Chapter Fourteen: Rescue Attempt

Lacey and Caitlin stepped out of the force field that broke their fall once they had returned to Dakadania. The force-field was strong enough to trap a human, but someone the size of a Dakadanian could easily dismiss the invisible bonds. There were a group of older Dakadanians, and the Collector, who was a woman who appeared to be early middle-aged, but was actually hundreds of years old, and they approached Lacey and Caitlin.

"These are the council members who have been monitoring your progress while you were on Earth," said the Collector.

"How did we do?" Caitlin asked.

"Not good, but not bad," said the Collector. "It could have been a lot worse. I'm just glad you girls are back safe!"

"Did Tony and Phillip return to Dakadania?" Caitlin asked.

"Our sensors detected a portal opening up, and that doesn't happen unless a solid object passes through the vortex, but we couldn't detect anything with our other sensors, because their vehicle now seems to be equipped with a powerful cloaking device that is beyond our ability to detect."

"What should I do now?" Caitlin asked.

"Just go back to your regular lives," said the Collector. "Caitlin, you're going to find that you've become quite a celebrity here on Dakadania."

Meanwhile, Tony landed the flying saucer on the roof of an arcade.

"You're landing on a roof?" Phillip asked.

"It's the safest place for now," said Tony. "The main power supply needs to re-charge for a few hours. You wouldn't know it, but this cloaking device really saps power from the system! We're going to have to be careful about how far and how fast we travel from now on, or we'll be detectable by their sensors."

"What should we do in the meantime?" Bobby asked. "Can we do something constructive while we wait for the batteries to re-charge?"

"We can take inventory," said Tony, as he stood up and went to a supply closet. "We should have some cable, carabiners, and grapnel hooks so we can climb up and down in this giant environment." Tony opened the supply closet, and pulled out some equipment. "Look," said Tony, holding up a device that resembled a weapon. "This is a laser cutting tool, for getting in and out of structures."

"Were you serious about what you said back on Earth?" Phillip asked.

"About what?" Tony asked.

"About forming a resistance, and rescuing other earth people from the thunder children?"

"Yes," Tony replied, "but we're going to have to use my last wish if we're going to accomplish our goal. Do you remember when I said if we disintegrated a hole in that door back at Audrey and Caitlin's dormitory, that it would instantly repair itself?"

"Yeah, sure" said Phillip.

"I need to wish for a device that will act as a key, and 'jailbreak' the software to any window or door."

"Sort of like an electronic master key?" Phillip asked.

"Yes," said Tony, "but I wanted to talk to both of you before I went forward with that course of action, because once I make my last wish, we're stuck here until we rescue someone and let them use the lamp."

"I think it would be selfish to use the lamp to rescue ourselves and leave all these little people like us stranded here on Dakadania," said Phillip.

"I agree with Phillip," said Bobby, "every time we rescue someone, we could force them to make two wishes of our choice, and let them have the last wish for themselves."

Tony approached Phillip and Bobby. "Let's form a pact! I think we were offered the chance to come here for a reason. Let's form a resistance and rescue as many other people as we can, and always have each other's backs!" Tony stuck his right hand out, and both Phillip and Bobby stuck their right hands together with Tony's. "Bros forever!" said Tony.

"Bros forever," said Phillip and Bobby simultaneously.

"Now, give me that lamp!" said Tony, and Bobby handed it to him. Tony rubbed the lamp, and said, "I wish for an electronic master key that will allow us to break into any structure on Dakadania."

Instantly, a key formed on the floor of the cockpit of the flying saucer. Tony knelt down and picked it up.

"I landed us on the roof of an arcade for a reason," said Tony. "If things here are exactly as they were in my graphic novel, then there are people trapped in that arcade beneath us, waiting to be won in games of chance by any thunder children who go in their to entertain themselves. They were captured when they fell through a portal connected to a dimensional nexus point, either from a falling airplane, a car that went off a road, or even boats that would've otherwise sank."

"What do you propose we do?" Phillip asked.

"Two of us need to rappel down and try to gain access through a window in an area where we won't be seen, while the third member of our team stays in the saucer, awaiting instructions in case of an emergency." Tony reached into the supply closet and pulled out three communication devices. "If we use these walkie talkies to actually speak to one another, they'll pick up our signal and capture us, but if we text, they won't detect us, just like my protagonists in the graphic novel. Which one of you wants to go with me?"

"I'll go, I'm more expendable," said Bobby. "I don't think either of you should ever go on a mission together, in case both of you get caught."

Tony tossed Bobby a coiled cable, and picked up the laser cutter device. "Phillip, you know how to operate the controls of this saucer, don't you?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, I read the graphic novel!" said Phillip. "I'll keep a close eye on my walkie talkie in case you text me."

"When we open the door of the saucer, we should be detectable by the Dakadanian sensors for a brief period of time," said Tony, "but I'm setting up a distortion pattern that should throw them off. Once you shut the gullwing doors, they shouldn't be able to detect us again."

Tony activated the door, and it swung vertically open. Tony and Bobby took their equipment and exited quickly, and Phillip used the control console to shut the door again.

