Prologue
There he was, standing all alone in the dark. Months and months of following this guy had led to this, a showdown in a back alley of San Diego. As his target set down his precious bundle and started keying the clock to countdown, Tino seemed ready to burst. 'Calm down.' Crystal thought to him; the words were emphasized with a restraining hand on his arm. 'Wait until he makes his retreat. You recording this?'
'Yeah, here's the tape. Everything matches. You want it?' Tino handed her a disk disguised as a nail filer.
'Put it in your Disc.' Crystal commanded.
'Ay, ay commander.' Tino smiled, but Crystal, who sprang forward to chase the victim, interrupted his joking.
'Get the bomb!" She radioed. While Tino started disarming the "package", Crystal pulled out her Disc and threw it up in the air. As the book-sized technological wonder spun through the air it quickly grew and changed shape until it was a disc a little over six feet in diameter. Once fully extended, the Disc reversed course, heading straight for Crystal, who swiftly hopped on. She crouched, with her hands stretched out on the controls and slipped her feet through loops to keep herself on the Disc. This, of course, was only for convenience, for should she fall off she could use a magnet on her belt to recall the Disc at her leisure.
Crystal slowly edged up the speed on her Disc until she caught up to her quarry. He had no way of knowing of her pursuit, since the Disc was more quiet than outer space, but he was jumpy, and, with a glance over his shoulder, he broke into a run. Crystal sighed, there was no way he could ever outrun her as long as she had a Disc. 'Got it.' Tino radioed. 'Coming to join you now.'
'Don't bother.' Crystal smiled and once again throttled up her Disc. The man had made two right turns, but she easily surpassed him and circled over his head a few seconds. When she had calculated enough, she jumped off the Disc, landing on him and pinning him to the ground.
He was too easy. A simple movement of her left arm, and he was unconscious. Crystal turned him over. "All right Clyde, what have you got today?" She was rummaging through his pockets when she saw a blinking light on his right wrist. "Shoot! Tino, get in here quickly and help me secure him!"
Tino rushed around the corner and started hooking metal bands to his wrists and ankles. He was starting to attach the prisoner to Crystal's disk when they appeared. Half a dozen armed figures in light gray jumpsuits. 'Take Clyde back to base, I'll handle this.' Tino thought.
'I won't leave you here, they'll shoot when I power up.' Crystal shot back.
'Yeah, but you're better on a Disc.'
"Hey! Look at you guys! I've never seen anybody look so gray." Tino smiled.
Crystal hit a button on her belt and her Disc shot up, followed closely by Crystal herself. She turned her heavy Disc through several spirals to avoid the now heavy spray of fire that was aimed not so much at her as at her important prisoner.
'They're not going to give him a chance to talk.' Tino nodded and sprung toward the nearest gray man, dislodging his gun. Fire came from across the circle, but Tino was too fast, the bullet caught the gray's companion instead.
Crystal had finally reached a safe altitude and now looped around to clear off the rest of the grays for Tino. She swooped low and with several quick flashes of light six grays lay on the ground.
'Ok Tino, let's get this creep home.' Crystal thought. There was no reply. 'Tino? Tino!'
Chapter 1
"Ooohhh! I'm going to FAIL analysis!" Teresa held her head in her hands as she staggered out of class.
"Cheer up, at least you won't have to worry about taking calc next year." Nell smiled and ducked as Teresa's hand flew towards her.
Crystal rolled her eyes. The final exam hadn't been that hard. Then again, Kristal had been giving her the answers via the TPR. Summer would be great this year. The Network
had given her a break due to her work in bringing the C-Clan to justice. Hers and Tino's. Which reminded her, summer couldn't start until she finished the job. 'Kristal, is Teeno ready?'
'As he'll ever be.' Kristal replied. Even for a robot, she sounded sad.
"Hey guys, let's go catch a drink."
"Gee Crystal, you don't sound very happy. I would have thought a world traveler would be excited to get her vacation started."
"Yes, Nell, but no vacation's complete without my dear friends Nell and Teresa, and therefore, I can't be in too great a hurry to leave." Crystal jibed.
"And what about your good friend Thomas?" The three girls grinned as Tommy walked up.
"Ah, well, Thomas would be very good on a vacation, should we be going somewhere that doesn't require elegance." Crystal laughed. "We were just going to get a drink, care to come?"
"Only if it's fast food. I wouldn't want to ruin the atmosphere of an elegant restaurant." Tommy grinned.
"If it were elegant, we wouldn't invite you."
'Teeno's in place.' Kristal said.
Crystal finished her shake so quickly she got a headache and jumped up. "Ok, I'm done! Let's catch a movie!"
"Crystal, give us a break! We've been here maybe ten minutes. Let's socialize." Teresa whined.
Crystal hopped back and forth nervously, glancing across the street with the corner of her eye. Teeno was in place all right. "Let's walk, and socialize as we go. I have to do something!"
"Ok, ok. But you get to hold our cups when we're done and there's no trash can." Nell said as she stood up and stretched.
"Yeah, yeah, let's go."
'Crystal.'
'What?'
'Shall we begin?'
'Wait for Nell's signal.'
"Hey look! There's Tino!" Once outside, Nell was quick to catch the bait. "Hey Tino! Come with us!"
