Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. Between work and updating my site, my muse has been over worked. I'm hoping to have Chapter 7 up in a little bit better time period. Anyhoo... On with the story! ~ Duette
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"Well, Williams, what did you find?"
"It's definitely her. The description and tag number are an exact match."
"And?"
"She's alive and well."
"That's good to hear. Any other news?"
Williams flipped through a couple of papers. "A summary of the investigation into the plane crash has come in."
"Oh?"
"General Kasey, sir, it is believed the weapon was used on the plane."
"This isn't good. Do you have anything on the person who called our agent in?"
"Yes, sir. It was a Mr. Jeff Tracy. Retired Air Force and astronaut, head of Tracy Enterprises."
"All right. I want you to assemble a team to retrieve our agent and the weapon. I'll give this Mr. Tracy a call. If this new weapon was responsible for that crash, then I want every precaution taken to make sure it doesn't happen again."
"Yes, sir," Williams said as he headed for the door.
"Oh, and Williams, I want a full copy of the report on my desk by morning."
"Yes, sir," Williams sighed and left as General Kasey reached for the phone. He walked out of the building, relaying the message for the crash report to the secretary on duty on his way. He then hopped into a jeep and drove to his little cottage on base.
'Sometimes being a brown-nosing errand boy sure does pay off,' Williams thought as he walked in. He checked to make sure no one was around outside before closing and locking all the doors and covering all the windows. He then went into his bedroom, and after thoroughly checking for any bugs anyone may have planted, he sat down in front of the phone. He took a deep breath before nervously dialing a number that had practically been burned into his memory. He played with a pencil anxiously waiting for someone to answer.
"Yes, General... I can do that. She'll be ready to go in two days' time... Yes, sir... Good-bye."
"Who was that?" John asked coming back from the kitchen munching on a biscuit he happened to snatch while Grandma wasn't looking. Thankfully the guest rooms were designed to muffle the sounds of the Thunderbird craft taking off, so it was easy to explain the loud roar of a large jet engine, and the sudden appearance of John, to Oriana when she had asked.
"That was General Kasey. He's going to be sending some men over to pick up Oriana, and probably that weapon, in two days," Jeff replied.
"So I guess that concert's off, huh?" Scott had briefed John on the way back about Gordon's plan while Alan argued against it.
"Perhaps. We shall just have to wait and see."
"A what?" Oriana asked as Gordon and Virgil told her about the concert idea. "Are you guys nuts? I will not allow you to put yourselves in danger for my sake!"
"We're only trying to help," Virgil said.
"It's what we do," Gordon added.
Oriana shook her head. "I won't let you do it! It's not worth it. Besides, I'm only a mediocre musician. Nobody would want to listen to me for more than five minutes."
"Well Virgil can help you with that," Gordon said, patting his brother on the back.
"And we can all play well enough to cover up any mistakes you make," Virgil stated.
"No."
"Pleeeease?" Gordon asked trying to pull the puppy-dog eyes Alan uses all the time to get his way.
Oriana looked at Gordon. "You're the stubborn headed ox of the family, aren't you?"
"No, that's Alan, but that's beside the point," Gordon said without hesitation.
Oriana smiled slightly. "Will you do things my way?"
Virgil and Gordon looked at each other then shrugged. "I suppose we could," Virgil said.
"Well... I guess I could use some help..."
"All right! The Luna-tix are back!" Gordon exclaimed.
Virgil chuckled and shook his head. "Right. Let's go tell father."
Tin-Tin was in the garden with her father, Kyrano, when they both heard an angry scream from the beach. They ran to see what was going on only to find Alan kicking the sand and throwing rocks into the ocean. Tin-Tin ran down the slope and to him as he tripped himself and fell to the ground, crying. She wrapped her arms around him and held him close, trying to comfort whatever was bothering her baby-faced love. Kyrano went back to the garden, smiling and shaking his head. He knew if anyone could calm the youngest Tracy brother, it was his daughter.
"Tin-Tin? Do you trust me?" Alan asked after a bit, wiping the tears off of his face.
"Of course I do! Why would you think otherwise?"
"Do you think the others do too?"
"I'm sure they do. Alan, what's wrong?"
"I have this bad feeling that something's going to happen, but nobody seems to trust me," Alan said, tears welling up in his eyes again.
"What could possibly happen that could be so bad?"
"I-I don't know, Tin-Tin, but I just feel that something bad is going to happen, and soon. And I think that Oriana is the reason."
"Two days? Are you sure?" Oriana asked as Jeff gave her the message. He just nodded and she shook her head. "Do you mind if I use your phone for a bit?"
Jeff shook his head and vacated his desk. Oriana sat down and dialed a number on the vid-phone. She was greeted on the screen by a bored looking secretary doing her nails.
"General Kasey's office, Michelle speaking. How may I help you?"
"Is General Kasey in?"
"Yes he is. May I ask who's calling?"
"Just tell him it's urgent."
