Chapter 30, Stay Strong Kiddo

Jeb walked out of the 9th Street station and stopped near one of the twin fountains. The populace had woken up and he watched tin men, regular police, and civilians hurriedly go about their business. The wind picked up and a loose newspaper tumbled towards him. He picked it up and read the main headline. It screamed, "WHERE ARE THE ROYALS?" Other articles screamed, "PRINCESSES ARE A NO-SHOW" and "UNEMPLOYMENT JUMPS". He folded the newspaper under his arm and turned to take one last look at the imposing police station. After he left his father he had tried one last time to see Jill and was refuted by everyone. He was not even granted an opportunity to see her public defender.

As he continued down the street, he prayed that he would have better luck with DG and Glitch.

It took some time but he did finally meet up with DG and Glitch. They were on their way to the barracks' infirmary to see Azkadellia.

When DG caught sight of him she broke out in to a full run and practically leapt in to his arms.

"Whoa! Easy there DG I'm okay."

She looked up at him and said, "I'm sorry Jeb but I can't help it. I'm just so happy that at least one of us is all right."

As gently as he could he pushed her away. Even though DG was his friend there was no need to make a scene, especially in the middle of the barracks' quad.

He looked over to Glitch, "Did you make sure that she got something to eat?"

Glitch nodded, smiled, and did his best impression of a soldier saluting his commanding officer. Jeb snickered.

As they started to walk towards the infirmary, DG asked seriously, "What about your Dad and Jill? Did you see them?"

Jeb sighed. "I saw Father for fifteen minutes but I wasn't able to see Jill at all."

DG looked up in astonishment. "What do you mean that you couldn't see Jill?"

A few soldiers came upon them and stopped and saluted in front of Jeb. DG and Glitch stepped off to the side and watched the soldiers as they handed him a few papers and he paused to read them. He signed them and they went on their way.

Jeb continued where they were at before they were interrupted. "It's like I told Father, go ahead and name an excuse and I bet it's the same one they told me."

Surprisingly it was Glitch who then asked, "Was that before or after you saw your Dad?" For whatever reason he was able to keep focus on the conversation at hand and he decided that he had better take advantage of it.

Jeb looked at him. He was as surprised as well. "I tried once before and once after I saw him Glitch." Then he added, "They're both going to be charged under that outworlder law. On top of that Father's going to be charged with supplying an unregistered firearm and resisting arrest. Jill's going to have an additional charge of carrying an unregistered firearm."

An expression of shock crossed both DG's and Glitch's faces. Glitch then exclaimed "Cain supplied Jill with a gun?"

DG gently took a hold of his arm. "I know Glitch. I'm as shocked as you are. It doesn't sound like him. But he must feel like something terrible is going on. Especially if he felt like he had to chance giving Jill a gun in order to protect herself."

Jeb turned his attention back to DG. "He told me that I'm to help you and Glitch find some books."

DG smiled sadly. "Yeah. It started out that he was going to take Jill and Glitch." She glanced to see if she could see any change in Glitch but there was none. "He said that I shouldn't go since they would have to go through Dr. Addison and that it might be a trap." She looked down at the walkway and kicked at a stray stone. "So much for worrying about me falling in to a trap. We should've been more worried about your Dad and Jill."

Glitch put his arm over her shoulders, "DG, none of us saw this coming."

"Glitch is right DG," agreed Jeb. "I told Father about the law and he told me that he had taken Jill down to register. I thought that it was a done deal." He thought back to the sight of his father in handcuffs. "He thinks that Petey Staggart had something to do with the arrests."

Both DG and Glitch looked over at him with confused expressions. DG asked, "Who's Petey Staggart?"

"A cop at the 9th Street Precinct. Father says that when he was watching Jill being led away Petey came up behind him and knocked him unconscious," Jeb replied without looking at them. "There's no proof that he's working the other side though."

DG through, Lovely, there's dirty cops now too.

They approached the entrance to the barracks infirmary. "Jeb, there's something else too," she said.

"What's that?"

"Raw and Calm are missing. They were supposed to arrive the other day but haven't yet. A search party was sent out after they found only their horses. They still haven't turned up anything."

Jeb sighed heavily. He knew neither Raw nor Calm very well. They did not visit often since Raw worked to try to regroup his kind. He tried to sound encouraging to DG, "I'm sure that they'll turn up."

DG tried to smile back but he knew as well as she that it was an unsettling coincidence.

There was no change in Azkadellia. Both Glitch and Jeb stood near the doorway as DG held her sister's hand. In a hushed voice they heard her demand of the attending doctor, "Why hasn't she woken up yet? She's supposed to be off the drugs."

"I'm sorry your highness, but neither myself nor the other doctors know. The last record of her receiving any medication was yesterday. It should have worn off by now."

DG hissed loudly, "Where's Dr. Addison?"

