Chapter 7: A Real Mission
Go with the Smiths to their shop after school. Cressida read Tom's note and then promptly headed into the bathroom to promptly swallow it. It was written on thin tracing paper, but she still grimaced at the thought of eating paper. No one said anything about her tagging along with the Smiths after school. Marianne teased her about being Pollux's girlfriend and Cressida laughed along with her.
"Ok, kids!" Mr. Smith said cheerfully from the front counter. "I have a load of equipment in the back that needs to be labeled. Have at it and I'll check on you all in an hour!"
"Thanks, Dad!" Castor called. The three walked into the warehouse room. True to Mr. Smith's word, there was a pile of equipment to be labeled. Cressida worked about five to ten hours a week at the store along with the twins. They knew that their job in addition to labelling was to use the room to talk about their missions for the rebellion.
"So, what we think Dad wants us to do is deliver a message to one of his or Volt's contacts." Pollux said.
"Why would he want all three of us to go?" Cressida asked. Castor looked up from the pile of boxes he was sorting.
"What?" Castor asked confused.
"Tom told me to meet you guys here."
"Maybe one of us has to hold down the fort." Pollux suggested. He ripped off a pricetag and stuck it on his forehead. Cressida suppressed a giggle. "What? I put it on the wrong box by accident!"
"You'd better check the pile!" Castor warned. "If you just realized it now!"
"What!" Pollux yelpd. "That was the only one because I caught it just in time!" Cressida picked up another box.
"So why is this one 5.99 also instead of 8.99?" She asked slyly.
"DANG IT!" Pollux yelled.
"Geez, little bro!" Castor groaned. "Luckily this room's soundproof, or else people would wonder what the heck you were doing back here with your yelling."
True to Mr. Smith's word, he came back in an hour. "Your mother's watching the store." He said. He looked over the merchandise to see that it was priced correctly. "Very good." He said smiling at them. "Now, here's the plan: I need notes and equipment delivered to several different people."
"Is that why all three of us are going?" Cressida asked.
"Four. Your brother's going too."
"Why isn't he here?" Cressida asked nervously.
"He already has his instructions. He's doing something a bit more advanced too. Cressida, you and the boys will work as a team." The three of them exchanged grins. "Castor, you'll be sent on one route. Pollux and Cressida, you'll be sent on another." Mr. Smith laid out a map of the Capital and explained the routes the three would take. "You will meet back in our building, but at different times. Report back to my house."
"Sounds good." Cressida said.
"Castor, go begin getting ready. You have half an hour." Castor nodded.
"Well gang –" He said addressing Pollux and Cressida. "We're almost on." He held his hand out and the others joined him in a circle with their hands out stretched on top of each other in the center.
"GO GO GO TROUBLE TRIPLETS!" They cheered. Mr. Smith couldn't help but laugh hysterically. He was still chuckling along with Pollux and Cressida after Castor had left the room.
"So, our first delivery is 5th street Golden Building." Cressida said reading from the appointment book she had been given. Pollux had a box full of 'merchandise.' She looked at Pollux and smiled. They had vests over their clothes that had Smith's Electronics embroidered over their left breaspockets. They walked in.
"Hold it there." A civillian security guard said getting up from the desk. "ID please." Cressida and Pollux gave him their store ID's. "Thank you. Sign in." They both signed in and indicated which unit they would go to. "Thank you." Pollux nodded. He and Cressida waited by a row of elevators that would take them to the 12th floor. They got an elevator to themselves. Cressida reached over and grasped Pollux's hand. He smiled at her and squeezed her hand reassuringly. They got off at their floor and walked to the designated unit.
"Why hello there!" A chirpy woman dressed in violently bright lime green said opening the door.
"Is a – Miss Swanson available?" Cressida asked.
"Oh – Crystal? You mean Crystal Vernix?" The lime green woman asked.
"Yes – Tara, that's me! They know me by my third last name!" Another woman called. She was wearing a red dress and was slightly less decorated than her friend. "Sorry – I have company – I should've called ahead of time, but thank you, dears."
"That's ok." Pollux said. "Here – just sign the return slip and I have your receipt for you." He handed her the box with her apartment number labeled on it and she signed the paperwork. "Call us if you have any questions within the week."
"Oh – my pleasure - are you new dear?" Miss Swanson asked Cressida.
"Yeah." Cressida said. "Um – this is my first time on deliveries."
"Oh – well – James is a good person to train with. He's such a sweet young man!"
"Thanks. Have a good evening, Miss Swanson." Cressida said before the woman closed the door.
"Nice job." Pollux said high-fiving Cressida as they headed back to the elevators. Their next delivery was two commuter-train rides away near the center of the Capital. They delivered a box to a man working in an office building. He was working into the evening hours. Their next two stops were houses. Cressida enjoyed walking around with Pollux. They did stuff like trying to trap the other person in a revolving door and Pollux ran ahead of her to jump out from behind a building.
"POLLUX!"
"Who?" Cressida caught herself just in time remembering that they were using aliases on this mission.
"You act like your prankster friend, I'll call you him, James!"
"Haha. whatever, Joni." They approached a sleek tall building that had dark reflective windows. A thirty foot iron fence surrounded the building. Pollux felt Cressida take his hand again.
"It's ok, Joni. Our customers are pretty nice here." They came to a gate where they showed the security guard their badges and a delivery note that verified their appointment. Inside the building they signed in.
"An escort will accompany you to Mr. Hawkins' unit." The security guard said. A burly looking man in his 20's wearing a red shirt that read Escort in black lettering walked up to them and beckoned to them. He watched them furtively as they got into the elevator. He pushed the buttons for them and led them to the door. He pressed his thumb to a sensor by the doorbell before ringing it.
