Spy Read online

  “Fly higher,” you tell the pilot.

  The engines roar as the plane climbs – but within moments you hear the pilot say, “They have missile lock-on!” There is an explosion and the fuselage fills with smoke “Bail out!” orders the pilot.

  To use your PANIC button, go to 49.

  If you want to use your jet suit, go to 17.

  31

  You activate the magnetic mine watch and attach it to the cargo drone. The watch explodes, destroying the drone. It drops you, but you are dazed by the blast and stunned by your fall. You can only watch as the other drones close in. You press the PANIC button.

  Go to 49.

  32

  “I’ll take the magnetic mine watch,” you say.

  “Remember,” says Doctor Goodness, “that watch will only destroy whatever it is in direct contact with.”

  If you decide to change your mind, go to 19.

  If you want to stick with your choice, go to 36.

  33

  You floor the accelerator and smash through the barriers.

  As you hit the moving ramp of the bridge, you select flight mode. The butterfly-wing doors deploy and jet engines roar as you take off. In your mirrors you see your pursuers’ car topple over the end of the ramp and plunge into the River Thames.

  A helicopter appears and hovers over the water where the car is sinking fast.

  If you want to help the helicopter search for survivors, go to 11.

  If you want to take a good look at the helicopter, go to 24.

  34

  Slightly breathless from your climb, you find Mammon’s office.

  The office is empty. All the cabinets have been cleared and only dangling cables show where the computers have been.

  You lean back against Mammon’s desk to think – and your bottom pushes a penholder, which clicks downwards. A wall panel slides open to reveal a steel-lined escape chute. The room lights flash red. A recorded voice announces, “Building auto-destruct activated: ninety seconds to detonation.”

  Uh-oh, you think. You have set off a booby trap!

  To use Mammon’s escape chute, go to 8.

  If you want to use the stairs, go to 25.

  35

  You find the Warbird controls. You lock the targeting system onto Mammon’s space-plane and fire missiles!

  You wait anxiously. To your relief, the computer reports a hit! You check the instrument panel, and see that Mammon’s plane must be damaged. It is going down!

  If you want to go to the radio room to report to the GIA, go to 39.

  If you want to try to destroy the satellites, go to 48.

  36

  Doctor Goodness leads you through a door into a garage. Lights come on to reveal a McLaren 650S supercar. You whistle. “Nice car!”

  “It flies.” Melanie Goodness hands you the key ring. “Your PANIC button also locks and unlocks the car. Don’t get the buttons mixed up, Agent Scorpio.”

  “Hmmm – I saw the prototype of this. Didn’t it crash?”

  “Yes, but we know what went wrong. I’m almost sure.”

  You shrug, get into the car and start the engine. As you close the doors, she calls, “Try not to break it, Agent Scorpio!”

  Go to 41.

  37

  You return to GIA Headquarters and enter the control room.

  Mr Melville glares at you. “Why are you here?”

  “To find out more details about the call from the car, and discuss…”

  Mr Melville is furious. “There are no more details! There’s nothing to discuss! Get over to Mammon’s offices at once – it may already be too late!”

  Go to 16.

  38

  You follow signs for the landing stage and find yourself in a small harbour with cliffs on three sides. Tied up to the tiny dock is a powerful motorboat. You untie it, power up the outboard engine and head for the open sea.

  Before you get far, the sky lights up with a huge explosion. The air strike has started! Boulders fall from the cliffs, blocking the harbour mouth and trapping you inside. More explosions follow and the whole cliff falls towards you! You hit the PANIC button.

  Go to 49.

  39

  You find the radio room. “Call off the air strike! Mammon’s plane is going down.”

  “We can see that for ourselves!” Mr Melville’s voice crackles over the radio. “What are you waiting for? Can you stop the satellites?”

  You press the radio’s transmit button. “I can try.”

  Go to 48.

  40

  You fly back to London and take a taxi to the zoo. You head for the Gorilla Kingdom.

  You slip round the back of the building. A retina scan allows you through a hidden door. As it opens, you find yourself facing a powerful male silverback gorilla!

