Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Sorry, it took so long to get this chapter up. Thank you for being patience and for your reviews. Working towards a degree in sports business eats up a lot of time. Ok, the usual…I don't own 'Where On Earth is Carmen Sandiego?' Dic does. However, I DO own Deric Storm and Dan O'Myte. Epilogue should not take as long to put up.
Chapter 4: Storm Before the Calm
Outside Smithsonian Museum, Washington, D.C.
"Alright detective," the paramedic said as he finished wrapping up Ivy's bruised ribs, "you're all set. I just have to get the release forms and you can go."
"Thanks," Ivy said, wincing in pain as she put her shirt back on. Zack was approaching the ambulance as she finished signing the medical release forms.
"You alright, Ivy?" Zack asked his sister.
"I've had better days, Zack." Ivy said, rubbing her shoulder. "So, what's up?"
"We have Carmen's clue." Zack said as the two began walking towards where the Chief's head was currently floating. There was a TV and VCR set up. Carmen had left a VHS videocassette at the display of her latest theft, the spacesuits of the Apollo 11 space-flight. "Alright, Chief," Zack said to the floating head that led ACME, "let's see what's on the tape."
The tape in question contained footage of Frank Sinatra singing "Fly Me to the Moon." Ivy wondered what the reason was that Carmen had been using musical clues dealing with the moon recently. She sat down, hoping to discern the answer from the tape.
Infirmary, VILE HQ
"Ok, Deric," Sara Bellum said, completing checking out Deric's VILE medical charts, "you're all checked out. The only real injury is a mild strain of the ligaments in your right shoulder. Just ice it daily and you should be fine." Deric got off the examination table and put his shirt back on.
"Thanks, Sara." Deric winced a little when he lifted his arm to put it in the t-shirt. "Considering I basically threw myself into a display at about thirty-five miles an hour, I feel pretty good." He said, stretching before wincing once again from some pain in his shoulder.
"You do realize that you're just wasting your talents here with Carmen." Sara said, out of the blue.
"Is that right?" Deric asked, wondering what Sara was talking about.
"I have a big heist in the works." Sara said, putting away the medical equipment. "Come work with me, and I'll make it worth your while with some real mischief."
"What can you offer that Carmen can't?" Deric asked, really skeeved out by a possible answer he thought Sara might offer.
"How does three hundred million dollars sound?" Sara asked, a small smirk on her face.
'Great googly-moogly, that's a crap-load of money…' Deric blanched at the thought. "It sounds like a helluva lot of money. How'd you come across that much green?"
"A 'client' has offered to pay 1 billion dollars for delivery of a vital American landmark to a location in Saudi Arabia. He wants to send a message about the financial might of the Middle East." Sara said, barely above a whisper. "Interested?"
"Very." Deric said, shocked that an Arabian buyer would finance a plot to steal and deliver an American landmark, post-9/11. "But, can I think about it and give you my answer after I get back from California?"
"I can wait a little while, but not long." Sara answered. "We're on a tight timetable."
"What are you being hired to steal anyway?"
"That's a surprise." Sara joked. "Let's just say, it would be on the way back form Carmen's next target."
'Great…' Deric thought, 'That only leaves every landmark east of Yellowstone' "I can't get one hint, Sara?" Deric pleaded, flashing his trademark smirk.
"You would need a big bucket to clean up after the heist." Deric's eyes widened with the possibilities.
"I'll get back to you, Sara." Deric said, leaving the infirmary.
- - - - - - - - -
ACME HQ, San Francisco
Ivy rewound the tape and watched Frank Sinatra sing again,
Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like
On a-Jupiter and Mars
'Moon…Stars…' Ivy thought, rewinding the tape again. 'What does it all mean?' She pushed play and watched the video again. After the video finished for the fifth time, Ivy thought about the items Carmen had already stolen. There had to be a connection. "So far, she's stolen the crown of Louis XIV and the spacesuit of Neil Armstrong." Ivy thought aloud, "What could this clue be hinting at?" Could it be the music? The last clue had led them to the spacesuit of Neil Armstrong. 'Armstrong was the first man to walk on the moon.' Ivy thought, 'But how does that connect to the crown of King Louis XIV?'
