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  Max Remy Superspy 01: In Search of the Time and Space Machine

  ePub ISBN 9781742745060

  Random House Australia Pty Ltd

  Level 3, 100 Pacific Highway, North Sydney NSW 2060

  http://www.randomhouse.com.au

  Sydney New York Toronto

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  First published in 2002

  Text copyright © Deborah Abela 2002

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publisher.

  National Library of Australia

  Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

  Abela, Deborah.

  Max Remy: super spy.

  For children aged 9–12 years old.

  ISBN 978 1 74051 765 2.

  ISBN 1 74051 765 2.

  1. Spies – Juvenile fiction. I. Title.

  A823.4

  Photograph of the author by Todd Decker.

  Cover and internal illustrations by Jobi Murphy.

  Cover design by Jobi Murphy.

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  Copyright

  Imprint Page

  Dedication

  Title Page

  Chapter 1: Dr Evilbrain Strikes Again

  Chapter 2: A Million Miles from Hollywood…

  Chapter 3: The End of the World

  Chapter 4: Mud Monsters and Savage Wolves

  Chapter 5: What You See is not Always What You Get

  Chapter 6: Retro Galaxy Guns and a Lost Brother

  Chapter 7: Mission: Matter Transporter

  Chapter 8: Fried Monkey Brains and a Secret Pact

  Chapter 9: Slimed!

  Chapter 10: The Mysterious Man at the Top of the Stairs

  Chapter 11: Laser Tunnels on the Way to a Nightmare

  Chapter 12: A Darkened Corridor and Men in Dark Suits

  Chapter 13: The Time and Space Retractor Meter

  Chapter 14: Hired Thugs and a Secret Parcel

  Chapter 15: Mobile People Movers

  Chapter 16: Vats of Green Jelly and a Zillion Trillion Million Dollars

  Chapter 17: A Deal With the Devil

  Chapter 18: A Very Slimy End!

  Chapter 19: Home Sweet Home

  Chapter 20: A Call from Spyforce

  About the Author

  Max Remy Series

  Jasper Zammit Series

  For Vera and Poz

  Time: 2.45pm

  Date: Friday afternoon, somewhere in the future

  Place: Spyforce Headquarters

  Dr Evilbrain was in the middle of another evil plan to destroy the world and the Chief of Spyforce had his top spy, Alex Crane, on the case as the only one who could stop him.

  Dr Evilbrain was the world’s greatest mastermind of evil. He was responsible for feats of evil that other evildoers only dreamt of. He was Spyforce’s most wanted archenemy and they would not rest until the world was free of him.

  Not only that, he was just about the ugliest person who was ever popped out into the world.

  He had one thick eyebrow that dripped down his brow and into the edges of his eyes, which were small and beady like two rats sniffing for food from inside a dark hole. His nose was a mess of acne scars that looked like someone had taken a piece of the moon and stuck it right in the middle of his face. The ugly stick had been waved so high and long above his head, that on the day he was born, his own mother ran from the hospital and never wanted to see him again. He was so repulsive, mosquitoes wouldn’t bite him and mirrors didn’t crack when they saw him, they cried out in fear of their lives.

  There was only one way to say it.

  Dr Evilbrain wasn’t pretty.

  And he wasn’t stupid, either. At least he wasn’t stupid after he’d had the operation. He had the most villainous brain that ever slimed its way into a human head.

  Literally.

  Dr Evilbrain had created the world’s first synthetic brain, equipped with hypersmart intelligence and precision evil and knew that with this brain, he’d be smart enough to take over the world. In a complex and very sloppy operation, his assistant, the sinister Count Igor, cut open Dr Evilbrain’s head, scooped out his squelchy old brain and replaced it with his new and slimy smart one.

  That’s when Dr Evilbrain hatched his latest plan.

  With his new brain squishing around in his head, Dr Evilbrain developed algae that would, in just twenty-four hours, multiply and choke the world’s water supply of its oxygen, killing all living things and making water supplies everywhere poisonous for people to drink.

  Human life would have only weeks to live.

  For most people, it wouldn’t even be that long.

  It was up to Alex Crane, the world’s greatest mastermind against evildoers, to create an antidote that would kill the algae and stop the deadly countdown to the end of the world.

  She’d been working for twenty-two hours straight. There were only two hours left. All she needed was to add one drop of her secret ingredient and get down to the shores of the ocean before the deadline was up.

  But only a drop.

  Just one more …

  Great sticky clumps of green slime went everywhere. Oozing down walls, across desks, soaking through books and, worst of all, covering Max from the top of her head down to her brand new sports shoes.

  She wiped the slime from her eyes and realised she wasn’t Alex Crane, Superspy, but Max Remy of Class 6B and her mum was really going to give it to her this time.

  A sea of kids’ faces traffic-jammed around her, laughing at her new look. Members of Class 6B were not known for their subtlety and they weren’t about to change now.

