April 15, 1980
San Francisco Bay

Jessica had business in San Francisco. At least that was what she told herself. Now that the case was nearly solved, she had to be present to participate in the closing, and the short overview with Lynn over procedure so she could learn from any mistakes. A good detective always followed her case through, even if that meant sacrificing a weekend needed to write a paper and study for 2 exams. Or at least that was what she told herself as she sat in the early-morning flight, watching the sun struggle to rise above the horizon as she flew slowly through time.

There was, of course, another reason, but there was no way she would have ever admitted to it. As Jessica Grey Cloud watched the mountainous pure white clouds slowly sweep by her airplane window, she thought to herself about a little girl whose remarkable ability had reminded her how important it was to look twice; not just at cases, but at people as well.

***********

A lone figure stood atop a cliff overlooking the city in the predawn hours. Its slight figure contrasted sharply with the huge mass of stone surrounding it, trees and bushes framing it. A faint orange line appeared over the horizon, and the figure raised its hands to the skies, the wind whipping at her long hair. As the sphere of the sun peeked up over the horizon, the city was suddenly bathed in orange light, and a bold full song burst forth from her throat.

Ahhhhhh, se quenya, madi sabada!
Sitta ko, mah yi, b’dendo.
Ah-yiiiii, mirrah, yi khem bhatta di!
Sira yo, rhea ya, si’siro.

She continued in song as the sun rose laboriously into the sky, and its gentle rays caressed her features, touching softly the black locks that framed her face and her bright blue eyes within it. Her hands, still raised, were silhouetted against the light of the dawn. As the base of the sun’s sphere cleared the horizon, she finished her hymn and bowed, having greeted the sunrise once more.

But this time Carmen Sandiego decided not to go directly back down to Josephine’s apartment or the Agency. She had some thinking to do, and she wished to do it alone.

**********

“What do you mean, she has to think it over?” Lynn demanded. “How can you refuse an offer like that?”

Rodger shrugged. “I guess she isn’t ready for it, Chief Lynn. She’s only thirteen. She’s still a kid.”

“She doesn’t act like one.”

Maybe not around you, Rodger thought to himself, but said nothing. After all, few people knew Carmen as well as he did, and Lynn was obviously not one of them.

“Any big decision requires a lot of thought, Lynn. You should know that,” he said instead.

“Yes, I suppose...” Lynn said slowly, in a tone that added, “though I wouldn’t expect to hear that from you.”

Rodger frowned and shrugged. “I’m sure she’ll get back to you soon, Lynn.”

“Well, when you next see her, just mention to her that we’re very eager to have her on the team. She can sign up for the Training Academy next week if she wishes. I have no doubt that she’ll get in. I’ll write the recommendation myself.”

Rodger nodded, then excused himself.

Shirley was immediately at his side the minute he stepped out of the door. “What’d she say?”

Rodger shrugged. “She can’t understand why Carmen isn’t jumping at the prospect.”

Shirley huffed. “I know why,” she said with an air of authority. “A child’s brain isn’t ready for that sort of thing. They get melded into this weird idea of reality,” she said, lowering her eyelids and making molding hand gestures. “Connected with death and...”

“Shirley,” Rodger interrupted, “you’ve been reading True Crime again, haven’t you?”

“Well yes, but...”

Rodger stuffed his fingers in his ears. “That’s all I need to know.”

The two of them walked into the Agency cafeteria, where they were met by Priya and Omoro. Both gave the traditional greeting, and then Omoro asked, “How is Carmen doing?”

Rodger shrugged. “She went to be off by herself for a while.”

“She is all right?” Priya asked.

“I assume so...” Rodger said, beginning to get irritated. They each got something to eat, then sat down, and were joined by Kruchov of all people. He immediately turned to Rodger and demanded, “Yisa Carmen miyo?”

“I don’t know, Kruchov,” Rodger sighed. “Carmen has her own mind.”

Kruchov grumbled something indignantly and turned to his food.

“Sorry if we being rude,” Priya said apologetically.

Rodger shrugged. “It’s okay. It’s just that I don’t know what she wants, so obviously I can’t tell you.”

Omoro nodded. “Maybe she not know what she wants.”

“She’s only twelve, after all,” Shirley cut in. “Most people don’t know where to go from eighteen.”

“She doesn’t have to stay here,” Rodger said. “Though I can’t imagine anyone giving her a better offer...”

“Maybe she doesn’t want to work in a detective agency,” Shirley suggested.

“She seem to like it here,” Priya noted.

Rodger said nothing. She did indeed spend a lot of time at the Agency, but only when he was there. And she seems to pay more attention to Jessica, Shirley, Omoro, Priya, and Kruchov than the Agency itself...

***********

The city was warm, but damp from the thick fog, and it lacked the rich smell of earth warmed by sunlight that Jessica welcomed every spring. In its place were the unpleasant smells of blacktop and car exhaust, but also something else, a pleasing scent strongly particular to California, which touched the body in the same gentle way as sunlight.

Shirley screeched when she saw Jessica walk through the Agency doors.

“Shirley, you act like you haven’t seen me in months,” Jessica said uncomfortably.

