Chapter 11
"You Are Here"
Aviva opened her eyes slowly. Her head was resting on her arms which were crossed on top of the main console's keyboard. She had no idea how long she'd been out and only remembered being totally exhausted before collapsing in this same position maybe a full day before. She lifted her head, brushing her hair out of her face and taking notice of the quiet surrounding her.
The Tortuga wasn't moving—something must be wrong. She jumped up, ready to whip around and diagnose the problem right away.
"Hey, sleepyhead!" Koki waved brightly as she entered the room.
Confused, Aviva just stood there, blinking. "What's going on?"
"We've landed. Jimmy was right. That was the fastest transcontinental flight ever."
"Have you heard anything from the Kratt brothers?"
Koki shook her head. "I've been trying to contact them ever since we were within range of the city. Haven't heard anything so that must mean they're in trouble."
Aviva couldn't help rolling her eyes and smiling a little. "Typical," she muttered under her breath.
"C'mon!" Koki spun on a heel and headed for the cockpit. Still a bit numb from sleep, Aviva followed.
Inside the head of the ship, they found Jimmy looking super excited, but pale and a little crazed. His hands were still gripped tightly around the Tortuga's controllers.
"That…was…awesome!" he said as they came up beside him. "Can we do it again?"
The two girls exchanged a glance.
"We should probably get him out of here," Aviva said, reaching down to pry the pilot's fists away from the controls.
"Good idea." Koki joined her.
It took some effort, but a few minutes later, they had Jimmy out of the cockpit and down the ramp. He had landed the Tortuga in what appeared to be a large, open park in the middle of the city.
"I set'er down here so Zach wouldn't pick us up on his surveillance systems." A little of the color began returning to his face, but his singed hair was still sticking out everywhere.
"Nice choice, Jimmy," Aviva said.
"Perfect!" agreed Koki. "And convenient. Look! I can see Zach's building about a block away!"
"Alright!" Aviva high-fived the pilot, then a determined look crossed her face. Jimmy and Koki could practically see the gears starting to turn inside that incredible head of hers. "And now it's time to save some brothers using tech crew powers!"
xxxx
Evening was beginning to fall over the city as three dark shadows, dressed in black from head to toe, crept silently along the side of Zach's building.
"Aviva," Jimmy whispered nervously, "if we're trying to sneak up on Zach, do you really think going to the main entrance is the best idea?"
"Trust me," Aviva answered, grinning mischievously, "Zach will ever expect us to walk in right through the front door."
Jimmy looked at Koki, but she only shrugged.
"Ok, now here's the plan," Aviva continued. "Once we get in there, we'll need to find Zach's control room. That will be the best place for us to get an idea of the layout of the building and what we're up against as far as security goes."
"Hmm, let's see," Koki said sarcastically, "Zachbots, Zachbots, and more Zachbots. I'd say that about covers it."
"Well, we can't bet everything on that. Don't forget that Zach lives here and he's hosting the biggest international villain convention on the planet right at this moment. There's bound to be more than just Zachbots lurking around."
"True."
"Can we please just get this over with?" Jimmy gulped, not exactly wanting to prolong this feeling of teetering on the edge of some sort of major disaster.
Aviva simply nodded and nobody said a word as they moved quickly in the direction of the menacing glass doors and stole through them. Once inside, the group couldn't help but stop to gawk at the dimly lit gaudiness of the entrance foyer.
"Yuck!" Koki wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Zach sure is full of himself. Just how many portraits of himself could a guy possibly need?"
"Somehow," said Jimmy, walking off while staring at the ceiling, "I don't think you're the first person ever to ask that, Koki."
"And probably not the last, either. What now, Aviva?"
"I'm trying to think where the control room would be," Aviva said with a hand on her chin. "This place is ginormous!"
"Hey, guys!" Jimmy was now standing a few feet away, pointing to a tall, free-standing sign in the middle of the open floor. "Why don't we use this?"
The two girls came up beside him to take a look. The sign was a large directory of the building, probably for the guests at the convention. A big red dot with the words "You Are Here" inside it was printed overtop of the layout of the foyer. In addition, a long yellow line cut a path through a maze of hallways and rooms to a very spacious ballroom where another dot with the word "Convention" in it popped out obnoxiously.
The three of them exchanged amused looks, then glanced back at the directory. According to the map, the control room was only three floors above them.
"Well," Aviva shrugged, "I guess it can't get any clearer than this."
