Blink and You Die. Lauren Child

he said. ‘You just have to decide when you’re going to use it. It won’t be continuous, but you might get ten minutes of hyper-speed every forty.’

      ‘So what’s this?’ asked Ruby.

      ‘That’s a bell,’ said Hal.

      ‘And what does it actually do?’ asked Ruby.

      ‘It rings,’ said Hal. He demonstrated.

      ‘Oh,’ said Ruby.

      ‘That’s not one of its special features,’ said Hal.

      ‘I guess not,’ said Ruby.

      ‘Obviously we’ll give it a finish, make it some pretty colour.’

      ‘Green,’ said Ruby.

      ‘Pardon me?’ There was a deafening grinding sound coming from the workshop at the back. ‘That doesn’t sound good,’ said Hal. ‘I better go check out what’s happening in there. Look, we’ll have the bike sprayed and delivered,’ he said.

      When he was gone, Ruby found herself alone in the gadget room. Of course, she took the opportunity to have a look around. There was something very particular which she hoped she might find, something which would be invaluable to a person seeking to break into, say, a file room.

      As luck would have it, she spotted it almost immediately.

       THE MICRO-READER: Hold device five inches from document and press red button. Up to 1500 images can be stored. The device doubles as a projector: press the green button to view your images on a screen or any suitably smooth wall or pale surface.

      Checking first that Hal was still otherwise engaged, she pocketed the small object, no bigger really than a large pencil sharpener.

      She was just thinking of reaching into one of the other low glass drawers when she heard someone cough. She stood up quickly, which caused her to bump her head.

      Ouch.

      ‘Hey, Ruby,’ said Blacker, ‘are you OK? I didn’t mean to alarm you.’

      ‘Oh … no, you didn’t,’ she said. ‘I mean sort of, but hey, yes, I mean hello.’

      For a second she was afraid he’d seen what she’d done, but he smiled. ‘Nice to have you back, Ruby, though actually it’s my job to wave you bye-bye, I’m afraid.’

      ‘What?’

      ‘There’s to be no wandering the corridors unaccompanied, so Buzz sent me to escort you on your way out.’

      ‘You’re serious? You actually are kicking me out?’

      He shrugged and smiled again. ‘Not me – a Spectrum command from the top.’

      Ruby gave him a puzzled look.

      ‘LB,’ he explained.

      ‘OK,’ said Ruby. ‘I’ll go quietly.’

      Despite the fact that he was there to march her from the premises, Ruby was glad to see Agent Blacker: he was a reassuring presence, and there weren’t so many living creatures you could say that about these days.

      As she and Blacker walked to the exit, Ruby struck up a conversation about the Prism Vault.

      ‘Have you ever read the Ghost Files?’ asked Ruby.

      He stopped for a moment and looked at her. ‘Who told you about the Ghost Files?’ he asked.

      ‘Froghorn,’ said Ruby.

      Blacker frowned. ‘He’s getting blabby.’

      ‘What I’m wondering,’ continued Ruby, ‘is if Spectrum don’t want anyone to read these files, as in ever, then why not just erase them?’

      ‘I’m surprised Froghorn didn’t tell you,’ said Blacker. ‘Ghost Files can’t be erased; they are triple secured and locked so far down in the Prism Vault that you may need a password from God himself. But they cannot be deleted. Spectrum files are created that way.’

      ‘But they can be read?’

      ‘They can be read if you are authorised to read them and if you have code clearance to enter the Prism Vault. Of course, if you had code clearance they’d fly you there in the Spectrum helicopter.’

      Why does one need a helicopter to get there? wondered Ruby. ‘What if you don’t have code clearance?’ was what she asked.

      ‘Then you’d be needing flippers or some kind of submersible.’

      ‘It’s located in water?’ said Ruby.

      ‘It’s no secret that the vault’s in a watery location,’ said Blacker.

      ‘Would that be in a lake? Or in the sea?’ asked Ruby.

      Blacker cocked his head to one side and looked at her like he was trying to gauge where this conversation was going.

      ‘So how does one go about getting hold of a helicopter?’ asked Ruby.

      ‘You’re kidding, right?’ said Blacker. He was laughing, but he wasn’t entirely sure she was joking.

      ‘Of course I’m kidding,’ said Ruby, flashing him the Ruby Redfort I’m just a kid smile. ‘Has anyone ever helicoptered you in there?’ she asked.

      ‘No, mam,’ said Blacker. ‘Don’t like helicopters. And there’s no way I’m putting a Superskin on, not unless I have to.’

      ‘They make you feel claustrophobic?’

      ‘No, they’re just a heck of a struggle to get in and out of.’

      ‘So what exactly is a Superskin?’

      He smiled again and shook his head. ‘If you’re lucky you’ll never need to know.’

      When Ruby stepped out of Spectrum headquarters it was into an entirely different landscape. No more grey – this one was bright white, the sidewalks already an inch deep in soft snow. She pulled her hood up, zipping the snow parka so her face was framed by its fur. She looked towards the sky, mouth open, and felt the snowflakes melt on her tongue. By the time she reached home the snow was already an inch deeper.