Paul Blum

  NASEN House, 4/5 Amber Business Village, Amber Close,

  Amington, Tamworth, Staffordshire B77 4RP

  Rising Stars UK Ltd.

  22 Grafton Street, London W1S 4EX

  www.risingstars-uk.com

  Text © Rising Stars UK Ltd.

  The right of Paul Blum to be identified as the author of this work has

  been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988.

  First print edition published 2010.

  This electronic edition published 2010.

  Cover design: pentacorbig

  Illustrator: Chris King, Illustration Ltd

  Photos: Alamy

  Text design and typesetting: pentacorbig/Clive Sutherland

  Publisher: Gill Budgell

  Editorial consultants: Lorraine Petersen and Dee Reid

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of Rising Stars UK Ltd.

  British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

  A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN: 978-0-85769-317-4

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  THE CRASH

  The Crash happened in 2021. Alien spaceships crash-landed on Earth. Now the aliens rule the world. They have changed shape so they look like people. People call the aliens The Enemy. Since The Crash, people are afraid. They don’t know who is an Enemy and who is a friend.

  An organisation called The Firm keeps order on the streets. The Firm keeps people safe from Enemy attacks – or do they?

  People are going missing and the Earth is becoming colder and darker all the time. A new ice age is coming …

  ABOUT MATT MERTON

  Matt Merton works for The Firm. He often works with Dexter. Their job is to find and kill The Enemy. They use Truth Sticks to do this.

  But Matt has problems. He has lost some of his memory and cannot answer some big questions.

  Where has Jane, his girlfriend, gone?

  How did he get his job with The Firm?

  Matt thinks The Firm is on the side of good. But he is not sure …

  CHAPTER 1

  Matt Merton was in Sam’s cafe. He sat alone in the shadows.

  Matt just couldn’t face starting the day. He was fed up with seeing grey skies outside his window. He was fed up clearing ice from the path to his flat. Every day the ice was thicker. Matt felt depressed when he thought of the new ice age that was coming.

  Sam was also lost in his own world. He had been wiping the same table for five minutes and was staring into space. Finally, Sam remembered he had to look after his one customer.

  ‘Do you want another drink, Matt?’ asked Sam.

  ‘Thanks,’ Matt said. ‘Extra hot with an extra shot.’

  ‘Coming right up,’ said Sam.

  Matt listened to the sounds of the coffee machine. He wondered what Jane, his missing girlfriend, was doing at this moment? Was her life any better than his? Not that likely if she was looking at the same grey sky above the city.

  ‘Have you got a lot to do at work today?’ asked Sam.

  Matt shook his head. ‘It’s quiet today. I’m going to sit here in the warm. I’d rather talk to you than spend time with that idiot, Dexter.’

  Matt spoke too soon. His phone flashed. He had a text.

  Matt drank his coffee quickly.

  ‘Got to go, Sam,’ he said. ‘I’m needed after all.’

  Dexter was waiting for Matt outside the cafe. The clouds were grey. It had started to snow.

  ‘Hurry up,’ said Dexter. ‘We’ve got work to do.’

  ‘I wish the sun would come out,’ said Matt. ‘It feels like night all the time.’

  ‘I wish you would stop moaning,’ said Dexter. ‘We’re supposed to be saving the city from dangerous people. We’re not on holiday!’

  Matt looked out of the window. ‘I need a holiday. I can’t take much more of this cold.’

  Dexter just laughed. ‘You can think about taking a holiday when you’ve done some work. Let’s go and kill some bad guys.’

  ‘We had a report that there will be an Enemy attack on the clock tower at noon,’ Dexter said. ‘If that tower blows up, the whole city will suffer. We have to stop it.’

  Dexter and Matt drove through the streets. They drove fast. People looked at them as they sped by … there was fear in their eyes.

  ‘They never looked pleased to see us, do they?’ said Matt.

  ‘That’s because most of them have got something to hide,’ Dexter replied.

  ‘That’s just not true,’ said Matt.

  Dexter smiled. ‘You’re too trusting Matt. You need to learn that in life you can’t trust anybody. Not your best mate. Not even your partner!’

  Dexter gave Matt a funny look. Matt pretended not to see it, but he knew something wasn’t quite right.

  CHAPTER 2

  Dexter and Merton arrived at the clock tower just before noon. The tower was in the centre of the city. If it blew up, many people would die. Matt could just make out a woman climbing the clock tower. Was she The Enemy? Her face looked familiar. Matt was sure he had seen her before somewhere. She was running up the stairs and she was moving fast.

  ‘Stop – it’s The Firm,’ shouted Matt but the woman carried on running. She was at least a minute ahead of them. That would be all the time she would need to set off a bomb.

  Matt was very fit and he started to catch up with her. The long hours of training in The Firm’s gym had paid off. He knew that if he could stop her he could save lives. This thought helped him run even faster.

