat near the main oven. ‘Maybe it’s one of those crabs or some weird underground volcanic creature.’

  Linden and Ella watched from a distance as Max stood above her wriggling pack. A bead of sweat formed on her brow as she prepared herself for whatever hitchhiking beast she may encounter.

  ‘Here goes.’ She flung the pack open and just as she did a warm glug of sticky liquid squirted over her, followed by a short, sharp zap.

  All three were stunned, until Linden worked it out. ‘Your Slimer. Quimby said it might not work properly in extreme temperatures. I guess now we know what she meant.’ A smirk oozed onto his face.

  ‘Don’t worry, Max. I’m sure Frond will have an antidote.’ Ella tried to be sympathetic but Max did look funny. She heard Linden snigger behind her as she did a lousy job of trying to cover a wayward smile.

  Max stared at both of them and wondered whether it was too late to take them back to the crab-infested beach. She stood before them, plastered in the purple goo and got ready to give them both one of her best blastings but when she ungummed her lips, nothing came out.

  ‘Max?’ Linden was waiting to be told off, but nothing happened.

  ‘The zapping sound must have been from the Silencio,’ Ella said, feeling bad about Max’s bad luck.

  Irene came over wondering what the hold-up was.

  ‘Max’s Slimer and Silencio didn’t like the heat and have taken it out on her … all over her.’

  Linden and Ella tried again to stop the laughter that was itching to be let loose.

  ‘If you didn’t want to do the dishes, Max, you should have just said so.’ Irene chuckled at her own joke, which took away any chance of self-control for Linden and Ella. All three laughed until tears covered their faces and their lungs were desperate for more air. Max’s eyes darted around in her goo-struck face. She would have loved to have blown her stack over the total lack of sympathy she was getting, but she had to take every bit of it in silence.

  Irene wiped her eyes and tried to catch her breath. ‘We need a little help over here.’ She summonsed a few of the bigger kitchen helpers to prop the sticky agent in a corner where she had to wait until everything was scrubbed clean.