8. The School Trip

The next thing Jamie heard was that, once again, Alex was going on holiday with Sabina. This time to Scotland for a week where Edward was working on an article for the GA, the newspaper he now worked for, about the Charity King – Desmond McCain. She had heard that they would be going to McCain's Celebrity Charity Hogmanay Celebration that was in all the papers. Jamie was dead jealous; a famous party and Alex Rider! No she wouldn't think of the school bad boy like that. So she turned to her geography, GM, essay which the teacher had set them over the holidays.

Alex and the Pleasures came home early after their holiday was interrupted by a crash into a frozen lock on the frozen Scottish road. A few days later Sabina and her parents had returned to Sans Francisco. The new school term began the next day where Jamie wondered where the holiday had gone. Jamie heard Miss Bedfordshire and Alex have a chat whilst waiting outside her History classroom.

'No running in the corridor, Alex,' she said stepping into Alex's path whilst Alex had been walking quite calmly along the corridor.

'Hi Miss Bedfordshire,' Alex greeted her cheerfully; they'd always been very close.

'It's good to see you. Did you have a nice Christmas?' she asked obviously surprised to see him still in school.

'Yes, thanks,' Alex said obviously not wanting to go into the car crash. Jamie was surprised at how well he could lie – like a professional.

'And do you plan to stay with us for the whole term. It would certainly make a nice change!' truer words had never been spoken Jamie thought about Alex's legendary absences.

'I hope so,' Alex replied sounding genuine. But then again he'd sounded the same when saying that he had a good holiday when he'd almost drowned.

'Maybe you should eat more fruit. You know. An apple a day …' Miss Bedfordshire joked.

'I'll give it a try,' Alex seemed to want to get to History as soon as possible.

As soon as the register was taken the whole year went to the Sports Hall for assembly. They sang All Creatures Great and Small for Mr. Brey ever the Christian. The whole school singing together was horrifically out of tune. But it seemed to make the headmaster pleased.

'Respect for others; respect for yourself; above all, respect for the community,' Mr Brey began. 'I introduce Mr. Newman who will be taking over Physics from Mrs Grayson who retired in October. Mrs Foster will be leaving in March to have a baby and Miss Welsh will be moving schools. One last thing I'm very happy to tell you that the science block is finally open again after the mysterious fire which did so much damage last year.' Was it Jamie's imagination or did Alex shift guiltily at this. 'I hope you'll enjoy the new facilities. I wish you all a hard working and successful term!'

After lunch Jamie went to Geography where Mr. Gilbert and Alex were (both of which she fancied). This was probably why she was failing geography – she couldn't concentrate!

'I hope you've all thought a little about this serious subject,' Jamie had wrote twelve pages on it because without any distractions she was able to do well and wanted to show off to Mr. Gilbert. 'I'm going to want to see your written work completed by half-term. And I've got good news,' he began handing out permission slips. 'At the end of last term I wrote to Greenfields Bio Centre in Wiltshire. I'm sure you know who they are,' Jamie didn't and by the looks on everyone else faces they didn't either. 'They're always in the news,' doesn't mean that teenagers watch it Jamie thought. 'Greenfields is a private organisation, one of the world leaders in plant science and microbiology. They've been doing more than anyone else to develop new techniques in genetic engineering and they've got a huge facility at the edge of the Salisbury Plain. I asked if we could visit – and rather to my surprise they agreed. To be honest with you, I didn't think they'd allow school visits because so much of their work is secret. But we'll be heading down there next week. You'll need permission from your parents and I'll hand out forms at the end of the lesson. Don't forget to get them signed! Now I want to find out how you're getting on with your projects,' he said heading over to the blackboard now. 'But first of all I asked you to come up with some of the pros and cons of GM crops. Can anyone give me an example of how this science had helped society?' Mr. Gilbert looked around the room at Alex who appeared to be daydreaming. 'Rider … Rider …' he repeated.

'I'm sorry sir?' asked Alex.

'You don't turn up to school very often, Rider. But it would be nice if you actually listened when you did. Hale?' Mr. Gilbert turned to James Hale.

