HDA - Classified Secrets by Cherylann Rivers Introduction

Vanessa! Joe could barely believe his eyes. While the innocent spectators were enjoying what seemed to them to be a great show, with the presence of Cinderella as one of its final acts, Joe was painfully aware that there was no magic spell that was making Vanessa appear. A bomb! How on earth was he going to be able to get to it? And where, exactly, had Vanessa come from? Joe felt his heart beating wildly in his chest as he looked for some way to help her. Instinctively, he began to run towards her, breaking free of the gaze of the officer who had just held him back. He HAD to do something. As Joe ran, he felt images of his life flash before his eyes, paralleling the seconds that were ticking away on the bombs. Joe had no plan; he didn’t need one. A person could plan for an event of this magnitude all of his life, but once he was in it, everything always seemed to change, and he was generally left to go on gut instinct alone. Joe had tried to explain this to Frank so many times, but Frank wasn’t here now. To Joe, no one was really there at all, except for him and Vanessa. He would be certain that she’d make it through—somehow.

Joe leaped over finely manicured bushes and across stairwells. On the corner of his eye, he saw officers and officials working around the perimeter of the Castle, and within the Castle, itself. There was so much commotion, so much going on, but everything seemed to happen in slow motion for him. Just when Joe was within about 400 feet of Vanessa, he felt himself tackled once again.

"W.. What are you doing? Let me go!!!" Joe sputtered his words, fighting with all his strength against his unknown assailant.

This time, Joe found himself whirled around and staring face to face with several officials, who did NOT look happy at his presence. Still, he managed, "Look—my girlfriend is there. SHE’s Cinderella. Can’t you see that? There’s a bomb under her chair. We don’t have much time! You have to help me – do something!" Joe had never felt so frustrated in his entire life. Hoe could you convince someone that your very life and future happiness was on the line? Love was a difficult concept in and of itself- but to try and explain your love for a person to a random stranger was pretty much futile. Still, Joe was determined not to give up.

"Listen! Be quiet! Listen to me!" Joe was staring into the face of a very angry official. Looking at his uniform, Joe groaned- the CIA. This was going to be almost impossible.

"But…"

"No! Listen, Joe Hardy, I know you. Don’t you think we know there’s a bomb? Apparently, Ms. Bender has been here for a bit, because some sort of trap door, or loose segment of the floor in front of the Castle, was set to go off at a specific time with her presence. So- she’s here now. We also managed to disengage several rather large bombs within the past 15 minutes. However,…."

"We have to save her! Don’t you understand? Let me go!!!" Joe struggled furiously against the grip of the officer.

"Mr. Hardy!" The agent bellowed. For a moment, Joe was shocked into silence. "We want to save Ms. Bender, but you need to allow us room to work. If you’re not behaving yourself, we will remove you- immediately. Quite frankly, Ms. Bender is the least of our concerns. We have exactly 17 minutes to finish disarming any bombs we can find, and pray to God that we get them all. If we fail, Ms. Bender will be among thousands lost. So, unless you have any experience disarming bombs, stay away. These guys are NOT fooling around."

Joe was shocked. He could see Vanessa in the distance, and he felt like hyperventilating. He had to see her- he simply had to. Although he rationally knew how many lives were at stake, the one that mattered the most to him was in the center of it all. Suddenly, he turned to the agent and tried to speak rationally. "Look, can I at least go to her? Can I help? Let me do something. Please." Normally, Joe didn’t beg or plead for anything. This time, it was all he had.

"No, Stay here. Assist if you’re asked. Look. Look, Joe Hardy, at the faces of the crowd out there. Can’t you see how transfixed they are? The beautiful Cinderella, the light show, the damned music- they have no idea what’s happening. If you- or we- try to grab her now, they’ll be panic. And the last thing we need right now is to have all those people- those naïve, unthinking people- running around, setting off bombs, causing trouble, and confusing an already horrible situation. It’s bad enough that we even have these people here—and, although we’ve closed off the Castle, the station behind it is open. We can’t close off lavatory’s and infirmaries, although believe me, we’re trying to do that as we speak. It’s already causing some major panic on that side. Therefore, not only do we have to diffuse and find any bombs, but we have to keep the panicked crowd away from the unsuspecting one. Do you see the problem?" He was angry.

Joe panicked, and looked at his watch. There were sixteen minutes left. "Yeah, I see the problem." He had absolutely no idea what to do, as he glanced longingly at Vanessa. He desperately wanted to see her, and he ached to hold her.

Again, the agent spoke. "In two minutes, a diversion will be created by a small laser show run by the FBI with Disney officials. To the audience, it will look like a brief malfunction. It will give us enough time to, in the dark, grab Vanessa Bender and disarm that bomb behind the scenes. We have to hurry. Now please—be quiet! And do NOT get in the way." He was gone in seconds.

Joe continued to stare at Vanessa. One wrong move and he knew full well that the bomb on Vanessa’s chair could inadvertently be activated. He choked back tears and waited. This would be the longest two minutes of his life.

** ** **

Callie Shaw, meanwhile, found herself rudely and suddenly awakened by Iola Morton. She had no idea how long she had been resting in the infirmary. A quick glance at her watch told her it had been under a half an hour. He body felt like lead, and she was even more tired now than before she had closed her eyes. Also, she began to feel the all too familiar throbbing in the back of her head, and she closed her eyes tightly to try and fight back the pain. This was beginning to get unbearable. Suddenly, she was aware of loud noises and commotion coming from the outside, and as she glanced around, she saw looks of panic on the faces of many. Sitting up weakly, she looked at Iola. "What’s going on?" she asked, softly.

