Keeping Fantasia: The Third Book of the Fantasia Series

Chapter 152: You've Got a Foe in Me

Chapter 152: You've Got a Foe in Me

At night, the CIA hummed like a sleeping computer. The hallways smelled like burned coffee and conversations were held to a minimum. Those who were there, were there to work. It was an evening of resurrecting dead ends and cracking unbreakable codes.

"Triton?" Agent Bubbles carried a pink duffle bag into the Black Magic Analytics Room. Jak was nose to nose with surveillance monitor, a stack of files at his elbow.

"Burning the midnight oil are we?"  Agent Bubbles lowered the bag. It clunked. The contents made a series of video game sounds. Unperturbed, Bubbles flipped through Jak's files. Bruno Madrigal. Alma Madrigal. Every single Madrigal. Damn, there were a billion Madrigals. 

"FYI," he glossed over Bruno's mug shot. "You're not getting holiday pay to read through the Madrigal family tree."

Bubbles tossed Bruno's file. Jak caught it. 

"Interview with the Madrigals is coming up." Jak said, replacing Bruno's file on the stack. "Need to be prepped."

"Sure." Agent Bubbles tapped the monitors. "And the cams?"

"It's the first of autumn. Oogie Boogie watch starts tonight. Satellites are set to infrared and magic, and I have a patrol reporting on graveyard activity every hour."

Jak noted the pink duffle. "What are you doing here? And what's – "

The bag jolted. Lights popped within the pink canvass.

Jak proceeded with care. "What's in the bag?"

Bubbles was surprisingly blasé.

"Some sort of astrophysical weapon. Guardians are celebrating Catch a Shadow Day with King Arthur and this –  " he tapped the duffle, "Was sitting in the back seat of your dad's convertible."

Jak straightened. "Was my sister in the car?"

"Don't worry she's safe. We didn't even know this was a weapon until Lord Hawkins declared it during the security search. Thing started blinking like a reindeer when we confiscated it. Anyway, my specialists couldn't figure out the deactivation code, so I brought it in to be incinerated. You know, in case it self destructs."

The duffle bag gave a threatening garble.

Jak eyed the pink bag. "Why would you even confiscate it? He's a Space Force general -- apparently. My firearms are allowed in Camelot, why not his?"

Bubbles cracked a knuckle.

"Because you're a military hero and Lord Hawkins is still on Fantasia's terrorist watch."

Jak thought he misheard. "Terrorist watch?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

"Stuff that happened during the War to Take Fantasia. Ever notice the scar on his right hand?"

Jak nodded, instantly recalling the burgundy scar connecting Jim's index finger and wrist. Aboard the Second Star, Jim would take 'fifteen second breaks' to stretch his palm during solar surfer repairs. He'd extend his fingers, shake a few times, then rub the scar before getting back to work. 

"That scar," Bubbles explained, "Was, for want of a better term, the gang sign of Fantasia's most murderous pirate, Captain Hook. Hook was a child killing scumbag and he started the War to Take Fantasia. His crew were all branded with that scar."

Jak's throat tightened: the undead pirate who had kidnapped him had a hook.

"So, my father was one of Captain Hook's pirates? He was a traitor?"