"Chief, can you cross-reference 'Neal Armstrong' and 'Louis the XIV'?" Ivy asked, hoping ACME's vast database could find a connection where she couldn't. The screen changed from the image of the Chief to show the almost limitless amount of factual information in ACME's CrimeNet database, not to be confused with the CrimeNet paramilitary group of ACME.
- - - - - - - - -
"Dan, how are things going on your end?" Carmen turned to Dan O'Myte, VILE's demolitions expert. Deric couldn't help but snicker inwardly at some of the names of the head henchmen in VILE. 'It has to be an alias.' Deric thought.
Dan stood up and gave his report, "The charges are all in place and ready to go." Deric couldn't keep his focus on Dan's report on the distribution of the charges around the base of the Chinese Theater. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sara scribbling notes furiously. It made him wonder who else Sara had made her offer to, as well as what Sara was hired to steal. Deric had narrowed it down to a piece of the Grand Canyon, a stretch of the Utah Salt Flats, or one of the casinos in Las Vegas. Deric shifted his focus back to the meeting when Carmen re-took the floor. Carmen gave out the assignments as to who was leading what chopper. In one chopper was Carmen, himself, and Al Loy. In the other chopper, were Sara, Dan, and the two nitwits. With the assignments given, the meeting dispersed so everyone could rest and prepare for the trip to the US. Deric noticed as he left that Sara was talking to Dan about the notes she had taken throughout his report.
- - - - - - - - - -
ACME HQ, San Francisco
"Hot tip, gumshoes." The Chief appeared suddenly, all excited, "ACME just got an anonymous tip on Carmen's next heist." Ivy and Zack looked at each other with a shocked expression.
"Where?" both detectives asked.
"Mann's Chinese Theater, in Hollywood." Zack smacked his forehead with his palm.
"Of course," Zack, said, enlightened. "Let me play among the stars. Now it makes perfect sense. We were thinking of the wrong 'stars,' Ive."
"Well," Ivy said, getting up and grabbing her bomber jacket, "what are we waiting for? Let's go! We can catch Carmen and put an end to this little chase." She said with a lot of enthusiasm. 'Also, it'll give me another shot at that cocky punk Deric Storm.' Ivy thought with a somewhat sinister smile on her face. The two younger detectives sprinted out the door to the site of Carmen's intended target.
- - - - - - - - - -
Deric looked around at the people walking by him as he was setting up the charges that would loosen the foundation and allow VILE to steal the Chinese Theater. Dressed in the counterfeit uniform that was supplied to him, no one even noticed him. On the far side of the wall, Dan O'Myte was setting up the other part of the charge, which was actually designed by Sara Bellum. The charges actually dug into the ground about two feet, which helped keep the building's foundation from falling apart when it was being lifted. Deric didn't know the whole deal behind the charges; he just hoped they got the job done.
"All right," Dan said after setting a charge halfway down the wall from Deric, "that's the last charge. Let's light this candle." As Dan was about to hit the trigger, police cars swarmed down the street, screeching to a halt in front of the landmark theater.
"THIS IS THE ACME DETECTIVE AGENCY ALONG WITH THE LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT." One of the officers with a megaphone said. "WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED. SURRENDER PEACEFULLY."
"Yeah, right." Dan said as he tossed a charge at the police which created a smokescreen, allowing the thieves to momentarily escape captured. The VILE agents scattered, with some trying to run behind the theater. Carmen, of course, sped away easily from the scene. Dan and Sara Bellum ran towards their chopper to use as a getaway. Deric, Moe and Lars ran down a back alley near the theater. Al Loy and some of the other nameless henchmen were apprehended by the authorities.
Deric followed Moe & Lars down the nearest alleyway. The plan had gone right to hell in a hand basket. Somehow, ACME had found out exactly when they were going to steal Mann's Chinese Theater and set up a trap. When ACME agents and the police flooded out of the theater, everyone scattered. Al Loy was apprehended almost immediately. Carmen sped away in one direction, Sara and Dan in another, and Deric was following Moe and Lars who had a good 100 yards head-start on him.