The secretary sighed and pushed a button, making the screen go blank on Oriana's end for a couple of minutes before being replaced with a grandfatherly looking man.
"Hello?"
"Hello, sir."
"Ah, Gant! So good to hear from you! You had us worried there for a while."
"Sorry, sir. You know how things can get."
"Indeed, indeed. So, what's this about being urgent?"
"Well, sir, I need some help in completing this mission, and not enough time to get it set up."
"That is a problem. What kind of help do you need?"
Tin-Tin and Alan walked down the beach, arms wrapped around each other. They walked in silence, just enjoying each other's company, like they always did when one of them was upset. Tin-Tin stopped every so often to look at the shells that washed up on the beach, commenting on the colors and shapes while Alan just stood there and smiled at her. As they walked on, Alan began to feel more and more better. At one point he even started a little game of tag, which ended up with both Tin-Tin and himself sprawled out on the sand, staring up at the clouds. He was happy, and knew Tin-Tin was too, but there was still that feeling nagging at the back of his head. That feeling that he knew wouldn't leave until Oriana did.
"So, what do we do now?" Virgil asked as Oriana finished with the last of her phone calls.
"Now, we practice. We need to make a list of songs to play and work on them so we know the weak spots and can find some way to correct them before I leave. Also, Mr. Tracy, and I know this is coming from a complete stranger and all, but I was wondering, if there anyway you could get a flute that looks just like the one I have, by tomorrow evening? "
"I suppose. Why?"
"I'll need it as a decoy."
"Th-th-that won't be necessary," Brains said from the entryway.
"Brains! Where have you been hiding all day?" Gordon asked.
"The lab. I've come up with a way to turn the, er, amplifier, on and off on the flute."
"Oh?" Jeff asked.
"Y-yes," Brains said pulling out the flute. "These two trill keys are never pressed at the s-s-same time in normal play, so I made them the switch."
"Genius..." Oriana whispered and the others just smiled. "How can you tell if it's off or on, though, when you're not playing?"
"The low C key is raised higher than normal. Here, look," Brains held out the flute while everyone gathered round and pressed the trill keys. The others watched as the low C key moved up and down enough so that anyone who doesn't know the instrument couldn't tell the difference.
"Wow... Want a job working for the government?" Oriana asked.
"N-no, thank you. I'm happy right here."
"Well, now that that is out of the way, I suppose you boys should get to work on your music. This was, after all, your ideas," Jeff said with a slight smirk.
Virgil nodded and left to go find Scott and Alan while Gordon pulled Oriana to the music room with John following not far behind.
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"Well, Williams, what did you find?"
"It's definitely her. The description and tag number are an exact match."
"And?"
"She's alive and well."
"That's good to hear. Any other news?"
Williams flipped through a couple of papers. "A summary of the investigation into the plane crash has come in."
"Oh?"
"General Kasey, sir, it is believed the weapon was used on the plane."
"This isn't good. Do you have anything on the person who called our agent in?"
"Yes, sir. It was a Mr. Jeff Tracy. Retired Air Force and astronaut, head of Tracy Enterprises."
"All right. I want you to assemble a team to retrieve our agent and the weapon. I'll give this Mr. Tracy a call. If this new weapon was responsible for that crash, then I want every precaution taken to make sure it doesn't happen again."
"Yes, sir," Williams said as he headed for the door.
"Oh, and Williams, I want a full copy of the report on my desk by morning."
"Yes, sir," Williams sighed and left as General Kasey reached for the phone. He walked out of the building, relaying the message for the crash report to the secretary on duty on his way. He then hopped into a jeep and drove to his little cottage on base.
'Sometimes being a brown-nosing errand boy sure does pay off,' Williams thought as he walked in. He checked to make sure no one was around outside before closing and locking all the doors and covering all the windows. He then went into his bedroom, and after thoroughly checking for any bugs anyone may have planted, he sat down in front of the phone. He took a deep breath before nervously dialing a number that had practically been burned into his memory. He played with a pencil anxiously waiting for someone to answer.
"Yes, General... I can do that. She'll be ready to go in two days' time... Yes, sir... Good-bye."
"Who was that?" John asked coming back from the kitchen munching on a biscuit he happened to snatch while Grandma wasn't looking. Thankfully the guest rooms were designed to muffle the sounds of the Thunderbird craft taking off, so it was easy to explain the loud roar of a large jet engine, and the sudden appearance of John, to Oriana when she had asked.
"That was General Kasey. He's going to be sending some men over to pick up Oriana, and probably that weapon, in two days," Jeff replied.
"So I guess that concert's off, huh?" Scott had briefed John on the way back about Gordon's plan while Alan argued against it.
"Perhaps. We shall just have to wait and see."
"A what?" Oriana asked as Gordon and Virgil told her about the concert idea. "Are you guys nuts? I will not allow you to put yourselves in danger for my sake!"
"We're only trying to help," Virgil said.
"It's what we do," Gordon added.
