“Oh yes! That just made our evening even far worse,” she said while holding on to her long strand of pearls. “Marty told Calypso to come here at six to pick us up for dinner and when we went downstairs after our security sweep, our private hover scooter was outside, but Calypso wasn’t!”
Marty interjected, “They wouldn’t even tell us where they took her or why.” Marty shook his head. “Calypso is a good girl. She’s been with us for years and she’s never given us an ounce of trouble.”
“I’m sure everything will be okay.” I left the well-dressed older couple in the hallway and I jumped onto the elevator. Their driver, a Martian, who was also a woman, was whisked away to an undisclosed area after the security breach. Were the security officers specifically looking for female Martians or just Martians in general? And if so, then why?
When I reached the hotel lobby, I walked past several Martian hotel employees. I wondered why they hadn’t been picked up during the security sweep. I took a good look at them and I saw the one difference between them and Wendy: they were men. Could it be that they were only looking for women during this so-called security sweep?
Before I left the hotel lobby, I picked up a map of the ship at the concierge desk. Perhaps this would give me some clue as to where they might be holding Wendy. I sat down in front of an oasis that was in between a gift shop and a bar, then I carefully laid the map out on my lap. A small flyer was sitting in the middle of the map; it was for one of the many shops on the Titan—some place called Kyon Orthus, and they were offering a sale for something called the Nimen-Seki bracelet. There were no trash cans nearby, so I stuffed the flyer into my purse. I started to study the map, but I was interrupted by a little girl with golden pigtails, in a pink dress, who decided to jump into the shallow oasis next to me. “Wheee! This water feels good!” she shouted while dancing in the oasis.
“Mary-Beth get out of there! You’ll ruin your new dress!” A woman in a fluffy orange chiffon dress, who was holding on to a freshly prepared martini for dear life, took the girl by the hand and pulled her out of the water. Needless to say, Mary-Beth instantly started crying, then threw herself onto the ground and tossed all of her limbs into the air. The woman, who I was assuming was the little girl’s mother, was completely unaffected by her child’s actions.
“I’m so sorry if she bothered you.”
I shook my head. “No, it’s okay. She wasn’t bothering me.”
The woman took a quick sip of her martini. “Mary-Beth, get up this instant!”
Mary-Beth continued to throw her little hissy fit. “I want La-La! Where’s La-La!?!”
Mary-Beth’s mother rolled her eyes. “I already told you. La-La is gone. She had to go do some laundry.” She let out a heavy sigh and took another sip of her drink. “I don’t even know what to do with her.” She took another sip of her drink. “I simply can’t get over everything that’s happened. The showcase being canceled is one thing, but the security officers took my daughter’s nanny, Lapetus, away earlier this afternoon, and my husband is off with his little buddies and now I have to handle her all on my own.”
I looked down at Mary-Beth as she continued to throw her hissy fit. Having parents that don’t know what to do with you and a nanny that takes care of you—I knew exactly how that felt. “If you don’t mind me asking, did they tell you why they were taking Lapetus away and where to?”
“Well, they told my husband that they were looking for a suspicious woman with orange hair and green skin and, when he asked where, they didn’t say.” My jaw practically dropped down to the floor; this basic description was what they were using during their security sweeps! Green skin and orange hair—heck, that could be anybody—that perfectly described every Martian on this ship! The woman reached down and picked up her daughter by the arm, being ever so careful not to drop a single bit of her martini.
“Oh, that’s awful. I’m so sorry to hear that.”
“It just doesn’t make any sense. What could they possibly want from an old Martian nanny anyway?”
Mary-Beth pulled as hard as she could on her mother’s arm. “I’m hungry and I want La-La.”
The woman tossed her head back and let out a breath of air. “I’m so sorry to have bothered you with my issues. You have a nice day.” I watched as the woman and her cranky child walked back to the open bar next to the oasis. Now I had a slight hunch that the security guards were specifically looking for Martian women during their security sweep. If that were so, then where were they keeping them? I returned my attention to the map. There were five levels on this ship. The ship’s bridge was at the top, below that was the security floor, then came level A with all of its casinos and nightclubs, and level B, which had hotels and living quarters. Underneath level B was the parking lot and, finally, there was the ship’s belly. If that explosion went off above us on level B, then that meant it must have occurred on the ship’s security floor. Holding Wendy and the rest of the Martian women on the security floor just below the ship’s bridge seemed like the most obvious choice to conduct interviews. It was a secure area that the public had zero access to and they could hold the women there for as long as they wanted. I doubted that a guest like me would be granted access, so I would have to get a little creative and think of a way to reach the security floor without getting caught. The map said that in case of a fire, all guests were to use the emergency staircase instead of the elevators. Every floor had an access point that led down the emergency staircase and to the emergency escape pods. The emergency staircase for the security room floor led to both level A and level B, which meant that I could use the emergency staircase on level B as a way to get to the security floor!
I ran my finger across the map and brought it to a stop next to the illustration for the emergency staircase. The emergency staircase was located on the far right hand-side of the ship, behind a cluster of crystal blue palm trees. I refolded the map and shoved it back into my purse and made my way toward the emergency staircase.
