area. Until it passed over the Major as hemade his way from the digging to First Aidâthen it crashed in a ball of flame, singeing the Majorâs eyebrows and blackening his face with smoke.
âCanât see much,â Harry complained.
âWe really need to see it from closer up,â Alfie said. âHow high was the camera when it took this?â
âThree miles,â Beth said proudly.
âAnd the garden is that little dot just there?â Alice checked.
âNo, thatâs Birmingham. The garden is here,â Beth said, using her laser pointer. It burned a hole through the board. âOr is it over there?â The hole stretched into a smoking line as she moved the pointer. âI wonder if I have this turned up too high.â
âMaybe we need a new plan to find exactly where the satellite is,â Chloe said. âI think weâve left it too much to Alfie.â
âIâve been working on a plan,â Jack said proudly. He nodded to Sam.
One arm of Samâs wheelchair flipped open and a metal rod extended upwards. Fixed to the top was a rolled sheet of paper, which dropped down. On the paper was a large picture. Everyone looked at it in surprise.
âIsnât thatâ¦â Alfie said slowly, ââ¦a badger?â
âAbsolutely,â said Jack. And hereâs the plan. Once weâve identified the SCAR, then we can effect a TUF. The TABs will then use the TUF to reach the SCAR. The TABs will go into SET mode and Bobâs your uncle. Any questions?â
Alice put her hand up. âWhat does BOB stand for?â
âIt doesnât stand for anything. Itâs a saying. âBobâs your uncle.â Bob is short for Robert. And it means everything is OK.â
âSo what does OK stand for?â Chloe asked.
â My uncle,â Harry said slowly, âis called Derek.â
âI think I got the Bob stuff,â Alfie said, âbut what was the other bit about?â
âWhich other bit?â Jack asked.
âAll of it. Can you say it again, please, slowly.â
Jack took a deep breath. âOnceâ¦weâ¦haveâ¦idâ¦entâ¦ifâ¦iedâ¦â
âEr, a bit quicker than that,â Beth said.
âAll right. Once weâve identified the SCAR, then we can effectââ
âHang on,â Alfie said quickly. âWhatâs a SCAR?â
âItâs like, when you cut yourself,â Sam said, âYou know, on a sharp edge or maybe itâs a scratch from a plant or something. Might be in the kitchenâ¦Or even a burn will do itâ¦I remember once, when my mum was outââ
âThe SCAR,â Jack said importantly, âis the Satellite Crash Area of Recovery.â
âRight,â Alfie said. âSo, once we find where the satellite has crashedâ¦â
ââ¦then we can effect a TUF,â Jack finished.
Alice opened her mouth to ask a question.
Jack sighed. âTunnel Under the Fence,â he explained. He shook his head sadly. âDonât any of you know anything? Right, after we tunnel under the fence, where Mrs Prendergastâs garden borders the school grounds, then the TABsâthatâs the Trained Assault Badgersâ¦â
Sam pointed to the big picture beside him. âBadgers,â he confirmed.
âYes, the badgers will use the TUFâ¦â
âThe tunnel under the fence,â Alice said.
âThatâs right, theyâll use the tunnel to reach the SCAR.â
âThe satellite,â Harry said.
âVery good, yes. And theyâthe badgersâwill go into SET mode.â
âIs that the set where they live?â Alfie asked.
âNo,â Jack said. âItâs Satellite Equipment Transfer mode. It means theyâll bring it back to us.â
âThe badgers,â Sam said, pointing to his picture again.
âYes.â
âWhich we have trained,â Harry
Piper Vaughn & Kenzie Cade