  Dexter was not as fit as Matt and he could not keep up.

  Just as Matt reached the woman, the clock started to chime.

  One, DONG, Two, DONG, three DONG. It was very loud and Matt put his hands over his ears, but this made him slow down.

  Four DONG, five DONG, six DONG.

  Matt tried to grab the woman.

  ‘Stop, it’s The Firm,’ he shouted.

  The woman swung round and pushed Matt hard. He fell back down the steps and she carried on running.

  Seven DONG, eight DONG, nine DONG.

  Matt got to his feet, feeling dizzy and shaky. Time was running out, he had to stop her.

  Where was Dexter when he needed him?

  ‘Dexter,’ yelled Matt. ‘I need back-up!’

  Ten DONG, eleven DONG, twelve DONG.

  The woman was just ahead of him. She was taking something out of her pocket. Was it a bomb? Matt flung himself at her and grabbed her arm. It was not a bomb. It was a Truth Stick! When Matt crashed in to her she dropped the Truth Stick and they both fell down the stairs.

  Matt hit his head and blacked out for a moment. When he opened his eyes the woman was standing over him. She was pointing her Truth Stick at him. Now Matt remembered her: she had tried to kill him once before. Why was she here again now?

  There was nothing he could do to save himself. He looked into her eyes. They seemed cold and hard.

  ‘Who are you?’ he asked. ‘Do you know anything about Jane? Is she safe? That’s all I want to know.’

  There was a flicker in her eyes when Matt said Jane’s name. Matt didn’t know what it meant, but the woman started to lower the Truth Stick.

  Just then, Dexter came running up the stairs. ‘Stop, stop,’ he shouted. ‘Put your hands up.’

  The woman looked at Dexter and smiled. Then she pushed past him and fled.

  CHAPTER 3

  ‘Are you OK?’ asked Dexter. He did not look happy.

  ‘What do you think?’ said Matt. ‘Where was my back-up? What took you so long?’

  ‘I couldn’t manage those stairs,’ said Dexter. ‘I’m not as fit as I used to be.’

  Matt was really angry. ‘You can say that again! You just let her escape! You’re supposed to be my partner. We are meant to look after each other. That woman tried to kill me once before and this time she nearly managed it.’

  Dexter just looked away. Matt didn’t bother to say any more. It was clear to him that Dexter had slowed down on purpose. He wanted to be too late to save Matt. The woman and Dexter were working together, he was sure of it.

  Matt had never trusted Dexter. From now on, he would watch his partner extra carefully. He was sure Dexter would try to kill him again.

  Matt went back to the cafe and sat in the shadows.

  ‘Had a good day?’ asked Sam.

  ‘Not bad, Sam’ said Matt. ‘Somebody tried to kill me, but I’m still here.’

  ‘That happens to you a lot,’ said Sam. ‘You’re a lucky man to always get away.’

  Matt tried to smile. ‘I got away today,’ he said. ‘But I might not for much longer.’ He quickly changed the subject. ‘So, how’s business been today?’ he asked.

  ‘Just a normal day,’ said Sam. ‘I can’t complain. I’ve sold five cups of coffee all day. Three of them were to you this morning.’

  ‘What about the other two cups?’ asked Matt.

  ‘To you, just now,’ Sam replied. They both laughed.

  Matt patted him on the back. ‘We need to get away from here, Sam. Life is passing us by.’

  ‘I’m not going anywhere with you,’ said Sam. ‘You’ve got too many enemies. I don’t want to end up dead.’

  Matt smiled but Sam had a point. Wherever he went, pe ople were trying to kill him. He wouldn’t let that stop him finding Jane, though. Matt knew he would have to hurry and track her down soon. The danger was getting closer than ever. The city was safe for today, but Matt’s time was running out.

  QUIZ

  Why was Matt depressed about the weather?

  What does Dexter say Matt needs to do before having a holiday?

  What danger faces the city that day?

  Why does Dexter think people are frightened of The Firm?

  How was Matt able to catch up with the woman on the stairs?

  Why did Matt have to cover his ears in the Tower?

  How many times did the clock chime?

  Why did Matt think Dexter took so long to come to help him?

  How many cups of coffee had Sam sold that day?

  How many cups of coffee did Sam sell to Matt?

  GLOSSARY

  blacked out – not awake, unaware of what is happening

  depressed – unhappy and without hope

  ANSWERS

  It was becoming more grey and cold every day

  Do some work and kill some bad guys

  An attack on the clock tower

  Because they have something to hide

  Matt trained hard in the gym

  The chimes were too loud

  Twelve

  Matt thought Dexter was hoping he would be killed

  Five

  Five

  Available in bookshops or from risingstars-uk.com

  For more information call 0800 091 1602

 

 

  Paul Blum, Set Up

  Thanks for reading the books on GrayCity.Net