Jump Start (3 page)

But what did it all mean? What was Project Green Eye? What was the problem and what on Earth was the Butterfly Tree? EJ folded the paper, put it back in the capsule and lifted the capsule back up into the mouth of the clear plastic tube.

The capsule was sucked up and away, rushing towards
SHINE HQ.
Which is exactly where EJ was heading next.

The decoded message would beat EJ to
SHINE HQ.
This allowed the
SHINE
support team enough time to work out what she would need for the mission. By the time EJ whizzed into
SHINE HQ
there was already a backpack and field-agent gear laid out on the briefing table. And in front of the table stood an older lady in a smart black suit and a beautiful yellow pendant necklace. It was A1, the head of the
SHINE
agency.

‘Good morning, EJ. Good to have you back—nice ride?'

‘Fabulous as always, thank you A1,' EJ replied.

EJ really liked A1. She was the one who prepared agents for their missions, and also the one to go to when things got tricky. While that explained the 1 in her code name, no one seemed to know what the A stood for. Her first name perhaps. Amy? Alice? Alexandra? EJ didn't think A1 looked like any of those names. In fact, she reminded EJ a lot of her grandmother. A1 had lovely pure white hair swept back into a bun, which she often used to hold pens and pencils—and once a torch—she was using. EJ knew better than to be fooled by the white hair though—it was the
only
old thing about A1, who ran five kilometres every morning and was still the agency's record-holder for long-distance swimming.

A1 seemed to have been at
SHINE
forever. EJ wondered how long. She wondered lots of things about A1 but never seemed to find any answers. EJ had also heard other agents talk about A1 having a sister. There was an agent, codename A2, who worked for
SHINE
but one day she vanished with some secret plans
SHINE
was working on and
was never seen again. Did she go across and start working for
SHADOW?
Was she really A1's sister? Some agents believed so but there was never any proof and no one was brave enough to ask A1 what happened.

‘Daydreaming EJ12? Anyway, good work on the first message,' A1 congratulated her. ‘You were right. It was a simple number-letter match and by cracking it so fast, we can get this mission off to a quick start. Now let's see what we know already.' A1 stepped back. ‘Light Screen lower,' she said loudly.

An enormous plasma screen came down in front of them. EJ loved the Light Screen. It was voice-activated and powered by
SHINE's
giant computer system. It could show information from anywhere on the Internet, as well as
SHINE's
own secret files, all within seconds.

‘Show message,' said A1, and the message EJ had decoded in the Code Room flashed up on the screen.

‘You were right about the map reference,' A1 explained. ‘Earth Map.' A map of the world appeared on the large screen. ‘Find 2 South, 68 West,' A1 directed, and within seconds the Light Screen had zoomed in on what looked like a huge blob of green.

‘But there's nothing there,' said EJ.

‘Wait a little longer,' replied A1.

And sure enough, as the map focussed and came into view more clearly, EJ could see that the green was made up of trees—hundreds and thousands of trees.

‘More detail, show images,' instructed A1.

Images began to appear on the screen: an enormous river surrounded by deep, green rainforest then pictures of monkeys, birds, butterflies, enormous
and beautiful flowers. It was a tropical paradise.

‘Amazing!' EJ sighed.

‘It is now,' said A1, ‘but not for much longer, I fear. This is the location that corresponds to the co-ordinates in the code, so it must be pretty close to Project Green Eye—and whatever that is, you can bet it's not good. We have been gathering information on
SHADOW's
recent activities. The information suggests that
SHADOW
has been preparing to build a new satellite dish in a remote area that no one has ever been to. With an extra dish in a new location,
SHADOW
will be able to get more information to their agents—and quicker too. Their ability to send and receive communications will be second to none—not to mention their surveillance capability. If this new satellite dish becomes operational, we might not be able to intercept their messages. Who knows what evil plans they will make?'

‘And, if they're planning to build it at
this
location, it won't be any good for the rainforest,' added EJ.

‘Exactly, EJ12,' said A1. ‘So we have two reasons to move extremely quickly.'

Suddenly a red light started to flash on the Light Screen.

‘Oh dear,' said A1. ‘Make that
three
reasons. The red light indicates that
SHADOW
has discovered that we have intercepted their message. They won't want to take any chances, so they'll assume—correctly—that the message has been decoded. That means they know we're on to Project Green Eye, so we'll have to move quickly.'

SHADOW
messages usually worked in a particular way. When they needed one of their agents to do something,
SHADOW
would send a message but the message would be in a secret code and they would use several messages to deliver the full set of instructions. There could be two, three, even four
messages for the complete set of instructions.

SHINE
was always on the look-out for these messages from
SHADOW
and they looked for suspicious emails, letters and texts. They needed to get the message before the
SHADOW
agent did. If they did manage to intercept a message, they then needed to decode it—and that's where agents like EJ12 came in. Once an agent had cracked a code, it would often direct them to another message and then to another. But they had to work quickly to stay one step ahead of
SHADOW.
If
SHADOW
realised that a message had been intercepted, they might be able to destroy the other messages before the
SHINE
agent got to them or they might send a
SHADOW
team after the
SHINE
agent. Neither of those things was good. There was one more catch.
SHADOW
was always trying to find ways to stop
SHINE
being able to get their messages or inventing new ways to send them that
SHINE
would not detect. Sometimes the
SHADOW
codes
would change and get harder with each message so an agent had to keep on her toes.

