Blue Monday

Interlude 6 - Yo, Let's Get Some Juice Down Here!

Russell stuck a straw into his Kool-Aid Jammers. Blue raspberry - his favorite flavor ever since he was a kid in the Second Universe. He caught Annie's eye as he passed her by, nodded once, then disappeared around the corner and into the broom closet. It wasn't exactly the Bahamas of hiding places, but it was a suitably private place for him to take care of this latest piece of business.

Holding his juice in one hand, Russell used the other to get his phone and attach a stolen voice scrambler to the mouthpiece. Sure, his number was blocked, but he was sure if his voice went undisguised, the people he was secretly calling would recognize him.

When the scrambler was in place, Russell dialed the first number. He had all three of them entered in his phone for convenience's sake, but he found it easier to memorize the numbers himself anyway. Annie was the same way, because their parents were firm believers in people using their own brains, rather than totally relying on electronic toys to take care of everything.

After dialing the number, Russell put the phone to his ear, holding it at a slight angle to make room for the scrambler. Like any regular mike, it worked best if his mouth was practically touching the business end, but not exactly touching it.

One ring...two rings...three rings...four - and finally, partway through the fifth ring, the call was finally answered. "Hello?"

"Luca Scagliotti?" Russell said.

"Um...yeah. Who's this?"

Russell cleared his throat. "I can't tell you that. Sorry. But I need you to come to Spellman right away."

Luca burst out laughing at this point. "Is that you, Alex?"

"No," Russell said quickly. "But if you don't come meet me in Spellman, Alex is gonna get really seriously hurt. Maybe killed. You're his best friend, right? I need your help to save him."

"What?" Luca asked, his voice rising. "Look, I-I dunno who you are, but this isn't funny. Either hang up, or I'm calling the cops on you."

"I'm telling the truth," Russell said. "If you don't believe me, hang up and call Alex yourself. When he doesn't answer, come meet me at the Starbucks at Glenstream Center in Spellman. Tuesday, four o'clock."

"What? What? Are you serious? Goodbye, dude!" Luca hung up angrily.

Russell sighed, then drank some more of his juice. Oh well. Luca would almost certainly listen to him in the end. One down, two to go. He dialed the second number, then waited until a different young male voice answered, "Hello?"

"Paul Smythe?"

"Who's this?" Paul asked.

Russell paused for more juice before giving his memorized answer. "I can't tell you that. Sorry. But I need you to come to Spellman right away."

"That's...um...kind of a long way off from where I am right now, guy," said Paul.

"You don't have to get here right away," Russell said. "Be here by Tuesday at four, at the Starbucks at Glenstream Center. Your friends will be there too."

"My friends..." Paul mused. "Wait, does this have something to do with Gideon getting taken away by those archangels?"

"Yeah, it does," Russell said, rolling his eyes at Paul's use of the word "archangels." He'd never liked that term. It made the scrivs sound like such...what was the right way to say it...god moders. "We're the people who collected Gideon to begin with. It's all right," he said as Paul drew a breath, presumably to ask about Gideon's whereabouts. "He's safe. In fact," he added, again rolling his eyes to himself as he went off script, "he was asking about you. You and everyone else at Grad Nite."

"Really now?" Paul asked, a hint of snark creeping into his voice. "Can I talk to him for myself?"

Russell hemmed and hawed for a few moments. "Um...uh...he's not here right now," he stuttered. He remembered Kyle's last update on Gideon's status - that he and Fionna Lee had gone out to get some food as soon as the lockdown on Bearville was lifted. "He's, uh, out shopping with my partner. Um, he accidentally stepped in some mud, and we're getting him some new shoes."

"Nice try," Paul said. "Learn to lie better."

"Wait!" Russell cried before Paul could hang up. "We need you 'cause Alex and Gabe Snow are in serious trouble." Again, this was ad-libbed. Russell hadn't intended to bring Alpha's prisoners into this particular conversation. But he felt that he didn't really have a choice.

"Are you still lying?" Paul asked. "I wanna say you are."

"But I'm not, am I?" Russell asked. "Call them up if you don't believe me. They're not gonna answer."

"Why not?"

Russell thought back to the list of all the people who had ever been in the Red Rain hierarchy. Finally, he remembered Paul's father's place on the list. "Your father is Romeo Sierra Iota. Robert Smythe. He used to work for my boss."

He'd said the magic words. Paul took several seconds to process them before responding. "Are we talking Red Rain?"

"Yeah. They've got the Snow boys."

Paul sighed into his phone. "Why should I believe you?"

"The only thing I can offer you is my word," Russell said. "Come to Spellman on Tuesday and I'll tell you and your friends everything you need to know."

"And what if there's more we want to know?"

"Just do it," Russell said. "Otherwise, the Snow boys will die." Without waiting for an answer, he hung up on Paul himself. God, this crap is so much harder than I thought.

Before placing the third and final call, Russell consumed the last of his juice - his mouth had grown very dry during that last conversation. Finally, he was answered by the third teenager - a girl this time. "Hello?"

"Juliet Ripley?"

"Yeah, right," Juliet laughed. "Whoever you are, Luca's already let me know what's going on. So get off the line, creep."

Russell was thrown by this. Sure, these kids were all connected, text messages and all that. He'd not had those luxuries when he was their age, even though that was only a little under ten years ago. But he decided to press on anyway.

"He didn't tell you everything, did he?" he asked. "Did he tell you he wasn't able to call up Alex Snow?"

"I'm done here," Juliet said.

"Red Rain's got your boyfriend!" Russell cried.

"Why the hell am I still talking to you?"

"You need to-" Russell began, but Juliet hung up before he could finish that sentence. He cursed under his breath before putting his phone away and leaving the broom closet.

Any luck? Annie thought as he came up near her again on the way back to his room. Or cell, he supposed. Even his quarters, like those the Snow boys were being kept in, had a heavy door with a small, unbreakable Plexiglas window at head height.

None of them believed me, Russell thought back.

Annie frowned, looking down at the floor. You think they'll come anyway? she asked.

Jawohl, Russell said with a salute.

Both siblings shared a chuckle. "Good night," Russell said out loud, giving her a quick hug and a kiss to the top of the head.

"Goodnight," Annie said, waving jauntily as they parted.