Van Terra

Chapter Thirty-Three ~ Save The Birds!

"I'm running all of the cameras through my facial recognition program," Thea said as the team pulled into the Silvium Center's parking lot. "I'll also put a few drones in the air. If he shows up, we should get a match."

Grace stared out the window. The crowds weren't as bad as they'd been the day before, but there were still a lot of people milling around.

"Great," Jasper said. She glanced at the backseat. "Thea and I will head to the roof and access the store from there, and Thea will grab the new messages between Jaymes and Ringmaster."

"Can't we bug their equipment so that we can see any messages they send in the future?" Holly asked.

Thea shook her head. "I tried at Starchatter, but Ringmaster's good. He must be employing techs of his own," she explained. "But, if we find out Jaymes is using his own devices to communicate with Ringmaster, I could probably use him to access those messages remotely."

"While Thea and I are breaking in, I need you three nearby," Jasper told the team. "If Jaymes shows up, you'll need to distract him so he doesn't catch us."

"Distract him how?" Grace asked. "Fight him?"

"Don't worry, violence won't be necessary. Just, I don't know, tell one of those kiosk dudes that Jaymes wants free lotion samples. That'll take a while for him to get out of." Jasper threw open her door.

A few people gave the vehicle weird looks as the team climbed out, and Grace realized just how beat up it was. "Uh, is it a good idea to bring the car back to the place we stole it from?" she asked.

"Eh, it's fine," Jasper said. "I turned the F's on the license plate into E's with a permanent marker."

"That's stupid," Holly told her. "But it is so dirty and banged up at this point, I'd be surprised if anyone recognized it, anyway."

They entered the mall and split up. Grace wandered down a random corridor and realized she was on her own in public for the first time...ever? Aside from the few seconds she'd spent alone in an aisle at MoonCo, anyway. She carefully eyed everyone who passed by, fearing an attack at any moment.

After a few minutes of walking the first floor and willing herself to relax, Grace moved up to the second level to get a better view.

It was hard to keep her mind from racing. Ringmaster was investigating spacetime warps for Starr. How much communication did they have? Was Ringmaster in the dark about Starr's other operations? Would Starr use Ringmaster's knowledge that Jasper was racing to try to find Grace? What if—?

"Jaymes is here," Thea announced over the comms. "North entrance. First floor. He's moving fast."

"I'll intercept," Holly said. "Do you have any information I can use?"

"He's indicated interest in attending universities around the Star System," Thea said. "He also plays volleyball—"

"Volleyball?" Jasper asked. "Seriously? Ordinary volleyball?"

"Yes."

"Huh."

Grace's gaze swept across the crowd below. Across the corridor was a travel agency. Get away today! the banner out front read. Transportation across three star systems.

Maybe it wouldn't be hard for Grace to get to Earth on her own. Would Jasper come after her if she did? She felt a strange twinge of guilt at the thought.

Grace turned her focus to the north end of the main corridor and spotted Jaymes walking at an impressive pace. He wore a backpack and stared intently at the screen of the tablet he was holding. He didn't notice Holly until she was waving a hand in front of his face.

"Excuse me," Holly said, throwing on a fake smile. "Would you be interested in a program that will help you get into university?"

Jaymes looked up at her with a distressed expression. "Sorry, I'm in a hurry." He stepped forward.

Holly took a step back to keep herself in front of him. "It'll only take a few seconds to sign up."

"Sign up for what?"

"Uh, the e-letter list."

"I don't have time for this." Jaymes ducked under her arm. "Maybe later."

"First ten people to sign up get, uh, free textbooks? You need textbooks, right? Damn, lost him." Holly's face dropped as Jaymes walked away. "Jax?"

"Headed toward him," Jax responded. His voice rose. "Excuse me, I'm part of a program looking to recruit—"

"Bit busy." Jaymes dodged Jax.

"Ouch," Jasper said. "He looked kind of anxious in the pictures Thea found. I was hoping he'd be too polite to say no."

"I could catch up to him and shapeshift." Down below, Holly folded her arms. "But I don't know what would get him to stop."

"Just stall as much as possible," Jasper replied. A boom came through the comms, followed by a burst of static. "We're in."

"I'll try," Grace said. She climbed over the railing and glided to the ground in front of Jaymes, stopping him in his tracks. "Excuse me, do you have a moment to talk about, uh—"

"I'm in a hurry—" Jaymes started.

"The birds are dying," Grace blurted. "At an alarming rate. If you could spare a few janos—"

Jaymes pulled a bill from his pocket and tossed at her. "That's all I've got."

Grace snatched the bill from the air and turned to watch him leave. "Uh, I didn't stop him, but he threw five janos at me."

Jaymes stopped and looked back. "Wait a minute," he said. "Have I seen you somewhere before?"

Grace shoved the bill into her pocket. "I don't think so."

"Yeah, you were an intern at Starchatter. Wren Starwright. What are you doing on Si Hera?"

"I'm...writing an article about the birds. That are dying."

"Which birds?"

"Red ones?" Grace tried.

"The only red-colored birds on Si Hera are an invasive species, and they're doing pretty well," Jaymes said.

"What a nerd," Jasper muttered.

"I'm sorry, I don't have time to talk right now." Jaymes disappeared into the crowd.

Grace sighed. "He's getting away."

"Thea?" Jasper asked.

"No, I'm not done," Thea said. "You can see me typing, Jasper."

"Could we get a time estimate?"

"Five minutes. And before you ask, I'd say Jaymes is three minutes away."

"Great," Jasper said. "Then I guess it's my turn."