Agent Asha: Mission Shark Bytes Read online

  “Blue?” Drone vibrated. “The ocean is actually TRANSPARENT.” She flashed a line of text across her screen: Humans, LOL.

  Asha ignored her, and typed in BLUE. ACCESS GRANTED flashed up on the screen.

  Drone sighed. “Their system is wrong. Not me.”

  When the file on the USB opened, Asha typed DeepWater into the search bar. The tablet whirred as it searched through terabytes of data. Drone beeped, watching the loading wheel go round.

  Suddenly, there was a loud noise from Asha’s backpack. It was her CSA satellite phone. She pressed the receive button.

  “Greetings, Agent Asha,” said Hedy’s computerized voice. “Have you located the file? You have not yet returned to the ice-cream van and 66 minutes and 35 seconds have elapsed.”

  Asha looked at the spinning wheel on her screen. “Er … almost,” she said. “But … good news … we’ve got a lead! We’re following Shelly to Fishmouth. It’s by the sea and we think that’s where the next shark attack is going to be because—”

  Hedy interrupted her. “When you get there, you will return home immediately. A CSA agent will now be dispatched to Fishmouth to investigate. Your mission was only to upload the file.”

  “But—” Asha spluttered.

  “Agent Tyler will be at Fishmouth by the time you arrive. Tyler can use his oceanographic expertise to investigate exactly what Shelly is doing to the sharks. Your mission was clear, Agent Asha. Locate the file and upload it to the CSA.”

  The tablet let out a satisfied PING. The file had been located. Asha opened it and found dozens of smaller files. There was a SAP Map. It was so detailed that Asha couldn’t really make sense of it.

  “Drone?” asked Asha, putting her hand over the phone’s speaker. “Can you abstract this map for me?”

  “I have removed all the detail from the map apart from the location markers labelled SAP,” Drone replied seconds later, flashing the map on her display.

  “Look at the key, Drone! SAP stands for Shark Attack Points. The lines in the sea must be the Internet cables and the diamonds must be the locations where Shelly is luring the sharks,” Asha whispered.

  “Agent Asha?” Hedy’s voice brought Asha back to the cramped compartment.

  “Yes, sure. No worries. I’ll upload the file as soon as I can.” Before Hedy could say anything more, Asha hung up the phone and then froze.

  Drone bleeped in alarm. “Why didn’t you tell her that we’ve found the file?”

  “Well … it’s totally not fair. Don’t you want to know what’s going on? Shouldn’t we be thinking for ourselves? Also isn’t it a BAD IDEA to NOT help Agent Tyler? We can’t leave him on his own. He might get eaten by sharks! We’d have guilt-nightmares FOR EVER. We’ve got to get to the bottom of this. And save the Internet.” Asha’s face got warm. She did feel guilty about lying to Hedy though and her words felt hollow.

  And if Asha was completely honest with herself, she didn’t know if hanging up on Hedy had been the right thing to do. This was the furthest she’d ever been from home without her parents or Anushka, and hiding in the dark was making her head hurt. Hedy had said there was now only one cable stopping the UK’s entire Internet from going down. It wasn’t just about Drone’s lack of data, or Tumble’s FaceSpace posts. What if ambulances didn’t know where to go? Or people couldn’t talk to their family in other countries? Or democracy was over? People could use ShellyNet, but only people who had lots of money – and even then Shelly Belly would control everything.

  The CSA stood between the world and a real disaster. And right now, Asha and Agent Tyler – whoever he was – were the whole of the CSA.

  Could they do it?

  Asha took a deep breath. The promises we make to ourselves are the most important ones, she thought to herself.

  She was going to save the Internet. And a teenage trillionaire or a holographic plate of eggs wasn’t going to get in the way. She took a deep breath. “We’re going to help Agent Tyler, stop Shelly and get back to the ice-cream van without Hedy knowing anything about it.”

  Drone gave a hum of disapproval. “And your plan, Asha?”

  “I’ve got a few strategies,” replied Asha.

  “You are using a long word like ‘strategies’ to hide the fact you don’t have a plan, aren’t you?” said Drone.

  “Maybe,” said Asha.

