The Circus
Summary: People are disappearing and a father asks the Storm Hawks to find his missing daughter. Naturally, they agree to help, and come across a mysterious circus.
Disclaimer: All Publicly Recognizable Characters, Settings, Ideas, etc. are the Property of Nerd Corp. The Original Characters and Plot are the Property of the Author. The Author is in no way Associated with the Owners, Creators, or Producers of Nerd Corp. No Copyright Infringement is intended.
Chapter One: The Cure for Boredom
Friday, 12:00 pm, the Skies around terra Amazonia.
Aerrow the Sky Knight sat on his bed reading a book. He was bored, and they hadn't heard a peep from Cyclonia in the last two weeks. Frankly, that worried him. It meant they were planning something, and anything that took Master Cyclonis this much time to plan and organize could not bode well. The Sky Knights' Association hadn't heard much from their new spies, only that Master Cyclonis was in her throne room constantly, working on her machine and going over old scrolls.
He sighed, figuring that they would find out eventually. He just hoped it wouldn't be too late by then.
"Um, hello?," said Stork over the speakers, "we've got someone requesting permission to land on the Condor. They say they need our help; I already gave them the okay." Stork personally didn't like strangers on his ship but he followed orders, and Aerrow's orders would always be to let anyone looking for help onboard.
Aerrow grabbed the pipe near his bed that would allow him to contact the bridge. "Thanks Stork. I'll meet them in the hangar."
The door to the hangar opened just as the Skimmer was about to land. Folding in its wings, it dropped on the landing pad, rolled into the hangar and skidded to a halt just in front of Aerrow.
"You Aerrow?" asked the man.
Aerrow observed his guest briefly before answering. He was a large beefy man, nowhere near as buff as Snipe but he looked like he worked out a lot. His hands were calloused, his skin dark, and he had a bit of a beer belly. His hair was dark, almost black, and he had a moustache.
"Yes, and you are?"
"Swainson. I need your help and I don't think another squadron can handle this particular mission."
"What's the mission?" asked Finn, standing just behind Aerrow, on the Sky Knight's left.
"My daughter Vesper's gone missing and so have a bunch of other kids from different terras, which is why I want you guys to look into it."
"Because we protect all of Atmos," said Aerrow.
Swainson nodded. "The others are afraid of attack if they leave for an extended amount of time, and also, like I said, this concerns a number of terras. The Sky Knight of terra Nord suggested that he and the others follow leads on their own terras while you guys look elsewhere." He turned his gaze to the floor. "I'd look myself but... I can't take any more time off without losing my job. My wife's gone, y'see. Vesper is all I got left, but if I lose my job, I can't provide for her when I get her back."
"We understand," assured Aerrow kindly. "C'mon, the bridge is this way. I'll get the rest of my team and you can tell us everything."
"So Swainson, where was the last place you saw her?" asked Piper, once the entire team minus the piloting Stork, was seated at the round table in the bridge.
"Our house, when she left for school. Her friends said she had a good day, a B on a math test." He smiled proudly to himself before continuing. "They walked her halfway home, which is nothing out of the ordinary. But she never made it home. I spent a week looking for her. I travelled to a few of her friend's terras, to her cousin on terra Nord, and to another friend on terra Tranqua. Turns out both terras have had people go missing, but just one or two teenagers, nothing more. I decided to check out a few others: Saharr had one boy, sixteen, went missing, about a week before Vesper."
"Saharr, Nord, Tranqua. Sounds like whoever this is, they're heading east," said Aerrow. "Swainson, what terra are you from?"
"Castrol."
"Yep, definitely heading east. Should I set a course?" asked Stork.
Piper got up to find her maps then came back to the table and spread one out. "I think the next target will be terra Tempa. It's the only terra east of Tranqua for a few hundred clicks. We'll need to turn thirty-six degrees. Most likely, we'll reach the terra early tomorrow morning, if we fly all night."
"Stork," said Aerrow.
"On it."
Aerrow and the others shifted slightly as the ship turned. He then redirected his attention to his guest. "Had anything strange happened the last few days? Was anyone paying more attention to her then usual?"
