Spy Cat Read Online Free Page A

that Lara was the world’s first ever Licensed Assault and Rescue Animal.
Codenamed GM451 but affectionately known as LARA.
And that she was a very highly trained secret agent, a product of Professor Cortex’s Spy School. Through newspaper articles and what appeared to be official government reports, Shakespeare read about the various adventures and an array of baddies that made his fur stand on end. One criminal in particular, Mr Big, sounded particularly evil.
Good job he’s tucked away behind bars.
There was even a YouTube clip on the laptop, showing Lara doing a daring sea rescue.
That’s one amazing mutt
,
Shakespeare reluctantly admitted to himself.
    Tingling with excitement, Shakespeare jumped off the desk and nosed in the professor’s briefcase.
This is where I found the collar. Let’s see
what else I can find.
There was a folder marked
Top Secret
. This Shakespeare wanted to see. He dragged it out of the case with his mouth and spread it open with his paws. The first few pages were pencil scribblings in the professor’s spidery handwriting. Numbers and formulas and diagrams.
Even the collar can’t help me decipher those,
thought Shakespeare. Page five was a computer printout.
Translating pet collar
, read the cat.
Prototype. Untested. Uses FMRI imaging to match the animal’s brain frequency with that of humans. Extreme caution. For evolutionary stability, not to be used on primates.
Shakespeare still wasn’t sure what this meant. He licked his paw and turned the page, looking for something simpler.
Unscrambles words and allows animals to read English
,
and understand the spoken word,
read the cat.
I knew it!
    Shakespeare spent the entire day in Lara’s office and he didn’t catnap once.
There’s so much information to absorb,
he thought, engrossing himself in newspaper clippings, top-secret documents and the professor’s video clips.
If I’m going to be top cat in this or any other neighbourhood I need to take this opportunity and learn as much as I can.
He read about Lara’s background and details of the professor’s amazing Spy School.
He absorbed himself in the different types of dogs, noting the strengths and weaknesses of each.
You never know when this information could come in useful,
he thought, hoping he’d never come into contact with a Rottweiler.
    A plan was forming in Shakespeare’s mind and, by the end of the afternoon, he had decided what he would do.
A loner never stays in one place for long. I can’t afford to get too comfortable,
he thought.
One more week in this house and then I’ll move on. With this collar I’ll be able to rule any neighbourhood I choose.
    Shakespeare glanced at the clock.
The kids will be back from swimming any minute
,
he thought.
I’d better escape while I can.
He snapped the case shut and glanced at his reflection in the laptop screen, admiring his flashing collar.
It’s been a good day’s work.
Shakespeare hit the button and was returned to the fireplace, just as Ollie and Ben came screaming into the lounge. The cat held his breath and covered the flashing light with his paw, but the boys were too excited to notice him hiding behind a vase.
    ‘Camping!’ yelled Ollie. ‘I never thought Mum would say yes.’
    ‘And just us kids,’ grinned his big brother. ‘No grown-ups.’
    ‘Midnight feasts,’ yipped Ollie.
    Sophie came into the lounge and threw her school bag on to a chair. ‘It won’t be the same without Lara,’ she huffed. ‘I’m missing her already. And when we go away she’s always been there to protect us.’
    ‘So a chance for some extra excitement and danger,’ smiled Ollie.
    ‘And she’d only worry needlessly if she knew,’ Ben added, his eyes gleaming at the thought of such an adventure – just the three of them, all by themselves. ‘So there’s no point trying to get a message to her now.’
    ‘I guess not,’ agreed Sophie doubtfully.
    Nobody noticed Shakespeare’s eyes peeping from behind the vase. His collar