Zac leant forward, steering his Ejector Pack over the lake. Then he turned the handle more slowly, and the chopper blades above his head started to slow.
As Zac drifted towards the snowy ground, he looked back at the mountains. For a minute, he was sure he could see people moving around up there. He was reminded again of the White Ninjas.
Zac turned to point them out to Grandpa, but when he looked back, he couldn’t see them anymore.
Just focus on the mission, Zac told himself. There might not even be any White Ninjas around here.
The five Powers touched down on the outskirts of the City of Snow.
Zac checked the PSU again.
‘This way,’ said Grandpa, pointing to a frosty silver archway up ahead. They shrugged off their Ejector Packs and set off for the archway.
Now that he was on solid ground again, Zac’s mind went back to the gut-wrenching thought of being Caz’s cousin. He walked next to his dad, wanting to talk to him about it. But he couldn’t figure out what to say.
‘So,’ said Zac’s dad, breaking the silence. ‘Grandpa tells me you boys know about Blackwood and Caz.’
Zac stared at his dad.‘You knew we were family?’
Zac’s dad shrugged. ‘Oh, I wouldn’t call them family.’
‘What do you mean?’ said Zac. ‘Blackwood is Grandpa’s sister! That means Caz is my cousin!’
‘Second cousin,’ Zac’s dad corrected. ‘Anyway, the way I see it, your real family are the people who actually care about you. Caz and Blackwood might share a bit of Power DNA, but that doesn’t mean we’ll invite them to the next family BBQ.’
Zac nodded. He still hated the thought of being related to Caz and Blackwood, but his dad was right. It didn’t mean they were family.
Then something else occurred to Zac.
‘Hang on,’ he said, turning to Grandpa. ‘If you knew Blackwood had Power DNA, why did you put a DNA-lock on your map to the IRIS pieces? You knew she’d be able to open it.’
‘That map takes two sets of Power DNA to open,’ Grandpa reminded him. ‘Don’t forget, I made that map a long time ago, before you or even your parents were born. Back then, Blackwood and I were the only two spies with Power DNA.’
‘So the only way you could open the map was if you did it together,’ said Zac.
‘Right,’ said Grandpa. ‘I was still hoping my sister and I would make peace again. Then we could put IRIS back together and use it for good. I was far too young to be thinking about kids and grandkids.’
As they reached the silver archway, Zac saw Grandpa pull something white and fluffy out of his pocket and stick it to his face. A fake beard. It was so long that it trailed all the way down to the ground.
Zac remembered what Grandpa had said about the people here not liking spies, and wondered why Grandpa needed to disguise his face.
Grandpa led the way into the city. There were people everywhere, all dressed in heavy fur coats. Most of them were on foot, but a few rode by on carriages pulled by shaggy white yaks.
‘They’re here!’ shouted a voice from above them. Zac saw a woman staring down at him from a second-floor window.
‘Did you hear that?’ said someone further up the street. ‘They’re here!’
‘The royal family!’
‘Look! Over there!’
One by one, every single man, woman and child turned around to stare at the Power family.
Suddenly, the air was filled with the sound of thumping. Everyone in the street knelt down as Zac and the others passed by.
‘Wow,’ said Zac. ‘I guess people take royalty pretty seriously around here.’
‘Yeah,’ Leon grinned. He smoothed out his robes and started marching down the street, waving at the people.
‘Greetings, my loyal subjects!’ Leon called to the crowd. ‘Great bowing, everybody! Keep it up!’
Zac snorted, and his mum rolled her eyes. Leon loved wearing disguises.
‘Oh, Leon! Settle down, for goodness’ sake,’ groaned their mum. She grabbed Leon’s arm and pulled him back with the rest of the family.
Zac saw a man in a blue uniform riding towards them on a silver yak-drawn carriage. The man pulled to a stop in front of the Power family, climbed down, and bowed to Grandpa.
‘Your majesty,’ he said. ‘The king sends his greetings. May we take you to the Frozen Palace?’
‘Certainly,’ said Grandpa. ‘Thank you.’
The five Powers piled into the silver carriage. The carriage pulled them down the street, past hundreds of bowing people.
Looking around, Zac saw one person who wasn’t bowing.
Caz stood by the side of the road, wearing a heavy-looking backpack and holding Grandpa’s Data Orb. She was breaking the No Technology law in front of everyone!
Caz glared at Zac as the carriage went past. Zac saw two more men in blue uniforms kneeling down near her.
‘Guards!’ he called to the men. ‘Hey, guards!’
Grandpa grabbed Zac’s shoulder. ‘Zac, no! Let’s just keep quiet.’
But Zac wanted to stop Caz once and for all. ‘Guards, arrest that girl! She’s using modern technology!’
The guards sprang to their feet and grabbed Caz. They held her by the arms and dragged her down a narrow side street towards the Frozen Palace.
Grandpa pulled a face.
‘What’s wrong?’ Zac asked. ‘I just got Caz arrested!’
‘Yes,’ said Grandpa. ‘And you’ve just given her exactly what she wanted.’
