Chapter 6: That Piercing Feeling
The gals wake up to find themselves handcuffed in a standing position, to a blank wall. Directly in front of them, about twenty feet away is a huge tunnel boring machine, twenty feet in diameter. The face of the machine is covered with cutting and grinding edges, to pulverize stone and tunnel through bedrock. After the rock is pulverized, a conveyor removes the small chunks backward, where they are hauled away by truck.
"I see my sleeping beauties have awakened!" said Myster, over the intercom.
"Not funny, much!" grumbled Alex under her breath.
"I don't think I have to explain what is going to happen – you girls are intelligent enough to figure that out! Too bad I can't watch your end, but the machine would pulverize my camera too, and those are expensive! Jared will start the machine up, Barbara will make sure that the compute control program has the machine aimed properly, and Laslo will release the brake and start it on its merry way!"
"You've thought of everything, Myster!" said Clover sarcastically.
"Yes, I always do!"
Then addressing Jared, Barbara, and Laslo, Myster continued.
"Now, after you start the machine on its way, bring me the four real diamonds and meet me in my study!"
"Okay, Myster!" replied Barbara.
Within minutes, the huge tunneling machine was moving toward the spies, and Barbara, Jared, and Laslo were gone. They only had about 10 minutes to think of something.
"What do we do, Sammie? They took our lockpicks!" asked an excited Alex.
"Easy, Alex! Remember our metal cutter mood rings!" Said Sam, as she and Clover started using theirs to cut through their handcuff linking chains.
"Oh, yeah! Right!" replied Alex, as she followed suit.
With about 4 minutes to spare, and the machine about four feet away they are free!
"Quick! Drill into the side of this tunnel, get in, and stay in, until the machine passes us!" said Clover.
All three spies go over to the sides of the tunnel, and using the drill part of their combo boots, are just able to dig a hole big enough to squeeze into, just as the cutting tip passes their position. They continue drilling until their three mini-tunnels meet.
Clover asks, "Everyone okay?"
"I am!" replied Alex.
But Sam was quiet.
Alarmed, Alex cries out, "Sammie?" and runs to her.
"Oh, sorry, Alex!" Sam sniffed.
"What's wrong?" a concerned Clover asked.
"That infernal machine cut about five inches off my hair!" Sam said forlornly.
"Are you alright, besides that?" asked a concerned Alex.
"Yes!" replied Sam.
Then she said angrily, "Myster, you are going to PAY for this!"
"I agree, Sammie, but what's the plan? Myster has security cameras in every tunnel, and probably in all the air vents too, just like before!" stated Clover.
"Why don't we tunnel just above the air vents, and follow the vents to his lair?" asked Alex.
"That's BRILLIANT, Alex! We'll go undetected, and can still move about freely! Myster won't know we are still alive!" said Sam enthusiastically.
From their current position, Alex starts digging their tunnel. Soon they are using their combo contacts and sound enhancing earrings to listen in on Myster and his three cronies, in his study. As per his Modus Operandi, the gals can see, as expected, the executive chair is empty, except for a speaker.
"I'm going to use the electronic signal tracer glasses, and see if I can trace where Myster's electronic connection is!" whispered Clover. She began to tunnel around Myster's study, as Sam and Alex nodded their approval.
Meanwhile, in the study, Myster is giving out final instructions to his crew.
"Take the diamonds, and rendezvous at our San Diego location. We'll send our ransom demands from there."
"What if the owners refuse to pay the ransom?" asked Barbara.
"Then we offer the gems on the Black Market to the highest bidder. We may even get a higher price there! If the price there is inadequate, we'll cut the diamonds up, and sell the pieces!
"I'll give you thirty minutes before I set off the explosions to destroy this hideout!"
"Why do you have to destroy this place? Those pests are rubble now and can't hurt us!" asked Jared.
"No, but that Otten diamond, before we destroyed it, must have had tracking devices in it, or those girls couldn't have found us! In light of that, WOOHP also knows where this hideout is too, so we've got to evacuate, and destroy all the evidence here!"
"No problem, Boss! We're on our way, as are our guards!" said Laslo.
"Good, Laslo! Now get going! I'm starting the timer now!"
Sam replied to Alex, as they watched the departure, "Alex! Follow those three, and see if you can attach a tracking barrette on one of them, so we can recover the diamonds!"
"Right, Sammie! I'm drilling now!"
"I'll see if I can help Clover track down Myster!" and Sam followed Clover's tunnel.
It took her about fifteen minutes to get to Clover, who had tunneled to the surface, but remained out of sight.
"Clover?" Sam asked quietly.
"Hi, Sammie! I traced Myster's electronic signal to this broadcasting dish. You'll never guess where it originates!"
"Where?" asked an anxious Sam.
"At WOOHP! I was able to trace it to room 1917, in the Communications Lab!"
"Then that means Myster works at WOOHP!"
"Exactly!"
"We'd better call Jerry!" and Sam whipped out her x-powder. But Clover prevented her from using it.
Sam was confused.
But Clover said, "No, Sammie! If Myster is someone at WOOHP, and he uses the Communications Lab, chances are good hey'll monitor all incoming and outgoing messages! We'll be tipping Myster off!"
"I never thought of that, Clover! You're right!" replied Sam, as she closed her x-powder.
"Myster is going to start blowing up this place in another ten minutes! We'd better find our cycles, and git!" said Sam.
"Okay, but where is Alex?"
"Right behind Sammie" she replied. "I shot a tracker barrette onto the car the trio took, as well as one on each ones' boot heel!"
"Great job, Alex! But we've got to get out of here! This place goes up in eight minutes, thirty-three seconds!" said Clover.
With that the spies tunnel toward their cycles, and end up right next to them. They then use their electronic signal tracer glasses to locate any security cameras. There was one, in a cactus, above the bikes. They then waited for the explosions to start, used their laser lipsticks to destroy the camera, and got on their cycles.
They took off just in the nick of time, as an explosion ripped open a gaping hole right where their cycles were, only one minute after take off!
"Phew! That was close!" remarked a relieved Alex.
"Yes, but now we have to follow up on Myster," said Clover.
"You got a fix?" asked Alex excitedly.
"Yes, he works at WOOHP!" answered Sam.
"Oh, that reminds me, I need to call WOOHP to have them follow Jared, Barbara, and Laslo!", remarked Alex, as she was about to use her x-powder.
But Clover stopped her in time, "No, Alex! That will tip Myster off that we are still alive! We need to catch him first!"