"Where to?" Teeno asked.
Crystal bounced nervously on her heels.
"We're going to walk to the movie theater!" Nell shouted.
"Gotcha." Teeno stepped off the curb, and after that things went quickly. The car never even slowed down, it wasn't supposed to. Teeno was knocked over, his robotic parts attached to the underside of the culprit car, a biological material package opened to create the illusion of a human who had been run over. And then the car was gone, and all that was left of what had once been Tino, Crystal's best friend and partner, was some faked remains, lying on the road.
Chapter 2
"You're leaving Thursday, right?" Tommy's voice came through the phone.
"Yeah, thank goodness. I need to get away." Crystal replied.
"Still upset about Tino?"
"How could I not be? I mean, right there! In front of my eyes! And so young." 'I really need to get away.' Crystal thought.
"Too bad that guy was never caught." Tommy replied.
"What guy? Oh, the guy in the car?"
"Yeah. What a jerk."
"Yeah." 'I've really got to find some way out of the Network.' Crystal thought.
"Hey! Do you want to catch a movie or something? We never got to see Purple Moon."
"When? I leave Thursday, remember?"
"Yeah, but we could go tonight. It's still early."
Australia was going to be fun, but she had lost enough friends as it was. Why refuse the chance to see one before she left again, especially Tommy, her new favorite. "Sure, I'll meet you there."
"So what are you going to do all summer?" Crystal asked as she stood in line for popcorn.
"I'm hoping to get a job. What else is there to do. I hate not being able to see everyone until August."
"No kidding. A small popcorn and Sprite." Once her snacks had been given to her, Crystal backed up to let Tommy order, bumping into someone in the meantime.
"Oh, excuse me."
"No, excuse me."
'I know that voice.' She turned around and looked up. "You!"
"Yes, I believe we've met, Crystal. Perhaps you'd like to come with me, we have much to talk about." The man, nay giant for a girl of Crystal's height, grinned down at her.
"Ah, but Eric, I believe you haven't been informed. I'm off for the summer." Crystal sneered.
He sneered back. "That's debatable. Come on." Before Crystal could even offer a word of excused he grabbed her by the upper arm and pulled her into the theater.
"This," he handed her a small slip of pink paper, "is the recruitment order for your new partner."
"And?"
"You are to train him. We'll start you off on an easy case, but after that it's back in the big leagues."
"And who may I ask is this new partner?"
"Tommy."
Crystal turned cold. "You drafted Tommy? But……why?"
"He's got what it takes, and he's a friend of yours."
"Exactly! You know what happened to Tino! You can't just go down the line executing all of my friends. I won't stand for it!"
"It's an easy case." Eric replied in the soothing voice he was so good at. "No one should get hurt."
"I can't train him well enough. Besides, I have the summer off!"
"Rumor has it that Jodi Werthyn is going to be starting something big in the fall. We've got our preventative teams on the case, but we'll need a good team to handle it, should things get rough."
"Then give me a trained partner!"
"No can do. These are orders, and you know what will happen if they aren't followed."
"I don't care."
"Then I'm afraid we'll have to arrange for a plane wreck on Thursday. We can't have former agents gallivanting around the world with bitter agendas."
"You wouldn't."
"We would." He grinned.
"Fine, I'll do it. But if anything happens this time………"
"Yes whatever. If anything happens you'll be training a new draftee in a month, forever believing our promises of vacations and eventual retirement."
"Yes, perhaps I am gullible. But at least I'm not a cold blooded killer, of children no less!"
Eric laughed a cold laugh. "No, no you're not. Just bring him to HQ early tomorrow. We've got a lot of work to do."
Crystal threw her drink in his face and smashed her popcorn on his head.
"Crystal, where have you been?" Tommy asked.
"Nowhere. I met an old friend and had to say hi." Crystal plopped down into the seat next to him. The movie had been going half an hour, and she couldn't focus. "This is boring. Let's go."
"It's barely begun!" Tommy protested.
"It didn't look good to begin with. I'll treat you to ice cream if we go now."
"Whatever." Tommy followed her out of the theater, as did Eric's eyes. "So I'll meet you there?"
"No, I'll drive. We'll get your car when we're done."
"Ok……..Crystal are you sure you're ok?"
"I'm FINE! Get in!"
For some reason, Tommy didn't think they were going to ice cream. It was already getting dark, and they'd passed several places that would have served just fine. Every time he had suggested stopping, though, Crystal came up with some excuse. In fact, they'd been driving so long, Tommy wasn't familiar with the neighborhood.
"Hey, know what? Let's just forget ice cream. Maybe we should head home." Without saying anything Crystal made two right turns and they started back the way they had come. "That wasn't so hard? Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" She wasn't yelling, not anymore. Just staring silently, ominously, at the road. Tommy figured it had something to do with where she'd disappeared at the theater. But what? It didn't look like she was going to answer. "Are you looking forward to going to Australia? All packed and everything?"
"Whatever."
'Ok……..' Tommy thought. 'If that won't cheer her up, nothing will.' "How about some music?"
Something seemed to hit bottom with that comment. Crystal pulled over and turned the car off, just sitting, no longer viciously angry, but with a defeated look. When she looked up at him she seemed very grave indeed.
"Just get out. Please. And disappear. It will be easier for all parties involved. I'll make up a story or something. Just go. And don't come back."
