DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters created by Alexander Key and
owned by Walt Disney Pictures. This is fan fiction, and not endorsed by
Mr. Key, his estate, or the Walt Disney Company. No copyright infringement
is intended, and no money is being made from this story. It is based on
plot elements used in the books Escape to Witch Mountain and Return from
Witch Mountain, as well as the movies of the same name, although the books
and the movies differ extensively. Please direct all queries, comments,
etc. to kevinpkhaynes@yahoo.com. It is my sincere desire that you enjoy
the story as the pure entertainment it was intended to be. Your feedback
is welcome as well!
LIFE ON WITCH MOUNTAIN
By Kevin Haynes
CHAPTER 31
The "conference call" that night was amazing, even for the Homedwellers who were used to them. It was as if all of the participants - Uncle Bené, Aunt Bri, Tony, Trina, Ty, Tia, and Eric - were sitting around a table, just talking. The conversation sounded just like that, but the reality was that Uncle Bené and Aunt Bri were on New Home, Tony, Trina and Ty were in New York, and Tia and Eric were in Washington, D.C.
Tony and his new friends were in a penthouse apartment near the outskirts of New York City. Tony had never seen luxury like this - even the apartment that Mr. Bolt had set up for them when he adopted/kidnapped them wasn't this nice. Trina and Ty were blown away - Ty thought it was the best, and Trina just seemed to be in a daze. She had told Tony that never in her wildest dreams had she ever imagined living in such luxury, except, she added jokingly, if she were the live-in maid.
They set up for the conference call in a nice, comfortable parlor. If the mood had been more joyous, the call itself would have been a lot more fun. Uncle Bené and Aunt Bri welcomed the new Homedwellers exuberantly and wanted so much to tell them more about their people, but there were more pressing issues before them. Uncle Bené, after the introductions were made, started off. "The main reason we are all taking part in this conference is because we each have a different perspective on the threat to New Home that is showing up. Tony, Trina and Ty have encountered this threat directly; Tia and Eric only indirectly.
"What we need is to come up with a plan. We could simply pick up the New York trio tonight and whisk them off to New Home, but that would leave Truck with the opportunity to network more with Victor Gannon. And we know from Tia's information, supplied by her assistant, that they have been mapping the area around Witch Mountain for a while and even tried to obtain aerial photographs. That won't stop if Tony just disappears.
"Tony has already told us that he planted a tracking device on Truck. We have been monitoring it, and after moving from where Ty put the two men, it has remained stationary for about the past hour. We checked the location via satellite, and it's the local jail! So Tony, your scheme to get Truck and his associate in trouble worked. We already have an undercover Homedweller stationed outside the jail to trail him when he is released. We're also hoping to find out who pays his bail and gets him out - that could be another piece of the puzzle.
"The question now is . what next? Does anyone have any ideas?"
Tia was the first to respond. "Well, it seems obvious to me that we need to wait for Truck to get released from jail, and then follow him to wherever Dr. Gannon is."
Tony replied, "Yeah, but what if Dr. Gannon isn't even in New York? He could be in California for all we know. Do we just trail Truck until we find him, even if he doesn't go back to him for a while?"
Eric actually chimed in. "I know I'm the new guy, so if I'm off base, just let me know. It's OK . I'm a Senator, and people usually have no problem telling me what they think of me!" Everyone chuckled - it felt good to laugh. He continued, "I know that the AAAI is asking for a decision within a month. I'm the one who is supposed to present their request to the Senate committee I'm on, and they are really pressuring me to get it done quickly. I assume that they are already planning to do what they are requesting, which is to enter the Witch Mountain area and also take aerial photographs using satellites. They just want official permission to do that.
"Where I'm going with this is that I think as soon as this Truck guy gets out of jail, he'll make a beeline for this doctor. They have too much at stake to let Tony getting away from them stop their plans to track all of you down. So . my vote is to keep an eye on Truck, and be ready to follow him as soon as he's free."