  ‘Hey brainiac, can’t you use a hanky like everyone else?’

  ‘What’s the matter, feeling a little green?’

  ‘Guess who forgot to have a bath today?’

  The room exploded in a deafening roar of laughter. Suddenly everyone was a comedian. Even Ms Ellen got in on the act.

  ‘Okay class, that’s enough. Max has just had a little accident,’ she said. But Max could see Ms Ellen was only just managing to hold back her own laugh.

  ‘Even though green really is your colour, Max.’

  That was it.

  You’d think it was the funniest joke anyone had ever made in the history of the entire world. Max wanted every bird there was to fly over Ms Ellen’s head and slime her with their smelly poo. She imagined her teacher running around with her new poo-dropping hairdo, screaming and trying to get it off.

  It was as if Ms Ellen could read Max’s thoughts because her face turned serious and she lowered her voice.

  ‘Max, one of the most important lessons we can learn is not to take ourselves too seriously. Otherwise, you’ll be sixty-five before you realise you’ve never had a really good laugh.’

  Just then the bell rang.

  Phew! Saved from any more of Ms Ellen’s cheap women’s magazine philosophies.

  The
class let out a big cheer and Ms Ellen could only just be heard.

  ‘Have a good, safe holiday everyone and I’ll see you next year,’ she called out.

  Kids swarmed everywhere, trying to grab their bags and get out the door for what they’d waited a whole year to happen.

  For Max, this meant freedom from the halfwits she had to sit next to.

  Adios and see you later. She was out of there, and as far as she was concerned, nothing beat the fact that she wouldn’t have to see any of the other kids’ lame, laughing faces for the entire summer.

  ‘Ah, Max?’

  It was Ms Ellen.

  Max’s foot was almost out the doorway.

  ‘Yes?’ she replied.

  ‘You’re not going to leave without cleaning up this mess, are you?’ asked Ms Ellen with her eyebrows raised so high Max thought they’d fly off her forehead.

  Max looked at the green slime-covered desk, floor and walls. Cleaning it up would take ages.

  ‘I didn’t think so,’ said Ms Ellen, collecting her books and papers. ‘Now don’t forget to have some fun in the holidays and I’ll see you much more relaxed and happy next year.’

  It took every ounce of Max’s self-control not to pick up some slime and put it through her teacher’s roller-curled hair. Instead, she imagined Ms Ellen as a giant bug-eyed monster with horrible breath and cockroaches crawling out of her nose.

  ‘Yes, Ms Ellen,’ she said, smiling.

  After she’d finished cleaning, Max got her bag and went into the corridor where the other kids were waiting for her.

  Especially Toby Jennings and his little fan club.

  ‘So Max, having a little trouble with your funny bone?’

  ‘Maybe you should get it seen to?’

  ‘Maybe when you were born they forgot to give you one.’

  Max ignored them, trying to get to the main door and out of the building as soon as possible.

  They wouldn’t let it rest. But it was Toby who really knew how to get at her.

  ‘So Miss Enormous Brain, had a little slime trouble today?’

  Max was good at science, but Toby was better at exams and always just beat her. And he let her know it.

  ‘Looks like your second place behind me wasn’t a terrible mistake after all, Ms Einstein.’

  Max’s head was alive with what felt like a hundred snakes wanting to jump out and slither all over Toby, squeezing him to within an inch of his life.

  The snakes never appeared, so Toby kept on mouthing off.

  ‘I knew you were the queen of slime, but I didn’t think you were into making it,’ he sneered.

  Now the other kids really let loose.

  Max tried to walk past them.

  ‘What’s the matter, slime got your tongue?’

  Max never understood why Toby Jennings didn’t just turn into a toad and fall into the nearest swamp with all the other swamp creatures.

  She had had enough. She wasn’t going to take this anymore. But just as she was about to let him have it, a piece of slime wormed its way out of her hair, down her forehead and onto her nose.

  This was just what Toby needed for his final blow.

  ‘Ah! It’s alive,’ he screamed. ‘The slime’s coming out of her brain. It’s coming to get us all. Run for your lives! Aaaahhhhhh!’

  The corridor burst into a riot of screaming kids falling and laughing and running as fast as they could to get away from Max and her slime brain, like they had just been told the world was going to self-destruct in five seconds.

  Which wouldn’t be such a bad idea. At least then Max would never have to come back to this school and all the jerk students who went there.

  The corridor was clear in ten seconds flat. Good riddance. All Max had to do was get her bag, walk out those doors and she wouldn’t have to step back in this place for a whole six weeks.

  But there was one thing she’d forgotten.

  Her mum.

  Max met her on the steps.

  ‘What happened to you?’ she gasped. ‘What’s that in your hair? And what have you done to your new shoes?’

  Of course, the shoes. Things always seemed much more important to her mum than Max was.

