Chapter Eleven

"Melissa! Mel! Wake up!" Jordan shook the girl vigurously. He had been awake for a little over and hour, so he wondered why Melissa was still knocked out. "Lissa…come on."

"Mmmm…." Melissa groaned. "My head…." She sat up very slowly. "Where are we?"

"I think this is one of Black Ghost's bases. Melissa….we've been kidnapped!"

"No duh!" Melissa muttered. Then she gasped. "Oh no! Carla's notebooks! She's in more trouble than we are!"

"Yeah…. You're right." Jordan agreed.

"You're both wrong." A voice spoke up from above.

"Who are you?!" Jordan demanded angrily.

"I am your guard." The voice replied. "The information in those notebooks was useless."

"Good!" Melissa piped up. "Now you can't capture her!"

"Oh, but we can. See, the way we're thinking, one of you two knows where she is hiding. We will get the information from the source."

"We'll never tell you anything!" Jordan sputtered, putting a comforting arm around Melissa. "Never!"

"We shall see about that later." The guard snickered evilly.

"That was a blast!" Carla grinned at Frances. "I've never played Tennis before."

"I told you." Frances smiled. "I can teach you more tomorrow, after rehearsal. How are you doing here?"

"Fantastic. It's a lot of fun here." Carla said softly. There was,however, a distant look in her eyes, as the two friends stared out over the streets.

"Carla? Are you okay?" Frances looked at her worriedly.

"Yeah. I'm just missing some friends of mine." Carla replied.

"They can come visit at Friendship Day." Frances suggested.

"Nah…. It's not safe. I want to write them, but I'm afraid of them being found out."

"Not safe? I don't understand…." Frances began.

"I'll tell you, because I've got to tell someone. I've been hiding the location of several "rebel" Cyborgs. They are nine humans, taken from various parts of the world against their will. The Black Ghost Organization is to blame for it. By association, I'm in danger as well. "

Frances stared at her in awe. "That's a heavy load you bear. I don't know if I could do it, if I were you."

"You could if these people meant the world to you. They're the only family I have left, Frances." Carla told her, before standing up. "Now you know too. Don't tell anyone, okay? It could mean the death of my best friends, or myself."

"You've got my word, Carla. Oh! That's the dinner bell. We'd better go."

"It's been too long! I know she can't write constantly, but it's been five months!"

"Stop worrying,002. I'm sure she has her reasons." Dr. Gilmore consoled.

"What reason could she possibly have? I thought for sure we would've heard if she had a scholarship by now!" 002 retorted. "I thought she would at least have the decency to say she was going to a different school!"

"Maybe something happened,and it's not safe for her to contact us. Carla might be young, but after her time with us, she's not stupid. She could be doing it to protect us." 001 remarked from his place in 003's lap. The baby cyborg was worried as well, but he knew Carla had her reasons. "We should be more worried about batting down the hatches. There's a hurricane coming."

"You're right,of course." Dr. Gilmore told the baby. "I'm sure 006 already has the food packed away for the Dolphin."

"You short order cook! There's no need for ten pounds of rice on the sub!" 007 exclaimed as 006 came chasing after him. "There's only ten of us. Carla doesn't live with us anymore." As soon as he said it, 007 was sorry.

"You don't have to remind me 007. I'm more aware of than anyone, except maybe 001 over there. She was supposed to be my apprentice chef. " 006 sighed. "I wonder what's become of her. I wish she would write us soon."

"We all do." 009 piped up, as he, 004 and 008 walked into the house. "We all miss her."

"Right. Carla was a part of us for a while. She's gone her own way now. We have to accept that, so we can move on with our lives too." 005 said softly.

"It's not going to be easy, but Kazumi is also watching for letters for us. If she does write, we will be notified." Dr. Gilmore told them. "Let's head out."

"I still don't like it." 001 said suddenly. "Something is terribly wrong."

"What do you mean? Do you feel something?" 009 asked.

"Yes. Something is happening that will change Carla's life forever. Black Ghost has captured two of her friends. My only guess is that they found something that pertained to us or Carla herself."

"Oh no!" 003 gasped. "That poor girl will be caught again!"

"Well, what are we waiting for?! Let's go get her before they do!" 002 demanded. "We can't let them have her again."

"We can't just rush in. We don't know where she is to begin with. 003, do you have the name of the ballet school she applied to?"

"Uh…mhmm." 003 got up,and went to the hutch, that enclosed all the letters Carla had sent them so far. "Here it is! Le Ballet de Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux." 003 closed her with a sigh. "That's the school I was supposed to attend."

"If we want her to keep attending it, we're going to have to keep her away from Black Ghost first." 001 said not insensitively.

"Right! We might as well hire an instructor for her. As long as she keeps opening her mouth about us,we'll be saving her can." 002 remarked.

"I do not think she meant for her friends to find out, 002. You have to remember, the girl is only a child. Accidents happen like this all the time. It is a miracle that just two know." Dr. Gilmore chided. "008. We will head towards France. If we can head them off before they get to her, then we will be lucky."

008 nodded. "All right. Come on, everyone. Let's go get our Carla back."