Training School Read online

  ‘What are turbulents?’ asked the little boy. ‘They sound cool. Are they monsters?’

  ‘No. “Turbulence” is just a big word for a lot of wind,’ said Sophie.

  ‘Like Dad in the bathroom?’

  ‘No, silly. Like a hurricane that throws you around a bit,’ explained his sister.

  ‘Sounds exciting,’ beamed Ollie.

  ‘Yes, it’ll be fun! Like a roller coaster!’ said Mrs Cook as brightly as she could.

  There was another dramatic lurch and Mr Cook groaned and reached for his sick bag.

  ‘I love roller coasters!’ said Ollie, settling back to enjoy the ride. But as the plane began to buck across the sky like an overexcited kangaroo, nobody else looked as though they were having much fun at all.

  3. A Very Close Shave

  ‘K9TAX1 to Control Tower,’ radioed Professor Cortex. ‘Are we clear to land? Conditions are getting a bit bumpy up here. Over’

  ‘K9TAX1, you’re clear to land,’ replied the Control Tower. ‘But this storm is too big for you to fly around. The weather people are telling us that this is the worst lightning storm to hit the area in living memory. You’ll have to descend through the cloud bank and use your flight deck instruments to navigate. We wish you well, K9TAX1,’ crackled the voice. ‘Remember, you’ll have to go under. Over.’

  ‘Roger that, Control Tower,’ said Professor Cortex. ‘Can’t go over. Will go under. Over,’ he repeated, casting a slightly confused glance at his canine co-pilot. He flicked a switch and spoke to the cabin. ‘We’ll be landing very soon, folks, but we have to go through the storm, so stay belted up.’ He switched off the intercom and looked at Lara. ‘Ready, GM451?’

  Lara cast a worried glance at the black clouds swirling below the plane and then checked all her instruments. Hold on to your hat, Prof, she nodded. I’m going in!

  As soon as the plane flew down into the storm, black clouds blanketed the windscreen. The cockpit was plunged into darkness, apart from the bright green glow of the navigation screens. Suddenly, Lara was flying blind.

  Yikes! Mustn’t panic! I don’t need to see where I’m going; the navigation screens have all the information I need. At least I hope so …

  ‘Oof! Oww!’ cried Professor Cortex as the plane began to jolt violently, jerking them around in their seats. Lara could hear similar barks and cries coming from the cabin behind her.

  Hang on, pups! Hang on, everyone! We’re halfway down …

  Lara’s heart was thumping. She focused on her instruments, checking the speed of her descent and adjusting her flight path. Rain lashed against the small aeroplane windscreen and it became eerily dark outside.

  Two-thirds of the way down … We’re nearly there –

  Suddenly, the cockpit was filled with a blinding white light. There was a loud bang, the plane shuddered and the navigation screens went dark. The cockpit crackled with electricity, making Lara’s fur stand on end from her nose to her tail.

  ‘Oh no!’ gasped Professor Cortex. ‘We’ve been struck by lightning!’

  Tell me something I don’t know, thought Lara, checking her controls.

  ‘And all our screens are down!’ the professor added, running his hands through his hair, which was already standing out around his head like an electrically charged dandelion.

  I said, tell me something I don’t kn– oh, never mind. At least the engines haven’t stopped working. That means I can still fly this thing. But which way?

  Lara thought hard, considering her options. Her fuel was too low to head back above the clouds and wait for the storm to end. She couldn’t fly out to the edge of the storm either; air traffic control had said the cloud bank was too wide. No, the only option was to keep going down until they came out underneath the storm clouds. Hopefully, visibility will improve down there, she thought.

  ‘Prof?’ she barked questioningly, pointing downwards.

  Professor Cortex nodded. ‘I agree, Lara. It’s our only chance.’

  Lara put the plane into a steep dive, cutting through the clouds. Lightning flashed all around her. The instruments on the panel were all dead. I’ve got no idea about height or speed! She began to sweat at the thought of the ground rushing up to meet them, but she kept her nerve and, finally, the plane broke through the base of the clouds and out into the rainy sky.

  ‘Well done!’ cried Professor Cortex as Lara pulled up the nose of the plane and levelled it out. ‘Superb flying! But then I would expect nothing less of a trained Spy Dog.’

  Hold your horses, Prof, we’re not down yet, thought Lara. She scanned the ground, looking for the runway, but there was no tarmac below her, and no lights. Instead she was looking at a wide stretch of deep water. Oops! I overshot. That’s the Hudson River below.

