Chapter One: Stakeout
They had done their research. Well, mostly Spencer, Nikki’s sidekick, had done the research. He knew everything that had ever been said about STING in newspapers or magazines or on TV. Which wasn’t much. Apparently STING was a very mysterious organization. No one really seemed to know what they did. STING stood for the Superior Technology & Information Needs Group. From what Spencer had told her, Nikki knew it was a government agency that had been linked to the disappearance of at least two power kids.
And that was important. Because Nikki’s friend had been kidnapped. And her friend was a power kid, too. Nikki had only met Samantha Powerbelts a week earlier, but already they were close friends. Nikki would do anything to help her. And now Samantha needed Nikki’s help.
Nikki and her other friends, who called themselves the Power Council, had made plans to get Samantha back. They didn’t know for sure who had kidnapped her, but their biggest suspect was STING.
Nikki and Spencer were on a stakeout, which meant they were watching and waiting. Watching the building where STING was located. Waiting for something to happen…or someone to come out…or something. So far they had been watching and waiting for an hour and nothing had happened. Not a single door or window had opened; not a noise had been made; not even a strange smell had wafted from the building. Thinking back, Nikki couldn’t even remember a bird flying past the building.
When Nikki and Spencer had first begun the stakeout, she had felt like a spy. Spencer was wearing his dark sunglasses, dark pants, and the dark shirt that said Boy Genius on the front. Even though an hour had passed without event, he was flashing his toothy, braces-filled smile. He seemed to be loving every minute of the stakeout even though nothing was happening. But Nikki was getting bored.
Nikki looked up at the clear, sunny sky. There wasn’t even a lonely cloud passing by to catch her attention. If there was a cloud, at least she could try and see pictures in it. Like maybe the fluffy, white pillow would look like a grizzly bear. Or a scarecrow. Or something else funny, like a clown or a singing hamster…
Instead, there was nothing in the sky except the sun. Which was pretty typical for summer in Cragglyville. It was hot and dry. Despite the heat, Nikki wasn’t sweating. They were hiding across the street from the STING building. No one could see them, Nikki was sure of it. Because they were high in the uppermost branches of a tree, and Nikki was invisible. Spencer wasn’t, but his dark clothes would make him hard to spot from the street. Plus, no one was looking at the top of the tree. Why would they?
Nikki glanced down at the gloves she was wearing. She couldn’t see them, because they were invisible, just like her. But she could picture them in her mind. They weren’t winter gloves, like the kind you would wear while playing in the snow, warm and soft and lumpy. Rather, her gloves were smooth and rubbery, like the kind her mom might use when cleaning the bathroom. One was blue. It had a picture of a bird on it. It had helped her and Spencer get to the top of the tree. Because when she was wearing the blue, bird glove, she was able to fly! And Nikki was good at flying. It was almost as if she had been born to fly.
The second glove didn’t match the first. It was gray, with no picture on it. It was her invisibility glove, and when she wore it no one could see her. She couldn’t even see herself. She had ten other pairs of gloves, too, but they were tucked away safely inside her magical treasure chest. Each glove gave her a different power.
While Nikki was thinking about her gloves, Spencer whispered, “Look! Something’s happening.”
Nikki’s head jerked to the side so she could see the STING building again. Although the building was still quiet, Spencer was right, something was happening. From high in the tree, they could see the roof of the building, which was shaped like a giant dome, smooth and round. A hole had opened in the dome and was getting wider. If she wasn’t looking right at it, she might not even notice it. Nikki was glad she had Spencer to help her with these kinds of things. He was good at stakeouts. He was a good sidekick, too. The best.
They watched as the hole in the roof got bigger and bigger. Nikki was tempted to fly over and slip through the hole. She was invisible, after all. No one would see her. She really wanted to know what was in that building. What was STING hiding?
As if sensing what she wanted to do, Spencer reached out and held Nikki’s arm. “Wait, Eager-Beaver. Be patient,” he said. Nikki’s invisible lips curled into an invisible smile. She had no idea how he had read her mind. Or how he had grabbed her invisible arm.
She turned her attention back to the STING building. The dome was completely gone now, having slid back to reveal an open, circular roof. On the roof was a helicopter. But not just any helicopter. It was huge and black and looked dangerous. Mounted on the sides were giant spotlights. Its silver blades were starting to spin—they looked sharp and powerful.
