Broken Mirrors, Part 3 - Closer than need, Further than hope

The world seemed to swim in red, green with freckles of black. It
was a struggle to breathe but Carmen ignored it and pushed herself to
stand. Her ribs was bruised from the fall, she had taken when Ivy had
yanked Carmen’s ankle, causing her to lose her grip on the rope. She
raised her hands, desperately trying to reach the rope that hung from
her flying fortress. The net that Zack had shot at her with the grappling
rifle caught her from behind. Her futile struggle only resulted in her
falling facedown to the cold, stone surface of the Motherland statue.
The triumphant cries of Zack and Ivy rang in the night air. Suddenly,
Carmen raised her head and directed a small, contented smile at Ivy’s
back. Everything was going according to plan.

Except everything had not gone according to plan that night. Letting her
two favorite detectives catch her at Vogolgrad so that she could show
her father- No! Avalon. Carmen drew a shaky breath. She had
wanted to show Avalon that she had the capacity to change. Carmen
shook her head as she typed in a coded password in the mainframe of
her headquarters. Most often, even her best plans failed but she always
had a contingency plan. Not this time. A certain unforeseeable factor
had been added to the equation: Lee Jordan. With more force than
was necessary, she typed in the name of the file she wanted: Hope
Diamond.

The computer began to scroll information concerning the security of the
Washington Institution, Washington in general and the history of the
Hope Diamond. Carmen frowned at the data, not really seeing it. She
didn’t need the information since she had already stolen the diamond
once before for Lee. Yet it was soothing to perform a routine infoscan.
It was late afternoon, outside the air-conditioned environment of the HQ
the air sweltered. Her frown deepened as she remembered Lee’s
smirk when he ordered her to steal items for his ambition to create a
supercriminal organization founded by the stolen artifacts’ value. He is
an animal that’s for sure. She sighed sadly; Lee had such promise yet
even a year spent in jail could not give him the maturity he needed for
being a detective or thief. He was a grown man but still a wretched
child inside. Putting aside thoughts on Lee’s antisocial behavior,
Carmen concentrated on planing her next heist.

                       **********************

Ivy walked through one of the many corridors in Acme HQ. It was early
morning; Zack was still asleep in bed. Poor little bro, he was exhausted
from chasing Carmen with the C-5 car in Washington, D.C. A bike is far
more maneuverable than a car and Carmen had taught them that
lesson endlessly. Why should last night be any different? Ivy shivered
as she remembered Zack’s erratic driving. Perhaps she shouldn’t let
him drive so much when they were on a chase. A chill crept through
her. Zack was growing up, becoming a man. Would he still want to
work with her when he started shaving regularly? Ivy abruptly stopped
as she considered that possibility. A strange, smarting began in her
eyes. Angrily, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before
continuing on. She could waste time later worrying about the future.
Now, all she wanted to do was to catch Carmen Sandiego. Is that really
what you want now? Ivy ignored the question that small voice inside her
asked.

Carmen. What did that thief planned? Why would she steal the Hope
Diamond and leave it at the Library of Congress, filed under ‘H’? She
had once stolen all documents beginning with ‘A’ during the Avalon’s
Case. She had left them no clue. Nothing to work with, almost as if
manipulating them was an absentminded gesture. Ivy searched through
her memory to the few times when Carmen did a caper and didn’t want
Acme interfering. Perhaps it was the same here. Perhaps this time
Carmen wasn’t playing a game.

Ivy growled in frustration. This was getting her nowhere and all the
possibilities presented sent her mind into twists. Work it through. Work
it through. Always work the facts through before coming to a
conclusion, she reminded herself harshly. Okay, let’s start from the
beginning. 

           Fact One: Carmen has not been acting herself. 

       Fact Two: There are no clues or themes to her capers. 

  Fact Three: Ivy was running out of facts and working herself in a knot.

                                

A sudden thought popped up- themes. Carmen’s stolen items might
present a theme. Let’s see the Hope Diamond and Handel’s music
score, "Messiah". There might be something there that Ivy is missing.
She thought about waking Zack to help her with finding a common
theme. The memory of him sleeping soundly with all trace of weariness
gone came. Ivy sighed and walked on. The need to turn on her heel and
wake Zack did not go away. Instead, an immense feeling of loneliness
grew. Carmen, I will catch you for good, this time. I swear it.

                        *******************

If Ivy had gone to the Chief for help, she would have found him in no
better shape. Not that he was puzzled about the capers Carmen was
pulling off but he was confused with Carmen’s character in general. It
was a daily battle of guilt, sadness and anger that he made himself
wage. It had begun the day she left Acme. The day she betrayed him.
The day she became a stranger.

The Chief’s CGI head managed to contort in grief. He had given her a
home. He had been a father to her. Yet she didn’t want him. Didn’t
need him. Carmen had wanted a human father. One who never before
cared whether Carmen got hurt or felt pride that she was the best
detective of all time. The Chief rarely felt any emotion stronger than the
grief he experienced but for an instant, he felt jealousy. She had
wanted Avalon to be her father. She might still wish that Avalon could
be her father. Right then, the Chief wanted to start bawling. 

There were a few times where Carmen had expressed a need to feel
wanted by him. That time during Christmas when she had stolen him
from the Acme computers and transferred him to her own. Just so that
they could spend Christmas together and play chess. A warm, feeling
made the Chief’s features exhibit a sad, smile. Carmen had also been
pleased and touched that he still cared for her. Yet, she wanted a
stranger to be her father: someone who detested her because she was
a thief and disowned her. The Chief would never disown Carmen.

