The Hollywood Mission (13 page)

Ben and Eleanor contacted all the other Spyforce agents on the mission and quickly mobilised the rescue of Max's dad and Dr Fartie. Apart from a few bruises and dehydration, both men were fine. After hours of questioning by the intelligence agents, Dr Fartie was escorted to Sleek's invisible jet, which transported him back to his home in London. Max's dad was met by an anxious Mee Lin who had flown in from San Francisco to take him home.

‘We'll come too,' Max added eagerly, turning to leave the surveillance truck, but Eleanor had other ideas.

‘I think it might be better if you stay with us,' her aunt suggested in a voice that unnerved Max. ‘We'll drop you home after your dad's had a chance to rest.'

‘Is it just me or is your Danger Meter going crazy too?' Max whispered to Linden.

‘There's trouble ahead,' Linden confirmed.

‘Now tell us what's really been going on,' Eleanor demanded slowly.

Linden, Toby and Max swapped nervous looks. Max swallowed, and then began on a complete rundown on everything that had happened since Toby's appearance at the Hollywood restaurant, including how he got there. As much as Max tried,
there was no way she could lessen the impact of her story.

‘You could have gotten yourselves killed.' Ben stomped around the back of the truck when Max's story ended.

‘I did.' The words were out of Linden's mouth before he could stop them. Ben wasn't amused.

‘Lucky for us the Transporter Mark II was able to change that,' Ben spelt out. ‘And what did we tell you about altering the past? We especially warned you about doing that and you go ahead and do it anyway.'

Max had never seen her uncle so angry.

‘And Max, you let a non-agent become part of a Spyforce mission. Secrecy and concealing our identity from non-Spyforce personnel are two of our most important weapons against crime. No offence, Toby.'

‘It's okay,' Toby answered, but even though he was being yelled at, he knew he'd do it all again for a chance to be part of another spy mission.

‘And while I remember, you might want to give back the Matter Transporter.'

Toby reluctantly took it out of his pocket. Max went to take it, but it was intercepted by Ben.

‘We'll talk about a time when you may get this back.'

Max drooped in front of her aunt and uncle, sad that she'd messed up so much and even sadder that she'd disappointed them.

Ben had a few more things to say before he was finished, but as much as he tried to stay angry with them, he was also proud of them for completing their mission. He also couldn't imagine life without Linden, and as he thought about how close they'd come to this, his stern look was replaced by a quivering lip. He swooped down and wrapped his bulky arms around all three of them.

As they squirmed in his emotional hold, Toby caught Max's eye and mouthed, ‘Is he okay?'

Max nodded. Ben was more than okay. He could be a little over emotional at times, but as much as Max hated anything mushy, she wouldn't have him any other way.

‘Now.' Ben finally pulled himself away, allowing all three to breathe normally again. He wiped his eyes and cheeks with his sleeve. ‘As we can't have Toby know about Spyforce, we had Sleek bring us the Neuro Memory Atomiser from Quimby's lab.'

Eleanor took a small red prism from the many folds of her clothes and explained. ‘The atomiser rearranges the atoms in the part of the brain that
controls memory, enabling Spyforce to erase certain memories without affecting others.'

Toby looked wary. ‘So that's for me?'

‘Don't worry,' she said gently. ‘It'll feel a little strange at first; but after being transported through time, I suspect you'll hardly even notice.'

‘We're going to transport Toby and erase his memory of the mission at the same time. What's your address so we can get you back home?'

Toby flicked his eyes towards Max who gave him a nod of encouragement. He reeled off his address and Ben entered it into the machine. ‘Right. Time for goodbyes.'

‘Bye, Toby,' Linden said. ‘It was good to hang out with you again.'

‘No problem.' Toby went a bit red. When Toby first met Linden he'd thought he was some dumb kid from the country who dressed out of a second-hand clothing bin. While Linden couldn't be held up as a beacon of fashion, he was a nice guy.

‘Can I ask you something?' Max stepped forward.

‘Yeah,' Toby said warily.

‘When you used the Matter Transporter, did you ever have any … smelly landings?' She had to know she wasn't the only one the machine dumped on.

‘Nope. Every one was like landing in cottonwool.'

Max slumped. ‘Thought so.'

When she had first seen Toby in the restaurant she was furious, but now he was leaving and wasn't going to remember anything, that odd feeling she'd had on the movie set welled inside her again. ‘See ya,' she said, before it got any worse. ‘And … thank you. For everything.'

‘Yeah. See ya.' Toby looked as if he wanted to say more, but didn't.

‘I know you're not going to remember this but next time we meet, try not to break so many rules, okay?' Eleanor smiled and Ben did the customary ruffling of hair.

‘See you, kiddo.'