"Not that I can think of. She didn't tell me much about her personal life. So long as she got good grades and didn't break any laws, I just let her have her space." Swainson's shoulders slumped and he buried his face in his hands.
The Storm Hawks looked at each other uncomfortably, except for Aerrow, who just kept his eyes on his guest, waiting. He knew the pain of losing someone you care for,
"She did mention one thing," he said after pausing a few moments. "She said that an acrobat from the circus complimented her at practice the day before the circus left the terra."
"Circus?" asked Aerrow.
"Yep. Circus Arian, or Arian Circus, something like that. Weird one, most of the performers were a species I'm unfamiliar with. Called themselves 'Arians,' the shortest was six feet tall, and they all had long pointy ears, four fingers on each hand, four arms, and light blue skin. I thought maybe it might have something to do with it so I followed it and snuck in once. I was caught and got thrown out, so I didn't find anything."
"So, they're not still at your terra?" asked Finn.
"No. It moved a couple days before Vesper went missing."
"What was Vesper practicing?" asked Junko.
"Fire dancing. I should probably give you guys a photo." He reached into his breast coat pocket and handed Aerrow a 5x3 picture. It was a headshot of a pretty girl with a thin face violet eyes and long black hair. He guessed her age to be a little older then him. He handed it to Finn.
"Don't worry man, we'll find her," assured Finn, smiling at the picture.
A few moments of silence passed and Swainson knew that he was dismissed. "Thank you. I've got a list of all five terras that have missing kids: there's eight missing altogether. I'll be leaving then."
Once Swainson was gone, Aerrow turned to Piper. "What can you tell me about Arians?"
"Nothing," she told him with a helpless shrug of her shoulders. "I've never heard of them before."
"Seriously? Hen—" Finn stopped laughing at the sight of Piper's glare in disbelief. Piper was a major history buff; it seemed strange to him that there was an entire race she was unfamiliar with.
"Maybe Stork'll know," suggested Junko. When it came to the obscure, the merb usually did.
"Never heard of them," announced Stork when asked.
"You don't have any old scrolls or books that mention them?" pressed Aerrow.
"Well," drawled the merb, bringing his left hand to his chin, "come to think of it, the name does sound vaguely familiar. I could check my books but it will take awhile."
"I'll pilot the ship while you look," said Aerrow.
Stork nodded with a warning look to Aerrow not to screw up and headed to his room.
"Finn, I want you to contact the other terras on the list. Find out which ones this circus visited."
"All right. But do you really think it's responsible? I mean, Vesper disappeared two days after the circus left."
"I know, but they could have sent someone back. Whoever's responsible, they're moving from terra to terra so it's worth looking at. Also, check what other transports arrived or left the terras: anything big enough to carry a kid or two with no one the wiser."
Friday, 5:00 pm, The Condor's bridge.
"Stork, did you find anything?" asked the Sky Knight turning to his carrier pilot, who had just entered the bridge.
"Yes, but you're not going to like it. The Arians live on an unknown terra somewhere outside the charted Atmos. They're known, or were known, to be xenophobes."
" Okay, what's a 'xenophobe'?" asked Finn, looking up from his card game with Junko.
"It's someone who hates or fears other races and cultures. Bigots," Piper explained. "And what do you mean 'were known'?"
"The only reference I could find on them was from a five-hundred-year-old book my uncle gave me, and even it didn't tell me more than that."
"Five hundred years?" asked Finn. He knew Stork had a lot of old books and scrolls, the merb loved studying the obscure, especially all things dangerous and poisonous. But five hundred years? And why were these beings popping up again?
Aerrow was thinking the same thing. Radarr who was perched in his usual place, glanced at his best friend's face.
"Raar?"
"I'm fine, just worried. If this circus really does have something to do with the disappearances, we'll be going in blind. Finn, what did you find out?"
Finn put his cards down. He had wanted to report a couple of hours ago when he had finished talking to the other squads, but Aerrow had insisted on waiting for everyone to be together. Finn rolled his eyes at it finally being his turn.
"The circus's visited at least ten terras. From what the squadrons have gathered, the circus was on three of the five terras with missing kids. As for other transports, just the usual shipping of resources: crystals from Nord to Castrol, food from Castrol to Saharr. They're going to talk to the pilots but apparently those pilots aren't new and are trusted."
