by Morris, Chad
Grandpa stood solemnly at the head of the virtual mahogany table. “Things have gotten worse.”
Immediately a hallway appeared. Abby had seen it, or something like it, before. “This is the hall outside of Dr. Mackleprank’s room,” Grandpa explained. The light suddenly flickered out. “Our night sensors were also cut. How someone breached our security, I don’t know.”
“Another dart?” Abby asked.
“Yes,” Grandpa said. It seemed that Grandpa’s brow had formed a whole new set of wrinkles. “Dr. Mackleprank is awake now and doing fine. His dart only lasted the night. It appears as though they wanted to ensure that he would not interfere with another attempt at using an energy burst to alter time. Muns saw him through his Bridge during the incident with the Hindenburg and knows what a great fighter he is.”
“Where is Coach Adonavich?” Coach Horne asked. “I just noticed that we started without her.”
Grandpa bowed his head and flicked his finger. An image of Adonavich appeared. She was in a bed in the medical room next to Ms. Entrese.
A hush fell over the group. Abby’s throat tightened, her insides clenched. Not again.
Grandpa lowered his head. “She must have been attacked last night, after our incident at the Bridge. The nurse says that like Minerva Entrese, she will likely be out for months.”
Abby’s lip quivered. She blinked hard and looked around the virtual room. She noticed Horne’s fists tighten. He punched the table in front of him.
“Whoever it was left more chess pieces,” Grandpa said. “One with Dr. Mackleprank and one with Coach Adonavich. They think they’re winning this game.” He cleared his throat. “And they succeeded even more last night.” Grandpa held up an athletic shoe. “This is Coach Adonavich’s shoe, and here—” Grandpa pointed to the sole of the shoe, “—is the compartment I made to keep her key safe. When we found her this morning, it was open.”
Mrs. Trinhouse closed her eyes and whispered, “They have another key.”
“Yes,” Grandpa agreed. “However, it would be extremely difficult to get a key out of Cragbridge Hall without us discovering it. We have more security at each entrance and sensors that will detect a key.”
“But our increase in security hasn’t helped stop these attacks,” Mr. Trinhouse said.
“Good point.” Grandpa nodded at Mr. Trinhouse. “But it is still likely that the stolen key could be somewhere here on campus. After all, it appears that our attacker is still here as well. We must prevent them from gaining another key and escaping. If they do, Muns will have the ability to change time without the energy bursts. And then I don’t know if we could ever keep up with him.”
“How did they know where she kept her key?” Derick asked.
Grandpa shook his head, his wispy white beard swaying. “That is a mystery.”
Murmurs ran through the room.
“But that is not the only mystery. Watch the security footage.” Grandpa moved his fingers and a view of the hall outside of Coach Adonavich’s room appeared. The lights went out.
“Wait,” Derick interrupted. “I thought you put like extra security on the doors. Made it so no one else could come in.”
“I did,” Grandpa confirmed. “That is one point that greatly puzzles me. And you see, there is no sign the doors or their locks have been tampered with or codes cracked.”
“Could they get in past security through the window?”
“We would see that from the cameras on the grounds.” Mrs. Trinhouse pointed toward the window. It was only a virtual window, but it made her point just the same. “Do they show us more?”
“There is nothing but darkness. More of the same.” Grandpa rubbed his scalp. “Any of you can feel free to watch the footage. Security has analyzed it and can find nothing.”
Abby thought it through. Those were the only entrances, weren’t they? “Wait. What if someone was already hiding in her room when she came back in?”
“Good thinking,” Grandpa said. “But we would have footage of them entering at some time, and we cannot find it. We would also have footage of them leaving, or they would still be in the room. We have no such footage and have searched her room completely. There is no one there.”
“Can we see the room?” Abby asked.
Grandpa flicked his fingers. “This is what I recorded this morning.”
Abby looked closely. This was her time. She could be like Joseph Bell. She checked the doors and windows. They were the only ways in. Unless someone took down an entire wall and put it back up as though it was new, there was no way anyone had entered. So much for her detective skills.