"What?"
"Look, I can't explain, but if you get away, they can't blame anybody."
"For what?"
She sighed. "Look, it's a long story. The Network wants you, and if they don't get you there's a plane that's going to go down on Thursday."
Tommy frowned, "Your plane?"
She nodded. "Whether I'm on it or not."
"So if the Network gets me, it's good."
"No! They ruin lives. They got me a long time ago. They got Tino. Once you're in, you never get out. And it's dangerous."
"Tino?"
"Look, just go. I'll come up with something."
"What is this Network?"
"If I told you, you'd have to come."
"You're hooked? You couldn't tell me and let me escape?"
"The Network has its good qualities. Go."
Crystal sat, waiting for Tommy to get out of the car, trying to block out the voice of Kristal screaming in her brain.
'What do you want?'
'You can't do this! I heard everything! You're feeling guilty already.'
'Why not?'
'Logic. You can't send Tommy out on his own. You're banishing him.'
'As opposed to death?'
'You don't know he'll die.'
'And if he does? Under my supervision?'
'You're the best.'
'What's your other reason?'
'I know. That's my reason. The Network will take out my chip, and that plane will crash. Take a deep breath, relax, lock the door, and go to HQ.'
Crystal frowned. Tommy was still sitting there. If she gave him one more second he might take the opportunity.
'You know I'm right.' Kristal urged.
'Then do the dirty work yourself.' Crystal closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. The car started and moved slowly down the road.
"Hey! Watch what you're doing! Crystal! Eyes open, hands on the wheels!" Tommy had no clue what was going on. Network? Until then he thought Crystal was joking, pulling some of her dramatics. But the car was moving!
For the first time since they'd left the theater, Crystal smiled. "Relax. Enjoy the ride. Did anyone ever tell you that you worry too much?"
"Worry?! We're going to wreck!"
Crystal sat up and looked straight at him. "Are we? We're going quite smoothly. We even turn when we're supposed to. But you're right. I have work to do."
With that she turned on the radio and leaned back to listen some more.
"Work. Yeah right. I've got to be dreaming. Or something." Tommy bit his lower lip. "Ow! Ok. Not quite a dream."
Crystal opened her eyes and sat up again. "I won't turn you in until dawn. So just relax. Go to sleep or something."
"Yeah right."
Half an hour later, he was curled up in a ball, sleeping like a baby.
Chapter 3
"Wake up Tommy, we're here." Tommy sat up and looked around. Here was a medium sized house in the center of the city. Crystal was standing over him, the passenger side door held open with one hand. She was in a black jumpsuit and her hair was pulled back in a tight french braid. "They're waiting."
"You've changed." Tommy muttered.
"You've drooled. Get out." Crystal seemed to have lost all the anger or sadness or whatever of the night before and replaced it with her usual jibing self. She stepped back to let Tommy get out of the car and stretch.
"Good morning." He yawned.
"Hi. Ok, inside." It wasn't until then that Tommy noticed a tiny gun clutched in the hand she'd rested on the hood of the car.
Tommy held up his hands. "All right. All right."
Crystal laughed, not a menacing laugh, but one of pure delight. "Put your hands down, you look ridiculous."
"I'll look worse when my guts are spilling on the sidewalk."
"But then you won't care how you look."
Tommy entered the house to find a large room filled with control panels and people in similar jumpsuits. Some wore overcoats or jackets that went down to their waists. Only a tall man of thirty seemed to notice their entrance.
"Crystal, you've taken your time."
"Eric said HQ by today."
"And you waited until the last minute. Did you brief him?"
"No, I wasn't sure what you wanted to do with him. Whether or not you wanted to fry his brains, or if you wanted to allow him to just go insane as he saw a robot take over his life."
Tommy began to open his mouth to protest, but the tall man retorted, "Come now, Crystal. None of that happened to you. But since you mentioned it, we'll go with the former. Hello, I'm Ron. I'm in charge of our agents. At least for this office. Crystal here is going to train you, so let's get started. Any questions? No? All right!"
Crystal grinned and motioned for Tommy to follow Ron into an elevator. Once inside Ron continued. "And you, Crystal, will have to forgo your trip to Australia."
"Yeah, I'd kind of figured. How about you just use Kristal?"
"She's packing for her trip." Ron grinned. Crystal glared and turned to Tommy.
"Ron here is who will make your life miserable for the next few years of your life. He's in charge of finding the hardest cases to put you on, then breaking promises when you actually solve them."
"Oh, Crystal! How low. Actually, these orders came from Round Up. Apparently there's a slot that needs to be filled before the fall crime season begins. That slot would happen to be that of your partner."
"Fall crime season?" Tommy finally cut in.
"Yeah. Statistics show that heavy crime increases in the fall, because crime lords need the money to fund their winter vacations." Crystal replied.
The elevator opened to a long white tunnel filled with doors every few feet. Ron led them to the fourth one on the right and the entered a small room with a table, chairs, and a remote control.
"Please, sit. Crystal, this might prove interesting to you, too."
"I was brought in when I was 11 and shown the same thing. It's been a while." Crystal whispered as the lights lowered.
"Was Ron here then?"
"Yeah, but he didn't train me. He was what I am now, the upper agent."
