Reggie sat up on the bed in the medical bay, the skin under his bandages itching like crazy. He didn’t scratch – he didn’t want to feel the damage those beetles had done.

The medic was shining a torch in his eyes, one at a time, checking for concussion.

That clawed fist, Reggie thought. There must have been thousands of insects in that thing. Tens of thousands. It hit like a truck.

The medic clicked off the torch, and Reggie blinked away the discomfort it had caused. Power like that, she could cause total chaos, he thought. She said she just wanted to be left alone. Maybe we should leave her alone.

The door opened and Agent Ferris entered, frowning.

‘Well?’ Ferris asked.

‘He’s banged up,’ replied the medic, ‘but no signs of concussion. I recommend a week—’

‘Your recommendation is noted.’ Ferris turned to Reggie. ‘We need you back in the field tomorrow.’

‘I’ll find her, sir.’ Reggie straightened his posture, trying to hide his doubts.

‘No, she apparently has you outgunned. We’ll get her another way. We have different plans for you.’

‘But sir—’

Ferris turned and walked out. ‘See you at six a.m., Firefighter.’

Reggie watched him leave, a bit embarrassed but also a bit relieved.

Amber crawled in deeper, and the cave continued into a tunnel. The tunnel turned a corner and the sunlight gave way to darkness, but little green glowing flecks dotted the way ahead. Her eyes adjusted to the dimmer light, and she saw … worms.

Glow-worms, Amber realised. She remembered reading about them and their natural firefly-like glow.

She continued on her hands and knees until she hit a point where the passage split in two.

Which way?

As the thought entered her head, the worms to her right changed colour, their green glow replaced by red. To her left, the green remained.

Glow-worms glow red when they feel threatened, Amber recalled. Could they be warning me?

Amber had no better ideas, so she crawled into the left passage. After a few more metres her ankle started to really throb, just as dim light filtered in from around the next corner. The cave opened up into a small tree-filled canyon, surrounded by stone walls.

The plants were lush, with berries dangling from some branches. The leaves overhead were thick enough to make it tough to see in from above, but with large enough gaps to let in sunlight and warmth.

Amber sat, the vines covering the ground beneath her. She listened for the sounds of aircraft, but could hear nothing. She closed her eyes and lay back. The last time she slept she’d woken into a panicked chase, so it took longer for her to relax this time, but eventually sleep came.

By ten past six the next morning, Reggie was in a van with four heavily armed agents.

He opened the envelope Ferris had given him, containing the notes on the mission they were all heading for.

A hacker known as E-Boy has used an internet connection traced back to the address you’re heading to. Arrest and question anyone there. Let no one get away.

The only other document in the envelope was a floorplan of a house.

Reggie read the instructions again. Arrest and question anyone there. That’s pretty vague, he thought.

Twenty minutes passed without anyone speaking. Then the van’s GPS beeped, and the driver said, ‘Get ready. Almost there.’

Three of the agents checked their equipment as Reggie looked through the van window at an average suburban street. He tried to settle his doubts.

Amber woke not long after dawn. The canyon was a handy place to hide, but didn’t offer much shelter from sunlight.

Sleeping on vine-covered ground had left her aching and sore, most of all from her injured ankle. Amber wrapped it tightly with a vine and stood, but her leg would barely support her weight. She grabbed some low-hanging berries then sat straight back down to eat, putting her foot up on a log so that the ankle was elevated, like she’d been taught in school.

Well, she thought, I guess I’m staying put for a little while.

The van pulled up in front of a low-cut hedge. All five men poured out and leapt over the hedge, quickly crossing the front porch to the door. Two agents lined a small battering ram up with the lock. The driver nodded and the agents swung, the door flying open with a crunch.

They all charged in, two of them shouting, ‘Government agents! Show yourselves!’ as they moved through the living room, dining room and kitchen. The lead agent, Reggie and one other scaled the staircase.