“The lights!” Spencer hissed. “Remember the lights?”
Nikki remembered alright. On the night that Samantha was kidnapped, there was a loud noise from above, and then bright lights had blinded them. It had to be the helicopter! When the lights went out, Samantha was gone.
“They’ve got her,” Nikki said.
Spencer nodded seriously. “Should we try to get inside the building?” he asked.
“I don’t think so,” Nikki said. “I think we should follow the helicopter. What if they’re going to go capture another power kid? We have to try to save them.”
Spencer’s eyes lit up. “Wickety wickety woo woo!” he exclaimed.
Nikki giggled. She never got tired of Spencer’s funny sayings and noises. In this case she knew what Spencer meant. He agreed with her.
The helicopter’s blades were spinning so fast that Nikki could barely see them. The sound of the engine was so loud that Nikki had to put her hands over her ears. With a slight lurch, the helicopter lifted off the roof and angled away from the building. Nikki tried to locate the pilot but the glass cockpit was tinted black. The pilot could see out, but she couldn’t see in.
She watched as the helicopter sped away from them, away from Cragglyville. “They’re getting away, honk honk!” Spencer yelled.
“Nothing can fly faster than me!” Nikki yelled back. “Hop on, sidekick!”
Spencer grinned and then patted at the air to try to locate Nikki’s invisible body. She reached and grabbed his hand and pulled it to her shoulder. Spencer climbed onto her back and yelled, “All systems go, Captain-Kangaroo!”
Nikki took off like a rocket.
In seconds she was high above the earth. Everything looked miniature, like the world was just a bunch of toys. The big trees in the forests surrounding Cragglyville were as small as weeds. The automobiles lining the streets looked like Matchbox cars. The people were tiny, like the Lilliputians from Gulliver’s Travels. Nikki knew that nothing had really gotten smaller, but just looked that way because she was so high up.
As she flew, she was careful to steer well away from a big jet airliner that was carrying passengers across the country. Even though she knew she could outrun the plane if she had to, she didn’t want to frighten the pilot by suddenly appearing outside of his window.
Nikki kept the helicopter in her sights, but didn’t get too close, as she didn’t want them to know they were being followed. They flew together for a long time—the helicopter in front and Nikki and Spencer trailing behind. Finally, the helicopter slowed.
A big, gray shape appeared on the horizon. “Is that…?” Nikki said, trailing off.
“It is!” Spencer said, reading her mind again. “It’s Phantom’s Peak!”
Nikki hadn’t really been paying attention to what direction they were flying, but now she realized that the entire time they had been heading for her favorite mountain. Phantom’s Peak was the location of the secret hideout used by the Power Council. Inside the mountain was an amazing place called the Power City. It’s also where Nikki and Spencer had first met Samantha Powergloves and the rest of the good pow
er kids and their sidekicks.
And the helicopter was heading right for the mountain! As they approached, gray clouds swirled around the peak, making it look as if there were giant ghosts haunting the jagged cliffs.
“They’ve discovered the Power City!” Nikki exclaimed.
“Maybe not,” Spencer said. “They might go right past it.”
Nikki knew he was right but wasn’t about to take that chance. The rest of the Power Council was inside the Power City, waiting for Nikki and Spencer to return from their stakeout of STING headquarters. If the people in the STING helicopter found them, they would try to kidnap them, just like Samantha. She had to do something!
With a burst of speed, Nikki took off toward the helicopter, which was getting closer and closer to the mountain. As she flew, she pried off her gray invisibility glove and shoved it into her pocket. Suddenly she could see her hands and arms again. “Welcome back,” Spencer said.
“Thanks,” Nikki mumbled. She was concentrating on the helicopter. If she got too close to the blades, they would cut her to bits. Spencer, too. So she dropped her altitude and came up from below the flying vehicle, where the landing gear was.
When she got close enough, she grabbed one of the landing skids and pulled herself up. Spencer was still on her back, hanging on for dear life. For once she wished he wasn’t with her—for his own safety. From back to front, she tiptoed along a shelf on the side of the helicopter, until she was next to the tinted window. She reached up and rapped hard on the glass. Crack, crack, crack!
The helicopter swerved, but it didn’t matter. Nikki was already gone. She had leapt into the air and was speeding away. She outstretched her arms and tried to gain speed. She heard the helicopter engine roar. It was chasing her!