  Lara looked up again and gave a yelp of shock. A huge, dark figure was looming out of the rain, right in front of the plane!

  ‘Thank goodness for that,’ yapped Star as the plane levelled out and the cabin stopped shuddering.

  ‘Well, we’re out of the storm,’ said Ben, peering through the rain-splattered window. ‘But we’re nowhere near the airport; there’s a river down there.’

  ‘Good. That means I’ve got time for one more snack before we land,’ woofed Spud, opening another packet of crisps.

  Across the aisle, Mr Cook groaned at the strong smell of cheese and onion and reached for another sick bag. He had already filled two.

  ‘That was better than any roller coaster!’ cried Ollie, bouncing in his seat. ‘Let’s do it again!’

  Beside him, Agent K made a squawking sound. Ollie looked across and saw tears rolling down the agent’s terrified face. ‘Aww, it’s all right, Agent K. Don’t be scared. We won’t do it again if you don’t want to,’ he soothed, patting the crying bodyguard on the arm.

  ‘Waahhh!’ wailed Agent K.

  Agent T folded his arms and looked embarrassed, but Ollie reached into his rucksack and pulled out his teddy bear. ‘I think you need this more than me,’ he said, handing it to Agent K.

  On the next table, Mr Cook folded over the top of his third sick bag and gave a shaky sigh.

  ‘Are you all right, dear?’ asked Mrs Cook. ‘You still look a bit green.’

  A bit? thought Star, studying Mr Cook’s face. Kermit the frog’s got nothing on him!

  ‘I’ll be fine now, as long as there are no more sudden movements.’

  Without warning, the plane tipped over on to its side and swerved hard to the left. The engines roared and everything slid off the tables. Mr Cook, Agent K and Agent T were squashed up against their side of the plane, which had suddenly become the floor, and Mrs Cook and Ollie were pressed on top of them. Ben, Sophie, Spud and Star were left hanging in their seat belts, with a clear view through the window below.

  They saw a huge eye, looking in at them.

  4. Welcome to New York

  ‘It’s a turbulent!’ cried Ollie.

  ‘It’s the Statue of Liberty!’ yelled Sophie at the same time, wincing as the plane just missed one of the spikes around Liberty’s head.

  ‘Watch out for that massive ice-cream cone, Ma!’ barked Spud as though Lara could hear him from her seat in the cockpit.

  Everyone screamed as the plane boomeranged round the statue’s upraised arm and climbed up the side of the flaming torch that Spud had mistaken for an ice-cream cone.

  ‘We’re not going to make it!’ cried Ben.

  But they did. Somehow, Lara managed to scrape over the top of the torch with metres to spare. The plane slowly levelled out and she piloted them away from the Statue of Liberty and towards the airport.

  It was Sophie who finally broke the shocked silence in the cabin. ‘Well, Ben,’ she said faintly. ‘You said you wanted to see the Statue of Liberty.’

  ‘Yes, but not that close up!’ said Ben.

  Minutes later, the runway lights appeared below them.

  Lara stayed cool in the cockpit. The man on the other end of the radio talked her in. Lower, she though
t. Ease off the power. Undercarriage down. And a little lower still …

  The wheels screeched on the tarmac and Professor Cortex punched the air in delight. The thrust of the engines slowed the aircraft. ‘You’ve done it, GM451,’ he shouted. He flicked the switch and announced to the passengers, ‘GM451 has successfully completed her first emergency landing … in the worst storm for fifty years … and she gave us a close-up view of some of the sights along the way!’

  The plane taxied in to cheering and applause from the passengers. Agent K squeezed the teddy bear, secretly hoping Ollie would let him hold on to it for a little bit longer.

  The plane was directed to a private hangar where a sleek, black stretch limo was waiting for them. As the plane taxied to a halt and the airport ground staff brought a set of steps up to the door, a black-suited FBI agent clambered from the limo and stood, arms folded.

  ‘Ready, everyone?’ cried Professor Cortex, bursting through the dividing door between the cabin and the cockpit, with Lara at his heels. Everyone stared at them in surprise. Professor Cortex’s bow tie had escaped from his collar and was wrapped round his dandelion hair like an Alice band, and Lara’s fur was standing on end.

  ‘Ma! You look like a toilet brush!’ yapped Spud.

  ‘Was it the shock?’ asked Star.