  “In that case, the best approach would be to use decomposition,” said Drone.

  “Decomposition!” said Tumble. “I told you that zombies were involved!”

  Asha and Drone both giggled.

  “Not exactly, Tumble. Decomposition is a way of breaking down big problems into smaller parts and tackling them one at a time,” Drone explained.

  “Good idea, Drone. It’s a great way to solve problems,” said Asha. She dug out her notebook from her backpack and wrote down each part of the problem. There were quite a few stages.

  Stage 1 was sorted. They’d already found the map of Shark Attack Points. Stage 2 was harder because they’d need to get out to sea. Hopefully they’d be able to find a boat at the seaside. That’s where boats lived. Stage 3 was probably the most problematic. It was only really worth worrying about 4, 5 and 6 if they got past it.

  Twenty-three minutes later, they had a lot of ideas for stopping the sharks. Asha’s first thought was to use underwater radios to transmit loud noises. Maybe she could play one of Anushka’s latest music tracks.

  But, as Drone pointed out, they didn’t have any radios. Then Asha wondered if they could paint the cables pink and green, so they looked like venomous snakes. But they didn’t have any scuba-diving gear, they didn’t know how to scuba-dive, paint wouldn’t work underwater and sharks didn’t know about snakes.

  “These plans are smart!” Tumble was impressed. “We just don’t have any of the right equipment.”

  But what about Agent Tyler? Asha thought to herself. He’d have hi-tech shark stuff with him, right? They needed to find him as soon as they arrived in Fishmouth.

  Eventually the helicopter began to descend. The engine fell silent as it touched down.

  Asha could hear Shelly and Ricardo speaking in muffled voices. What were they talking about? She couldn’t make it out. For a moment, her heart began to race as the voices got louder. It sounded as though they were right outside the hatch to the storage compartment. But then, just like that, the voices got quieter again.

  “Let’s go,” said Asha.

  She pulled open the hatch and peeked outside. The coast was clear. She jumped down and made a run for it, with Tumble and Drone close behind.

  Chapter 15

  16:03

  Fishmouth was a classic seaside town. Candy floss, deckchairs, plastic buckets and spades.

  Asha, Tumble and Drone tried to run down the crowded promenade, but it was hard work weaving in and out of all the holidaymakers enjoying a sunny Saturday. Outside each fish and chip shop, there were long queues of angry people trying to pay. Cashiers in hairnets tried desperately to explain that their tills wouldn’t work without the Internet.

  Drone buzzed worriedly around Asha’s head. “This plan is inefficient,” she said. “Based on the size of the town, I calculate that there are approximately 2,000 people in a one-kilometre radius. We only have a 4 per cent chance of locating Agent Tyler.”

  But as Asha was scanning the crowd, her eyes narrowed.

  A moment later, she gasped. “There! Look!” Tumble and Drone stopped and followed Asha’s finger.

  “The Fishy Business Café?” asked Tumble doubtfully.

  “Good thinking,” said Drone. “My records show that it has been 5 hours and 34 minutes since your last full meal. You require food, Asha. You know that you get hangry.”

  “No, Drone, I’m fine,” cried Asha impatiently. “I’ve got raisins if I get desperate. Look! Do you see that glint of light?”

  At one end of the beach was a boy wearing sunglasses propped on his forehead. He was standing beside a long wooden jetty which stretched out
to the sea. He looked slightly older than Asha, and had a very large backpack swinging at his side. Attached to the backpack was an odd, shiny item, twinkling in the afternoon sun.

  Drone whirred in excitement as her camera zoomed in. “It’s a holograph!”

  “Yep,” said Asha triumphantly. “And I bet it’s exactly the same logo as the one that we found in the library. He’s CSA! That must be Agent Tyler.”

  They hurried towards the boy, passing another long line of people waiting at a row of cash machines. Every screen was flashing the same message: ERROR: NO INTERNET CONNECTION.

  Asha tried to put other people’s problems out of her mind. Agent Tyler was her priority. As she got closer, she saw that he was frowning at his phone, clearly waiting for something – or someone.

