They waited for a moment. Then a whirring noise came from the top of the treehouse. As Fanny looked on, a ship rose into the sky. It was the strangest craft she had ever seen, essentially consisting of a metal cylinder with three small jets attached to its rear. Not only that, but flames were shooting out of the jets' engines.
The ship flew towards them and landed on the front lawn. She saw the craft's door open. The blond boy walked towards it and motioned for Fanny to follow.
Once inside the ship, she took a look around. There was a lower and an upper deck. The lower deck took up most of the ship. Along its walls were six swiveling chairs with seat belts, three for each side. In front of each chair, there was a computer or a motion detection device. As for the upper deck, it was occupied by an open cockpit.
There were two kids already present: a pig-tailed girl with black hair seated in one of the swiveling chairs, and a sandy-haired boy in the cockpit.
"Welcome aboard, Fanny." said the blond boy enthusiastically. "Let me introduce ya ter my teammates. This is Numbuh Three (he gestured towards the girl), and this is Numbuh 528 (he indicated the boy). And ah'm Numbuh 700, but ya can call me Joey."
Numbuh Three...that name sounded familiar. Fanny had heard it before, but she couldn't remember where.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, my lady. I see the rumors of your beauty have not been exaggerated." said Numbuh 528 smoothly.
Fanny gave a snort of laughter. Had she heard his words correctly?
"Give it a rest, Sandy. She's not your girlfriend." snapped Numbuh Three.
"I was just trying to be gallant." retorted Numbuh 528 sullenly, crossing his arms.
Numbuh Three walked up to Fanny and offered her hand. "It's nice to meet, you, Fanny."
The Irish girl took the hand. "Thanks." she said gratefully. So are these your codenames? You know, Numbuh Three, Numbuh 700?"
"That's right! Now take a seat and strap yourself in. It's going to be a wild ride!"
Wondering what that meant, Fanny picked the seat next to Numbuh Three, which happened to be the only chair facing forward. All the other ones faced inwards.
Hardly had Fanny put on her seatbelt that the ship rocketed off into the sky at a nearly vertical angle. The resulting force of gravity was crushing: Fanny was pinned against her chair, unable to lift a hand.
But the kids didn't seem inconvenienced. While they too were strapped down, they were reading comic books and easily shifting in their seats-at least, Numbuh Three and 700 were. Perhaps it was a matter of habit.
Abruptly, the blue sky beyond the cockpit's window was replaced by starry blackness. For the first time in her life, Fanny was in space. Without gravity, the invisible pressure on her body vanished. She breathed easy.
"So where are we going?" she asked Numbuh Three.
The other girl looked up from her radar screen. "Kids Next Door Moonbase, silly!"
"A Moonbase? You have a base on the Moonbase?"
"Of course." Said Numbuh 700. "See fer yerself."He pointed to the cockpit's window. Fanny was shocked to see that they had almost reached the moon. And sure enough, on the satellite's surface was a red-orange structure.
As the 'Moonbase' steadily grew larger, Fanny's amazement mounted. The station was a city, a conglomeration of bright skyscrapers and winding tunnels. Its foundations were a baobab with red corals instead of leaves. This was the stuff from which dreams were made.
Their pilot spoke into a radio. "This is Numbuh 528 to Global Command, requesting permission to land."
"Global Command to Numbuh 528. You are clear to land." came the reply.
They landed in a hangar near the trunk of the Moonbase. Fanny remembered having visited a Boeing factory when she was fourteen. This hangar was easily three times as large.
She wanted to explore this Moonbase, to discover its purpose and the identity of its owners. It looked like her wish was about to be satisfied: the three kids hurriedly led her out of the plane and through the hangar. At the edge of the bay there were a dozen elevators: they got into one of them.
The elevator began rising, all smoothness and speed. It had railings to which the kids were clinging, so Fanny imitated them. She wondered why they were doing so, until the elevator sharply leaned forward. Then it tilted to the right, to the left, backwards, and returned to its original position. Finally the doors opened and the company got out.
They were in a fairly large cylindrical room. At its center stood a circular metal floor, a table, and two children-a girl and a boy. Beyond the floor was a dark pit. There were gates (or perhaps elevators, Fanny couldn't tell) at the four corners of the room. Doors and floor were connected by four walkways.
"Are we late, Numbuh 150?" Sandy called to the girl.
"Nope, you're on time, Numbuh 528! The others have just arrived. They're waiting in partying room. "
Fanny's guides steered her towards the center of the room. In the process, she noticed that the boy was holding an old-fashioned wooden camera with a wheel crank handle.
"Step right up, man!" he exclaimed in a thick Jamaican accent. "You're about to get your childhood memories back!"
"My memories…" she said quietly to herself. "So it's true. I did lose my memories! I knew it!"
Fanny reached the circle. "And here we go!" shouted Numbuh 150 before the Irish girl could ask any questions.
She turned the handle. A beam of blue light streamed out of the camera and enveloped Fanny, causing her to rise into the air. A succession of memories poured into her mind-a blond girl telling her off, a group of children asking her for orders, a theater overlooking the earth. It hurt-the memories were too many, too intense. She wanted the pain to end, she would do anything, even leave the Moonbase.
Then the beam wasn't firing anymore. She tumbled to the ground, but got up instantly. She was Numbuh 86. She had returned.
"What are you looking at, boy?!" she yelled at the Jamaican operative.
The five kids rolled their eyes at each other knowingly. "Well, she's back." remarked Numbuh Three.
"Follow me, Numbuh 86." said Sandy loudly. He led her to the opposite door.
"I don't know who you think you are, boy",Fanny seethed, "but you'd better have a good reason for having recommissioned me!"
The gate swooshed open, and Fanny froze at the sight that met her eyes. She recognized the partying room, where operatives sometimes held birthday parties. But more importantly, all her former teammates from the Kids Next Door were standing there, applauding her. Rachel, Herbert, Nigel, Patton-as handsome and rugged as ever-they were all here.
She stumbled forward hesitantly, feeling confetti raining down upon her and wondering if this was real. She no longer felt angry about getting being recommissioned. What did it matter when her friends had received the same treatment? Her first act was to run towards Patton. She pulled him into a tight hug, which he reciprocated. "I've missed you so much, Patton." she whispered. "Where have you been all these years?"
"ENOUGH! I'm sorry, Numbuh 60, but I can't let you finish your story. We have to get on with the decommissioning."
"But I'm almost done!" protested Patton. "Can you just give me a few more minutes?"
Numbuh 99 shook his head. "We've already given you plenty of time. We really need to get this over with."
Patton supposed it was no use arguing. He tried to move towards Fanny, though the metal restraints on his wrists and ankles made this difficult. "What did you think of my story, Fanny?" he asked. "Did you like the ending?"
They would not be recommissioned, not in a hundred years. But he had wanted to lighten the mood. Otherwise, they would go out like any average thirteen year old operatives, and that was unacceptable. More importantly, though, he needed to know how Fanny felt about him. After all, she hadn't forgiven him for his outburst in the cafeteria on Thursday.
Fanny wasted no time in answering. "It's a dumb story, and I don't think it can happen. But yeah, I liked the ending."
"Are you still mad at me for what I said on Friday?"
"I'm mad that I lost the fight." she muttered. "But I forgive ya, for what it's worth."
Patton leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes blissfully. "Thanks." he muttered as the shout of "standard procedure!" filled the room. "That's all I needed to know."