"Thanks." Cressida said smiling. "We would've been lost without you." She smiled, but the escort kept his solemn expression. Then she realized that he was probably an Avox. Pollux's watch buzzed. "What's that?"
"Oh - letting us know we're on time." Pollux said. He pushed a button and gulped. He realized his dad was monitoring them auditorially through the watch. Something was potentially wrong. The door opened. "Hello Mr. Hawkins!" Pollux said shaking hands with a middle-aged man still in his work clothes as an official in the Capital.
"Why - hello." Mr. Hawkins said smiling. "Um - listen - I don't know if your supervisor - ah - got my email, but I was wondering if I could postpone my delivery to tomorrow."
"We can call him if you'd like." Cressida suggested.
"Oh - no - don't worry about interrupting our meeting, kids." Another voice said. A man in a more decorated suit said smiling. He was clearly a higher ranking official. "In fact, I would like to see this little gadget that Mr. Hawkins ordered to increase his productivity."
"Very well." Pollux said. He handed Mr. Hawkins the deliver slip to sign. Cressida handed him the box.
"Open it, please, Mr. Hawkins." The official said. Mr. Hawkins opened the package slowly. "Let me see it." The official yanked it out of Mr. Hawkin's hands.
"Joni and James," The man said looking at Cressida and Pollux. "There has obviously been a defect at your shop. This is a communication device." He held it up. "It was packaged in an alarm clock box. Do either of you care to explain?"
"Oh - well - it was a refurbished model - and we couldn't find a suitable box for it when we packaged it." Pollux explained. Cressida nodded hoping she looked convicing enough.
"You're a smart looking girl, what do you think, Joni?"
"Oh - that's the story." Cressida said. "We dellivered it to him in person in case - you know - there were any problems - he could let us know right away."
"Well - what are you waiting for, turn it on Hawkins." Mr. Hawkins had a worried look on his face.
"I'm - actually - examing the screen and I'm wondering if it's been scratched a bit -" He was slapped across the face by his boss.
"TURN IT ON! NOW!" Cressida and Pollux gulped. They instinctively reached for each other's hands. Mr. Hawkins turned the phone on. The screen lit up and then there was static. His boss took out a small device that looked like a calculator.
"It seems as if there is something wrong with the signal - as if someone's trying to block you - refirbished device."
"Um - Mr. Hawkins - I'm terribly sorry - I'll return it to the store straightaway." Pollux said. "We're heading back tonight." He looked over at Cressida who had already called Mr. Smith with her communication device.
"Yes, Mr. Hawkins is getting static on his screen. We'll be heading back in a minute -" Suddenly Cressida's device was snatched out of her hand before she was slapped backhandedly by Mr. Hawkins' boss.
"YOU KIDS DID NOT SELL HIM A DEFECTIVE DEVICE! SOMETHING IS GOING ON, AND I AM GOING TO FIND OUT!"
"Easy there - Richards!" A peacekeeper called coming down the hallway. "You do not strike people who are doing business with your subordinates! Especially - my god - they're kids, Richards!" He looked at Cressida and Pollux. "You kids better get on back to the shop! Your boss should know we turn on the pods early in this sector!"
"Yes - sir - thank you." Cressida stammered, still holding her face where a large welt was forming. She felt blood trickling down her cheek.
"Go!" Cressida and Pollux took off running. They headed back down the elevator. The escort showed them to a back door marked: Employees only and ushered them out. They ran to a gate and hurried onto the sidewalk.
"Cress -" Pollux gasped staring at her face.
"What - do we do - - your dad -" Cressida stammered. Pollux bit his lip. Just then his device beeped. He pushed a button and answered.
"Hello? Yeah. Where? Ok. Ok. Bye." He took Cressida's hand and they ran to the end of the street.
"Hand me the box."
"Ok - oh no - we didn't get Mr. Hawkins' device!" Cressida gasped.
"Nothing we can do about that." Pollux said quickly. "When I duck, you duck, ok?"
"Pollux -"
"Trust me, Cressida. Trust my dad." Pollux said trying to keep the trembling out of his voice. They began running across the street. Pollux took aim and threw the box. It hit the side of a building then the two were blinded by a large explosion. "DUCK!" Pollux yanked Cressida into a doorway and tried to block her with his body. Cressida put her hands over her face, but she felt shards of metal knick her scalp and hands. She gasped.
"POLLUX!" She yelped staring at his face. The left side had deep cuts crisscrossing his cheek from his nose to his ear.
"It looks worse than it is." He said reassuringly. His watch beeped. "Come on!" They ran ducking behind trash cans or suddenly stepping only on certain cobblestones on a street. "There it is!" He ran toward a door in a storefront that was slightly ajar. He pushed it open with his shoulder and pulled Cressida inside. He grabbed her and they hit the floor seconds before a pair of bright lights shone through the window. "Peacekeepers." Pollux breathed in Cressida's ear. The lights disappeared from the window. "Not yet!" He hissed as Cressida tried to get up. Suddenly they heard a deafening explosion before a fireball engulfed the center of the street. Cressida thought she heard a cat purring.
"Pollux - did you hear -"
"Oh good it worked." Cressida stared at a cat that was inching toward her face on the floor. She swore the voice came from it. "The pods activated. They're gone. Dead."
"Thanks, Tigris." Pollux whispered.
"Come." Cressida tried not to gasp as she realized the cat was a person altered to resemble a cat. She stayed on all fours and escorted them through her fur shop. She opened a panel that pulled away from a bottom shelf. "In here." Cressida stared at Pollux before following him in. "Blankets are on the floor. There's a grate near the ceiling." Tigris said. "Good night, kids."
"Thank you - I - really - thank you." Cressida stammered. Tigris smiled. These were two kids on their first real mission. She would let the Smiths know that they were ok.