“Was it one of the group we just put in the cell downstairs?” Coach Horne asked. “Every time we bring someone in, it seems that one of us gets attacked.”
“I will interview them, but fear we will get much of the same.” Grandpa stood and started to pace.
“But even if it was one of them, they wouldn’t know where Adonavich’s key was,” Mrs. Trinhouse said.
“I knew where her key was,” Abby said.
Everyone hushed and looked at her.
“I did,” Abby confirmed. “I saw her take it out to use it in the Bridge, and put it back again. And so did all of you.”
“Do you think one of us is a traitor?” Derick asked.
Everyone looked at one another.
“It may be a coincidence,” Coach Horne said, “but last night was the first time the Trinhouses were at the Bridge with the rest of us. That would have been the first time they saw where Coach Adonavich kept her key.”
“It wasn’t us.” Mrs. Trinhouse was out of her seat. “And I’m tired of being accused.” Mr. Trinhouse pulled her back down toward her seat, but glared at Coach Horne.
“Well, we’re the only ones, right?” Derick asked. “No one else knew, did they?”
“There is a chance someone else may have caught a glimpse somehow, spying on Coach Adonavich as she used her key to pass through the last door to get to the Bridge.” Grandpa had started his pacing again. “But there are only a certain few who even know the basement exists.”
“We’re coming down here more and more often, which increases chances,” Derick pointed out.
“And there are others with keys, aren’t there?” Abby asked.
“Yes,” Grandpa said. “Though I find it unlikely they would have seen. Coach Adonavich is especially vigilant at keeping her key a secret.”
“Then could anyone else know where she kept her key?” Abby asked.
“There is one more.” Coach Horne raised a finger. “Dr. Mackleprank.”
“But he was unconscious from a dart,” Derick argued. “He couldn’t have done that.”
“Is there a chance he could have been pretending, that it was a setup?” Mr. Trinhouse asked.
“I don’t believe that. I trust him completely,” Grandpa said, pausing to face Mr. Trinhouse.
“He is the only one who was hit with a dart and didn’t go into a coma for weeks,” Coach Horne said. “That’s suspicious.”
“I trust him,” Grandpa said, more emphatically.
“Perhaps we should all interview each other in the Chair,” Coach Horne suggested. “And that includes Mackleprank.”
24
Another Inventor and the Speckled Band
Derick knocked on the door of another apartment in the boy’s dorm. A minute later, Rafa opened it.
“Bom dia,” Derick said, hoping he was saying good morning. “Can I come in?”
Rafa hesitated a moment, then nodded. “Sure.”
Derick walked into the apartment, its walls plastered with digital posters. One changed from a soccer player to a jungle cat. A smaller frame rotated through pictures of an olive-skinned woman with a young boy. It had to be Rafa with his mom.
“You alone?” Derick asked.
“Yeah, my roommate is at breakfast. I’m not hungry.”
“Me neither,” Derick admitted. “Are you okay?” It was an uncomfortable question,
but he needed to ask it.
“Mais ou menos.”
“More or less,” Derick translated. “My Portuguese class is helping already.”
The far corner of Rafa’s mouth curled up into a smile, but Derick could tell it was insincere.
“I hear Dr. Mackleprank is fine,” Derick said.
“For now.” Rafa blinked several times. “But he’s been attacked twice.”
“I know. I know. It’s out of control. I think we should move him to a different room.”
“Yeah, but that’s not the point.” Rafa wiped his eye. The room grew heavy instantly. “Someone has it in for him.”
Derick didn’t know what to say. “Well, we need to figure something out because I need you both okay and well. I nearly blew it last night. Either you or Dr. Mackleprank has to go into the past if Muns strikes again. I’ll just mess it up.”
“I’m sure you did fine,” Rafa said.
“I needed a ton of backup,” Derick admitted. “It’s not easy for me to say, but you’re much better than me. I’d like to think that I can catch you and be just as good as you, but I kind of doubt it.”
