"Headed for the Future" by Belle Book Part Four London, Year 2605, 3:30, GMT. Zack opened up the communicator, saying, "Come in Chief," Immediately the Chief appeared. However, he looked different even from the Chief that Zack and Ivy had first encountered in the twenty-first century. He had an multicolored appearance, almost like he was colored with all the colors of the rainbow. He took a look at the seven people standing there. "Who are you?" he cried out. "How did you get an Acme communicator?" Jaci stepped forward, "Chief, we're from the past. We're from the year 1999, to be exact. We're here to ask for your help. But since you obviously don't remember us, we want you to take us to Acme so you can access the old files and find out that we are Acme agents from the past." "Who do you claim to be?" the Chief asked, somewhat suspiciously. "I'm Jaci Harris," said Jaci. "This is Globie Leung," she points to Globie, "the tall dark-skinned young woman is Renee Santz, an Acme Good Guide, the girl beside her is Polly Tix, another Acme Good Guide, and the tall redhead is Ivy, part of the best Acme team from our time. The smaller, blond guy is Zack, her brother and partner." "And who's that?" said the Chief, turning to Carmen. Jaci frowned. This was going to be the hard part, convincing the Chief that Carmen was temporarily on the same side as they were. But she had to do it. Carmen, however, beat her to the introduction. "I am Carmen Sandiego," Carmen said. "And I am the reason these people are asking for your help." "You and Sara Bellum," Jaci corrected. Then, turning to the Chief, she added, "Carmen is a famous thief from our time, but she needs our help. A henchwoman of hers, Sara Bellum, had stolen a time-travelling device from our time, and gone to the year 2605 to steal something from that time period. Apparently, it was something that would give her ultimate power. Carmen followed Sara here, and we followed her." "Sara's after the 'Star of London'," Carmen explained. "But she's after something in Calgary that will enable her to break into the Reichmann Tower II so she can steal it. Once I found it out, these detectives found me, and I had to convince them that we had to work together to stop Sara." The Chief started at the mention of the "Star of London". "How did you know about that?" he asked. "I got some help from the Chief of New Scotland Yard by pretending to be an undercover detective assigned to track down a criminal which is currently in London," Carmen explained. "Hmm," said the Chief. "Well, I'll take you back to Acme Headquarters. Only it's no longer in San Francisco. It's now in Houston, Texas, because there's fewer chances for earthquakes there. There, I can find out if you really are who you say you are." "What happened to the old Acme Headquarters in San Francisco?" asked Ivy. "I have to recheck the files," said the Chief. "All I remember is that it was destroyed in an earthquake, but I don't remember when. However, if you are who you say you are, it happened after your time." "OK," said Ivy. "We're ready." And indeed, everybody was. "Powering up the C-8 Corridor," said the Chief. In an instant, a rainbow-colored corridor appeared and they all disappeared inside it. ______________________________________________________________ Acme Headquarters in Houston, Texas, 9:35 CST Zack couldn't believe it. It had taken quite a longer period of time to convince the Chief that he and Ivy were who they said they were when they went into the future the last time. But now, perhaps because of the problems Zack and Ivy had gone through earlier, the Chief was convinced that they all were from the past, and that they all were who they said they were. First, the Chief checked the records for Ivy and Zack, and found records of their getting the De- tective of the Decade Award. Then he looked up the records of Renee, Polly, Globie, and Jaci, in that order. He'd found records of each of them. Finally, it was Carmen's turn. She was the easiest of all of them to verify, since she was such a good thief, as well as a good detective when she was in Acme. The Chief also had found the records of what had happened to the old Acme Headquarters in San Francisco. In 2400, a terrible earthquake destroyed the old Headquarters, but fortunately, the agents there got out before the complex was destroyed. As a result, the Headquarters had to be moved, and two years later, it was moved -- to Houston. The current Acme Headquarters didn't look all that different from the one that Zack and Ivy had seen in the twenty-first century. However, the color of the place was different. It was multicolored, not blue. The Chief interrupted Zack's thoughts by ask- ing, "Are you certain you and Carmen are on the same side and are trying to stop Sara Bellum?" "We have a truce," said Jaci. "Now what we have to do is find out what would be in Calgary that could be used by Sara Bellum to break into a high- security vault. Carmen said that Sara had mentioned that a device that she needed was in Calgary." Immediately, the screens around them switched from pictures of the destroyed Acme base to pictures of Calgary, Canada. "Calgary, Canada," said the Chief. "It's the oil center of Canada, and the largest city in the Canadian province of Alberta. Also, it is a major financial center, a leading cattle center, and a center for transportation and distribution." Then a picture came up of what appeared to be a futuristic device. Globie asked, "What's that?" "That's a laser-cutter, designed to cut through diamonds, but which can also be used to cut through very thick metal," said the Chief. "The most advanced one was tested just about two weeks ago by one Kevin Leung. I believe he is a direct descendant of yours, Globie." "Wow!" said Globie. "I'll bet that's the one Sara's after," Carmen said. "I agree," said Jaci. "Chief, where's it located?" "It's located at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology," said the Chief. "Then that's our next stop," said Ivy. "So, Chief, C-8 us to the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology." "Hold it," said Jaci. "How do we get inside the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology? I doubt the guards will let us in willingly." "I suggest we all claim to be Acme agents," said Carmen. "Then the Chief can be called on to verify that." "In that case, Chief, I suggest you