Текст книги "NERDS: National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society"

Автор книги: Michael Buckley

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Текущая страница: 10 (всего у книги 13 страниц)

Jackson stopped in his tracks. “Doctor, everything is going to be OK. I want you to get behind me. Whoa. Not so fast, just very calmly.”

The piñata followed the doctor’s every movement.

“OK, now, let’s back around this corner,” Jackson said.

Before they could take a single step, the piñata’s red eyes blinked, something inside it started to whir, and smoke billowed out of its back. Before Jackson could react, it launched a missile straight for his head.

His braces swirled in his mouth, and in a flash they were morphing and twisting to create a large, round shield. The missile hit the shield, which deflected the blast and sent it back toward the robot. A moment later the robot, and most of the wall behind it, was on fire. Unfortunately, the files with the schematics inside went up in flames as well.

Jackson had no time to be upset. He dragged the doctor down the hall and out the front door. Unfortunately, another piñata was waiting on the lawn. Jackson could already feel his braces changing. A long lobster claw reached out of his mouth, grabbed the piñata by the neck, and cut it in half. The evil red light of its eyes flickered to black.

Jackson and the doctor moved across the lawn. “I have to save Elizabeth!” Munoz cried as he pulled away from Jackson. “I won’t leave without her.”

“Doctor, it’s not safe here. The others are looking for her. I’m sure she’s fine,” Jackson said.

That’s when the door on the nearby delivery van swung open and a certain platinum blonde goon stepped out. The Hyena had a grin on her face until she saw Jackson.

“You!” she cried. “What are you doing here?”

“Rescuing this guy from killer robots. Are these piñatas yours?”

The Hyena smiled proudly.

“He’s under my protection, Mindy,” Jackson said.

The Hyena scowled. “Does everyone know my name?”

“You’ll have to kill me to get at him,” Jackson said, mustering all his bravery.

“Hmmm,” the Hyena said as she reached in the van and took out two silver sai with jagged points. “Well, I’m only being paid for the one kill, but a girl’s got to do what she’s got to do to get ahead.”

She swung the sai at Jackson, but his braces swirled and out popped sai of his own. They blocked the blows before they could do any damage.

“We know you work for Jigsaw. We also know he’s a nutcase.”

“Everyone’s a little quirky,” the Hyena said.

She slashed at Jackson’s shoulder, but his braces blocked the swing.

“He’s behind the kidnappings, right?”

It was then that the Hyena flung down one of her sai and with her free hand threw a punch that knocked Jackson to the ground. While he was struggling against unconsciousness, he felt the goon stamp her boots down on his braces, preventing him from using them to fight back.

“He’s building something, right?” Jackson sputtered. “Do you know what it is?”

“I don’t get paid to know that stuff,” she said. “I’m paid to kill people and you happen to be in the way.”

“You have to listen to me. Jigsaw is building a machine that will destroy the world. He’s insane, Mindy. He’s going to kill billions of people.”

“Not my problem. Now, where were we?” she asked as she pointed her sai at Dr. Munoz. “Oh, yeah, I was sent here to kill you.”

Just then, little Elizabeth Munoz came racing around the corner of the house. Tears were in her eyes as she attached herself to her father’s legs. “Don’t kill my daddy,” she begged the Hyena.

Jackson watched the Hyena study the little girl. Instead of cold-blooded murder, he saw something soft in her eyes. He hadn’t met any contract killers in his life, but he was sure they were supposed to have ice in their veins. The Hyena looked as if she might cry.

“I’m not going to kill your daddy,” she said. “We’re only playing, honey.”

The little girl looked up into the former beauty queen’s face. “Playing?”

The Hyena nodded. “We’re playing Zorro. Your dad was Zorro. I’m the villain. He just threatened to take me to jail and I was about to run away. You know what? Why don’t you and your daddy play now.”

Elizabeth wiped the tears from her eyes. “I like to play imagination.”

The Hyena lowered her sai. “I always did too.”

