Chapter 6

Bad to Worse

"Well, this explains a few things," Aviva said. "Chris wasn't trying to get in touch with us after all!"

*Beepbeepbeep*

She pulled out her own creature pod and pushed a button. A glowing view of the inside of the Tortuga, complete with Jimmy and Koki standing in the middle, flickered to life in the dark above it.

"Any luck, guys?" Koki asked.

"Well, we found Chris's creature pod, but no Chris. Turns out the SOS came from a raccoon."

"A raccoon?" both Koki and Jimmy blurted together.

Aviva sighed. "We'll keep you posted. Over and out." The floating image faded and she turned to Martin. "So, what do we do now?"

He didn't answer. Normally, he would've been thrilled at such an encounter with a nocturnal animal in the woods, but this time, it was personal. Carefully, he reached for the device.

"Hey, Rocky—can I call you Rocky? Uh, not to crash your party or anything, but we really need this back." He tried to pry it away from the animal, but Rocky wasn't having any of it. Martin pulled harder.

Aviva couldn't help but giggle a little.

"Rggh! C'mon, buddy! I know it's nice and shiny and pretty, but it's my brother's! WHOA!" Martin's grip slipped and he overbalanced, tipping backwards into the dirt. As if to add insult to injury, Rocky jumped from his seat and darted right over him into the brush.

"Oh no!" Aviva cried, pointing after him. "He's still got the creature pod!"

"Quick! We can't let'im run away with it!" He scrambled to his feet and they both rushed after the raccoon. "Rocky! Wait up! You've gotta give that back!"

"Which way did he go?"

"Hang a right! Hang a right!"

All that mattered right now was getting Chris's creature pod back. Other things, like minding what was lying in their path, for example, were automatically pushed to the back burner. Unfortunately, they figured out pretty quickly that maybe that should have been a priority.

"Whoa!" Martin yelped, spotting a large, bulky object on the ground. "Roadblock at twelve o' clock! Mayday! MAYDAY!" Arms flailing, he tried to skid to a stop before he tripped and sent them both sprawling, but it was too late.

Unable to slow down, Aviva smacked right into him and they went down in an impressive cloud of dust. After that, all they could do for a few seconds was lay there in surprise, trying to get their breath back.

Martin coughed a couple times. "Uuugh! What was that? Are you ok?"

Aviva pushed up from the ground, blinking dazedly. "I think so…" Then she gasped and her eyes widened. "Look!" She pointed. There on the ground, about five feet in front of where they had landed, was the battered, cracked and dirty creature pod. Aviva laughed a little in relief. "He must've dropped it!"

Martin hopped quickly to his feet, grinning as he stepped over and scooped it up. "Thanks, Rocky!" he called. "Sorry we couldn't meet under better circumstances!"

"Uh…Martin?"

He turned. The smile had faded from Aviva's face as she now pointed at what had sent them tumbling to the ground.

"I think it's…" she started.

"Chris's backpack!" Martin dropped to his knees beside it. "Aww, man! Could things get any worse around here?"

*CRACK!*

A bolt of lightning ripped across the sky, followed by an almost immediate deluge of rain.

"Guess that answers that question," Martin mumbled miserably.

xxxx

Back at HQ, Martin and Aviva both sat shivering under thick layers of blankets as the downpour continued outside.

"A raccoon," Jimmy said, shaking his head. "I still can't believe it was a raccoon!"

"He was pretty cute," Aviva said.

"Yeaaah…" Martin sighed, head drooping. "But he wasn't Chris."

"I don't get it," Koki said. "Why would he just drop everything and run off?"

"He wouldn't," Martin answered. "If he was in trouble, he wouldn't go wandering around, especially without his gear or his creature pod."

"Of course not," agreed Aviva. "I think there's more here than meets the eye."

"Whaddaya mean?" Jimmy asked.

"Well, all the evidence seems to point to one logical conclusion."

"And what's that?"

"I think we're dealing with a genuine Kratt-napping."

The others groaned.

"Aww!" Koki buried her face in her hands. "Not again!"

"But who would wanna take off with Chris?" Jimmy asked.

"Well, we've got three choices." Martin poked a hand out of his blankets to hold up a finger for each villain. "Gourmand," he ticked off one finger, "Donita," and another, "or Zach. Take your pick."