Unlocking the Kingdom

by Jeff Dixon

  The quest for Hawk was to know the players—who was good and who was evil. He had made an error in judgment again. His recklessness was his greatest enemy. Choosing to allow Reginald to have so much knowledge of the inner workings and details of the plan Walt and Roy had put into place had not made him or the Disney Company more secure. It had put it at risk. Hawk was also worried about who else might be involved in this plot. Over the last few days, there had been people with Cambridge every time he had made a move. Who were they? Reginald was now exposed, so he would not likely be showing up again anytime soon. But who were the others?

  “We’re parked over there.” Juliette paused at Hawk’s car. “What’s the game plan?”

  Hawk felt as exhausted as if he were facing the climb up the side of Spaceship Earth all over again.

  “There’s one more clue to solve. Let’s get together for an early lunch tomorrow and see if we can put our heads together and figure it out.” Hawk opened the car door for Kate, and she slid into the seat. After closing the door, he moved to the back of the car, where Juliette and Shep stood watching. “Thank you both for being there for me today. I allowed Reginald to . . . um . . .”

  “Cause you to doubt who your friends were?” Shep looked angry, then busted into a wide-faced grin.

  “Something like that.” Hawk lowered his head. “But I knew . . .”

  “All things considered, there was enough going on to make things pretty confusing,” Juliette reassured him. “But you knew in your heart that Reginald was wrong, that’s why you didn’t accuse us of trying to steal the key.”

  “Yes, I knew . . . but Reginald twisted things pretty tightly, and I listened too closely.”

  “And what about Jonathan?” Juliette asked. “Are you still thinking he might be involved?”

  “Nah . . . but I am worried about him.” Hawk looked back toward the Epcot entrance. “Nancy managed to cut us all off from one another, and we still haven’t found Jonathan. We need to do that.”

  “We’ll drop by his house to see if he’s there,” Shep offered.

  “Thanks. I am going to go home . . . and let’s meet off-site . . . at 11:15. Good?”

  “We’ll be there.”

  CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE

  * * *

  THE CENTRAL FLORIDA GREENWAY LOOPS all the way from Disney into Seminole County. Forty minutes away from the Magic Kingdom, on the opposite side of the Greater Orlando area, is a bustling little community called Winter Springs. When Hawk wanted to go off-site, he meant way off-site. The group was to meet at one of Hawk’s favorite off-site stomping grounds, a restaurant that specialized in chicken tenders. He loved the food, the atmosphere, and the name: Huey Magoo’s. This small chain of restaurants was owned by a couple of friends who had met in college and decided to chase a dream and go into business together. With a real heart for the community, they had built not just restaurants, but gathering places, and they gave back to the areas their customers lived in. Hawk valued all those things—and the food was great.

  Hawk and Kate arrived right on time and found Juliette, Shep, and Jonathan seated at one of the outside tables under an oversized umbrella. Hawk walked over and grabbed Jonathan in a bear hug, relieved to see his friend and thankful that he was fine. Shep had ordered for everyone, and they settled under the gorgeous Florida sky to untangle the web of mystery they were trapped inside.

  “I hear you had an exciting couple of days.” Jonathan directed this toward Hawk. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to talk with you. Nancy called me and told me that after your place had been broken into, we were all in danger, and you wanted us to get out of town, not to take our phones, and—no matter what—not to discuss anything company related for at least two days.” He shook his head. “When we got back, I had messages from you, Juliette, and Shep. I’m sorry, Hawk, Nancy made it sound like an emergency. I should have called you to verify.”

  “It’s fine,” Hawk reassured him. “We have just had an intense few days.”

  “Juliette has been telling me. It sounds like it’s been more than just intense. But after all, it’s you, what else would I expect?”

  “It hasn’t been too bad . . .” Hawk let this linger.