Ben programmed the Transporter and Eleanor held out the Neuro Memory Atomiser, ready to zap the last few days out of Toby's mind forever. When Ben gave the nod, a red beam burst out of the prism turning Toby translucent pink, with his bones glowing through his skin like a psychedelic X-ray.

‘I guess you're not the only one who looks good in pink,' Linden said to a transfixed Max. Then just as they were getting used to Toby's new look, he disappeared.

‘Will he be okay?' Max asked.

‘Apart from a slight headache he won't feel or remember a thing,' Eleanor replied.

‘Nothing?' Max seemed disappointed.

‘Nothing,' Ben answered proudly. ‘Now, Harrison is waiting for our call.'

Harrison? Max thought, her Danger Meter hitting an all-time high. They sat before Eleanor's palm computer as Harrison and Steinberger appeared on the screen.

‘Max, Linden. Once again I'm proud to congratulate you on thwarting the evil plans of that smelliest of villains, Mr Blue.' Harrison waved a bandaged hand through the air. ‘You've done this agency and me barely loud … make that, very proud.'

Steinberger pressed a button on a small tape recorder that let out a tinny applause. Max and Linden smiled. Steinberger loved these moments.

‘And we're glad to hear your father is safe and round … ah …
sound
.'

‘Thanks, Mr Harrison. What happened to the films?' Max asked.

‘With the video from your cameras in the edit room, plus Raychik's statement of what Blue's thugs asked him to do and your dad's account of what happened to him, our agents quickly moved in and
put an end to Blue's plan. The films were to be encoded with military secrets of a highly sensitive nature which had been stolen by some very suspect thieves Blue had made contact with. If they hadn't been stopped, untold make-up would have been inflicted on the world.' Harrison's lips scrunched up. ‘I mean, untold havoc. The encoding devices have been removed and the tampered films recalled.'

‘So Raychik wasn't involved?' Max had thought for sure he was working with Blue.

‘When he was first approached by Blue, he was told the encoding device would enhance the visual quality of the film, but when he found out what it really did, he refused to cooperate.'

‘So why was he at the snow?'

Steinberger answered this one.

‘He had a hunch something bad was happening and that whoever was behind it would try to bully your dad into working with them. He didn't know they'd use you to do it.'

‘Where's Blue now?' Linden asked.

‘We're not sure,' Harrison said with difficulty. ‘Unfortunately, he has once again covered his tracks leaving a man called Albert Power to take the blame — a man who, I'm sure you'll know, doesn't exist.'

Max was unnerved by the idea that Blue was still a free man. She'd seen him at his meanest and if they ran into him again, they may not be so lucky.

‘But before I get too carried away,' Harrison's voice became stern, ‘we know about the Matter Transporter.'

Max felt her Danger Meter slam into her chest.

‘You've read the Spyforce manual, Max, so I won't need to tell you that being responsible for the theft of Spyforce equipment is an offence punishable by disqualification from the Force.'

Max looked at Linden. Harrison wouldn't really throw her off the Force, would he? Ben tried to give her a hopeful smile but they all knew that what Harrison said was true. Steinberger stood behind his leader and cast his face downwards.

‘I'd be very sad to lose you, Max. You certainly are a unique addition to the agency, but rules are there for a season … I mean, of course,
reason
.'

Linden shuffled. Max couldn't be thrown off the Force. She was his partner and, even though she'd gotten him killed, he didn't want to work with anyone else.

‘This Toby should never have been allowed to join you on the mission, for the safety of himself and others.' Harrison sighed as if he was about to
make a very difficult announcement. ‘But as he actually helped save Linden's life and complete the mission, I won't take any action … this time. And now that Quimby's Neuro Memory Atomiser has been used on him, at least he can't jeopardise the secrecy of Spyforce.'

Max let out a relieved sigh. ‘Thank you, sir. I'll make it up to you next time, I promise. From now on you'll have nothing to worry about.'

‘Excrement … oh blast, I always get that one mixed up. You know of course that I mean
excellent
. Must go. There are some husky rustlers in Alaska we need to get on to. Well done to you all.'

With a beaming smile and a wink from Steinberger accompanied by marching band music in the background, Harrison and Steinberger zapped off Eleanor's screen.

The next few days in LA rocketed by faster than the Transporter Mark II had flung them through time. Max's dad was given time off from the film to recover and spent every second with Max, Linden and Mee Lin, and even though her birthday celebration wasn't quite as spectacular as he'd planned, it was the best Max had ever had: just the four of them and Ben and Eleanor over a giant table of Max's favourite food and an after-noon by the pool with no crew, no film set and no Mr Blue.

But there was one thing Max needed to know.

‘Dad, is it true you and Mee Lin are having a baby?'

Her dad and Mee Lin looked at each other in amazement.

‘What makes you ask that?'