It was silent for a moment, and then Trina spoke up. "I really have no experience in what you are talking about. But Eric, with all due respect, after hearing what you just said, my own thoughts turned to, 'Then what?' Let's say we follow Truck and he leads us straight to Dr. Gannon. Then what? What do we do once we have both of them? Just leaving them has never stopped them, and we can't kill them. So what we really need to discuss here is . how do we get them to stop looking for us - period?"
Tony was impressed. Trina had brought up a very good point. Apparently Uncle Bené agreed, because he said, "You are absolutely right, Trina. I'm glad you said that, since that leads us to a plan of action. I do know that, when we first got Tony and Tia home to safety, the man who was chasing them - Mr. Bolt - gave up when he saw our lifeboat take off. Seeing a 'flying saucer' apparently made him think that Tony and Tia were now unreachable. Is there anything similar we can do to make Dr. Gannon and Truck just give up?"
Again it was silent. Everyone was thinking. No one could readily think of a way to stop this for good. Tony felt deep inside that Dr. Gannon was different from Mr. Bolt. Dr. Gannon knew they were aliens and wanted them anyway; Mr. Bolt thought they were just psychic, so their being aliens made him leave them alone. That tactic just wouldn't work with the AAAI.
Suddenly, Ty spoke up. "I know! All we have to do is get them mad at each other! The only reason they are this close is because they are working together. If we get them to not trust each other, they might give up looking for us . or at least they'll have a tougher time without each other."
Tony added, "I think he's on to something. Truck told me that the only reason he was helping Dr. Gannon was because the doc offered to give him a lot of money if he led him to us. Truck's heart isn't really in this, I don't think. He just wants to get rich, and then he's out of the picture."
Uncle Bené said, "Alright, so how do we breed mistrust between these two? Is there a way that we could convince Truck that he won't get paid after all? That would make him leave us alone, it seems. But how could we do that?"
Eric spoke up. "Another idea is to make the doctor not trust Truck. If we could set it up that Truck was ready to turn Tony over to him, and then at the last minute Tony could get free and tell Truck, 'Thanks for getting me to the doc. Our plan worked.' Or something like that. I think that, no matter how much Truck denied it, Dr. Gannon would never trust him again."
There followed more silence, as everyone thought about what had been suggested. Suddenly Tia declared, "I have it! I think this plan will work!"
LIFE ON WITCH MOUNTAIN
By Kevin Haynes
CHAPTER 31
The "conference call" that night was amazing, even for the Homedwellers who were used to them. It was as if all of the participants - Uncle Bené, Aunt Bri, Tony, Trina, Ty, Tia, and Eric - were sitting around a table, just talking. The conversation sounded just like that, but the reality was that Uncle Bené and Aunt Bri were on New Home, Tony, Trina and Ty were in New York, and Tia and Eric were in Washington, D.C.
Tony and his new friends were in a penthouse apartment near the outskirts of New York City. Tony had never seen luxury like this - even the apartment that Mr. Bolt had set up for them when he adopted/kidnapped them wasn't this nice. Trina and Ty were blown away - Ty thought it was the best, and Trina just seemed to be in a daze. She had told Tony that never in her wildest dreams had she ever imagined living in such luxury, except, she added jokingly, if she were the live-in maid.
They set up for the conference call in a nice, comfortable parlor. If the mood had been more joyous, the call itself would have been a lot more fun. Uncle Bené and Aunt Bri welcomed the new Homedwellers exuberantly and wanted so much to tell them more about their people, but there were more pressing issues before them. Uncle Bené, after the introductions were made, started off. "The main reason we are all taking part in this conference is because we each have a different perspective on the threat to New Home that is showing up. Tony, Trina and Ty have encountered this threat directly; Tia and Eric only indirectly.
"What we need is to come up with a plan. We could simply pick up the New York trio tonight and whisk them off to New Home, but that would leave Truck with the opportunity to network more with Victor Gannon. And we know from Tia's information, supplied by her assistant, that they have been mapping the area around Witch Mountain for a while and even tried to obtain aerial photographs. That won't stop if Tony just disappears.
