White Hat 20
“This is a disaster,” Dr. Bellum said, the screens still showing the scenes from Casablanca and Paris. “Coach Brunt is en route to the Island, but Shadowsan and White Hat have vanished.”
“It is most likely that Shadowsan has taken White Hat under cover until the heat dies down. There are reports from Casablanca indicating they have arrested our pilot and their entire warehouse of goods.”
“A trap!” Cleo hissed, “Carmen Sandiego. She set a trap, baiting us with that message!”
“How could she know about Casablanca and Paris?” Bellum wondered. “How could she know which one we would go to?”
“Possibly both,” Maelstrom growled at the screens. “Which ever or both, the tip could have been called in ahead of time or even she could have been watching and waiting. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that our master of stealth is missing, and our little hacker is gone.”
“He is not gone,” Bellum added, “there is a report that this boy has shown up in the Canadian consulate. Reports indicate that he was found near the warehouse.”
“What?” Maelstrom stood up straight. “Escape?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Bellum muttered, “I think he was captured by accident. he is young, and evading the authorities may not be possible.”
“Where was Shadowsan?”
“It doesn’t say, but the consulate is summoning White Hat’s parents.”
“This is a disaster,” Maelstrom groaned. “If we cannot get White Hat back.”
“The cleaners are still over France,” Cleo reminded him.
“Then we cannot wipe his memory.”
“We may not need to,” Bellum said, “White Hat is a young criminal, and since his time on the island was fraught with pranks and tricks, it might be easier to let his parents finish the job.”
“What happened to Shadowsan?” Cleo demanded, “he should have been watching him! This should have never happened!”
“Shadowan didn’t want to keep White Hat, remember,” Maelstrom said, “but it would be beyond him to go back on his word and dump the boy at the Canadian consulate.”
“Perhaps, but it is possible that Shadowsan has been arrested by this ACME and has not been captured by regular law enforcement.”
“Then,” Bellum paused, “the only one who will have an answer is White Hat.”
“Who is in Canadian custody, and his parents will not let him return to VILE island, not without a fight. Getting him was hard enough,” Cleo told them, “I have never met more paranoid parents.”
“We will send El Topo to investigate then,” Bellum said, “he is good with children, and we can maintain contact with White Hat until he is of age.”
“why not wipe his memory, my dear doctor?”
“He is a genius!” She exclaimed, “I do not want to damage that beautiful brain! He is already primed to become our next great hacker thief. I will mourn his absence, but we already have leverage for his 18th birthday.”
“This puts a delicate loose end, Dr. Bellum,” Cleo said, “we tie off lose ends.”
“True, but if we tie this one off, then we risk loosing one of the greatest criminals minds since Carmen Sandiego. Our cover is already blown, and if we wish to remain in the shadows, then we must let the dust settle.
“Very well.” Cleo sighed, “perhaps he will be more mature when he returns.”
#$#$#
Carmen and Shadowsan considered the outside of the consulate, keeping to the shadows as the people bustled within. Player had vanished within a few hours ago, and they still hadn’t moved.
“So,” she paused. “you and Player.”
“In all my years of VILE I had forgotten that not all possess a criminals heart and cruel intent,” Shadowsan said, eyes still trained on the building in front of them. “That he was willing to risk his world as he knew it to leave the Island...that you were willing to surrender the life as you knew it to leave VILE...” He fell silent, and Carmen waited as the taciturn man turned his words over in his mouth. “You possess far greater bravery than I, Carmen.” Carmen felt heat rising in her cheeks, and the man she knew and hardly knew finally turned her direction. “Courage to do the impossible, what no one has succeeded in doing in the history of VILE. You and Player...I am certain have more strength of heart and character than any I have met in decades.”
“Shadowsan,” she started, “I.”
“I hesitated,” he admitted, “to leave VILE. I have spent most of my life living a lie. One I had mastered and excelled and taught...and when the opportunity arose to leave with Players plans, I hesitated.”
“You were afraid.”
“My life...as I knew it. I would surrender my safety and home...and Player did not hesitate. You did not hesitate.”
“I was scared,” she admitted, settling in next to him and wrapping her arms around her knees. “I was terrified out of my mind, but the only thing I could think of was that I had to get off the island. I couldn’t...stay. Player, he was the one. The first contact I’d had with the outside world in my entire life, and he told me that he used his wicked skills for good.” She smiled, remember just how young his voice had been. “He was my best friend. He was my best friend in my pocket, and he...Player saved me. I thought stealing was a game...I didn’t think about the people it would hurt. I still didn’t get it, even after I left the island. I knew but I didn’t know. He...he was my conscious for the first year. I’m not sure who I would be without him.”
“You would have found your way,” Shadowsan assured her. “Eventually. I...knew I was wrong, and yet it was easy to do.”
“But what about the mission in Argentina? The caper where you found me?”
“Even I could not turn my back on an abandoned baby,” he said, and something delicate and lonely cracked in her heart. Only desperate hope kept her from abandoning the idea altogether. “Now that you have Player, what will you do?”
“There are a few pieces on the old hard drive he didn’t decrypt, so after that.”
“I have,” he produced the second hard drive, stolen from the server room right before departure. “Another project for Player.”
“Oh, he’ll love that.” She laughed. “He likes a project.”
“So I have seen,” he said.
“How did you two figure each other out. If you thought he was a hardened criminal and he thought you were a hardened criminal...”
“Player made his deductions far faster, he was working with far more of the story and a knowledge of your movements and VILE. I deduced that you had a hacker, but would have never guessed you employed a child. He made the connection when we discussed your escape from the island.”
“I told him everything,” Carmen agreed, “he really is smart. What are you going to do about the rest of VILE though.”
“Player...suggested that I...join you. I had considered making my own way, however.”
“Your knowledge of VILE runs deep,” Carmen said quickly, “I would be grateful for the assistance. When Player is back up and running, we can start again from there.”
“VILE will be watching for him.”
“So will we, and if he’s going back then we have two years.”
“Two years? To take down the largest criminal organization in history?” Shadowsan demanded, and only the self-help books and breathing excersies kept her from flinching away. “That is madness.”
“Well, we don’t have a lot of margin for error, Shadowsan, so we have to do what we can.”
He let out a light sigh, nodding. “Very well.”