Shirley let loose one of her high nervous laughs. “We just miss you when you’re gone, that’s all, Jess.”

“Where’s Chief Lynn?”

“In her office, waiting for you.”

Lynn greeted Jessica cordially when she knocked on the door of her office, inside which a small group had assembled. Jessica greeted with the traditional Donnekahshaie the Ambassador working the case as well as a handful of Consultants. She greeted her ex-partner, Nari, as well. He had been working with her when the case had first started, but had been paired with someone else when she had left for Oklahoma.

Jessica and Nari’s partnership was the closest thing to a bad match that Acme had ever made. They worked well together, and their work brought exceptional results, but there was no bond between them. They were business partners; not partners in the Agency sense, which was usually a close and dedicated friendship, sometimes more.

Nari was a dark-complexioned Costa Rican with a loud and brash manner, that clashed sharply with Jessica’s calm observational nature. Nari was materialistic and reveled in noise, action, and strength, very different from Jessica’s earthy personality. Yet they were both very assertive, and had once or twice almost come to blows on disagreements over what to do next. For all their differences, it was this similarity that kept them from being true partners. Lynn saw the problem almost immediately but had kept them partnered for a short time, since she knew that Jessica was thinking of leaving anyway. All detectives, especially those that work in Ethnic Relations, must learn to work with all kinds of people.

Nari’s dark expression stood out in the room full of bright and alert faces. As Lynn overviewed the case, he actually scowled when she came to the part where Carmen’s involvement had been discovered. But he said nothing.

“In the future,” Lynn said, wrapping up, “I want you all to be more careful about how you organize your evidence. Ask other agents if you can look through their case files if you think that you may be able to find a connection. Don’t be afraid to think in ways that may seem a little off-track. The dha never think in terms of straight lines. You are dismissed.”

The little group dispersed, the Consultants heading for the cafeteria, and the Ambassador to the airport to officially close the case. Jessica walked toward the Computer Room, lost in her own thoughts, and was surprised to see Nari walking next to her.

“...just can’t believe it,” he grumbled to himself.

“Can’t believe what?” Jessica asked, vaguely curious but not really interested.

He gave an irritated sigh. “That some kid could walk through the Agency and show us up just like that.” He made a sharp snap with his fingers.

Jessica shrugged noncommittally. “Stranger things have happened.”

Nari had a nervous, active character. While Jessica walked smoothly, her hands in her pockets, Nari jerked his head and flicked his hands as he spoke. He also had a peculiar accent, something Jessica classified as Not Quite Spanish. “I just don’t understand...how could a little mat rat figure it out when we could not? It’s an insult to my intelligence.”

The mistranslated word made Jessica snicker despite its insult to Carmen. “The word is ‘rugrat’, Nari, not ‘mat rat’, and it doesn’t fit Carmen at all.”

“Still insulting,” Nari insisted. “I wonder, sometimes, how many cases go unsolved because of stupid things we don’t see, things a child could catch.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it, Nari,” Jessica said laconically. She had been reluctant to argue with people ever since her big blowout with Howard.

Nari shrugged. “Too late.” Then he picked his gaze up off the floor and turned to her. “You want to go grab something at the Bayside Cafe?”

Jessica looked puzzled. First he insults my friends, then he asks me to join him for lunch? “No thanks,” she said aloud.

Nari shrugged and bid her good-bye, then walked toward the door, marching in long strides.

Jessica entered the Computer Room and was surprised to find just Rodger and Daieslenna there. “Hi Jess!” Rodger said brightly, looking up from the keyboard.

“Yow, bay-bee,” Daieslenna greeted her.

She gave it a blank look. “Hi Rodger,” she said, then took a few glances around the room.

“Carmen’s been out and about over the past day or so,” Rodger told her. “I think she’s a little undecided about Lynn’s offer.”

“I can understand that,” Jessica said slowly.

“Yeah? Would you mind talking to her? I can’t make head or tails of it.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Something wrong?”

“Nah...just had to put up with Nari griping about something as usual. Called Carmen a mat rat.”

Rodger gave her a look of intense puzzlement. “A what?”

“He meant a rugrat...You know, I’m not one to complain, but why am I always the one that gets paired up with the egomaniacs?”

Rodger laughed out loud. “Maybe if you complained more often...”

“Doesn’t help,” Jessica said grumpily. “I begged Veraja to reassign him and let me go. She was set on us winning Detective of the Year. I had to get Lynn to intervene.”

“Hey, if you’d kept going at the same rate, maybe you two would have won.”

“I’d rather go at my own pace. And Nari would have taken the award...or sawn it in half. Why is he even here? He’s not exactly poster boy for the Principles of Donnekahshaie.”

Rodger shrugged. “I guess Lynn hired him for the same reason the heads of the Marines hire the people they do. He’s smart and he’s got spirit. He does good work. He’s got some wrinkles that need to be ironed out, but I guess Lynn figures it’ll be worth it.”

“I guess. Any clue where Carmen might be?”

Rodger scratched his head. “Probably along the beaches or the bayside cliffs. Other than that I don’t know, except that she isn’t here and she isn’t home.”

