Agent Asha: Mission Shark Bytes Read online

Asha scrolled through the list of names, from Milo De Coda to Nastia Nabakova, until she reached the one she wanted: Ricardo Kon Carney. She typed in the name and waited as a loading wheel whirred on her screen.

  Then a message flashed up that made Asha bite her lower lip: TYPE YOUR PASSWORD HERE.

  “LOL!” Drone’s version of snort-laughter sounded like a drum. “Humans have such sophisticated security systems, but allow the most basic errors in judgement to occur. Weak and exposed passwords have, since 1961—”

  “What are you talking about?” Asha asked. Then she followed Drone’s gaze to a neon orange sticky note on the desk: RKC PW: #il0vedeadlin3s.

  “Boom!” Asha grinned.

  She entered the password and a second later, some green text appeared: ACCESS GRANTED. WELCOME BACK, RICARDO.

  Thousands of files flashed across the screen of her tablet. Asha’s eyes widened. The Operation DeepWater file wasn’t going to be easy to find.

  She booted up a search program and typed in the filename. The loading wheel began to whir again.

  “Why is it taking so long?” Drone was flying in small circles, her eyes flashing yellow. The risk of being caught was sending her warning systems into overdrive.

  “Mmmm … about that…” said Asha, trying to stay calm. “I can’t find the file. I’ve run the search I always use, but it doesn’t look like it’s here.”

  “But it must be!” Drone said desperately. “Hedy was clear: there is a file called Operation DeepWater saved locally on Shelly’s computer system.” For the last part, Drone played a recording of Hedy’s voice. “Have you tried—”

  “I know, I know! But maybe the CSA was wrong or maybe Shelly has … er … deleted it,” Asha said, her stomach churning. “This is my sixth search!”

  Drone looked at Asha’s tablet. The loading wheel had been replaced by an error message: FILE NOT FOUND.

  “What do we do now?” asked Drone. “Should I activate Panic Mode?”

  “QUIET!” shouted Tumble. Then he whispered, “There are people outside.”

  Chapter 12

  13:15

  “The country has lost it,” exclaimed an excited male voice. “It’s just like the Iceland experiment! People have no choice but to sign up for ShellyNet. The secret plan is working better than we thought! You’re totes an IRL genius.”

  “Secret plan?” responded a silky female voice that Asha instantly recognized. “Ricardo, are you talking about my plan to bring the Internet – a fundamental human right – to those who need it most, for only a very small cost? If so, then yes, it’s definitely working. Am I a genius? I mean, I’d never say so myself, and it doesn’t matter that I’m the youngest CEO ever on Falcon’s Rich List.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I meant. Can we cover the third SAP phase in your office, Shells? The first two operations have been totes amaze. Twenty cables have now been disabled and we’re scheduled to depart for the final SAP in approx twenty minutes.”

  Asha had crouched behind Shelly’s desk. The glass made it useless as a hiding place, but did give her a good view of the office. She saw two teenagers both dressed in white shirts and perfectly cut jeans that looked casual and expensive at the same time. Shelly’s short, white hair gleamed even more brightly than it did in photos, while Ricardo had thick-rimmed glasses and a topknot. Amanda, the monkey-panda, was in her usual spot on the trillionaire’s shoulders.

  Asha couldn’t believe she was this close to THE Shelly Belly. She’d seen her face on the news, in Cabled magazine, on the side of smart buses … everywhere, really. She’d even dreamed about meeting her. Now Asha was metres away from her, but instead of chatting about artificially intelligent toilets that can find gold in poo, she had illegally broken into her office. This wasn’t quite how she had imagined their meeting.

  Asha looked across the fluffy carpet at Shelly’s trainers. They were white and looked almost unworn. One of them was emblazoned with a logo. Underneath the logo, a small orange rectangle was set into the heel. Was there a picture of a shark in the rectangle? Asha thought it looked like part of the shoe’s design, but when she looked again, there was something odd about it. It seemed to stick out from the rest of the shoe.

  Asha held her breath. Was that what she thought it was?

  Drone had been looking too. A string of letters ran silently across her screen: USB. Asha nudged Tumble and pointed at it. Tumble looked frantically from Asha to Drone, trying to work out what was going on.

