Triple Trouble Read online

  ‘I think you’re both right,’ Addie said, pulling her shoulders back. ‘And you’re right, Supernova 1, we are running out of time. My camera cube is just behind you, Shooting Star.

  Can you pick it up and see if it’s still working?’

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  ‘Sure,’ Samantha said. She raced over, picked Addie’s CC3 up and dusted off its screen with her glove. ‘Yep it’s working even though the screen is cracked. Mine’s still working too, look. It’s hovering outside a building complex.’

  Valentina looked at the screen and

  drew in a sharp breath. ‘It’s more than five kilometres from here. We don’t have the time to walk that far. We only have nineteen minutes left!’

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  ‘Crumbs,’ Samantha said. ‘Think guys.

  There has to be a way. I wish we could teleport.’

  Without warning, three big beetbugs flew towards the agents.

  ‘They’re going to dive bomb us!’

  Valentina yelled. ‘Run for cover! Go! Go!’

  But the bugs swooped down and plucked

  them from the ground.

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  ‘Help!’ Samantha screamed.

  ‘Stay calm, Shooting Star,’ Addie called.

  ‘Wherever they’re taking us at least we’ll be together. I don’t think they will harm us.’

  ‘Don’t look down,’ Samantha said to

  herself. ‘Chill, Sam and don’t look down.’ It was then that she thought to look at CC3’s screen instead. ‘They are helping!’ she shouted to the others. ‘They’re taking us to that complex. I can see it getting closer and closer on CC3’s screen.’

  Thank goodness, thought Addie. You clever, clever creatures. Thank you!

  The beetbugs dropped the agents down in thick petal bamboo that surrounded the

  complex then flew quickly away.

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  ‘I was so worried their claws would tear our suits,’ Valentina said as she checked her shoulders. ‘Are your suits okay?’

  ‘Okay,’ Addie and Samantha answered

  together.

  ‘Twelve minutes left,’ Valentina said

  checking the digi-clock again. ‘We need a foolproof plan. Hey, the quickgro bamboo powder’s ready. We can send the CC3s out to spray it where the petal bamboo has been destroyed.’

  Addie looked down at her hourglass

  timekeeper. ‘Mine’s ready too,’ she agreed.

  ‘But I think we need to send a CC3 inside this complex first to see what’s going on in there.’

  ‘I can hear buzzing again,’ Samantha

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  cried, grabbing her wand.

  ‘They’re coming out of that funnel,’

  Addie said pointing to an outlet on top of the roof. ‘Let this lot go. We can send CC3 into the building through that funnel when the swarm has left.’

  The agents waited until the last of

  this new swarm of robotic pests had shot out through the funnel. Then they sent in Samantha’s CC3.

  ‘It’s Mrs Lamrock!’ Samantha cried,

  staring at Addie’s CC3 screen.

  ‘I don’t believe it,’ Addie said quietly.

  ‘Look behind her,’ Valentina said. ‘Piles of robotic pests waiting to be programmed and told where to go and what to do.’

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  Samantha took out her SpaceBerry.

  ‘Hey, tell my CC3 to get a good view of her computer screen.’

  ‘I think I know exactly what you’re

  thinking!’ Addie said with a glint in her eye.

  ‘You are going to hack into the program and take control of those pests, aren’t you? And if anyone can do it you can, Sam! You’ve topped Computer Programming every year!’

  ‘I hope I can manage it,’ Samantha said as she opened up her SpaceBerry’s computer.

  ‘Eight minutes,’ Valentina said then

  looked at CC3’s screen in horror. ‘Please no!

  She’s eating a donut! Why? Why now? Get back to work, ex-dorm mistress!’

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  just have to wait it out,’ she said. ‘When she programs the next lot I’ll be able to see what she does.’

  Samantha tapped away on her SpaceBerry

  for a few minutes and then shouted, ‘BINGO!

  I’m in!’