She stepped off of Jackson’s braces, and they slipped back into his mouth. Before he could get to his feet, the Hyena and her van were disappearing down the dusty road.

As the black helicopter soared over the frozen tundra below, the Hyena reviewed what had happened at Munoz’s house, and she was not happy. For months the Hyena had dreamed of the day when she stopped talking about being an assassin and actually became one, but the kid with the braces had ruined it all. She knew Jigsaw was a nutcase, but had managed to find a way to tolerate the idea. What she couldn’t stand was a liar. Jigsaw’s master plan wasn’t about taking over the world—it was about destroying it. She knew Jigsaw was building some kind of doomsday weapon, but she had assumed he’d use it to hold the world hostage. Mad-genius types never used their weapons. They just tried to scare the willies out of people so they’d cough up a ransom. But if what the kid had said was true, Jigsaw was planning something so … so … so diabolical. Mass murder was not why she had gotten into her line of work. Trained assassins killed people one at a time.

When the helicopter landed at the fortress, Dumb Vinci was waiting.

“Is it done?”

She nodded.

Dumb Vinci grinned, revealing a mouth full of broken and missing teeth. “Good. I’ll tell Jigsaw. Let’s get inside.”

She and Dumb Vinci rushed through the snow to the fortress. The wind was cold and vicious. It bit at her bare skin and she nearly knocked the goon down to get inside. Once there she excused herself and raced down the hallway to Jigsaw’s enormous lab. The door was locked so she hurried up the flight of stairs and into the observation room that held his jigsaw puzzle pieces. Looking through the window to the lab below, she saw the satellite dish, still aimed toward the sky. It was attached to solar panels resting on short tables scattered about the room. Clearly, Dr. Badawi had been smarter than Dr. Lunich and had given Jigsaw instructions on how to build her supercharged power source.

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” a voice said from behind her. She spun around to find Jigsaw, Dumb Vinci, and twenty hulking goons.

“Yes,” she said. “Amazing.”

Jigsaw smiled. “Putting the world back together takes some very beautiful and powerful tools, Mindy. My machine is perfect in both form and function, and I owe its existence in no small part to you. If it wasn’t for your hard work, I could not have assembled the minds and tools to put all this together. The new world owes you a major debt.”

“So you’re saying I’m to blame for all the people you are going to kill,” the Hyena said.

“Oh, you say it like it’s a bad thing. Mindy, don’t think of it as destroying the world. Think of it as putting it back together. It’s broken and we’re going to glue the pieces back together. In the beginning of our arrangement all I had was my satellite dish. I could use it to move major islands around, but I had no control. I might latch on to Greenland. I might hit the Galapagos. It was very random. Then you brought me Dr. Lunich and his amazing machine. The tractor beam is a marvel, and with a little adaptation I supersized it so that it now links to my satellite dish. This allows me to drag an entire continent wherever I want it. For years all my work seemed hopeless. How can you fix the entire world if you can’t power the machine that puts it all together? That’s when I read about the marvelous Dr. Badawi’s solar panels. Now I have everything I need to put my jigsaw puzzle together.”

“You’ve lost your mind,” the Hyena said. “I never wanted to be a mass murderer.”

“Harsh!” Dr. Jigsaw cried. His feelings seemed to be hurt.

“I was hoping you would want to witness it, but I guess I was wrong.”

The goons cracked their knuckles and grinned eagerly.

“Getting rid of me is not going to be as easy as it looks.”

Unfortunately, it was. The Hyena was completely humiliated as the goons hoisted her down the hall. They carried her into a strange, painfully cold room. It had no floor other than the sheet of ice the fortress was built upon. In the center of the ice was a hole big enough for a large man to slide through into the water below.

“This is my little fishing hole,” Jigsaw said. “I come in here to think, and every once in a while I cast a line and do some fishing. I don’t catch many fish, though. Actually, none. The water is deadly cold—about twenty degrees below zero. The average fish can’t live in such temperatures. In fact, the average man can survive only about ten minutes in this water until his lungs begin to freeze and oxygen can no longer move through them. I suppose a young girl will last considerably less time. Oh, Mindy, I had such high hopes for you. I was going to give you a small part of Australia to rule as your kingdom.”

