Chapter 5

"An Additional Resource"

Having just met Ivan Nureyev and gaining an insight into why Pan Am failed to protect his students from danger, I knew that we were going to need additional help in this case. So, who did we turn to? None other than the third member of our team, whom I took the opportunity to call when the moment came.

As for what Becky was doing at the moment, she was probably doing what she does best…snooping around the Chicago underworld while May and I were looking into expanding our business.

"Hello?" I heard her ask.

"Becky, it's Rally," I answered. "You got a minute?"

"Um, well I don't really have anything going on so…what's up?"

"Hey, have you been following what's going with Pan Am 103?"

Naturally, Becky was not one to follow international news as her forte was focusing on the Chicago underworld. But it seemed like she had some knowledge about it.

"The plane that went down over Lockerbie?"

"Lockerbie?"

"That is the town in Scotland where the plane went down."

Now, just as a disclaimer, I didn't know at the time what the name of the town where Flight 103 went down was until Becky told me at that moment.

"Yes, thanks for reminding me," I muttered in sheer embarrassment. "We've been investigating the downing for a day and I think that Team Rocket must have something to do with this."

"Team Rocket? Don't they focus on stealing and selling Pokemon to the highest bidder or something like that?"

"Not in this case," I answered, flipping the bottom of my necktie slightly. "They use Pokemon to attack innocent trainers and kill them, so they can just steal their Pokemon off their corpses. If you can, see if you can investigate whether any Team Rocket spies are employed with Pan Am."

"Spies?"

"You're our informant, aren't you?" I remarked with a blank expression. "Go see if Pan Am has had any employees with connections to Team Rocket. Because if my hunch is correct, then that bomb may have been smuggled. See if you can get anything and also…"

"Also what?"

"Be sure to be flexible in your availability," I reminded. "Because we may need you to come out here."

"Even on Christmas Day?" Becky asked, but to me, Christmas was the last thing on my mind.

"Yes, even on Christmas Day," I sighed with a hint of reluctance, feeling somewhat sorry that Becky would have to take time out of her holiday to help with the investigation. "Sorry about this, Becky, but we are being paid to hunt down and bring to justice the one responsible for the bombing over Scotland. If we do this, then we can expand Gunsmith Cats to New York."

Becky fell silent for a moment, then she responded.

"I understand, keep me up to date on your end, Rally. See you."

"Bye."

Hanging up the phone, I turned back to May, who had been listening to what we were saying.

"You just had to wreck her Christmas plans, did you?"

"In a way, our plans have been wrecked, May," I sighed. "Trust me, I didn't expect our Christmas to end up like this."

"You and me both," May remarked. "So now what do we do?"

"We go look at the list of the students from the Pokemon League Entrance Academy that were on Flight 103 and see if there were any Pokemon that Team Rocket specifically targeted."

Having made the call, May and I left the North Tower to meet back up with Bill.

Back in Chicago, Becky left her apartment and was making her way over to Chicago's O'Hare Airport to meet up with Pan Am workers to start her own branch of the investigation.

"So much for having a quiet Christmas with my family," she sighed as she drove towards O'Hare. "Take a combination of a plane bombing and a deal to find out who is responsible to put a dent in your holiday plans. Well, Rally and May are my friends and I can't let them down."

Approaching O'Hare Airport, Becky got out and proceeded towards Terminal 3, where Pan Am was based out of in Chicago. The cold December weather made her shiver, but all she could do was bundle up and think of what needed to be done. Becky was a team member of Gunsmith Cats and it was important for her and both of us to remember one thing…that there were no "I"'s in teams, even during important holidays.

Approaching the ticket counter, Becky saw two Alert Management agents doing what they were paid to do…go through the luggage of airline passengers.

"Excuse me, Ma'am," called a voice and a Pan Am manager approached Becky. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Yes," Becky answered to the male manager, knowing she had to keep her affiliation with us a secret. "Is there a Pan Am representative I can talk to? I'm doing a story about the Pan Am 103 bombing."

Almost immediately, the manager was taken aback by what Becky had asked him.

"Well, young lady, you certainly aren't going to find anything here in Chicago," he said nervously. "Pan Am 103 was supposed to end in Detroit, not Chicago. If you want something about the bombing, talk to them."

"All right, are there any flights to Detroit available?" Becky asked.

"On United out of Terminal 1, not Pan Am."

"Very well then," Becky sighed as she turned towards the exit. "Might as well head over to Terminal 1, then."

"And in the future," cautioned the manager. "You will show me your credentials before talking to me or any of my employees. Our company is going through enough trouble as it is."

Becky said nothing and proceeded to leave, having been harshly reprimanded for doing what her true purpose was in our organization.

"Guess Rally was right," she whispered to herself. "Looks like I have to be flexible in this matter."