"Artemis?" Faye entered the small room. The floor had been covered
with a straw mat, and a futon had been rolled out in the middle. Artemis
barely had time to hide the book under the futon before Faye came in.
"What is it?" Artemis asked. Faye gave him a bored expression. "The book, Artemis," she said. Artemis gave her a puzzled look.
"What book?" he countered. Faye sighed impatiently. She had seen him reading the book through one of her hidden cameras. She and Migi had contemplated for a while what to do, and in the end, Faye had been sent to go to the room.
Faye heard her cell phone ring, and she picked it up.
"Hello?" she asked.
Migi's voice came from the other end of the line. "Under the futon," the voice said. She had been watching the cameras in their room, and she had seen Artemis hide the book.
Faye hung up the phone. "I know it's under the futon," she said pointedly. "I'm not that stupid. Now, just hand it over, Artemis. I'm sorry, I can't let you read that book."
Artemis paused. From his squatting position on the floor, he pushed himself up to a sitting position and he retrieved the book. He held it, and when he whipped around, he was obviously angry.
"This isn't mine," he said. "And who the hell do you think you are? You do know that I can just get another copy of the book any where in school, don't you?"
Faye nodded. He did have a point. But now, it was better then to stall him from reading the book The book held some personality revelations that she and Migi were going to use to their advantage to get Artemis to stay put while he was with them. But if Artemis were to read the book, he would be able to see right through their plans right away, and put them at a disadvantage.
She took the book anyway. "I'll return this to Kara then."
Suddenly, there was a knocking at the door. Migi came in.
"Faye, I want to talk to Artemis," she said.
Faye nodded. She gave Migi a grin and made a waving motion with her hand: 'I'll be watching from the cameras'. Migi shook her head.
"In private. Sorry, Faye."
Faye just stared a little, and then nodded. She closed the door behind her, and made straight for the kitchen. She knew it was going to be useless to check the cameras. She was sure that Migi had already disabled the cable in the room, taking the white plug with her to Artemis' room, just to be safe. Faye sighed. This was going to be interesting.
"What do you want?" Artemis asked Migi. She stood face to face in front of him. He was wearing a pair of Guess jeans, and a nice shirt from Loalde. Faye had insisted that the guy get the best clothes that they could afford. They had spent about half of their entire savings just signing up for a sudden scholarship for Artemis and his clothes.
"Um." Migi began. "Artemis, I'd hate to tell you this.But the thing is, I sort of feel a little guilty about this."
"Wait. Aren't you afraid that your friend Faye will be able to hear this conversation? I know there's a camera hidden here somewhere."
"I disabled it."
"Oh." Artemis was actually surprised, but he covered it up. "Well, get whatever you're going to say over with, because I don't think you'll regain the courage if you stop again."
Migi took a deep breath.
"Okay. The thing is, I've just gone to Faye's room. I took a look at the machine used to bring you here, because I really do want to bring you back into your own world. And.to tell you the truth.the machine is totaled."
"Totaled? You don't mean."
"It's broken. Done for. Artemis, I don't think you're going to be able to go back, not with that machine."
Artemis sighed. "Then you guys can make another. I don't think that Faye would break her promise on purpose."
Migi sighed in turn. "You don't seem to get it. The machine needs a meteor rock to work. In this world, NASA had already gotten rid of their meteor rocks because they were thought to be useless, even for display. And Russia had never acquired any meteor rock yet. The meteor rock that Faye and I were able to obtain was by complete fate, when Faye had happened to pick up what looked like a shell but had the characteristics of a meteor rock. There were two of those rocks that she picked up out of complete interest."
::A meteor rock:: Artemis thought.
"What's the difference between the meteor rock and a normal one? Cant you just get a normal rock and then fool the machine?"
Migi felt a drop of sweat run down her back.
"No. That's really impossible. Meteor rocks have some pent up power in them."
