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Chapter 6
"The List of Students"
Having given Becky her assignment, much to her chagrin however, we set about the task of collecting the list of students from the Pokemon League Admissions Academy that were on Flight 103. Something else was racing through my mind as I had another suspicion about Flight 103's crash site. Why would a plane seemingly be blown out of the sky when it was intentionally targeted?
"Hey May, do you remember when that Air India jet exploded off the coast of Ireland three years ago?" I asked as we returned to the Marriott World Trade Center.
"Yeah, it was a bad year to fly."
"Something tells me that if Team Rocket wanted to blow Flight 103 out of the sky, why would they blow it up over Scotland? Maybe they were looking to bring the jet down over the ocean and something must have prevented it from happening."
"Like a delay?"
"Better have Becky question the airport where the plane took off from, London Heathrow. See if there were any airport delays on December 21st that may have kept Flight 103 from taking off on time."
It was clear to me that the bombing of Pan Am 103 was meant to take place out over the Atlantic or even off the coast of Ireland for that matter. The bombing of Air India Flight 182 three years earlier continued to play out through my mind like a broken record.
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Still, we had to get the truth about the list of students who were on Flight 103 and no sooner did we come back into the lobby was Bill standing there again.
"I thought to give you the list myself, but he was adamant to give it to you," he said.
"You didn't coax him into doing so, did you?" I asked suspiciously, given Bill's overall nature and history with me and May.
"Of course not, Pussycat."
Saying nothing, I walked past Bill and went into the elevator along with May.
"So, apparently, he has about…"
"We'll believe it when we see it," I interrupted sharply. "No spoilers!"
Coming up to the 21st floor, we proceeded to Room 2103 and there inside was Ivan.
"Hello again, Ms. Vincent," Ivan said, allowing us into the room. "I've come up with a list of the students who were on Flight 103 or at least they were not supposed to be."
As we entered, we saw a Pikachu hand me the list of students.
"Yours?"
"Yes, Pikachu is one of my Pokemon that works with me at the academy. It's been hard for all of us."
"All of you?"
"Yes, Pikachu, Ivysaur, Charizard. We all love our students and want the best for them. They didn't deserve this."
Ivan joined his Pikachu on the bed and sat down as I went through the list of students. All of the students were listed by their name, age and hometown in the United States.
"Hmm, looks like they were all from New York and New Jersey," I remarked. "8 boys and 4 girls."
"Most of them were from upstate New York," Ivan answered as he stroked his Pikachu's head. "Syracuse, New York to be exact."
"There were also 35 students from Syracuse University that were on Flight 103," added Bill. "According to what I've learned, they were studying abroad in London and Florence and were returning home for the holidays."
Almost immediately, I began to think back to the one woman at Kennedy Airport that was crying and screaming on the floor of Pan Am's worldport the previous night.
"Maybe that's why that mother was…"
"Yes, that's it, May," I said to May, turning around to face her. "That's why. Team Rocket must have stooped so low an extra level. I get them targeting Pokemon trainers, but not college students."
"In their line of work, no one is spared, Ms. Vincent," said Ivan. "It's a shame, really. Team Rocket nor any kind of organization that steals Pokemon to harm others should be allowed to exist in any way. The entire world has been at war with Team Rocket ever since that insane woman founded it after the war."
"You mean, Madame Boss?" I asked. "I don't know her real name, but I have heard of her actions."
"Her real name is Elizabeth Sakami and she is public enemy number one according to the United Nations and especially the United States and Israel," explained Bill. "Her idelogy is to wipe out every single nation and that nation's people on this planet using Pokemon and replace that nation with Team Rocket with her at the top. She is dangerous and will stop at nothing until her goal is obtained."
I then reached into my holster again and this time, pulled out my weapon, a .344 magnum made by Smith and Wesson. Naturally, this caused Ivan and his Pikachu to be taken aback.
"What is that?" Ivan asked.
"This is one of my best weapons, a .344 Magnum revolver that would blow your head clean off if you come face to face with it. Inside, if needed, is a bullet with Madam Boss's name on it."
However, Bill was quick to stop my train of thought, much to my annoyance.
"Now hold on, Pussycat," Bill advised. "What if the governments want her alive to stand trial?"
"It's a waste of taxpayer money, Bill. Sometimes you have to be the judge, jury and executioner if need be. That's the life of a bounty hunter."
As I spoke, I looked down at the .344 magnum and challenging my inner Clint Eastwood, I began to exalt myself with the task in front of me to find Elizabeth Sakami and bring her to justice, dead or alive.
"But I won't act until everything we uncover ties her directly to the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103," I finished. "But first, have the families on this list been notified?"
"Not all, there are a few on there and some of them actually live in the city. That's part of the reason why I came out here..to personally be there for them."
It was then that I gave myself an idea.
"Ivan, we're going with you to talk to these families," I declared. "Because they need reassurance that justice will be served."
All Ivan could do was sit there dumbfounded and somewhat taken aback by my declaration of meeting with some of the families. But, as I said, they needed reassurance that justice was indeed going to be served to them and I was going to do everything in my power to ensure that Elizabeth Sakami would not go unpunished.
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