The Ideas Pirates Read online

  ‘You’ve got SYD on your hand luggage. You’re sitting near the gateway for the Sydney plane and you’re wearing the uniform of a Sydney school.’

  ‘Oh. I bet you don’t know what’s in this?’ he pointed to the red wrapping.

  ‘Chinese New Year present?’ Amy guessed.

  ‘No, it’s a fruitcake. Mum sent it to my host family but they don’t eat fruitcake. Anyway I forgot to give it to them.’

  ‘The attendant interrupted. ‘Should you be on my list? Are you two travelling alone too?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Amy quickly. ‘But we’re fine. We do it all the time. The airline knows about us.’

  Beforehand, Mum and Dad always planned every travel detail. Tickets. Passports, currency, departure and arrival times, bags, labels.

  And how to say ‘I’m lost and I’m staying at .........’ in the local language. Luckily, this time, the twins were flying home to Australia , so language wasn’t a problem.

  Today their parents had left them with the airport staff and then hurried to work. They were taking special photographs of VIPs having breakfast with the orang-utan at Singapore’s Zoological Gardens.

  ‘Are you sure you’ll be all right? Aunty Viv will meet you in Sydney. I told her the arrival time and the flight number.’

  ‘We’ll be okay. Say hi to the orang-utan for us.’ They kissed goodbye.

  Although a staff member was always nearby, Amy and Christopher liked to look after themselves.

  ‘Woof, woof. Do you bite?’ said the UM looking at the sign above Amy ‘s head.

  She looked up too.

  ‘Very funny,’ said Amy in a voice which meant the opposite. What a dag!

  Above her was the DRUG DETECTOR DOG sign. Underneath it said DO NOT PET OR BITE.

  ‘Where are your parents?’ asked the UM.

  ‘Working in Singapore this week.’

  Because they were eco-photographers , Mum and Dad wrote about and photographed wild life or threatened places. Often the twins flew to meet them at the airport closest to their work.

  ‘My parents are at home. I won a trip to a school maths competition in Singapore and I came second. Yesterday my host family took me to Bird Park Jurong, Sentosa Island and the Haw Par Village. It used to be called the Tiger Balm Gardens . I nearly got lost there. ‘

  ‘Hey! Wild! Isn’t that their latest song? ‘

  Music trickled through the sound system but the UM kept talking.

  ‘Have you ever been lost? ‘

  Amy nodded but the UM took no notice. He put the red parcel on the seat and just kept talking.

  ‘They thought I was lost last term. I was sick at school . When I told Mrs Hill my teacher, they put me in the sickbay. I fell asleep. At home time I was still asleep and the teacher forgot about me. They went home.’

  ‘Was this in Singapore or home in Australia?’ Christopher wasn’t listening properly.

  ‘In Australia of course. At St Micheals. When Mrs Hill remembered, it was 9 o’clock and my Mum and Dad thought I’d been kidnapped. A policeman searched the school for clues and found me. I woke up when he shone a torch in my face.’

  ‘Why would anyone want to kidnap you?’ Kidnappers would have to listen to Motor Mouth all day!

  ‘ Dad works for DRUGS INTERNATIONAL, an international drug company. Legal drugs. But some protest groups are making things hard for him.’ The UM stopped for a breath .’ ... and something important has been lost ...’

  ‘Oh ... see you later.’ Christopher pulled his sister away.

  ‘Can’t I come with you? My name’s Winston.’

  ‘No, you’re to stay with me,’ said the attendant firmly. ‘Look you’ve left your package behind.’ She handed him the red parcel with a fixed polite smile. Airline people were ALWAYS polite, even with nerds like Winston.

  ‘See you Winston. Got a few things to check out.’

  ‘Seems like a dag,’ Amy commented to her brother as they hurried away.

  ‘Oh, he’s all right. Just trying to impress us because there’s one of him and two of us. Probably made up that lost stuff.’

  ‘D’you reckon?’

  ‘Anyway he gave me an idea about that e-disc. Let’s find a music shop. They should have it!’

  At the music shop there was a clue to the mystery package.

  ‘That background music! On the speakers!’

