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Kids Next Door Mission...
Operation: F.O.R.G.E.T.
Fragments
Of
Recovery
Gradually
Enable
Team
Chapter 37- Lockdowns and Rescue Missions
The stadium went silent after Alana's worried announcement, and for a while, all you could hear was her own heavy breathing, as she straightened back up after being doubled over, panting.
It felt like a long time before anyone spoke.
A few people, including Sector V and Rachel, had jumped to their feet when they had heard, just a sort of reflex, and hadn't sat down.
Robert cleared his throat; as the one still standing at the stand centre-stage, kids were slowly starting to look to him.
'Uhm, Numbuh 556, what exactly did Arctic Prison say?'
Alana stuttered.
'Th-they said that he tricked the guards into giving him an extra fork with his meals. H-he'd been working on a plastic lock pick, and by the time the guards got there, the cell door was open and he was just... gone.'
'Okay, okay,' Robert said half to himself.
'Alright. I want Sectors P, D and Q to head to Arctic Prison and investigate. See if you can find any traces of where Colter may have gone. Sector J, ready the weapons and the ammunition supply. I want anyone else to get back to their treehouses and lock down. Nobody gets in, nobody goes out. Stay there and lay low until further notice.Sector V -both Sector V's- you're with me!
'Kids Next Door!' Robert yelled, throwing his head back.
'Battle Stations!'
People scattered.
Agents were already in the process of dialing their parents' numbers, to tell them something made up about a camping trip or a sleepover or some other reason why they're not going to be at home that night.
Without a word, Numbuhs 1, 2, 3, 5 and 362, lead by Numbuh 263 and 8,860, moved towards the back exit.
They met up with the Numbuh 121 and the rest of the other Sector V there.
'What's the plan, Robert?' Numbuh 505 asked.
Everyone's faces were solemn, ready to listen and ready to move.
Robert looked for a second like he didn't know what to do. He took a deep breath;
'I want you guys-' he pointed to the younger kids- 'to go back to the treehouse and stock up on weapons. Then, alert Numbuhs 4 and 404 of the situation. Tell them I want them to get back here as soon as they can.'
Numbuh 121 and the rest of the team saluted, before running of in the direction of the landing bay.
'Now,' Numbuh 263 continued, turning to the teenagers.
'Do you guys think you could start trying to get the antidote out a bit early?'
'What, you mean tonight?' Numbuh 2 replied. He didn't think that was enough time to get ready.
Robert sensed this as well.
'I know it's short notice, but we're still down a lot on numbers, and I think the best thing to do if Colter has escaped would be to get as many kids back as we can.'
Nmbuh 1 nodded diligently.
'Right,' he said. 'Dr. Colter is bound to have some way of tracking which kids he has and hasn't gotten to. It'll probably take him a while to figure out what's going on, and until then, he's not even going to go after any kids he thinks he's turned.'
'Exactly. So, do you think you can do it?'
The four of them (plus Rachel) looked around at each other for a moment.
'Yep. I think we can.'
~(*)~
It was early afternoon, and The Beatles were out at the beach, one last time before they had to leave the next day.
It was perfect; sun was out, water was cool, waves were ideal.
But that was all shoved aside when Joey got the call from the rest of his Sector.
He had just come in from the water for a drink and a snack, when from his little beach bag, the KND communicator started vibrating. He grabbed it, and made sure to jog far enough away to be out of earshot before he answered.
And as his four friends filled him in on everything that happened, so sudden, so fast, his face grew more and more grim.
'Ya want us there when? Ah don't think-'
There was insistant talk; he and Wally had to be there that night.
'Our flight leaves tomorrow. Can't we just wa-'
They told him no. He couldn't.
'Really? Okay then, Ah'll figure something out.'
Over and out.
'Yeah, seeya. Over and out.'
He went and got Wally, and Gabbie as well, who he hadn't seen a lot that afternoon, come to think of it.
He told them the news.
'Whot? Crud, not again!'
Wally kicked angrily at the sand under his feet, wondering to himself how he ever thought that an Arctic prison cell would hold Dr. Colter; of course he would get out.
Gabbie's reaction, however, was much different.
'Yeah,' she said. 'Ah know. There was a meeting at Moonbase. Weren't you two there?'
Wally and Joey exchanged glances.
'...We were meant to be there?' They said slowly.
Gabbie rolled her eyes.
'Look, Ah think Ah can arrange a ride for you guys back up there. Ah'll take ya with my Sector before we have to lock down, okay? But you have to explain ta your parents why your plane tickets have been shifted to an earlier flight, okay?'
'Alright.'
'Okay then, the SCAMPER will be in the carpark in two hours. Don't be late!'
And with that, she went back to helping Danny with his sandcastle.
'Whot do we tell mum and dad?' Joey whispered to his brother.
'Ah dunno, let's just wing it, okay?'
'Isn't that dangerous?'
'Extremely.'
They reached their parents and braced themselves for a very big lie.
'Hey, Mu-um?'
~(*)~
Sector V were aboard their SCAMPER, along with Robert, Rachel and Jamie. They were heading back to the treehouse, going at full throttle; if they were going to get as many turned operatives at least injected with the cure as possible, they were going to have to move fast.