The doctor replied rather sternly, "He has not yet signed in today. Due to last night's events he stated that unless there was a significant change in the princesses' condition, then he would not make his rounds until late this afternoon."

"I see," DG replied coolly. "So Az not waking up when she's supposed to is not a significant enough change in her condition?"

The doctor tried to remain as professional as he could. "Please understand your highness that all patients react differently to the same medication. Her vital signs continue to be stable and are within normal limits. It may be that she is more sensitive to the medication and needs additional time to recover."

Azkadellia stirred and the nurse rearranged the blanket that was on top of her.

The doctor continued, "We will immediately send word to you if her condition changes." Between the lines he was effectively saying that it was time for them to go.

DG took in a deep breath and then bent over to give her sister a soft kiss on her forehead. She took one parting look at her, glared at the doctor and the nurse and then turned to leave. As she went out the door, she told Jeb and Glitch, "Let's go pay a visit."

Jill and only a few other women were led in to the dining hall. She was told that while the men and women prisoners were housed in the same building, each were kept separate from the other. However, due to space limitations they had to share some of the facilities. One of those facilities was the dining hall. The women were scheduled to eat after the men were finished.

As they were led in to the hall they could hear the conversations of the maintenance and janitorial staff. On the one side of the room they were picking up pieces of broken chairs, rearranging the tables, and cleaning up food that had spilled on to the floor.

Behind Jill one of the prisoners asked a guard, "Was there a fight?"

"Yes." The guard said nothing more and by the tone of his voice they were not supposed to ask any more either.

They continued through the chow line. Jill reached for a plate of steaming unidentifiable food. As she was handed it the cook behind the line told her in a low voice, "Stay strong kiddo."

Jill nearly dropped the plate. "What did you just say?"

"Move it!" said the guard that was near her. She put the steaming plate on her tray and continued down the chow line. Stay strong kiddo. Is that what I really heard?

All of the women were ushered over to a single large table. They ate in silence as they watched the last of the cleanup. Jill looked down at her plate and picked at the mushy white stuff. She thought that it resembled creamed chipped dried beef but the taste was far from it.

One of the women finally spoke. "I hear that an old tin man is in here." That's all it took to get the conversation started. Jill did not participate though. She continued to pick at what was supposed to be her lunch but she was hung on every word that was being spoken by the other women. For everyone being in isolation, news traveled fast. At the end of lunch she did not know much more than what she knew at the beginning of the meal. The tin man that they described sounded like Cain. Was he the one that was able to get a message to her? The cook didn't speak to anyone else. Had he been in the fight? If he was, what do they do to them? Throw them in solitary? As she rose from the table she told her brain to shut up. Cain was here and he got a message to her. Stay strong kiddo. That was all that mattered now.

Their footsteps echoed in the great halls of the Royal Academy. Students and faculty stared at them as they walked by. None could remember the last time they saw a member of the royal family walk down the old hallways. Of course they gave DG the proper respect that a princess deserved, but it did not preclude them from staring at her in both confusion and awe.

They reached Dr. Addison's office and DG knocked loudly on his door. There was no answer. She knocked loudly again. No response. She reached for the door knob. She jiggled it and found it to be locked. She looked up at Jeb, "Can you open it?"

Jeb looked back at her. He knew it was pointless to ask but he did anyway, "Are you sure you want to do this? You don't want to wait for Dr. Addison?"

DG had made up her mind. "Jeb, we don't have time to wait for him."

Jeb gently pushed her aside and reached in to his pocket and pulled out a set of lock picks.

Glitch looked down the hallway and saw one of the deans accompanied by other faculty. They were deep in conversation and had not yet spotted the trio.

He quickly tapped Jeb on the shoulder and said, "Wait! People are coming."

The dean looked up from his conversation and saw them standing there. He slowly walked over to them and bowed to DG. "Good afternoon Princess Dorothy."

DG took a deep breath and replied in a formal voice, "Good afternoon to you as well."

The dean rose slowly. He was old, very old, and frail. However, his quick eyes and strong voice betrayed his years. "Please excuse my forwardness; however, do you need directions Princess Dorothy? It is unusual to see a member of the royal family here at the academy."

"Thank you dean; however, since Dr. Addison is not here we will continue on our way," she replied.

"Of course your highness," the dean said. He gazed at Glitch and shifted uncomfortably. As of yet Glitch did not recognize him. Long before the days of headcases and the witch, he had been one of Ambrose's acquaintances at the academy. Ambrose accepted a position on the royal advisory council and he stayed behind. Seeing him there made his old heart feel heavy. He had gone deep underground when the witch started to round up the senior members of the academy and the council. He weeped the day that he had heard that Ambrose was taken and his brain removed. His friend died that day. Now seeing Glitch standing before him brought back all of the old memories. He shook his head. Glitch was not Ambrose. His friend was still dead.