  “Agent Tyler?” asked Asha. Finally she was meeting a real-life secret agent! She’d never met one before. Apart from herself, of course. As of this morning, anyway. The boy looked up, his face surprised.

  “Who are you?” He spoke with an American accent.

  “I’m Agent Asha. I’m also with the CSA and I’m trying to stop Shelly Belly,” Asha replied. “I mean, I just woke up, got the email link to the vegetable website, then there was that librarian with the otter earrings, a talking plate of eggs, a massive slide, a helicopter, and THEN—”

  “Are you the ocean expert?” Drone asked, interrupting Asha.

  Tyler smiled at Asha before looking to Drone and nodding. “Yep. I could swim before I could crawl. The CSA got in touch after I organized a big seaweed planting effort in my state.” Asha opened her mouth, but Tyler was ahead of her. “The thing about seaweed farms is that they help to absorb CO² and increase bio-productivity. I’m not just … really into seaweed.”

  Asha could hardly contain her excitement. Here was someone else who liked roping people into experiments as much as she did! What question should she ask first? Do sharks have a soul? How many sharks are there in the ocean? How do they talk to each other? How fast can they swim?

  “Hedy briefed me on the mission,” continued Tyler. “I’m to review the data in the DeepWater file – which Hedy says you are to upload immediately – and confirm if Shelly Belly is using sharks to bite through Internet cables.”

  Asha looked at Tumble and Drone. “Um, I’ve already had a quick look at the file. Shelly is definitely using sharks.”

  “Whoa, OK,” said Tyler. “But we still don’t know if she is luring the sharks to the cables or if she has trained them to attack them. I need to gather more data. My plan is to release some tasty shark food – we call it chum – it’s a lot tastier than fibre-optic Internet cables. Hopefully, that will bring the sharks to the surface. From there, I’ll be able to investigate what Shelly has done to them and then hopefully we can stop them.”

  Tyler unzipped his backpack and pulled out a spiral-bound notebook. It was sprinkled with sand and had a strong fishy smell. Asha tried not to wrinkle up her nose.

  “A notebook?” Asha was surprised. “Won’t the pages get wet?”

  Tyler chuckled. “It’s CSA kit. The pages are totally waterproof. I can use this notepad at the bottom of the sea. Now, let me show you my plan…”

  Asha nodded. She liked Tyler’s plan.

  “So, what are we dealing with here?” Tyler asked. “I figured I’d just have the DeepWater file to go on, but, hey, if Hedy’s assigned you to work with me, then that’s cool too.”

  Asha hesitated as she took out her tablet. “I mean, she didn’t exactly assign me to work with you,” she said quietly.

  Tyler was so impressed by Drone that he didn’t seem to hear Asha’s mumbling. “Wow, this is one seriously upgraded nannybot.” He admired her propellers. “Are you waterproof? I could use you to take photos when I’m surfing.” Tyler turned to look at Tumble. “And who is this little cutie. Is it a—?”

  “Tyler,” said Asha impatiently. She had opened the file and found a photo of a severed cable. “I think these are the sharks that Shelly is using. Do you recognize this kind of bite mark?”

  Tyler took the screen and looked over it carefully. A frown appeared on his face as he stared at the picture. “Whoa. This doesn’t look like any species I’ve seen before. And I’ve certainly not heard of anything like this in these waters. Let me check my flowcharts.” Tyler narrowed his eyes. “I can’t find a match. Judging by the shape of the bite mark and the size and the position of the holes made by the teeth … well, I’ve never seen a shark like this before.”

  “So she’s using an undiscovered species?” asked Asha.

  “I don’t know.” Tyler looked down at his flowcharts again. “I’d be surprised if she’d found a new species, but who knows.

  Stranger things have happened. Around six thousand new ocean species are discovered every year.”

  “The thing I don’t understand is why Shelly is in Fishmouth,” Asha said. “If she’s trained the sharks, why does she need to be here?” Asha pushed her chin up. “But yeah, between the two of us, we can probably figure this out…” Asha didn’t feel sure at all.

  Tyler smiled. “We sure can. I’ve requested a CSA boat, and once it arrives then—”

  He was interrupted by Drone swooping down between him and Asha. Her lights were flashing a disco level of danger as she flew towards the jetty.