“You’re learning well.” Rafa closed his eyes then slowly opened them again.
“Thanks. But I can tell this stuff has really bugged you. Even the last time we played with the avatar club, you weren’t at your normal level of awesomeness.”
Rafa didn’t say anything.
“Look,” Derick said. “I think there is more to this than you’re letting on.” He rubbed his chin. “I mean, usually you’re like invincible, perfect. You drive me crazy.”
“Teachers are getting attacked in the night!” Rafa said, his voice rising. “Isn’t that enough of a reason to be upset?”
“Yes, of course. But the way you took off when you found out that Mackleprank wasn’t answering his messages, you seemed desperate.” This was tough to say. Derick didn’t want to seem like he was accusing Rafa of anything, but he did want to understand what had happened. “You reminded me of me when my grandpa was kidnapped and my parents were missing.”
Rafa opened his mouth then closed it again.
Derick waited a few more moments, making sure Rafa wasn’t going to say anything. “I was desperate last semester and I was up against a wall. And you bailed me out.” He rubbed his forehead. “There was no way we could have saved my grandpa and my parents without you. And I know you’re the guy with all the talent, the one who doesn’t fail.” Derick paused. “I’m not. But I’d love to return the favor. You probably don’t need any help, but if there is anything I can do, let me know.”
Rafa looked at Derick for a moment.
Derick nearly patted Rafa on the shoulder, but thought better of it. He got up to leave. He made it to the door before Rafa spoke. “Wait. I owe you more of an answer after the way I have acted. Last semester you shared your secret with me and I know I can trust you.” He paused. “You know your grandfather worked on the avatar technology.”
Derick nodded.
“He’s responsible for the connection between our brains, the sensors, and the robot. I think it may relate to the same technology that’s in the Chair. At least there’s a mind link there too. But it wasn’t your grandpa who developed the actual robotics.”
“Mackleprank?” Derick guessed.
“No,” Rafa said. “I’ll let you look it up.”
Derick turned on his rings. There were several theories about who had invented the avatars, but one of them stood out—a woman from Brazil. “It was someone you knew? Someone from home?”
Rafa took his hair out of his ponytail and let it fall over his eyes. He paced quietly around the room. “My mother said that I used to watch some of her experiments. She even bought me some of those robotic remote controlled animal toys when I was growing up. As she got better at the robots, she let me play with the more durable prototypes. My dad was really never in the picture.” He flopped his hair to one side of his head. Derick noticed moisture in the corners of his eyes. “I’m talented at the avatars because I’ve been practicing on them all my life.”
“Your mom invented the avatar? Oh, I’m jealous,” Derick confessed.
Rafa smiled. “Says the grandson of Oscar Cragbridge.”
“Yeah, but he never let us try any of his inventions until we got here.”
“Given what my mom learned, it probably is better to keep his inventions under wraps so he can control who sees them and when.” Rafa shifted on his bed. “Some people, when they found out what my mom could do, wanted the technology. There was a long list of reasons why, but some of them seemed shady. When she did her research on some potential buyers, she realized her inventions were capable of doing some of the worst things imaginable, and that’s what they wanted them for. They could use avatars as spies or even assassins. No one would expect a dog or a monkey to be deadly. And they weren’t willing to back away when my mom told them no.”
Derick looked away a moment, trying to process all that he was hearing.
“Thankfully, my mom came to your grandpa for help.” Rafa looked at Derick, his eyes glazed with tears. “He is not only a genius, but a man with a big heart—um grande coração. He brought me here and has helped my mom stay hidden.”
Derick’s jaw dropped as he realized the implications of what Rafa just said. “Your mom is in hiding?”
“Sim. Yes. I communicate with her every day, but it’s . . . very unusual how it works. As you can imagine, we have to take every precaution to keep her location safe. She has to move every few months just to be sure.”
“It’s that bad?”
“Have you ever thought what a drug lord or dictator could do with a robotic animal? No one would suspect anything. It would be the ultimate weapon.”
