RUNNING ON FUMES
by
PiperMerlyn
Chapter 2
The Chapters
Frank
As usual, Joe beat me to the shower. One of these days, I’ll get first shower. He tends to use up all the hot water. I sat down on my bed to wait for him and considered what Dad had said. It was dangerous. Every mission had the potential for danger, whether it was a ‘mission’ or a simple case of industrial espionage.
It was a close call today, being trapped in that burning house but we made it out. Joe and I were a team. We worked well together, although he has a horrible sense of humor – really groan-worthy sometimes. I shook my head as I heard him start singing.
I shifted my gaze to the door and thought about what Dad might be telling Mom. We’ve never really shared all the little details of cases before. I mean, why worry her unnecessarily after the fact?
A tap sounded on the door and for a minute I wondered which door. The one leading to the bathroom? No, Joe was still singing, some rock song that doesn’t do well a cappella. I went to my bedroom door and found Dad standing there, looking rather disgruntled.
“Dad?”
He handed me a small square package. It looked like the box those mail-order companies used for music CDs. It had Joe’s name on it and the return address had been smeared. “Joe didn’t answer his door.”
“He’s in the shower.” I took the package and looked over at him. “Did you...?”
“Not yet. That’s not a conversation I want to get into right now.” He slowly shook his head. “I’m not saying you two aren’t a fine team, Frank. You and Joe are competent, and trustworthy. I’m just uneasy that with your talents the company will send you on things that would be better suited to older colleagues.”
I nodded. I got it, I really did. “They can’t predict how things turn out, Dad. Anymore than you can when a stakeout turns into a shootout.”
He sighed. “I know.” He looked like he was about to say more when the door leading to the bathroom burst open on a cloud of steam.
“Shower’s all yours. I think I left a little hot water,” called Joe.
I groaned. “Dad, I need my own bathroom.”
Dad just grinned at me, the worry on his face fading. “You’ve been saying that for how many years?”
I rolled my eyes as he headed down the stairs and turned to Joe. “This is yours.”
He caught the box I tossed him and studied it a moment. “Huh? I didn’t order any CDs.” He ripped the box open and pulled out a jewel case.
I walked over to him and saw a stylized picture of a group surrounded by aluminum garbage cans. I shook my head. “Garbage? It’s a group? Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Hey, they’re real. They did the music video for The World is Not Enough. They’re on the first Buffy the Vampire Slayer soundtrack.” Joe pulled the protective wrap off and popped open the jewel case. Inside was a compact disk with the same stylized image as the cover.
Joe shook his head. “They’re music is kind of alt rock/grunge. They’re okay but not my favorite.”
He let the remnants of the cardboard box fall and I saw something taped inside. I pulled it out to find two plane tickets to California, one way. I took another peek but nothing else was inside.
Joe and I shared a puzzled look. “ATAC?” whispered Joe.
I shrugged and pointed to the jewel case. “It’s for a double album, look.”
Joe pulled the top with the Garbage CD and we found a video game disc. His puzzled expression faded into excitement. “Come on.”
We went into his room and he placed the second disk in the player and punched the play button. The screen went black and shifted, somehow suddenly having the planet Earth rotating in the center.
“Humans share the earth with as many as one hundred million other species.” As the deep-voiced narrator spoke, trees and fungus, animals and insects, and single-cell organisms took over the screen, new ones appearing every second, filling every inch.
“But two hundred and seventy thousand of these species become extinct every year.” Red Xs slashed across the monitor, crossing out just about all the creatures. “This extreme extinction rate has occurred only five times before in the history of the earth, caused by meteors, volcanic eruptions or rapid climate change.”
“Meteors; that’s one of the theories about what killed off the dinosaurs,” I said.
“Thanks, Mom,” muttered Joe, not sounding so excited now. “What I want to know is what this has to do with us.”
“But nature has nothing to do with the massive extinction going on today,” the narrator continued. “The current extinction explosion is caused by humans.”
A photo of Joe and me appeared on top of the red-marked images of animals and plants. I grunted. “Somebody at the top has a warped sense of humor. Kind of like you.”
Joe rolled his eyes. “I’m still not seeing a connection to us. What’s the mission?”
“Humans consume nearly half of all the Earth’s resources. This man wants to change all that. His name is Arthur Stench.” One man’s image replaced all the other visuals. He looked like he was in his late forties, early fifties. He was balding with a flowing beard. His eyes seemed fanatical. Something about him made me uneasy.
“Arthur Stench has a compound in the California desert. It’s a place where people gather to live in harmony with the land. Where they can give back to the earth.”
Joe grunted. “That cannot be his real name.”
I shushed him and leaned forward, wondering when the narrator would get to the point. “We have no visual of the actual compound. Visitors are not welcome. That’s where you two come in. Many of Stench’s followers are teenagers. Your assignment is to infiltrate the compound.”
That uneasy feeling swamped me and I shook my head. “That doesn’t sound like such a good plan.”
Joe frowned at me. “What do you mean?”
I motioned him to hush as the narrator continued, “Stench may be a harmless man. Even a hero. But we have received information about his using extreme measures to force people into following his beliefs. Threats, arson, bombings – even murder. We need to put an end to it. But first, we need to determine whether or not he really is a threat.”
I leaned forward and pressed ‘pause’ on the player. I couldn’t shake the feeling after what Dad had just said, that we needed more information. I got up and started for my room.
“Frank?” Joe got to his feet. He was clad only in shorts and a tank top, his damp hair slowly drying. “What’s wrong?”
“They live out alone away from prying eyes, no visitors welcome. What does that sound like?”
Joe glanced over his shoulder and he stared at the frozen image of Arthur Stench. “No way. They wouldn’t.” He turned to face me. “They wouldn’t send us into that kind of a situation.”
“Wouldn’t they?” I turned and headed for my room and my computer. I was going to do some online investigating.
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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 original characters without express permission of the authors.