"Upper agent?"
"Best."
"Ah." Tommy nodded as the lights dimmed.
"The Network is a stock interest company that works unsupervised by the national government, but in correlation with its other agents to end big crime, a problem that most people don't realize still exists. We are stationed in the biggest cities of the country, New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Chicago, Phoenix, Portland, and Miami. We have a few smaller posts, but our headquarters are here."
"Why? This isn't a big city like those others you mentioned."
"But we're centrally located, and screenings have shown that the best and brightest of the nation somehow migrate to this exact city. Don't ask how."
"Could have something to do with the Network." Crystal muttered.
"Which brings me to my next point. We are a highly secretive program. Crystal doesn't know everything about the Network, and neither will you, or I, or any agent other than the Commander, an unnamed stockholder. And that's basically it."
"What's it? That you guys fight crime?" Tommy asked in disbelief.
"Well, sort of. Actually, it's 'us guys' because you're one of us now. No word gets out to the public. And if it does…." He let the sentence hang in the air. "Also I might add that you've been drafted. This means that you join us or die. And if, like Crystal here, you're one of our more noble agents, any wrong step and your family or other innocents die."
"You fight crime but hold the lives of others in your hands?"
"We do what the Commander wants. Word has it he's a billionaire from somewhere, got rich in the mob. Now he has a guilty conscience. It also explains why we have so much technology."
"How so?"
Crystal jumped in. "Our scientists aren't exactly the kind you see on TV. They go to any extreme. And they build stuff to help fight crime, almost as if they know what kind of stuff it will take."
"I see. So, let's get this straight. I work for you fighting crime or I die. And this goes on how long?"
Ron shrugged. "Until you get killed or die of old age."
"Now I feel better."
"Now," Ron continued, "here's your case. And it's right here at home, which is good. We won't be able to get Tommy a robot for the next few weeks." Crystal nodded. "Now, as Eric told Crystal, Werthyn is looking kind of ready for something. But what Eric didn't mention was that your case is actually involving Werthyn's gang. We discovered an information route running right through the center of town. We've narrowed it down to a law office, but we don't know who the supplier is, or what kind of information is being passed. Werthyn likes to work on people she knows a lot about, so we think it may be case information, she's looking for weaknesses. Your objective, stop the supply line and bring in the culprit for questioning. We want to give Werthyn as much trouble as possible before she moves this fall."
"Do you know what she has planned for the fall?"
"Hardly. But in the past she's done double crimes."
"Murder-robbery to cover up a bank robbery?"
"Exactly. You've done your research. Now, we've secured jobs for you in the law firm, jobs as copy kids. Tommy, let Crystal do the talking, or just act like a kid out of school for the summer and looking for work. The firm's small, but everyone has to be looked at. Even the runners. Your hours are short, but you'll tell your parents that you work more, much more. After work Crystal will train you. By the way Crystal, you're staying at HQ until your family comes back from Down Under."
"What kind of hours?"
"Eight to eight every day. If they protest, then we'll cut it to eight to five and you can 'hang out' or whatever. You'll tell them all about your job. You were hired as a copier at a law firm in town because your good friend Crystal secured a position for you. Get it? Got it? Good." With that, Ron walked out of the room, and Crystal stood up.
"I'll show you around."
Chapter 4
Crystal led Tommy down the hall for an interminable distance. After a few minutes Tommy noticed what looked like a wall ahead, and when they reached it and turned left into another white hallway that seemed even longer. Crystal began talking. "We just passed most of the offices that the Network uses, but there are a few more on other levels. This is our main level of operations." They turned left again, this time into a room, and Tommy gawked. It was huge, with tons of seemingly tiny tables and people in white coats and goggles.
"A science lab?"
Crystal nodded. "This is where they make all of our cool gadgets, including robots and Discs. Chemistry is to the right, mechanics to the right, and biology straight ahead." As she spoke one of the technicians from the right side of the room approached.
"Crystal! I thought you were on vacation!" He said, in a gleeful voice.
"I was." She smiled. "Tommy, this is Dr. Schmidt. He is in charge of the whole lab here."
Schmidt smiled and nodded, extending his hand to Tommy. Turning again to Crystal he continued. "I had hoped to have our project finished by the time you returned. But you are early!"
Crystal frowned. "That's too bad. But I have to give the kid a tour anyway. I'll try it out some other time."
Schmidt laughed. "And you said I had no sense of humor. You see. I laugh! The project is finished Crystal, and you can test it out now to impress our young student."
"Goober! Let's see it!" Crystal grinned and jabbed Tommy with her elbow. "I had this idea that if the Discs could fly, certainly a smaller version could be made to make an individual fly without the help of a Disc. First we simply suspended the person underneath, but Schmidt's been working on a version that will allow me to fly without it."
Crystal seemed really exited, but Tommy just couldn't follow. "Discs?" He asked.
Schmidt turned around. "You mean you brought him here without showing him our Discs first? How can one appreciate Da Vinci before he has seen the Mona Lisa? Shame on you Crystal."
"The Disc practice room is just down the hall. I'll show him those first, and you can get our invention ready for testing."
A few minutes later they stood in the largest room Tommy had ever seen. "Woah." He breathed. "It's so….empty. No seats or anything."
"Of course not, this isn't a show."