Deric followed Moe and Lars down an alleyway, where he saw them climbing up a fire escape. As he sped towards the ladder, Moe spotted him and pulled ladder up and out of reach. 'Okay, so that's how you want to play.' Deric thought as he continued to run towards the fire escape. He jumped onto a dumpster and then propelled himself off the wall and grabbed onto the fire escape to pull himself up. Deric quickly ascended up the fire escape to the building's roof. He found Moe and Lars looking over the side trying to find a way down or to the next building. Both spotted the younger thief and began to walk towards Deric with malice in their eyes.
Lars picked up a 2x4 which was lying nearby and stalked towards the younger thief. Moe found a metal chain and did the same. Deric got into a ready fighting stance to defend himself, yet kept an ear open for oncoming police sirens.
"Guys, can we settle this later?" Deric reasoned, "Handcuffs don't go well with my Irish complexion."
"There's no way we're gonna let some young punk make us look foolish." Moe said, moving closer to Deric.
"Yeah, you've made us look stupid for the last time…" Lars said.
"I kinda doubt that." Deric muttered under his breath. Lars was the first one to swing. Deric dodged the first swing and caught the 2x4 on the second pass and used it to catch the chain swung by Moe. The chain wrapped around the board and was hooked by a nail imbedded in the wood. As Moe and Lars each pulled on their weapons to try and free them, Deric used where the chain and wood were joined as a balance point for a jumping split kick which knocked out the two inept criminals. Deric kip upped and looked down at the two. "Morons," Deric spat as he straightened up his clothes and exited the scene.
Deric was a few blocks away when he finally slowed down. Ducking into a nearby alleyway, he striped off the counterfeit maintenance uniform revealing regular clothes and an extra pair of shoes. Tossing the uniform and boots into a nearby dumpster, Deric put on a baseball cap and proceeded to walk out the other end of the alleyway, blending in with the mass of humanity walking throughout Los Angeles.
After walking a few miles, Deric pulled out a cell phone from his pocket and dialed a number. "Hey…" he said, into the phone, "Yeah, I got away. No, they didn't." After listening to the voice on the other end, he asked, "Where do you want me to meet you?" Listening again, he said, "Understood." Closing the cell phone, Deric then proceeded down the nearest subway entrance.
Two hours later, Deric met up with Carmen at an abandoned air field out side of Los Angeles. Once both were on board the helicopter, they started heading northeast.
"I was surprised when you called me, Deric." Carmen admitted when they were in the air. "I had thought you were in Sara's helicopter. With all the chaos, I wasn't able to keep track of who went with whom."
Deric gave her a puzzled look. "I figured Sara would have contacted you already." Carmen shook her head no. Some of the color went out of Deric's face. "Oh crap…" he thought aloud.
"What's wrong?" Carmen asked.
"Sara came up to me a few weeks ago and asked if I wanted to be part of a side job." Deric said. "I asked her what the job was and she told me it would be to steal something located on the way back from this caper. Quick, name some landmarks which we would be flying over." Carmen mentioned the Grand Canyon, the Luxor, Caesar's Palace, and some of the other famous hotels on the Las Vegas strip, the Hoover Dam… The light suddenly went on in Deric's head. "The Hoover Dam… Of course, it makes perfect sense now." Carmen was still puzzled. "Sara was hired by some Middle Eastern men to steal something which would show how easily the US could be crippled. If you steal the Hoover dam, you take out one of America's most vibrant cities and cause billions in damage in the process." With a serious look on his face, Deric said, "Can we track Sara's chopper with this thing?"
"Yes," Carmen answered, "we just need to set the radar frequency to the other chopper's black box." Carmen began to change some of the radar's settings. "We're going to need a little help on this as well, Deric. I'm going to call ACME." Deric was shocked. Why in the hell should they work with the people whose sole purpose in life is to put them behind bars? Deric didn't like it but acquiesced to the wisdom of the famous thief as she put in the call to ACME. Carmen explained the situation to the Chief who agreed to work together. Carmen told them where to meet her and Deric.
