A REAL Mission:  Impossible, Part Six
                                       by Belle Book

The corridor outside Ms. Powell's room, five minutes later.

        Mr. Lewis, a guard who had just participated in the successful 
capture of Maelstrom, passes by Ms. Powell's room on his way to the 
dining area.  He heard pounding on the door.  The pounding is coming 
from inside the room.  He tries the door and realizes it's locked.
Therefore, he takes out a key that is like the key that Ms. Powell 
uses and unlocks the door.

        That's when he did a double-take.  Ms. Powell was in the room.

        "Ms. Powell!"  Mr. Lewis said in surprise.  "What are you 
doing here?"

        "Carmen locked me in!"  Ms. Powell said angrily.  "She's trying 
to escape!  I've been pounding on this door for who knows how long, 
hoping someone would hear me!"

        "I'd better sound the alarm!" said Mr. Lewis.  "We'll find her."

*                                           *                                              *

VILE Headquarters, about the same time.

        Frank M. Poster looked around him.  Most of Carmen's henchmen 
were gone, after both Sara and Turiste were captured.  He couldn't blame 
them, since with both Carmen and Sara in Gehenna, nobody could really 
take the place of either.

        Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by a phone call.  He 
picked it up, thinking it was nothing but bad news.  He was surprised 
by the voice who spoke on the other end.

        "Carmen!"  he cried out.  "How did you get to talk to your 
fellow VILE members?"

        "Simple," Carmen replied.  "I got out of Gehenna and got to a 
place where I could phone you."

        "How did you get out?"  cried Frank in sheer surprise 
and delight.  "I thought you could never get out of Gehenna.  
We all did!"

        "I know," said Carmen.  "I'll tell you soon enough. I'm in 
Grasmere, Idaho.  Once I'm finished talking to you, I'll be heading 
north on Route 51 toward Mountain Home.  Then I'll head northwest on 
Interstate 80 N, toward Boise.  Take my private plane and meet me
there in 2 hours.  But first, disguise the plane as a cargo plane 
and call the Boise Airport.  Then, ask the airport to get one 
man-sized crate and a couple of smaller crates, and then ask them to 
have the crates ready for you to pick up.  I'll be hiding in 
the big crate."

        "I'm on my way," said Frank.  Then he heard Carmen hang up.  
Promptly he called the Boise Airport to make the arrangements 
necessary to pick Carmen up.

*                                           *                                               *

One hour later, in Gehenna Prison

        Dr. Maelstrom was accompanied by a heavy guard as he came 
to the dining area.  He saw the other prisoners there, looking 
rather confused.  He frowned as he recognized the
face of Sara Bellum, one of the members of Carmen Sandiego's gang there.

        Mr. Lewis, Ms. Powell, and three other guards, including the 
one who let Carmen use the van, came in, looking really angry.

        "Excuse me, everyone," said Mr. Lewis, "but we just confirmed 
some terrible news. First, we must explain to Dr. Maelstrom that one 
of his fellow prisoners was one Carmen Sandiego.  We never let him 
know to protect Carmen.  Until now."

        Dr. Maelstrom was genuinely surprised.  Carmen here?  And he 
had never known.  That made him angry, since Carmen was one of his 
worst enemies.  She had stopped his plans twice, and captured him both 
times.  That really rankled in his brain.

        "While Dr. Maelstrom tried to break out, Carmen managed to 
trick Ms. Powell into leaving her in Ms. Powell's room long enough 
to get some clothes belonging to the guard, then got Ms. Powell's 
key while luring the guard into the room, and locked the door.  She
then convinced our guard standing watch over the vans that she wanted 
to use one of the vans to patrol the outside, so that Dr. Maelstrom 
wouldn't escape.  Instead, she took the van and drove it out of 
Gehenna, and presumably toward Grasmere.  We're going to alert
the Boise police of Carmen's escape, and if they can't catch her 
by midnight, which is less than five hours from now, we're going 
to alert ACME Headquarters that she escaped."

        Dr. Maelstrom was furious now.  Carmen got out of Gehenna 
when he could not? And she used his attempt to escape to further 
her own escape?  He felt like he'd been made a fool, and nobody made 
a fool of Maelstrom.

        Nobody except Carmen, of course.