  ‘What will it take to teach you a little respect for your things, young lady?’

  Normally Max would have had a great comeback. Something funny and sharp. She was pretty good at those. But she was feeling sticky from the slime that was starting to harden and smell like she’d just fallen down the worst toilet in the world.

  Max had to get away from the sniggering she could still hear behind her.

  ‘I don’t know, Mum. Let’s just get out of here.’

  Max climbed in the car with her mum and said nothing. As they drove away she could hear the chanting of ‘slime lady’ slowly recede behind them as they moved further away from the school.

  Her mother sat staring ahead, gripping the steering wheel like she was trying to squeeze it into another shape. But Max knew the silence wasn’t going to last long.

  ‘What’s got into you lately?’ said Max’s mum in her at-her-wits’-end voice.

  Max also knew that when a conversation started this way it never got any better.

  ‘Nothing,’ said Max.

  ‘Don’t tell me “nothing”. The last few weeks you’ve been moody, you’ve barely said a word and I can’t remember the last time I saw you really smile.’

  ‘Why is everyone so concerned about me being Ms Smiley?’ Max exploded.

  ‘Everyone who?’ asked her mum.

  ‘Doesn’t matter,’ said Max and sunk down lower into her seat to the crunch of plastic bags her mum had laid out so Max’s slimed clothes wouldn’t wreck the upholstery.

  ‘Yes it matters. It’s like you don’t care for anything any more. You used to be such a happy girl, always off playing with other kids, but now it’s like you don’t want to have anything to do with anyone,’ and here there was a well-timed pause before her mother added, ‘including me.’

  ‘Well you don’t have to worry about that much longer,’ said Max perking up. ‘As soon as Dad picks me up tomorrow I’ll be out of your hair for six weeks.’

  Max’s mother faced the road and although it seemed impossible, gripped the wheel even harder. Her voice softened.

  ‘Actually, there’s been a change of plans.’

  The way her mother said it Max knew these new plans weren’t a good thing for her.

  ‘What change of plans?’ she asked suspiciously.

  ‘Your father has been offered a very important film to direct and won’t be able to come back to Australia this year.’

  Max’s dad lived in America and her mother wanted nothing to do with him after he fell in love with a famous actress and moved to Hollywood, where the weather is always sunny and people are tanned and sit around in cafes all day. Even though it sounded like a really boring way to live, compared to spending six weeks in her mother’s company, it would be heaven.

  ‘But we all agreed that Dad was going to come here for his holidays!’ Max cried.

  ‘Sweetie, this is a big opportunity for your father and it was a really hard decision for him. I know it doesn’t seem fair …’

  ‘Well if he can’t come here, I’ll go to America and be with him,’ Max said decisively. ‘I’m old enough to fly by myself and I’d have much more fun staying with Dad and his new wife than I will staying here.’

  Max knew this would hurt her mother, and that’s exactly what it did.

  ‘Now Max, your father’s going to be too busy to look after you. You know that when he directs he has no time for anybody …’

  Max looked away and mumbled into the window.

  ‘If you’d made more time to be with us instead of your dumb job maybe Dad wouldn’t have left us in the first place.’

  Max jerked forward as her mother pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the car.

  Her eyes shifted towards her mother’s beetroot red face, that always meant one thing. S
he was really going to get it now.

  ‘Look Max, I know it’s hard for you to understand but what happened between your father and me was very complicated. I know you think it’s my fault we got divorced but there was a lot more involved than you know about.’

  ‘Like what?’ asked Max.

  ‘When you’re older, you and I will sit down and have a long talk about it, but for now you’re too young and you just wouldn’t understand,’ said Max’s mum, softening her voice.

  Max looked away. She hated it when her mother treated her like a kid.

  ‘Please Max, we don’t have time to talk now. We have to get you home so you can pack.’

  Max turned sharply.

  ‘Pack for where?’ she asked.

  Her mum took a deep breath.

  ‘For the farm. It’s been arranged that you’ll spend the holidays with Uncle Ben and Aunt Eleanor. They’re expecting us tonight.’

  Uncle Ben and Aunt Eleanor! The same Uncle Ben and Aunt Eleanor who lived in the country, a million miles from anywhere? Who spent their days raising sheep and stomping through cow manure? The thought of spending her holidays with this pair of country bumpkins was as horrifying as being locked in a cage with giant, man-eating spiders! And as exciting as being strapped to a chair and being made to watch the Oprah Winfrey show for the rest of her life.

  Really, really boring!

  Suddenly, being with her mother didn’t seem so bad after all.

  ‘Why can’t I stay with you?’ Max pleaded.

  ‘Because things are really busy for me now and I think it would be better if you got out of the city for a while and breathed some fresh country air.’

  Max sat staring out the windshield at the city. She felt like she was seeing it for the last time, convinced that if she was made to go to the farm, boredom would take hold of her within days and leave her a shivering, zombied mess.