Chapter Three
After leaving the plane, I found a small empty shed, wriggled out of my medic disguise and dressed in a plain t-shirt and shorts. "Much better." I said to myself. The air was so hot here, although it wasn't uncomfortable. I would soon get used to it, anyhow. Jamming on a long blonde wig and a pair of oversized green sunglasses, I snuck out and joined the back of the tour group. After handing in our luggage, we were all lead around the island by a group of natives. The island was very beautiful, all blue sky and white sand, with tiny little bungalows dotted around the place. There were a couple of swimming pools, a small restaurant and bar; an activities centre and a small dock where several assorted boats were moored. It was certainly a far cry from grimy old Auckland, that's for sure.
Eventually, we were shown to our bungalows. I thanked and tipped the young girl who dropped off my bag, and then bolted the door. Shutting the curtains, I opened my suitcase and pulled out several files, my laptop and my cellphone. I dialled through to the Base, and waited until the passcode screen came on. After punching in the numbers, I used the ten minutes before the line made it through all the security systems we had installed, to check the room for Bugs and hidden cameras.
Bing!
"Hello?"
"Hey, Allie. It's me."
"Oh hi Captain. How was your flight?"
I detected the smile in her voice. Right, I thought. Two can play at that game.
"Oh, it was fantastic. Free food, first-class seating and," I added with a chuckle, "plenty of entertainment."
"Oh." Ha. She sounded disappointed. "Did you manage to separate them?"
"Nope." I flopped down on my bed, and sighed. "He's very determined."
"Hmmmmm."
"Hmmmmm."
"…"
"…"
"What are we going to do now?"
"I don't know, you're the one with all the brilliant ideas, remember?"
"Oh yeah, right." I heard her tapping away at her keyboard. "Just give me a sec, ok?"
I sighed, and waited for her to come up with something.
"Got it!"
I sat up. "What?"
"You know how you cover up all those absences from school with your 'magazine', right?"
I nodded, but remembered she couldn't see me. "Yeeeesss…"
"Well, what if you ask them to do something for the magazine?
"Like what?"
"Like an episode of The Bobie Show?"
God, she's brilliant. Why didn't I think of that? "You're amazing, Allie."
She laughed. "I know. So, just ring them up and ask them to film an episode. Hopefully, they'll get so distracted with it that you'll be able to remove the Helven and by the time they've finished we can bring them home."
I smiled. "And that's why you're my second-in-command, Allie. If I die on this mission, you can be Captain in my place, OK?"
"Um, India? Being the second-in-command means that if you die, I get to take your place. That's kind of the point."
"Oh. Right."
"Soooo…what are you waiting for? Go and ring them!"
"Ok, ok. I'm on it. I'll call you this evening and let you know how it goes."
"Roger that, Captain Otter."
I laughed. "Haha, you're a bastard." and hung up.
Donning a large blue sunhat that covered my face, I strode outside and wandered around the resort, glancing around for the girls and the Helven.
After half an hour, I had almost given up and assumed that they had stayed in their bungalow. But then –
"GOD! Stop doing that!"
I ducked behind a beach umbrella and peeked around the side. Cat and Lucy were sitting in beach chairs, sipping something out of coconuts and arguing, as usual. "Excellent." I smiled to myself, and got out my cellphone. I dialled Cat's number, and waited for her to pick up.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
"Ugh." She must have forgotten to turn it on after the flight. I rang Lucy instead. She picked up on the first ring. "Hello?"
I adopted the cover voice I used while being a 'media socialite'.
"Lucy, my dahling!" I thought for a moment. Lucy hadn't listened the last time I'd tried to warn her, but maybe I'll have better luck with Cat. "Now please hand the phone over to Catherine. I need to discuss something with her but her phone is switched off. Doesn't she know that switching her phone off is very dangerous? What if I need to get hold of her in an emergency?"
I could practically feel the frustration radiating out of the receiver. "Oh, hi India, I think she just forgot to turn it back on after the plane landed."
"Yes, yes, yes. Just hand the phone over to her."
"Sure." I watched her pass Cat the phone, and whisper something. I chuckled as I saw Cat's expression of pure horror as she took it and held it up to her ear.
"OH HELLO, dahling!" I suddenly realised I had no idea what I was doing. Erm…. aha! "Oh dahling, I just got back from New York! I honestly got so tired of their fashion, waistcoats! Waistcoats for women! They went out last week! Honestly, and you thought they would be up to date, anyway - " I took a deep breath. "Dahling, I need you to film a documentary of your trip for The Bobie Show, so my magazine can rave on about it like we knew it was coming before any other publishers. Will you be a darling and do it?" I crossed my fingers and hoped she'd say yes. I couldn't take no for an answer.
She shook her head. "Look India, I - "
I cut across her before she could finish. "Fabulous dahling, I expect it when you get back. CIAO!" I hung up quickly before she could protest, and snickered. They can't refuse. Still giggling at just how easy it was, I strolled back to my bungalow to sleep off the flight.