"Oh. What do these meteor rocks look like then?"
"Er.They're gray, they're hard, they are heavy, they don't break when you drop them, they're shiny yellow when you put them up against yellow light.Red when you put them under red light.Um."
He stood straighter, with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
"You're telling me that all the qualities of a meteor rock are the exact qualities of a normal stone, and we STILL cannot tell the machine that the rock is a meteor rock."
"Precisely."
Artemis sort of grimaced and gave a slightly crazy laugh.
"Then how long are you guys going to keep me here if you don't know when you can bring me back?"
"Um."
"You mentioned that there was another meteor rock. What happened to it?"
"Faye sort of gave it to her best friend at the time."
"Oh. It wasn't you back then?"
"No. It was that girl named Kara Tindrea. They used to go around a whole lot together. But now that I mentioned it, I think she had a garage sale a couple of months back, and she sold it to some well known neighborhood brat."
"A brat. Is he around our age?"
"No. He's in sixth grade and completely brainless. He flunked grade five twice, and he's going to flunk grade six, I predict."
"Do you know where I can find him?"
"The school registrar has the list of addresses and names of all the students. Go check around with her or something."
Artemis nodded. He uncrossed his arms. Then, as if something had dawned onto him, he gave her a suspicious look.
"Why are you helping me? This isn't some scheme or anything between you and Faye to lower my pride, is it?"
Migi looked away, a little flustered. She reached around her neck and pulled out a silver chain with a cross at the end. Artemis was hardly surprised. She was a catholic, just as he had more or less guessed. She was prone to conscience. And of the moment, his shrewd prisoner tactics made him use her obvious vulnerability to his advantage.
"So you're feeling a bit catholic, eh?" he said a little quietly. "How do I get to the place when I do find it, then? Are you planning on giving me some more help? Like, let's say, a ride?"
Migi narrowed her eyes at him. She wasn't what anyone called stupid. And, yes, she did know what he was trying to pull.
"Don't butter me up, Artemis. I know what you're trying to do, so don't push it. I already had plans to give you a ride anyway. That's all I'm going to do. You have to figure out the machine on your own.
"It's a deal then." Artemis took a deep breath the same moment a knock came from the door. It was Faye. She entered, carrying a tray of food.
"Hey there," Faye said. Her eyes were a bit slit. It was a night for suspicion. "Hey, Migi, SOMEONE disabled the camera in this room. I'll bet my right foot that Artemis was trying to get something out of you."
Migi regarded her friend calmly.
"Then in that case, you'll have to give me your right foot."
(Sorry, I couldn't help putting in this corny pun. Heard it somewhere, and it was so corny that I found it funny, and it's merriment stayed with me for the longest time.)
"Eh?"
"It wasn't Artemis, Faye. I was trying to get something out of him."
"Oh."
Migi slipped her sliver chain back into her shirt. She decided that it was time to change the subject. She pointed to the tray of food.
"Is that for Artemis?"
Faye looked at the tray. "Ohh.yeah."
Faye looked at Migi, a sort of confused and hurt expression on her face. Then she jerked her head to the direction of the door.
"Migs, I want to talk to Artemis for a while, too. Sorry, I have to give him a piece of my mind."
Migi shrugged. She had already suspected that it was coming on. She nodded to Faye and went out, closing the door behind her.
Faye immediately whipped around to face Artemis. He was looking at the food in her tray. Faye opened her mouth to speak.
"Okay, what did you talk about?"
Artemis gave a small careless motion with his shoulders. He had a ready answer, of course. He thought ahead. He had a plan. First, he was going to make her really curious, then he was going to go in for the kill.
"One of those girly things. Nothing I haven't heard before."
"Girl.stuff?"
"It wasn't important, as far as I'm concerned."
Faye was a little skeptical. Migi rarely dwelt on girly things, especially things that were.not important.
"Tell me or you don't get any food."
"Then you'll give me some tomorrow morning."
