‘Got any threes?’ Zac Power asked.
Grandpa pulled a card out of his hand and passed it to him.
‘Any sevens?’ Zac asked Leon with a sigh. Leon shook his head.
The three GIB spies were crowded aboard Leon’s MicroLab. The tiny flying laboratory was running on autopilot, soaring over the ocean towards their next stop.
Leon had wanted to play cards to pass the time. As if Zac could focus on games at a time like this!
G.I.B. STANDARD-ISSUE PLAYING CARDS Boredom-relieving Emergency Rations
He and Grandpa were in the middle of the biggest spy mission of their lives. They had just two days left to keep BIG’s Agent Blackwood from rebuilding IRIS, the most dangerous super-gadget ever created. IRIS was capable of sending people into a permanent sleep, and could be used on a whole city at once.
Only hours ago, Zac had made a horrible discovery: Grandpa and Agent Blackwood were actually brother and sister. Which meant that BIG agent Caz Rewop, Zac’s worst enemy, was also his cousin.
Actually, she was his second cousin, but it was still gross. The whole thing made Zac sick to his stomach.
‘Your turn, Grandpa,’ said Leon.
Grandpa stared down at his cards, like he was thinking about his next move. Then suddenly, he put his cards down on the floor and looked up at Zac and Leon.
‘I suppose I owe you an explanation,’ he said with a sigh.
Zac folded his arms, ready to listen. ‘It’s about time, Grandpa.’
Grandpa nodded. ‘I’ve already told you that I used to be part of a spy agency called GADGET,’ he began, ‘back before GIB and BIG existed.What I didn’t tell you was that Blackwood and I were the ones who started GADGET in the first place.’
‘Why?’ said Zac, disgusted. ‘She’s the most evil woman in the world!’
‘She might be now,’ said Grandpa, shaking his head.‘But back then, I had no idea that my sister would turn into a monster. I thought she was one of the good guys.’
‘Then why were you and Blackwood building a weapon?’ Leon asked.
‘IRIS was never supposed to be a weapon,’ said Grandpa. ‘It was supposed to be a low-powered sleep-ray for hospitals.’
Zac could see the logic in that. IRIS would have been more effective than medicine to put a patient to sleep. ‘But Blackwood had other ideas,’ he guessed.
‘I’m afraid so,’ said Grandpa sadly. ‘I had no idea at the time, but the power of being a secret agent went to her head. She thought being a GADGET agent made her better than other people. It wasn’t long before she started setting her sights on world domination.’
‘She wanted to use IRIS to take over the world?’ asked Leon.
Grandpa sighed. ‘I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn’t listen. In the end, I had no choice but to tear IRIS apart. That was the end of GADGET. Blackwood went off and started her own agency: the Blackwood Intelligence Guild.’
‘That’s what BIG stands for!’ realised Zac with a shout. He’d always wondered.
‘Right,’ said Grandpa. ‘And after everything that had gone wrong with GADGET, I had to shut it down. I took a few of the other GADGET agents with me and founded GIB.’
‘You started GIB?’ said Leon, raising an eyebrow. ‘Then why is Agent Big Boss in charge? Shouldn’t you have that job?’
‘And sit in an office at HQ all day?’ said Grandpa. ‘Not a chance. I want to be where the action is!’
BEEP!
An alert from the MicroLab interrupted their conversation.
Zac stood up and stared out the window. There was another vehicle flying towards them. It looked like a giant ball with wings.
‘Ah,’ said Grandpa, joining Zac at the window. ‘I forgot to mention: I’ve asked some other GIB agents to join us on the next leg of our journey.’
‘Who?’ asked Zac.
‘Oh, just a couple of old friends,’ said Grandpa with a twinkle in his eye.
Leon moved to the pilot’s seat and steered the MicroLab down to dock on the giant ball.
CLUNK!
The MicroLab landed gently on the other vehicle’s roof. Zac reached for the trapdoor at his feet. It hissed open, revealing a narrow tunnel down to the other vehicle.
Zac stared down through the tunnel. Two agents in GIB uniforms were waving back up at him.
Zac rolled his eyes as he realised who they were. ‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’