Jump Start (4 page)

EJ boarded the super-shiny silver jet, and looked around with an enormous smile on her face. This absolutely made up for the girls' toilets at the start of each mission! There were only four seats on the plane and they were huge—much more like little couches than aeroplane seats—with lovely deep cushions and a control panel that moved the seat and backrest anyway you wanted them. You could even spin the whole chair right around! pre-flight checks.

EJ snuggled in and strapped on her seatbelt. At the far end of the cabin she could see the pilot,
LP30, in the cockpit, going through her last-minute pre-flight checks.

‘Welcome aboard, EJ12. Good to see you again!' she called over her shoulder. ‘I'll just get this bird up and running, then I'll come back to you once we're at cruising altitude.'

EJ loved the take-off. She loved the rush of speed as the plane thundered down the runway, and then the almost magical way it lifted off the ground and climbed into the clouds. The houses and cars became smaller and smaller and then completely disappeared and the plane seemed to float along a fluffy bed of cloud. As she looked out the window, EJ's thoughts wandered back to the gym comps and the routine on the balance beam. Twisting her bracelet around in her fingers, EJ went through her entire beam routine in her mind, from start to finish, well almost. But even when she did the routine in her head, she still stopped when it came to the high jumps. All she could see was Emma Jacks falling off the beam. Why was that? Why couldn't she do an amazing split jump instead? What was stopping her? EJ knew the answer. She was stopping
herself
—but
how on Earth did you stop yourself from stopping yourself?

Suddenly the loudspeaker interrupted her thoughts.

‘EJ12, we are now at 30,000 feet and it's time for your in-flight briefing,' said LP30. ‘Please turn your phone to in-flight mode and watch the screen in front you.'

A small screen popped out of the wall in front of EJ's seat, and there was A1.

‘Hello again, EJ12. I hope you are sitting comfortably. Please listen carefully to this mission briefing. As you know, you are flying to one of the world's most remote rainforests. You know a lot about animals, but in case you come across any you don't recognise, you'll be able to learn more about them using your phone. Just take a photo of them
and the information will appear. The wildlife in this area is protected—it's a World Heritage site. But be careful, EJ. The rainforest is beautiful and filled with some of the world's most unique animals, but many of them can also be dangerous.'

The screen flickered momentarily and then A1 continued.

‘Your mission, EJ12, is to find the Butterfly Tree and get the next set of instructions. Once you have done this, please report back to
SHINE HQ.
EJ, I can't stress how important it is that we find out where Project Green Eye is and shut it down before it can do any damage—to us and the rainforest.

‘Whatever
SHADOW
is up to we know it's going to be bad. Endangered animals are at risk as well as beautiful natural rainforest habitats. You are aware of the environmental risks and what it will mean for our planet. Project Green Eye must be stopped!'

A1 paused and reached for a glass of water, then she resumed the briefing.

‘Finally, you will also need to activate the BEST system in your phone. Remember, you can only choose one contact, so choose carefully. Good luck,
EJ12.
SHINE
out.'

SHINE
knew that no single agent could know everything that might need to be done on a mission. That's why they had developed the BEST system for agent assistance.

BEST=Brains, Expertise, Support, Tips.

Every agent had a network of ‘BESTies' who were screened by
SHINE
and authorised to help the agent, if possible, on missions. There were two conditions though: the BESTies could ask no questions and agents could never discuss their work with them outside of their missions. It was much too risky. EJ's BESTies thought it was pretty cool, even if they couldn't talk about it. After all, how many people have a secret agent for a friend?

EJ opened the BEST app on her phone and
flicked through the photos of her friends. Who would be best able to help her on this mission? What was she going to need? There was not much to go on but EJ did know one thing. She would need to stay calm and the best person to help her do that was Hannah. Nothing seemed to get Hannah flustered or upset, which was sometimes a little irritating, but also meant that she was a good friend to have around when EJ started to stress. When Emma was on the beam, she could almost feel her friend's support, as if she was doing the routine with her. Hannah would be perfect for this mission.

Just as EJ was about to press OK to activate Hannah, Hannah's photo started flashing—Hannah was calling her.

‘Hey there, how did you know I was OM?' (EJ thought that was better than saying on a mission—you never knew who might be listening. She also thought it sounded like rather good spyspeak).

‘Okay, OM! Sorry, I just wanted to tell you about the change to the beam routine. It was decided after you left,' explained Hannah.

‘OMG!' said EJ. ‘Please don't say there are more jumps!'

‘Okay...' the phone went silent.

‘Well, then?' asked EJ.

‘You told me not to say...'

‘Hannah!' cried EJ.

‘You asked me not to say it but, yes, there are more jumps. Lauren thinks we have a better chance of earning more points that way, and she thinks everyone is doing great jumps,' Hannah finished.

‘Everyone except me,' said Emma, rolling her eyes.

‘No, that's not what she said—and, before you say it, it's not what she thought either. No offence Em, but chill a little! You get so jumpy,' Hannah laughed. ‘Hey, that's quite funny! Anyway Em, what's the big deal? You're actually a really good jumper when you put your mind to it. Just do the jump and get on with it! What's the worst that can happen?'