  ‘No. There was a lot of static electricity in the cockpit.’ Lara shook herself, which only made her fur stick out more, and then looked around at the passengers in the cabin. Spud was covered in cheese and onion crisps, which were glued to the sticky lemonade in his fur. Mr Cook had his head buried in yet another sick bag, and Agent K was clutching a teddy bear and sucking his thumb. ‘You lot don’t look much better,’ she woofed. ‘Perhaps we should take a minute to sort ourselves out before we leave the plane.’

  But Professor Cortex was already opening the door. ‘Let’s go!’ he ordered. ‘Time to meet our hosts.’

  ‘Just a minute,’ began Agent T, pointing at the professor’s hairdo.

  ‘I don’t have a minute, Agent T!’ interrupted Professor Cortex. ‘Thanks to Lara, we made it through the storm, but we mustn’t keep the FBI waiting any longer.’

  ‘Hold on, Professor,’ said Sophie, pulling a hairbrush from her bag. ‘Let me just –’

  ‘No time for grooming, Sophie,’ said Professor Cortex sternly. ‘I have important government business to attend to. Chop-chop!’

  Professor Cortex stepped from the plane and set off down the steps. Lara shrugged at Sophie and then followed the professor out.

  The FBI agent strode from the car to meet them at the bottom of the steps. ‘Professor Cortex?’ he said, giving the professor’s crazy hairdo a disbelieving stare.

  ‘At your service,’ said Professor Cortex.

  ‘I’m Special Agent Brad Onkers,’ growled the FBI man.

  ‘Pleased to meet you, Agent Onkers,’ said Professor Cortex. ‘Let me introduce the world’s finest secret agent, GM451.’

  Brad curled his lip as he looked down at Lara. He considered himself to be the world’s top agent. ‘This mutt is one of your famous Spy Dogs?’

  Lara curled her own lip and gave Agent Onkers one of her meanest stares in return. You’d better believe it, buddy!

  ‘That’s right,’ said Professor Cortex proudly. ‘And here come the other two,’ he added as Star and Spud bounded down the steps to join them.

  ‘But – they’re just a pair of mucky pups,’ said Onkers, sneering at the trail of crisp crumbs Spud had left.

  You’re no oil painting yourself, thought Spud. You’ve got a bum-chin!

  ‘Who does he think he is?’ yapped Star.

  Spud peered up at the FBI agent’s identity tag. ‘Special Agent B. Onkers,’ he read. ‘Bonkers! Ha! Good name for him!’

  ‘Don’t let appearances fool you, Agent Onkers,’ said Professor Cortex as Spud and Star leant together, sniggering. ‘These pups are highly trained agents.’

  ‘Yeah, right,’ said Brad. ‘Next you’ll be telling me that those two over there are highly trained bodyguards.’

  They all looked round. Agent K was staggering down the steps from the plane, supported by Agent T. He was still clutching Ollie’s teddy bear.

  ‘They are!’ Professor Cortex protested. ‘Agent K! Take your thumb out of your mouth!’

  Brad raised an eyebrow. ‘Pardon me for saying so, sir, but those two look about as tough as a pair of baby bunnies.’

  ‘Watch it, Onkers!’ growled Spud, sizing up the FBI agent’s leg.

  ‘Spud!’ warned Lara. ‘Don’t you dare sink your teeth into his trousers!’

  ‘But, Ma!’

  ‘I know,’ woofed Lara. ‘I don’t like him either. But the professor’s relying on us to make a good impression.’

  ‘I count six,’ said Onkers, looking around the group.

  What do you want? thought Star. A gold star.

  ‘I was told there’d be eleven of you,’ continued Onkers.

  ‘That’s right. Here come the rest,’ said Professor Cortex as Ben, Sophie and Ollie hurried down the steps, followed by Mr and Mrs Cook.

  ‘Civilians? You brought civilians?’ said Agent Onkers as an excited Ollie ran past him, climbed up into the limo and began jumping on the leather seats.

  ‘Sorry. I’ll get him to stop,’ said Mr Cook, shoving his sick bag into Onkers’ arms and hurrying after Ollie.

  Agent Onkers looked horrified.

  ‘I’ll deal with that,’ said Mrs Cook quietly, taking the sick bag from him and dropping it into a nearby bin. ‘And by the way, we’re not civilians. We’re family.’

