Mind Games by H. I. Larry Page A

he had been taught how to land safely during GIB training, or he would have broken a bone for sure.
    The lift doors opened with a ping.
    Zac was in an underground car park. Parked nearby was a white van with a satellite dish on the top. The door opened and a strong pair of arms dragged Zac into the back.
    The door slammed shut and, with a screech of tyres, the van took off.
    Zac looked down at his feet. The exploding sneakers were completely gone. All that was left was a very holey, smoky pair of socks.
    â€˜Hello, Zac,’ said the strong-armed man, who was driving the van. ‘I’ve been expecting you.’

CHAPTER
TWO
    â€˜I’m Agent-In-Training Gorman, GIB Transport Division,’ said the man. ‘Hope that wasn’t too uncomfortable, Zac,’ he went on, looking guiltily at Zac’s socks. ‘I’ve just transferred from Stationery and Supplies, actually. You’re my first agent pick-up.’
    Zac remembered his first solo mission. He smiled at Gorman.
    It wasn’t easy being the new guy.
    â€˜Do you know the way to the airport, Zac?’ asked Gorman.
    â€˜The airport? Why? What’s my mission?’ said Zac.
    Gorman fished around in his pockets. ‘It’s somewhere in here,’ muttered Gorman to himself.
    At last he found what he was looking for. He handed Zac a small metal disc.
    Zac loaded the disc into his SpyPad. Every GIB spy had a SpyPad. It looked sort of like an electronic game, but really it was a mini-computer with in-built GPS navigation software, laser and code-breaker, all rolled into one.
    CLASSIFIED
MISSION INITIATED 9.00AM
    Unknown hostiles are hacking into the computer system controlling WorldEye. WorldEye is GIB’s satellite system, so powerful it can read a newspaper headline from 500 kilometres up. The software is protected by encrypted passwords and high-level firewalls. Still, the hackers have managed to breach every firewall but one.
    YOUR MISSION
• Locate hackers.
• Discover why they want to hack into WorldEye.
• Prevent breaching of final firewall.
    END

    This was bad!
    Only one firewall standing between WorldEye and a bunch of criminals!
    â€˜What does Leon think?’ asked Zac, as the van turned onto the freeway to the airport.
    Leon, Zac’s brother, was a Technical Support Officer with GIB. If anyone knew how to handle computer hackers, it was Leon.
    â€˜Leon’s tracked the hackers to the city of Bladesville,’ said Gorman.
    Zac fought back a proud smile. Sometimes nerdy brothers really did come in handy.
    â€˜You wouldn’t be smiling if you knew anything about Bladesville,’ said Gorman. His eyes widened. ‘I’ve heard it’s one of the meanest, toughest, dirtiest cities in the whole world.’
    Zac said nothing. Whatever Bladesville had in store for him, he could deal with it. Couldn’t he?
    â€˜Oh, yeah,’ Gorman went on. ‘Leon reckons it’ll take the hackers 24 hours to breach the last firewall.’
    Only 24 hours? Zac did some quick calculations in his head.
    Now he was freaking out!
    â€˜Says here the mission started at 9am today, so that means I’ve only got until 9am tomorrow to fly to Bladesville and stop the hackers. And it’s – ’ Zac glanced at his watch – ‘already 6.51pm!’

    Gordon looked guilty for a moment.
    â€˜Yeah, sorry about the delay in getting you on the mission, Zac. First time and everything, you see.’
    Gorman coughed nervously. But Zac could see there wasn’t any point getting angry. Gorman was doing the best he could. Was it his fault his best was, um, not really very good?
    Gorman opened the van’s glovebox.
    â€˜I nearly forgot these,’ he said, passing Zac a pair of wraparound glasses with a computer-game controller attached.
    â€˜These aren’t going to explode too, are they?’ Zac asked, thinking of the grey sneakers.
    â€˜No, they’re virtual-reality