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Chapter 25
It was Saturday, March 3, and quite late in the day when Hank received an anxious mind message from Mac.
We've had a situation here at the awards ceremony. An Albertan nose was spotted in the crowd. It was fortunate that Franklin Franklin was here. He and some of his agents bundled Will and Izzy out of the building before anything could happen. I can't contact them because they gave me their communications gear. I have their slings too. The B.C. military can't reach Franklin. I have a bad feeling about this.
Mac was referring to the awards ceremony for the dance contest that the WZBN had been sponsoring. After the final broadcast of Will and Izzy's dance classes a month ago, Mac had started a contest to find the best pair of beginner dancers in B.C. She had named it Dancing in the Stars because the backdrop to the set was a black night scene lit up by sparkling stars and a full moon. Mac found three experienced dancers to be the judges, and the contestants competed against each other for four Saturdays – each contest being taped and then broadcast a few hours later. Winners were to be announced this afternoon and Will and Izzy were present to hand out the awards. Naturally their involvement was a closely guarded secret with only Mac, Will, and Izzy knowing, although Izzy had told Hank and Yolanda too. Mac had asked Izzy if they should let B.C. know what was happening and Izzy had emailed FF about the plans.
Hank thanked Mac and asked her to return to the community hall immediately. He sent out a "Meet me in the community hall as soon as you can" message to the Wilizy who were available. Yolanda and Stu arrived within seconds. Yollie, TG and Liset were shopping in the Okanagan and landed within 10 minutes. Hank had been meeting with his five Wilizy agents in a secret location in Alberta and arrived right behind them.
Hank told them about the dance contest and what Will and Izzy were doing there. By then, Mac had arrived and Hank asked her to explain what had happened.
"Will, Izzy and I were concerned about being in a crowded room with our slings because somebody could accidentally touch us and feel the filaments of the sling. We decided that it would be best if we didn't wear them. I have their slings in this backpack," and she held up a pack. "The pack was stored under lock and key," she added. "Also, it was invisible since I had my own sling wrapped around it."
"Their communications?" Hank asked.
"Both Will and Izzy would be shaking a lot of hands and people would immediately feel the large braided ring and the apparatus that kept it tight against their palm. Shifting it to their left hands didn't work very well, so they left them with me. They're in the bag too. You don't need me here now, so I can babysit Liset while you discuss what you want to do."
"You should stay, Mac. You may know other things that could be useful." Hank went on to review the brain-plug system for everyone. "Will and Izzy's brain plugs are supposed to send out system-wide emergency messages if they are tampered with. Plus Wilizy members can activate the system themselves if they feel they're in danger. There has been no such activation, so their plugs had to be intact. If Will and Izzy were in danger, they'd have activated that warning system – all they had to do was unscrew it enough to break the connection. Neither of them has done that. This suggests that they are safe and perhaps in hiding until FF can determine that the risk is over. He'll take them back to the military complex soon and everything will be fine."
"Hank," Yolanda said. "You need to declare a full emergency and set up a response team."
"But they're with Franklin Franklin," Hank said gently, believing that Yolanda was over-reacting.
"That's exactly why we need an emergency response team," she replied. To Hank's look she added, "You don't know him like I know him."
# # # # # # # #
Franklin Franklin's manifesto
If you are reading this manifesto, then the Wilizy are finished. Hank and Yolanda are dead and Will and Izzy can no longer interfere with the proper order of things. I myself am safe, living comfortably, and rich beyond imagination. If I have failed, then you wouldn't have access to this document. The fact that you are reading it confirms that God does exist and works in mysterious ways.
As befitting a manifesto, in this document I will declare publicly why I have acted to remove the Wilizy's threat to normalcy from our world. For too long now, I have been forced to exist as a different person. I endured the hatred of my brothers and sisters – they being unaware that I was still among them in heart if not in deed. When they read this, I will be allowed to return to the fold, rewarded that my life will now have had meaning.
I had a normal childhood. My family was tight-knit and loving. My father treated all of his children equally, and I can remember no instance where any of us were mistreated in any fashion. Unlike many in B.C. at the time, our family followed the way of the Lord, as revealed through my father's preaching. We would meet in our church every evening before bed to hear his message. The children grew up, learning to read from the Good Book, as my father called it. In time, all the children had it memorized, it being quite short, and we could quote our favorite passages on demand. My own favorite was the one where we were supposed to prevent the heathen Indian savages from taking over the world. I had invented a pretend game – Capture the Heathen Savages that I played by myself, but only in my mind. I wanted to play it with my brothers and sisters, but none of them wanted to pretend to be a heathen savage, the risk of eternal damnation being too great.
I was unique in my family because of the name that my mother gave me. She told me that it would make people notice me and they would know me for who I was. It certainly was noticeable. My last name, Franklin, came from my father, of course. My mother gave me my first name, Franklin, because it was her own last name as well as her father's last name. He was some sort of cousin to my father, I believe. She also gave me a middle name that was her mother's maiden name. So, I was Franklin Franklin Franklin. I dropped the middle name when I entered the outside world.
