CHAPTER 8
Helena was at the street where Dinah was ran over. She had her hand held scanner and used it to find the tire tracks left by the car that Jeff was kidnapped in. Barbara was at the clock tower, trying to narrow down and find the one set of tire prints that could belong to the car that took Jeff away
On the screen, several tire tracks could be detected on the road. The tracks were outlined in green. Next, Barbara programmed on top of tracks the locations of the wheels according to the video of the abduction. She programmed into the computer path the wheels took from where they came to a halt after hitting Dinah to making a K turn to make the get-a-way. After programming this into the computer, this narrowed the tracks down to one. That set was the one they were looking for.
"Okay Helena, you can stop Scanning. I have located the correct tire tracks. I am going to track them as far as I can to give you an approximately what direction they were heading.
Barbara began punching in several commands into the computer before it zoomed out into a full street map of all of New Gotham. A green line indicated the located tire tracks that have been scanned into the computer. At the end was a green dot which indicated where the car had come to a complete stop. Everything black, which was most of the screen, were buildings and the gray lines were all travelable roads. With a few swift strokes on the keyboard, the green line began to travel through the gray line which was the street the attack had taken place. After a few seconds, the green line stopped, but made no turns on either of the first two intersections.
Barbara reached past the keyboard at the control panel for all the video cameras that Helena had set up. This information was coming from camera number 5. She pressed the number 5 button, and controlled the camera to swing around to take a look further down the road. Barbara pressed a few buttons on the keyboard, and the green line continued past one more intersection before it made a turn. That was as far as camera number 5 went, but it that street was covered by camera number 2.
She entered the complete data from camera number two to discover the tire tracks made a right turn six intersections down. That was where the school was and was covered by camera one. It was a good thing that they had planted cameras nearly on every corner from Jeff's house to the clock tower. On top of the clock tower, after all possible camera's filtered in as much information as they could, was the bird-cam, which overlooked most of New Gotham and could zoom in on most any street. That was a permanent security feature that she had installed a long time ago. With the bird-cam, the green line moved quickly through the streets before stopping. That large black box which it stopped in front of represented an entire block.
"Helena, they are at one of the houses on Canal Street. They've turned a private home into their hideout. Look for the house that might stand out, since they will not want to attract too much attention."
"This is going to be fun," Helena replied sarcastically.
Barbara turned her wheelchair around to see Alfred approaching her. "Alfred, will you do me a favor and check up on Dinah for me and see if she has fallen asleep."
"Of course, Master Barbara," Alfred said with a smile on his face.
Alfred walked up the spiral stairwell at his slow, unrushed pace. He made his way into Dinah's and Helena's bedroom and he peeked inside. The light was still on, but Dinah was there in her bed, sleeping on her side. Alfred quietly reached for the light switch and flipped it, turning the light off. Alfred stood back up straight and quietly closed the door behind him. As soon as the door was shut, Dinah opened her eyes.
* * * *
Helena reached Canal Street and as Barbara had said, it was nothing but three level privately owned homes lined up one after another, with just a few feet of grass between each building. She was standing on the rooftop of one of the houses on the left side of the street, looking at the line up of buildings on the right. Which one of these buildings was the right one?
Many of the houses had their shades drawn and their lights on: nothing out of the ordinary about all that. What was strange, however, was to see three Mercedes of the exact same color parallel parked in a row. So it was obvious they belonged to one of the two houses that they were parked in front of. The one of the right did have a shade open and she could see a family sitting in the living room watching television. That left only one house as the possible hideout. "Okay, Oracle, I know which house it is. I'm going in."
"Roger that, Huntress," Barbara replied over her ear piece. "Be careful."
"Aren't I always?" Helena grinned.
* * * *
Helena climbed into the house through the attic window on the third floor. It was pitch black in the attic so with a press of a button on her belt, her bird logo glowed, lighting the room. The attic was completely empty and very dusty as if no one had lived there for ages. This was definitely the place. She walked to the opposite end of the attic to find the door. Stealthily, Helena opened the door and went down the stairs. The door was opened a crack, lighting the steps just a tiny bit. She could see a shadow standing in front of the door. She could take care of him easily.
Helena kicked the door, and the door slammed into the man's back sending him crashing into the wall and knocking him out cold. Helena turned her glowing belt off and stepped out into the hallway of the second floor of the house. A large, husky man came charging at her from across the hallway. Helena stepped to the right stuck out a foot to trip him and send him falling to his face. While he attempted to get back to his feet, Helena clobbered him across the face, knocking him out. "Nap time, big boy!"
Helena turned walked to the stairs that led to the first floor. She could here the voices from the first floor. "Okay kid, you are going to use your powers to heal me from my virus."
"I can't. It will probably kill me, and it might not even work!" Jeff pleaded. "Just please, let me go home."
"Shut up and just do what you do to use your powers on me, or I promise you that you will never see your parents again."
Helena took that as her cue and she leaped all the way down to the end of the stairs. "Mind if I join the party, gentlemen?" There in the living room was Jeff sitting on a wooden chair and standing over him was Bill Donaldson. Also standing in the room was four of his men dressed in leather jackets.
"Nice of you to drop in on us, Huntress, though I can't say your surprise is a surprise. In fact, I was counting on it!"
A long thick metallic net fell over Helena, taking her by surprise. "You think a net is going to stop me?" Helena laughed mockingly.
"Yes," Bill said, holding a remote in his hand and pressing one of the buttons. Jolts of electricity began to shock Helena all over her body. She cried out in pain before falling onto her hands and knees. Bill Donaldson released the button and their was instant relief from the agonizing pain. "If I am not mistaken, the police are looking for you. Just sit there and watch, Huntress, because that's all you can do. The police will come and pick you up after we are long gone."