“Makes sense.”
“Because of your grandfather’s help, I was willing to give you a chance when you stole the avatar earlier this year.”
“Thanks for that. We owe you one.”
“No. I had a small chance to pay you back.”
Derick wondered what all this had to do with Dr. Mackleprank. “Does Mackleprank know all this?”
“Yes,” Rafa said. “He and your grandpa are the only ones. Well, and now you. He’s the closest thing I have to a parent here.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Derick admitted. He knew what it felt like to have his parents missing, but not to be away from them for years.
Rafa shrugged. “I don’t know what I’d want you to say. But I sent your grandfather a message. I want Dr. Mackleprank under protection all the time.”
Derick wanted to say that everything would be fine, but he knew Dr. Mackleprank would be invited to defend his own innocence on the Chair that afternoon after school.
• • •
Abby stared at Mrs. Trinhouse. She taught with the same zeal as always, bubbly and bouncing. Perhaps she didn’t feel affected by all of this. Or maybe she was somehow involved and thrilled that it had gone the way she planned. Or maybe she could just hide it really well.
“Any questions so far?” Mrs. Trinhouse asked.
Abby had questions. She wanted to ask, “Why were you in the Watchman in the middle of the night?” and “Were you the one who attacked Coach Adonavich?” She couldn’t, of course. She tried to think of what Sherlock would do. It’s obvious, she thought to herself, hoping to think like Sherlock or Joseph Bell. It’s obvious that . . . I don’t know much of anything.
In a few hours when school ended, Abby would get to see what Mrs. Trinhouse thought while sitting in the Chair. They hadn’t been able to take everyone up to the English classroom just after their meeting because school was starting—the teachers couldn’t draw attention to themselves by missing their classes, not to mention it would be tough to use a Chair and ask sensitive questions with a classful of English students in the room.
“We will go ahead and give you time to work on the projects you started last class,” Mrs. Trinhouse instructed. “I’m excited to see your work. I
’m ready to be astounded by it.”
Astounded? Perhaps she would have been if it hadn’t all been destroyed to prove Grandpa’s point. Abby knew she was behind on her creation. She had to finish it to get a good grade. And she needed that good grade to stay at Cragbridge.
She took a deep breath. If she wasn’t careful, fear would sweep over her. Fear of getting kicked out. Fear of someone sneaking in the night and shooting her with a tranquilizer. She exhaled. She had to try to move ahead.
Abby stepped into a booth and put on her visor. She logged onto the class page and stared at the all of the possible building supplies. Should she remake her castle or start something new? She could make anything. Maybe a roller coaster, or a beauty spa, or . . . She couldn’t finish her thought. She pictured Ms. Entrese and Coach Adonavich. She took another deep breath. Nothing she could build would help that.
Or would it?
What if she could get a good look at the room where the intruder had entered and attacked Coach Adonavich? Maybe there were blueprints. She changed her rings to search for the plans of the teachers’ apartments at Cragbridge Hall. She thought she remembered that building blueprints were on public record. Yet she found nothing but an article stating that Cragbridge Hall, because of the avatars, the Bridge, the Chair and other Cragbridge inventions, not to mention its surveillance needs, did not have blueprints available to the public. And Abby also knew that her grandpa had a time machine in the basement. All of the secret passageways leading to it probably shouldn’t be there for everyone to see.
She had seen the room once in the video when they found Coach Adonavich. That would have to be good enough. Abby closed her eyes and tried to remember. The room she saw was a rectangle. She estimated the size, not bothering to make it part of a greater whole, just a free-standing room. She built the sides with wood framing and paneled over it. She added a doorway to the bathroom, as well as another to the kitchen and living room.
She tried to remember more. There was a floating bed against the wall. Abby selected repulsor magnets, the tech that caused the real beds to float. She selected other materials, putting the room together the best she could. Trophies stood in a case built into one wall, a mirror covered another wall, and a window looked out toward the Watchman. She thought she could remember a duct on the floor for heating.