  “Afternoon, Rodney,” you say. “On guard duty again?”

  “Yes, worse luck,” says the man in the gorilla suit. He moves away from the doorway. “Go through. Mr Melville is expecting you.”

  Soon you are in a lift, going down to the secret GIA base beneath the zoo.

  Go to 6.

  41

  You drive up a ramp, and a concealed exit lets you out into Regent’s Park.

  You decide to see if a contact at the American Embassy knows anything about the missing satellites. But as you head towards the embassy, a black SUV pulls alongside you. An Uzi MP2 machine gun is thrust out of the side window and opens fire!

  If you want to switch to flight mode, go to 2.

  If you want to pull ahead and see what your attackers do, go to 15.

  42

  As the man from the desk runs to help the the guards, you take off your watch and attach it to a cleaning trolley standing by the lift. You push this towards your attackers and dive behind a pillar.

  The trolley explodes sending mops, brooms and buckets flying. The guards are stunned.

  “That’s what I call a clean sweep,” you mutter as you step over them. You head for the stairs in case there are more guards coming down in the lift.

  Go to 34.

  43

  You climb into the clouds. Once again you are hurled around by the storm. Your suit’s tracking system fails: you can only hope that the Warbird missiles’ guidance systems have also been damaged!

  Half-blinded by lightning, you drop out of the clouds again – only to realise that the missiles have been tracking you. They are right behind you!

  If you want to use your PANIC button, go to 49.

  If you want to fly as low as you can, go to 9.

  44

  You use the radio to call the GIA emergency frequency. “Mammon is here. He has control of the satellites!” you report.

  The reply comes, not from the GIA operator, but from Mammon himself. “My associates and I are about to leave the island in my space-plane, heading to our secret moon base while the Earth descends into chaos… Goodbye, Agent Scorpio!”

  Time is running out! Mammon will escape from the island before the air strike!

  If you want to try to stop the space-plane taking off, go to 26.

  If you want to find the Warbird missile controls, go to 35.

  45

  You are led into a well-equipped lab.

  “My name is Doctor Goodness.” Mr Melville’s weapons expert shakes your hand. “Melanie Goodness. Now, pay attention, Agent Scorpio.” She hands you a key ring.

  “This is our latest gadget. A PANIC button. It stands for Personal Automatic Need- Induced reCovery. It’s an experimental teleport device. If you are faced with great danger, press the button. It will bring you back here, to this moment in time. Roughly.”

  “Er… Right.” You pick up an ordinary-looking ballpoint. “Laser pen?”

  “Yes, take that. And one of these.” She holds up two watches. “This one delivers an electromagnetic pulse that will fry any electronic circuits within a ten metre radius. And this one is a high-explosive magnetic mine.”

  To try to take both watches,
go to 10.

  If you want to take the electromagnetic watch, go to 19.

  If you decide to take the explosive magnetic mine watch, go to 32.

  46

  You slam on the brakes and screech to a halt. Your pursuers are right behind you. The SUV smashes into the rear of your car, forcing it over the edge of the bridge. It plunges into the water.

  “It’s a shame this model doesn’t drive underwater,” you say. There is nothing for it. You hit the PANIC button.

  Go to 49.

  47

  You raise your hands. The drones hustle you down a narrow track to a domed building.

  Inside the dome, human guards take you to Sebastian Mammon.

  “Agent Scorpio,” he sneers. “You are too late. The deadline for world governments to surrender has passed! The countdown has begun. London, New York, Moscow, Beijing – all will be destroyed.” He gives an evil chuckle. “In the meantime, there is an active volcano at the heart of this island. My drones will take you to inspect it – very closely!”

  Minutes later, you are being carried up the slopes of the volcano by a large cargo drone escorted by a dozen spy drones.

  If you are wearing the electromagnetic watch, go to 5.

  If you are still wearing the magnetic mine watch, go to 31.

  If you used the magnetic mine watch at the Mammon building, go to 18.

  48

  With the destruction of Mammon’s space-plane, you find that the satellite control board is now active. You command the satellites to self-destruct.