  Shelly stood still for a moment, listening to her in-ear phone. “That was our sales update, Ricky,” she said, smiling. “Five hundred thousand people have signed up for ShellyNet in the last hour, and more than 50 per cent of them have purchased ShellyNet Gold, giving them free access to over three websites. It’s so humbling that we are helping people get back online.”

  Ricardo giggled and tried to high-five Shelly, but she just smiled some more and stared at his hand until he lowered it again.

  Asha’s heart was racing. What if the CSA’s intelligence was wrong about the server? She thought of her grandma, Dadi-Ji, who hid her most expensive jewellery and a month’s supply of coriander in ice-cream tubs in the freezer because no burglar would ever look there.

  If you thought about it, of course Shelly wouldn’t store top-secret plans on her normal server, where they could be accessed by any of her 98,771 employees if they tried hard enough. What if … what if she kept them somewhere else … somewhere much harder for anyone to get to … in a specially designed trainer. Then she’d always be right on top of her most important data and no one would ever think to look there!

  Shelly was hiding things in plain sight. The DeepWater file must be on that USB. But how could Asha get to it? Shelly was standing on the opposite side of the room, and Asha knew they only had moments before they were discovered. She made eyes at Drone and Tumble, motioning towards Shelly’s shoe with her chin.

  She took a deep breath. For a split second, she imagined curling up on the sofa with one of Demola’s cheese and marmite toasties. But she was part of something much bigger now, much more spy than she’d ever imagined. She couldn’t chicken out on her first real mission. She’d prove herself to the CSA. She was going to get that file, whatever it took.

  Maybe Tumble could help? After all, he was trainer-height. Asha turned to him, ready to mouth instructions, only to find him trying to take a selfie with Shelly in the background. He pressed the camera button.

  CLICK. The noise filled the silent office.

  “What was that?” asked Ricardo.

  Asha watched as four white trainers headed towards them. On one of them, the orange USB was now clearly visible, set into the side of the heel. And the logo was definitely a shark. But there was nowhere to go and there was nowhere to hide.

  “Ooh, look. Ricky, we have a visitor! Hello, sweetie!” Shelly bent down, and looked directly into Asha’s eyes. Her eyes were neither cold nor warm, and she spoke softly, in an almost-whisper. “How did you get in here?”

  “I’ve lost my mummy! Have you seen her?” Asha used her baby voice and blinked innocently up at Shelly. Tumble opened his eyes very wide, and attempted his cutest toy face.

  Ricardo rolled his eyes. “Not again! I don’t know why the team keeps bringing their children into work. My assistant found a baby in his drawer the other day. So basic.” He focused on Asha again. “I don’t know where Mummy is, but when I find her, we’ll need to have a very short conversation!”

  Shelly spotted Drone trying to keep still under the desk. “Wow. That’s one out-of-date nannybot!”

  Immediately, Drone flew within inches of Shelly’s face, meeting her gaze. “Actually, I have been custom-modified with highly advanced, state-of-the-art…” Drone saw Asha’s pleading look. “Er … I mean … nannybot cannot process. Please upgrade.”

  But it was too late. Ricardo had spotted Asha’s tablet, still plugged into the ShellyServer. “Looks like Mummy is an actual data thief,” he snarled. “Though you’ve got to adm
ire her tactics. Child labour. Excellent!”

  “It might not be Mummy,” Shelly said, grabbing hold of Drone and shaking her. “Tell me, sweetie. Who sent you? Who are you working for? It’s OK, you can trust me. I’m not upset.”

  This wasn’t good. Time to get creative. What had the CSA protocol said about cover stories?

  “You got me,” said Asha, flinging herself out from under the desk. “I’m Sophie Deen from Unicorn Box. We’re a new tech start-up. Let go of Drone. She’s a touch-sensitive bomb!”

  Shelly hesitated and loosened her grip on Drone, who flew out of reach.

  “Tick, tick, tick, I’m a time bomb,” Drone said in a monotone.

  “IT’S #TIMEFORT, SHELLY!” Tumble burst out from under the desk. He slid across the carpet on his little hamster belly, crashing abruptly into Shelly’s feet. Everyone was stunned, giving Tumble just enough time to grab hold of the orange USB. With a tug of his paw, it came free. Asha heard a high-pitched beep. Shelly tried to kick out at Tumble and missed, but Amanda was quicker.

