~Chapter 1~

The burning SCAMPER came screaming out of the Antarctican sky, the light from its dying engines coloring the rocky snowfield under it red as blood. It hit the ground at an angle and plowed a 50 yard furrow in the ice, hurling debris in all directions before coming to a halt.

A short moment everything was quiet.

Then came an angry Irish bellow, followed by a painful-sounding "THUMP"!

XXX

"Yipper cards, guys. Three thousand rare, unmarked, never-played Yipper Cards, that no one will miss, just there for the taking."

Egbert O'Reilly smiled at the stunned faces of Barry and Kyle in the golden light that filtered through the dirty windows in the gang's lair.

"Holy cow. Just lying around in the woods at Camp Gribwald?"

"Precisely. Here, look at this."

Egbert took off his blue baseball cap and pulled out the folded paper he had kept hidden there during detention and flattened it between the soda bottles on the table.

"You know what this is?"

"It looks like … a floor plan?"

"That's right, Kyle. But not any floor plan. This is the floor plan of the old, abandoned treehouse of Sector M in the forest around Camp Gribwald. You see that room, marked with an X?"

"Yeah."

"Just before the treehouse was abandoned, Sector M busted an illegal Yipper card ring. They put the confiscated cards in that room – and then forgot about them. Nobody has picked them up. I thought that might be a nice little side trip, when we are going to Camp Gribwald tomorrow. "

"Holy cow!" Barry started to laugh. "Three thousand Yipper cards. Do you KNOW how much the nerd clans will pay for three thousand Yipper cards!? We'll be SWIMMING in candy. You're BRILLIANT, Eggy."

"And … you're sure the map is real, Eggy?"

Egbert's smile disappeared, and Kyle shrunk back a bit, but persisted.

"I mean … three thousand Yipper cards? Why would they just leave them like that. It doesn't make sense?"

"Puh - lease, Kyle. Jim McDonald snatched this map from his brother's room. I bought it from him in detention. It cost me FIVE Jawbreakers, you know."

"Yeah," Barry said, "Jim's brother is a KND operative – that's legit. Come on, Kyle, Eggy don't buy fake maps. He's BRILLIANT, remember?"

"Well … all right, then."

"Good," Egbert said, a bit brusquely. "Now, let's get packing. We'll need some tools to get into the treehouse – crowbar, lockpicks, screwdrivers, you know the drill. Let's get to work." His good mood returning, he favored his underlings with a satisfied smile. "Tomorrow, guys, we're gonna be rich!"

XXX

Numbuh 86 was pacing back and forth in Numbuh 5's office on KND Moonbase, as angry as the Soopreme Leader had ever seen her. The air around her was practically simmering.

"So", she snarled between clenched teeth, "I get word that Former Numbuh 12 has been spotted in Antarctica. I throw the entire Decommisioning Squad into a SCAMPER and fly down there. Turn out that the only operative I find there is Numbuh 13 who insist on coming along, because he knows where she is. I don't have time to argue, we take off and FIVE MINUTES later he stumbles and presses the "Blow up the engines" button. Numbuh 44 and 44 just manage to get us down safely – and then the dweeb tells me THAT IT WOULD BE BETTER IF HE TOOK OVER THE MISSION! GAAAH!" 86 slammed her fist against the wall of the office with a tremendously loud thump.

"Yes, well, he got better," Numbuh 5 sighed. "He's just filed a complaint against you for hitting a guy with glasses."

"HE CAN KISS MY PALE, IRISH –"

"ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT", Numbuh 5 shouted. Why did people insist on saying things she could never unhear?

"WHY don't I just DECOMMISION him, Soopreme Leader", 86 pleaded. "That stupid boy is a walking disaster area. There are adult villains out there who do less damage to the KND, and that's not even counting the Toilenator! PLEASE, let me decommission him. I'm begging you."

Numbuh 5 took off her cool shades and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "It ain't that simple, Numbuh 86," she sighed. "He is, as you say, a walking disaster area. And that is why we can't let him go. As long as he is a KND operative, I can place him where he does not do any harm … most of the time. If he is allowed to run free, there's no telling what he'll mess up … and when it'll hit us."

"Well, can't you place him somewhere else, then?" 86 said. "Me and the Decomissioning Squad are turning Antarctica upside down, looking for Numbuh 12 this weekend and I don't even want to be on the same CONTINENT as that stupid boy!"

"Numbuh 5 hears you, 86", the Soopreme Leader said. She got up and went over to the large map on the wall, where all the Kids Next Door activities and bases were marked. She thought for a moment. "I can send him up and guard Sector M's abandoned treehouse in the Gribwald Forest. He's not gonna disturb anyone there."

"Gribwald … Isn't that the treehouse Sector M stuffed so full of booby-traps, that they finally couldn't remember where they all were and had to leave?"

"…No, 86 – that's just a rumor."

"Pity."

Well, the Gang is back - and this time up against Numbuh 13 and his unlimited capacity for disaster. Who will prevail? And of course there are the Booby - traps ...

As always, comments and reviews are very welcome - also on language and style.