  Everyone hesitated for a moment then exploded in laughter at his understatement. The hostess delivered their baskets of chicken tenders. After making sure that all food and sauces were in place, they said a quick blessing. On the amen, everyone dove into the meal. The desire to eat calmed the conversation for a moment, but after the first tender was downed, the chatter came back to life.

  “I talked with Al Gann this morning, and there is no sign of Reginald or Nancy. Apparently neither has been back home, and no one at the resort has seen them either,” Hawk reported.

  “So they’ve just disappeared?” Juliette asked, as she dipped a chicken tender in Magoo sauce.

  “They’re staying under the radar,” Hawk summarized. “I am guessing they, whoever they are, are trying to figure out what their next play is.”

  “What do you mean?” Jonathan said, after a sip of sweet tea.

  “Well, Cambridge knows I have another clue to figure out . . . but he didn’t end up with the collectible pins, so now they have to decide whether they can stop us from figuring it out and finding whatever it is that George Colmes has decided it is time to find.”

  “So you’re going to figure out the clue and solve the puzzle now, right?” Kate had polished off the chicken and was moving into the fries.

  “Any luck with the clue?” Shep widened his eyes.

  “‘Walt had a dream . . . a dream about tomorrow . . . a vision you can see . . . a vision as it was meant to be . . . a living blueprint where people actually live a life they can’t find anyplace else in the world.’ That is the first part of the clue.” Hawk had decided he had to once again trust his closest friends to help him.

  “Epcot,” Jonathan piped in.

  “That seems to be the consensus, but Epcot is a big place, and this doesn’t give a lot of direction,” Hawk replied.

  “If not Epcot, then what?” Juliette leaned forward.

  “Well, Walt’s dream is well documented. But I was thinking that everything I have found in my experience on these quests has had to do with the history of Walt’s life. The Epcot that we know and love is not the one he dreamed of. He was going to build a real community, not a theme park.”

  “That’s the living blueprint part . . . right?” Shep asked.

  “Exactly. It sounded familiar to me, and I found out that when the clue says, ‘A living blueprint where people actually live a life they can’t find anyplace else in the world . . . ,’ that is almost exactly how Walt said it in the Florida Project film he made just before he died.”

  “Help the non-Disney-trivia gal catch up.” Kate held up her hand. “The Florida Project film?”

  “That’s the film made to introduce the big Florida project. You probably have seen cuts of it on television before, but he talks about a real working city of the future.

  “Now that Epcot is a theme park and not what Walt wanted to build, his idea is referred to as Progress City,” Shep told Kate, as he picked the remnants of chicken from his basket.

  “I think the clue is more about Progress City, which was never built. But it was a dream, a dream about tomorrow, a vision as it was meant to be.” Hawk thought. “The clue also said, ‘A vision you can see. . . .’ That’s why I was thinking Epcot originally.”

  The collective thinking caused them all to fall silent once again. Then, as Hawk dipped a fry in ketchup, he paused mid-bite. Using the fry like a baton, he allowed his thoughts to emerge like a symphony.

  “The last part of the clue was ‘I can see it from here. . . . Go to it. . . . Find that vision. . . . Stick with it,’ and that is what is still keeping me stumped.” Hawk allowed the refrain to follow again. “‘I can see it from here. . . .’ It has to be something you can see. ‘Go to it. . . .’ It has to be someplace to go. ‘Stick with it. . . .’ I am guessi
ng that has something to do with the pins I’ve found. I have to stick them on something.”

  “George said, ‘I can see it from here.’” Juliette thought through the options. “Does that mean he could see it? Where was he filming?”

  “That has been throwing me the whole time. He was riding on something. It looked so familiar, but the film was too short, and the shots didn’t let you see the background very well.” Another pieced clunked into place in his brain. “Wait a minute. That’s it!”

  “Yes?” Jonathan leaned forward.

  “I know why it looked so familiar . . . and I know what George was looking at.”

  “You gonna share with the class?” Kate playfully waved her hand around the table.