Helena was at the street where Dinah was ran over. She had her hand held scanner and used it to find the tire tracks left by the car that Jeff was kidnapped in. Barbara was at the clock tower, trying to narrow down and find the one set of tire prints that could belong to the car that took Jeff away
On the screen, several tire tracks could be detected on the road. The tracks were outlined in green. Next, Barbara programmed on top of tracks the locations of the wheels according to the video of the abduction. She programmed into the computer path the wheels took from where they came to a halt after hitting Dinah to making a K turn to make the get-a-way. After programming this into the computer, this narrowed the tracks down to one. That set was the one they were looking for.
"Okay Helena, you can stop Scanning. I have located the correct tire tracks. I am going to track them as far as I can to give you an approximately what direction they were heading.
Barbara began punching in several commands into the computer before it zoomed out into a full street map of all of New Gotham. A green line indicated the located tire tracks that have been scanned into the computer. At the end was a green dot which indicated where the car had come to a complete stop. Everything black, which was most of the screen, were buildings and the gray lines were all travelable roads. With a few swift strokes on the keyboard, the green line began to travel through the gray line which was the street the attack had taken place. After a few seconds, the green line stopped, but made no turns on either of the first two intersections.
Barbara reached past the keyboard at the control panel for all the video cameras that Helena had set up. This information was coming from camera number 5. She pressed the number 5 button, and controlled the camera to swing around to take a look further down the road. Barbara pressed a few buttons on the keyboard, and the green line continued past one more intersection before it made a turn. That was as far as camera number 5 went, but it that street was covered by camera number 2.
She entered the complete data from camera number two to discover the tire tracks made a right turn six intersections down. That was where the school was and was covered by camera one. It was a good thing that they had planted cameras nearly on every corner from Jeff's house to the clock tower. On top of the clock tower, after all possible camera's filtered in as much information as they could, was the bird-cam, which overlooked most of New Gotham and could zoom in on most any street. That was a permanent security feature that she had installed a long time ago. With the bird-cam, the green line moved quickly through the streets before stopping. That large black box which it stopped in front of represented an entire block.
"Helena, they are at one of the houses on Canal Street. They've turned a private home into their hideout. Look for the house that might stand out, since they will not want to attract too much attention."
"This is going to be fun," Helena replied sarcastically.
Barbara turned her wheelchair around to see Alfred approaching her. "Alfred, will you do me a favor and check up on Dinah for me and see if she has fallen asleep."
"Of course, Master Barbara," Alfred said with a smile on his face.
Alfred walked up the spiral stairwell at his slow, unrushed pace. He made his way into Dinah's and Helena's bedroom and he peeked inside. The light was still on, but Dinah was there in her bed, sleeping on her side. Alfred quietly reached for the light switch and flipped it, turning the light off. Alfred stood back up straight and quietly closed the door behind him. As soon as the door was shut, Dinah opened her eyes.
* * * *
Helena reached Canal Street and as Barbara had said, it was nothing but three level privately owned homes lined up one after another, with just a few feet of grass between each building. She was standing on the rooftop of one of the houses on the left side of the street, looking at the line up of buildings on the right. Which one of these buildings was the right one?
Many of the houses had their shades drawn and their lights on: nothing out of the ordinary about all that. What was strange, however, was to see three Mercedes of the exact same color parallel parked in a row. So it was obvious they belonged to one of the two houses that they were parked in front of. The one of the right did have a shade open and she could see a family sitting in the living room watching television. That left only one house as the possible hideout. "Okay, Oracle, I know which house it is. I'm going in."
"Roger that, Huntress," Barbara replied over her ear piece. "Be careful."
"Aren't I always?" Helena grinned.
* * * *
Helena climbed into the house through the attic window on the third floor. It was pitch black in the attic so with a press of a button on her belt, her bird logo glowed, lighting the room. The attic was completely empty and very dusty as if no one had lived there for ages. This was definitely the place. She walked to the opposite end of the attic to find the door. Stealthily, Helena opened the door and went down the stairs. The door was opened a crack, lighting the steps just a tiny bit. She could see a shadow standing in front of the door. She could take care of him easily.
Helena kicked the door, and the door slammed into the man's back sending him crashing into the wall and knocking him out cold. Helena turned her glowing belt off and stepped out into the hallway of the second floor of the house. A large, husky man came charging at her from across the hallway. Helena stepped to the right stuck out a foot to trip him and send him falling to his face. While he attempted to get back to his feet, Helena clobbered him across the face, knocking him out. "Nap time, big boy!"
Helena turned walked to the stairs that led to the first floor. She could here the voices from the first floor. "Okay kid, you are going to use your powers to heal me from my virus."
"I can't. It will probably kill me, and it might not even work!" Jeff pleaded. "Just please, let me go home."
"Shut up and just do what you do to use your powers on me, or I promise you that you will never see your parents again."
Helena took that as her cue and she leaped all the way down to the end of the stairs. "Mind if I join the party, gentlemen?" There in the living room was Jeff sitting on a wooden chair and standing over him was Bill Donaldson. Also standing in the room was four of his men dressed in leather jackets.
"Nice of you to drop in on us, Huntress, though I can't say your surprise is a surprise. In fact, I was counting on it!"
A long thick metallic net fell over Helena, taking her by surprise. "You think a net is going to stop me?" Helena laughed mockingly.
"Yes," Bill said, holding a remote in his hand and pressing one of the buttons. Jolts of electricity began to shock Helena all over her body. She cried out in pain before falling onto her hands and knees. Bill Donaldson released the button and their was instant relief from the agonizing pain. "If I am not mistaken, the police are looking for you. Just sit there and watch, Huntress, because that's all you can do. The police will come and pick you up after we are long gone."
