Chapter 6 – Thief Unmasked

As soon as it is dark, the girls cycle to the tunnel Clover drilled into Lars Ingstram's house. She concealed it with some brush, so it wouldn't be found. They are again wearing their reflective jumpsuits and analyzer/heat sensitive glasses.

"Where does the tunnel lead?" asks Alex.

"Into a storage room! I used my anti-gravity ring to block the hole with a heavy storage cabinet!" responds Clover.

"Great idea, Clover! We should be able to get in undetected. Then we can really look around!" says Sam.

"We have to be careful, Sam! There are guard patrols roaming the hallways! Including ones with dogs!" warns Clover.

The girls reach the storage room. Clover uses her contacts to make sure the room is empty before moving the storage cabinet. They make sure they put the storage cabinet back in its place after cautiously entering the storage room.

"We'll cover more ground if we split up!" says Sam.

"Ok, Sammy! I'll take the passage right in front of the door!" says Alex.

"I'll go left!" says Clover.

"That leaves right for me!" says Sam.

Alex slowly goes down her passageway. When she comes to her first door, she checks for occupants with her contact lenses. With the room empty she enters. It is a laboratory. There appears to be a lot of detergent in here for a lab! She walks up to the table, turns off her glasses and starts reading the lab notes. As she reads them, she realizes that this is one of the stolen projects! The one to change phosphates into benign substances!

But before she can reach for her compowder, a large German Shepherd makes a beeline toward her. "AHHHhhhh!" she screams as she jumps up on the lab table. Soon the room has four guards in it, each equipped with heat sensitive goggles. She is quickly apprehended.

"This is green team! Intruder apprehended!"

"Good! Good! Bring the intruder to the Interrogation Room!"

"Yes sir!"

"Unhand me, you jerk!" cries Alex, but she is soon bound and gagged.

Sam stealthily goes down her corridor. Soon she hears someone coming! She changes her boots to suction mode, and squats on the ceiling. The patrol walks right underneath her. "Phew! That was close!" she says under her breath.

She climbs down and checks the room to her right. Sweeping the room with her contacts, she can see that it is unoccupied. It is another laboratory. There are a number of bottles of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen here. She walks over to the lab table and starts reading the notes. She realizes that this is also a stolen project! The one to change greenhouse gases to water! She is about to reach for her compowder when her arms are pinned to her sides and she is lifted off her feet. "What the..????"

A guard wearing a heat hiding suit, and donning heat sensitive goggles was waiting in the room for her. "Gotcha, spy!"

"Let me go!!!!" Sam demands.

The guard is joined by three regular guards.

"This is blue team. Intruder apprehended!"

"Excellent! Bring the intruder to the Interrogation Room!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Put me do... mfffff," says Sam as she is bound and gagged.

Clover has noticed an increase in guard patrols. She decides to use the air vents to check her hallway. She lasers open a vent cover, making sure she replaces it so nothing seems amiss. She crawls through the vent until she comes to a lab. She sees two technicians working on something. She employs her sound enhancing hearing barrette.

"...and with this fuel cell project, we'll be able to clean up!" says one of the technicians.

"Sure thing! Let's get lunch!" The two technicians leave the lab.

Clover lasers open the air vent cover and walks over to the lab table.

"Why this is Sam's fuel cell project!" She reaches back to grab her compowder, when all of the sudden she is doused with knockout gas. Soon she is unconscious.

The two technicians re-enter the lab with gas masks on, and heat sensitive goggles. They walk up to Clover, binding and gagging her.

"This is red team. Intruder apprehended!"

"Bring the intruder to the Interrogation Room!"

"Yes sir!"

Sam, Alex and the still unconscious Clover find themselves in the Interrogation Room. The guards have sprayed their reflective suits with a luminescent pink paint. They are plainly visible now!

Soon Lars Ingstram joins them.

"So, you are my intruders, eh?"

The girls don't respond.

"Why did you break into my home? Are you thieves?"

"We're not! You are!", says Alex. "I saw the stolen Pembroke science project on phosphate conversion in your lab!"

"And I saw the stolen greenhouse gas conversion one in another lab!" says an angry Sam.

"Tsk! Tsk! And your unconscious friend saw the stolen fuel cell project in a third lab!

"Yes, you are right! I am the thief. I can make billions with these projects!"

"But as soon as the project hits the market, everyone will know that they are the stolen projects, and you'll be shut down!" says Sam.

"Oh, I don't think so! Do you think the international community is going to bother itself over three stolen high school projects? Not likely! I'll market the products in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and South America! After I have been producing them for a few years, then I'll bring them to North America! By that time no one will be able to prove that these are the stolen science projects from three years ago! Plus I'll have a few years of production under my belt. It would be next to impossible for someone to prove that these products weren't developed by me!"

Sam is angry. He is right! The international police organizations aren't going to place a high priority on finding stolen high school science fair projects. And after he has produced the stolen products for a few years, it would be impossible to prove that he stole the ideas!

"It is really too bad you three found out my secret. This is the only reason I joined the Pembroke Society in the first place! So I could get some revolutionary ideas for profitable products at no cost! I will resign from the Society after I start producing these products."

"What do we do with these girls?" asks a guard.

"We have more than enough carbon monoxide to develop our greenhouse gas conversion process! Put them in a storage room with a bottle of carbon monoxide and open the bottle! They'll be dead within the hour!"

"Yes sir!"

Clover finally came to, just as Lars decided the girls' fate. All three girls are taken to a storage room. A bottle of carbon monoxide is brought in and opened to maximum.

"This will take care of you spies!" says the last guard as he leaves.