Iola looked panicked, and Callie was now alert. Ignoring her own discomfort and fatigue, she repeated the question. "Iola? What’s the matter? What’s going on? Is this why you woke me up?"

It took Iola a minute, but she finally responded. Looking at Callie in confusion and dread, she replied, "Cal! Something’s going on—something big! They’re clearing out this place. Look! Right outside—by the Castle. They’re not letting anyone go over there. I wonder what’s going on? Whatever it is, I don’t think it’s good. I couldn’t swear to it, but I think I saw a lot of people with "FBI" and stuff like that on their jackets." She looked at Callie fearfully. "I think we ought to get out of here!"

Callie tried to get her bearings. "W.. what time is it?"

Iola looked at her watch. "I don’t know. I’ve got about 20 to twelve. I guess the light show is still going on. It started a little earlier than I thought that it would. Seriously, Callie, they’re actually leading people out of here. We should go."

Callie stood on wobbly legs, and glanced outside. Iola was right. A lot of people were running away from the castle area, and there were guards and officials—a lot of them. Instantly, Callie got a bad feeling. There really WAS something wrong. At once, she saw an official in the doorway. He said quickly, "Girls? We’re experiencing some technical difficulties and we’re running an emergency testing procedure. Please, don’t panic, but we need all people to move as far away from the Castle as possible. It will ensure safety for all."

Iola quickly headed to the door as the agent specified, and Callie followed. However, before she left, she turned to him. "Test? Why would you perform a test now, at this hour? And why are you wearing a uniform that says FBI? Is there something going on?"

Callie didn’t miss the look of annoyance on the man’s face. He turned to her and said, bluntly, "Ma’am, we need you to move. Now. This is a test—it is not twenty questions. There are dozens of vans and trams ready to take people this close to the Castle away. If you hurry, you can be on one in five minutes. Now MOVE!"

Callie was taken aback, and she was suddenly very aware that this man was lying. She felt a tightness in her chest. All her life, Callie had been pretty good about having accurate instincts, and she knew something bad was going on. She also knew she wanted to find out. But how?

Quickly, she followed Iola outside and grabbed her shoulder. "Iola," she said, forcefully.

"W.. what? We better do like the man says, in case, you know, it isn’t a test, like you think."

Callie sighed. Her body was sore. Her head was aching again, and she was exhausted. Still, in the back of her mind, although she wasn’t aware that the case had been cracked, she couldn’t help but to think of Prince Charming and Cinderella, the Castle, and, above all, Vanessa. Maybe this had something to do with the case- in any event, she had to check it out. Turning to her friend, she said, softly, "Iola, I think you should go on the tram. Take it- hurry. Grab a cab and I’ll meet you back at the hotel. I think you should- um- call Joe in case he’s worried about you. I mean, something like this might be on the news, and he’d want to know that you’re all right. I’ll meet you later."

Iola looked concerned. "What about you? I can’t leave you here. Come with me!"

"No," Callie countered. "I, uh, I think that there are a lot of people who aren’t taking this so seriously. Maybe the people around here need some additional help. Let me see what I can do. I’ll be fine—really."

Iola looked dubious. "Callie, they can handle this fine without you. Don’t try to be a hero."

Callie shook her head, and tried to make her lie sound as honest as possible. "Oh, Iola. I’m feeling a lot better. Besides, look at all these kids. They’ll need help getting organized. Seriously, go home. I’ll be fine. I probably won’t be at all late back to the room. Please, go. Call Joe. Call Frank. Whatever. Okay?"

Iola sighed. She didn’t believe Callie for a minute, but to be honest, she really was scared, and Callie WAS self- sufficient and independent, and should be okay. "Okay, I’ll go. Don’t be late. I’ll wait up." Iola impulsively gave Callie a hug, and then headed off toward the tram.

Tears fell from her eyes. Iola couldn’t help but to think to herself that she was wrong to leave Callie behind, and to hate herself for being so scared. She gazed at the stars above and wished that she could be the person she had been a year ago, before her personal hell had begun. But, she knew that person no longer existed, the person who would risk life and limb to help a friend, never thinking of her own safety. Iola had never thought so terribly of herself in her entire life. As she boarded the tram, she knew she had left a part of herself right then at Disney World, and she would never get it back. Wiping tears from her eyes, she wept for her lost innocence, and for the fact that she was weeping at all.

Callie, left by herself, was now in a dilemma. She wanted to check things out, but how? Guards, officials, and agents were all around her. Some test, she thought wryly to herself. She looked at her Watch- 11:45. All at once, it was as though her problem had been magically solved by the Magic Kingdom, itself. There was a sudden, momentary blackout, followed by the strangest set of laser lights Callie thought she had ever seen. Knowing she couldn’t miss this opportunity to act, she crept stealthily toward the Castle’s back entrance.

The laser lights created a surreal picture of reality. The constant blinking was reminiscent of disco lights, which made everything go in slow motion, and accentuated every movement. Callie gasped in horror and covered her face with her hands.

Blink. She saw agents moving. Blink. She saw wires and metal parts. Bombs? Blink. There were dogs sniffing everywhere. Blink. Cinderella. No- My God! It was Vanessa Bender! Blink. Joe Hardy, staring utterly transfixed and in horror at this nightmare unfolding right in front of him. Blink Blink. Blink Blink. Blink. It was too fast, too fast. Was it real? What was happening? A sudden burst of light! And then—complete and total darkness…

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Disclaimer

The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation, The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow them without express permission of the authors.