  The monkey-panda swung down from Shelly’s shoulder and began to chase Tumble around the room. Tumble made a flying leap for Shelly’s desk, his paws skidding across the glass surface. Amanda jumped in front of him, her long tail swishing behind her, blocking his way back to Asha.

  Tumble stopped next to the water glass and pulled his paws into his best karate pose. “Take that, Panda-Monkey!” he cried, kicking the glass towards Amanda.

  Amanda ducked as the glass flew through the air. Water spilled in an almost perfect arc onto the ShellyServer. There was a sizzling sound as the lights on the side began flashing red.

  As Ricardo’s eyes darted from Drone to Tumble to the ShellyServer, Asha yanked her tablet from his hand. Ricardo tried to grab her, but she ducked away, dodged past Shelly and ran for the door.

  “Come on!” Asha yelled at Tumble and Drone. “Chalo. Let’s get out of here!”

  Chapter 13

  13:20

  Asha burst out into the corridor and glanced around desperately. Shelly Inc seemed bigger now they weren’t in a ventilation shaft. Without a map, Asha realized she had no idea how they could escape. All she could see was a forest of trees in large pots and signs for the ShellySlide. She ran through their options. If they tried to leave through the building’s exits they would be caught immediately. And they couldn’t go back through Shelly’s office and into the ventilation shaft.

  The door flew open and Shelly and Ricardo sprinted towards them.

  “Stop where you are, data thief!” Shelly marched towards Asha. She didn’t sound so silky now. Her voice was gravelly with rage.

  Ricardo was barking orders into his in-ear phone. “SECURITEEEYY! Double the guards on the perimeter of the building! Nobody under five foot tall, or made of metal, is allowed to leave. Yes, that’s right, under five feet tall!”

  “Did you see what I did to that panda-monkey?” Tumble held his right paw out for a high-five.

  “High-fives later, Tumbs… I think I’ve got a plan!” said Asha. She reached into her backpack and pulled out her CSA selfie stick. “Hedy said that the selfie stick is encrypted with my fingerprints. And if anyone else tries to use it, the megafart will be activated. Tumble, give me that USB!” She grabbed the orange card and zipped it safely in her backpack. “I need you to take a selfie of us RIGHT NOW! And then we need to be ready to run – well, slide.” Shelly and Ricardo were getting closer.

  She passed the selfie stick to Tumble who attached his phone, pouted and hit the photo capture button at once, which gave a satisfying click. There was a brief flash of light, quickly followed by something far more deadly.

  A vicious stench filled the air.

  “Asha, tell us the truth. Was that you? That’s the worst fart ever!” Tumble wrinkled his nose.

  What were the ingredients for such an effective fart smell? Asha would have to ask Hedy later.

  Shelly and Ricardo were choking and coughing. Only Amanda seemed unaffected by the smell, but she couldn’t keep up with Asha, Drone and Tumble as they sprinted towards the mouth of the ShellySlide.

  They jumped into the dark opening. For a few moments, Asha forgot where she was. The slide was like a roller coaster, made up of big loops and windy bends.

  “WOOOOOOOO! FASTER!” Tumble yelled in delight as they hurtled round yet another corner.

  Asha watched a circle of light grow bigger and then the three of them were flung out into the daylight. They skidded across a bouncy orange path onto a bright green lawn dotted with perfectly round bushes. Asha hurled herself behind one, panting.

  She looked around. It was the same place that she had seen on television. Shelly’s helicopter was waiting nearby, its propellers whirring.

  “Shelly used that helicopter earlier,” Asha whispered. “Maybe she’s about to use it again.”

  Drone’s eyes were as big as her screen. “We are NOT getting in that helicopter,” she said. “I refer you to CSA Protocol 23.b. Hedy was very clear about Mission Shark Bytes. We need to take the DeepWater file to the ice-cream van, upload it to the CSA satellite network, and—”

  But Asha wasn’t listening. She was thinking about different protocols. CSA Protocols 1 and 2: Question Everything, Think For Yourself. It didn’t mean sitting around and waiting for answers. It meant going out to find them yourself.

