UNDERCOVER on the TITANIC (book 1)

Part 30 - Time Shattered

Licia's feet left the ground as she recoiled in shock. 'Wow!' she gasped. 'That was the best Halloween trick ever.'

Pacman was wagging his little tail madly as I grinned at Licia. 'Now  you have to believe me. Let me introduce my uncle, Dunc.'

The goose didn't move and I thought I had made a mistake but then it spoke again. 'Verra pleased tuh meetcha, lassie.'

Licia was staring at Dunc in disbelief. 'There's a speaker. It's a trick.' 'Well, no, lassie,' Dunc said. 'Ah'm wurking undercover.' 

'You're an . . . undercover . . . goose? . . . You can talk!'   Licia gasped in amazement.    'You must be working for Disney?   You sound exactly like Shrek.' 

'That ogre is no Scot,' Dunc snorted. 'He's no MacShrek.'

'But how can a Canada goose be Scotch?' Licia asked.

'First, Scotch is something we drink, lassie.   And second ma ancestors got here a long time ago. John A. MacDonald, was a Scot and he was Canada's first Prime Minister.'

'Ziff said you were his uncle,' Licia said sceptically.

'Tha's by adoption,' Dunc confirmed.

Licia chuckled. 'Well that's a relief. What are you doing here?'

'Ma job, lassie,' Dunc said officiously.  'Surveillance.   Ah've been following Kozak aroond and he's taken up wi' a strange looking fellah wearing a Dracula mask. It must be some kinda pagan ritual.' 

Dunc jerked his beak toward two shifty characters in the shadow of Silverwood School as they started walking toward us. Dunc resumed his statue pose while we ducked behind a cedar hedge.  Licia switched off her flashing red lights and we crouched behind a row of lawn bags stuffed full of leaves. 

Perfect camouflage, I thought.  Although I wondered how Kozak would recognize us anyway.

 Dracula rounded the hedge, stopped and stared at us. He lifted his mask to see better. It was Mr Bragg. Two grade-four goblins trotted across the lawn, with a lawn bag full of leaves which they dumped on Licia and Miguel, and then ran away, giggling. We peered around the hedge just in time to see Kozak talking to Dracula before Kozak hurried toward the front of the school while Dracula slipped away down Sumac Street. Then the loading dock door opened slightly and Denny stuck his head out, looked around and then went back in to the school.

Leaving a trail of leaves, we all ran to the school with Pacman trotting after us and Dunc waddling behind as fast as he could. Miguel noticed that the loading dock door was not locked and we slipped inside. The corridor was dimly lit by emergency lighting and we could hear something scraping along the floor. We all ducked into a dark empty classroom. There was the sound of paper bags tearing as we all tried to get under the desks.

'Miguel!' Licia hissed. 'Ssh, you're rustling.'

'Negativa. I am not rustling!'

'You are too!'

There was a loud crash outside and we looked around to see Kozak peering at us through the window. He was teetering on the edge of the garbage container, his arms wind-milling. He lost his balance and stepped back onto the container lid which folded up dropping him onto the garbage bags. He sat up, picked up his bowler hat which he held up like a conjuror and with an expression of disgust, pulled out a banana skin. 

'Ssh!' Licia warned as Miguel and I tried to stifle our mirth. 

Down the corridor, a musical tone started up. I raced Miguel back to the door and peered toward the electric bookcase. The panels had been replaced by an opening two metres wide filled with an eerie, shimmering blue glow, like the freezer at the Galactic Deli. Intense curiosity pulled me toward the electric bookcase. Miguel and I tip toed closer until we could see. On the other side of the light was a small hemispherical room lined with curved, blue and yellow cylinders that grew out of the floor. There was no sign of Denny. The room was empty. The only familiar objects in the oddly shaped room were a qwerty keyboard and a computer monitor displaying a strange three-dimensional graph in dim primary colours. The graph was undulating like waves on the ocean. On one side were enigmatic symbols and numbers that changed constantly. The only thing comprehensible was a message, Time to Reset 708 seconds.

'This is totally weird,' Licia whispered slowly. 'I knew Dr Zhang and Denny were up to something.'

 'Someone is coming,' Dunc hissed.

We all ran back toward the class room but Licia stopped and made a shushing noise. By the sound, somebody was dragging something toward us. 'Quick!' she hissed. ' In here.'

We jumped through a doorway into a dimly lit room smelling of scent, sweaty socks and cleaning chemicals. 

'Jeez, Licia!' Miguel hissed. 'This is the girls' washroom! '

'Boys are not allowed in the girls' washroom,' I pointed out.

'What aboot geese?' Dunc asked. 'And Pacman?'

As we wriggled out of the remnants of our yard waste bags, Licia giggled. 'Miguel, you're dropping wet leaves all over the floor.'

Miguel groaned. 'It'll take us hours to clean them up.'

Licia carefully plucked a leaf out of Miguel's hair. 'Anyway, I gotta use the facilities,' she whispered as she closed the cubicle door behind her.

'Licia!' Miguel exclaimed. 'How can you go for a pee at a time like this.'

'If you're bored, while you wait, read the graffiti,' Licia hissed through the door.

The walls were covered with post-it notes. Underneath, barely visible, was a notice, in green ink. Please do not write on, or otherwise attach things to, the walls. Principal Ball. Someone had added, Use your freedom wisely and eschew obfuscation.

I read more.   Be alert! Canada needs more lerts . . . Help! I'm imprisoned in the girls' washroom . . . These perforations are a rip-off . . . Melanie loves Ron . . . Boz luvs Toxic McTavish . . . Gertrude loves Miguel.

'Gertrude?' Miguel gasped weakly. 'Gertrude?'

We kept reading.  Everyone loves Boz . . . a million lemmings can't be wrong . . . I love Ziff's curls.

'Hey, isn't this your hand writing, Licia?' Miguel asked.

'They are intended to provoke discussion,' she replied from the cubicle, 'and should not be taken literally. 

I squinted through a crack in the door to the corridor, just as Licia flushed the toilet, rushed out of the cubicle and washed her hands at one of the sinks.

'Shh!' Dunc hissed. 'Someone is coming.' We froze as a man backed down the corridor near the electric bookcase dragging a small packing case. He was wearing a long black coat in addition to Denny's trademark leather cap and goggles. 

Hurry Licia,' Miguel whispered with mock concern, 'you'll miss the show.' Licia dropped her paper towel into the garbage can. The lid rocked to and fro squeaking. We were all at the door just in time to see Denny disappear into the shimmering blue light. 

'Do you think we should tell him about Kozak?' Licia asked. 

Dunc hesitated in the corridor. 'Ah suffer from claustrophobia,' he apologized.'

I wasn't really listening. I had to find out what Denny was up to. The blue light was pulling me like a magnet. I ran. The opening was still there but the light was dazzling. I couldn't see inside. A strong acrid smell triggered a half-remembered nightmare. I was almost paralyzed with fear but my legs seemed to move by themselves. I stepped into the light . . . and time shattered into a myriad sparkling shards.

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