Chapter 8
"You're right, Blue. She's definitely not here."
That was Mike speaking. Wizzit had teleported him and Shelley out as soon as we had ascertained that Lily was nowhere in the immediate vicinity.
"There's no sign of a struggle," I said. "Whoever took her, she went with them willingly."
"Look at these footprints." Shelley was pointing at the damp ground by the tree. "Something heavy was standing right over here."
"And here, too." Mike indicated the other side of the tree. "Are you thinking they were alters?"
Shelley nodded. "Could be. Or someone from Enclave, anyway. Blue, did JB Swift mention anyone who might be able to control Lily besides you and him?"
"No. He didn't say anything about that."
"Red, please point yourself at the footprints," Wizzit interjected. "Let me see them."
Mike angled himself so as to give Wizzit a good view from the sensors in his belt. "Mean anything to you?"
"They are of an odd shape," Wizzit observed. "Not boots or street shoes or sneakers or even sandals. They are smaller, almost like dancing slippers."
I was staring down at the footprints as well. "Or harlequin shoes," I murmured.
"Yes, Blue. Just what I was thinking."
I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to picture the last time I had seen Lily. "Wizzit, do you remember, was Lily wearing her earrings when she met us? You know, the gold ones that JB Swift used to use to control her?"
There was a pause. "Affirmative."
I nodded. That was what I had expected.
Shelley let out her breath explosively. "That explains it, then. The Harley twins must have gotten possession of JB Swift's old remote control. They 'ported in and used it to get her to follow them."
"Sounds like," Mike agreed. "That would explain why they decided to kill JB Swift; they had already gotten hold of Lily. But how did they find her? You've never used this spot before, have you, Blue?"
I shook my head. "I think I know what happened, though," I said heavily. I had been mentally kicking myself over this for the past five minutes, in fact, ever since we discovered she was gone. "See, when you use an Enclave teleporter, it remains set to those coordinates until someone changes it to something else. You can always see where the previous person went."
Shelley nodded in understanding. "You think someone was at that teleporter after you and Lily left?"
"They must have been." I made a disgusted sound. "Here I'd been thinking I was so clever, copying down that last set of coordinates before 'porting out with Lily, and then someone pulled the same trick on me." I shook my head, angry with myself. "I should have done a double-hop. As soon as we made it out here, I should have had Wizzit send us someplace else. She would have been safe, then. Instead, I led them straight to her."
"Easy, Blue," Mike said. "It was an honest mistake."
"Yeah, but it may have cost Lily her life," I retorted. "JB Swift said that her lifespan with Enclave would be measured in weeks, if not days."
Shelley laid a comforting hand on my shoulder. "We'll get her back, Blue, one way or another."
Mike bent to pick up the pad and pen. He looked at it and shrugged. "Well, she didn't leave any sort of note telling us where she'd gone." He looked around. "Anything else we need to do 'round here?" he asked.
I shook my head. Shelley said, "I can't think of anything."
"In that case, Wizzit, would you care to send us home?"
"Sending you out to retrieve the teleport trap, Red," Wizzit replied. "Even if we aren't going to use it today, it should not be left lying around. Blue, your family is starting to wonder where you are. Primes Violet and Green in particular are beginning to get concerned. I have not yet had occasion to discreetly update them on your whereabouts."
I sighed. I had nearly forgotten them. "All right, back home for me."
"We'll keep working on the problem," Shelley promised.
Less than thirty seconds later, I was standing behind the big oak tree in my parents' backyard. I entered through the kitchen door and, seeing no one there or in the dining room, I wandered into the living room. Grandmaster Park, Angie's and my Tae Kwon Do teacher, had come over for a visit and appeared to be in the middle of telling Mark and Toby one of his long stories.
Everyone looked up at me as I entered. "Where were you, Younger Brother?" Joy demanded. "You had us all worried."
I looked around the room, and somehow managed to dredge up my most sheepish, most disarming grin. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get everybody all upset," I said. "I ran into an old friend, and we got to talking and lost track of time."
Joy crossed her arms. "An old friend?" she said skeptically. "And you were 'just talking'? For two hours?"