To my dismay, not one but two men were standing guard in front of the emergency staircase. I was really hoping that I would be able to just slip through the door on my own without anyone getting in my way, but oh well. I guess since this explosion had occurred they were amping up their security. It was okay; I would just have to get creative. One of the guards was desperately fighting sleep while the other was standing at attention. The only weapons either one of them had was a black baton fastened to the side of their pants. There was no way that they were going to let anyone past them.
I rested my back on one of the thick blue palm trees and I closed my eyes. Think, Cosmo, think, what can you do to get those guards away from that door? If I couldn’t convince them or fight them, then maybe I could lure them away from it and quietly slip through the door. I opened my eyes and scanned the area around me; perhaps I could find something that I could use to lure those guards away from the door. The area near the staircase was nearly empty except for the few people who were hanging out near the oasis.
I was about to lose hope, but then I spotted a shimmering red fire alarm on the wall several feet away from the staircase. Pulling that fire alarm would not only clear the people away from this area, but it could lure those guards away from the door. But then again, I couldn’t do that—hide from the guards and get back to go through the door in time enough. In theory, I could get someone to pull the alarm for me, but who would be dumb enough to pull a fire alarm for a complete stranger? I glanced over the crowd to see if I could find a suitable candidate. I spotted two very mischievous-looking little boys next to the oasis. One was swinging from the end of the blue palm tree, trying his best to pull something out from out of the middle of the tree, while the other was hacking into the tree with a butter knife. Could they be any more perfect for this job?
I walked toward the two boys with a small smile on my face. “Hi there, guys. Whatcha up to?”
The little boy who was carving away at the tree had cuts and bruises all over his el
bows. He looked up from his handiwork and said, “Beat it! What we’re doing ain’t none of yer business, old lady.”
The little boy who was still hanging from the tree was missing his front row of teeth. He cried out, “Yeah! Beat it, old lady.”
It was obvious that the one hanging from the tree would go along with whatever the one with the cuts on his knees said, so all I had to do was convince him to pull the alarm and he’d go along with it as well. I had something that would help sweeten the deal for them and convince them to do what I wanted them to do. “Oh well. You guys look like you like space credits and I had a job for you, but since you want me to beat it…” I started to turn around.
“No, wait! We like space credits!” the older boy remarked.
“Yeah, space credits! We can buy some candy with space credits!” the little boy remarked as he continued to tug on whatever was in the middle of the palm tree.
I looked up at the little boy hanging from the palm tree. “I’m curious. Exactly what are you doing up there?”
“Tryin’ to get this camera out of the tree.”
I drew in a small breath; the last thing I needed was for a security camera to pick up every little move that I made. I slipped behind the palm tree so I could stay out of the security camera’s viewpoint. “I’ll give you some extra space credits if you bust up the lens on that camera.” I pulled three gold coins from out of my white purse.
“Jacob, throw me your knife,” he yelled.
Jacob stopped carving his name onto the palm tree and he tossed the butter knife up. The little boy effortlessly caught the butter knife with one hand in midair. He tightened his grip around the end of the palm tree and thrust the knife into the camera. Once the knife was firmly planted into the camera, he slowly twisted it in a circle. Small pieces of glass and tiny bits of wiring fell to the ground. I took a quick glance at the security officers near the emergency exit door. Neither one of them was paying the least bit attention to the little boy who was jamming a knife into a security camera.
“Okay, that’s enough. You can come down now,” I called up to him.
The little boy let go of the palm tree and fell down to the ground with a thud.
I reached into my white purse and pulled out five shiny space credits. I tossed the gold coins up and back down into the palm of my hand. “You can have these space credits if you agree to do something else for me.”
Both little boys were mesmerized by the shiny golden coins. “Okay, lady, what is it?” the boy with the beat-up knees asked.
“I want you to pull that fire alarm over there.”
“Okay, yeah. Sure thing, lady.” The boy held the palm of his hand out.
“You can get the money after you pull the alarm.” I lifted up one of the small blue makeshift crystals that was around the oasis and placed the five space credits under it, then I planted my foot on top of the crystal. The last thing I needed was for these kids to take my money and run without doing the job. “It’s simple. I watch you pull the alarm, you run away, then you come back and get the space credits later.” The older boy rubbed his chin with his hands. “You’ve got five seconds, kid, before I walk away. No space credits means no candy for you!”
Mentioning the candy caused both boys’ eyes to grow as big as the sun, and they both remembered their true motivation for this mission. The older boy took off at top speed with the younger boy directly behind him. I kept my eyes on them. When they reached the fire alarm, the younger boy slowed down, but the older one pushed through full steam ahead and he pulled the fire alarm down. A sharp, piercing sound filled the air. The people around me started to panic and ran away in fear. I hid behind one of the large blue palm trees near the emergency staircase. Thankfully, the security guard who was far more alert had run off, looking in several different directions, trying to find the fire that didn’t exist. The sleepy security guard took several steps away from the door. He looked completely confused and unsure of himself. I thought I could take him on by knocking this guy out and taking his security uniform. That would definitely make sneaking around the security floor far easier. I glanced around me; everyone else had left the area except me. I ran toward the sleepy-looking security guard.