  “He was riding the People Mover in Tomorrowland. That’s why the film would go from light to dark, and I think he was actually sitting in a ride car filming with a camera or his smart phone.” Hawk grinned. “That’s it—that is why it all looked familiar but I never could nail it down.”

  “So when he said he could see it from here, he wasn’t talking about Epcot.” Shep was tracking right alongside Hawk’s train of thinking. “He was looking at the Progress City model that you can see from the ride.”

  “We’re looking for the Progress City model?” Kate looked from Shep to Hawk. “But you already know where it is. What about the model is important?”

  “That is what we have to go find out.” Hawk now knew where the next stop would take him.

  The group took a few moments to map out the next steps and how they would make it work. They could position themselves strategically in Tomorrowland after-hours while Hawk took a run at figuring out the rest of the clue. Jonathan suggested that with all that had taken place, they should use a security team. Hawk thought seriously about this. But because of the nature of what they were doing—this layer of secrecy that surrounded the key to the kingdom and this new adventure, and how their trust had already been betrayed—he decided to keep the circle of people involved tight, controlled, and those that could count on one another. They would do this and finish this on their own.

  The conversation began to drag, and they made plans to reassemble later that evening. One by one, they got ready to leave. Shep excused himself first, then Juliette, leaving Kate, Jonathan, and Hawk.

  Hawk looked at Jonathan. “I am so glad you’re OK. And although Nancy did it to divide and conquer, in some ways, your getting the chance to get out of town kept you safe and out of trouble.”

  “Yes, maybe she did me a favor.” Jonathan got to his feet, but his first step was tentative. As he moved, Hawk noticed that he was favoring his ankle or foot.

  “You OK? Something wrong with your leg?” Hawk asked.

  “My foot, actually. Just twisted it doing something.” Jonathan smiled. “I tell you, brother, I am getting old. Hey, by the way, you did re-hide this valuable pin collection, didn’t you?”

  “I sure did.”

  “You didn’t put it back on top of Spaceship Earth, did you?”

  “It is someplace safe, trust me.” Hawk smiled.

  Jonathan waved and then limped off around the corner. Hawk glanced toward Kate, who had cut her eyes to Hawk and then back to Jonathan’s foot. As soon as he disappeared around the corner, she opened her mouth to speak. Hawk slowly raised an index finger to signal her to wait. He stared at the corner where Jonathan had just disappeared, and as if on cue, Jonathan came back around the corner once again.

  “Once more, what time to do we meet tonight?” Jonathan asked.

  “Midnight.” Hawk waved.

  Again, Jonathan limped off around the corner. Kate now leaned up in her chair, and once again Hawk waved her off.

  “Yes, I saw it.” Hawk looked to where Jonathan had been. Every encounter Hawk had been in the last few days, both Jonathan and Cambridge had shown the symptoms of. That was how Cambridge had persuaded him to suspect Jonathan in the first place. Although Hawk wanted to believe he had untangled himself from those he couldn’t trust, he once again noticed another connection back to his old friend. Kate had nearly pierced one of their attacker’s feet with her heel at the swamp shack. The same foot that Jonathan now seemed to be favoring.

  “You don’t have to say it, I saw it.”

  CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

  * * *

  HAWK AND KATE HAD BEEN WALKING through the Magic Kingdom for well over an hour. Their walk had started on Main Street USA and then carried them on a loop through Adventureland, into Frontierland and Liberty Square, and into Fantasyland. The new look of Fantasyland was still one of the park’s latest renovations and had become wildly popular. The new attractions, shops, and dining experiences had made it a place where huge crowds packed every corner during all hours the park was open. As they moved through on this night, in the absence of others, Hawk was able to point out some of the hidden secrets and surprises they had loaded the new area with.

  Kate did not know how much input Hawk had into those hidden secrets. This remodel had been the biggest project he had tackled yet in the theme parks, and he had to learn much of what he did in real time. Fortunately, Farren Rales had been available to consult as often as he needed, but Rales had also, on purpose, stayed out the way so Hawk could learn to lead through this unique process. When it had finally opened to rave reviews, Farren had congratulated him and told him he was now ready for even bigger projects.