“That’s what they all say,” the Hyena said.

“Drop her in.”

The goons tossed her into the hole and she slipped under the water. She felt as if a million tiny ice daggers were ripping her flesh to shreds, and it took all of her concentration just to force herself back to the surface. Once she could breathe again, she gasped and shivered.

“Oh, look, we caught one,” Jigsaw said. “Oh, I think she’s too small. Toss her back.”

One of the goons hoisted a block of ice off the ground. It was the exact same shape as the hole. He dropped it down just as the Hyena filled her lungs and forced herself under the water.

She reached up and pounded on the ice, but it was too thick to crack. In a panic, she swam away. She had no idea in which direction she was going, but she knew that moving would keep her alive a little longer. With each stroke she felt the ice above her for openings and looked ahead for any sign of light. Maybe if she swam out from under the fortress, she’d find thinner ice. But her fingers and toes were already feeling numb, and her arms and legs were getting heavy.

She continued her frantic swim until she saw a shimmering light above. She pounded on the ice with her fist, but it had no effect. What could she do? Then it dawned on her. She reached down, unzipped one of her new black boots, and pulled it off her foot. She thrust the sharp heel into the ice. A chunk drifted down to the abyss below. She struck again in the same place. Another chunk, this one much bigger, floated past her face. She hit the ice with all her strength again and again. She was wondering how much longer she could keep going when the last strike caused a crack. She pushed with every ounce of strength and found herself bobbing to the surface. Gasping, she dragged herself out of the water and fell into a coughing fit.

She had to get warm! She got to her feet and spotted the empty black helicopter. Hobbling toward it with her boot in her hand, she climbed inside and started the engines. A blast of warm air filled the cabin as she put on the headset and flipped on the propellers. She found a blanket behind the pilot’s seat and wrapped herself in it. Then she eased the throttle back and the chopper was in the air.

“This little fish got away, Jigsaw,” the Hyena said to herself.

She looked down at the boot in her hand. Its heel was gone, probably stuck back in the broken sheet of ice that had almost been her coffin. She wondered if anyone would notice if she started killing people while wearing sneakers.

Agent Brand paced the room. His jaw was set like stone and his eyes were flashing. Jackson could tell his efforts to take a more “positive tone” had come to a screeching halt. Ms. Holiday watched him with growing anxiety.

“What happened?” she asked.

“We had an unforeseen incident,” Ruby answered.

“You burned Dr. Munoz’s house to the ground on his daughter’s birthday,” Brand said.

“Actually, the fire was started by the robots,” Matilda said.

“Robots shaped like piñatas,” Flinch said.

“OK, see, they were taken by surprise,” Ms. Holiday said.

“On the bright side, Jackson saved his life,” Duncan said.

Jackson beamed with pride. “The Hyena showed up,” Jackson said. “It was the same girl who snatched Dr. Badawi in Cairo.”

“So, Jackson, how did you get close enough to see this Hyena?” Ms. Holiday said. Brand was still pacing. Jackson smiled. “I was protecting Munoz.”

“You were told to observe!” Brand shouted.

Flinch cleared his throat and gave a twist to the knob on his harness. “I told him to stay with the doctor.”

“And who told you to take him to see the doctor?”

Ruby stood up. “I did.”

“And look what happened,” Brand said as he slammed his cane on the desk.

Heathcliff shook his head in disgust. “There’s no one to blame but Braceface. He made a tremendous amount of mistakes and he didn’t follow orders. He’s not one of us. He’s never going to be one of us.”

“That’s not exactly fair,” Duncan said.

“Fine. I’ll prove it to you,” Heathcliff said. “Hey, Braceface! Who’s your favorite Star Trek captain?”

“Uh, Han Solo?”

