‘The basic training program is made up of a number of stages, EJ10,’ explained A1. ‘You will complete one stage every month or so then, when all the levels are complete and you have turned ten, you will be able to join the under-twelve division and be mission-ready. The sessions are normally after school but are sometimes during the day, which is why we have introduced you to the Mission Tube. You will use this when you receive a mission alert. But let’s not race ahead of ourselves. Today you will begin at the first training level: fitness.’

Emma smiled. That should be fun because she loved sport. But then her smile faded a little as EJ had a worrying thought: what if she wasn’t fit enough?

‘It is a fitness test,’ continued A1.

Emma stopped smiling completely and the worrying thought became a really worrying thought, with the butterflies swooping in and soaring all around her tummy. Arrrrgghhh! she thought. Another test!

‘There’s a SHINE motto,’ said A1. ‘“Tests Are Our Times to Shine”, to show what we can do.’

‘Yes, I suppose so,’ agreed Emma but inside she wasn’t so sure. What if she couldn’t do anything?

‘Let’s get going. Follow me please, EJ.’

The doors to the Operations Room opened and they walked out to the lift. The lift doors opened and EJ and A1 stepped in. A1 pressed a button marked with a T. The lift jolted and began to move up quickly. There was a beep as the lift doors opened again and A1 and EJ stepped out beside a large indoor sports oval. There were girls in SHINE training outfits running laps, another group tackling an obstacle course and another zipping along a flying fox. There were gumtrees around the oval, some of which were being climbed by agents.

EJ’s eyes were wide with astonishment. ‘You have trees inside the building …’

‘We like our training to be realistic,’ said A1. ‘We converted three floors into our basic training area. We have a larger training camp out in the bush but this one works well for daily use. As you can see, our Animal Training Division also uses it.’

EJ looked to where A1 was pointing to see another group of agents walking with cats on leads, while another was taking some Labradors through large pipes. There were even birds flying from agents’ hands to trees and back again. It was hard to believe that all this was going on underneath an ordinary shop in an ordinary street.

‘We also have a sky-diving room,’ said A1. ‘Using the latest green-screen technology, agents can practise their parachuting skills. There is Agent JM12, off to her jump practice now next to another code-cracker agent, IE12.’

EJ looked across to see an agent with brown hair and wearing glasses, looking so confident as she strode across the oval. EJ wondered if she would ever look that way. Her thoughts were interrupted by A1.

‘Do you see Agent CP14 over there?’

EJ looked, she squinted in the direction A1 was pointing but she couldn’t see anyone. ‘Um, no, I can’t,’ she replied.

‘Excellent, she is doing well then,’ said A1. ‘Do you see that tree?’

‘Yes,’ said EJ.

‘Well, keep watching,’ said A1, picking up a megaphone that was on the bench next to them. ‘Agent CP14,’ called A1. ‘Please wave.’

As EJ watched, the tree seemed to wave one of its branches.

‘But, what?’ she spluttered.

‘CP14 is one of our leading camouflage experts,’ explained A1. ‘Look, there she is.’

EJ saw a tall blonde girl step out from the tree. She also saw a small, red-haired girl perched on CP14’s shoulders. They both waved at A1 and then stepped back ‘into’ the tree.

‘And now it’s time to begin your training, EJ,’ said A1. ‘As you can see, there are three activity stations placed around the oval. There is an obstacle course, a rope course and, at the end, a flying fox. In order to attain your basic fitness badge you need to complete all three courses and run back around the oval to the starting point in fewer than fifteen minutes. You will have to work out what you need to do to complete the course; “Train the body, train the brain”, as we say. Right, are you ready, EJ10?’

No, thought EJ, clenching her fists. ‘Yes,’ she said out aloud.

‘Okay, then, take your place at this white line here,’ said A1, pushing a button on her watch. ‘Timer ready. Agent ready. Go!’

EJ took off down the first straight of the oval towards the obstacle course. What if I can’t even get through this first stage, EJ thought as she approached the start of the course. She slowed as she approached a series of steps. When she reached the top she saw a long narrow plank, and was a little relieved.

This is like the beam in gymnastics, she thought. I think I can do this bit.

She walked, slowly but surely, to the end of the plank and jumped off, running towards a row of large pipes. She got down and crawled through the first pipe and then a second pipe. EJ’s confidence was building now and, scrambling out the other end, she stepped up to a long monkey bar and swung her way across before jumping back to the ground. She ran a few steps before having to jump up to another, this time thinner, longer plank. Again she walked steadily across to the other side. She smiled to herself. Maybe she could do this?

