"Headed for the Future" by Belle Book Part Five Calgary, Canada 8:45 AM MST It was now five minutes after Sara's big robbery. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police had come and had interviewed Carmen, the Acme detectives, and the Head of Security. Carmen had told them that the Chief had sent her to London to find out what Sara was up to, but she couldn't tell anyone at the time who she was or who had sent her. However, once she realized that Sara's plans were too big for her to handle alone, she had requested backup, and the other detectives had been sent as her backup. The detectives backed up her story, as they had no intentions of revealing that they were all time travellers from the past at that point. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police had recognized the gravity of the situation, and had promised to alert the Metropolitan Police back in London. Now Carmen and the detectives were busy obtaining some jetpacks that the Head of Security had told them were in another vault. Globie spoke first, "How many people here can handle a jetpack well? Besides me, of course." It was a well-known fact that Globie was great at using a jetpack. It turned out that Renee, Polly, and Zack were bad at handling jetpacks, while Ivy felt uncomfortable around them, despite being pretty good with them in a pinch. Only Jaci and Carmen were comfortable with jetpacks and very good with them. "If it ever comes to battling with Sara by means of jetpacks, you'd probably be the best one at it," said Jaci. "I'd do okay, but not if Sara grabs that power magnet. Besides, direct attacks aren't my cup of tea." "I prefer stealth myself," Carmen added. "You're good at that," said Jaci. "If I hadn't been in the right place at the right time, you would've snuck in the Prado without being detected. Which reminds me -- why did you want that painting, if not as a diversion for Sara's actions?" "You know that Beverly D'Angelo was the head of the orphanage where I lived before I came to Acme?" asked Carmen. "I do," said Ivy. "I remember when you stole the orphanage." "In about a week, it will be her birthday," Carmen explained. "I knew she liked certain paintings, but I didn't want to steal the originals and give them to her. So, I planned to steal them, have Art Forger make copies of them, and then send the copies to Beverly, with a stipulation that she let people know that these paintings were just copies. Then I'd let the originals be recovered." "Maybe we can find a better present for her here, in the future," said Jaci. "I don't know if we can find something for her in Calgary," said Globie. "Calgary of the present doesn't have a lot of good stuff for presents." "Let's contact the Chief," said Jaci. Ivy called the Chief, who appeared. He asked, "Are you on your way to capture Sara?" "We will be, but first I have a question for you," said Jaci. "Carmen told us that she stole some paintings so that she could have copies made as a birthday present for Beverly D'Angelo. Can you think of a better birthday present for her?" The Chief thought for a moment, then said, "I have it! While looking through my files earlier for the information to prove who you all were, I found that statues had been made of the most important Acme detectives of our history. There are statues of Zack and Ivy, of Globie, and most of all, of Carmen." "That's perfect!" cried Carmen. "The statue of me! It would be a perfect birthday present for Beverly! She'd have something that would always remind her of me. Could you send it to us here? After that, we'll go and cap- ture Sara." Within minutes, the statue was packaged and sent to the detectives. Carmen opened it, to see a perfect likeness of herself, dressed in the outfit she wore now. "Thank you, Chief," said Carmen. Then, turning to Jaci, she said, "And thank you, Jaci, for thinking of getting a different present for me." "You're welcome," said Jaci. At that moment, the Head of Security came to them. "Excuse me, but the RCMP have just alerted the Metropolitan Police in London to Sara's theft, and to her ultimate plans. The RCMP plan to fly to London right now. Since you are Acme detectives, you can either decide to fly with them or C-8 to London and meet the Chief of New Scotland Yard right outside New Scotland Yard." Carmen said, "We need to get to London as soon as possible, before Sara gets to Canary Wharf. So, Chief, activate the C-8 Corridor." The C-8 Corridor opened and all seven time travellers leapt inside, Carmen carrying the statue, and Globie with a jetpack on his back. Once on their way to London, the Chief spoke. "You're on your way from Calgary, Canada, home of Globie Leung, to London, England, home of the world-famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, and capital of Great Britain. Famous sights in London include the newly-reconstructed Globe Theater, built like the famous Globe Theater that once held plays by William Shakespeare; St. James's Palace, between St. James's Park and Green Park in the West End; St. Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, both famous churches, and the Tower of London, famous as a prison, but now used as a museum. Hold on, next stop is New Scotland Yard in London!" _____________________________________________________________ New Scotland Yard, London, England, 3:50 GMT The C-8 Corridor deposited Carmen and the detectives right outside New Scotland Yard, where the Chief of that place, Mr. Alan Lyons, met them. "So, you are an Acme spy, Ms. Carmen," said Chief Lyons. "Yes," said Carmen. "I just couldn't tell you at the time. My job was top-secret, as I said. But we must get to Canary Wharf. Sara is already on her way there." "I have my personal car waiting, plus some rocketbikes," said Chief Lyons. "And a number of policecars waiting to accompany us." "How many?" asked Carmen. "I have three, all of which happen to carry two people," said Chief Lyons. Globie, Carmen, and Ivy decided to drive the