<<“Thank you Madam for a lovely afternoon.”>>
<<“Please, it was truly nothing. The least I can do for you stopping that purse
snatcher. You are a delight to talk to! I wish I could meet more young men like yourself.
Besides, I am going to see you tomarrow for breakfast aren’t I?”>>
<<“Tomorrow? Why?”>>
<<“You still owe me that explaination.”>> she told him with a smirk.
<<“So I do. I shall see you tomorrow then.”>> They said their final goodbye’s and
the Chief suddenly found himself looking into the horizon where Marguriete had driven
away. He stood and looked for a little while longer until he realized that standing in the
cool spring air in soaking wet clothes wasn’t the smartest thing in the world.
He got the key from the front desk, changed out of his wet clothes and turned on
the TV. As he watched a bad French version of ‘Singled Out’ images of the day floated
throught his head. He couldn’t remember when he had been more relaxed. Maybe he would
vacation for just one more day...
The perky blond contestant had finally chosen her date. They were placed back to
back while the host explained his likes and dislikes. Finally they turned to face each
other. The girl and boy both smiled widely, they had definaly made the right choice! The
annoucer explained in rapid-fire French where they were going.
The Chief nodded once before falling completely asleep
Zack was having a weirdly wonderful dream about ACME having the Christmas party
in the Carribean when he felt a woman’s pump nail him in the back.
“Ow! Hey, What the....” he yelped, jumping several feet into the air.
It took him a few seconds to realize that he wasn’t dreaming. When his head cleared
everything began to sort out. ....O.K. he was sleeping in the C-5 Car with his sister and
Carmen Sandiego. He was WHAT? He was fully awake now. Carmen was cuddled up in the back
seat while he and his sis had pulled down the front seats. Everyone was smooshed. Yes,
they had started searching for a hotel too late and they had been forced to sleep in the
car.
“No....”
No? Was he contradicting himself?
“No!.....Stop, please....don’t you....you’re hurting him!”
Wait a minute....That was Carmen! She was talking in her sleep, her hands clutched
in tight fists.
“NO! No more....what do you want?...Please...please....”
Zack hesitated. Didn’t they say that if you woke a dreaming or sleepwalking person
it could cause brain damage?
Tears started running down her face, and Zack decided to take the risk.
“Carmen?....” he whispered “....Caaarmen?....Wake up Carmen.....”
“What!?!? I.....Oh. ...Thank goodness I thought I was.....” She realized who had
woken her up. “Zack? How long have you been listening?”
“Ever since you kicked me in the back with a stilletto pump.” He smirked, “Those
things are the most lethal weapon you have!”
“Er...Sorry about that.”
“No problem.... Um, could I ....ask what...”
“Nothing. Just...old memories.”
“Oh.”
“What are we talking about?” Ivy asked as she started to wake up.
“Lethal shoes.” Carmen broke in
“Could we change the subject to something a little more interesting? Like
breakfast?”
*****
“Huh?”
The Chief, thinking someone had broken in tried to jump out of bed and landed up
on the floor. It took him a few moments to realize that the voice was speaking in French.
<<“It’s me Antoine Mercone! And have we got a great show for you today!”>>
‘It’s the TV!’ he realized ‘Well that can be fixed easily’. He crawled back into
bed and fumbled around for the remote. He found it and stabbed the buttons blindly until
the voice stopped. He colapsed back onto the bed and wondered if he should get up.
Normally he was a morning person. But then again he hadn’t had much choice
in the matter. His connection to Acme’s mainframe dictated when he got up and when he
shut down. He smacked his lips, trying to get rid of morning breath, and snuggled back
under the covers. Staying right where he was suddenly seemed extremely appealling. The
warmth of the covers, the pattern of his own breathing...it vaguely reminded him of an
explanation he had once heard of someone describing being held in a mothers arms....
A loud shrill noise jolted him back awake. Instictively he started stabbing the
buttons on the remote before he realized it was the phone.
“Mmm....hello?”
<<“Monsieur Roger? It is me, Margurette!”>>
<<“Oh.... um.....how did you sleep?”>>
<<“Very well. But it sounds like you are still asleep!”>>
<<“You could be right.....”>> the Chief started as he began to doze off.
<<“Well, I’ll be by in a couple minutes, makesure you are at least dressed. I have
a surprise for you when we get to where we will eat breakfast.”>>
<<“A surprise?”>> He was awake now. He had always enjoyed surprises. Well except
for that one little surprise Carmen had given him over a decade ago...‘Keep your mind in
the present....’ he reminded himself. <<“What kind of surprise?”>>
<<“You’ll just have to wait....I’ll see you soon.”>>
“So what’s our plan of action?” Zack asked when he came back with a bag of various
french pasteries.