'Numbuh 2, how long until we're there?' Numbuh 1 asked from his seat.
Hoagie checked a couple of dials.
'Ten and a half minutes, tops,' he answered.
'Good.'
The trip was just a little awkward. The six of them were sitting there, all worried, all feeling stupid for not predicting this, and not feeling like they wanted to make conversation.
So they sat in silence, like people on a train, picking a spot of wall or out the window where they wouldn't be accidentally making eye contact.
But by the time they reached the treehouse, they had switched to full mission mode, and they bailed out of the SCAMPER and into the Treehouse quickly, routinely.
Numbuh 2 immediately headed for where he had stored the serum he had created so far.
'Alright, so we've got enough here for about sixty, maybe seventy-five operatives,' he said as he came back through the door, heaving a large crate through and setting it on the table.
'Really?' Robert said. 'That much?'
'Well, it doesn't take much of the stuff to reverse the effects. What happens is the serum sets off the part of the brain that's dormant; the KND part. Then, the subject should be able to do the rest themselves,' Hoagie explained, all the while unloading tube after tube of the purply liquid.
'So this is like when we were recommissioned?' Abby related. 'You guys started talking, and then whatever part of the Kids Next Door was still in our brains did the rest?'
'Exactly.'
Hoagie worked quickly, and in less than two minutes he started to hand out a rack of six tubes to everyone there.
'Load these into your SPICERs. Now that we know that the serum is safe, we don't have to inject it into every individual. Whenever you see a turned operative, just fire it at them.'
The five others all retreived SPICERs from the array of weapons on the wall. Opening up the compartment where the spicy red pepper that powered the beam was usually kept, they plugged in the tubes of liquid, and closed the lid.
Meanwhile, Hoagie was still talking.
'But the one thing is, you have to be at a pretty close range for the shot to work. If you shoot at someone from over ten feet away, the ray won't work, and that'll be one shot wasted.'
The others nodded in understanding.
This wasn't going to be as easy as they thought.
'So what happens if we run into Colter?' Kuki asked, fiddling with her raygun.
Numbuh 1 answered;
'I guess we fight. Call for backup and then fight.'
'So we'd better take some other weapons too?' Numbuh 362 asked.
'Yes. Either a MUSKET or a SPLANKER; something reasonably small.'
'How long does it take for the serum to work?' Jamie asked. She had been knocked out when she had been cured, and she had no idea how or when exactly she'd returned. All she knew was that when she was made unconscious, she was turned, and when she woke, she was back.
'Well, since we're firing this in a single blast, I think it shouldn't take too long. But what I don't recommend you do is shoot the kids and run. At least stay to make sure they're okay and that they know what's going on. Tell them to go straight back to their treehouses, alright?'
'Okay.'
'Okay, good. Are we ready to go?' Numbuh 1 asked, straightening up and readying himself for the mission.
'Yep!'
'Yeah.'
'Uh-hu.'
'Let's go!'
It was then that the other Sector V arrived, telling them that Wally and Joey were going to try and get back as soon as they could. Robert told them what they were going to try to do.
'Would you guys maybe be able to take care of things back here? I've ordered all the kids to be locked down by eight-thirty. Until then, could you just handle anything that comes up? I know you're all capable,' he said, looking very serious and very sincere.
'Of course,' Numbuh 121 answered with a firm nod.
'Thank you. Really. Okay, we have to get going now. Stay low, don't let Colter know you're here, and lock down with everyone else! We'll check in with you soon. Bye guys! Gook luck.'
And so, Sector V senior (plus Robert, plus Rachel) started up the SCAMPER again, and were out into the sky, on a quest to bring back the operatives who had already been effected by Colter, and Sector V junior was left with the task of protecting the ones who had not.
~(*)~
'So, let me get this straight,' Wally and Joey's father said.
'You have ta fly out tonight because tha airport accidentally separated our seats, and ya've been moved ta this afternoon.'
That was the lie. The two boys were pinning everything on this lie.
'Yes. And we've got ta go now.'
'But, we booked tha tickets months ago,' their mother protested.
'Ya were on our flight then!'
'Uhhm...' Wally dragged, his mind going at a mile a minute.
Which was faster than Wally's mind had ever gone.
But Joey was quicker. He interjected;
'All of tha tickets are done online now. It's big, complicated computa stuff. There's probably a glitch in the mainframe, a virus. Tha firewall must be down. The file type didn't match the airport's system bit rate and some bug corrupted all the ticket database.'
Confuse the adults with computer language. That was the plan. Of course, Joey was just making it up on the spot, he had no idea what he was saying, but his parents didn't know that, did they?
'A... a bug? Like a cockroach?'
'Is tha airport infested with cockroaches?'
'No, no mum! That just means that there was a problem with tha computer.'
'Oh. Okay.'
Their dad wasn't finished with this conversation though.
'Well, if your seats have really been shifted, Ah think Ah better talk ta tha airport, because you shouldn't have ta cut your holiday short just because of a computer cockroach.'