“You have to help me! The fire alarm has gone off! What am I supposed to do?” I shrieked while I grabbed the guard by his shoulders.
“Just calm down, miss.” I remembered the move Patty used on that curly-haired boy in Uncle Sal’s Diner. I threw my leg back, then I shoved my knee into the guard’s stomach. He fell down to his knees with his mouth wide open and his bottom lip sucked in. “Sorry about all this.” I dug my fingernails into the man’s chin to help keep it steady and I landed a hard right hook straight onto the security guard’s temple. The man’s shoulder dropped down along with his arms. He was out cold. I looked back over my shoulder; the area was still empty and the fire alarm was still going off. I gripped the security guard by the shirt collar and started to drag him toward the emergency staircase. I dropped the unconscious man onto the floor.
“You were a little bit heavier than what I thought you were going to be.” I went up the staircase to get a good look. It was empty. I stripped off my dress and put the guard’s clothes on. Thankfully, he wasn’t too tall and he was kind of lanky. The light blue uniform was a bit big, but it would have to do for now. “What am I going to do with you?” I looked down at the still unconscious young man. I dragged him behind the staircase and propped him up against the steps. This was about as good as it was going to get. I was going to have to work fast and try to get everything done before he woke up.
I tiptoed up the stairs and came to a stop in front of the emergency exit door in front of the security floor. I peered through the tiny window at the door. My eyes came in contact with a woman who was taking a stroll down the hallway. The woman rolled her eyes at me and tossed her free hand in the air. Then the annoyed woman walked to the emergency exit door. My heart nearly skipped a beat. She pushed the door open and nearly knocked me over.
“Just what are you doing out here!?!” she barked.
I twiddled my fingers together. “I just thought it would be easier for me to come through here.” I looked down at the floor.
The woman sucked her teeth. “Get in here before someone sees you.” I walked through the door and kept a look of shame on my face to help mask my excitement. “Next time, use the employee elevators. I mean, unless you want Hayate catching you breaking his rules.”
I didn’t know who this Hayate person was, but clearly, I needed to stay out of his way while I was up there. “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks. I’ve just been a mess since this morning, ya know.”
The woman shook her head. “Tell me about it. Things were already hectic enough with the princess coming here. But now that those rings have been stolen, this entire ship has turned upside down.”
I bit down on the inside of my lower lip to keep in the sudden gasp that I wanted to release. The Rings of Saturn had been stolen! Well, that explained the sudden lockdown they had placed on the ship and the immediate security sweep. But what did Wendy have to do with this? She was in our hotel room the entire time. There was no way she stole those rings.
The woman looked down at her watch. “Look, I got to go. Be more careful next time.”
I came to a halt in the middle of the hallway as I tried to figure out my next move. The best thing I could do was try to blend in with everyone else.
After I parted ways with the young woman, I slipped into an employee lounge room. Hanging near the entrance to the lounge room was a fire extinguisher. Taped to the wall next to the extinguisher was a map of the security room floor. I ran my finger over the map. Thankfully, this place wasn’t filled with any long zigzagged hallways. I only had to navigate through three long hallways, and if I needed to make an escape, there was of course the emergency staircase. There were two elevators on the ends of the halls, one to the right and the other to the left. As long as I kept these things in mind, I thought
I’d be okay.
Chapter 6
I felt like my best course of action would be to casually walk through each hallway and try not to bring any unwanted attention to myself. All around me, people were scurrying about from one room to the next. I took a quick peek into one of the rooms before the door was fully shut; several people were huddled around these large monitors with headphones over their ears. Another door swung open. Same thing: large monitors and people with headphones covering their ears. I wondered what they were looking at. Was every office on this floor just a series of people sitting behind monitors? Up ahead, a large group of security officers were crowded around the outside of an office doorway. Suddenly, the crowd outside of the door was split in half. A young lady with short black hair emerged from the split crowd; her face was flushed and tears were rolling down her cheeks. “I can’t do this anymore,” she mumbled to herself. Just what was going on down there?
I crept toward the tail end of the crowd and got up on my tippy-toes so I could get a better look at what was going on.
“How hard is to simply guard some jewelry? Why am I having this conversation! I truly feel like I’m talking to myself!” A man with jet-black hair trimmed in gray at the edge was pacing back and forth behind three chairs stationed in front of three monitors. Two of the chairs were occupied and the third one at the end was empty. That was the chair the girl with the black hair must have been sitting in.
“What’s going on?” I asked a guy standing next to me.
“Nothing; just Hayate flying off the handle again. I can’t believe he made Lilly cry like that.” So this was the guy I was supposed to be staying away from.
Mr. Hayate placed his hands on the shoulder of a man who was sitting in front of a large monitor. “Someone tell me why we have no real clear leads right now!” I felt a hand on my shoulder. I was quickly shoved aside, and a tall security officer with gray hair made his way into the room. “Please give me some good news,” Mr. Hayate said while rubbing his temple.
Cosmic Callisto Caprica & the Missing Rings of Saturn Page 6