Piper turned to Aerrow. "Three out of five doesn't seem like much of a connection."
"Maybe, but it's all we have right now. Circus or no, Tempa's likely the next target."
Saturday, 3:30 am, The Condor's bridge.
Piper had been piloting the ship for the past hour and fifteen minutes, the ship was quiet, everyone else was asleep. She was tired herself but due to finish soon. "You still think the circus is responsible?" she asked when she heard Aerrow's tread behind her, she could recognize all the treads of her team.
"I don't know. I don't have any proof, but even if the circus wasn't at terra Nord or terra Tundra, it was on terra Expher, which is just a half hour flight from both."
"I see what you mean," said Piper, turning to look at him, "but like you said, we have no proof. We haven't even had a chance look so far. I'm not ruling it out but you have to be careful to keep an open mind. If you become fixated on this circus, you might miss something important." Her eyed softened and she walked towards her leader; the ship would be all right on its own for a few moments.
"You're just getting fixated because that book said they were xenophobes."
"That book was five-hundred-years-old Piper. People, even races, change. What has me worried is that they were either near the terras in question, or on them soon before the kids went missing, and they're heading east. So far, we haven't found any other commonality between the missing people."
"We haven't had a chance to look for one."
"I know. But the other squadrons have and haven't found anything. Why don't you head back to bed, I've got the next shift."
"Well, I do have another ten minutes but since you're up," she shrugged, "I'll see you later."
Saturday, 10:30 am, The Condor's bridge.
The skies were cloudy, but then, it was almost always cloudy on terra Tempa. The terra was famous for its lightning storms.
"We'll split up into three teams: Finn and Junko will take the west side of the town, Stork and Piper will take the east, and Radarr and I will look outside the town for anything unusual." Said Aerrow
Stork sighed. He'd rather stay on the ship, but they'd cover more ground in three groups and it was best if no one was alone.
"We'll meet back here in two hours," finished Aerrow.
Saturday, 11:00 am, terra Tempa.
"Oh Finn, look a bakery!" shouted Junko as he started towards the small building.
The sharpshooter rolled his eyes but followed his friend. They were almost there when a piece of paper was blown into his face. Growling slightly, he removed it, glancing at it as he did so.
"Umm Junko, I think we may have found something."
Saturday, 11:20 am, terra Tempa.
"C'mon, you lunts, get a move on - we need to be ready for tonight!"
Aerrow pushed aside an overhanging branch. It was then he saw the Arians for the first time. Swainson had been right about the height. The male barking the orders was over seven feet tall, 7'5'' at least. He had four arms, and long pointed ears that poked out of his long white hair. He was muscular but not really buff, and surrounded by yards of red and white striped fabric, wooden poles and other Arians. Most of the poles were firmly planted and some had the fabric draped over them.
"Can't we get the geeshe to do this?" asked a female.
"No, and you know why. Get back to work Munia."
"What is that thing?"
Aerrow looked down and to his right. There was a short Arian female standing right next to him. The Sky Knight figured she must be eight or so. Judging from her face, she it looked pretty young, but she was obviously old enough to be wandering around on her own. Her head almost reached his shoulders and she was wearing brown-pink pants with a bright pink shirt.
"Well?" she asked impatiently, placing her hands on her hips.
"I don't know what his species is called, but his name's Radarr."
"Is he a geeshe?"
Arrow raised his right eyebrow at the unknown word. "What's a geeshe?"
"A really smart and useful animal. Like a guard dog, or a sheep with good wool, only smarter than them."
"Radarr's not an animal, or a pet. He can't talk, but he's just as smart as any human."
"Hehehe," giggled the girl.
Aerrow raised his left eyebrow while his right one lowered. "Did I say something funny?" he asked quizzically.
"Pan! What are you doing?" shouted the male who had been barking orders.
"Talking to a human and his friend."
"Pan, how many times do I have to tell you not to speak to strangers?" he continued, walking towards them. He placed a protective hand on the girl's shoulder.
"Name's Roc, friend. You'll be coming to our show tonight I hope?"
"I'll ask my team."
"Team?" the Arian cocked an eyebrow at the boy "You're a child, don't you mean parents?"