  The satellites on the display wink out of existence one by one, and you breathe a sigh of relief – but then the ground shakes, throwing you off your feet. You think it’s the air strike, but then a recorded voice announces, “Auto-destruct activated. Volcanic eruption in progress.”

  “Oh, no,” you groan, “not again!”

  The dome collapses around you and molten lava from the volcano flows in. You reach for the PANIC button but as another shockwave hits, you drop it and it rolls through a crack in the floor and into a lava stream!

  The volcano explodes. As the island sinks into the sea, you dive from a collapsing cliff and swim for your life.

  The sea bubbles around you, and you think about the spicy curry you had for dinner last night. You give a relieved sigh as a miniature submarine surfaces just ahead. A hatch opens and Melanie Goodness pops her head out. She grins. “Hello. Would you like to be rescued?”

  Go to 50.

  49

  You find yourself back in Doctor Goodness’s lab.

  She scowls as you fully rematerialise. “I thought you were the best, Agent Scorpio.”

  “I am the best!” you tell her.

  “Then prove it! Start making smart decisions.” She hands you another key ring. “And try not to mess up this time.”

  Go to 41.

  50

  A short while later, you are standing on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier.

  You thank Doctor Goodness for her timely rescue. “All part of the service,” she smiles.

  You watch as Mammon and his supporters are fished out of the wreck of their space-plane.

  Mr Melville joins you. “The owners of the satellites aren’t too happy that you destroyed them,” he says. “They wanted them back.” He smiles. “But the GIA approves your action. You are a hero!”

  I HERO Quiz

  Test yourself with this special quiz. It has been designed to see how much you remember about the book you’ve just read. Can you get all five answers right?

  To download the answer sheets simply visit:

  www.hachettechildrens.co.uk

  Enter the “Teacher Zone” and search “Immortals”.

  Question 1

  Which of these gadgets is not offered to you by Doctor Goodness?

  A explosive mine watch

  B laser pen

  C spy drone

  D electromagnetic watch

  Question 2

  What are you forced to jump down to escape from the Mammon building?

  A a ladder

  B a lift shaft

  C a ramp

  D a metal chute

  Question 3

  How do you shoot down Mammon’s space-plane?

  A with missiles

  B with a laser satellite

  C with the explosive mine watch

  D with your car’s autocannons

  Question 4

  Which zoo is GIA HQ hidden underneath?

  A New York City

  B San Diego

  C London

  D Beijing

  Question 5

  What is the name of your boss at GIA?

  A Dr Goodness

  B Mr Melville

  C Dr Melanie

  D Mr Mammon

  About the 2Steves

  “The 2Steves” are Britain’s most popular writing double act for young people, specialising in comedy and adventure. They perform regularly in schools and libraries, and at festivals, taking the power of words and story to audiences of all ages.

  Together they have written many books, including the Crime Team series. Find out what they’ve been up to at: www.the2steves.net

  About the illustrator: Jack Lawrence

  Jack Lawrence is a successful freelance comics illustrator, working on titles such as A.T.O.M., Cartoon Network, Doctor Who Adventures, 2000 AD, Transformers and Spider-Man Tower of Power. He also works as a freelance toy designer.

  Jack lives in Maidstone in Kent with his partner and two cats.

  This ebook edition published in 2016

  Franklin Watts

  First published in Great Britain in 2016 by The Watts Publishing Group

  Text © Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore 2016

  Illustrations by Jack Lawrence © Franklin Watts 2016

  The “2Steves” illustration by Paul Davidson used by kind permission of Orchard Books

  The authors and illustrator have asserted their rights in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

  All rights reserved.

  A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  PB ISBN 978 1 4451 5102 1

  ebook ISBN 978 1 4451 5124 3

  Library ebook ISBN 978 1 4451 5123 6

  Franklin Watts

  An imprint of

  Hachette Children’s Group

  Part of The Watts Publishing Group

  Carmelite House

  50 Victoria Embankment

  London EC4Y 0DZ

  An Hachette UK Company

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