“See, he’s hopeless.”

“OK, that’s enough bickering,” Ms. Holiday said. “Munoz is still alive and we got the schematics.”

Jackson shook his head. “No, they caught on fire in the attack.”

Ruby leaped to her feet. “See, Choppers is right. Braceface has shown the public his upgrades for the third time. He’s not ready to be out there, and I don’t trust his judgment. If you send him out again, I’m going to resign.”

The room grew quiet.

“You really mean that, Pufferfish?” Brand said.

Ruby nodded.

Jackson couldn’t be sure if Ruby was sincere or trying to push him out, but the worry on the team’s faces when she threatened to quit spoke volumes. Pufferfish was much more important to the NERDS than some trainee who kept screwing up.

“Then clean out your locker, agent,” Agent Brand said.

“No! She’s not quitting. I am,” Jackson said.

“No one is quitting,” Ms. Holiday said.

“I’m not wanted here,” Jackson argued. “You don’t trust me, and you probably never will. Even if I did a good job, you guys would never accept me. Maybe I deserve it. I know I was a jerk before, but I’m not anymore. I wish you’d give me a chance … but you won’t. So I give up.”

He threw the words out there, wondering if anyone would argue. In his head he decided that if one person came to his defense, he would stay, but the room was quiet.

He looked at Duncan, but the boy wouldn’t return his gaze.

“Take the braces and the computer chip out. I’m not one of you,” he said at last.

Ms. Holiday looked at Agent Brand. The former spy was leaning on his cane and rubbing his face with his free hand. He looked disgusted and disappointed. He shot Ruby an angry look, then nodded his approval. “Do it.”

Ms. Holiday bit her lower lip and gestured for Jackson to follow her. She led him into the room with the upgrade chair and strapped him to the table. She started to tear up and wiped the corners of her eyes with her cardigan sweater.

“I’m truly sorry, Jackson. I don’t think it’s fair. You’re doing as well, if not better, in the training than anyone on the team. Your time avoiding Duncan’s tetherball is a record.”

“Really? They never told me.” Jackson said.

“Oh, and that man!” the librarian raged. “He told me he’d try to be more understanding. I told him, ‘They’re kids, Alexander. You have to talk to them like they’re kids,’ but he’s as hardheaded as Ruby.”

“I appreciate everything you’ve done, Ms. Holiday,” Jackson said.

The librarian nodded, then pushed a number of buttons on the podium. A second later, Jackson was scooped into the chair. Ms. Holiday held his hand while the machine went about removing the nanotechnology from his mouth. It didn’t hurt nearly as much as it had when it was implanted, with the exception of taking out his nose bug. The lunch lady had to use a long pair of pliers to yank it out.

When all of the technology was removed, Ms. Holiday escorted him through the Playground to the tubes that led to the secret lockers. Agent Brand was waiting for him by the exit with an outstretched hand.

“I’m sorry this didn’t work out, son,” he said.

Jackson nodded. He turned and looked at the Playground for what he assumed would be the very last time. Duncan, Flinch, and Matilda stood nearby looking on. When they realized he had seen them, they tumbled over themselves to hide.

“A few of them will miss you,” Ms. Holiday said. “Even if they won’t say it to your face. I’ll miss you too.”

“This is for the best,” Jackson said as he pushed a button on the wall. The tube opened and he stepped inside. Jackson shot up and tumbled into the halls of the school, just as Brett and a group of his former friends walked past.

“Hey, loser,” they said.

Jackson didn’t argue. For once, Brett Bealer was right.

Sadly, losing his role in the team did not make Jackson’s life any easier. He found it impossible to slip back into the routine of school. Nathan Hale Elementary was now far too distracting. It was brimming with secrets, and Jackson couldn’t help but look for them. Every fire drill or pep assembly meant that something exciting was happening, and Jackson was no longer a part of it. The team treated him like he was invisible. Even the lunch lady turned a cold shoulder to Jackson. It was difficult to have such exciting memories and no one to share them with.

