Gem Of A Misssion

• Rachel Frecker, Grade 4
• Short Story
• 2013

Ruby opened her eyes to find herself waist deep in water.

“Hey Ruby, where on Earth are we?” asked a voice. She spun around and smiled, comforted to see Emerald’s friendly face.

“I’ve got no idea,” she answered. The last thing she remembered was being pushed into a dungeon with her friends, Crystal and Emerald, before finding herself trapped in this steel chamber and about to drown.

Jade Jenton, an evil gem thief, was behind it all. Ruby and her friends worked for Positeck, a secret agency and this was their first mission – to recover the precious gems Jade had stolen. What a disaster so far - they were facing death and had to escape!

“I knew working for a spy agency was going to get us into serious trouble,” moaned Emerald.

“Calm down!” laughed Ruby who had nerves of steel, “think of all the spy novels you’ve read, everyone survives in the end.”

“Only the heroes survive," corrected Emerald.

There was silence as the girls watched in terror, water now touching their chins.

“We ARE going to die!" shrieked Crystal hysterically.

Then suddenly, one wall slid down revealing a dark passageway. The water surged out, taking the bedraggled girls with it in a great tumble. Ruby jumped up precipitously and strode ahead. Crystal and Emerald grimaced at one another before reluctantly following.

The girls trudged silently along for an hour, finally emerging, squinting in blinding sunlight, onto a deserted beach. After walking for a while more, they took shelter in a cave but were confronted by a massive security guard holding a sharp knife. Ruby reacted instantly, spraying him with knock-out gas. They realised this just might be the cave storing the hidden gems and began searching.

“Just what do you think you are doing?” sneered a voice from behind.

Ruby spun around to see Jade Jenton standing over her.

“Trying to stop you from stealing the gems,” answered Ruby.

“Ha, I am going to be rich and nothing will stop me!” boomed Jade.

While Crystal kept Jade talking, the others searched frantically, finding the gems and running out of the cave. Jade was hot on their heels. She grabbed the gems and very soon the girls found themselves bound together with rope. This mission was going from bad to worse at lightning speed.

“So my trio of spies, how does it feel to be facing death yet again?” asked Jade wickedly.

The girls watched in horror as Jade yanked a large lever with all her might.

“Get set for the ride of your life!” she laughed, her words reverberating in their ears as they tumbled down a long and winding slide.

Landing softly on plush carpet, the girls found themselves in a large room filled with desks and computers. Jade whizzed down behind them, not a hair out of place. She stood and grabbed her forehead to peel off a mask, revealing her true identity…

“Well girls, I think that’s basic training covered!” smiled Elle, Head of the Positeck Secret Agency.