At the top of the stairs, they found an old man in short pyjamas, hurriedly trying to pull a dressing-gown around his thin frame.

The old man said, ‘What on earth? What’s going—’ and gasped as an agent grabbed him and shook him roughly.

‘Where is he?’ the agent shouted. ‘Where’s E-Boy?’

The other black-clad agent charged away down the hall as the old man stammered, ‘Wh-what?!’

‘Where’s E-Boy?’ The agent twisted the old man’s arm, making him wince.

‘I don’t know what that is!’

Reggie put his hand on the agent’s shoulder. ‘He’s not a threat.’

The agent snarled, ‘Back off, matchstick. The professionals are handling this.’

Reggie’s hand didn’t move.

Their colleague returned from down the hall. ‘I found his computer.’ He motioned for the others to follow, which they did – handcuffing the old man and hauling him along behind them.

They entered a study and saw a computer that was at least a decade old.

‘No one’s hacking anything with that,’ Reggie said.

‘Hacking?’ The old man’s face was full of panic and confusion. ‘I just use it for a bit of banking and to—’

‘SHUT UP.’ The lead agent lifted the hand holding the handcuffs, bending the old man forward and making him cry out in pain. ‘A criminal’s internet connection was traced back to this house.’

‘Please.’ Tears formed in the old man’s eyes. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’

Another agent entered the study, carrying a wallet and driver’s licence.

‘Arthur Stratton, aged seventy-eight, licence shows this address,’ he said. ‘Do you live here alone, Mr Stratton?’

‘Since my wife died three years ago,’ sobbed the old man.

Reggie put his hand on the chain connecting the handcuffs and pushed down, letting Arthur stand straight again. ‘It’s obvious that your hacker tapped into this connection without the owner’s knowledge. We’re wasting our time.’

The lead agent came nose-to-nose with Reggie. ‘We have our orders. Either follow them or get out of the way.’

Reggie said quietly, between gritted teeth, ‘It looks like you have things under control. I’ll be outside.’

He stormed down the stairs as the lead agent shouted, ‘Tear the place apart!’

As Reggie walked outside, he could hear glass breaking, and the old man protesting. He stood for a moment, then shook his head and picked up a rock from the garden. He walked up to the driver’s side window of the van, and broke it with the rock.

Reggie put his hand to the jagged hole and gave a slight flicker of his power, then returned to the house.

‘Guys,’ he shouted, ‘there’s a problem outside. A big one.’

‘What is it?’ one of the other agents called back.

‘You need to follow me. Now.’

Reggie walked back outside, two agents following. He pointed to the front of the van, which was now billowing smoke.

‘Where’s the fire extinguisher?!’ one agent shouted.

‘In the glovebox,’ the other replied resignedly. The fire was making it unreachable.

The first guy ran back to the house. ‘Agent White, we have a situation,’ he yelled.

Agent White charged out of the house, dragging the old man with him.

‘WHAT IS GOING ON?!’ he screamed. He ran to the van and saw sparks as the fire short-circuited the ignition and the dashboard. The van wouldn’t be drivable for a long, long time.

Agent White gave a frustrated grunt and barked at another officer to order a pickup from headquarters, before unlocking the old man’s handcuffs. ‘Don’t leave town, Mr Stratton. We’ll be in touch.’

White then shot a furious look at Reggie, who shrugged.

Normally Amber didn’t mind staying in one place, observing and studying. But now that she had to stay still, against her own wishes, it was starting to annoy her.

It occurred to her that she hadn’t had a chance to really test her abilities. She’d mostly called the insects when she was reacting to a situation, when she was angry or threatened. Maybe it was time to find out what she could do and when.

Amber concentrated, and soon saw glowing purple dots all around. They were different sizes and shapes, but she couldn’t quite tell which glow meant which insect.

Over the next two hours, Amber called on different types of insects, and noticed how long they took to arrive. She called for ants, and they appeared in great numbers from under the ground almost instantly.