"No," replied Aerrow abruptly, not liking the Arian's patronizing tone. "I mean team."
"Well, you must know more than most people. Either that or you're not very curious."
"Why do you say that?"
"You haven't asked what we are."
"I heard someone in town say you're Arians, but they didn't say where you were from."
"A terra called Arian, where else?"
Silence followed these words, the silence of two strangers sizing each other up. Radarr noticed the slight tension and glared at the Arian.
"Dad, do you know what Radarr is?"
"Radarr?" repeated Roc, looking down at his daughter, then back up at the Sky Knight. "Oh, you mean the furry creature? No, I've never seen the species, which is strange. I've made a study of all the creatures in the Atmos, all the known ones at any rate. How many in your team?"
"Six."
"Including Radarr?"
"Of course."
Roc reached into his breast pocket and pulled out six tickets. Smiling, he held them out. "Now you'll have to come."
"Yes, come!" shouted Pan, clapping her hands.
"Come on Pan," said Roc gently as he and his daughter turned around and began walking back to the red and white mess. "There's a lot of work still to do."
Saturday, 12:00 pm, terra Tempa.
"Hey Aerrow," greeted Finn. "Check it out, the circus is in town." He held up the flyer he had found.
"I know, we found them setting up just outside of town." He turned to Piper, "Did you find anything?"
"Well, no one's gone missing yet. Everyone's excited about the circus, so they don't want to talk about anything else. Nothing strange or out of the ordinary has happened."
"I say we go to the circus," suggested Finn. "Everyone will be there so we'll be able to ask around some more."
"I've never been to a circus before," said Junko. "I wonder what it's like?"
"You're going to find out," announced Aerrow, pulling the tickets out of his pocket. "I got six tickets."
Saturday, 5:30 pm, terra Tempa.
The lights dimmed just as Aerrow sat down between Piper and Radarr. A beam of light shone down on the center ring. In it was Roc, wearing a black suit and top hat.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, children of all ages, we, the Arian Circus, welcome you to our humble home. Now, I could go into a long winded speech about how we have many exotic animals (that are very well cared for, I assure you), and how we have acrobats whose daring feats will amaze, astound, and build up the suspense. But really, we're so good, what's the point?"
He lifted his arms and the light on him was turned off just as another, this time directed at the high wire was turned on.
An Arian on a unicycle rode onto the high wire. Slowly and wobbling slightly, she rode forward a ways then backwards a smaller ways. Using this method, she made it safely to the middle of the wire.
Breathing deeply, she put her two lower hands on the seat of her unicycle and lifted herself off slowly. Carefully she brought her legs up until they were pointing straight at the top of the tent, then removed one of her hands from the seat of the unicycle.
"Woah," said Finn and Junko with awe.
The women held that pose for about ten seconds before replacing her hand, lowering herself down, and rolling the rest of the way to the other side. As soon as her feet touched the platform cheers erupted.
Piper, who had meant to clap, was instead forced to clamp her hands over her ears.
Saturday, 09:30 pm, terra Tempa.
"Man, that was awesome!" shouted Finn, as the group left the tent and headed back to the Condor.
"I liked the trapeze act," said Junko.
"Pfft," denounced Finn with a wave of his hand, "We've seen Aerrow pull off cooler moves while under fire. Double somersault through a flaming hoop, big deal."
"Not like you could pull it off Finn," chuckled Piper.
"I'm just saying," he said as he wrapped his arms around Aerrow's shoulders, "my man Aerrow here could pull off a quadruple."
Saturday, 10:00 pm, terra Tempa.
"You sure you want to do this Aerrow?" asked Piper, as the Sky Knight placed his blades in their holster.
Aerrow was dressed in black, with a toque covering his bright red hair. Radarr was similarly dressed, with holes in his toque for his ears.
"Suzy–Lu told you that she and the other Sky Knights and their squads haven't found anything else linking these people, right?"
Piper nodded. The Absolute Zeros and the Cloud Wolves of terra Nord and all the other squads had been investigating the disappearances, looking for another possible link between the missing people. So far proximity to the circus was still the only connection.
"Then it looks like Radarr and I are heading in. Don't worry Piper, I got Radarr as back up and you guys will be just outside."