My happy life was disrupted when my father died. I remember him being quite old. We had a big funeral celebration for him - about 50 of his children (I couldn't keep track of them all, it might have been 55) and eight current wives. He used to have ten wives, but two of them had disappeared suddenly and I never heard anything more about them. Fortunately, their children had been found and returned to the flock.
I found out about the outside world when my mother went on a holiday down to the big city of Surrey right after my father's funeral. We moved around a lot when we were down there, I recall. I was her only child. I came home from kindergarten one day to find an uncle waiting for me. "Your mother has died, Franklin," he said. "You'll be part of the family again." He didn't say what she had died of. I remember thinking that it couldn't have been an illness because she had been healthy that morning. I believe she was about 19 when she died.
I stayed with my family until I turned 14. This was the age when all of the sons had to work in the outside world. The girls stayed at home to cook, clean, farm, and help their father replenish the family. In this case, since my own father had died, they would be replenishing the family of the uncle who had brought me home when my mother had died. Of course, the boys would still be part of the family and we were expected to send part of our pay home. But, our main job was to lead the fight against the heathen taking over the world. One of my brothers arranged a job that gave me access to a lot of heathens, both whites and Indian savages. My brother administered the word of God to the whites; I administered it to the savages.
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Chapter 26
Sunday, March 4, day 2 of Will and Izzy's disappearance.
Izzy awoke, stiff and sore. She wasn't aware that she had been sedated, transported by copter to a hidden site, loaded onto the top of a wheeled kitchen cart, and then hauled to where she was now lying on a thin pad on the floor of what was obviously a cell with long iron bars on three sides. All of the bars were much too close together for her
to squeeze through. A solid rock wall was behind her, a rock ceiling above, and a rock floor beneath. The door was securely fastened by a solid looking iron lock. Similar cells were around her, but they were empty.
Izzy immediately sent the thought to activate her weapon array, only to remember that she had removed it before the dance contest. She put her hand to her throbbing head and found a securely fastened brain-band. She unscrewed the exterior section of her brain plug, pulled the plug out enough to disrupt its signal to her brain, and lay back under the thick blanket to wait for the Wilizy to respond to the emergency beacon. She had ample water and food bars in the cell to last several days. An hour for the Wilizy to find where she was; a day to plan a rescue?
# # # # # # # #
The Wilizy adults were meeting in the galley of the Wilizy as it maintained a position high in the air above Kamloops. From here, the ship's sensors could see all the way to Edmonton and Calgary. The ship was also within reasonable sling distance to Surrey where they'd probably be spending most of their time looking for Will and Izzy, at least at the beginning of the search. Stu was at the compound with Liset, having insisted that Mac could help the committee more than he could. He'd care for Liset; he had had plenty of practice with toddlers. Wolf and Doc had arrived from Asia and Hank was going to give them an update on their progress. Granny had been left on the Wilizy/Asia to command the operation against the North Koreans although she wasn't happy about that. Doc had reassured her that Wizard would be a good second-in-command. Lucas and Theo were reasonably skilled sailors. He had assumed that Granny's unhappiness had stemmed from a lack of confidence of taking the Wilizy/Asia into battle herself.
Hank was beginning to tell the assembled group that he had made contact with the head military man in B.C. when Granny flew into the cabin, still in her sling – the top flung open. A canine howl of protest revealed that Granny was still towing Patella's sling with the pup invisible inside of it. Wizard and Winnie followed behind Granny but they had taken the time to deactivate their slings.
"I won't be left on the other side of the world when my daughter is being attacked," she announced. "I'm staying!" She released the pup from the carry bag, deactivated her sling, declined the soft chair in the living room that TG was offering, sat at the table, and glared at anyone who looked ready to argue with her.
"Yolanda isn't being attacked..." Hank started.
"Oh yes she is," Granny raised her voice to interrupt. "She may not be the one that has been kidnapped, but she's involved. I can sense it."
"Mom's right," Yolanda said softly. "This concerns me."
"Wizard?"
"I have to help, Dad. Please?"
"Why is Winnie here?"
"She has special talents that we may need," Granny jumped in before Winnie could respond. "As does Patella."
"Who did you leave in charge?" Hank asked. "That operation is very important to us."
"Lucas."
Oh, dear God! was the thought that sped around the room. Well, it would have been the common reaction had the family been religious. Instead they experienced a sinking sensation that settled itself somewhere between their heart and their stomach. Lucas was a good boy, but known for his impetuosity and ultra competitiveness. Perhaps not the best combination for a covert operation.
"I gave Lucas very specific instructions," Granny tried to reassure everyone. "He is to report to me daily and he is to ask my permission before he brings the ship out of invisibility. Plus the ship's attack date is six or seven days away. That's lots of time for Wolf and me to return to the ship."
# # # # # # # #
Hank, Yolanda, and Winnie met with the B.C. general who was anxious to provide assistance. Franklin had indeed been at the awards ceremony. He had received a warning that a DPS sleeper would attempt to assassinate both Will and Izzy, had gathered up a security detail of four sergeants, and had logged where he was going and why. The detail left the complex – all of them in their own military copter, all of which had been properly signed out.