"No, I wont."
"Are you planning to starve me to death?"
"Yeah."
Artemis simply stared at her. It was a deliberate response. Faye was hard to look through, not like Migi's open nature. Faye was closed and wary of him, and he knew that it wasn't going to work to his advantage. Of course, he doubted that she would have the guts to starve him. He knew a bluff when he heard one. But at the moment, he was just a little bit hungry. And the 'make her curious' bit was already over. Now to set the trap.
"Fine," he said. "Just give me the stupid tray."
Faye handed it over hesitantly.
"She wants me to escape from here."
Silence.
Silence.
"I don't believe you," Faye said. She laughed and glanced at his tray, which he had already eaten a part of.
"It's going to be hard for her best friend of the moment to believe such a thing. But she told me that you didn't have the main tool needed to send me back home."
Faye didn't flinch. She knew he was lying.
"Tell me then. Humor me a moment."
"You need one of those meteor rocks."
At this, Faye actually balked. Artemis noted with some feeling of triumph the astonished look in her eyes.
".And," he continued. "she told me where to get another one, in that grade six boy's house. I'll bet you were planning to get it yourself, weren't you? To assure that I wouldn't get my hands on it?"
Faye was gritting her teeth. She thought carefully. She knew that she had given the rock to Kara, and not to some adolescent sixth grader, but she didn't doubt Artemis' knowledge. There was an assuredness in his voice, a whole lot of confidence that made her face put up one of her ready smug smiles.
"I'm going to get it before you, so don't even think about anything stupid."
At this, Artemis' eyes narrowed, and he somehow guessed that she was planning to push through the same moment. But, he only watched as she exited the room and locked the door behind her.
Artemis leaned back with a contented expression. He had laid the bait. It was easier this way. He had deliberately set Faye and Migi against each other, and he was right smack in the middle of it at the moment, but if he played his cards right, he was going to be able to back out, out of the scene of the two bickering girls, and along with him the meteor rock, and he was going to somehow figure the machine out.
END CHAPTER THREE
"What is it?" Artemis asked. Faye gave him a bored expression. "The book, Artemis," she said. Artemis gave her a puzzled look.
"What book?" he countered. Faye sighed impatiently. She had seen him reading the book through one of her hidden cameras. She and Migi had contemplated for a while what to do, and in the end, Faye had been sent to go to the room.
Faye heard her cell phone ring, and she picked it up.
"Hello?" she asked.
Migi's voice came from the other end of the line. "Under the futon," the voice said. She had been watching the cameras in their room, and she had seen Artemis hide the book.
Faye hung up the phone. "I know it's under the futon," she said pointedly. "I'm not that stupid. Now, just hand it over, Artemis. I'm sorry, I can't let you read that book."
Artemis paused. From his squatting position on the floor, he pushed himself up to a sitting position and he retrieved the book. He held it, and when he whipped around, he was obviously angry.
"This isn't mine," he said. "And who the hell do you think you are? You do know that I can just get another copy of the book any where in school, don't you?"
Faye nodded. He did have a point. But now, it was better then to stall him from reading the book The book held some personality revelations that she and Migi were going to use to their advantage to get Artemis to stay put while he was with them. But if Artemis were to read the book, he would be able to see right through their plans right away, and put them at a disadvantage.
She took the book anyway. "I'll return this to Kara then."
Suddenly, there was a knocking at the door. Migi came in.
"Faye, I want to talk to Artemis," she said.
Faye nodded. She gave Migi a grin and made a waving motion with her hand: 'I'll be watching from the cameras'. Migi shook her head.
"In private. Sorry, Faye."
Faye just stared a little, and then nodded. She closed the door behind her, and made straight for the kitchen. She knew it was going to be useless to check the cameras. She was sure that Migi had already disabled the cable in the room, taking the white plug with her to Artemis' room, just to be safe. Faye sighed. This was going to be interesting.