  ‘Of course!’ Excitedly Amy pointed to a display pile of pop music. ‘There’s a link! ‘ “The Slipper Orchids” are a pop group!’

  Christopher wasn’t convinced.’ That might just be coincidence.’

  ‘Orchids are Singapore’s national flower. Lots of things are linked with orchids.’

  So with her Gran’s red wrapped ‘good luck’ money, Amy bought a copy of Slipper Orchids’ tape. Christopher bought re-chargeable batteries. And spares..

  Then she slipped it into her audio-I and flipped PLAY. ‘ Wild’ was the latest song by this Singapore pop group. Amy tried to work out the lyrics. Mostly it was ‘wild, wild, wild.’

  ‘That’s not much of a secret message!’ She listened a second time with her headphones.

  After sorting his cam, Christopher pulled out the map and studied it. At the news stand, Amy glanced at the ‘Straits Times’. The heading ‘Wild Slippers’ caught her attention. That message which the mysterious stranger had whispered to her was popping up everywhere!

  Wild Slippers

  An orchid smuggler received a six months jail sentence for trading in wild-collected slipper orchids ... illegal possession of plants which had been wild-collected in Southern China. A total of 2269 specimens were found in his apartment.

  Could this have anything to do with the package? Was the mysterious man an orchid smuggler? What was the connection?

  ‘Wonder how pop groups choose the names for their songs?’ said Christopher but Amy’s thoughts rushed on.

  ‘And what has it got to do with me? Why did he give it to me? She took out the e-disc again. The answer must be hidden inside somewhere.

  Meanwhile, Christopher examined the map of Australian parks. That wasn’t unusual. Lots of people bought maps and marked where they were going to visit. But Christopher was suspicious.

  ‘Why have they marked all these parks? Look.’

  Amy stared as Christopher pointed.

  ‘They’ve put crosses on here and here.’

  ‘Maybe they’re going to pitch tents on those spots? Perhaps that’s where they visited last time ... and they want to go back?’

  Just then a large hand reached across Amy’s shoulder. ‘Excuse me,’ said a thickly accented voice.

  ‘That is mine!’ Big Ben grabbed the map as if it were a secret plan.

  ‘We weren’t hurting it!’ said Christopher ‘Maps aren’t secret.’

  ‘This one is.’ And the traveller left abruptly. ‘You took it from the scanner.’

  The twins stared after him. Christopher whipped out his camera, but people look all the same when photographed from the back. Still he took one shot anyway. You never know when it might be useful.

  Then he recognised someone!

  A slim, navy- skirted figure walked past the Duty Free shop and in the same direction as Big Ben.

  ‘Hi Gloria.’ Christopher dropped his voice suddenly realising- perhaps Gloria was working undercover in Singapore.

  ‘Hullo again Christopher. Perhaps you can help me? Are you and Amy on the flight to Sydney?’

  Christopher nodded.

  ‘Want to do some surveillance work for me?’

  ‘Er ...’ Christopher hesitated.

  ‘You mean watch someone?’ Amy knew all the big words.

  ‘Yes. Could you keep an eye out for someone or something?’

  ‘Sure.’ Christopher felt a curl of excitement. The twins had helped Gl
oria in the past. When they were in Cairns, they’d helped her catch steroid smugglers, and in Melbourne , bird smugglers.

  ‘We’ve had a tip-off.’

  ‘Who from?’ Amy liked details. Gloria didn’t answer that question, deliberately.

  ‘We’re chasing some pirates.’

  ‘What sort?’

  ‘Idea pirates.’

  ‘Ace. We’ll help.’

  Chapter 3

  Idea Pirates

  ‘Meet any pirates in Singapore?’

  Amy looked up, unsure if Gloria was joking. An odd smile lifted her eyebrows. Gloria was a neat, tight sort of person. She moved like a wary animal. Often she just blended into the background.

  ‘What sort of pirates?’

  ‘Swashbuckling pirates ... like Captain Hook ... and illegal pirate radio stations and ... cassette piracy ... and designer pirates.’

  ‘Don’t pirates need a boat ... and treasure ... and islands and ...?’