"Good luck," said Phillip after the men had departed, "you're going to need it!"

Meanwhile, in another part of Dakadania, Caitlin arrived home on the tram and took a shower, then got dressed in a clean schoolgirl uniform and went to school. It was lunch time when she got there, and some of the other kids cheered when she arrived. Audrey Filchner approached her. A boy was with her, he had his arm around her.

"This is Jimmy, my new boyfriend.You won't believe how your reputation has improved since you drove Tony and Phillip back to Dakadania!" said Audrey.

"Really?" Caitlin asked. "Before I left, I was a laughing stock."

"Everyone knows what happened back on Earth," said Audrey. "You and Lacey are heroes."

Caitlin, Audrey and Jimmy went and got their lunch trays and sat down at a table. There was a crowd of kids surrounding the table, whispering to each other and smiling.

"You can have your pick of the cutest boys in the school," said Audrey in between bites of food. "Even the eighth graders."

"You should run for student council!" said Jimmy. "It's an honor that my girlfriend is your dorm mate."

"We really didn't accomplish much," said Caitlin, "It would've been better if we could've actually captured them, but whatever,"

"But they had that lamp," said Audrey. "You could've been wiped out."

"They still have the lamp!" said Caitlin. "If we did drive them back here to Dakadania, all they have to do is rescue a captive, and they automatically get three more wishes. Do you think we'll ever see them again?"

"Who cares?" said Audrey, as Jimmy kissed her on the neck. "You've accomplished everything you needed to, in order to become the most popular girl on the planet."

"Yeah, I guess," Caitlin replied, "but I have a strange feeling that I'll see Tony and Phillip again."

Back at the arcade, Tony and Bobby had reached an auxiliary door hatch.

"This is where the robotic floor cleaners emerge to clean the outside of the building, and the sidewalks," said Tony. "We can use the master key to get in."

"Will there be giant kids in the arcade?" Bobby asked.

"Not at this time of day," said Tony. "They're all still in school. We couldn't pull this on a weekend during this time of day, though."

"What about the security cameras?" Bobby asked.

"When we rescue the first captive, we'll have them make a wish for a device that can make us invisible to security cameras."

"But the cameras would still have our images from before and during the rescue," Bobby reasoned.

"Yeah, but we can make the captive make a second wish to erase the digital files that the cameras took of us. Then their last wish is whatever they want to wish for."

"Sounds like a good plan!" said Bobby, as the door hatch opened and the two men entered the arcade. They walked through the access tunnel until they came to another door hatch, and Tony used the master key a second time. They emerged into a large room, where there were gaming consoles everywhere.

"Do you see that up there?" said Tony, pointing to a transparent cage with a man and two women inside.

"Yeah," said Bobby.

"We've got to get up there to rescue them," said Tony. "I have a grapnel hook that is fired from a gas-powered cartridge, but we only have two of them, so if we miss more than twice, we're screwed!" Tony took aim with his grapnel cartridge, and the shot was true and clean; it pierced the plastic paneling above the transparent cage. Tony began climbing. When he reached the cage, he used the master key to digitally hack into the electronic lock controlling the cage, and it released. The door hatch opened. There were three captives, a man and two women.

"I'm here to rescue you!" said Tony. "Climb down this cable and follow me! My name is Tony."

The man and two women followed Tony to the floor, then all five of them ran back to the access tunnel, and made their way back outside the building. The cable Tony and Bobby had climbed down was still hanging from the roof of the arcade, so they climbed up one at a time.

"That was fast!" said Phillip, as the five of them entered the saucer's gull-wing door.

"We left the ropes behind," said Tony. "We need one of these people to wish for a replicator that can make an unlimited quantity of climbing gear and food, but first, we need to deal with those security cameras."

Tony spent a couple of minutes explaining the wishing lamp to the three newcomers, and calmly answered their questions. When everyone was on the same page as far as what was expected of them, the three agreed to use up two of their wishes to help Tony, Phillip, and Bobby rescue more captives, and they would have the third wish for themselves. The man introduced himself as Gary, and he decided to make the first two wishes.

"I wish for a device that can cause a distortion field that Dakadanian security cameras can't pick up, so any humans our size within the distortion field will be invisible to the cameras." Instantly, just such a device appeared on the floor of the cockpit of the flying saucer. "For my second wish, I want all data of Tony and Bobby rescuing us to be purged from the security cameras of the arcade." Gary handed the lamp to one of the women who had just been rescued. "I'll save my last wish for later."

The woman who Gary handed the lamp to had introduced herself as Hilary. "For my first wish, I want a replicator that can manufacture an unlimited supply of climbing gear and food!" Instantly, a device like that appeared next to the main control console, already attached to the main equipment of the saucer's main computer and power supply.

"How long until we can take off?" Phillip asked Tony.

"We can take off any time, but we couldn't get very far with our batteries so low." said Tony. "In about three hours, we should be back at full power."

"The Dakadanian schools get out in two hours," said Phillip. "And that arcade down beneath us will be filled with kids!"

"I know," said Tony. "But there's nothing else we can do!"