'GM science can make crops grown extra vitamins,' he said. 'And there was a special for of rice that was changed so it could grow underwater for a few weeks without dying.'

'That's right,' smiled Mr. Gilbert. 'Obviously it was very useful in countries with too much rainfall. Anyone else ..?'

The class continued like this; the end came and they were all given permission slips to take home to their parents. That evening Alex arrived back at his home late and a few hours later a handsome man arrived on their doorstep. The next day when Jamie came down to breakfast to see a scowling Elizabeth reading an article saying that a journalist had been killed. Jamie hoped it was no one Eliza was friends with but thought the picture looked strangely like the man visiting Alex's yesterday. Brother?

'Poor guy,' said Jamie.

'Stabbed,' said Eliza. 'I always thought he was a bit of an idiot but he didn't to deserves that!'

The next day it turned out that the idiotic journalist hadn't been killed it was someone's mistake. The next week was the day of the Geography trip. The school bus turned off at Junction Five heading through Marlborough and onto the Salisbury Plain. They arrived at Greenfields and much to Jamie's shock there was more security systems than the airport and a small army of guards.

'Please don't be alarmed by all the security,' Mr. Gilbert said over the bus's intercom system not sounding at all convinced. 'A lot of work they do here at Greenfields is sensitive. They have to protect themselves from competitors and journalists and that sort of thing, and some of the plants they grow here have to be contained. I'm afraid we are all going to have to be searched as we go in built shouldn't take long. Please remember to leave all camera and mobile phones on the coach. They'll be perfectly safe but they won't be allowed inside.'

All the teenagers groaned at this. The general teenage consensus was that mobiles were their life and being separated from them was a heinous crime. Jamie along with all her friends pulled out her mobile; hers a red blackberry leaving it on her seat. Before pulling her black and silver Adidas backpack on. They were searched and then an ugly, blonde scientist came forward.

'Good afternoon may I welcome you to Greenfields Bio Centre. I am the supervisor here. My name is Dr. Myra Bennett, and I will be looking after you during your visit. We gave not had a visit from a school before. Any photography or recording is forbidden. When you leave this coach, everyone of you will be searched. This was agreed with your school when you were invited. All mobile phones are to be left behind. You will be with us for two hours. We will start by looking at the laboratories, where you will see some of our techniques including genetic transformation, cloning and the biolistic particle delivery system – we call it the gene gun – that fire new DNA into plants. The gene gun was developed by our director, Leonard Straik. You will visit the green houses and storage facilities are cultivated and keep fruits and vegetables, some of which have never before existed on this planet. After that you will be taken to our lecture theatre,' here Myra Bennett pointed to a white building. 'There will be a discussion about the need for GM technology and the way it can help the future of the planet. And finally you are invited to our canteen for a cup of our own Greenfields Bio Centre Blend Coffee, which had been genetically modified to deliver a more satisfying flavour. Please do not at any time separate from the group. Some of the guards are a little nervous and I would be very sorry if any of you delightful young people were asked to leave. Also, do not touch anything. You will be standing close to many chemicals and plant specimens. Any of them could be dangerous. Are there any questions?' she asked in a way that told them she hoped there weren't.

'What's in there?' asked Daisy Harrison fingering her dirty blonde hair.

'We call that the Poison Dome. For many years Greenfields has been researching natural poisons, toxins such as Ricin and Botulin which occur in nature but than kill human beings. Inside the Poison Dome we grow some of the deadliest plants on the planet, including water hemlock, deadly nightshade, elephant's ear, death cap mushroom and castor beans. The Manzanilla tree has attractive fruit which you may choose to swallow. If you do so, it will kill you instantly. There is also a white resin dripping out which will blister your skin or blind you. The leaves of the Ongaonga from New Zealand only need to touch you to produce hideous burns. It might interest you to know that the common nettle – Urtica Dioica – which you may find growing in your garden injects you with five neurotransmitters when it strings you. The nettles inside the Poison Dome have been genetically modified so they will sting you with five hundred neurotransmitters. I would like to be able to tell you the pain of such a death but, in truth, I do not have enough imagination. We are particulary interested in the ways poisons interact so you can find animal life in there, including specimens of the blue dart frog, which releases lethal toxins from it skins, the banana spider, the Taipan snake and the marbled cone snail. A single drop of slime will kill and elephant-'she then looked at the students. 'If any of you would like to visit the Posion Dome, please let me know. The visit will probably last about fifteen seconds before you die horrible. Very well. Let us head over to the laboratories. I will ask your teachers to take a roll call when we enter and again when we leave.'