  ‘Not all of them. New pirates need only an e- disc to copy someone else’s music or program. And fashion pirates just copy others designs. Some see film piracy as a victimless crime. Copying is easy and cheap. So piracy is growing internationally. Film and record industries are worried about music piracy.’

  ‘Music pirates?’

  ‘Yes. They hurt the Australian recording industry. Pirates steal whole sound tracks of new films. We’re worried about computer software copyright too.’

  ‘How does it work?’

  ‘A famous band makes a record. They’re not happy if a pirate copies and sells it much cheaper. The sound mightn’t be as good. There aren’t any royalties for the band and the singer. Royalties are their share of the profits. A pirated film sound track might have many pop songs on it. And clothes designers don’t earn anything from the cheap “fakes” which are put out under their names.’

  The twins agreed that wasn’t fair. Amy remembered the Zoo computer game they bought Aunty Viv. At the street market. Because she didn’t buy the mystery e-disc , for a moment she totally forgot about it.

  ‘The composer and the song writer don’t get anything either,’ said Gloria.

  ‘What about computer games?’

  ‘Someone has to think up the game in the first place. Right?’

  Christopher nodded.’

  ‘Might take the game-creator a long time to try out ideas that don’t work.’

  Amy nodded.

  ‘But once it’s made, then it’s easy for others to make a copy. Is that fair?’

  ‘Can’t the creator put a trick into the game to stop others copying?’

  ‘Some do that. But it doesn’t always work.’

  ‘Copyright means the right to copy. And the original creator should hold that. If not, then we’ll lose our ideas-thinkers. If people rip off their ideas for nothing, creators won’t share them in the future.’

  Amy checked the time. Still half an hour to spare.

  ‘Meanwhile keep your eyes open for anything unusual. You’re wearing a copy-watch.’ Gloria looked at Amy’s wrist.

  ‘Bought it in Singapore at a street market for twenty dollars.’

  Amy blushed . She felt guilty...

  ‘Why d’you want that brand of watch?’

  ‘Because it’s fashioable.’

  ‘Is that why others buy that brand of copy-watch too?’

  ‘Probably.’

  ‘What about the people who originally made the watch? They get nothing from the sale of fakes.’

  Christopher pushed back his glasses. ‘ Never thought of it that way before. I wouldn’t like someone copying my drawings and selling them.’

  ‘The originals have to be pretty good to make thieves want to copy them.’

  Amy fiddled with her glasses as her brother looked up quickly.

  ‘D’you mean mine aren’t good enough?’

  ‘I didn’t say that!’

  ‘Too many fakes around. That’s the problem,’ muttered Gloria.

  The twins didn’t learn until later what she meant.

  Chapter 4

  Mystery Man

  There he was again! Amy couldn’t believe it! With all those people passing through Changi Airport, the chances of seeing her ‘slipper orchid’ man were not high. But there he was!

  He was talking very quickly to Jason, the mobile phone freak.

  That’s when she remembered that Jason, of the million shirts, had booked in a backpack just like hers. Mum wouldn’t believe it! She reckoned that no-one else except Amy would CHOOSE a purple and aqua backpack.

  Was he a passenger? Or was he just saying ‘goodbye’ to someone?

  ‘Excuse me!’ As Amy hurried up, the man saw her and turned!

  Amy started. ‘There he is!’ She tugged her brother’s arm. ‘Look! Over there!

  ‘With the newspaper. He’s holding the “Straits Times”.’

  ‘Are you sure? He looks a bit like the guy but ...’ Christopher hesitated then he fumbled for his cam.

  The man turned, His face went puffy and pink. The camera flashed! The man looked startled.

  ‘Guilty for sure,’ muttered Amy.

  ‘Guilty of what?’ Christopher was unsure until the man started to run.

  He dropped the paper and started to jog past the shops. He ducked in between travellers with bags on wheels and nearly ran into a pram.

  The airport was so big that you couldn’t spread out. He had to get to the end of the passage, so he jumped onto the walkway. It kept moving at its normal pace, so he started running.

  Amy was panting by now, her breath coming in little gasps. Her backpack felt like a body bumping against her back as she jogged.