“Well, for now we wait until we get another lead. Then we try to contact the Chief
and tell him what’s happening.”
“That’s pretty general.” Zack commented
“Well at the moment we don’t have any specific info on what’s happening.”
“But the self destruct mechanism in the Chief is set to go off in less than 24
hours!” Ivy protested
“I know, I know. I’m getting a little edgy too but right now there’s nothing we
can do except wait.”
“Well what happens if we do get the Chief in time?”
“Sarah’s got a portable version of the transfer mechanism working. So we’ll C-5
to a speedboat in the English Channel, make the tranfer, dump the ‘bot and get out of
there as fast as we can.”
“Cool. And if we don’t?”
“A piece of Paris the size of the Arch de Triumph gets blasted...and the blast mech
gets traced back to me in two steps.”
“Er....” Ivy trailed off
“What happens if the Chief gets blasted ON the Arch?” Zack asked
“Zack! So, there’s no possible way we could stop the timer?”
“Sarah never inteded to stop it. The thing we should aim for is getting the Chief
out safely.” Carmen explained “Why do you ask?”
“I dunno....he’s always wanted a taste of what it was like to be human....I’d just
like to be there...”
<<“Hello monsieur! We meet again eh?”>>
<<“Hello again Marguriette! You look well.”>> the Chief commented. It was true. The
little old lady was dressed to kill in a black dress suit (Didn’t the french call it a -Talleur- ?)
and red pumps that made the Chief think of a certain wild-haired lady who he had left in a
lurch. He on the other hand was a disaster sight of his first attempts at a shower and
shave. At least his socks were dry....
<<“Thank you Monsieur, I’m happy you noticed.”>>
Fortunatly the ride into town was nothing like the ride out last night. The Chief
got to enjoy the scenery, and even ask Marguriette about occational landmarks.
<<“And that one?”>>
<<“La place de la Opera.” It’s the plaza leading onto the old national opera. You
know the ones you Americans think are home to a singing ghost....See? Right there...”>>
<<“Wow...It’s huge....what about that?”>>
<<“That’s the monument to the French revolution...Didn’t you see all these last night?”>>
<<“Well, we were going a little too fast for me to make out definate shapes...”>>
<<“That’s the truth! Well, we are here.”>>
It was a decent little eatery, tucked away from the high traffic streets. The
matre d’ regonised Margurette and lead them to a table outside.
<<“Lovely little place eh? I come here every Sunday.”>>
<<“Yes, it’s very pretty. So what was this surprise you were telling me about?”>>
<<“In due time. First, why were those people chasing us yesterday?”>>
<<“I was hoping you wouldn’t have to bring that up.”>>
<<“Well, I did. Now you have to tell me.”>>
<<“O.K. Well....you see...I’m the Chief of a detective agency in San Franciso. And
I haven’t had a vacation in I-don’t-know-how-many years, despite the fact that I really
need one.”>> He looked up. Margurette was nodding <<“So I placed the nessary paper work
and, before anyone could stop me, I jumped a plane over here. Unfortunatly I only had
time to pack my toothbrush. And even that got lost. So I had just come from buying some
clothes when I bumped into your purse snatcher. ”>>
<<“All right, but why were those people chasing you?”>>
<<“They’re probably a couple of my agents come to track me down because I failed
to sign a contract or something. Honestly, I have no idea! That’s the only idea I can think
off.”>>
A waiter brought them menus.
<<“Look and see what you want to order, monsieur, no need to rush.”>> she insisted
as she started looking every which way but him.
<<“What are you looking for? You didn’t tell the police about me?”>>
<<“Hmm? Oh no...nothing like that....”>>
<<“Uh huh...well Margurette, while we not waiting for the police, why don’t you
tell me about yourself?”>>
<<“Oh what is there to tell? I was born in Rouen, joined the french resistance,
married and had three beautiful daughters. And I met you yesterday. Not much.”>>
<<“The french resistance? You mean during World War II?”>>
<<“Yes, of course!”>> She smiled as she looked up from the menu. “If I had been in
the Great War, I would have been dead already! Ah, our waiter. What do you want?”>>
“What do think the Chief is doing now?” Ivy asked nobody in general
“Hmm?” Zack asked over the Cell phone
“What do you mean Ivy?”
“Just wondering. How he’s spending the day,
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