  “If Shelly gets in that helicopter, we’re getting in there too! That’s what spies do! We can sneak on board and follow her,” said Asha. “Then, if we don’t die or get caught, we’ll find out exactly what she’s up to. It’s fine – we can upload the file to the network and give Hedy a full report on the way. Sorted!”

  Drone hesitated. Her nannybot programming and even Asha’s upgrades hadn’t covered this situation. “OK,” she replied eventually. “But only because I want you to save the Internet. And you must not take any FURTHER unnecessary risks, Asha!”

  A moment later, Shelly and Ricardo came flying out of the ShellySlide. Shelly landed on both feet with a neat bounce, but Ricardo slid across the ground on his bum.

  “Where are they?” he said, rising to his feet. “Have they escaped?”

  “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that, Ricardo.” Shelly was speaking calmly again, but the hairs still stood up on Asha’s neck. “I’ll also pretend that my most important file hasn’t just been stolen from under my feet and that my main server isn’t currently in meltdown. I’m going to believe that you have the situation entirely under control and that those data-thieves are not going to leave here with a single byte of my intellectual property. Because I definitely don’t need to think about firing you, or putting Code 3 into action, do I? You said that you’ll take care of everything. So there’s absolutely nothing for me to worry about.”

  “Absolutely! Totes! Completely! But should we delay our departure for SAP 21, just to be on the safe side? And I obvs don’t want to use Code 3, Shells, but we might have to. The helicopter for Fishmouth is meant to depart in two minutes,” Ricardo said.

  “Mmmm…” replied Shelly, scrolling through her tablet. “No. SAP 21 is too urgent. We’re going. But you will make this problem disappear, won’t you Rickybae? You can manage Code 3 remotely and update me every five minutes, can’t you? And I’ll be flying that helicopter.”

  Asha turned to Tumble and Drone. “Did you hear that? Shelly is going to somewhere called Fishmouth and that means we’re all going too! Do you know where it is?”

  “No, I don’t.” Drone hated admitting this. “I lost connection to ShellyNet 8 minutes and 23 seconds ago, while we were on the slide. I find it shocking that ShellyNet has such poor WiFi range. She should install some WiFi extenders on this roof and—”

  “You don’t know where Fishmouth is?” interrupted Tumble. “Do neither of you watch Shelly by the Sea?” He glanced at Drone’s blank display and Asha’s face. “It’s where Shelly has her luxury beach resort and hangs out with her celeb frenemies,” he added.

  “The sea!” cried Asha, li
nks quickly forming in her mind. “That MUST have something to do with the sharks! Drone, I’m going to Fishmouth. Are you guys coming?”

  As Shelly and Ricardo climbed into the helicopter’s cockpit, Asha and Tumble raced over and jumped in an open storage hatch near the tail. Drone hovered for a minute, muttering about health and safety regulations, before joining them.

  Asha pulled the hatch closed, and the helicopter’s engine began to judder beneath them. She felt a rush of excitement. This was what being a secret agent was all about.

  Chapter 14

  13:35

  Asha, Tumble and Drone were huddled in the helicopter’s storage compartment, squished between some odd-shaped ShellyNet boxes. It was cramped and uncomfortable but at least the noise completely drowned out their conversation. Shelly was piloting the helicopter, while Amanda curled up on a white cushion beside her. Ricardo was squished uncomfortably against the window, frantically typing on a tablet.

  All sorts of thoughts were flying around Asha’s mind. She probably wouldn’t have to go to school now that she was part of a world-class spy network, and she definitely wouldn’t have time for homework. Instead, she’d be busy taking video calls from agents all over the world and practising seeing in the dark.

  But first, the Internet! Asha forced herself to focus on the mission. She needed to search Shelly’s USB for the DeepWater file. “Let’s see,” she mumbled, as the helicopter bounced in the air. Her tablet pinged to life with a touch of her fingerprint and she inserted the USB. A line of letters appeared on the screen.

  “Hmm,” said Asha. “It looks like some kind of cipher. Old school!”

  “What if we ignore every SB in the sentence?” suggested Drone.

  Asha squinted at the screen. “That works! It says … ‘the colour of the ocean’ … that’s a hint. I bet the answer is blue.”