Base Camp Read Online Free Page B

a girl about Zac’s age.
    Hang on, thought Zac, doing a quick head count. Four agents in the laundry. Plus Cougar, that only makes five.
    â€˜Aren’t there supposed to be six agents at this base camp?’ he asked them.
    Agent Cougar had obviously noticed the same thing. ‘Yeah, where’s the boss?’ he asked.
    â€˜The BIG agent got him,’ said a man with glasses. ‘He came in, tied up the rest of us, then grabbed the boss and carried him out the door.’
    â€˜Did he attack you?’ asked Zac.
    â€˜No,’ said the older woman. ‘He just sneaked in here and grabbed us one by one. By the time we realised what was going on, it was too late.’
    â€˜I started to send out a distress call, but he caught me halfway through,’ said the other man. ‘We’ve been stuck in the laundry ever since.’
    â€˜Did any of you see his face?’ Zac asked. ‘Do you know who he is?’
    The girl shook her head. ‘It all happened so fast. We tried to stop him, but he was…’ She trailed off, trying to find the right words.
    â€˜I’ve never seen anything like it before,’ she said eventually. ‘He was just so fast. And so strong.’
    â€˜Yeah,’ said Zac. ‘I know. I ran into him in the jungle and I only just got away. But the emergency beacon is set up now. The rescue crew should be here any minute.’
    BOOM!
    â€˜What was that?’ Zac looked over at Agent Cougar.
    Cougar’s face was completely white as he pointed a shaky finger at the door. ‘He’s here.’

CHAPTER
NINE
    Zac spun around. The BIG agent was standing frozen in the doorway, staring right at him. He was still wearing a mask.
    Zac glanced across at the huddle of GIB agents. They were all researchers and techies, just like Leon. Great in a lab, but rubbish in the field.
    â€˜Get back into the laundry!’ he ordered them. ‘Let me handle this.’
    Agent Cougar was only too happy to follow this instruction. He dashed into the laundry and the others followed him in.
    Zac’s eyes flickered back to the doorway. The BIG agent was gone. Where did he –
    OOOF!
    Zac was tackled from behind! The masked BIG agent had slammed into him like a sack of bricks.
    Zac threw his arms out in front of him to break his fall. As soon as he hit the ground, Zac tucked his legs up underneath his body.
    He sprung up as fast as he could, throwing the BIG agent off.
    Zac ran across the room, jumped over a couch and turned back to face the agent.
    The masked kid sprung to his feet and crossed the room in Zac’s direction. He lifted up one end of the couch that stood between them and tossed it aside like it was made out of cardboard.
    Well, thought Zac. That’s definitely not normal.
    The kid broke into a run. But Zac dived under the wooden table in the corner and started commando-crawling across the ground. His backpack was on the far end of the table. If he could just reach his SpyPad…
    Then Zac felt two cold hands around his legs.
    The BIG kid dragged him out from underneath the table and pinned him to the ground.
    Zac twisted around to stare up at the agent’s face. ‘Who are you?’ he demanded.
    The agent said nothing.
    â€˜All right, then,’ said Zac, yanking an arm free from the BIG agent’s grip.
    Before the kid had time to react, Zac reached up and grabbed at his mask, pulling it free.
    For a second, everything seemed to stand still. Zac looked right into the BIG kid’s face and saw…
    Himself. Zac Power.
    The masked BIG agent looked exactly like him . It was another Zac. It was impossible!
    WHOOMF-WHOOMF-WHOOMF!
    The sound of helicopters in the distance brought Zac back to reality. It was the rescue crew.
    The other Zac’s head jerked up. He leapt to his feet and bolted for the door.
    â€˜Oh no you don’t!’ yelled Zac. He sprung up and raced after him.
    The two Zacs tore through the science