  Professor Cortex ran a hand through his hair, discovered his bow tie there and hastily pulled it off. ‘Agent Onkers, I know how this must look,’ he said. ‘But we just had a very close shave with the Statue of Liberty and we’re not at our best. Wait until you see these Spy Dogs in action. They’re amazing.’

  ‘OK,’ said the American agent,sounding unconvinced. ‘Let’s go, shall we?’ He swept a hand towards the limo. ‘We’ll head straight to the FBI field office. Oh, and by the way,’ he added, in the most unwelcoming voice he could manage. ‘Welcome to New York.’

  5. Going Underground

  By the time they reached Manhattan, Agent K had recovered enough to let go of Ollie’s teddy bear, Spud had slurped up all the crisps and lemonade sticking to his fur, Professor Cortex had borrowed Sophie’s hairbrush and Mr Cook was looking much less green.

  ‘That’s better, Mum,’ said Star, smoothing down the last of Lara’s fur. ‘We look like we mean business now.’

  ‘So does Agent T,’ yapped Spud. ‘He hasn’t stopped glaring at Agent Onkers!’

  ‘Well, Onkers did call him a baby bunny,’ woofed Star.

  The limo turned off Fifth Avenue, and pulled up in front of a public square with a fountain.

  ‘Wow! Look at that!’ yelled Ollie as they all clambered out of the car. He had spotted a big, glass-fronted toy shop on the far side of the square. ‘Is that where we’re going?’

  The FBI agent slipped on a pair of shades and nodded.

  Ollie gave a happy whoop and set off towards the toy shop at a run, but Onkers caught him by the arm and yanked him back. ‘Not so fast, kid. We stay together. Understand?’

  As Ollie stared up at Agent Onkers, his chin began to tremble. He nodded wordlessly and, when Onkers let him go, Ollie hurried over to Mrs Cook, rubbing his arm.

  ‘Understand?’ said Onkers again, this time to the whole group.

  Spud gave the FBI agent a glare. I understand that you’re a bully!

  Agent T whipped out his own shades, puffed out his chest and stepped up to the American.

  ‘No, Agent Onkers, I’m not sure we do,’ said Professor Cortex as his bodyguard and Agent Onkers eyeballed one another. ‘Perhaps you’d like to explain?’

  ‘If you don’t stay close to me, you will not gain access to our secret FBI field office,’ said Onkers. ‘You will be left behind, in the toy shop.’

  ‘We’ll look
round at the toys later, Ollie,’ promised Mr Cook.

  ‘But first, let’s go and show Agent Brad Onkers how good we really are, shall we?’ said Professor Cortex.

  You’re on, Prof! Star held her head high as she trotted across the square.

  We’ll make Onkers eat his words, thought Spud as he trotted alongside Star. Speaking of eating, when’s dinner?

  Inside the toy shop, Onkers led them to the music section. Ben had never seen so many guitars. ‘And how cool is that!’ he gasped, pointing to a giant piano keyboard set into the floor. Surprisingly, Agent Onkers seemed to be enjoying himself for the first time since they’d met him as he hopped on to one of the keys and it lit up and played a note.

  ‘It’s a real piano!’ cried Sophie as the agent hopped from key to key.

  ‘I hope he plays chopsticks!’ yapped Spud, but the agent stopped and looked their way after only seven notes.

  ‘That wasn’t much of a performance,’ said Ben.

  ‘It wasn’t a performance, kid,’ growled Onkers, pointing at the shelves of saxophones behind them. ‘It was an entry code.’

  A shelf slid back, revealing an elevator. Quickly, everyone shuffled inside and the shelf slid back into place behind them.

  When the elevator door opened again, they stepped out into an underground warren of offices. The FBI emblem was on the wall opposite the lift and, beneath it, a woman in a smart grey skirt and jacket was waiting for them.

  Agent Onkers hurried over to her. ‘Ma’am, I think we’re on to a loser here,’ he whispered.

  Lara, Spud and Star all bristled.

  We heard that, Bonkers!

  ‘Let’s wait and see, shall we?’ said the grey-suited woman. ‘And, Onkers, you’d be wise to remember that dogs have much better hearing than humans.’ She winked at Lara, Spud and Star. Turning to the others, she offered a warm smile. ‘Welcome, everyone. I’m Amy Whittle, the director of this FBI field office. Professor Cortex, it’s wonderful to finally meet you in person. Please follow Special Agent Onkers who will take you and your puppy agents to the test lab. If everyone else would like to come with me, I’ll take you to the viewing platform.’