        Sara heard the news and now realized what Carmen meant by her 
statement that the words "I can't" didn't exist in her vocabulary.  
She realized that Carmen had probably planned to escape from Gehenna 
from the moment she got herself caught.  She was amused at the
cleverness of Carmen, angry that she hadn't been told, and hopeful 
that now that Carmen proved that no prison could hold her, Carmen would 
get Sara out as well.

        Mai listened and now understood the true meaning behind 
Carmen's calm, and behind some of her words.  Carmen knew she'd get 
out of Gehenna.  This increased Mai's respect for Carmen, for Mai 
knew a great criminal when she saw one, and now she saw one.

*                                           *                                               *

Another hour later, at Boise Airport

        Frank M. Poster's plane had just arrived, disguised as a cargo 
plane stopping to pick up cargo.  And Carmen was the cargo.

        After talking to Frank, she bought some new clothes with a 
wallet that happened to be in Ms. Powell's clothes, and went on to 
Boise, where she hid in the big crate.

        Frank had some men pick up the big crate while he and another 
picked up the two smaller crates.  They put the crates in the plane, 
then Frank and the pilot took off- with Carmen Sandiego.

*                                           *                                               *

ACME Headquarters, at 12:10 am.

        Zack and Ivy ran in to find the Chief looking extremely upset.

        "What's going on?" asked Ivy.

        "Yeah, we were just sleeping, when we got the call to come to 
ACME Headquarters right away."

        "I was just alerted ten minutes ago," said the Chief. 
"Carmen Sandiego has done the impossible.  She escaped Gehenna 
despite the best security possible."

        "What?!" Ivy and Zack cried out together.  They could not 
believe what they just heard.  Carmen Sandiego escaped the toughest 
prison that ACME devised?  Impossible!

        "Worse, they faxed a letter through, and I think you should 
see it.  It's from Carmen, and it's addressed to both of you," said 
the Chief.  He looked toward a table nearby, where a letter waited 
for them.

        "The night watchman left it there," the Chief explained.

        Ivy and Zack opened it.  It was from Carmen, and it said:
        
        Dear Zack and Ivy:
                More than two months ago, I happened to see you on 
TV telling the newspeople on "Current Copy" about Gehenna Prison.  
Then, you explained how you were planning to send only the prisoners 
who were either the most dangerous or the ones most likely to escape.  
Finally, Zack, you said that no prisoner would be able to break out 
of this prison, not even Carmen Sandiego.

                You did not know it then, but you threw down a 
challenge to me.  And I always take up a worthy challenge.  

                So I let you capture me at the Shrine of the Book.  I 
knew you would send me to Gehenna.  And there I would prove that no 
prison could hold me, not even Gehenna.  I even waited a little over 
two months, so that you would not be able to anticipate my little game.  
And now I have beat the game and have met the challenge.

                So now my normal game's afoot.
                                                                      
                       Until next crime,
                                  Carmen Sandiego

        Zack and Ivy finished the letter.  Zack looked really embarrassed, 
and Ivy looked absolutely furious.

        Ivy was the one to break the silence.  She shouted at Zack, 
"How could you go right out and claim that not even Carmen could 
escape Gehenna in public?  I could've told you Carmen might take it 
as a challenge that she could overcome."

        "Hey, you believed Carmen could not escape Gehenna just as I 
did," Zack said defensively.  "You even told Mr. Anderson that Carmen 
couldn't escape if she was captured."

        "Well, you told Mr. Anderson that not even Carmen Sandiego could 
break out of this prison.  I had to add that it couldn't happen if she 
was captured."

        Ivy then grabbed Zack and began to shake him quite angrily.  
The Chief knew he had to stop this fight or worse trouble might come 
out of it.

        "Hold on, both of you," said the Chief.  "I admit, I 
underestimated Carmen's ability to break out of Gehenna, but she 
did challenge you to chase her again.  Her last sentence said 'So now 
my normal game's afoot.'"

        "Yes," said Ivy.  "We can chase her again.  Besides, maybe 
we'll catch her again.  Only the next time, we won't catch her because 
she let us."

        "That's right," said Zack.  Then he said, "You know, I 
probably deserved to be embarrassed by Carmen, since I was the one who 
gave her the challenge she met."

        Then Zack began laughing at himself.  The Chief joined in, 
and finally, so did Ivy.

        The crisis was past.
        And Carmen Sandiego was out there, just waiting for their 
next move, ready to begin the cat-and-mouse game all over again.

                                          The End