Chapter 47
The next morning, Dr. Milldred woke up to some knocking on the door to their room. She got up and yawned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes before she went to the door, looking through the peephole to see who it was.
Standing outside the door, Daniel, Brea, and Seladon were already up and dressed, ready to head out and continue the journey to Palo Alto. Dr. Milldred opened the door and greeted them with a smile. "Good morning, you three."
Daniel smiled back at her. "Hey Millie, looks like you just woke up."
"I did." She chuckled, yawning again a tiny bit. "I assume you guys are ready to head out."
"Well, we're gonna head downstairs and have some of the complimentary breakfast first, but yeah, we're pretty much ready." Daniel nodded.
Dr. Milldred nodded. "Alright, you guys go ahead and get some breakfast. I'll wake the others up and then we'll meet you down there."
The three nodded and walked away to the elevators. Dr. Milldred closed the door and went up to her sister, shaking her gently. "Penny. Penny, time to get up."
"Mmm?" Penelope tiredly sat up and yawned. "Morning already?"
"I'm afraid so, sis." The older woman chuckled. "Come on. Get up and get dressed. Daniel and the Vapras are already downstairs getting some breakfast. We'll meet them when we're ready."
"Ok." Penelope yawned one last time before she got up and started getting ready.
Dr. Milldred chuckled and went over to the other bed, where Rian and Deet were sleeping, happily cuddled with each other. The human woman couldn't help but find it to be really cute. She smiled and gently shook them.
"Rian, Deet, it's time to get up."
The two Gellflings yawned and sat up, rubbing their eyes a bit. They looked at each other and blushed when they realized how close they were. Dr. Milldred laughed a little. "Come on you lovebirds. Time to get up."
They blushed again and discreetly moved away from each other before getting up and getting themselves ready. Dr. Milldred gently took Deet by the hand and pulled her over to the bed so that she could fix her makeup, which had rubbed off a little in the night. "Are Daniel, Brea, and Seladon already awake?" The Grotton asked her.
"Yes, they're downstairs getting breakfast now, waiting for us to join them." Dr. Milldred nodded as she gently reapplied the foundation onto Deet's face, neck, and arms. "Once we're done with breakfast, we'll have to hit the road again immediately."
"Right, because we can't risk staying anywhere too long and getting caught, right?" Rian said.
"That's right." The human nodded again as she applied the pink blush onto Deet's cheeks, forehead, and nose. "There, you're all done, Deet. Don't forget to put your gloves on."
"Right." Deet nodded as she hopped off the bed and finished getting dressed, Rian respectfully turning away to give the girls some privacy, as well as the girls turning away to give him some privacy as well.
Once everybody was dressed, they left the room and took the elevator downstairs. When they reached the lobby, the turned to walk into the breakfast area.
In the breakfast area, the walls were colored the same way as the rooms were. The room was full of small square white tables with a white chair with a yellow seat on each side of the table. Four large booths with four purple chairs on both sides across from each other sat in the room surrounded by the smaller tables. Along the wall was a large granite countertop, filled with breakfast items and three drink machines, one for coffee, one for juice, and one for milk. Above the counter, there were two flat screen TVs hooked up into the wall, one playing the news, while the other played the football game.
Other people were already in the breakfast area, some already sitting down, while others were still up, getting their breakfast. At one of the long booths, Daniel, Brea, and Seladon were already seated, enjoying their breakfast.
Daniel was eating a small stack of pancakes, Brea had a plate of bacon and eggs, and Seladon had a simple bowl of oatmeal with sliced apples and blueberries in it. Each one had a cup of orange juice, with the addition of Daniel having a cup of coffee.
The other group smiled and went up over to them. "Hey guys." They greeted.
"Hey, it's about time you guys got down here." Daniel said to them. "Hurry up and get your breakfast, we can't stay for long. We gotta hit the road here soon."
"Yes Daniel, we know." Dr. Milldred chuckled before turning to her group. "Come on, let's get our food."
They went up to the counter and easily chose which food they would have for breakfast. Penelope got a simple bowl of Fruity Pebbles with a glass of white milk. Rian chose buttered toast with eggs and a cup of orange juice. Deet got some oatmeal with bacon with milk, and Dr. Milldred had a plate of pancakes with eggs and a cup of coffee.
As they all ate their food together, they couldn't help but notice the odd stares they were getting from the other guests in the room, most likely all question the appearance of the Gelflings. Dr. Milldred wanted to say something, but she held her tongue, not wanting to cause a scene so early in the morning.
There was no point in them getting caught now anyway.
They ate their food silently, ultimately just trying to ignore the stares. Daniel looked up and started watching the news a bit, and his face went pale. He looked back down at his food and whispered quietly. "Don't look now, but we're on the news."
"What?" Dr. Milldred whispered back. "What do you mean?"
"They sent our pictures worldwide. They're up there now."
"Shit."
"Just stay cool."
"Hey, somebody turn that up." A man in the crowd suggested, referring to the tv playing the news. Somebody actually got up and went over to the tv, reaching up and turning the volume up.
"In addition to Daniel Monroe and Milldred Martinez, police are now saying that they could have another accomplice with them, known as the six year old girl, Penelope Martinez, Milldred's little sister." The announcer said, pulling up a picture of Penelope. "The Houston NASA Research Center claim that before they had custody of the private research products, they were the property of the Ames Research Center located in California, where the Martinez's father, Dr. Joshua Martinez works at. They claim that just before the property was transferred, little Penelope was spending her summer break with her father, and tried to steal private property herself, before she was caught and sent back to her mother and sister in Houston."
"Man, this is bad." Rian whispered under his breath. "Everybody is looking at us."
"Police urge you, that if you see these three anywhere in your area, call the authorities immediately. Remember, what they have stolen is private and dangerous and should not be released into the public."
"People are starting to get up." Brea gasped silently. "They know it's us."
True to her work, a few people have gotten up from their seats and were looking at the group suspiciously. While yes, Dr. Milldred, Daniel, and Penelope have changed their clothes and hair, they couldn't exactly change their faces. Panicking a little, the group finished their food and got up, quickly but casually heading to the door to leave, while Daniel quickly turned their keycards in. They were almost out the door, when somebody shouted.
"It's them! The NASA thieves! They're trying to escape!"
"Run!" Dr. Milldred gasped and they all quickly ran outside and to the dark green Subaru. A small crowd of people were already chasing them as they piled into the car. "Daniel, get it started!"
"I'm trying!" Daniel hissed back as everybody slammed their doors shut and the man tried to get the key into the ignition. People ran out of the doors to the inn and slammed against the vehicle, pounding on the windows and trying to open the locked doors. The Gelflings huddled against each other, fearing for their lives. Penelope was hugging Fritz, who was barking and growling at the people banging on the windows. Baffi joined him, nipping at a hand the was able to get through the crack in the window, causing it to immediately pull back out. "Come on! Come on!" Daniel growled at the ignition as he turned it one more time.
At last, the engine began to purr and Daniel slammed on the gas, pulling out of the parking lot and speeding out onto the interstate, getting them the hell out of there, while leaving the riot behind.