  On the walkway you were supposed to stand on the left. If you wanted to pass, you were supposed to go on the right. He kept bumping into people, and passing them. Amy followed.

  ‘Hey!’

  ‘Look out!’

  ‘Go on the other side!’

  Some got upset, in lots of different languages. Being cross was internationally understood. It didn’t matter what you said- it was the way you said it.

  There was a gap in the walkway near some lounges. The man darted sideways and vanished. Amy stood still, panting.

  He’d melted into the crowd again. He seemed to be an expert at disappearing. Amy gave up the chase and came back, still panting. ‘At least you got a shot of him!’

  ‘Not exactly. ‘Christopher looked shame-faced.

  ‘But the flash went off!’

  ‘I’m not used to this new cam yet. Sorry.

  ‘Dropkick! Stick to shooting planes next time. They don’t run away.’

  She turned to Jason. ‘Hey, d’you know that guy?’

  ‘Why?’ Jason looked cross. ‘ Tell me. Where did you get your backpack? I thought mine was the only one like this. A friend loaned it to me for this trip. Do you use the outside pockets on yours?’ Nervously he pushed back his hair.

  ‘You can’t lock the outside pockets.’

  Amy pushed back her rainbow-framed glasses. As soon as anyone fiddled with their hair or their glasses, she had to do the same. Copycat, Christopher called her. He said it was a worse habit than being a Motor Mouth! But you had to answer questions when people asked you directly. Jason hadn’t answered HER question.

  ‘Mum bought it in the Orchard Rd sales last time. I chose it as a sort of late birthday present. ‘

  ‘A mistake,’ muttered Jason.

  Amy heard that. ‘My Mum would agree. She hates the colours but it was the only one left. How do you know that man?’

  ‘Bumped into him at a gig I was doing.’

  ‘Are you a pop star?’

  ‘Er ... not exactly. I just sing a bit and play a few instruments.’

  ‘Cool!’ Amy was impressed for about ten
seconds. Then she went back to being a sleuth. ‘Are you famous too? Like Fifi who designs the Fifi shirts?”

  ‘Fifi?’ Jason looked uncomfortable again. ‘Yes. The T- shirt and gnome creator. Her originals cost a fortune.’

  ‘Are you a model too?’ asked Amy. ‘Is that why you have so many clothes?’

  Christopher frowned at her. Sometimes she asked questions that sounded rude to an outsider. They didn’t know that sleuth Amy just liked to find out things.

  ‘No, I’m just a jockey.’ Jason fiddled idly with the catch on Amy’s backpack.

  He looks too big, thought Christopher. And too heavy to go on a horse.

  When he was sitting down, Jason’s soft tummy would lap over his belt.

  ‘If you’re a jockey, where do you ride? Singapore races?’ asked Amy trying to sound more polite. He seemed to have lots of part-time jobs.

  Jason gave a short laugh. ‘Oh, I’m not that kind of jockey. I’m a part-time disc jockey. I choose the music to play on the radio. Mr BIG is my boss. He decides what programs will go to air. Advertisers like us because we have the most up-to-date music. Sometimes, we’re ahead of the fashion.’

  ‘What sort of fashion?’ Amy interrupted.

  ‘All sorts. Music. Ideas. Personalities. MR BIG owns radio stations all over the world. I’m just off to Australia on an exchange with another disc jockey. Mr Big likes to keep us moving.’

  ‘Where is your radio station?’

  ‘Off the coast.’

  ‘A pirate one?’

  ‘Some people call it that.’

  Was that a clue? Gloria was chasing ideas pirates. Where did Jason fit in?

  ‘Is the name of your station 3 D.I.S.C.?’

  ‘Not in Singapore. But Mr BIG owns stations all over the world.’

  At the time, Amy didn’t notice that he’d avoided some of her question. Just then, reflected in a window mirror Amy noticed Fifi going into the LADIES. She pushed her bag at Christopher.

  ‘Look after this for me. I’ll be back in a minute. I want to ask Fifi about the cost of designer shirts.’

  While putting the bag between his legs for safety, Christopher had an idea. ‘Would you know anything about ‘Slipper orchids’?