She summoned mosquitoes, which took a little longer to arrive. Mosquitoes don’t usually swarm, and when they came in their hundreds the whiny buzzing was almost deafening.

When she reached out for moths, she was surprised at the amount of movement in the leaves and vines all around her. Sphinx moths, she thought. Coloured to blend in with the plants.

What about bees? Unlike wasps or hornets, a bee can only sting once and then it dies. But bees scare people, she thought. Maybe I can use that.

She concentrated. Only two turned up at first, so she waited.

Agent Ferris stood behind his desk and shook his head. ‘This is bad, Reggie.’

Reggie stood in front of Ferris’s desk, posture stiff at attention. ‘I agree, sir. I’m sorry. I only wish I had seen the criminal or criminals responsible.’

‘Why didn’t you put the fire out with your water-power?!’

Reggie shrugged. ‘I’m still learning how my powers work, sir. Maybe I can’t create the water when I’m annoyed.’

‘An investigation was sabotaged by this fire,’ said Ferris. ‘We will get to the bottom of this, Firefighter.’

Reggie rolled his eyes. ‘Investigation? The, uh, suspect was almost eighty, his computer was a relic – there was no way any hacking was happening from that house.’

Ferris locked eyes with Reggie. ‘Agent White has twenty years of experience, and a lot of interrogations under his belt. He knows what he’s doing.’

Reggie put both fists on the desk and leant towards Ferris. ‘That wasn’t an interrogation. It was bullying. And next time you need a full squad to hurt an old man, leave me out of it.’

Ferris raised both hands in a calming gesture. ‘Look, we didn’t know what to expect. We’re chasing someone dangerous. White had to go in heavy. Maybe he went a bit overboard.’

Reggie sighed. ‘Surely there are people you could send me after that are just straight-up bad? I can’t keep second-guessing these missions!’

‘So trust us,’ said Ferris. ‘Trust me. Nothing is simple in running a government, or protecting one.’ He walked around his desk. ‘I’ve spent my career making these sorts of decisions so that people like you don’t need to. You’re a powerful asset, Reggie. We’re not going to waste your talents.’

Reggie looked down at his hands, silent. Ferris put his hand on Reggie’s shoulder and said, ‘Go take a break. Lie down. It’s been a frantic few days.’

Reggie nodded, and left without another word. As he walked out of one door and closed it behind him, Agent White entered through another, behind Ferris.

‘So you think I went overboard, do you, sir?’ White asked.

Ferris smiled but didn’t turn around. ‘I had to tell him something,’ he said. ‘He packs a punch, but he’s still a civilian at heart.’

‘That’s a problem, sir. A large one.’

Ferris’s smile faded. ‘Might need to keep an eye on him next time out.’

There was a knock on the door. An agent came in without waiting for permission, and with him was an older man wearing overalls.

‘Sorry to barge in, sir,’ said the agent, ‘but I think you’ll want to hear this.’

‘I hope for your sake you’re right, Nordstrom,’ said Ferris. ‘How can I help you, Mr …’

‘Uh, Wallace. Jackson Wallace. I run the honey farm just outside town.’

Ferris looked at Agent Nordstrom, who said, ‘Tell him what happened, Mr Wallace.’

‘Okay. This will sound ridiculous, but … my bees ran away. Well, flew away.’

‘How do you mean?’ asked Ferris.

‘About an hour ago, they just up and flew out of my hives. All in one direction. I’ve never seen anything like it.’

‘Which direction did they fly in?’ Ferris asked.

‘I’m not sure,’ said Wallace. ‘North, I guess?’

‘Thank you, Mr Wallace,’ said Ferris quickly. ‘Nordstrom, see that Mr Wallace gets home okay. White, come with me to the satellite room.’

‘And our hot-headed friend?’ asked White. ‘Are you going to assign an agent to watch him?’

‘Not one,’ said Ferris. ‘Three.’