One afternoon Jackson stepped into Mr. Pfeiffer’s class and noticed that the NERDS were missing. Jackson didn’t think much about it at first, assuming the team was on a mission. But the next day they didn’t come to school, either. On the third day he wondered if everything was all right, but Mr. Brand and Ms. Holiday weren’t around to ask. He was about to march right into the Playground for answers when he was confronted by Mr. Dehaven.

“Mr. Jones, just the man I was looking for,” the stocky little man said. He clamped his hand down on Jackson’s arm and dragged him down the hallway to his office. There Jackson found his father.

“Jackson, I am so disappointed,” his father said.

“What’s wrong?”

“Mr. Jones, do you recall a certain test you had to take in Mr. Pfeiffer’s classroom last week?”

Jackson’s heart sank. He had completely forgotten about the test.

“Today I got the results of that test. It appears you failed. In fact, not only did you fail, but you got a zero. Do you recall how much of a percentage this test was worth for your final grade?”

“Fifty percent,” Jackson mumbled.

“And you got a zero.” He turned to Jackson’s father. “Mr. Jones, I’ve seen a million children like your son, and I have to say I’m concerned for his future. He lacks a certain level of dedication and ambition. Sad, because I’m told you were a first-class athlete and well liked when you were a student here.”

“Grades were never my thing,” Jackson’s father mumbled as if it were his fault Jackson was failing.

Dehaven ignored the comment. “Luckily, there’s a remedy for this behavior. Your son is going to repeat the fifth grade.”

“He flunked?” Mr. Jones exclaimed. “It’s only October!”

“Yes, I’m afraid he has,” Dehaven replied. “There’s nothing he can do to get back on track now.”

“Jackson, what is going on with you?” his father asked.

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me. I’m your father. Tell me what’s going on,” he demanded.

“Fine!” Jackson jumped out of his seat. “I was part of a secret agency that operates out of this school called the National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society, and it’s made up of nerds. Each of us has enhanced abilities, and we tried to save the world from a lunatic. I was drafted right after I got my braces, and I was training to become a full member, but I stunk, the other team members hated me, and I quit.”

Jackson’s father and Mr. Dehaven were speechless.

“That’s what I’ve been doing,” Jackson asked.

“If you only used that kind of creativity in your classes, you wouldn’t be flunking!” his father shouted.

“Hey,” Chaz said when Jackson got home after school. His older brother was wearing his gear and clutching a football in his hand. “Heard you flunked. What a dork!”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Jackson said.

“Good, I don’t want to hear it,” Chaz said as he pushed his way past him. “Out of my way. I’m late for practice.”

“Where’s Dad?” Jackson said, before his brother was out of earshot.

“He’s upstairs on the computer. He’s looking up military schools to send you to,” Chaz called back as he disappeared down the street.

On his way into the kitchen, Jackson noticed that his brother had left his helmet on the counter. He grabbed it and rushed to the door, but his brother was nearly at the end of the block. Chaz’s coach would chew him out if he showed up without a helmet. Jackson raced down the street after him.

Chaz walked down Chambers Street and made a right at Beacon, which wasn’t that odd, except his brother’s school was in the opposite direction. Something was wrong. Jackson felt that old familiar tingle that told him he was about to discover a secret.

He continued down the street but kept a safe distance to make sure Chaz didn’t spot him. Chaz went down Beacon, then made a left onto Hamilton Drive. There he turned down a nameless alley and stopped outside of a gated junkyard. Jackson watched his brother slip through a hole in the gate.

“What is he doing?” Jackson said to himself. He rushed across the street and peeked through the hole. He could see Chaz rummaging through the garbage. He found an old tin can and tossed it on the ground. Then he kicked it about the abandoned lot.

Jackson slipped through the gate and followed as closely as he could. He saw his brother plop down on the backseat of an old car and pull a paperback book out of his uniform pants. He leaned back and buried his nose in the story.