“I’ve got a few guesses. Thanks, Rodger.”

“Anytime.”

*************

Omoro had once told Jessica that there was a Donnekahshaie word for the way she could sense the changes in the air. He said it was chuming, an inside knowing of things. Jessica, he had stated with much authority, had a great deal of chuming, and a person with so much could do many things with it. Jessica had never given this much consideration. But somehow, as she walked along the sandy shores of the bay and breathed in the salty sea air, she knew exactly where to find Carmen.

She climbed the steep rocky path, leaving the fog below her as she neared the top of the blufflands. She weaved her way through the bush and peered between the stunted pungent pine trees to the breathtaking outlay of the city below. She paused a moment, looking at it wrapped in its white blanket, then turned her head and found what she was searching for.

“Been here long?” Jessica asked, stepping onto the flat outcrop of rock.

Carmen jerked her head up, startled, then pleased. “Jess!” She gave the young woman a warm embrace. “I didn’t know you were coming!”

“I didn’t either, until about 12 hours ago. How have you been doing?”

Carmen’s expression turned doubtful. “Okay...”

“Heard you’ve been offered a job at the Agency.”

“Yes...” Carmen said slowly. “And I know it sounds crazy, but...”

“But what?”

Carmen’s brows furrowed as she stared out over the bay. “I don’t know, I don’t think anyone understands, but I’m not sure I want to take it.”

Jessica sat down on the outcropping of rock and motioned for Carmen to do the same. “Having doubts?” she asked.

“Well...not really...I mean, I want to join...more than anything!” Her face suddenly lit up. “To be di’tela, with you and Rodger and Shirley and Omoro and Priya and Kruchov, truly one of the Seniors, really part of their world, part of something bigger, something grand...”

Jessica nodded, listening.

“How could I not accept? To solve the crimes that have baffled the authorities worldwide? To take part in the excitement and adventures that I’ve heard of from others for months in the Bayside Cafe...I feel I’m meant to be there...When I picked up the case files in my hands, I felt like they were just waiting there for me to take them...I feel...drawn...to everything...”

“What’s the problem, then?” Jessica asked.

“Well, I...” Carmen frowned and scratched her head. “I don’t know, I didn’t see anything wrong, until I went back to Jo’s and saw a group of kids get off a school bus...I never noticed before, a bus full of kids my age, and I found myself realizing how different I was from them, I’d never gone to school...”

“You learned all you need to know and more, at the Agency,” Jessica reasoned. “We taught you, remember?”

“Yes, it’s not really that, I...” Carmen wore a rare expression of confusion. “I watched them walk into their houses, and wondered what their lives were like behind the doors. What they did each day, what they did at school. And I thought of cheering sports teams on the sidelines and dressing up for dances and food fights in the cafeteria...things that are part of their everyday lives but that are foreign to me...”

“Rodger started a food fight in the Bayside Cafe once,” Jessica stated. “Believe me, you’re not missing all that much.”

Carmen continued as if she hadn’t heard her. “And I thought of the graduation ceremony, parties, the first job...”

“You have a job. And I’ll guarantee you that it’s better than anything else someone your age can get.”

“And college and living away from home...” Carmen broke off. “You understand, don’t you, Jess? You left Full-Time to go to college and study in Oklahoma.”

“Well, yeah, but that’s because I had other interests besides detective work. Why? Is there something else that interests you more than the Agency?”

“Not really, no...”

“You’ve got lots of time, Carmen, if you decide to do something different later.”

“Yes, but...”

Jessica put an arm around her shoulder. “But what?”

“I feel ridiculous...it’s all I’ve ever wanted except for one thing...”

“Oh? What?”

Carmen’s brows furrowed and she licked her lips, staring hard at the city below. “I’ve never had...normal...”

“’Normal’?”

“A normal life, like everybody else...”

Jessica looked surprised, then amused. “And what do you suppose constitutes ‘normal’?”

“I don’t know...how could I know? The yellow school bus...dressing up for the prom...”

Jessica laughed. “I never went to my prom.”

“No?”

“No. Two reasons. One, no date. Two, I had tracking duty that night. Bad night, if I remember correctly...lots of flooding...”

Puzzled, more to herself than to Jessica, she said, “But I thought everybody did.”

Smiling, Jessica teased, “Now, Carmen, with your vast knowledge of the world and its people, I thought you’d know better than that.”

“Well, I’m talking about America...”

“My point is,” Jessica stated, placing a hand on Carmen’s shoulder, “That there IS no ‘normal’. There may be large groups of people who are similar, but there is no set standard. ‘Normal’ is whatever seems right in your own heart and mind.”

Carmen considered that. “So...whatever fits me...is ‘normal’?”

“Exactly. It could be anything. Though my personal guess is that ‘normal’ for Carmen Sandiego is working at Acme.”

Carmen smiled. “I’d say that’s a pretty good guess.”

Jessica laughed. “I’ll bet. But remember, you can change it at any time. Just as long as what you’re doing fits you.”

Carmen hugged her. “Thanks, Jess.”

Jessica gave her a hearty slap on the back. “Anytime, kid.”