There he was, standing all alone in the dark. Months and months of following this guy had led to this, a showdown in a back alley of San Diego. As his target set down his precious bundle and started keying the clock to countdown, Tino seemed ready to burst. 'Calm down.' Crystal thought to him; the words were emphasized with a restraining hand on his arm. 'Wait until he makes his retreat. You recording this?'
'Yeah, here's the tape. Everything matches. You want it?' Tino handed her a disk disguised as a nail filer.
'Put it in your Disc.' Crystal commanded.
'Ay, ay commander.' Tino smiled, but Crystal, who sprang forward to chase the victim, interrupted his joking.
'Get the bomb!" She radioed. While Tino started disarming the "package", Crystal pulled out her Disc and threw it up in the air. As the book-sized technological wonder spun through the air it quickly grew and changed shape until it was a disc a little over six feet in diameter. Once fully extended, the Disc reversed course, heading straight for Crystal, who swiftly hopped on. She crouched, with her hands stretched out on the controls and slipped her feet through loops to keep herself on the Disc. This, of course, was only for convenience, for should she fall off she could use a magnet on her belt to recall the Disc at her leisure.
Crystal slowly edged up the speed on her Disc until she caught up to her quarry. He had no way of knowing of her pursuit, since the Disc was more quiet than outer space, but he was jumpy, and, with a glance over his shoulder, he broke into a run. Crystal sighed, there was no way he could ever outrun her as long as she had a Disc. 'Got it.' Tino radioed. 'Coming to join you now.'
'Don't bother.' Crystal smiled and once again throttled up her Disc. The man had made two right turns, but she easily surpassed him and circled over his head a few seconds. When she had calculated enough, she jumped off the Disc, landing on him and pinning him to the ground.
He was too easy. A simple movement of her left arm, and he was unconscious. Crystal turned him over. "All right Clyde, what have you got today?" She was rummaging through his pockets when she saw a blinking light on his right wrist. "Shoot! Tino, get in here quickly and help me secure him!"
Tino rushed around the corner and started hooking metal bands to his wrists and ankles. He was starting to attach the prisoner to Crystal's disk when they appeared. Half a dozen armed figures in light gray jumpsuits. 'Take Clyde back to base, I'll handle this.' Tino thought.
'I won't leave you here, they'll shoot when I power up.' Crystal shot back.
'Yeah, but you're better on a Disc.'
"Hey! Look at you guys! I've never seen anybody look so gray." Tino smiled.
Crystal hit a button on her belt and her Disc shot up, followed closely by Crystal herself. She turned her heavy Disc through several spirals to avoid the now heavy spray of fire that was aimed not so much at her as at her important prisoner.
'They're not going to give him a chance to talk.' Tino nodded and sprung toward the nearest gray man, dislodging his gun. Fire came from across the circle, but Tino was too fast, the bullet caught the gray's companion instead.
Crystal had finally reached a safe altitude and now looped around to clear off the rest of the grays for Tino. She swooped low and with several quick flashes of light six grays lay on the ground.
'Ok Tino, let's get this creep home.' Crystal thought. There was no reply. 'Tino? Tino!'
Chapter 1
"Ooohhh! I'm going to FAIL analysis!" Teresa held her head in her hands as she staggered out of class.
"Cheer up, at least you won't have to worry about taking calc next year." Nell smiled and ducked as Teresa's hand flew towards her.
Crystal rolled her eyes. The final exam hadn't been that hard. Then again, Kristal had been giving her the answers via the TPR. Summer would be great this year. The Network
had given her a break due to her work in bringing the C-Clan to justice. Hers and Tino's. Which reminded her, summer couldn't start until she finished the job. 'Kristal, is Teeno ready?'
'As he'll ever be.' Kristal replied. Even for a robot, she sounded sad.
"Hey guys, let's go catch a drink."
"Gee Crystal, you don't sound very happy. I would have thought a world traveler would be excited to get her vacation started."
"Yes, Nell, but no vacation's complete without my dear friends Nell and Teresa, and therefore, I can't be in too great a hurry to leave." Crystal jibed.
"And what about your good friend Thomas?" The three girls grinned as Tommy walked up.
"Ah, well, Thomas would be very good on a vacation, should we be going somewhere that doesn't require elegance." Crystal laughed. "We were just going to get a drink, care to come?"
"Only if it's fast food. I wouldn't want to ruin the atmosphere of an elegant restaurant." Tommy grinned.
"If it were elegant, we wouldn't invite you."
'Teeno's in place.' Kristal said.
Crystal finished her shake so quickly she got a headache and jumped up. "Ok, I'm done! Let's catch a movie!"
"Crystal, give us a break! We've been here maybe ten minutes. Let's socialize." Teresa whined.
Crystal hopped back and forth nervously, glancing across the street with the corner of her eye. Teeno was in place all right. "Let's walk, and socialize as we go. I have to do something!"
"Ok, ok. But you get to hold our cups when we're done and there's no trash can." Nell said as she stood up and stretched.
"Yeah, yeah, let's go."
'Crystal.'
'What?'
'Shall we begin?'
'Wait for Nell's signal.'
"Hey look! There's Tino!" Once outside, Nell was quick to catch the bait. "Hey Tino! Come with us!"
"Where to?" Teeno asked.