alter the roster to include us on it, since we're all Acme detectives from the past," said Jaci. Once that was done, the corridor opened again, and all seven disappeared inside it. ____________________________________________________________ Los Alamos, Year 1999 Once Kim Yoonity and Ann Tickwatee arrived, Chase explained what they had to do. He and Ann began interviewing the scientists to see if they had told anybody who had worked for Sara while Kim and Ivan began looking over computer records to see if anybody had hacked into the computer. There were about ten scientists attached to the project, and Chase wanted to make certain none of them had compromised his job as the head of Security for this project, especially since the Chinese had been so successful with their espionage program concerning nuclear secrets. However, he'd already interviewed four of the five scientists he'd decided to speak to -- three of four men, and one woman. The woman and two of the men were married. None of the four he'd interviewed had spoken about the project to anyone besides their spouses (for the three that were married). The unmarried man hadn't told anyone. So he was waiting for the fifth scientist, a widowed man and the oldest of the five. While he was waiting, he decided to ask Ivan and Kim if they had found anything. So, he contacted them via his cellphone. "Have you found anything?" he asked. "Not yet," said Kim. "But there are subtle signs somebody may have hacked the computer. We're trying to find out if the hacker was looking for the files of the time-travelling project." "Thanks," said Chase. "I've interviewed four people already. I've gotten nothing so far. I have one more to interview. Chase signing out." He turned off his cellphone, then looked up in time to see the last scientist he had to interview enter. He looked worried. "Mr. Devineaux?" he asked. Chase nodded. "I'm ready to answer anything you wish to ask me," the scientist said. "But I fear I won't have much to give you." "Tell me what you can," said Chase. But as the scientist predicted, he had little to give Chase. _________________________________________________________________ Calgary, Year 2605. The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology Carmen, Ivy, Zack, Globie, Jaci, Renee, and Polly emerged just outside the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. A guard spotted them and said, "Hey, what are you doing here? Tourists aren't allowed to enter this place without proper identification." "It's okay," said Globie. "We're Acme agents." He showed his Acme badge, newly provided by the Chief. Then the others all showed the guard theirs, even Carmen. "Hmm. I'll have to speak with the head of Security to make certain you are who you say you are," said the guard. He raised a videophone to speak to his boss. Once the guard's boss heard this, he checked the records of Acme personnel to verify their claims, and of course found out they were on Acme's roster. The guard said, "Okay, I suppose you can go inside now. But the boss wants to know why you are here in the first place?" "We're after a criminal who is after a highly advanced diamond laser cutter perfected by one Kevin Leung, a relative of Globie Leung," said Carmen. "This criminal wants to use the diamond laser cutter to break into a high-security vault and steal the 'Star of London'. Have you heard of it?" "Not really, but maybe my boss has," said the guard. He took them inside to talk to his boss. _______________________________________________________________ Two minutes later Once the Head of Security was told what the Acme detectives and Carmen wanted, and what Sara ul- timately wanted, he was only too willing to help them check on the laser-cutter, as he knew about the "Star of London" and knew what power it possessed. However, on the way, they heard glass breaking. The group raced to the vault, hoping to reach it be- fore Sara did. But just before they turned the corner to reach the vault, they heard the sound of an explosion. It was very powerful, and if they'd turned the corner be- fore the explosion occurred, they would've been thrown to the ground. As it was, they all staggered, but only Zack was thrown to his knees. The others recovered in time to avoid falling to their knees. They looked around the corner, and saw that a hole had been opened in the vault, and that Sara was entering the hole. "We've got to stop her!" yelled Globie. He raced out of hiding, followed by Ivy. Carmen, Jaci, Renee, Polly, and Zack followed them while the Head of Security went to call the local police. Once Carmen and the detectives reached the vault, they were greeted by the sight of Sara, who emerged with a backpack and the diamond laser-cutter. "Why, Carmen! And six Acme detectives! I would never have thought zat you would be working together," said Sara. "You're a greater threat than Carmen is, so we had to declare a truce," Jaci replied. "Surely you know that power tends to corrupt, and that absolute power corrupts absolutely?" Carmen added. "So?" Sara said. "I don't care about zat, not when ze promise of being ze world's best thief awaits." With that, she leapt toward a window, carry- ing the laser-cutter under one arm. Carmen led the charge to catch her, but Sara pushed a button on the backpack with her free arm, and she flew out the window. The backpack was jet-propelled. Carmen and the detectives reached the window in time to see Sara rising into the air. She pressed another button and hovered for a minute. "You won't be able to stop me," Sara taunted them. "After tonight, all my dreams will come true!" With that, she pressed the button she had first pressed and she flew away, toward the west. "She got away!" yelled Globie, just as the Head of Security arrived. "She got the diamond laser-cutter?" asked the Head of Security. "And possibly a backpack, if there are any backpacks that are jet-propelled in that vault," Jaci added. "No, they're kept somewhere else. But I did find out that somebody stole a jet-propelled backpack a few minutes before this latest theft," said the Head of Security. "We must have the police contact the Metropolitan Police back in London!" Carmen cried out. "Sara -- that's her name -- wants to be the world's best thief, and we know she's psychologically unstable. If she grabs hold of that magnet, nobody will be able to stop her!" To be continued...