"Tony has already told us that he planted a tracking device on Truck. We have been monitoring it, and after moving from where Ty put the two men, it has remained stationary for about the past hour. We checked the location via satellite, and it's the local jail! So Tony, your scheme to get Truck and his associate in trouble worked. We already have an undercover Homedweller stationed outside the jail to trail him when he is released. We're also hoping to find out who pays his bail and gets him out - that could be another piece of the puzzle.
"The question now is . what next? Does anyone have any ideas?"
Tia was the first to respond. "Well, it seems obvious to me that we need to wait for Truck to get released from jail, and then follow him to wherever Dr. Gannon is."
Tony replied, "Yeah, but what if Dr. Gannon isn't even in New York? He could be in California for all we know. Do we just trail Truck until we find him, even if he doesn't go back to him for a while?"
Eric actually chimed in. "I know I'm the new guy, so if I'm off base, just let me know. It's OK . I'm a Senator, and people usually have no problem telling me what they think of me!" Everyone chuckled - it felt good to laugh. He continued, "I know that the AAAI is asking for a decision within a month. I'm the one who is supposed to present their request to the Senate committee I'm on, and they are really pressuring me to get it done quickly. I assume that they are already planning to do what they are requesting, which is to enter the Witch Mountain area and also take aerial photographs using satellites. They just want official permission to do that.
"Where I'm going with this is that I think as soon as this Truck guy gets out of jail, he'll make a beeline for this doctor. They have too much at stake to let Tony getting away from them stop their plans to track all of you down. So . my vote is to keep an eye on Truck, and be ready to follow him as soon as he's free."
It was silent for a moment, and then Trina spoke up. "I really have no experience in what you are talking about. But Eric, with all due respect, after hearing what you just said, my own thoughts turned to, 'Then what?' Let's say we follow Truck and he leads us straight to Dr. Gannon. Then what? What do we do once we have both of them? Just leaving them has never stopped them, and we can't kill them. So what we really need to discuss here is . how do we get them to stop looking for us - period?"
Tony was impressed. Trina had brought up a very good point. Apparently Uncle Bené agreed, because he said, "You are absolutely right, Trina. I'm glad you said that, since that leads us to a plan of action. I do know that, when we first got Tony and Tia home to safety, the man who was chasing them - Mr. Bolt - gave up when he saw our lifeboat take off. Seeing a 'flying saucer' apparently made him think that Tony and Tia were now unreachable. Is there anything similar we can do to make Dr. Gannon and Truck just give up?"
Again it was silent. Everyone was thinking. No one could readily think of a way to stop this for good. Tony felt deep inside that Dr. Gannon was different from Mr. Bolt. Dr. Gannon knew they were aliens and wanted them anyway; Mr. Bolt thought they were just psychic, so their being aliens made him leave them alone. That tactic just wouldn't work with the AAAI.
Suddenly, Ty spoke up. "I know! All we have to do is get them mad at each other! The only reason they are this close is because they are working together. If we get them to not trust each other, they might give up looking for us . or at least they'll have a tougher time without each other."
Tony added, "I think he's on to something. Truck told me that the only reason he was helping Dr. Gannon was because the doc offered to give him a lot of money if he led him to us. Truck's heart isn't really in this, I don't think. He just wants to get rich, and then he's out of the picture."
Uncle Bené said, "Alright, so how do we breed mistrust between these two? Is there a way that we could convince Truck that he won't get paid after all? That would make him leave us alone, it seems. But how could we do that?"
Eric spoke up. "Another idea is to make the doctor not trust Truck. If we could set it up that Truck was ready to turn Tony over to him, and then at the last minute Tony could get free and tell Truck, 'Thanks for getting me to the doc. Our plan worked.' Or something like that. I think that, no matter how much Truck denied it, Dr. Gannon would never trust him again."
There followed more silence, as everyone thought about what had been suggested. Suddenly Tia declared, "I have it! I think this plan will work!"