'Computer bug, dad.'
'Yeah. Okay.'
'But dad!' Wally started, as his father began to pull out his mobile phone.
'We-uh, we already called them! They said there wasn't anythin' they could do!'
'Well, Ah think Ah'll just try again. Now where is tha panphlet? I need ta see tha number...'
Wally pulled Joey aside.
'We need ta redirect that call!' He said in a hissed whisper.
'Agreed,' Joey said, pulling out his communication device.
He called Jake back home.
Precious seconds ticked by as it rang.
'Hello? Joey?'
'Jake! I need you to hack a call for me.'
'What?'
'Look, I have no time to explain. Just- have you got my dad's cell number with you?'
There was a ruffling of papers, probably Jake going through the various sheets on the kitchen bench, trying to find the contact list Joey's parents had given him in case of an emergency.
'Yep! I got it, now what?'
'Get into tha Sydney Airport mainframe. Intercept my dad's call. Now!' Joey urged, jumping up and down in his agitation, as in the corner of his eye he saw his dad dialing the number.
'Okay, I'm on it.'
The two of them -Wally and Joey- stood tensely, waiting to see if Numbuh 202 would be quick enough.
'Okay, I got it. But hang on- if I'm intercepting it, doesn't that mean that I have to-'
'At that moment, Wally's father began to talk through the small device Jake had used to get into the airport's system.
'Hello?' The boys heard their father from two places at once; one from about fifteen feet away, where he was sitting on a towel, and another from where Jake was.
'Uh, he-hello,' Jake answered nervously, putting on a fake adult voice that had Joey and Wally fighting to stop themselves from laughing, lest they give themselves away.
Had this been a video phone, Wally and Joey would have seen Jake face palming in annoyance.
'H-how may I help you?' He stuttered, trying desperately to think of what an actual receptionist would say.
'Well, Ah've heard that my two sons' tickets from Sydney to tha US have been shifted from tomorrow to today. Is this true?'
'Uhm, yes, sir, this is true. We have been having...'
Joey dictated to him through the phone;
'Technical difficulties!' he whispered.
'Technical difficulties! We've been having technical difficulties lately. I'm sorry sir.' Jake was having a mini nervous breakdown. He didn't know how to do this!
But the boys' father insisted.
'Is there any way ya can put them back on our flight?' He asked, sounding like he was all too willing to complain.
'I'm afraid not, sir. The only available seats we have are for this afternoon. It's either 4 o'clock today, or...'
'Say "next Friday"!' Joey beckoned.
'Say next Friday. I mean- I mean next Friday!' Jake floundered.
But it seemed to be working.
'Well... alright then, if that's tha only time you can fly them out soon. But Ah am not happy with your customer service.' Their father made that clear.
'I'm- uhm, sorry sir. We're doing all we can.'
'Goodbye then.' The real adult said, hanging up somewhat annoyedly, leaving the fake adult to let out a sigh of relief.
Wally and Joey hi-fived.
'Hey Joey?' Numbuh 202 asked after a while.
'Yeah?'
'Don't ever make me do that again.'
~(*)~
'Land here Numbuh 2. This should be far enough,' Numbuh 1 instructed, as the team hovered over a park around the suburbs.
'You got it,' Hoagie said bringing the SCAMPER down to the ground gently.
They filed out, each readying themselves, pulling weapons out from pockets.
'So, we'll meet back here in an hour?' Robert proposed.
'Yep.' Numbuh 362 replied.
'Well, then, all there's left to is go,' Abby said.
'Seeya later guys!' Kuki bounced off, and Hoagie, Jamie, Robert and Abby each took a different direction towards the city streets.
That left only Nigel and Rachel, still standing there.
There was silence for a couple seconds. Then, a small, mischievious smile appeared on Rachel's face.
'Betcha I can get to more kids than you,' she taunted.
Nigel returned the game just as quickly.
'Pfft. No way. You're just an out-of-practice desk officer!'
'Ready?' Rachel said, taking a running stance.
'I was born ready!'
'Okay then, go!'
Rachel took off, leaving Nigel behind.
'Wait! I wasn't ready!
Wait for me!'
~(*)~
Wally and Joey were in the carpark, with Gabbie, waiting for the SCAMPER to arrive.
'So, you're parents think you're...?' Gabbie asked, leaning back on a lamp pole in the shade.
'Takin' the bus back to tha house to get our stuff, then goin' ta the airport.'
'They would let you do that?'
'Took a lot of convincing, Ah'm not gonna lie.'
There was a whoosh of air as a large ship cast a shadow over the pavement.
'Guess our ride's here,' Joey said, getting up from his cross-legged position.
'Alright. So, back to the US it is,' Wally said, clapping his hands together.
'And back to work too, by the sounds of it.'
~(*)~
A/N: Another chapter done! How did you like it?
R&R please!
AND A CHALLENGE to everyone out there:
Tell me; if you could crossover ANY show with KND, what would it be? And;
Ask me anything. Go on, anything. Seriously, about the story, about me, about anything!
Okay, that's all, seeya!
-Numbuh 25, over and out