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  ‘Into Mrs Lamrock’s program?’ Addie asked.

  ‘Yep,’ Samantha answered, quite proud of herself. ‘Now we just need her to stop eating those donuts and get back to work. Just how many donuts can one person eat?’

  Valentina hopped from one foot to the

  other. ‘Four minutes left.’

  ‘If she doesn’t start programming the

  next lot in the next thirty seconds we have to go in,’ Addie said firmly.

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  ‘We only have a few minutes, guys, and Mrs Lamrock is still licking icing from her fingers!’

  Addie said, frustrated. ‘We HAVE to go in.’

  ‘Hang on,’ said Samantha. ‘Here she

  goes.’ Samantha’s eyes were glued to the screen as she watched Mrs Lamrock typing.

  ‘Got it all,’ Samantha said. ‘The programming is quite simple.’

  Suddenly a pile of robotic pests behind Mrs Lamrock began to buzz and lift from the floor and fly towards the funnel.

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  ‘And here they come,’ said Valentina.

  The three agents watched as robots

  poured out of the funnel and flew past them on the way to their programmed destination.

  ‘And there they go,’ Samantha said madly typing into her SpaceBerry. ‘I’ll give them one minute so she doesn’t suspect anything and then turn them round and bring them back.

  I’ve set them to destroy anything metal, glass or plastic so they should go for the lab.’

  That will only leave us barley ninety seconds if this doesn’t work, Addie thought, fidgeting with her belt. We should have a plan B.

  The three agents sat in silence and waited.

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  the familiar buzz. ‘They’re on their way back,’

  she said. ‘You did it, Shooting Star!’

  ‘In twenty seconds they’re going to fly back through that funnel and chew their way through anything that isn’t alive,’ Samantha said.

  The agents watched on screen as Mrs

  Lamrock munched through her last donut.

  ‘Any second now she’ll see on her

  computer that they’re on their way back and very close,’ Samantha noted, rather excited with her handiwork.

  Suddenly Mrs Lamrock threw her donut

  down and began typing frantically but it was no good. The pests were entering the funnel and destroying it as they went.

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  ‘She’s teleporting,’ Valentina said as they watched Mrs Lamrock hit the teleport button on her computer. ‘Get that CC3 out now.’

  Addie hit some buttons on
her CC3,

  recalling Samantha’s camera cube.

  ‘One minute left,’ Samantha said,

  grabbing her CC3 as it flew back to where they were hiding. ‘Quick, load your quickgro powder into the cameras.’

  The agents worked with speed and

  efficiency.

  ‘Loaded and ready to go,’ Valentina said.

  They let both cameras go. ‘Forty-five seconds isn’t much time to spray but it’s better than nothing. I set the teleporting app on both cameras. They’ll be back on-board RJ1 not 68

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  long after us. We did okay, guys,’ she said, taking their hands.

  Addie smiled. ‘We did more than

  okay. We did an awesome job and with

  twenty-five seconds to go. Hit our teleporting app, Samantha. It’s time for Easter parties and school holidays!’

  It was Sunday afternoon and the third years were at their Easter party in the dining hall waiting for dessert to be served.

  ‘What a yummy lunch,’ Hannah said,

  leaning back in her chair. ‘I don’t know if I can fit in dessert.’

  ‘But Easter dessert is the best!’ Miya said.

  ‘You’ll find room, I bet.’

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  ‘But it won’t be Mushy Slush Bomb Sundaes, will it?’ Olivia asked. She pulled a sulky face.

  ‘I only got one bite of mine, Liv,’ Addie said. ‘We both missed out. We’ll go back to the Galleria next term just for a sundae. What do you think?’

  ‘For sure,’ Olivia agreed. ‘But at least you missed out because of a real mission. I was just flying some first year cadets to a small mission close by.’

  ‘I was hoping I was going to be going with you,’ Addie said. ‘I got Valentina instead and I behaved pretty badly towards her for a while on mission.’