“Reading can be dangerous,” Jackson said as he tossed his brother his helmet. “You might need this.”

Chaz leaped to his feet. “What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?”

“Did you follow me?”

“You forgot your helmet. I was being a nice guy by bringing it to you.”

“Thanks, now go home,” Chaz demanded.

“You’re not on the team anymore, are you?” Jackson said.

Chaz frowned. He kicked the car seat and then plopped back down on it as if in defeat. “I got cut.”

Jackson’s eyes widened. “They kicked you off the team? What did you do?”

“Nothing. I’m just not good enough,” Chaz said.

Jackson sat down on the other half of the car seat. “But—”

“Everything’s harder in high school,” Chaz explained. “Everyone is good. I’m not special anymore.”

“How long has this been going on?”

Chaz shook his head in disgust. “I got cut on the second day.”

“So you’ve been suiting up every day and coming to the junkyard to read?”

Chaz winced and nodded. “After the look of disappointment Dad gave you when you got booted off your team, I just couldn’t tell him. Sports mean so much to him.”

“Oh, how the mighty have fallen.” Jackson laughed. “We used to be the coolest brothers in Arlington, Virginia. Now look at us. You’ve become a reader and I’m pretty much friendless. I can’t even get the nerds to hang out with me.”

Chaz laughed. “I’m like a total nerd now. My only friend is Barney Tennant.”

“Barney Tennant? You mean the kid who is always picking his nose in public?”

“That’s him,” Chaz said. “He’s my BFF.”

The boys broke into hysterical laughter.

“We’re complete losers,” Jackson said.

“We’re so pathetic,” Chaz agreed.

After a while the laughter faded.

“I’ve been a total jerk to you,” Chaz said.

Jackson shrugged. “If it wasn’t for your insults, I wouldn’t have anyone speaking to me at all.”

They talked for hours. Mostly about their father, but also about how much they missed their mom, and about how much their dad had changed since she died. They also talked about football and about the crimes they had committed against each other and the other kids at school.

“You know, if you really like to read, you don’t have to do it surrounded by filth,” Jackson said. “There’s this place called the library. I’ve been in one. It wasn’t that bad. The closest is on Henry Street, two blocks away.”

“You’re pretty cool for a little brother,” Chaz said.

“And you’re pretty cool for a big brother,” Jackson replied.

“If you two hug I think I’m going to throw up,” a voice said from above them.

Jackson turned and looked up. Standing at the top of a pile of junk was the Hyena. Her hair was like silver in the setting sun. If Jackson wasn’t struck with overwhelming fear, he might have thought she was pretty.

“Who’s this?” she asked, pointing to Chaz.

“I’m his brother,” Chaz said. “Who are you?”

“I’m the—”

“Wait a minute!” Chaz said. “I get what’s going on here. Is this your girlfriend, Jackson?”

“Uh—”

“Little brother! Hey, don’t let me interfere with you two lovebirds. I’ll catch up with you at home,” Chaz said. He rushed to the gate, turned back and gave Jackson a raspberry, and slipped away.

“I’ve been looking for you,” the Hyena said.

“Stay back!” Jackson shouted.

The girl leaped down in front of him. Instinctively, he swept her legs out from under her with his own and knocked her to the ground. A moment later he was running.

“Where was that move when you had to fight Matilda all day?” he grumbled to himself. He made a beeline for the gate, but before he could get there the Hyena had backflipped off a junked car and landed in front of him. He skidded to a stop and raced back the way he came. The junkyard was a maze of debris piled high in neat rows. Jackson raced down one aisle and made a quick right into another. The Hyena was right behind him every step of the way.

He knew his only hope was to try to make it back to the gate, so he made another quick left, then a right, then another right. He mustered every ounce of his former glory on the football field and sprinted toward the exit. It was so close. He just had to get there. Once he was on the street he could hide in the backyards of the countless neighborhood houses, and she would never find him.