rocketbikes, with Polly going with Globie, Jaci going with Carmen, and Zack going with Ivy. Renee would travel with Chief Lyons. That settled, they all went to the cars and rocketbikes, and swiftly drove toward Canary Wharf, which was near Charing Cross Station. ______________________________________________________________ Los Alamos, New Mexico, 1999 Chase had finished his interviews with the scientists and was now conversing with Ann Tickwatee to find out what she'd gotten. "Did you find anything?" asked Ann. "Just that none of them had spoken to anyone about the matter except their spouses -- those who were married -- and those who had told their spouses never went into detail with them," said Chase. "None of those I'd interviewed were married, and they hadn't told anyone about what they were doing," said Ann. "I struck out." "Actually, we did find out that none of them could've said anything that could've compromised security," said Chase. "That's something." Chase then called Ivan and Kim, and asked them if they'd found anything. "We sure did," said Ivan. "The computer was hacked into, and whoever did it was looking for details on the time-travelling project." "Then Sara must've hacked into the computer and found out about the project," said Chase. "Yes," said Ivan. "And I'm afraid nobody could've stopped her from breaching Security that way." "Well, if we'd had better computer security, we might've been able to do so," said Chase. "But I suppose it's not easy to stop a hacker unless you have evidence the hacker's going to hack into a computer." "Yes," said Ivan. "I hope our fellow agents can capture Sara." "So do I," said Chase. _____________________________________________________________ Reichmann Tower II, London, England, 3:53 GMT Chief Lyons, Carmen, and the detectives arrived outside Reichmann Tower II -- in time to see two guards lying on the ground and the door to the Tower wide open! "She got here before we did!" cried Jaci. "After her!" yelled Globie. Polly and Renee remained with the guards to make certain they were okay, while the other six entered the Tower. Inside, there was a staircase spiraling to the top, where the vault lay. Globie moved to the bottom of the steps to climb, when all of a sudden he tripped over something and grabbed hold of the railing to stop from falling. Globie bent down to pick up a laser pistol. "How did Sara get hold of this?" he asked. That's when Carmen gasped. "Of course! I remember now! When I spoke to her last, she had a bulge in her labcoat." As she said that, Globie handed her the laser pistol. "So, she had it all along," Jaci realized. "She used it to knock out the guards, then dropped it near the bottom of the steps. I suggest we try to get her before she reaches the vault. But let's tiptoe up the stairs." So, Globie began to tiptoe up the stairs, with the others trailing him. But then, they all heard the sound of a laser-cutter. "She's opening the vault," Jaci whispered. Globie then raced forward, followed by Carmen, Ivy, Jaci, Chief Lyons, and Zack. They reached the vault, but then they all heard Sara's wild laugh. "Charge!" yelled Globie. All seven raced inside the vault. Once inside, they saw a dreadful sight. Sara Bellum held the Star of London in her gloved hands. "Zis is it!" she yelled. "I have ze ultimate power! And now I can become ze world's best thief!" Then Sara leapt toward the window, with the detectives right on her trail. Chief Lyons went down the steps to alert the policemen that Sara had the magnet. However, Sara had flown out the window and was now hovering over the city, laughing. "You won't stop me now!" Sara said. "Not when I take over the Broadcasting House and use it as my permanent headquarters!" "Now what do we do?" asked Zack. "We've got to stop her from reaching the Broadcasting House," Ivy said. Jaci then looked at Globie, and saw that he had the jetpack on his back. She then knew what they had to do. "I think one of us had better pursue Sara while the rest of us try to intercept her before she reaches the Broadcasting House," Jaci whispered to the others. Carmen thought for a minute, looked at Sara, hovering outside with her jetpack, and then looked at Globie. She now knew what Jaci had in mind. "I think you're right, Jaci," she said. "The one we send to chase Sara can use a jetpack to chase her through the skies, and tell us the speed at which Sara is travelling,and we can go at a faster speed to reach the Broadcasting House before Sara does, keeping her from entering until the chaser can stop her." Globie then said, "I'll chase Sara! I'll stop her!" "That's what I thought we'd have to let you do as soon as I saw that jetpack," Jaci said. So, Carmen, Jaci, Zack, and Ivy raced to the door so they could reach the rocketbikes. Once they were out of the vault, Globie touched a button on his jetpack. Immediately, it activated, and Globie flew out the window. "Well, well, if it isn't Globie," said Sara tauntingly. "I thought zey would send a detective more likely to zink more strategically, not you." "They didn't," said Globie. "Instead, I'm the one who's going to get you, Sara!" Sara placed the magnet in one gloved hand and used her other one to fire a blast at Globie. Globie avoided it, but it blasted a hole in the Tower. Then it was Globie's turn to leap at Sara. However, Sara flew out of harm's way. "You won't get me!" she taunted as she began to fly northwest, toward the Broadcasting House. She laughed wildly. Globie cried, "Oh yeah? You'll see!" And with that, he flew after Sara. Meanwhile, down below, Ivy and Zack got on their rocketbike, while Carmen took Renee on hers, and Jaci took over Globie's rocketbike, with Polly right behind her. They started their rocketbikes, and took off to intercept Sara -- and to make certain everybody evacuated the Broadcasting House area. And the chase was on to stop Sara and regain the magnet before Sara could become what she dreamed of becoming. To be continued...