At the ceremony, the general confirmed that a warning had been circulated about an Albertan nose, but nobody knew who had issued it. Franklin and the guards surrounded Will and Izzy, took them to the pre-designated back exit where the copters had been parked, and then executed a standard five copter mass ascent that is designed to confuse anyone trying to follow them. Will and Izzy were in FF's copter. The four sergeants flying the other helicopters reported that they followed standard procedures in losing contact with any presumed enemy before returning to the complex.
They hadn't heard from Franklin since. The general had assumed that Franklin had been the one targeted for kidnapping. "He had recently engaged in some negotiations with Zzyk that went badly for Zzyk. He has always been a potential target. FF won a lot of battles and made enemies in high places. We're hoping that you can help us find him."
"We'll certainly do our best," Yolanda assured him. "May we interview the four soldiers?" she asked.
In an extensive set of interviews, Winnie found no signs of lying and Yolanda had positive readings as well. They returned to the general.
"May we look at Franklin's office?" Yolanda asked sweetly.
"Secure zone," the general replied.
"Hard for us to help you if you don't give us access," Yolanda persisted.
"Come this way," the general directed. The very next words that he would express were, "Oh, dear god."
# # # # # # # #
Back at the ship that evening, the Wilizy were trying to digest the news that the general had given them. Multiple secret government files were missing from Franklin's office. He was the only one who could have removed them. Franklin had served on a wide number of committees and was a trusted member of the government. Nobody had had any suspicions. Some files would have been military in nature, some economic, some financial. The general would develop a list of the files that Franklin had signed out, but that could take weeks and he wasn't sure if he could disclose those contents to the Wilizy.
"We won't need that information," Yolanda had said to the general. "We have our own information on Franklin Franklin."
"What's his motivation?" Hank asked the group assembled in the ship's galley. He looked at Yolanda who shook her head, signifying that this behaviour was new to her. The previous night, Yolanda had told Hank that she had been keeping something about Franklin a secret from him. She'd tell him what it was when this was all over. It wouldn't do either of them any good to open up that discussion now. Their first priority was to rescue Will and Izzy.
"He's been planning this for some time," Doc offered.
"Long enough to gain Izzy's trust," Yollie said. "He worked on her probably from the first time they met. Izzy told me that she liked him. He had a sense of humour. She would never have climbed into that helicopter with him if she hadn't trusted him."
"Not a spur of the moment decision. Therefore this kidnapping is important to him. What's important to a man of Franklin's age?" TG adding his bit and looking at Doc.
"Impending death?"
"Izzy told me that FF had mentioned he was at death's door," Yollie said. "But she thought that it was a ploy to fool Rick."
"Health records," Hank instructed Mac who was serving as the executive assistant for the committee. As such, she'd record all leads, assign teams to explore them, and record results.
"Love? A person who suddenly throws away his life might be doing it for love?" Granny this time.
"Interviews with all people on staff who might know something about his life outside of work," Hank instructed. Mac made the appropriate note.
"Money," Wizard suggested. "Worried about financial security as he got older?"
"Financial records," Hank instructed Mac.
"He could sell those state secrets," TG said. Alaska might be interested in them. Zzyk certainly would be.
"Mac, ask the general if that could be the case."
"He could sell Will and Izzy too," Mac sp
oke up for the first time. "If that's the case, he will want to keep them alive and healthy."
"Good to know. So, the place he's stashed them will have enough creature comforts to keep them alive and healthy until the buyers arrive. Where's the stash site?" Hank asked.
"Remote area to avoid being discovered accidentally," said Granny.
"So remote that their emergency signal can't reach us," TG added.
"What's the effective range of that system?" Hank asked, but nobody knew.
"How would he pick the stash site?" Hank asked. "Remember, he's been planning this for a long time."
"FF never travelled far according to the general."
"He was effectively in hiding. He had military guards on his residence. They logged him in and out every day."
"Something from his past?"
"Mac, we want to see FF's entire professional life from his first job ever to the present. Also, we want access to his residence."
The room fell quiet.
"Any other ideas?" Hank asked. When nobody spoke up, he said. "Let's operate on the assumption that Will and Izzy have been kidnapped to provide Franklin with a big retirement fund. Mac will assign the jobs, two people to each team if possible. Have Granny, Yolanda, Yollie or Winnie sit in on any interviews. Patella goes everywhere that Winnie does. If you ever see Patella's fur at the back of her neck stand up, then Winnie is at risk and that will mean that all of you are too. If the general blocks you, have Yolanda talk to him. If this assumption doesn't pan out, we'll return to the other possibilities."
"We need to talk," Yolanda said to her husband after the others had left.
# # # # # # # #
Franklin Franklin's manifesto continued.
I was comfortable in my first work as a missionary, working among the heathens in the bowels of Hell. My goal in life was to convince them of the errors of their ways and lead them to the right way. Most ignored me, as my brother said was customary. "We must expect passive resistance," he assured me.