And then he saw a blur to his left and felt something in front of his feet, and before he knew it he turned into a human tumbleweed rolling on the ground. He finally came to a stop on his back, gasping to replace the wind that had been knocked out of his lungs. Unfortunately, the Hyena was waiting. She tossed aside the mop handle she had used to trip him.

“If you’re going to kill me, just make it quick,” he groaned.

“I’m not here to kill you, dummy. I need your help,” she said, reaching out her hand to him.

“Help?”

“Yeah, I need you to stop my diabolical boss and his evil doomsday device.”

“Is that all?” Jackson said as he eyed the offered hand. “How do I know this isn’t some kind of trick?”

“Why would I want you to help me stop the man who pays my rent?” she said. “I wouldn’t, unless you were right all along. I don’t want to know I helped someone destroy the world, and I can’t stop him by myself. I need you.”

Jackson took her hand and she pulled him to his feet. He dusted himself off, but kept a wary eye on her. “Why does a goon want to save the world?”

The Hyena snarled. “Watch it, pal! I’m not a goon.”

“You act like a goon. You kidnapped those scientists.”

“I was freelancing. I have to eat,” she said. “Are you going to help me or not?”

Jackson shook his head. “You don’t want me. You want the NERDS, and I’m not with them anymore.” He turned and headed for the gate, slipping out the hole and into the street.

The Hyena followed. “What do you mean you aren’t with them anymore?”

“I was a trainee,” Jackson admitted. “And not a very good one. I screwed up a lot, so I quit. I’m out of the secret agent business.”

The Hyena grabbed him by the shirt. “You can’t just quit.”

“You’re not listening to me,” Jackson said. “I can just quit and I did just quit. I can’t help you.”

“Then take me to the others,” she demanded. “This is important.”

“They’re missing,” Jackson said. “They’ve been gone for days. They’re probably on some other mission.”

“Listen, kid, if this wasn’t the end of the world, I wouldn’t have bothered. If you can’t find your team, then it’s up to you and me.”

“Fine, but why are you wearing only one boot?”

The Hyena groaned. “Focus, you idiot. We have to save the world.”

Even though all the students were gone and school had been closed for hours, the doors were still unlocked and Jackson and the Hyena stepped right inside.

“What are we doing here?” the Hyena asked impatiently. “Did you forget your lunch box?”

“This is our headquarters,” Jackson said as he led her down the hallway.

“Your spy headquarters is in an elementary school?”

Jackson ignored her question. She’d be impressed by the Playground once she saw it. He had turned the corner heading for the lockers when a mob of panicked scientists nearly ran him over.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“End-of-the-world stuff, kid!” one shouted back to him.

“C’mon,” Jackson said to the Hyena, and the two ran the way the scientists had come. Jackson shoved the would-be assassin into one of the lockers and slammed the door before she could ask him to explain, then climbed into his own. A moment later they tumbled out into the Playground.

There Jackson found Ms. Holiday shouting directions at dozens of scientists who were working furiously on computers.

“Find that signal!” she shouted. “I don’t care if it bounced off every satellite in space. Find its origin.”

Jackson was surprised by her tone, but even more surprised by her appearance. Gone were the cardigan sweaters and pleated skirts she usually wore. Now she was wearing a black bodysuit and a black beret, and had weapons strapped around her waist.

“Jackson, what are you doing here? And who is she?”

“This is the Hyena,” he said. “She needs our help. Dr. Felix Jigsaw is going to destroy the world.”

“We know,” the librarian said, just as a scientist approached her with a map. “What?”

“My math shows that Australia has indeed moved. It was here,” the scientist said, circling the continent with a red pen then circling a spot in the ocean off the eastern coast of Africa. “Now it’s here.”

“Where’s the team?” Jackson said. “They need to stop this now.”

“Unfortunately, that is no longer an option,” Ms. Holiday said.

“What? Why?”

“Benjamin, can you explain?” Ms. Holiday said, and the blue orb on the desktop began to spin. Soon, the holographic Benjamin Franklin appeared before the frozen landscape of the North Pole.