Guiltily, he remembered the fulfilling joy he felt when Ivy and Zack
captured Carmen in Russia. What Carmen does for a living is wrong;
there are no excuses for that. At least, that is what he tells himself.
When Carmen had teamed up with the two detectives to catch
Maelstrom, the Chief had secretly wished that Carmen would turn over
a new leaf and return to Acme. He remembered her laugh as she
clapped the handcuff on his automated body, attaching Maelstrom to
his custody. Then she had cheerfully pushed him off the submersible
into the ocean and made her getaway.

"To catch Maelstrom, I’ll do almost anything," she had told them when
she agreed to join Acme again. 

"Well, she said almost anything. Apparently getting caught was one of
the things she wasn’t prepared to do," the Chief said wryly. His spirits
lifting. If Shakespeare had met Carmen, he would have described her
as ‘a high spirited lady’. The Chief called her his best detective.
Secretively, he called her his daughter.

The Chief sniffed a little as he recalled the concern he felt when he saw
her bandaged hand in a sling. She had gotten that retrieving a clue
which, Maelstrom had left. Carmen always put her own safety at risk
before the safeties of any other. Carmen Sandiego, what is wrong with
you? The Chief wondered if there would even be an answer to that
question. 

                       *********************

Carmen herself wondered what was wrong with her. She no longer
suffered from nightmares. It was as if the resolution to take action had
slackened the power her confusion had over her. Yet, she still felt
incomplete. Carmen looked out from the balcony. The sky was still dark
but there was a sense of something waiting to happen. Fool, she told
herself. It’ll be sunrise in a few hours. In a few hours, the sky will 
turn in a myriad of colors, announcing the arrival of a new day. 

Carmen returned to her room and stared at the broken mirror on her
dresser, reflecting. The mirror was incomplete because of the impact it
suffered when connecting to the ground. What great impact has been
played on my life, that has caused my life to shatter? Carmen closed
her eyes and relaxed - a method that the hypnotist had taught her in
what seemed ages ago. She took a deep breath and nearly cried out
as the nightmares came again.

Carmen pressed the button of the remote she had taken out of her
coat. Behind her, a helicopter arose and a rope ladder was lowered.
She could hear energy beams being fired at Zack and Ivy as they
raced towards her father. The sundering of the ground and stone wall
as the energy beams missed sounded frighteningly loud. She had to
stop this. 

She had to stop Lee.

Carmen leapt and grabbed the rope ladder as the helicopter flew
straight at Lee and his goons. At her first pass, she knocked the goons
down.

"You know how I despise weapons, Lee," she called out as she swings
back and aim a blow at Lee. Lee sidesteps her attack and the
helicopter moved towards Avalon. She couldn’t resist a taunt however.
"Afraid you can’t defeat me with your wits?"

As the helicopter carried her away, she heard the cold rage in his voice
as he shouted: "I’ll win anyway I can!"

Carmen saw the two detectives had dispose of Lee’s henchmen into
the river. They were trying to pull the cage to the ground but were
inexorably failing. They were lifted high and the helicopter angled its
flight towards Carmen. Their hold on the cage was weakening. If they
let go, they would fall to their deaths.

"Zack! Ivy! Swing towards me!"

It was a leapt of faith. If she let the helicopter dip at the wrong moment,
they would miss the rope ladder. Blessedly, Ivy and Zack did not
hesitate and leapt. Carmen’s breath cut her lungs as they managed to
grab the lower rungs of the ladder. Together, they swung to and fro to
get enough momentum for Ivy and Zack to grab the cage. She informed
them that they’d be heading for the roof. Zack grabbed it and he and Ivy
pulled Avalon out.

Carmen felt fear for Avalon when she saw the effort involved in holding
him.

"Hang on to him, Zack," Ivy grunted.

"I’m trying, sis," Zack replied, his voice straining.

Carmen’s helicopter veered upwards. Lee’s goons abandoned their
craft as the two helicopters crashed. Carmen felt heat bathe her face
and back as an explosion ripped through the night. She, Ivy, Zack and
Avalon started to plummet.

Carmen slowly unknotted her muscles that had braced for the
shuddering impact. Her hands seem to have fused with the arms of her
chair. Slowly, Carmen shook her head to clear her thoughts. It wasn’t
the explosion that has caused this upheaval in her life but it was
something that had occurred during that night. Carmen peered
thoughtfully at the fragmented mirror. Each fragment contributed to the
mirror being whole. Perhaps, she should call in help for this mystery. It
wouldn’t be the first time either. Carmen smiled as her plan began to
form. 

                      ***********************

The Chief was whistling a happy tune. It wasn’t everyday that Zack and
Ivy actually had a day off with no emergency thefts to stop. Ivy was
determined to teach Zack to drive like a pro. She seemed intent on
telling him that she would always be there for him. Zack had wanted to
spend the day with Tatiana but Ivy had ‘sweetly’ persuaded him to
come with her. So, there were no major cases on and Carmen seemed
to be lying low. Maybe it was time to go on that world vacation he
always dreamed of. What places did he want to see? Oh well, he could
just be spontaneous and go where the cyberspace takes him.

Maybe he could also sort out what he felt about Carmen. As if that was
a signal, an email from her came in. The Chief scanned it and winced.
Ivy and Zack were not going to be pleased especially when he
promised them they would get the day off. Oh, well. Turn and turn about.
It was their turn to be mad at him. The Chief sighed and woefully
assumed a cheerful expression. This day could not get worse.

 

To be continued...