Chapter 6
Alvin explained the situation to Brittany. "And we have been here sooner, but Jamal had to get us clearance and all this other stuff. But, now, we're finally on our way. And, with you rescued, that makes one down and four to go. So, now the only question is, do you want to come with us? I mean, if your too scared or something, we can swing back up to Hollywood and drop you off." "You wish you could get rid of me that easily, Alvin. I'll admit, I was scared before, cause I didn't know what was going on. But, now that I do, my blood's boiling and the only thing that'll make it stop is to get back everybody else and then track those psychos down, and give them the best of the best punches that I have. So, there's no way I'm going home. I'm coming with you. Let's go!" "That's pretty much what I expected you to say, Britt. I'm glad you didn't disappoint me. Alright then, let's head back to town and get back on the plane. We can figure out this latest clue there." And so, the group head back to town. On the entire ride back, Brittany couldn't help but sneak glances at Alvin. "Why can't I stop looking at him?" She wondered to herself. The gang soon arrived back at the plane. Alvin quickly located the box with the receivers in it and took one of the units out and presented it to Brittany. "Here." "What's this?" "Just put it on and you find out. Put the little piece in your ear, doesn't matter which one, and then clip the big piece to the collar of your shirt." Brittany did as told. As soon as Brittany had the device in place, Alvin pressed the call button and said 'hello, Brittany. Can you hear me?" "Whoa! That's cool. What are these? Some kind of communicator?" "Something like that. If you press and hold this button here, they let you talk to everyone else wearing one of these, no matter where they are." "Cool." "Alright, now let's take a look at this clue." Alvin pulled the piece of paper out again and everyone gathered around him. "Let's see, it says 'If your reading this, Alvin, then you succeeded in rescuing Brittany. Congratulations to you. But, in reality, that was sort of a gimme. A little something to get you started. Consider it another gift. But, starting now, it's going to get harder. Can you and your little pink wearing better half stand the pressure?" "Better half?" Brittany yelled. "Can people please get this straight? Alvin and I are not dating!" 'Calm down, Britt. They probably put that in there to mess with you. Remember, this is a game to them." Alvin said. "Uh, right." Alvin then continued reading. "If you can stand the pressure, then by all means, try to decipher the clue we've attached. Good luck." "Man, these people tick me off! That's it! I hereby sentence them to a hundred kicks to the face!" Brittany cried. " Brittany, Alvin already asked you to calm down." Miss Miller said. "But, I can't! They just make me so mad! I could hear the condescending tone in that and it just ticks me off to no end. So, when we eventually catch them, I'm gonna give them a hundred kicks." "You know, actually, that sounds like a good idea to me. But, I'm more of punch man." Alvin said. 'Then they'll get a hundred kicks from me and hundred punches from you!" "Sounds like a plan, Britt. But, for now, let's get this clue figured out." "Right. What does it say?" Alvin read the clue. "Your next destination lies in the east, in a land where many a man met his end at the hands of monstrous beasts. Your quarry bears the color of the army of the sea, and near the hall of the goddess is where the target waits for thee." "Okay, exactly what does that tell us?" Brittany asked. "Well, let's break it down. Let's see where it's talking about first." "Well, Alvin didn't you say that the clue that led to Brittany held the secret of the destination in the first line?" Vinny asked. "Yeah, I did mom." "Well, then, I think these lines here, about the east and the land of monsters are supposed to tell us where we need to go. But, exactly where are they talking about?" "Well, lets think about what countries are in the east." Miss Miller said. "Well, there's China, India, Russia, Italy, Greece…" Brittany began listing. "Greece!" Alvin yelled. "It's Greece. It has to be. Think about it. Out of all those countries, who arguably has the most legends about monsters attacking people?" "Greece does. I mean, there's the minotaur, the sphinx, the chimaera, just to name a few. And all of those monsters attacked people. So, I think your right, Alvin. It has to be Greece. But, where in Greece exactly?" "Well, I think this line here, about the hall of the goddess is supposed to tell us that." Vinny said. "Hall of the goddess…that's probably talking about a temple. But, that doesn't help much. After all, that could be talking about a bunch of places. There's a lot of temples dedicated to goddesses in Greece." Brittany said. "Hmm, well, the