"Was it really that long? Wow, I guess time really did get away from us."
"So where is this 'old friend' now?"
"She's, ah, been unavoidably detained." Lame, I know, but I couldn't really tell them that she had been spirited away to an unknown Enclave base, now could I?
"'She'?" Joy asked pointedly.
"All right, Joy," my mother said in that tone of voice parents use when they want to quell an argument between siblings. "I don't think we need pry any further into Trevor's personal life."
I had to suppress a snort. This, coming from the woman who considered it her maternal duty to ask me pointed questions about my love life every chance she got. Still, it was nice to have an ally in this little skirmish.
Nick nudged Jerome. "I bet it was Paula," he said. To me he said, "She still asks about you every now and then, big bro. I think she still has a thing for you."
"It wasn't Paula," I replied. "Nobody you guys know, in fact." I felt a huge yawn coming on, and I gave in to the impulse. "You know, I've had a long, hard day, and I'm bushed. I'm going upstairs to bed."
Toby got up along with me; he'd been awake for as long as I had. We Primes don't get jet-lagged from teleporting all over the world -- at least I never have -- but being up for nearly twenty hours can tire anybody out.
Angie struggled to her feet as well. I don't think she was really tired; I just think she figured that the earlier she went to bed, the earlier she would wake up and be able to walk again. She used to do the same thing every Christmas Eve.
Toby playfully offered to carry her upstairs, and she just as playfully turned him down. He swept her up in his arms anyway, sending her canes clattering to the floor, and dashed up the steps, taking them two at a time, with her giggling and protesting all the way.
Shrugging an "I don't know what's going on with them" to the room at large as I picked up her canes, I followed. I made a point of stopping in front of the grandmaster's chair and paying my respects to him in Korean. He barely nodded. Like Joy, he thinks I am gravely disappointing Mom and Dad with my "chosen lifestyle", and he is punishing me for it in his own way.
Toby and Angie were waiting for me just outside my room. Toby demanded, "All right, Trev, give. Where were you really?"
I sighed and shook my head. I didn't really feel like going over it all again, but I realized that I owed the two of them an honest explanation. I motioned for them to follow me into my room. Then I closed the door and outlined the evening's events. When I was done, Toby scowled and started to say what I thought was going to be a very bad word, but then he caught sight of my sister and nearly strangled himself cutting it off.
"I thought we were done with that Lily bi--" Another glance at Angie. "-- er, person for good!" he said with some feeling. "No offense, Trev -- I know you like her and all -- but she's never been anything but trouble for us. Serious trouble."
"I know. But I had been hoping that was all behind us," I said, "now that I seem to be her new minder."
"Ah, but are you really her minder, or is this just another trick like last time?"
I shrugged. "Who
knows? And it may not make any difference if we can't get her back." I got up and started pacing. "I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep any time soon. Wizzit, is there anything I can do to help?"
"I dispatched Yellow and Indigo to JB Swift's old lair with the teleport trap just a few minutes ago," his voice said from the speakers in my belt. "Yellow has set up a temporary screen generator to shield it from Enclave scanning, and Yellow and Indigo are looking for JB Swift's own screen generator. As soon as they have disabled that, I will be able to teleport you and other members of the team in and out the site freely. This will be an unprecedented opportunity for us to study Enclave technology."
"Count me in." I was tired -- exhausted, really -- but at the same time I was filled with all kinds of nervous energy. If there was anything that could be done to help us get Lily back, I wanted to be in on it.
Toby yawned and stretched. "You may be Mr. Insomnia tonight, Trev," he said, "but I'm not. If a certain lady Prime would care to leave the room, I'm going to get undressed for bed."
A smile broke out over Angie's face when he said this. I think it was the first time anyone had ever called her a real, honest-to-goodness Prime. She wished us goodnight and went to her own room.
By the time I had gotten myself cleaned up and brushed my teeth, Wizzit was reporting that JB Swift's screen generator had been disabled. Toby wished me luck as I activated, and then I teleported out to the lab.
Attack Doll 5: The End of Lily Lee Page 8
