There was a light spring in Troop’s steps as he walked around a city block in Kloston. The fresh breeze blew across his face, ruffling his dark hair and rejuvenating his spirit. Two days had passed since he had met Asha at Galaxy Café and he’d already received an instafication from her. The massage had read:
I think I know where Kristi is. Give me a few more days to confirm the facts.
A stray piece of paper skittered across Troop’s path. He frowned, wondering why the litter wasn’t in a solar compressor. He bent down to pick up the piece of paper. It wasn’t a fully sheet of paper—a third of it was missing. He smoothed it out, reading the words on it:
Supplies needed:
five packets of water purifying tablets
three crates of instafood
Five pairs of shoes
Other Notes:
The little freaks are getting restless. Some form of entertainment should be acquired to keep them under control unless there is enough funding to purchase another dose of sedatives
The rest of the note was torn off. Troop’s mind whirled, piecing the words he had just read together. Freaks…restless…sedatives…holy crap! I think this list came from wherever the government is keeping the Accidents.
He abruptly lifted his head up, trying to trace the origin of the note. To his right was a line of local stores, like Marty’s Market, Kloston Book Shop and Lizzy’s Salon. To his left were a bank, old church and droid-pet shop. The church was set a ways back from the road. From his point of view, Troop could tell the church hadn’t been in use for several years; the windows were boarded and the bushes lining the walkway up to the church were tangled and overgrown.
He glanced down to the piece of paper in his hand and then to the church. Is it possible that the Accidents are hidden in the church? he wondered. Troop examined property around the church; he spotted at least six up to date cameras mounted on trees and two motion sensors. There’s definitely a possibility, he concluded. Why would anyone set up security measures around an unused building unless they were keeping something important inside it?
Troop turned on his electro-slate and pretended to type an instafication on it; in reality, he was trying to take a few pictures of the church without being too obvious. I could really use a contact-cam right now, he thought.
Task completed, Troop stowed away his slate and hurried to the air-train station to return home.
“Finn, I’ve found a place where the Accidents may be being held,” Troop said, pulling the door shut behind him.
They were in the book room. Something scratched against the door from the outside. Troop opened it and let Ghost in. A few seconds later, Chelsa pounded down the hallway and dashed into the room, slamming the door shut once more.
“This building,” panted Chelsa, “is a lot bigger than I thought.”
In the meantime, Troop had brought up the pictures of the old church on his electro-slate. He angled the slate so that Finn and Chelsa could see it as well.
“I found this near the church,” he said, fishing out the incomplete shopping list from his back pocket.
Chelsa and Finn skimmed the words on the paper, then flickered their gaze back onto the electro-slate.
“I think you’re jumping to conclusion,” said Finn. “You don’t know for sure if the paper came from that church. As a matter of fact, you don’t even know if the ‘freaks’ in the note are Accidents.”
“Wait,” said Troop. “I have more support to back my theory.”
He zoomed in on one of the shots of the church. He placed the tip of his finger on a small, black sphere floating among some tree branches.
“A camera,” breathed Chelsa.
“A high end, government-reserved camera,” Troop said. “Do you see that symbol etched on the side? It’s the homeland security emblem.”
The emblem was a shield with a triangle inside it; beneath the shield were the words Salus Patriae. Welfare of the Country.
“Was there only one camera on the property?” asked Finn.
Troop shook his head and quickly pointed out the five other cameras he had noticed. Then he closed in on the motion sensors positioned by the front door and side window; they also bore the homeland security emblem.
“Okay, so maybe there is something shifty going on in that church,” Finn admitted. “It’s under government surveillance at any rate. But that still doesn’t mean the Accidents are being kept there.”
“My instincts are telling me that Troop is right though,” said Chelsa.
Ghost twitched his whiskers, as if agreeing with Chelsa’s words.
“I’ll see if I can find any more information regarding that church,” said Finn.
“Thanks,” said Troop.
Finn held up a hand. “No guarantees though. This may just be a dead end.”
“I know. I’ll see if I can go back and poke around the church a bit more later this week,” said Troop. “Anyone interested in coming with me?”
“I am,” said Chelsa.
“Does Saturday around noontime work for you? We can use our lunch break to revisit the church. The train ride to Kloston isn’t more than fifteen minutes.”
“Alright. Saturday it is.”
“I don’t know about this,” said Finn, a hint of worry in his voice. “You know for a fact that there is surveillance on the property yet you’re planning on noising around in broad daylight. Don’t forget that you’re both Accidents yourselves.”
“Don’t worry, I’ve got it all figured out,” said Troop. He leaned against a bookshelf, stowing away his electro-slate. “Chelsa and I could pose as architectural students completing a project about churches. We’re visiting the church to observe some of its designs, which is a completely plausible reason. There is no notice declaring the church to be private property—at least not that I know of anyways—so we’re not trespassing.”
“Alright, that might work,” said Finn. “But both of your faces are pretty recognizable. Unless you plan on telling the adults what you’re planning on doing, how are you going to acquire disguises and fake IDs?”
Chelsa cracked a smile. “I think I have that covered. I still have the fake IDs I got Jaiden and Kristi a while ago. Hard to believe I still have them.”
Finn shrugged. “Alright, sounds okay to me then. Don’t get yourselves killed, alright? It would really suck if I become the only non-adult Revealer member.”
