Criminal

Chapter 4

Lance had expected that maybe things would be friendlier after what he and Keith had discovered. He was dead wrong. Keith was just as standoffish as before, and Lance couldn't even complain to Hunk about it, because that would probably end with both of them getting pushed out of a window. Weeks passed, and they never talked about it again. Whenever Lance heard Keith leaving in the night, he rolled over and went back to sleep.

One morning, Pidge came up to them the minute they entered the dining hall. "Guys, Florona's gone! I can't find her anywhere! Her stuff is gone, and no one's seen her since last night! I haven't seen her, Plaxum hasn't seen her, Nyma hasn't seen her—none of the other girls have seen her, either!"

Lance glanced at Keith. Had Florona been the girl screaming in the L wing? Had Keith gone back? Had he seen her?

"I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation," Hunk soothed, "Come on, we'll ask Allura. She'll know."

"I asked already! She said that Florona graduated!"

"Well, there you go, then," Hunk said amiably, "She graduated and got out. She went home."

But Pidge was shaking her head. "Florona wouldn't leave without saying goodbye!"

"It was the middle of the night," Hunk reassured her, "I'm sure she just didn't want to wake you."

"No! You don't get it! It's not like Florona at all! She would have been excited, and she would have woken us up to say goodbye! She and Plaxum were best friends! She wouldn't have just left sneakily in the night!"

Hunk shrugged helplessly. "Lance, help me out here!"

Lance slowly shook his head. "What if... you ever think that anything sinister might be going on? Like... maybe there's stuff they're not telling us?"

"No," Hunk said blankly, "It's school."

Pidge shivered, looking a bit uneasy. "I don't know. The school's computer systems are unusually secure. I can't even access student records. It's weird. I've made a bit of a break, but the best I can do is screw with the alarm systems."

An idea hit Lance. "Pidge, do you think you could set off the fire alarm today?"

"Yeah, sure, no problem. Why?"

Lance glanced around, looking for Keith. He was across the cafeteria, and Lance leaned in towards his friends. "There's something I want to show you two, and I think maybe some people would be a little... ticked off if they found out."

"Okay," Pidge whispered back, "Second period study hall?"

"Yeah. Okay. Good. Just slip away from your group and we'll meet at the library."

Lance was jumpy all through Physics, and Keith gave him suspicious glances, but didn't say anything. The bell rang for the end of first period and then, during the passing period, the fire alarm went off. Pandemonium ensued, teachers trying to corral students who were no longer in their period. Lance could hear Mr. Shiro's voice above the chaos, telling his second-period kids to follow him.

Lance pushed through the frightened kids to the library. Pidge and Hunk were waiting for him, and they slipped inside. Lance led them through the library to the bookshelf, looking for the David Copperfield book.

"Hold on, I'll find it—oh!" Lance spotted the book and grabbed it. It came off of the shelf. Nothing happened.

Pidge peered at the book. "You had me set off the fire alarm... so that you could show me a book?!"

"No, I—it shouldn't have come off the shelf, there should have been—this isn't right!"

"The passageway is gone," Keith's voice said behind them, "They must have gotten rid of it the moment they figured they'd had intruders. Windows are boarded up, too. No way back in. I've been looking around every night." Lance whirled around. Keith was glaring at him, arms crossed. "You weren't supposed to tell anyone."