  “Warning! There is no time to wait for a CSA vessel!” she cried.

  A black speedboat was setting out to sea in the distance. A teenage girl with white hair was sitting beside the driver with a distinctive topknot.

  It was Shelly.

  Chapter 16

  16:14

  Tyler didn’t know what to do. “Well … erm … as soon as the CSA boat gets here we should report back and then foll—”

  “We’ve got zero time to waste,” said Asha. “Shelly’s heading to the SAP RIGHT NOW. Like, literally. Something important must be happening. Maybe she’s attacking the final cable. We need to get out there, fast!”

  “Asha, you are breaking CSA protocol. We should call Hedy and—”

  “We don’t have time. Come on, Tyler. Let’s go!”

  “Fine,” said Tyler, shrugging. “If you think Hedy won’t mind.”

  Asha ran down the jetty towards a row of moorings. A boat was bobbing on the waves. It was small, but it looked quite new and its engine gleamed in the sun.

  Perfect.

  Asha and Tyler crept down the jetty. They jumped into the boat, trying not to attract attention. It swayed underneath them.

  “Stay low,” Asha whispered. “I just need to figure out how to start the engine. And then how to drive it.”

  “Don’t worry,” replied Tyler, a dimple appearing on his left cheek. “I can drive this boat – and almost any boat.” The dimple disappeared. “But it looks like the engine is password protected.”

  “Ah, that won’t be a problem,” replied Asha, flexing her fingers. “I can hack that in minutes.”

  “I can do it in seconds,” said Drone.

  Asha typed in the password, and the screen flashed green with a high-pitched ping.

  There was a GPS option, and Asha entered the coordinates of the Shark Attack Points she’d found in Shelly’s file. Then she pulled on a life jacket and turned back to Tyler, holding out one for him.

  His eyebrows were raised as he put it on. “How often do you three hack into things?” he asked. “Or steal boats? Usually the CSA doesn’t let us.”

  “We never normally break the law. Instead, we use simulated environments. I win most of the time,” Drone beeped. She loved talking about security. “But that password was human-level basic. I would suggest that—”

  “HEY!” A shout pierced the air. A woman was running towards them down the jetty.

  “I don’t think she’s in the mood for your password advice,” Asha said to Drone.

  Drone started to panic. “There is a 72 per cent chance that the owner of the boat will catch us in less than 58 seconds and that is very problematic, as I am 100 per cent s
ure that stealing a boat is illegal.”

  “Thanks for the update.” Asha bit the inside of her cheeks. “Can we go now, Tyler?”

  “Just … one … second…” Tyler was hunched over the controls of the boat, frantically pressing buttons and flicking switches.

  “Don’t worry,” said Tumble. “I can protect us!” He adopted a power stance on the steering wheel, overbalanced, and fell into the bottom of the boat. Drone hovered for a moment before flying down to join him.

  The motor roared into life.

  “Sorry! We’re not pirates! Triple promise! We’ll bring your boat back soon,” Asha yelled back to the confused owner. “Just as soon as we’ve saved the Internet.”

  Chapter 17

  16:26

  Asha felt like her heart was about to burst. With Tyler at the helm, the boat was tearing through the water like scissors through wrapping paper. This was more like it: everything had become 300 per cent more spy. They were heading at top speed towards dangerous sharks.

  “Don’t tell Hedy I said this, but stealing a boat isn’t … un-fun.” Tyler had to shout the words over the roar of the wind.

  “Totally!” said Asha, with a wide smile. But then a flash of guilt passed through her mind. She’d never stolen anything before. But people’s lives depended on them stopping Shelly from destroying the final cable. Was it OK to do something wrong in order to do something right? She made a mental note to check with Nana-Ji and to ask Drone to double-check the CSA protocols about stealing and borrowing … but not until they’d completed the mission.

  Tumble stood at the front of the boat, shouting warnings to the waves. “Go Team CSA!” he yelled at the top of his voice, preparing to snap a boat-selfie. Drone hummed in disapproval.

  “Tyler,” Drone said, flitting about in the air, “please advise on your course of action.”