The weather has gone weird. Is it a natural phenomenon or is something more sinister at work ?
"Don't give me that rubbish !" shouted the voice. "Give me that earpiece," the voice instructed. There was a sound of something being stamped on. "We know there are powers seeking to destroy our work. You'll be very sorry you ever tried to interfere with us boy ! Tie him and take him upstairs ! Wait ! Have you checked for hidden microphones ?" asked the man. There was a sound of scratching and rustling, followed by thumps and bumps. They had found the microphone. "Hm. Thought you could keep this from us did you ? Say goodbye to your friends. You won't be seeing them for a while," said the voice angrily, before the signal was cut off.
"Frank ?" asked Aneisha. She glanced at Zoe who looked worried.
"I know. I heard it too," said Frank. "Keep focussed team. We need to work together to get Dan out. Tom found a device in the woodland which could be associated with this unusual weather activity, but we're not certain yet. We need to get into the house."
"Frank, I could go," said Tom's voice very quietly.
"Tom, you can't. It's too dangerous. Look what happened to Dan !" exclaimed Aneisha.
"If I go without any spying gear, I could pretend I was looking for Dan," said Tom. He sounded nervous in spite of his best efforts to sound confident.
"If you go without any spying gear, you are going in without any backup," said Aneisha. "You'll be on your own."
"I'll be with Dan," said Tom.
"He's tied up somewhere," pointed out Aneisha.
"Frank, can't MI9 just raid the building ?" asked Zoe.
"Wait a minute. I'm getting a call from Stella," said Frank. There was a minute's pause while he took the call. "OK, MI9 technical think that the device Tom found could theoretically play some part in a weather control device," said Frank. "They say there is obviously a lot more to it. We haven't seen it all. Stella says there is enough evidence now to raid the place, but she needs to know what sort of defences they are using. There is some sophisticated security hardware around the gate and fence. She wants us to try and gain access to the house," he finished.
"I think I've got the only plan," said Tom.
"It's hardly a plan," said Aneisha. "We need to back you up."
"OK. We don't have a lot of options here," said Frank. "We didn't come prepared for a raid. It was supposed to be just reconnaissance. Tom, do you have your shoe communicator with you."
"Yes. It's not activated at the moment," said Tom.
"Good. Leave it that way. Give me all of your other devices," instructed Frank. "You are going to have to go in without anything.
"What about my phone ?" asked Tom.
"OK, keep that," said Frank. "It would look odd if you had nothing. Go up to the front door and say you're looking for Dan. Make up something convincing OK ?"
"Erm, like what ?" asked Tom.
"Say you need to find Dan. You're friends saw him coming to the house with a ranger. If he isn't back with the group in the next half hour he'll be in big trouble with Mr. Flatley," said Aneisha.
"OK. That sounds good," said Tom, sounding a lot happier. "OK, taking off the comms stuff now," he said.
"Good luck Tom !" said Aneisha and Zoe together.
"Aneisha and Zoe, can you keep surveillance on the house please ?" asked Frank.
"On it !" said Aneisha, lying flat with her binoculars focussed on the building.
Tom walked up to the front door of the house. It was intimidating enough approaching a huge stately home's door without the knowledge that Dan had already been imprisoned in this building. He rang a surprisingly small doorbell button on the side of the door. He heard a jingling bell somewhere deep in the house. After a short wait a man came to the door. He was wearing the same uniform as all of the rangers. "Can I help you ?" asked the ranger.
"Erm, I'm sorry to bother you," began Tom nervously, "but I wondered if you knew where my friend Dan is. He disappeared when we were in the woods and one of our friends said he saw him walking towards the house with a ranger. If he isn't back in the next half hour he's going to be in real trouble with Mr. Flatley," explained Tom.
"I think I know the boy you mean," said the man. "You're a friend of his are you ?"
"Yes. We're in the same class at school," said Tom. "Only he's a bit more sporty than me, you know. I'm a bit more into science and stuff," he burbled, willing himself to stop. He was probably talking too much.
The man eyed him up suspiciously for a moment and then pulled the door open. "Come in," he said. Tom stepped inside, looking around him at the opulent surroundings.
"Wow, it's pretty spectacular in here !" he said. The ranger told him to wait while he called another member of the household. After a minute he came back.
"Mr. Storm wants to meet you," he said.