Next the ropes, she thought as she looked ahead to a rope bridge suspended between two tall gumtrees. EJ paused and swallowed hard as she looked up: the bridge was up high. She took a deep breath and slowly climbed the wooden ladder up the tree, holding each step tightly. She knew she was being slow but she was more worried about falling. Heights always scared her. Finally she reached the top and tentatively tested the rope bridge with her foot. It seems strong, she thought. And I can hold onto the rope sides, but it’s so high up. EJ took a deep breath and grabbed hold of the rope handles and began pulling herself across the bridge. ‘Don’t look down,’ she said aloud. ‘That will make it seem worse.’ The bridge felt strange, unbalancing, as it swung from side to side. I wouldn’t want the bridge to be any higher off the ground, she thought. I couldn’t do that!

She was soon over to the other side, and climbing down the tree was a lot less scary than climbing up. EJ did it quickly and then took deep breaths as she started to run fast along the track.

‘Keep it up, EJ10,’ cried A1 through the megaphone. ‘You are half way and making good time!’

EJ ran faster. She turned up the next straight and came to a high wooden wall with a thick rope hanging down. Taking hold of the rope and with her feet pressed against the wall, EJ pulled herself up. Just when she thought her arms couldn’t pull any more, she reached the top and hauled herself onto a narrow platform. Standing up, she saw a wire cable starting at the top of the platform and stretching out along the long straight of the oval, getting closer and closer to the ground. It was the flying fox.

How do I get down on this? she wondered. I have no idea! I can’t fail my very first test. Aaaarrgghh! EJ’s eyes darted around. Keep calm, she thought. There has to be something here. And then she spied a helmet and a harness with a large metal clip. She understood: she needed to put on the helmet and harness, and then clip the harness to the wire of the flying fox. As EJ went to pick up the helmet, she heard a noise.

It was coming from inside the helmet. EJ picked it up to discover a baby bird with soft downy feathers inside it.

‘Hey, what are you doing here?’ she asked softly. She looked up into the branches of the tree overhead. She couldn’t see a nest.

‘Five more minutes, EJ10,’ called A1.

EJ looked up along the course. She still had to come down the flying fox and run the rest of the oval but she couldn’t leave the baby bird here.

‘Are you hungry?’ she asked. She had helped her mum with injured birds that they had found in the park near their house and she knew that they needed food and water.

‘Four minutes, EJ10!’

EJ grabbed the harness and, putting it on, noticed a small pouch at the front. That gave her an idea. Gently she picked up the baby bird and placed it in the pouch, then clipped the harness to the wire.

‘Hold on, little one!’ she cried as she took hold of the handle and jumped off the platform.

EJ and the little bird flew down the wire and into a pit of foam blocks. EJ unclipped the harness from the wire but kept it on and, holding the pouch, climbed out of the pit and ran as fast as she could down the straight of the oval.

‘One minute, EJ10!’

EJ surged down the straight. As she sprinted towards A1 she could hear her counting.

‘20 seconds, 19, 18, 17 …’

EJ ran across the finish line, one hand still holding the pouch and the baby bird. She slowed down and, red-faced and panting, looked up at A1.

‘Well done, EJ10,’ said A1. ‘Fourteen minutes, fifty-five seconds.’

‘I nearly didn’t make it but I had to stop for this,’ said EJ, panting as she carefully took the bird from her pouch. ‘It must have fallen from a nest, but I couldn’t see one and I couldn’t leave it up there.’

‘Of course not,’ agreed A1. ‘You made the right choice and it seems you have talent for animal rescue.’

EJ smiled and then she wondered whether rescuing the chick had been part of the test.

‘Test over, Agent EJ10. I’m pleased to award you your first basic training badge.’ A1 passed EJ a badge and EJ couldn’t hide her disappointment when she saw it. It had a smiley face on it and the words ‘Level 1’. It wasn’t quite the spy-badge EJ had been expecting.

‘This is your cover badge, EJ,’ explained A1, who seemed to sense her disappointment. ‘The one you can show your family and friends. Your official SHINE badge has been digitally uploaded onto your phone and will be ready for you when you have changed. Which you need to do quickly. School is about to finish and we need to get you back.’

EJ and A1 returned to the Operations Room, and EJ changed back into her school uniform and returned to the Mission Tube.

As the bell rang for the end of school, Emma was walking out of the girls’ toilets. She met Hannah at the lockers.

‘Hey, Em,’ said Hannah. ‘Where have you been?’

‘I had a really bad tummy ache,’ said Emma. It wasn’t a lie, those butterflies had been flying around all afternoon. ‘But I feel a lot better now, thanks Han.’ The two friends walked out the school gates and Emma saw her mum’s car. As she jumped in, her favourite song, by a band called the Pink Shadows, was playing on the radio.

‘Hi, Mum!’

‘Hi, darling, good day at school?’

Emma wanted to tell her mother everything but she knew she had to keep it a secret. ‘It was okay,’ she replied.

‘Anything exciting?’

EJ thought about the Mission Tube, the obstacle course and the rope course, the flying fox and the little bird.

‘Not much,’ she said.