clue that led us to you talked about the hall of Montezuma. Naturally, we automatically thought of the Aztec ruins, cause they're the most famous places that are connected to Montezuma. So, going off of that, I'd be willing to say that picking the most famous place that fit's the description of a temple dedicated to a goddess is a safe bet. So, which temple is the most famous?" Alvin asked. Miss Miller snapped her fingers and said "The Parthenon!" "Oh yeah,. that's right! We learned about that in Social studies, remember Alvin? It's the temple of Athena, the goddess of Agriculture. And it's the most famous temple dedicated to one particular goddess." "Then it's probably safe to say that we need to head to the Parthenon. Hey, Agent Lance!" Alvin yelled to the pilot. "I'm already on it. Everybody buckle up! We're going to Greece!" The group buckled in and readied for the plane to take off. "Hey, we still haven't figured out who exactly is in Greece." Brittany said. "Hmm, well, the clue that led us to you told us that it was you by talking about the girl version of the color red. Automatically, anybody would assume that they're talking about pink. And you're the only one who wears pink, so that's how we knew that it was you who was going to be here in Mexico." Alvin said. "So, then, who's this clue talking about? I mean, it doesn't talk about a specific color. It just says that person wears the color of the army of the sea. What does that mean exactly?" "Hmm, the army of the sea. Only thing that remotely makes sense when you think about that line is the navy." Agent Sterns said. "Navy! That's it! The color is Navy blue! And who wears Navy blue?" Alvin asked. "Jeanette!" Brittany yelled. "Alright. Now we know it all. Jeanette's in Greece, somewhere near the Parthenon. Sit tight, Jean. We're on our way." "You know, I think these people must be a bit more devious than we already thought. I mean, if they're hiding Jeanette somewhere that gets as many people as the Parthenon does and still nobody sees her, they must be crafty." Miss Miller said. "Hmm, maybe. But, then again, it wouldn't take much to hide her in plain sight. I mean, I can think of a few places where they could do just that, and nobody would catch on. Like, maybe, inside some sort of little building near the temple. Make it look plain enough, and nobody would look twice at it." Vinny said. "Well, all I know is that all I care about is getting Jean and Ely back. Oh, and Theo and Sy too, of course." Brittany said. 'We will, Britt. I promise you we will. Hmm, by the way, Brittany, did you see who put you in the ruins?" " Not really. I mean, there was a guy who brought me food and water everyday, and a blanket at night, but, I never saw his face, cause he wore a mask." " But, we didn't see anyone like that when we got there, so he was probably already gone." "Well, at least somebody taking care of you somewhat until we found you." Vinny said. "Hmph! That's just to prolong the game. If anybody gets sick or worse, those sick freaks' game gets shorter. They don't take care of anyone for anymore reason other than that. If it didn't mean that their game would get shorter otherwise, they'd just leave everyone to rot. 'grrr' That's it! Britt, when we find those psychos, I get first crack at them, no questions asked! You got it?" "Uh, yeah, sure. Be my guest." "Man, I've never seen Alvin so mad. But, even so, that still sounded kinda cool. Kinda, borderline heroic. Has he always been like this?" Brittany wondered. "Alright everyone. Final flight checks are done. We're taking off. Next stop Greece!' Agent lance called. "Hang on, Jeanette. We're coming for you."
Meanwhile
Location: local café, Hollywood, California
"You wanted to talk with me sir?" Agent Jackson asked. "Yes, I did." Jamal said. "I'm glad you decided to come instead of heading right back to headquarters." "Well, you did ask me to come here and you are my boss, so, you know. Um, by the way, if you don't mind my asking, why did you pick here for us to meet anyway, sir?" "Well, this is a very popular café. Lots of people, lots of talking. Lots of back ground noise to drown out our conversation." "Ah, I see. Of course. Alright then. Down to business. What did you want to talk to me about, sir?" "Well, it's regarding this case." "What about it, sir?" "Well, it's regarding the escape of the Vorsteins itself. It just seems too convenient. Too well timed. So, I fear that there may be a leak in the agency." "You mean a traitor?" "Yes. Listen, Jackson. I need agents that I know I can trust to help me investigate this. I've already got Miss Buxley waiting in the wings. And I know I can trust you. But, I felt it only fair to ask you personally. Can I count on you to help as well?" "Of course sir! I'll do whatever I can." "Good. Glad to hear it. Alright then, let's get in touch with Miss Buxley and get started."