Finding People

"That was far too close for comfort," Dawnie gasped, letting go of Lucy's arm and leaning against the nearby wall.

Lucy gasped for air next to her. When Dawnie moved fast, she truly moved too fast. Air didn't even have time to flow into one's lungs. Lucy blinked away tears as her lungs heaved. She glanced at her communicator and realized that it had turned back to its normal purple. Even as she watched, its color started transmuting to a dark, rich green.

"How many do you have it set for," Dawnie asked, nodding at the communicator.

"Four or five, I think," Lucy admitted. "It's easier than just coordinating it with my outfits."

Lucy managed a smile as Dawnie rolled her eyes. They had wound up back outside, and from the way Dawnie was favoring one leg, they hadn't gotten away completely unscathed.

"What happened that made them do that, I wonder," Lucy mused, holding up her arm to examine her communicator.

"Maybe a default setting we weren't aware of," Dawnie offered up, hobbling closer. "We can't stay this close to that hallway. Those beams don't fire themselves."

Lucy nodded. Their new location was near an exit. To their surprise, there were exits sprinkled at regular intervals on the outside corridors of this creche. Lucy found that a bit ominous, as if an inevitable invasion was expected.

They opened one of the doors and paused, waiting to see if anyone charged through. After a few tense seconds, they stepped outside.

The battle was still going full force. There seemed to be villains that had joined in, rage evident in every line of their bodies. Dawnie and Lucy exchanged amused looks. Seems like Lucy's father wasn't the only one a little peeved that someone was using their DNA without their permission and cavalierly disposing of the results that disappointed.

"What's that?" Lucy asked, spying a strange machine. It looked like a bulbous tank with an enlarged firing cannon.

"I want to say a tank, but I'm not getting that explosive feeling from it," Dawnie slowly said. She shaded her eyes with her hand, squinting in the distance. "I bet it fires some weird explosive."

"Maybe," Lucy began as the tank belched out a weird wet concoction of gas and liquid.

Their eyes widened as the mass smacked down near a clot of fighters. The guards had immediately stopped fighting on seeing the weird tank and had started to flee, leaving their attackers befuddled. Even as they recovered and started to give chase, the mass had landed. Some of the liquid landed on a guard, and he started screaming. Even as his screams grew hoarse, the leg it had landed it on corroded away.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Dawnie said, taking a step back. "I mean, really, really, really sick. That's just disgusting," she continued as people started screaming as bits of them started melting off.

"We've got to stop it," Lucy breathed. "Do you want that to happen to the kids we're rescuing?"

"Lucy!" Dawnie protested as Lucy plunged through the chaos, heading towards the tank.

******

"I hope this works," Don muttered, eyeing the box. "I didn't really think it was an actual cowboy hat."

"Ditto," Court said, walking carefully around the pillar the box was sitting on. He tapped on it, eliciting no reaction. "They knew better than to use an energy barrier, it seems," he said, making Trolli, who was sitting on his shoulder, squeak in agreement.

"Just hurry up," Aarti urged. She lurked around the probable entrance to the room. "The faster it's free, the faster we can leave."

The two boys glanced at her before returning their attention to the box. It was clear with the cowboy hat sitting on a little podium inside. Wires and tubes ran to and from the box to the little podium. They could see little arcs of electricity bouncing around the hat, belying its appearance of being made out of simple felt and leather.

"Let me think for a second," Don said, gingerly touching the box. He glanced around, expecting an alarm. "They're that secure?"

"I'm blocking," Court said. He looked over at Aarti. "Any noises from that end?"

"None so far," Aarti called back. She leaned against the wall. "This is getting a little boring. Speed it up."

Don frowned at her and then at the hat. Concentrating, he made his hand vibrate. He slowly pushed it forward, penetrating the box. Then he paused.

"Do I just grab the hat and hope for the best? This thing opens doors between everywhere." Don looked at Court who shrugged in reply.

"Just try grabbing it and see what happens." Court grinned. "We've got Aarti to protect us, after all."

Don laughed at Aarti's sound of angry agreement. There was the thinnest thread of amusement in the sound, relaxing him just a little. Aarti had been getting angrier and angrier as the days went by, though she had been trying to shove it down deep and not show it. None of them could blame her. For all that she complained, she actually liked being on that stupid island, and she seemed thoroughly enthralled by her little 'dog.'

Court had a inkling that she would love to tie up some guards and take them to meet said dog, though he wasn't stupid enough to ask. If she hadn't come up with that thought on her own, she would be more than interested in seeing what would happen.

They could only hope that nothing had happened to Sabrina yet. That would surely set Aarti off.

Court was distracted by the sudden surge as Don's fingers grasped onto the edge of the hat's brim and snatched it out of the box. The whole room dimmed as alarms he couldn't catch were set off.

"We've got it. How do we use it?" Court asked Aarti who dashed to their side.

Aarti held up a little vial.

"The manager gave it to me when I checked out last time. She said it was only good for one use, so pick a good spot." Aarti uncapped the small vial and sprinkled its clear contents on the hat.

Court and Aarti looked at Don who looked freaked out that he was actually holding the hat.

"Um, wherever San is, I guess?" Don said with a helpless shake of his head.

There was a floating white dot that appeared in front of them. Then it suddenly elongated and opened into a floating doorway. Beyond it was a forest of occupied cylinders, their occupants staring at them with wide eyes.

"Incoming," Aarti snarled as the entrance to the room started to iris.

She grabbed the two boys and hurled them all through the doorway. As it slammed shut behind them, Court caught a glimpse of a frustrated guard aiming at them. The beam from his gun made it through the closing doorway, striking Don in his arm.

"I think it was a paralysis ray," Don hissed, grabbing his arm. "I can't move it."

"Better you than any of us," Court said, coming to his feet. He scanned the cylinders, heading for the one that held an unconscious Ella.

"She hasn't really been awake since I've been here," San said from his own cylinder.

"But she'll wake up for us," Court said, standing in front of the cylinder. He pulled out a syringe from his pocket. "Jebediah gave me this just in case." He glanced around the room. "Where is Jeb?"

"Jebediah is here?" San asked, his brow furrowing. "Haven't seen him."

Aarti paused her in her own perusal of the cylinder forest. She exchanged a worried look with Don.

"But he was captured right after you and way before Sabrina," Don said. He glanced around the room. The other children shook their heads. "We've got to find him or Rena will go ballistic."

"And that wouldn't be good at all," Aarti agreed.