And now it looked as if
SHADOW
knew
SHINE
had their message. EJ12 would have to move fast—and carefully.

‘Okay,' said A1. ‘We'd better jump to it. We know where to send you...'

‘Yes, but what is the Butterfly Tree?' EJ wondered aloud.

‘That we
don't
know, but finding that tree is the only way to intercept the next message from
SHADOW.
Unfortunately we won't be able to drop you right at the location,' explained A1. ‘The forest is too thick and we may be detected. We can get you pretty close but then it's up to you. Your mission kit is ready, so let's get you started.'

EJ looked over the gear on the briefing table: standard
SHINE
cargo pants, backpack,
SHINE
belt, boots and t-shirt, compass, torch, binoculars, insect repellent spray and sun cream.

EJ smiled when she saw the boots. They looked like your standard-issue mission boots, but they could convert into practically anything: skis, stilts, ice-skates or even jumping springs. EJ wondered if they had been upgraded. While the boots were very clever, the various bits of equipment did seem to come out rather randomly which could cause problems. However, EJ didn't want to seem rude so kept quiet. Then she spied a pair of sunglasses.

‘I bet they do something pretty clever,' said EJ enthusiastically. She couldn't wait to hear what clever invention the
SHINE
scientists had added to these quite ordinary-looking glasses.

‘They protect your eyes from the sun,' said A1, looking slightly surprised. ‘What else did you think they might do?'

‘Oh, I don't know,' said EJ, feeling slightly embarrassed. ‘X-ray vision, perhaps? Infra-red night
vision goggles?'

‘You've seen too many spy movies, EJ12,' laughed A1. ‘Gadgets can be fun but sometimes the best tool an agent can have is her own common sense. Remember the motto: An agent's best gadget is her brain.'

EJ nodded and tried to look like she agreed. She wondered if A1 had kids—that common sense line was classic mum speak. EJ was a bit disappointed.

A1 must have realised because she smiled and said, ‘And as always, there are a few extra charms for your bracelet.'

Yes!,
thought EJ,
now we are talking!
Out of all the mission gear, the charms were her favourite.
SHINE
invented the CHARM equipment system for agents to be able to carry gear easily and without being detected. Named for Clever Hidden Accessories with Release Mechanism, the system was made of gear and gadgets shrunk into small silver charms that were then worn on a bracelet
on the agent's wrist. The gadget was released and restored to normal size when the agent twisted the charm.
Incredibly handy—and, rather cool,
thought EJ.

An agent would receive new charms for each mission but could also keep charms from previous missions that might come in handy. EJ always kept her skeleton-key charm on but didn't always carry her baby penguin food!

A1 produced a small velvet bag containing the charms for the mission: a butterfly, a crocodile, a heart with wings and a key.

‘But I already have a skeleton-key,' said EJ.

‘We know but it's time for an upgrade,' replied A1. ‘Your other one was getting a bit old and being up to date is key for
SHINE
agents!' she said, chuckling at her own joke. ‘There's no time to go thought the rest now but remember to twist the charms to activate them.'

EJ looked at the charms more closely, especially the crocodile. She really
really
hoped she would not need that one.

‘Okay EJ12, we're running short of time,' said A1, winding up the meeting. ‘There will be a further briefing once you are on your way. As soon as you find the second message and crack the code, make contact again. By then, we may have discovered important information about whatever
SHADOW
is up to this time. But for now, jump to it EJ12, and good luck!'

‘Will do,' EJ replied. What was it with all the jumping today? She went into the dressing room and changed into her mission gear. Cargo pants, belt, t-shirt, boots, even a hair elastic for a ponytail.
SHINE
always thought of everything and that made EJ feel safe and confident. Finally she slipped the new charms onto her bracelet and she was ready—for anything.

A1's voice came over the loudspeaker in the dressing room. ‘Agent EJ12,
Shineforce 10
is ready for you now.'

‘Awesome!' cried EJ, coming out of the dressing room and meeting A1.

Excellent,
she thought.
Shineforce 10, the jet—my favourite!

SHINE
had many ways of getting agents around the world quickly and secretly but super-sleek
Shineforce 10
was definitely one of the best. It had delivered EJ to deserts, tropical islands and snowy mountain ranges and she couldn't wait until she was allowed to fly it herself. She had already earned her mini-wings, which meant she could take control of
SHINE
choppers and hot air balloons, but the agents in the Under-12 division were not allowed to sit for their mega-wings licence, mainly because they were still too short!
Oh well,
thought EJ with longing. But it was still unbelievably cool to be a passenger on
Shineforce 10.
And to think that her dad was still worried about her going home alone on the school bus!