Crystal bounced nervously on her heels.
"We're going to walk to the movie theater!" Nell shouted.
"Gotcha." Teeno stepped off the curb, and after that things went quickly. The car never even slowed down, it wasn't supposed to. Teeno was knocked over, his robotic parts attached to the underside of the culprit car, a biological material package opened to create the illusion of a human who had been run over. And then the car was gone, and all that was left of what had once been Tino, Crystal's best friend and partner, was some faked remains, lying on the road.
Chapter 2
"You're leaving Thursday, right?" Tommy's voice came through the phone.
"Yeah, thank goodness. I need to get away." Crystal replied.
"Still upset about Tino?"
"How could I not be? I mean, right there! In front of my eyes! And so young." 'I really need to get away.' Crystal thought.
"Too bad that guy was never caught." Tommy replied.
"What guy? Oh, the guy in the car?"
"Yeah. What a jerk."
"Yeah." 'I've really got to find some way out of the Network.' Crystal thought.
"Hey! Do you want to catch a movie or something? We never got to see Purple Moon."
"When? I leave Thursday, remember?"
"Yeah, but we could go tonight. It's still early."
Australia was going to be fun, but she had lost enough friends as it was. Why refuse the chance to see one before she left again, especially Tommy, her new favorite. "Sure, I'll meet you there."
"So what are you going to do all summer?" Crystal asked as she stood in line for popcorn.
"I'm hoping to get a job. What else is there to do. I hate not being able to see everyone until August."
"No kidding. A small popcorn and Sprite." Once her snacks had been given to her, Crystal backed up to let Tommy order, bumping into someone in the meantime.
"Oh, excuse me."
"No, excuse me."
'I know that voice.' She turned around and looked up. "You!"
"Yes, I believe we've met, Crystal. Perhaps you'd like to come with me, we have much to talk about." The man, nay giant for a girl of Crystal's height, grinned down at her.
"Ah, but Eric, I believe you haven't been informed. I'm off for the summer." Crystal sneered.
He sneered back. "That's debatable. Come on." Before Crystal could even offer a word of excused he grabbed her by the upper arm and pulled her into the theater.
"This," he handed her a small slip of pink paper, "is the recruitment order for your new partner."
"And?"
"You are to train him. We'll start you off on an easy case, but after that it's back in the big leagues."
"And who may I ask is this new partner?"
"Tommy."
Crystal turned cold. "You drafted Tommy? But……why?"
"He's got what it takes, and he's a friend of yours."
"Exactly! You know what happened to Tino! You can't just go down the line executing all of my friends. I won't stand for it!"
"It's an easy case." Eric replied in the soothing voice he was so good at. "No one should get hurt."
"I can't train him well enough. Besides, I have the summer off!"
"Rumor has it that Jodi Werthyn is going to be starting something big in the fall. We've got our preventative teams on the case, but we'll need a good team to handle it, should things get rough."
"Then give me a trained partner!"
"No can do. These are orders, and you know what will happen if they aren't followed."
"I don't care."
"Then I'm afraid we'll have to arrange for a plane wreck on Thursday. We can't have former agents gallivanting around the world with bitter agendas."
"You wouldn't."
"We would." He grinned.
"Fine, I'll do it. But if anything happens this time………"
"Yes whatever. If anything happens you'll be training a new draftee in a month, forever believing our promises of vacations and eventual retirement."
"Yes, perhaps I am gullible. But at least I'm not a cold blooded killer, of children no less!"
Eric laughed a cold laugh. "No, no you're not. Just bring him to HQ early tomorrow. We've got a lot of work to do."
Crystal threw her drink in his face and smashed her popcorn on his head.
"Crystal, where have you been?" Tommy asked.
"Nowhere. I met an old friend and had to say hi." Crystal plopped down into the seat next to him. The movie had been going half an hour, and she couldn't focus. "This is boring. Let's go."
"It's barely begun!" Tommy protested.
"It didn't look good to begin with. I'll treat you to ice cream if we go now."
"Whatever." Tommy followed her out of the theater, as did Eric's eyes. "So I'll meet you there?"
"No, I'll drive. We'll get your car when we're done."
"Ok……..Crystal are you sure you're ok?"
"I'm FINE! Get in!"
For some reason, Tommy didn't think they were going to ice cream. It was already getting dark, and they'd passed several places that would have served just fine. Every time he had suggested stopping, though, Crystal came up with some excuse. In fact, they'd been driving so long, Tommy wasn't familiar with the neighborhood.
"Hey, know what? Let's just forget ice cream. Maybe we should head home." Without saying anything Crystal made two right turns and they started back the way they had come. "That wasn't so hard? Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" She wasn't yelling, not anymore. Just staring silently, ominously, at the road. Tommy figured it had something to do with where she'd disappeared at the theater. But what? It didn't look like she was going to answer. "Are you looking forward to going to Australia? All packed and everything?"
"Whatever."
'Ok……..' Tommy thought. 'If that won't cheer her up, nothing will.' "How about some music?"
Something seemed to hit bottom with that comment. Crystal pulled over and turned the car off, just sitting, no longer viciously angry, but with a defeated look. When she looked up at him she seemed very grave indeed.
"Just get out. Please. And disappear. It will be easier for all parties involved. I'll make up a story or something. Just go. And don't come back."
