"Computer,
scan for 628."
Lilo
impatiently tapped her fingers on the dashboard, waiting for the
process to finish, which surprisingly didn't take very long.
"Experiment
628 located. Autopilot activated."
"OK,
let's go!"
Then
she noticed Stitch, who after all the excitement, looked rather
bored.
"Er…
Stitch?"
Stitch
looked up slightly, and then returned to staring blankly into space.
Call
it intuition, but Lilo knew something was up with Stitch.
"What's
wrong?"
Stitch
muttered something in Tantalog and returned to his state of deep
thought.
This
doesn't make sense! Why would 628 lead us on a wild goose chase all
around Kaua'i?
Stitch's
brain was working in overtime.
Unless
he wanted to throw us off the trail… but so far he's seemed to
actually enjoy us chasing him…
I'll
think about it later…
"And
the pickled cheese's connected to the sausage, the sausage's
connected to the lasagne, the lasagne's connected to the tomato
sauce, now hear the word of the Lord, Amen!"
625
was in the middle of a pasta-on-rye sandwich. Well, what had been a
pasta-and rye sandwich, at least. But unfortunately, someone
(meaning Gantu) had forgot to turn off the communicator, which meant
a high-pitched beeping now filled the air, causing 625 to knock over
his sandwich, which meant pasta now lay on the floor.
"Oh,
great, that's the third time today! This better be important."
He
switched on the screen. A moment later he wished he hadn't.
"WHEREISTHATINCOMPETENTGANTUISHOULDHAVEHIMKEELHAULED!"
"Calm
down, Hamsterwh… er, ville! No need to take it all out on me…
tell you what, you're obviously upset, why don't I send you up a
nice tuna sandwich and we'll… um… talk about your childhood?"
"IDONOTWA…
wait, did you say tuna?"
"Yep,
with mayonnaise!"
"Deal!"
"Experiment
within 200m."
The
buggy flew around the corner. Surely he would be there, thought Lilo.
But
he wasn't.
"Computer,
deactivate autopilot. Stitch, take the wheel."
Stitch
obliged, and slowed the buggy to hardly walking pace.
Why
isn't he here?
Abruptly,
something stirred; Lilo turned around and found herself face-to-face
with 628.
Obviously
startled by the sudden movement, 628 jumped down and dashed down the
road.
"There
he is!" shouted Lilo.
"Oh
no you don't!" a very familiar voice bellowed from behind.
"And
there he is."
Gantu,
who had obviously been able to find another plasma gun, stomped
through the trees, randomly bombarding the surrounding landscape in a
feeble attempt at hitting 628.
"By
the moons of Andomeda VII I'll get you!"
"Meega-o-itume!"
They
had reached a large area cleared of all and any foliage, empty except
for a standard issue Federation G-343 police cruiser. To be precise,
the one that Stitch had stolen over two years ago.
And
with a jolt of recognition, Lilo realised exactly why 628 had been
heading for this exact spot, why he had been leading them all over
the island.
"He
was searching for this."
"Gaba?"
"He
was looking… for a way off this planet. He's… going to Turo."