"Dang it!" Pete Latimer whined as he emerged from the Warehouse Portal, only to see a large gun being pointed at him by a petite, tan woman with long black hair. Leena was already cuffed and standing against the wall, and Pete joined her within half a second, after reaching for his badge and letting the butt of his Tesla be seen.
Within the next minute, Artie, Steve, and Myka had arrived and were apprehended. Now cuffed, all five were headed to what seemed to be the petite woman's office.
"Look, Miss-"Artie began.
"Lupo. Jo Lupo, head of security here at GD." The woman answered sharply.
"Miss Lupo, this is all just a big misunderstanding." Artie continued, trying to reason with her.
"Right. A 'misunderstanding' is how you ended up in Section 5." She said sarcastically.
"Yes, actually." Pete answered, then watched through a Plexiglas wall as the woman made a call, waited a second, cursed, then dialed another number.
"Carter? Hey, it's Jo." She said, then paused for a second, listening. "Look, I've got a bunch of trespassers here who somehow managed to teleport themselves into Section 5, and Fargo isn't picking up his phone." Another pause, then she chuckled. "Tell me about it. Okay, thanks. And don't worry; I'll bring Zoey back to the bunker for you then. See you in 10."
Carter's P.O.V.
I was sitting at the bridal boutique, watching my wife, Allison; Grace; and Zoe trying on their bridesmaid dresses, with Claudia sitting next to me.
"Holy frakk, you guys look amazing!" Claudia said, and then seemed to deflate a little. "I just wish Myka, Leena, & Steve would get here already. I can't wait for you guys to meet them, you'll love them! Plus, Steve said he's bringing me a surprise."
"I'm sure they'll be here soon, Claude." Zoe reassured her. Just then, my phone rang.
"Hello?" (The conversation is being heard by the girls at the boutique, so I'm just putting Carter's responses. Jo's half of the conversation is up above.)
"Hey Jo. Where are you? Claudia's been freaking out – 3 of her bridesmaids are missing." Another pause, then a groan.
"Why is it always Section 5? Ok, I'll be there in 10." I hung up, and then stood to questioning stares from the four girls.
"What is it, Jack?" Ally asked me. "Is everything all right?"
"Yeah. A bunch of people managed to teleport themselves into Section 5. Jo's waiting for me to take them into custody." I stood up & turned to leave, but before I made it to the door, Claudia stopped me.
"Hey Carter!"
"Yeah?"
"Ask them if the words Artifact Roadshow, Frederic, craptastic, Joshua, and caretaker mean anything to them."
"… Why?"
"If they say yes, then it's my family and you need to call me. If not… call me anyway, I need to do some more testing with my Tesla grenades."
I laughed, until the petite redhead looked at me, dead serious. "…oh."
10 minutes later, I had arrived at GD, and rushed up to Jo's office.
"Hey Jo." I greeted her, and then turned to look at the intruders.
"Beam me up, Scottie." I joked. They didn't look very dangerous to me: a girl with dark brown curls and caramel-colored skin; an older man with glasses and crazy eyebrows; a tall, buff guy with brown hair and a goofy look to him; a tall, skinny woman with wild red-brown curls; and another man with a slim, yet muscular build and a dirty blonde buzz cut.
"So these are our trespassers?" I asked Jo, who nodded in confirmation. "Huh. They don't look dangerous. What were they after?"
"Nothing!" they dark haired guy shouted, & I stepped forward.
"Hey, quiet down!"
"Oh, I'm starting to wish you'd make me." He said.
Then, the taller woman stepped forward. "Pete!" she scolded the man, punching his shoulder.
"Boys, let's put our badges back in our pants, okay?" she said. I was about to just leave them with Jo – they were really starting to annoy me – when I remembered Claudia's request.
"Oh, umm… do the words Artifact Roadshow, Frederic, craptastic, Joshua, and caretaker… do they mean anything to you?"
The blonde guy instantly stepped forward, while the other four exchanged looks.
"Leena?" Crazy-eyebrows-guy asked.
"His aura is centered, Artie." 'Leena' said, tilting her head slightly. "Bright, colorful…. Trusting, loyal."
They all then turned to the blonde.
"Why do you ask?" he asked me cautiously.
"A friend of mine told me to." I answered.
A moment's pause, then…
"Well, Jinksy?" 'Pete' asked.
"He's not lying…" the guy said slowly.
"Well?" I asked again. "Do they mean anything to you?"
"Of course." 'Jinksy' replied. "They mean…"
To be continued….
