The Dino-soarer had been in the air for more than an hour, speeding silently through the skies at supersonic speed. As Amber piloted the craft, Spynosaur sat beside her reviewing the mission briefing.
“Dad, we’re coming up on Danger Monkey’s last-known location,” said Amber, checking the viewscreen.
“Good! So, we rescue Danger Monkey, find the McGuffin and slap Ego in chains,” said Spynosaur, checking his pistol. “And all the while being cooler than a cucumber in the—”
“Snow!” gasped Amber, pressing her hands against the cockpit window as she peered out at a vast, snow-covered mountain range. After a moment, she glared at Spynosaur and saw a glint in his yellow eye. “Dad, don’t even think about—”
“Snow puns at all – got it,” he replied. He tapped at his Super Secret Spy Watch™ with a sharp claw. “Set the Dino-soarer to autopilot – it’s time to brave the elements.”
Spynosaur retrieved a puffer jacket from an overhead compartment and handed it to Amber. By the time she’d donned her spy gear, Spynosaur was dressed from head to tail in a fur-collared cold-weather suit, complete with parachute.
“Where’s my parachute?” asked Amber
Spynosaur scooped her up and held her to his chest. “Not until you’re at least twelve,” he said. He positioned himself in the middle of the docking bay and tapped his Super Secret Spy Watch™. “Now, let’s get some fresh air, shall we?”
Amber heard a CLUNK! and a WHIRRRR…Then she felt her stomach lurch as the floor of the Dino-soarer slid open, dropping them into the air.
They plummeted downwards, freefalling towards the snow-covered mountains. Spynosaur stretched out his powerful tail to change direction.
“AAAAAH-mazing!” cried Amber as they fell.
Spynosaur pulled a cord on his harness and the parachute opened with a FWUMPH! A moment later they were floating slowly towards a carpet of low-lying clouds.
“Remember, a good spy sees everything, misses nothing and never repeats himself. And sees everything,” said Spynosaur. “Let’s play our game, shall we?”
“I spy with my little eye…” began Amber, glancing around. This was a game they’d played hundreds of times, but Amber rarely matched the keenness of her dad’s uncanny spy-sight. “I spy with my little eye … I spy with— Wait…! There! I see something!”
A pair of stone towers jutted out from beneath the cloud line. Atop a mountain, surrounded by a small army of tall pine trees, was a fort built from grey stone.
“Well spotted, poppet. Ergo Ego’s hideout, no doubt,” said Spynosaur, directing their descent towards the fort. “Let’s see if we can’t wrap this case up before lunch. I have a sudden hankering for live goats…”
“Eeeeeew! Da-ad, I’m a vegetarian,” groaned Amber.
Spynosaur aimed for a high, arched window in the tallest tower … then he held Amber close and detached his parachute. He stretched his body out to its full length and crashed through the window like a scaly spear.
With a rapid roll, Spynosaur was back on his feet and depositing Amber on the floor.
“Hope you don’t mind us dropping in on you, Ego!” declared Spynosaur, drawing his pistol. “Now surrender, or— Oh, there’s no one in here.”
They found themselves in a large, dusty hall, strewn with shattered glass and upturned furniture. It was as if a tornado had swept through. At the far end of the room was a large portrait of Ergo Ego standing in a lake and holding a fishing rod.
“I spy with my little eye…” said Amber, her eyes darting around the room for clues. She ran her fingers along the leg of an upturned table, then gave them a tentative sniff.
“Ew, ew, ew!” she screamed. “Monkey poo!”
“I thought I smelled something,” noted Spynosaur. He holstered his pistol and paced across the room, his toe claws CLIK-CLAK-ing on the floor. “Danger Monkey was here all right, and it looks like he was in full fling. It must have been quite a tussle. Or perhaps…”
Spynosaur stopped dead in front of Ergo Ego’s portrait. There was a large splat of monkey poo covering Ego’s face.
“…Or perhaps he was trying to tell us something,” added Spynosaur. He struck the wall with his tail, sending the painting crashing to the floor. Behind it, hidden in an alcove carved out of the wall, was a small silver attaché case, no bigger than two lunchboxes and locked with a thick brass padlock.
“The McGuffin!” gasped Amber excitedly, as Spynosaur pulled the case from its hiding place. “You found it!”
“That does seem like the sort of achingly impressive thing I’d do,” said Spynosaur, inspecting the case. “But if this is the McGuffin, why would Ego leave it here unguarded? Unless— Wait.”
“What is it?” whispered Amber.
“My super-spy senses are doing their super-spy thing,” he said, making his way to the window. “Can you hear that? Sounds like … something diabolical. Sounds like…”
“Like what?” said Amber. She followed her dad to the window and they peered up. The low clouds had parted to reveal blue sky and a bright, yellow-white sun.
Spynosaur squinted. There was something flying towards them at high speed.
“Like a dino-seeking missile!” Spynosaur cried. He scooped Amber up in one hand and the attaché case in the other. Then he leaped through the window on powerfully prehistoric legs … just as the missile rushed over their heads and into the fort.