She couldn't tell him it was something Blue told her. ‘I was just wondering.'

Her dad grabbed Mee Lin's hand. ‘We are. We haven't told anybody yet, so I guess that makes you and Linden the first to know.'

Max's face fell. How could Blue have known? Her skin tingled at his creepy way of finding out secret information.

Linden looked at Max, hoping she was okay.

‘This won't change anything between you and me, Max,' her dad explained.

Max realised she must have looked sad. ‘I know. I mean, that's great news. It'll be excellent to have a little brother or sister.'

Her dad opened his arms and smiled. ‘Come here.'

Max disappeared in her dad's hug as Ben and Eleanor swooped in and offered their mushy congratulations.

Even though they'd travelled back in time and then forward again, Max never understood why all the good times in her life went so fast. It seemed as if they'd only just arrived, but when she looked up again, they were standing at the airport surrounded by bags and tourists and annoying announcements. Max had said a lot of goodbyes in her life but this was the hardest. Mee Lin hugged her and told her how happy she was to have met her before handing her a parcel.

‘Thanks,' Max managed, wondering what kind of pink creation was beneath the wrapping. ‘I'm glad I met you, too.'

Ben and Eleanor looked as if they weren't going to let Max's dad go, until they heard the final call for their plane. A huge gulp of air swept into Max's
lungs as she knew this was it. She did all she could not to cry. ‘Bye, Dad.'

‘Bye, muffin.' Before she knew what had happened, Max was being shuffled through security doors, along passages and was on the plane heading back to Sydney.

‘Are you going to open that?' Linden pointed to Mee Lin's parcel in Max's lap.

‘I would, but I've had enough pink for this trip.'

‘Come on, you can handle a little more,' Linden sputtered through a packet of pretzels.

Max reluctantly tore open the wrapping and was relieved to find an orange T-shirt with the words, ‘Movie Director, LA'.

‘I guess she got the pink thing, after all.' Linden smiled before adding, ‘Your dad's really nice.'

‘Yeah, he is.'

‘I'm sorry that I thought he might have been involved with Blue. It's just that …'

‘That's okay.' Max smiled and added because she could, ‘It's good for you to be wrong sometimes.'

‘Maybe all that travelling through time made my head a bit fuzzy.' He fluffed up his wild hair.

Max laughed. ‘We did it, though. We completed another mission.'

‘Yeah. We did. Even if you did get me killed.'

Max never wanted to think about that again.

‘I'm sorry, Linden. Eleanor once told me when you find a great partner, you have to remember that you have something special.' She blushed uncontrollably then she said decisively, ‘from now on I'm not going to lose my temper and no matter how angry I get I'll always think before I speak.'

Just at that moment, a steward carrying a tray tripped and sent ice-cold drinks cascading into Max's lap. ‘Hey, mud brain. Why don't you look where you're going? Is it that hard to —' Max stopped as she caught Linden's look.

The steward gave her a cloth to wipe herself down. ‘I'm so sorry,' he said.

Max smiled as sweetly as she could. ‘That's okay,' she said proudly. After a few more apologies, the guy walked off and Max turned to Linden.

‘Maybe it'll take a little time,' he said.

She smiled. It was good to have Linden with her again and from now on she'd do everything to be the best partner she could be.

 

One final weird thing …

 

On Max's first day back at school, she flinched when she saw Toby and his group heading towards
her. She looked at his face, trying to work out if he was going to be his usual revolting self or whether he would say something nice.

Toby stopped in front of her but Max got in first. ‘I see you've brought your little group of primate friends. Must go through a lot of antiseptic having to drag their knuckles on the ground.'

Toby's friends sniggered and pretended to be offended but they knew Toby would have something clever lined up for her. The sniggering soon stopped, followed by an awkward silence as he said nothing.

Max gave it another shot. ‘What's wrong? Did your brain finally decide to move into a better-looking head?'

One of Toby's friends started laughing until the stares of the others quickly cut him off. This was getting embarrassing. Toby never took mouthing from anyone. Especially Max. His friends stood by wondering why he was doing nothing.

Toby frowned. He wasn't sure himself what was happening. He wanted to say something cutting but all he came out with was, ‘Hi, Max.'

There was a strange pause like when people know something bad has happened but don't know what to do about it.

Toby walked away with his friends following, wanting an explanation.

‘Don't say anything,' Toby ordered. ‘I feel weird enough as it is.'

Max smiled. Even though the Neuro Memory Atomiser had been used on Toby, maybe there were still parts of their Hollywood Mission he couldn't let go of, like the part where he realised he liked Max. And what about the part where Max realised she liked Toby?

Suddenly she didn't feel well. As the bell chimed throughout the school grounds, Max picked up her bag and headed to class, eager to have something other than Toby and churning stomachs to think about.