Oriana shook her head. "I won't let you do it! It's not worth it. Besides, I'm only a mediocre musician. Nobody would want to listen to me for more than five minutes."
"Well Virgil can help you with that," Gordon said, patting his brother on the back.
"And we can all play well enough to cover up any mistakes you make," Virgil stated.
"No."
"Pleeeease?" Gordon asked trying to pull the puppy-dog eyes Alan uses all the time to get his way.
Oriana looked at Gordon. "You're the stubborn headed ox of the family, aren't you?"
"No, that's Alan, but that's beside the point," Gordon said without hesitation.
Oriana smiled slightly. "Will you do things my way?"
Virgil and Gordon looked at each other then shrugged. "I suppose we could," Virgil said.
"Well... I guess I could use some help..."
"All right! The Luna-tix are back!" Gordon exclaimed.
Virgil chuckled and shook his head. "Right. Let's go tell father."
Tin-Tin was in the garden with her father, Kyrano, when they both heard an angry scream from the beach. They ran to see what was going on only to find Alan kicking the sand and throwing rocks into the ocean. Tin-Tin ran down the slope and to him as he tripped himself and fell to the ground, crying. She wrapped her arms around him and held him close, trying to comfort whatever was bothering her baby-faced love. Kyrano went back to the garden, smiling and shaking his head. He knew if anyone could calm the youngest Tracy brother, it was his daughter.
"Tin-Tin? Do you trust me?" Alan asked after a bit, wiping the tears off of his face.
"Of course I do! Why would you think otherwise?"
"Do you think the others do too?"
"I'm sure they do. Alan, what's wrong?"
"I have this bad feeling that something's going to happen, but nobody seems to trust me," Alan said, tears welling up in his eyes again.
"What could possibly happen that could be so bad?"
"I-I don't know, Tin-Tin, but I just feel that something bad is going to happen, and soon. And I think that Oriana is the reason."
"Two days? Are you sure?" Oriana asked as Jeff gave her the message. He just nodded and she shook her head. "Do you mind if I use your phone for a bit?"
Jeff shook his head and vacated his desk. Oriana sat down and dialed a number on the vid-phone. She was greeted on the screen by a bored looking secretary doing her nails.
"General Kasey's office, Michelle speaking. How may I help you?"
"Is General Kasey in?"
"Yes he is. May I ask who's calling?"
"Just tell him it's urgent."
The secretary sighed and pushed a button, making the screen go blank on Oriana's end for a couple of minutes before being replaced with a grandfatherly looking man.
"Hello?"
"Hello, sir."
"Ah, Gant! So good to hear from you! You had us worried there for a while."
"Sorry, sir. You know how things can get."
"Indeed, indeed. So, what's this about being urgent?"
"Well, sir, I need some help in completing this mission, and not enough time to get it set up."
"That is a problem. What kind of help do you need?"
Tin-Tin and Alan walked down the beach, arms wrapped around each other. They walked in silence, just enjoying each other's company, like they always did when one of them was upset. Tin-Tin stopped every so often to look at the shells that washed up on the beach, commenting on the colors and shapes while Alan just stood there and smiled at her. As they walked on, Alan began to feel more and more better. At one point he even started a little game of tag, which ended up with both Tin-Tin and himself sprawled out on the sand, staring up at the clouds. He was happy, and knew Tin-Tin was too, but there was still that feeling nagging at the back of his head. That feeling that he knew wouldn't leave until Oriana did.
"So, what do we do now?" Virgil asked as Oriana finished with the last of her phone calls.
"Now, we practice. We need to make a list of songs to play and work on them so we know the weak spots and can find some way to correct them before I leave. Also, Mr. Tracy, and I know this is coming from a complete stranger and all, but I was wondering, if there anyway you could get a flute that looks just like the one I have, by tomorrow evening? "
"I suppose. Why?"
"I'll need it as a decoy."
"Th-th-that won't be necessary," Brains said from the entryway.
"Brains! Where have you been hiding all day?" Gordon asked.
"The lab. I've come up with a way to turn the, er, amplifier, on and off on the flute."
"Oh?" Jeff asked.
"Y-yes," Brains said pulling out the flute. "These two trill keys are never pressed at the s-s-same time in normal play, so I made them the switch."
"Genius..." Oriana whispered and the others just smiled. "How can you tell if it's off or on, though, when you're not playing?"
"The low C key is raised higher than normal. Here, look," Brains held out the flute while everyone gathered round and pressed the trill keys. The others watched as the low C key moved up and down enough so that anyone who doesn't know the instrument couldn't tell the difference.
"Wow... Want a job working for the government?" Oriana asked.
"N-no, thank you. I'm happy right here."
"Well, now that that is out of the way, I suppose you boys should get to work on your music. This was, after all, your ideas," Jeff said with a slight smirk.
Virgil nodded and left to go find Scott and Alan while Gordon pulled Oriana to the music room with John following not far behind.