"What do you want?" Artemis asked Migi. She stood face to face in front of him. He was wearing a pair of Guess jeans, and a nice shirt from Loalde. Faye had insisted that the guy get the best clothes that they could afford. They had spent about half of their entire savings just signing up for a sudden scholarship for Artemis and his clothes.
"Um." Migi began. "Artemis, I'd hate to tell you this.But the thing is, I sort of feel a little guilty about this."
"Wait. Aren't you afraid that your friend Faye will be able to hear this conversation? I know there's a camera hidden here somewhere."
"I disabled it."
"Oh." Artemis was actually surprised, but he covered it up. "Well, get whatever you're going to say over with, because I don't think you'll regain the courage if you stop again."
Migi took a deep breath.
"Okay. The thing is, I've just gone to Faye's room. I took a look at the machine used to bring you here, because I really do want to bring you back into your own world. And.to tell you the truth.the machine is totaled."
"Totaled? You don't mean."
"It's broken. Done for. Artemis, I don't think you're going to be able to go back, not with that machine."
Artemis sighed. "Then you guys can make another. I don't think that Faye would break her promise on purpose."
Migi sighed in turn. "You don't seem to get it. The machine needs a meteor rock to work. In this world, NASA had already gotten rid of their meteor rocks because they were thought to be useless, even for display. And Russia had never acquired any meteor rock yet. The meteor rock that Faye and I were able to obtain was by complete fate, when Faye had happened to pick up what looked like a shell but had the characteristics of a meteor rock. There were two of those rocks that she picked up out of complete interest."
::A meteor rock:: Artemis thought.
"What's the difference between the meteor rock and a normal one? Cant you just get a normal rock and then fool the machine?"
Migi felt a drop of sweat run down her back.
"No. That's really impossible. Meteor rocks have some pent up power in them."
"Oh. What do these meteor rocks look like then?"
"Er.They're gray, they're hard, they are heavy, they don't break when you drop them, they're shiny yellow when you put them up against yellow light.Red when you put them under red light.Um."
He stood straighter, with his arms crossed in front of his chest.
"You're telling me that all the qualities of a meteor rock are the exact qualities of a normal stone, and we STILL cannot tell the machine that the rock is a meteor rock."
"Precisely."
Artemis sort of grimaced and gave a slightly crazy laugh.
"Then how long are you guys going to keep me here if you don't know when you can bring me back?"
"Um."
"You mentioned that there was another meteor rock. What happened to it?"
"Faye sort of gave it to her best friend at the time."
"Oh. It wasn't you back then?"
"No. It was that girl named Kara Tindrea. They used to go around a whole lot together. But now that I mentioned it, I think she had a garage sale a couple of months back, and she sold it to some well known neighborhood brat."
"A brat. Is he around our age?"
"No. He's in sixth grade and completely brainless. He flunked grade five twice, and he's going to flunk grade six, I predict."
"Do you know where I can find him?"
"The school registrar has the list of addresses and names of all the students. Go check around with her or something."
Artemis nodded. He uncrossed his arms. Then, as if something had dawned onto him, he gave her a suspicious look.
"Why are you helping me? This isn't some scheme or anything between you and Faye to lower my pride, is it?"
Migi looked away, a little flustered. She reached around her neck and pulled out a silver chain with a cross at the end. Artemis was hardly surprised. She was a catholic, just as he had more or less guessed. She was prone to conscience. And of the moment, his shrewd prisoner tactics made him use her obvious vulnerability to his advantage.
"So you're feeling a bit catholic, eh?" he said a little quietly. "How do I get to the place when I do find it, then? Are you planning on giving me some more help? Like, let's say, a ride?"
Migi narrowed her eyes at him. She wasn't what anyone called stupid. And, yes, she did know what he was trying to pull.
"Don't butter me up, Artemis. I know what you're trying to do, so don't push it. I already had plans to give you a ride anyway. That's all I'm going to do. You have to figure out the machine on your own.