The class went into one of the taller buildings. They met Dr. Charles Rose a young, eccentric, scientist who showed them something to do with DNA. Jamie saw a red light begin to blink when Dr. Rachel Smith began talking about using nitrogen to freeze-dry pumpkin plants and put them into seed banks. This was when Jamie realised that Alex Rider was yet again missing. All you had to do was turn your back on that trouble maker and he'd vanish. Jamie was worried about him; with the poisons, guards, cameras and searches Alex could end up in serious trouble. There was another roll call.

'Rider?' called Mr. Gilbert.

'Here, sir,' Tom Harris answered for his friend.

Dr. Li Leung a Chinese scientist was next to talk to the class with a missing pupil. Dr. Leung demonstrated the gene gun in her basement. Jamie wondered what it would be like to work in a place with no natural light. She then shuddered – this is why she wanted to be a spy; plenty of action!

'The gene gun is a very effective way to deliver new DNA into a plant. This is done by a system known as Biolistic particle deliver-'

Suddenly Dr. Bennett interrupted Dr. Leung in a very serious and bossy voice leaving no room for an argument.

'I am very sorry, boys and girls. I am afraid we are going to have to end your visit to Greenfield. An emergency situation has arisen and you must return to your coach at once.'

'Wait a minute-'Mr. Gilbert began indigantly.

'There will be no argument,' Dr. Bennett interrupted. 'We will take the back staircase. Your driver has been instructed to meet you around the side of the building.'

They all filed away without Alex that Jamie suspects was the cause of all the trouble. No one else even noticed he was missing, apart from Tom and she suspected from the way Tom and James were talking – James. They got onto the bus Jamie looked around unable to see Alex anywhere. The bus was off across the Salisbury Plain. Tom Harris suddenly groaned, loudly.

'Sir I think I'm going to be sick,' he moaned.

Tom Harris and Alex Rider entered. Alex was covered in glass, sweat and blood. He looked exhausted and in pain. His hand was swollen. The two teachers seemed to be in shock but then again so were the students. Only Alex Rider could cause this amount of uproar for the Greenfields staff, the Brookland staff and students.

'Rider!' Mr. Gilbert gasped. 'What are you doing out of the coach? What happened to you?' he said looking at the state of the teenager.

'He fell out of the window, sir. It's lucky we stopped,' Tom explained. Only James and Jamie knew he was lying. Or so Jamie thought.

'I don't believe a word of it! The windows don't even open …' well there goes that lie thought Jamie looking at the lost look on Mr. Gilbert.

'It was the back door,' Tom said quickly.

'Well … You'll see headmaster first thing tomorrow morning,' he said pushing the responsibility onto somebody else. 'Now get back to your seat.'

Jamie watched the two boys walk to their seats at the back. The next day everyone at Brookland was talking about Alex Rider's latest episode in his line of strange behaviour and his exclusion. That night there was a news report saying that the old film studio – Elm's cross – had been burned down by vandal during the day. The next day, once again, Alex was missing from school. People said he was angry at his expulsion so was avoiding school. A week later a news report came through that a massive dam in Kenya had fell apart flooding fields for miles around. This was followed by the fact that a gunman or terrorist has targeted a small airport in Kenya. Desmond McCain had been caught up in the chaos and killed; his charity had shut down over night but not many people knew why no one had been left to take over if anything happened to McCain.

Another thing was that Alex had been involved in a fire and was now in hospital with burns and a sprained ankle. But he was recovering and should be back to school in a month.