H. I. Larry - Sudden Drop

SUDDEN DROP

BYH. I. LARRY

ILLUSTRATIONS BY
BEN OHAGAN

Sudden Drop
published in 2007 by
E2
an imprint of Hardie Grant Egmont
85 High Street
Prahran, Victoria 3181,Australia

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior permission of the publishers and copyright owner.

A CiP record for this title is available from the National Library of Australia

Text copyright 2007 H.I. Larry
Illustration and design copyright 2007 Hardie Grant Egmont

Cover by Andy Hook
Illustrations by Ben OHagan
Based on original illustration and design by Ash Oswald
Typeset by Pauline Haas and Harry von Goes

Printed in Australia by McPhersons Printing Group

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

CONTENTS

CHAPTER
ONE

The thought of his favourite pizza a large Mexicana, with spicy beef, sour cream and corn chips on top was the only thing that had kept Zac going all week.

It had been Maths Fun Week at Zacs school.The whole thing was Mrs Trans idea. Zacs teacher thought that by adding the word fun in between maths and week, no-one would notice just how boring and exhausting it really was. Obviously, she was wrong.

Finally it was the weekend, and after guitar practice on Saturday morning Zac took off to the beach for a surf. By lunchtime he was totally starving. He changed out of his wetsuit and into dry clothes. He lugged his surfboard down the pier and got a table outside Mamas Pizza Palace.

When the food finally arrived, Zac breathed in the delicious smell rising from his pizza. But before he could take a single yummy nibble

SQUAAAAAAAAAAAAWK!

Feathers flew in all directions! Wings flapped in his face! A huge seagull had landed squarely on Zacs pizza. His spicy beef Mexicana was ruined.

The seagull, with no fear, began pecking at the corn chips! Zac tried to shoo the bird away. He waved his arms and hissed at it, but the beaked bandit wouldnt budge. It marched back and forth across the pizza, stringy cheese caught on its claws.

I dont remember ordering seagull toppingon my pizza! thought Zac, devastated.

Thats when Zac spotted a small, shining disc attached to the seagulls leg. Zac knew exactly what it was a SpyPad disc!

Zacs mind ticked over. This must be a GIB-trained delivery bird thats why it wouldnt move from his pizza! The disc probably contained information about Zacs next mission.

He quickly looked around to check that no-one was watching. Then he reached forward and slipped the disc off the seagulls leg. A good spy would never be spotted receiving a secret message.

Nobody knew about Zac Powers secret double life as a spy except his family. His mum, dad and big brother were all spies, too. They worked for the Government Investigation Bureau, or GIB for short.

All GIB agents were required to carry their SpyPad Turbo Deluxe 3000 wherever they went even surfing! Its disguised as an ordinary hand-held computer game but is actually a powerful computer, long-range satellite phone, laser, poison detector, video recorder and thats just for starters.

SpyPads have heaps of other unbelievably cool functions.

Zac picked up his gear and left the bird to tuck into his Mexicana pizza. He asked Mama if he could stash his surfboard and wetsuit in her storeroom. He jogged off back down the pier, slotting the disc into his SpyPad.

No pizza, and no more Saturday surf. It was time to get to work!

CHAPTER
TWO

Agent Rock Star! a familiar voice called out, using Zacs GIB codename.

An awesome-looking powerboat roared alongside the pier, pulling up next to him. Ocean Arrow was painted along one side. GIB Agent Hawk poked his head through the sunroof.

Oh. Hi, Ned, said Zac, not at all surprised to see another 12-year-old driving a powerboat.

Climb aboard, quick! said Agent Hawk, signalling to Zac.

Ned was a fellow GIB spy who Zac knew from training. He was a really good agent. In fact, Ned was always competing with Zac for the top spot on the GIB Spy Ladder. But Zac was still on the top.

Sounds serious, said Zac, checking out the Ocean Arrow cruiser.

Get in and read your mission info disc, said Agent Hawk, urgently. Itll become clearer then.

Zac settled into the passenger seat of the sleek powerboat and fired up his SpyPad. Vital details from GIB headquarters filled the screen.

CLASSIFIED
FOR THE EYES OF ZAC POWER ONLY
MESSAGE RECEIVED
SATURDAY 12.09PM

Government geologists have discovered a hidden lake inside Craggy Mountain. It contains enough water to supply the entire country. Pipes have been laid and pumping was set to begin immediatly.

But now the millions of gigalitres of water are in danger enemy spy agency BIG has taken over the pumping station and planted explosives. They are holding the water to ransom!

URGENT INSTRUCTIONS

Proceed immediately to GIBs Aqua Glide Bullet-Cat. You will be briefed on your mission upon arrival.

END

The country was in the grip of the worst drought in history. The government urgently needed these fresh water supplies every man, woman and child was depending on it. Enemy spy organisation BIG were ruthless and cunning. Zac had faced them on previous missions.

Sounds bad, right? said Ned. We always knew that BIG would take advantage of worldwide climate change as soon as they got the chance. Theyre demanding to be paid nine billion dollars ransom by midday tomorrow! If the money doesnt show, theyre going to dynamite the Craggy Mountain pumping station and allow all the water to flood out.

No time to waste, said Zac, buckling up his seat belt. Lets see what this powerboat can do!

Beneath them, the triple outboard motors roared like an angry sea beast. The Ocean Arrow shot forward, and Zac and Ned were thrown back into their seats at a G-force of about 5.5. Within seconds, Mamas was just a speck on the horizon behind them.

The two GIB spies sped across the waves of the open sea.With its dark blue paint job, the Ocean Arrow matched the water around it. The awesome cruiser was perfectly camouflaged as it skimmed the surface of the water.

Zac and Ned were protected from spray and noise by the luxurious, sound-proof cabin. The Ocean Arrow was rock steady even at ultra-high speed. Twin fins jutted from either side, allowing the vessel to slice through jumbo waves.