H. I. Larry - Zacs Skate Break

ZACS SKATE BREAK
BY H. I. LARRY
ILLUSTRATIONS BY CAL BENNETT,
ANDY HOOH, RON MONNIER
& ASH OSWALD Zacs Skate Break
published in 2009 by
Hardie Grant Egmont
85 High Street
Prahran, Victoria 3181, Australia
www.hardiegrantegmont.com.au
This book is printed on paper derived from forests
promoting sustainable forest management. 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, illustration and design copyright 2009 Hardie Grant Egmont Printed in Australia by McPhersons Printing Group 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 CONTENTS Zac Power was at the shops. His dad was buying him new school shorts.

It was the last day of the holidays. Zac was 12 years old. He was a spy. No-one knew that. Being a spy was top secret. Zac worked for GIB.

His family worked for GIB, too. GIB was a good spy group. All GIB spies had code names. Zacs was Agent Rock Star. His dads was Agent Tool Belt. His mums was Agent Bum Smack.

Zacs brother Leon was in charge of the GIB Test Labs. His code name was Agent Tech Head. Leon made awesome spy gadgets. Zac was GIBs test driver. He got to test the gadgets out. And sometimes he had to stop the evil spy group called BIG.

BIG did bad things. There was a long line at the school shop. Zac was grumpy. Cant I just wear my old shorts, Dad? asked Zac. I could be on my skateboard right now. You can ride it later, said his dad.

The shop lady gave Zac some shorts. Zac went to try them on. Dad, he called. Theyre too tight. Just do the belt up, Zac, said his dad. Zac grabbed the belt.

The belt buckle had letters on it. This could mean some cooltest driving, thought Zac. The shop lady is Agent Cool Stuff, said Zacs dad. She fits out spies with the best gear. Hello, Agent Rock Star, she said. These shorts were made just for you.

But theyre too tight, said Zac. They look gross! And they have huge back pockets. Dont worry, Zac, said his dad. He pushed on the GIB belt buckle. Zacs shorts made a loud fart sound. Zac laughed.

Then two small jets came out from the back pockets. Zac heard a noise and looked up. The shop roof slid open. Zacs shorts made another fart sound. Then he shot through the roof like a rocket. Uh-oh, thought Zac. Im going to land onthat van with the bigsun-roof. Zac pulled his knees up and got ready to crash-land. Zac was just a metre from the sun-roof when it slid open. Zac was just a metre from the sun-roof when it slid open.

He went straight through the roof. Zac landed on a huge cushion. Hello, Zac, said Leon. Welcome to the mobile GIB Test Labs. Thanks, said Zac. Sorry about the shorts, said Leon.

They had to be tight to stay on. Those pocket jetpacks are powerful, said Zac. Leon went to a shelf on the wall of the van. There was lots of cool spy gear on it. Zac could see space suits and loads of gadgets. Leon grabbed a pair of jeans and a top.

Put these on, Zac, said Leon. I need you to test drive them. What do they do? asked Zac. These clothes have Balance Boosters, said Leon. Balance what? asked Zac. Balance Boosters, said Leon again.

They stop you from falling over and give you super strength. Really? Cool! said Zac and he pulled them on. The elbows and the knees had built-in pads. They were just like skateboard elbow and knee pads. Im going to turn on the boosters, Zac, said Leon. He hit a button.

The clothes zapped. ZAAAP! Thats cool, said Zac. Then Leon gave Zac a cool blue helmet and the most awesome skateboard hed ever seen. The skateboard had purple wheels and rocket jets. The jets looked like flames. This Supersonic Skateboard can go 250 kilometres an hour, said Leon.

Sweet! said Zac. Jump down hard on the board to start and stop, said Leon. Just then Zacs SpyPad beeped. BEEP-BEEP-BEEP
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP Every GIB spy had a SpyPad. It was a hand-held computer and a phone. Zac loved his SpyPad.

He used it to play games and watch cool movies. Its a mission, said Zac. TOP SECRET
FOR THE EYES OF
ZAC POWER ONLY
MISSION SENT
TUESDAY 10.30AM BIG has sealed the gate
at the giant skate bowl.
Agent Bum Smack is stuck
inside the bowl and must
be rescued. Test drive
the Balance Boosters and
Supersonic Skateboard.
END
Uh-oh, Mums in trouble, said Zac. Youd better hurry, said Leon. Zac stepped onto the skateboard.Then Leon pushed a button on the van wall.

The back door of the van rolled up like a garage door. Make sure you do your test drive report, Zac, said Leon. Zac groaned. He loved test driving. But he hated writing about it. Zac jumped down hard on his skateboard.

The rocket jets started. Zac shot out into the car park. Zac knew exactly where to go. He was out of the car park in no time. This skateboardis so fast, he thought. Zac was only three blocks away from the skate bowl.

The road had a lot of speed bumps. These bumps will be fun, thought Zac. He sped over the first bump. BUMP Zac landed easily back on the road. When Zac hit the next bump the board lifted into the air. BUMP Zac thought he would fall off.

Again he landed easily. TheseBalance Boosters areawesome, he thought. Zac sped over all the bumps.