- - - - - - - - - -
"I don't trust them." Ivy said when the connection with Carmen ended. "It's gotta be a trap."
"Maybe," Zack said, "but what if it isn't? Could you imagine the amount of damage that would be caused by trying to blow a part of the Hoover Dam off?" Ivy stopped to think about that. Any damage to the Hoover Dam could cause billions in damage and countless lives lost. "Besides, Ivy, when has Carmen ever wanted to cause that much damage trying to steal something?"
"All right, I get your point." Ivy groaned. This impromptu partnership would mean working with that cocky bastard, Deric Storm. If it meant saving the dam and the residents of the nearby towns, she could play ball.
They met Carmen and Deric at the agreed upon rendezvous point. Carmen and Deric were already waiting there with Dan O'Myte and some of the minor henchmen knocked out and tied up. Ivy thought they were doing this as a phony show of good faith. She wasn't buying it however.
"I don't see why we need them," Ivy said, looking at Deric with thinly concealed disgust, "We could probably find Sara better on our own."
Deric snorted. "Whatever, Princess. You would never have known about this until it was too late." He winked at Ivy with a hint of arrogance. "Admit it; you need us as much as we need you right now."
"Let's try to focus here, children." Carmen said, taking charge, "Deric, play nice." The younger thief held his hands up in surrender. "Ivy, Zack, trust me, this isn't a trick to get rid of you two. Here's the plan, we'll split up and head to opposite ends of the Dam and work our way towards the middle." Carmen handed the two detectives a radio from the chopper. "We'll use these to keep in contact with each other."
"How do we know you won't abandon us five minutes later?" Ivy asked, staring a hole right through Deric, who growled something about good faith in response.
"Ivy, let it go for now." Zack said, being a voice of reason, "We can arrest them later." With that, the two teams split up. Zack and Ivy headed for the Nevada side of the Dam while Carmen and Deric headed for the Arizona side. Both teams began searching frantically through every room they could find. Zack and Ivy also rounded up the various henchmen they found throughout the dam, and had them C-5'd to the proper authorities. But still, they could not find Sara Bellum.
Around the same time, Carmen and Deric were having the same kind of luck as they entered the main engineering section of the Hoover Dam. Luck was with them though as Carmen and Deric found Sara setting most of the charges in an engineering room. To Carmen's surprise and disapproval, Deric brought out two handguns.
"Deric, you know my rule about firearms on heists."
"Don't worry, boss." Deric said, removing one of the ammunition clips, "They're rubber bullets. I'm not going to try and kill her." Deric winked to show Carmen he wasn't a cold-blooded monster. They moved stealthily along the walls until they were almost right behind Sara. Deric cocked the guns which cause the mad scientist to turn around.
"Stop it now, Sara." Deric said, brandishing two handguns. "This is insane. Thousands of people'll die if you blow apart the dam." To emphasize his point, Deric cocked the two pistols.
Carmen flashed a small smile. "You are right, detective," Carmen said right at Deric, who paled instantly, "she is insane. However, I don't think shooting her will solve any problems."
"How long?" Deric asked, wondering when Carmen found out his secret.
"Carmen, what are you talking about?" Sara Bellum asked, really confused at the situation.
"Deric is an ACME detective working undercover." Carmen said plainly, as if it was common knowledge. "But, Deric, to answer your question, I always had my suspicions. What settled it was your attitude change after we stole the spacesuit, you seemed like you were really hiding something." Deric kicked himself inwardly at the revelation. Taking a steeling breath, Deric pointed one of the guns at Carmen.
"Carmen Sandiego," Deric said with a hint of regret in his voice, "you're under arrest." Sara began to fiddle with the wiring when Deric's attention was split. Turning his head, Deric said, "I thought I ordered you to freeze, Sara. Don't make me shoot you. Rubber bullets won't kill but they'll sting like hell."
"You must choose, Deric," Sara said, still fiddling with the last charge, "arrest me or Carmen."