"Who's Mr. Storm ?" asked Tom as if he didn't know.
"He owns this whole park," said the ranger. "He is very careful about security. I need to search you for any electronic devices," he said, before frisking tom and removing his mobile phone. "You can have this back later," he said, before leading him up a staircase.
"Wow ! So he's in charge of all this environmental and ecological stuff !" said Tom, trying to sound excited and impressed. He tried to think what Aneisha would do in this situation. He decided that ingratiating himself with the boss would be the best route. "That's brilliant. When Mr. Flatley said we would be coming here, I checked out your website. It's really fascinating," said Tom appreciatively. He was shown into an empty room and told to wait.
Shortly another man walked in and stopped and stared at him. "I am Mr. Storm," said the man. "I understand you are looking for your friend," he said.
"Oh er yes, Dan," said Tom. "Actually, Mr. Storm it's a real honour to meet you sir," said Tom, holding out his hand. The man looked at him suspiciously, but shook his hand. "I never dreamed I'd actually get to meet you in person. I read up on your website when I found out we were coming here. It's really fascinating !" enthused Tom.
"Well, I'm glad to meet someone who appreciates our work," said the man in a slightly more friendly manner. "And what was your friend doing here ?" he asked.
Tom managed to look puzzled. "Well, the same as me. I only went to pay a quick visit, you know, in the trees and I guess I walked a good distance so nobody could see me, but when I came back he'd gone. He's always playing around with these weird gadgets. Don't know what he needed them for. We had all the information we needed in the booklets. He said he needed to look stuff up," said Tom, trying to sound annoyed.
"He's your friend ?" asked Mr. Storm.
"Yes," said Tom.
"He doesn't exactly seem your type," said Mr. Storm with a smile.
"Well, I know we're not much alike," said Tom. "He's a good laugh though. He's a bit mad on the sporty stuff I suppose. I'm not. You might have noticed," he said, grinning. "Is he here ?" he asked.
"Yes. We'll bring him to you," said Mr. Storm. He spoke briefly into a phone and turned to wait. Tom tried to reduce his nerves by looking around him. The door opened and Dan walked in, closely followed by two of the rangers. His hands were free, but he had a bruise on his left cheek.
"Dan !" said Tom. "Where did you get to ? I was looking all over for you ! If Mike hadn't seen you coming over here I wouldn't have known where to come. Mr. Flatley is going to be so mad if you don't come back on time," he said.
Dan swallowed and looked at Mr. Storm. "Erm, I'm sorry Tom. The ranger asked me to come here," said Dan, looking at the other men. "He wanted to see some of the gadgets I was using," he added. Then he suddenly blurted. "Tom will need to get back to the group now. He'll get into trouble if he stays here," he said, looking pleadingly at Mr. Storm.
"What about you ?" asked Tom.
"Oh, we're going to show Dan some things," said Mr. Storm.
"Oh !" said Tom, sounding jealous. "Lucky you !" he said rather sarcastically.
"Yeah. You know me. Always fall on my feet," said Dan with a weak smile. "Tell Mr. Flatley, I'll be back later OK ?"
"Who is Mr. Flatley ?" asked Mr. Storm.
"Our head teacher," said Tom. "Real stickler for the rules is Mr. Flatley. He won't be pleased about Dan wandering off," he said, rather sulkily.
"Please Tom," said Dan pleadingly. "You don't want to get into trouble do you ? You hate detention."
"We were told to stick together weren't we ?" asked Tom pointedly. Reluctantly, Dan nodded.
"Oh, I think Tom should stay. He deserves a chance to see our work," said Mr. Storm. "Bring them both," he said to the rangers. Tom saw Dan's shoulders sag. He'd obviously hoped to get them to let Tom go.
Mr. Storm placed a friendly hand on Tom's shoulder and guided him from the room. Tom noticed the rangers taking hold of Dan's arms and bringing him along behind.
"Mr. Storm, Sir," said Tom. "Have you noticed all the weird weather we've been having lately ? Do you think it might be symptomatic of global warming. You know, affecting the weather patterns and making it more extreme ?" he asked, looking up at the taller man.
"Well, I do have a theory about that Tom," said the man, obviously pleased to have the opportunity to speak to an appreciative audience. "I've been interested in extreme weather patterns for some time."