"It's a deal then." Artemis took a deep breath the same moment a knock came from the door. It was Faye. She entered, carrying a tray of food.
"Hey there," Faye said. Her eyes were a bit slit. It was a night for suspicion. "Hey, Migi, SOMEONE disabled the camera in this room. I'll bet my right foot that Artemis was trying to get something out of you."
Migi regarded her friend calmly.
"Then in that case, you'll have to give me your right foot."
(Sorry, I couldn't help putting in this corny pun. Heard it somewhere, and it was so corny that I found it funny, and it's merriment stayed with me for the longest time.)
"Eh?"
"It wasn't Artemis, Faye. I was trying to get something out of him."
"Oh."
Migi slipped her sliver chain back into her shirt. She decided that it was time to change the subject. She pointed to the tray of food.
"Is that for Artemis?"
Faye looked at the tray. "Ohh.yeah."
Faye looked at Migi, a sort of confused and hurt expression on her face. Then she jerked her head to the direction of the door.
"Migs, I want to talk to Artemis for a while, too. Sorry, I have to give him a piece of my mind."
Migi shrugged. She had already suspected that it was coming on. She nodded to Faye and went out, closing the door behind her.
Faye immediately whipped around to face Artemis. He was looking at the food in her tray. Faye opened her mouth to speak.
"Okay, what did you talk about?"
Artemis gave a small careless motion with his shoulders. He had a ready answer, of course. He thought ahead. He had a plan. First, he was going to make her really curious, then he was going to go in for the kill.
"One of those girly things. Nothing I haven't heard before."
"Girl.stuff?"
"It wasn't important, as far as I'm concerned."
Faye was a little skeptical. Migi rarely dwelt on girly things, especially things that were.not important.
"Tell me or you don't get any food."
"Then you'll give me some tomorrow morning."
"No, I wont."
"Are you planning to starve me to death?"
"Yeah."
Artemis simply stared at her. It was a deliberate response. Faye was hard to look through, not like Migi's open nature. Faye was closed and wary of him, and he knew that it wasn't going to work to his advantage. Of course, he doubted that she would have the guts to starve him. He knew a bluff when he heard one. But at the moment, he was just a little bit hungry. And the 'make her curious' bit was already over. Now to set the trap.
"Fine," he said. "Just give me the stupid tray."
Faye handed it over hesitantly.
"She wants me to escape from here."
Silence.
Silence.
"I don't believe you," Faye said. She laughed and glanced at his tray, which he had already eaten a part of.
"It's going to be hard for her best friend of the moment to believe such a thing. But she told me that you didn't have the main tool needed to send me back home."
Faye didn't flinch. She knew he was lying.
"Tell me then. Humor me a moment."
"You need one of those meteor rocks."
At this, Faye actually balked. Artemis noted with some feeling of triumph the astonished look in her eyes.
".And," he continued. "she told me where to get another one, in that grade six boy's house. I'll bet you were planning to get it yourself, weren't you? To assure that I wouldn't get my hands on it?"
Faye was gritting her teeth. She thought carefully. She knew that she had given the rock to Kara, and not to some adolescent sixth grader, but she didn't doubt Artemis' knowledge. There was an assuredness in his voice, a whole lot of confidence that made her face put up one of her ready smug smiles.
"I'm going to get it before you, so don't even think about anything stupid."
At this, Artemis' eyes narrowed, and he somehow guessed that she was planning to push through the same moment. But, he only watched as she exited the room and locked the door behind her.
Artemis leaned back with a contented expression. He had laid the bait. It was easier this way. He had deliberately set Faye and Migi against each other, and he was right smack in the middle of it at the moment, but if he played his cards right, he was going to be able to back out, out of the scene of the two bickering girls, and along with him the meteor rock, and he was going to somehow figure the machine out.
END CHAPTER THREE