One of the faculty members gently tugged him on his arm. "Sir, are you feeling all right?"

"Of course Professor Rillo, of course," the old dean replied. "Princess Dorothy, if you have further business in the academy and are in need of direction please see the main desk in the lobby."

"Thank you," answered DG. They stood still as they watched the group continue down the hallway. As Jeb went back to picking the lock, Glitch said to no one in particular, "Where have I seen him before?"

With a satisfying click, the lock yielded to Jeb. He rushed the two of them inside and quietly closed the door.

The sunlight came in strong through the windows. A large wooden desk faced the entrance and was centered beneath one of the windows. One entire wall was lined with bookcases and was filled top to bottom with thick volumes. Jeb and DG started to look at the books; desperately seeking any that may be from her world. Another wall was dedicated to study and research since it contained all the typical wares of a science lab. Glass beakers, vials of strange liquids and chemicals, and odd instruments of dissection were just some of the objects. Glitch examined the tables that were full of experiments in process. He excitedly picked up a small ball of gray putty that had shiny flakes. "I wonder what this is?" Jeb took a backwards glance over his shoulder and saw Glitch holding up the ball of putty. Even from his distance he saw the glint of the flakes. "Glitch!" he loudly hissed. "Put that down!"

DG stopped her looking and anxiously watched as Jeb took long strides to get to Glitch. "What's wrong?" she quickly asked in a loud whisper. She looked towards the door. They were going to have to hurry.

Jeb took the putty and put it back where Glitch had found it. "That's an explosive!"

"What!?" Glitch exclaimed and nearly stumbled backwards.

"It's an explosive from DG's and Jill's world. Jill had some from the other night."

DG walked over to where Jeb and Glitch were standing. On the table were assorted blocks of the putty. Some of the packages were wrapped and marked with the letters RDX and others were opened. "What would Dr. Addison be doing with explosive?"

"I don't know DG but we need to find those books and get out of here. Dr. Addison could be back at any minute."

All three went back to looking in the bookcase. Finally towards the bottom shelf of one of the bookcases DG found some textbooks. She took them out and looked at them. One looked to be a high-school world history text book, and two looked to be focused on European history. She stood up and asked, "Have you guys found anything?"

Jeb answered, "Nothing yet. What do you have there?"

"They're history books but I don't know if they're right or not. Dr. Addison wanted Jill to look at some but they sounded more like science books. These will have to do for now."

Jeb asked Glitch, "Find anything?"

After seeing Glitch shake his head no, Jeb said, "We better get going."

They stood out in the hallway as Jeb locked the door. Glitch carried the books and did his best to stay hidden behind Jeb and DG as they walked through the Royal Academy. They were headed back to her chamber.

Dr. Addison was in the bedroom of his private residence. He had just showered and was getting ready to go see Azkadellia and Lord Ahamo. As he was combing his hair he felt the all too familiar burn of the mark. He stumbled over to his bed and sat down.

A moment later he could hear the Father's voice in his head. "Xavier."

"Yes Father," he replied.

"How fairs the princess and Hymnshra?"

Dr. Addison thought slowly, "The princess has been taken to the safe house. Hymnshra successfully morphed in to Azkadellia and has been placed in a light coma. She will wake up on her own in about twenty or thirty days time."

There was no sound except for his breathing. Then the Father spoke again, "And of the Queen and the Lord Ahamo?"

"The Lord has been taken ill and will be bedridden for some time. He has Corobus Fever."

The Father continued to keep his inquiries short. Dr. Addison did not know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. "And of my Daughter?"

"She has been arrested as instructed and is residing in the 9th Street Precinct. She will be released to our custody soon and then will be taken to the safe house."

Somehow Dr. Addison knew that the Father was smiling. "Even with your occasional incompetence the plan is coming to fruition. General Zero is in Central City and will be getting my Daughter soon. Once he does, he and the Lieutenant Lundgren will escort her and the princess back to here."

There was a lull in the conversation. The Father broke it by asking, "And what of the Tin Man?"

"He has been arrested and is residing in the 9th Street Precinct. It is my understanding that he was involved in an altercation with another inmate earlier today. That will be added to his other list of charges. Other charges can be added to either Jill or the Tin Man as the need arises in order to ensure that they stay where they are." Dr. Addison paused, waiting for a response from the Father.

"As always, General Zero has made plans in order to ensure that the Tin Man's son does not interfere. This is an item of detail that you missed Xavier."

Without thinking, Dr. Addison sunk to his knees on the floor. It was as though the Father was in the room with him.

"I am sorry Father and I beg of your forgiveness," he said softly.

The Father briskly replied, "As always, it is granted. Not all are granted with the gift of foresight Xavier." Somehow the Father knew that Dr. Addison was on his knees. "Rise Xavier. Take care of our precious Hymnshra and ensure that no harm befalls her."