  Glancing at his watch, he saw it was midnight, the time everyone was going to gather in Tomorrowland. The tour for Kate had been to let them move about the park and get a sense whether anyone might be following them. They had not noticed anyone. It also gave Hawk something to do, as he was more than ready to get moving into the plan for the evening. Turning and moving through Cinderella Castle, they picked up their pace. Hawk moved quickly while Kate was still in sightseeing mode, staring at the intricate mosaics on the wall inside the castle.

  “Kate, we need to go.” He looked at his watch and waved for her to join him. They exited the castle back out into the Central Hub at the end of Main Street USA. Angling down the ramp on the right side of the castle, Kate hurried to catch up with Hawk. She stumbled slightly as she tried to navigate the sloped ramp in her high heels. Losing a shoe a few paces behind, she called out to him, then stopped and went back for her shoe.

  Hawk ran back to help her. He was anxious to get started solving this last clue, and he hated to be late. Even though the plan had called for everyone to be in place before Hawk and Kate arrived, he still wanted to get on with this next part of the adventure. He got to her shoe before she did and knelt to pick it up. He turned toward her and lifted her shoe so he could help her put it back on. Kate paused in front of him. A huge, childlike grin spread across her face.

  “What is it?” Hawk, on one knee and holding the shoe, looked up at her.

  “This is a magical moment, Grayson Hawkes.” Kate gazed up at Cinderella Castle.

  “A magical mo—what are you talking about?”

  “Think about it. I was running down the ramp in front of Cinderella Castle and ran right out of my shoe. And now you’re waiting to put my shoe back on my foot. This is like a fairy tale. How many people get to say that has happened to them?” She looked back at him with another playful grin. “I am embracing the moment.”

  Hawk looked at her, glanced back over his shoulder at the castle, and then back to her again. “Give me your foot please, princess,” he said, as he rolled his eyes.

  She held out her foot, and he slid the heel back over it. He rose and stood next to her as she gazed back toward the castle again. Waiting for her attention to come back to him, which eventually it did, although it took longer than he had wanted it to, he finally spoke.

  “Are you ready to keep moving now?”

  She was, and they rushed across the hub and over the bridge into Tomorrowland. Their destination was the Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover. The attraction itself was a no-thrills, constantly moving ride that gave you a look from the sky
at Tomorrowland and some of the attractions surrounding it. The one-mile-long track provided guests with a ten-minute ride, which, on a hot summer day, was a fairly restful experience. The attraction used to be known as the WEDway People Mover. That all changed back in 1994, when Tomorrowland got a remodel using the theme “The Future that Never Was,” because they had found that the future was changing so rapidly that Tomorrowland could never predict it or be ready to showcase it. The result was a name change to the Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover.

  Juliette was standing in the corner near the entrance to Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin. This gave her a clear view of the entrance to the attraction, and she could look up and see the overhead ride path as it approached and left this area. On the second level, the People Mover track looped behind Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, and this was where the Progress City model was on display. Hawk and Kate looked over toward her as they passed, and Hawk nodded, indicating he had seen her. The two continued toward the escalator that took guests up one level to get on the ride.

  Shep was stationed on a bench between the Carousel of Progress and Space Mountain. He also could look up and see the pathway of the attraction overhead with a clear view across the far side of the now-deserted Tomorrowland. Between him and Juliette, they would be able to spot anyone entering the area. The escalator was not running, so Hawk and Kate trudged up the steps. They had planned this as well. Jonathan was at the top, in the load-and-unload area, and would operate the ride if needed. Because they were trying to do this without drawing undue attention, which Hawk found humorous since they were commandeering an attraction, they would run the attraction only if there were a dire reason to. Jonathan was the third line of protection if someone tried to move to stop Hawk, and they would have to get past him to get to the place where the model was on display.