"What?"
"Look, I can't explain, but if you get away, they can't blame anybody."
"For what?"
She sighed. "Look, it's a long story. The Network wants you, and if they don't get you there's a plane that's going to go down on Thursday."
Tommy frowned, "Your plane?"
She nodded. "Whether I'm on it or not."
"So if the Network gets me, it's good."
"No! They ruin lives. They got me a long time ago. They got Tino. Once you're in, you never get out. And it's dangerous."
"Tino?"
"Look, just go. I'll come up with something."
"What is this Network?"
"If I told you, you'd have to come."
"You're hooked? You couldn't tell me and let me escape?"
"The Network has its good qualities. Go."
Crystal sat, waiting for Tommy to get out of the car, trying to block out the voice of Kristal screaming in her brain.
'What do you want?'
'You can't do this! I heard everything! You're feeling guilty already.'
'Why not?'
'Logic. You can't send Tommy out on his own. You're banishing him.'
'As opposed to death?'
'You don't know he'll die.'
'And if he does? Under my supervision?'
'You're the best.'
'What's your other reason?'
'I know. That's my reason. The Network will take out my chip, and that plane will crash. Take a deep breath, relax, lock the door, and go to HQ.'
Crystal frowned. Tommy was still sitting there. If she gave him one more second he might take the opportunity.
'You know I'm right.' Kristal urged.
'Then do the dirty work yourself.' Crystal closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair. The car started and moved slowly down the road.
"Hey! Watch what you're doing! Crystal! Eyes open, hands on the wheels!" Tommy had no clue what was going on. Network? Until then he thought Crystal was joking, pulling some of her dramatics. But the car was moving!
For the first time since they'd left the theater, Crystal smiled. "Relax. Enjoy the ride. Did anyone ever tell you that you worry too much?"
"Worry?! We're going to wreck!"
Crystal sat up and looked straight at him. "Are we? We're going quite smoothly. We even turn when we're supposed to. But you're right. I have work to do."
With that she turned on the radio and leaned back to listen some more.
"Work. Yeah right. I've got to be dreaming. Or something." Tommy bit his lower lip. "Ow! Ok. Not quite a dream."
Crystal opened her eyes and sat up again. "I won't turn you in until dawn. So just relax. Go to sleep or something."
"Yeah right."
Half an hour later, he was curled up in a ball, sleeping like a baby.
Chapter 3
"Wake up Tommy, we're here." Tommy sat up and looked around. Here was a medium sized house in the center of the city. Crystal was standing over him, the passenger side door held open with one hand. She was in a black jumpsuit and her hair was pulled back in a tight french braid. "They're waiting."
"You've changed." Tommy muttered.
"You've drooled. Get out." Crystal seemed to have lost all the anger or sadness or whatever of the night before and replaced it with her usual jibing self. She stepped back to let Tommy get out of the car and stretch.
"Good morning." He yawned.
"Hi. Ok, inside." It wasn't until then that Tommy noticed a tiny gun clutched in the hand she'd rested on the hood of the car.
Tommy held up his hands. "All right. All right."
Crystal laughed, not a menacing laugh, but one of pure delight. "Put your hands down, you look ridiculous."
"I'll look worse when my guts are spilling on the sidewalk."
"But then you won't care how you look."
Tommy entered the house to find a large room filled with control panels and people in similar jumpsuits. Some wore overcoats or jackets that went down to their waists. Only a tall man of thirty seemed to notice their entrance.
"Crystal, you've taken your time."
"Eric said HQ by today."
"And you waited until the last minute. Did you brief him?"
"No, I wasn't sure what you wanted to do with him. Whether or not you wanted to fry his brains, or if you wanted to allow him to just go insane as he saw a robot take over his life."
Tommy began to open his mouth to protest, but the tall man retorted, "Come now, Crystal. None of that happened to you. But since you mentioned it, we'll go with the former. Hello, I'm Ron. I'm in charge of our agents. At least for this office. Crystal here is going to train you, so let's get started. Any questions? No? All right!"
Crystal grinned and motioned for Tommy to follow Ron into an elevator. Once inside Ron continued. "And you, Crystal, will have to forgo your trip to Australia."
"Yeah, I'd kind of figured. How about you just use Kristal?"
"She's packing for her trip." Ron grinned. Crystal glared and turned to Tommy.
"Ron here is who will make your life miserable for the next few years of your life. He's in charge of finding the hardest cases to put you on, then breaking promises when you actually solve them."
"Oh, Crystal! How low. Actually, these orders came from Round Up. Apparently there's a slot that needs to be filled before the fall crime season begins. That slot would happen to be that of your partner."
"Fall crime season?" Tommy finally cut in.
"Yeah. Statistics show that heavy crime increases in the fall, because crime lords need the money to fund their winter vacations." Crystal replied.
The elevator opened to a long white tunnel filled with doors every few feet. Ron led them to the fourth one on the right and the entered a small room with a table, chairs, and a remote control.
"Please, sit. Crystal, this might prove interesting to you, too."
"I was brought in when I was 11 and shown the same thing. It's been a while." Crystal whispered as the lights lowered.
"Was Ron here then?"
"Yeah, but he didn't train me. He was what I am now, the upper agent."