  ‘Are things any better between you now?’

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  Grace asked.

  ‘A bit,’ Addie replied. ‘She was actually okay on the mission and Samantha was great.

  GDC were clearing the planet with these robotic pests. Professor Le Strange said SEAS

  thought they had plans to build there or mine there or some other awful thing. Anyway, I told Valentina I was sorry. She accepted my apology and said she really wanted to be friends and wanted to know why I couldn’t just forgive her.’

  ‘And?’ Miya asked, raising an eyebrow at Addie.

  ‘And I told her the truth. That I did

  forgive her but that I just wasn’t ready to trust her again yet.

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  To be friends, I mean. I trust her totally on missions. She’s going to make a really ace agent.’

  ‘So, are you sort of friends then or are you going to be friends again?’ Lara asked.

  Addie thought for a minute before she

  answered. ‘Not great friends. Just alright and not-very-close friends, if that makes any sense.’

  ‘OH MY GOSH!’ Olivia squealed with

  delight. ‘Mushy Slush Bomb Sundaes topped with Easter eggs for dessert! I am going to gobble this down. I love SEAS.’

  As dessert was being placed in front of the students, Professor Nebulus stepped up to the microphone and began to speak.

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  ‘Good afternoon agents-in-training,’ he said. ‘I hope you all enjoyed the games this morning and that you all managed to pack last evening. You’ll only have half an hour after dessert to gather your things and make your way to the school shuttle bus. On behalf of the staff I’d like to wish you all a wonderful Easter and a safe holiday. And in the SEAS Easter tradition, the staff has a special gift for each and every one of you. We’d like you to open it and take it home with you this afternoon.

  However, it must return with you to SEAS

  after Easter break. I do hope you all enjoy your Mushy Slush Bomb Sundaes and we’ll be looking forward to seeing you all again rested and relaxed after the holidays.’

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  The minute the professor left the microphone the room burst into chatter as students found and unwrapped their gifts.

  ‘It’s a robotic pet!’ Lara said. ‘Mine’s a duck. What’s yours, Hannah?’

  ‘A bear,’ Hannah said holding hers up.

  Miya laughed. ‘I’ve got a dolphin,’ she said, making dolphin noises. Then she noticed Olivia’s horse. ‘That’s perfect for you, Liv.

  What did you get, Addie?’

  ‘A savasaur,’ Addie said smiling. ‘It’s just like Asasi. We have to program them ourselves though. I think I’m going to need Samantha’s help!’

  Olivia put her mini-horse down on the

  table and began digging into her sundae.

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  ‘Eat up, guys,’ she said grinning. ‘I’ve still got a bit of packing to do.’

  ‘That’d be right!’ Miya said and the table burst into laughter.

  ‘Yeah, I know. I’m not the most organised person at SEAS,’ Olivia said laughing at herself.

  ‘Okay, guess what flavour this is?’ she asked holding a ball of ice-cream out on her spoon.

  ‘Rocky road,’ Addie suggested.

  Olivia took a bite and grinned. ‘Nope.

  Lemon meringue pie!’

  Just then Aziza knocked the back of

  Olivia’s chair as she stood up.

  ‘Hey,’ Olivia said. ‘Be careful.’

  Aziza gave her a sharp look and began

  heading for the door.

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  ‘Aziza,’ Molly called after her. ‘You forgot your pet.’

  ‘As if I’d have any use for a dumb toy like that,’ Aziza said and she kept on walking.

  Addie looked to see what Molly was

  holding and she thought it looked a lot like a robotic insect. She shuddered. ‘Sabrina told me this morning that Aziza packed up her entire room. Bit odd, don’t you think?’

  ‘Everything about that one is odd,’ Olivia said.

  Addie tilted her head to the side, thinking for a second. Then she shrugged and said with a grin, ‘And everything about Mushy Slush Bomb Sundaes and SEAS is awesome!’

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  Document Outline

  Cover

  Title

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six