Gathering the Clans

An Unofficial 39 Clues Novella

Cassandra DayPreface

Hollywood. Alcratz. Area 51. Fort Knox. Manhattan. Attleboro. Charlottesville. The Bermuda Triangle. Mariana Trench. The United States Clue locations. Janus, Tomas, Lucian, Lucian, Madrigal, Madrigal, Janus, Ekaterina, Tomas. Nine Clues I desperately needed.

The Tomas and Janus ones would be simple enough. Lucian though…..difficult. Having to break into Area 51 and Fort Knox, two of the USA's most guarded government bases ever, were not good ideas. Neither was trying to get Madrigal ones.

A shudder raced down my body at the thought. Lucians were terrible, but they were nothing compared to Madrigals….

Two years later, after the Clue hunt….

I gritted my teeth when I heard the ring. It was unavoidable. If I didn't answer this one, they'd soon send another. And another. Again and again until I responded. There was no point in waiting.

"Call from Cahill Command Center, Attleboro, Massachusetts, Sinead Starling, to Salt Lake City, Utah, Cassandra Day. Accept, deny, or ignore?" a robotic voice said.

My throat was dry, so I swallowed. "Accept."

A beep came in response. An image flickered onto the screen. A redheaded girl teenager with her hands clasped and leaning back in a chair.

"Hello, Cassandra Jade Cahill Day. Also Alyssa Prince, Lorean Macallin, Kristy London, and many more aliases," she said.

I glared at her. "How'd you find me so fast? Most of my information is classified."

She shrugged. "Wasn't that hard to look up a genius author that's a Tomas on the Message Board."

I continued to glare and muttered, "Ekats and their inventions."

"You know what I'm going to ask, don't you?"

I nodded.

"Then your first assignment is to go to the LA stronghold. You have high security clearance, thanks to the fact of your mother. Keep acting as if you aren't Tomas. Then go to Alcratz and do the same. I suspect you'll have the most trouble there, despite your ranking. You Tomas are the stubbornest of the Cahills."

"Half Janus. And it's true. Tomas put the first man on the moon, not you Ekats," I replied.

"I'm sending all the information you need to know now. Check your fax machine and iPhone. Wanted to make sure you got it."

"Thanks, Sinead. But you now it's not going to that easy. The clans have been squabbling before they were founded."

"Oh, rubbish. I'm already working on it."

"Hello? Earth to Sinead? Or if that's what you're thinking, sky to Sinead? Only the younger generation has united. Even those agent-authors recording the events don't trust each other that well-"

"You'll find everything, as I said before." She turned to another monitor. "We've been talking too long. Contact me later and I'll send in back-up, supplies-whatever you need."

"I already have local contacts-"

"Bye! Text me in Japanese!"

The screen went black. Great. Just great.

I didn't even bother glancing at the fax, I just burnt it. My custom made Cahill iPhone had a special (Cahills only) app, the Mission, along with the Cahill Web, the 39 Clues, CliqueMe, Cahill Command Center and some other cool ones.

Quickly reading it, I texted Sinead:

あなたは、完全に、どういうわけか、間違いなく狂牛病します。この計画が不正です。私はあなたのおかげで死ぬつもりです。くださいすぐに対応して大きく修正します。

(Translation (Japanese]:

You are completely, inexplicably, undoubtedly mad. This plan is rigged. I'm going to die thanks to you. Please respond immediately and heavily revise.)

I got the text back in less a minute.

Grazie. Nel caso in cui il discendente di orso ha dimenticato, pazza significa anche genio. Svolgere. È fail-safe. Fidati di me. Fallo e basta. E mi lasciano da solo così posso lavorare.

(Translation [Italian]:

Thank you. In case the bear descendant has forgotten, mad also means genius. Carry it out. It's fail-safe. Trust me. Just do it. And leave me alone so I can work.)

Angry, I tapped out another text.

Din sarkasm är irriterande. Varför ska jag lita på er? Dragon och Björn har aldrig blandas, sedan första dragon's svek att första björnen.

(Translation [Swedish]:

Your sarcasm is annoying. Why should I trust you? Dragon and bear have never mixed well, since first dragon's betrayal to first bear.)

It came just as fast.

Bu dallar arasında "ektomaluja" yapın ve v durdurmak için çalışıyor olması gerekiyordu?

(Translation [Turkish]:

Aren't you supposed to be one that's trying to do "EKTOMALUJA" between branches and stop the V?)

That was it. She got me. I typed:

fine. u win. dont expect a stat rpt til wed.

-HorseDelighted2

Chapter1