Dib threw his knapsack onto the unmade bed and flopped into the computer chair. Three weeks had gone by without a trace of Zim, and many believed that he had simply left for greener pastures. Even Gaz believed that the Irken Invader had gone for good. Dib, though, knew that Zim wouldn't leave Earth until the two had had their final accounting. The only thing they agreed upon was unspoken and manifest: the war for Earth would not end until the other died. It was Zim's job to take the planet for the Irken Empire, and it was Dib's job to save the planet from the upstart Invader. The disappearance of Zim from hi skool was simply another worrying gap, one that the sickle haired investigator believed that meant some hideous plan for the human race.
With no trace of Zim, GIR or that strange purple moose that had taken to accompanying him for the past four or so years, Dib figured that it was a waste of time to spy on the Invader's base. Zim would show up when he was good and ready. Besides, the teleporters that once led to his space fort were all destroyed somehow, and even Dib's skill with the mysteries of Irken technology had yielded negative results upon trying to repair the things.
He logged on to the only forum he frequented. While the other members of the Swollen Eyeball Network refused to listen to Dib speak about his little alien, they were more than interested in hearing about tales of the paranormal from the junior agent. The only person he continued to speak about Zim to was the only agent he had met in person, Darkbootie. He had heard of another junior member who was pursuing aliens, one by the name of Red Shift. Dib had been wanting to contact the person, but the individual seemed to be evasive about their contact with other agents.
Quickly scrolling through the boards, Dib noted that there was nothing new in the past week. He did, however, have a private message waiting for him. Curious as to who would leave him a private message, as very few agents used the system, Dib clicked on the title, which simply read "URGENT NEWS!" The sender seemed to have covered their tracks quite efficiently, and the message seemed to be encrypted with one of the network's privacy keys.
These new keys were assigned to each agent, and agents could submit new passwords to be coded as privacy keys by one of several privacy algorithms. An encoded message could only be broken by a combination of agent name and any of a hundred passwords devised by the agent.
Dib looked at the password prompt, and entered the first thing that entered his head: ZIM. Within seconds, the code was cracked and the message revealed to the sickle haired young man. The message was brief and revealed questions without giving definite answers.
"You are the only person I trust with this information. The aliens are coming back for the third and final battle. If you are as dedicated as they say, meet me at Heathrow Airport in forty-eight hours of this message. RED SHIFT."
Dib stared. Heathrow Airport? The mysterious Red Shift lived in England? He sat and considered his options. He had the money to survive in another country from the extravagant allowances their father had grown used to granting them, and summer vacation was close enough that he could skip the rest of the year. All he needed was a plausible excuse from skool, and he could simply drop his dad's name into the mix. Who would dare question the methods of Professor Membrane, anyway?
For once in quite a while, Dib smiled. A challenge had been presented, and he was up for the task. Humming a strange little tune he picked up from GIR, he set about packing some clothes and a few of his devices. Grabbing his beloved laptop, he turned off his computer, closed the bedroom door and took off for the garage. It seemed like Tak's old Spittle Runner would serve its purpose for the first time in years...