Chapter Fifteen

The next morning, eight of the nine cyborgs prepared to leave for Black Ghost's base in Tokyo. Carla watched them anxiously. "You'll be careful, won't you?" She asked Francoise.

"Of course we will." Francoise replied reassuringly. "We'll be back before you know it." She closed her suitcase,looking up at Carla. "Are you okay?" The girl looked really really sad.

"I…yes. I'm fine." She left Francoise room to find Ivan.

"Did you see that look on her face? She's really scared." Joe told Francoise.

"I know. I just want this to all end for her. It's terrible." Francoise sighed. "It's because of us this is happening." The female cyborg headed downstairs.

"No. It's because of Black Ghost. We can't blame ourselves for this, 003. All we can do is prevent them from hurting her." 009 stated, looking up at the others as they got to the bottom of the stairs. "We owe her that much for her trouble, and we will get her friends out alive."

"Mmhmm!" 006 agreed firmly.

"Come on. We're wasting time." 002 prodded. "We'll be back as soon as we can, Professor."

"Be careful, all of you." The doctor replied, before going back inside to Carla, Frances and 001. "Well, it's just us now. Kazumi went into town for a while."

"Hey, Carla, what was that game Kazumi was teaching you?" Frances looked up at her questioningly. "It looked like fun."

"Oh….it's a lot like Chess,I think." Carla went and got Kazumi's game set, and the two girls began to play.

Professor Gilmore watched with amusement, glad they were content to stay indoors, rather insisting on exploring the island on which the manor sat. "Ah…it's so peaceful, isn't it, 001?"

"Indeed. I'm worried about Carla though. Her visions are getting worse. The poor girl could barely get out of bed this morning."

"I agree, 001. We'll have to help her nurture her gift." Professor Gilmore looked over at Carla, who was explaining a broken rule to Frances. "She seems to be fine now. Let's just wait and see what happens."

The baby nodded. "Right. She's happy right now."

*******************************************************************************************

"Jordan!" Melissa hissed in the darkness of the their current position in an air duct. "They're looking for us!"

"I know that, Melissa! Come on." Jordan touched her sleeve. "We're going to get something for Carla too."

"What?! No, let's just get if we can, Jordie. It's too risky!" Melissa whispered in exasperation. "Besides, what could Carla possibly want from here?"

"The truth." Jordan responded, as he rounded another corner of the duct. He studied the vent he was knelt over. "Here! This is where that Doctor Baker's office is."

"No! Jordan, I am not going down there!" Melissa glared at him in the minimal light the office below offered.

"Fine. Stay here." The boy kicked the vent in, and lowered himself on to the desk below. "Wow. This place is bigger than I thought!"

"That's great, Jordan. Now let's go!" Melissa was getting a bad feeling.

"No. I know this is where her file is. It has to be!" Jordan began rummaging through the drawers.

"Jordan!" Melissa moaned. Suddenly, she gasped. "Jordan! They're coming! Let's go!"

"Not without that file!" Jordan replied, then he stopped dead, whirling on the door of the office. "Uh oh…Melissa, you keep going! Now!"

"No! I won't leave you here!" Melissa felt tears beginning to threaten. They shouldn't have been in the base to begin with. Suddenly, she was angry at Carla for everything!

"Now!" Jordan ordered, fiercely. He climbed up to look at his friend, as the lock on the door turned. "Please,Mellie. Remember that we're doing this for Carla. We've got to stay out of capture."

"It's not right! They'll surely kill you for snooping!" Melissa said through her blinding tears.

"Take this. And this. It's a map to the Rebels' number one hiding place. Baker must've been trying to conceal any possible locations Carla would be in." Jordan laid two folders in Melissa's lap. "Now get out of here. Don't worry about me!"

Just then, the door opened, and several guards walked in. "There's one of them!" The lead guard grabbed Jordan's ankle, and yanked him down hard. "You're in a world of trouble, Boy! But the boss might spare you if you will tell us the location of your girlfriend."

"Never! And she's not my girlfriend!"Jordan spat on his captor, and ran out the door, and down the corridor.

Melissa watched a minute longer, before fleeing with the map and file in her teeth.

*******************************************************************************************

"Looks like they're having trouble even without us." 004 commented, as the eight cyborgs approached the base.

"Oh well. We've to find Jordan and Melissa. That's going to take a lot of time." 009 replied.

"Or not…Look!" 007 pointed to something in the distance. "That's gotta be Melissa."

"I think you're right!" 009 ran to greet the terrified girl. "Are you Melissa?"

The girl stopped running, and looked at him. "Joe Shimamura. Also known as 009." She said softly. "You're Carla's unofficial guardian!"

"I'll take that as yes, and explain later." 009 countered, and picked her up. "Where's Jordan?"

"He's a moron. He went into one of their offices, and dug out some things for Carla, and now he's caught again." Melissa explained as 009 led her to the others. "He's going to be killed for snooping."

"Not on our watch he won't." 007 said, smiling kindly at Melissa. "Hello."

"Hi……where's Carla? Is she safe?"

"Oh, she quite safe. She's at Kazumi's." 008 assured. "Come. You must be exhausted after that ordeal. "

"I…." Melissa wasn't really sure what she was at the moment, but she was sure tired wasn't one of them. "Okay." She agreed finally.

"I'll take her to the Dolphin and stay with her." 003 spoke up now, her eyes full of sympathy.

"Good idea, 003. Come on, you guys. We've to find Jordan now!" 009 exclaimed, as he led the others on towards the base's core entrance.