Avalanche Alert

Avalanche Alert — page 3 — Her brother pressed a button on the remote control in his hand The sandstorm stopped as suddenly as it had begun Zoe brushed herself off Small vents opened in the wall next to them quickly sucking the sand away Uncle Stephen is amazing Zoe said She took the remote and examined all its functions This new climate chamber might be his most impressive invention yet And it’s really going to help us prepare for our missions agreed Ben We’ve had missions in a desert a rainforest and high atop a mountain The thin air up there wasn’t much fun Zoe said referring to their mountaintop adventure It made me feel light-headed and dizzy What’s new teased her brother He darted out of the way as Zoe tried to give him a friendly punch So what else can we do with the climate chamber Ben and Zoe were spending their winter vacation at the top secret underground headquarters of WILD Their uncle Dr Stephen Fisher ran the place It was dedicated

Avalanche Alert — page 4 — to rescuing animals in danger all over the world and the twins were its youngest recruits No one except their grandma was in on the secret Even their parents didn’t know that when Uncle Stephen called Ben and Zoe dropped everything for one of WILD’s important missions How about this Zoe grinned and pointed to a green button marked MONSOON A shrill buzzer sounded from a loudspeaker followed by a familiar voice Urgent Ben and Zoe report to the Control Room immediately Uncle Stephen sounds anxious Zoe said What do you think he wants Ben chuckled He probably just can’t wait to hear what we think of his climate chamber Ben and Zoe raced down the long hallway past the labs the cafeteria and sleeping quarters They slapped their hands on the ID pad outside the Control Room

Avalanche Alert — page 5 — Print ID confirmed came the electronic voice The metal door slid open smoothly revealing the brightly lit room that was the headquarters of WILD Workers were tapping away at computers Images of animals were everywhere on the giant monitors lining both sides of the room At the far end Uncle Stephen was staring at a display screen on the wall He wore a labcoat over his shorts and his hat was pushed back in his messy hair Your climate chamber’s great said Zoe Yeah agreed Ben The sandstorm is He went silent Uncle Stephen was staring intently at the screen in front of him a worried look on his face What’s the matter Zoe asked her uncle Erika just picked up some alarming intelligence said Uncle Stephen gravely No more fun in the climate chamber you’re off on a mission There’s no time to waste

Avalanche Alert — page 6 — Good thing we’re here then said Ben Are you going to give us a clue to the animal we’ll be rescuing asked Zoe Uncle Stephen usually presented a glass eyeball to the twins so they would have to guess what their mission was Uncle Stephen turned to his assistant Erika Bohn a woman sitting nearby She swung around in her chair to face them No time for an eyeball she said tapping a key but this might clue you in A picture of an animal eye flashed up on the screen in front of her There’s fur around it muttered Zoe Is it a wolf Not a bad guess Erika said She scrolled out so that a little more of the animal was visible Its fur is light brown with black markings said Ben And it looks thick So the animal lives somewhere cold said Zoe Uncle Stephen nodded Extremely cold he said

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