'Oh hell.' Deric thought, as he realized his predicament. In his current position, there was no way he could get both criminals. Arresting Carmen would make him a hero and a legend at ACME, but it would allow Sara Bellum to destroy the Hoover Dam and kill countless thousands and cause billions in damage with the ensuing flood. Arresting Sara would save the dam and the nearby cities, but would ruin over a year of undercover work by letting Carmen Sandiego walk away. Deric sighed and made his choice. "Vaya con Dios, Carmen." He said, pointing both guns at Sara. "Sara Bellum, you're under arrest." Deric said, approaching the mad scientist. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."
"I also have the right to run away." Sara said, breaking into a run… until she collided into a hanging pipe and knocked herself senseless. Deric couldn't help but laugh hysterically. He put the cuffs on Sara and then set about trying to disarm the triggering explosive.
"Zack, Ivy…" Deric spoke into the radio he was given, "it's Deric. I've found Sara and the trigger bomb. We're in Engineering room A-4." That was on the other side of the dam from where the two detectives were.
"Chief, can we C-5 to Deric's location?" Zack asked. The Chief nodded and seconds later the C-5 Corridor appeared. As soon as it opened, the two siblings jumped right in. Zack and Ivy landed right where Deric and the unconscious Sara Bellum were. Deric was still tinkering with the "trigger" bomb, trying to disarm it and save the dam. Carmen, however, was nowhere to be found.
"Where's Carmen?" Ivy demanded.
"She split. I stayed. Deal." Deric said, not even looking up, still checking over the set-up of the triggering explosive, which read three minutes, forty seconds before detonation. Zack was putting a set of handcuffs on the unconscious Sara Bellum, and putting in a call for a C-5 pickup. Seconds later, the blue sphere appeared, with its destination being ACME HQ.
"Deric, we gotta go." Ivy pleaded as the C-5 corridor appeared.
"I'm not done yet!" Deric snapped as he tried to find a way to detach the bomb from the wall without setting it off. Zack dragged the VILE mad scientist through, and let Ivy try to talk the brash thief into coming as well.
"Jesus, Deric," Ivy pleaded, exasperated, "For once, will you try not to play the hero. We've done all we can. The towns are evacuated, so collateral damage will be at a minimum. Let's g…" Ivy never had a chance to finish her sentence as Deric grabbed her and kissed her deeply. Ivy was too stunned to speak, which even made Deric's trademark grin widen.
"I've been waiting two months to do that." Deric smirked. Handing Ivy a piece of paper, he said, "Here's where the stuff Carmen and I stole is located. Make sure they go back where they belong." before he grabbed Ivy and pushed her through the C-5 corridor. Watching it close behind her, Deric went back to trying to diffuse the bomb. Seeing only two minutes remaining on the timer, Deric just decided 'to hell with it' and yanked on the whole bomb. When it didn't explode in his hands, Deric breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, feeling victorious.
Then, reality set in. "Great googly-moogly." Deric said out loud, "I've got a bomb in my hands with enough power to blow a large hole in the Hoover Dam. What in the bluest of blue hells am I doing sitting here?" Getting up, Deric sprinted towards the outside entrance.
- - - - - - - - - -
ACME Headquarters, San Francisco
Ivy materialized in the control center back at ACME headquarters. Looking around, Ivy quickly became aware of her surroundings. She saw Zack typing frantically on the computer and the Chief floating around nervously. She immediately got up and ran to the terminal.
"Can we C-5 him out of there?" Ivy asked, almost panicking. Zack, still typing frantically, shook his head.
"No," Zack said. "He doesn't have a C-5 communicator to lock on." Ivy's eyes widened.
"Send me back then." Ivy said, heading towards the C-5 launch bay. "I'll grab him and you can use my signal to lock on."
"No way, Ivy!" Chief said, very nervous. "It's too dangerous. What if you land just as the bomb is exploding? I'm not sacrificing two people at the same time." The computer was currently displaying a live feed from the Hoover Dam. As Ivy was staring down the Chief, a large explosion was seen on the screen. The two detectives just stood there, looks of horror plastered on their faces.
"Nobody could survive an explosion like that." Zack stammered.