‘I fall off, lose massive points, get no medal, let the whole team down,' said EJ, feeling that this summed up the whole disastrous situation rather well.

‘You won't get a medal if you don't jump at all,' said Hannah. ‘Isn't it worse to know that you won't even have a chance of winning if you don't try?'

‘Yes, but...' began EJ, when suddenly the loudspeaker came on again.

‘Okay EJ12, it's time for the jump,' said LP30. ‘Prepare your landing gear.'

Gee whizz lemonfizz—what is it with the jumping?
thought EJ.
Well, at least this is one jump I can do! I can jump down—it's up that I have the problem with!

‘Gotta go, Hannah, but I've uploaded you as my BESTie for this mission, so be alert!'

‘Of course Em, we always need more lerts.'

‘That joke is never funny, Han. See you!'

‘Okay,' laughed Hannah. ‘Just don't go overboard, Em. I'll be here for you.'

Hmm, not overboard exactly—but out of the plane,
thought EJ. She pulled on her parachute, double-checked her straps and gave LP30 the thumbs up. The hatch door opened and EJ jumped out of the plane and into the blue sky.

As she passed the last wisps of cloud, EJ looked down and the ground below became clearer. She was thrilled to see how the enormous river twisted and turned around the rainforest, just like a giant turquoise snake weaving its way through the lush green trees. The closer she came, the better she could see just how dense the rainforest was.
SHINE
had been right. There was no way a plane would have been able to land there. In fact, EJ wasn't sure she could land there either.

And if she couldn't land on the ground, that only left the river. EJ thought back to her briefing—crocodiles, piranhas and water snakes. That didn't make a river landing an attractive thought. She needed to land safely, but how? As the water loomed up towards her, EJ decided that it was definitely time to see what her boots would do this time. She just hoped it would be quick.

EJ clicked her heels together and waited. She watched as the soles of the boots swivelled around and two shiny ice-skates appeared.

They were great in the Antarctica,
thought EJ,
but somehow I don't think they are quite what I need now.

She clicked again and this time, the ice-skates retracted and two coil springs popped out.
I don't think so. Please, third time lucky,
thought EJ. She was nearly down now and would soon hit the water. She clicked again and this time flippers came out. EJ hoped she wasn't going to have to swim. She looked down at the water. Now that it was so close, she could see that the river was wide, very wide, maybe a kilometre across. Could she swim it with
her parachute and her backpack? And even if she could, what else would be swimming with her?

EJ really needed those boots to give her something better. She clicked again and held her breath. This time, there was a whirring sound and two boards shot out from under the boots.
Great,
thought EJ,
water skis—but I assume there's no speedboat in there with them.
‘Stupid boots!' she shouted and crashed the skis together. As she did so, the boards clicked together and a pole shot up at the front of them, a handle-bar unfolded at the top and a small engine dropped down underneath.
Clever,
thought EJ.
I take it all back.
With only metres to go before she hit the water, EJ was now on a small water scooter. This was going to be fun!

She pulled the rope on her parachute straps and the chute disappeared into her backpack. As she touched the water, she squeezed on the handlebars and she was off, skimming her way along the river. And to think that her dad wouldn't let her ride her pushbike on the road yet!

EJ switched on her GPS navigation system (another thing her mum didn't realise you could use your phone for) and set it for 2 South 68 West. From the map, she could see the route she would take. She would have to move off this big river into a smaller one, but for now there was quite some way to go. That was just fine with EJ. She could enjoy the view—but not for too long.
SHADOW
wouldn't be far behind and there was no time to lose.

Everywhere EJ looked, there was something new to see. The river was as wide as five freeways and seemed to have a new bird or animal living around every bend. She looked up and there was a flock of brightly coloured macaws, rich blue with golden yellow tummies, screeching above the trees. They settled on some palm trees where they cracked open coconuts with their beaks. And high above, an eagle was circling with its enormous wings outstretched, before diving down like a fighter plane to claim its
prey far below. There was whistling, screeching, squawking and singing as birds of all shapes and sizes filled the branches of the trees that grew along the riverbank and back into the rain forest.

But birds were not the only life visible in the trees that overhung the river. There were monkeys! Little black-faced monkeys and larger grey ones, chattering and screaming as they leapt from tree to tree. Except for the ones that were fast asleep, of course, with their arms, legs and tails curled tightly around the branches.

And then to her right, EJ saw what looked like giant guinea pigs feeding on the river's edge. Capybaras. They were as big as sheep and there were masses of them munching the long grass along the muddy bank. Just ahead of them, a giant turtle was slowly making its way onto the bank.

For someone who loved animals as much as EJ, this was animal heaven. She could have just glided forever on her water scooter, watching the birds and animals make their way around the river.

But EJ wasn't the only thing gliding along the river, watching. All of a sudden, right in front of her, an otter scurried quickly out of the water and onto the bank. A flock of birds that had been calmly feeding suddenly began to squawk and flap excitedly and then flew swiftly up to the treetops. Everything seemed to be getting out of the water. And EJ got a funny feeling that maybe she should too. It was one of those funny feelings that actually wasn't funny at all—the feeling that someone, or something, was watching her...