‘Hello again!’ laughed the professor. ‘Well done, Ben, you followed my instructions perfectly. Now, I want to show you why I came to London today.’
They were in a huge basement that must have stretched underneath all the houses in the street. Everything was bright white and brilliantly lit. There were laboratories, offices and even, far in the distance, a swimming pool and a gym. It was clear that many people usually worked there, yet the whole area was almost entirely empty. It’s getting late, thought Lara. Everyone’s gone home for the Christmas holidays.
At the far end of the laboratory, a last assistant was hanging up his white coat and putting on his anorak, but in another section nearby, four bright-looking dogs were still working hard at their computers.
‘These are the latest batch of animal agents,’ explained the professor. ‘They’ll all be on duty over Christmas, of course. In fact Agent CV89 is just off now, aren’t you?’
A Welsh springer spaniel with brown ears and freckles on his nose got up, wagged his tail at the family and hurried towards the lift.
‘Good luck!’ called Lara. He’s very young, she thought. This must be his first mission.
‘Thanks, I’m going to need it!’ woofed the spaniel with a smile.
‘Now,’ said the professor. ‘I’m very pleased with my latest invention. In fact, I’ve just been showing it to my bosses at M16 today and I have to say they were impressed.’
He opened his briefcase and took out a small plastic bag containing a single bright blue ball, about the size of a marble. He put the bag carefully into the palm of Sophie’s hand.
‘A gobstopper?’
‘Not exactly, young lady. Think of it more as a baddie stopper. You are now in possession of something the Secret Service has been trying to create for years – a totally non-violent weapon. It can stop baddies in their tracks in an instant without hurting them at all.’
‘But how?’ asked Sophie. She knew the professor was clever but this seemed too good to be true.
‘It’s made from an extremely powerful chemical that affects the human brain,’ replied the professor. ‘At the moment it’s inactive but if this ‘bullet’ is fired from a gun and hits someone at speed, it will explode on impact. One whiff of the gas it gives off and the victim immediately gets the giggles. Then he starts to laugh, and within a fraction of a second he’s entirely helpless. He can’t move, he can’t think. He’s incapacitated! All he can do is laugh. It’s extremely effective.’
‘That’s brilliant,’ said Mum, ‘and are you sure it’s harmless?’
‘No side effects whatsoever,’ said the professor proudly. ‘That’s the beauty of it. This is the prototype. Now it’s been approved by my bosses it can go straight into production. Our agents will be issued with guns loaded with these secret weapons by the end of January.’
He nodded kindly at Sophie. ‘You can keep that one as a souvenir if you like – but don’t go showing it to any enemy agents!’
‘Wow! Thank you.’ Sophie put the bag carefully in her rucksack. ‘This is a little bit of history!’
‘And now,’ said the professor, smiling, ‘I think we’ve got time for a pizza before we go on to the theatre. I don’t know about you but I’m starving!’
Everybody loved the pantomime. The professor had got them a private box, so Lara could sit in the shadows and not be noticed. The children enjoyed hanging over the edge and looking sideways at the stage. There was lots of shouting and singing and throwing sweets into the audience but most of all there was lots and lots of laughing.
‘No need for the professor’s secret weapon here tonight!’ said Dad.
That night the Cook family stayed in an ultra-modern flat with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the River Thames. It only had one bedroom so the children slept on sofas in the living room but that was fun too.
Lara sat up late looking at the reflections on the water. She thought of Star and Spud fast asleep at Gran’s. It’s been a lovely day. I wish they could have been here too, she thought. I hope they’re keeping out of trouble while I’m away.
She didn’t know that, at that very minute, the pups were planning an adventure that could get them into very serious trouble indeed.