"Upper agent?"
"Best."
"Ah." Tommy nodded as the lights dimmed.
"The Network is a stock interest company that works unsupervised by the national government, but in correlation with its other agents to end big crime, a problem that most people don't realize still exists. We are stationed in the biggest cities of the country, New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Chicago, Phoenix, Portland, and Miami. We have a few smaller posts, but our headquarters are here."
"Why? This isn't a big city like those others you mentioned."
"But we're centrally located, and screenings have shown that the best and brightest of the nation somehow migrate to this exact city. Don't ask how."
"Could have something to do with the Network." Crystal muttered.
"Which brings me to my next point. We are a highly secretive program. Crystal doesn't know everything about the Network, and neither will you, or I, or any agent other than the Commander, an unnamed stockholder. And that's basically it."
"What's it? That you guys fight crime?" Tommy asked in disbelief.
"Well, sort of. Actually, it's 'us guys' because you're one of us now. No word gets out to the public. And if it does…." He let the sentence hang in the air. "Also I might add that you've been drafted. This means that you join us or die. And if, like Crystal here, you're one of our more noble agents, any wrong step and your family or other innocents die."
"You fight crime but hold the lives of others in your hands?"
"We do what the Commander wants. Word has it he's a billionaire from somewhere, got rich in the mob. Now he has a guilty conscience. It also explains why we have so much technology."
"How so?"
Crystal jumped in. "Our scientists aren't exactly the kind you see on TV. They go to any extreme. And they build stuff to help fight crime, almost as if they know what kind of stuff it will take."
"I see. So, let's get this straight. I work for you fighting crime or I die. And this goes on how long?"
Ron shrugged. "Until you get killed or die of old age."
"Now I feel better."
"Now," Ron continued, "here's your case. And it's right here at home, which is good. We won't be able to get Tommy a robot for the next few weeks." Crystal nodded. "Now, as Eric told Crystal, Werthyn is looking kind of ready for something. But what Eric didn't mention was that your case is actually involving Werthyn's gang. We discovered an information route running right through the center of town. We've narrowed it down to a law office, but we don't know who the supplier is, or what kind of information is being passed. Werthyn likes to work on people she knows a lot about, so we think it may be case information, she's looking for weaknesses. Your objective, stop the supply line and bring in the culprit for questioning. We want to give Werthyn as much trouble as possible before she moves this fall."
"Do you know what she has planned for the fall?"
"Hardly. But in the past she's done double crimes."
"Murder-robbery to cover up a bank robbery?"
"Exactly. You've done your research. Now, we've secured jobs for you in the law firm, jobs as copy kids. Tommy, let Crystal do the talking, or just act like a kid out of school for the summer and looking for work. The firm's small, but everyone has to be looked at. Even the runners. Your hours are short, but you'll tell your parents that you work more, much more. After work Crystal will train you. By the way Crystal, you're staying at HQ until your family comes back from Down Under."
"What kind of hours?"
"Eight to eight every day. If they protest, then we'll cut it to eight to five and you can 'hang out' or whatever. You'll tell them all about your job. You were hired as a copier at a law firm in town because your good friend Crystal secured a position for you. Get it? Got it? Good." With that, Ron walked out of the room, and Crystal stood up.
"I'll show you around."
Chapter 4
Crystal led Tommy down the hall for an interminable distance. After a few minutes Tommy noticed what looked like a wall ahead, and when they reached it and turned left into another white hallway that seemed even longer. Crystal began talking. "We just passed most of the offices that the Network uses, but there are a few more on other levels. This is our main level of operations." They turned left again, this time into a room, and Tommy gawked. It was huge, with tons of seemingly tiny tables and people in white coats and goggles.
"A science lab?"
Crystal nodded. "This is where they make all of our cool gadgets, including robots and Discs. Chemistry is to the right, mechanics to the right, and biology straight ahead." As she spoke one of the technicians from the right side of the room approached.
"Crystal! I thought you were on vacation!" He said, in a gleeful voice.
"I was." She smiled. "Tommy, this is Dr. Schmidt. He is in charge of the whole lab here."
Schmidt smiled and nodded, extending his hand to Tommy. Turning again to Crystal he continued. "I had hoped to have our project finished by the time you returned. But you are early!"
Crystal frowned. "That's too bad. But I have to give the kid a tour anyway. I'll try it out some other time."
Schmidt laughed. "And you said I had no sense of humor. You see. I laugh! The project is finished Crystal, and you can test it out now to impress our young student."
"Goober! Let's see it!" Crystal grinned and jabbed Tommy with her elbow. "I had this idea that if the Discs could fly, certainly a smaller version could be made to make an individual fly without the help of a Disc. First we simply suspended the person underneath, but Schmidt's been working on a version that will allow me to fly without it."
Crystal seemed really exited, but Tommy just couldn't follow. "Discs?" He asked.
Schmidt turned around. "You mean you brought him here without showing him our Discs first? How can one appreciate Da Vinci before he has seen the Mona Lisa? Shame on you Crystal."
"The Disc practice room is just down the hall. I'll show him those first, and you can get our invention ready for testing."
A few minutes later they stood in the largest room Tommy had ever seen. "Woah." He breathed. "It's so….empty. No seats or anything."
"Of course not, this isn't a show."