She nodded, and I teleported her home.
Chapter 27
My father had actually driven to the embassy, his vehicle of choice being a large black SUV. It was actually parked inside the gate when we left, and for a moment I pondered how he’d gotten it inside since I hadn’t buzzed him in. Maybe Electra hadn’t closed the gate when she came in, or maybe he had just picked the vehicle up and flown it over the wall.
In the end, curious as to whether the gate had been left open all night (especially in light of the alarm going off), I asked him about it as we were leaving.
“Basically, I just picked it up once I got to the entrance and jumped over the gate with it,” he stated. It wasn’t quite the same as flying the vehicle over, but close enough that I mentally gave myself a pat on the back for guessing correctly.
Of course, Electra’s car was still outside as well. When I teleported her home, I had completely forgotten about it, and I spent a moment mentally chastising myself for the oversight. Then again, if her own car hadn’t been top-of-mind for Electra herself, then I could be forgiven for overlooking it.
We ended up getting breakfast from the drive-through of a fast-food place that opened early. I hadn’t wanted to let on about it, but I was actually famished. Using super speed shifts my metabolism into high gear, so I usually follow up any use of that ability with some hearty eating. However, after zipping through the embassy looking for burglars, all I’d had the previous night was the shake Electra had brought me, and I’d eaten nothing since waking up. The end result was that I ordered at least one of just about everything on the menu: pancakes, eggs, bacon, toast, and more.
In contrast, my father only ordered a sausage biscuit sandwich, which he ate as he drove. That said, I wolfed my food down in short order, using the sacks it had come in as trash bags when I was done and tossing them on the floor in the back, behind the driver’s seat.
“You know,” I began, “I could have just teleported us to the restaurant.”
“We spend little enough time together as it is,” my father replied. “If a meal here and there is all I can get, I’d like to make it last.”
“You can get more than a meal,” I assured him, “especially with everyone else off-planet. I only mentioned teleporting in relation to using as much time as possible to find Mouse.”
“The mission’s important, but you can’t put everything else on hold because of it – especially necessities, like eating.”
“Well, I eat fast, as you just saw.”
“Okay, I get it,” Alpha Prime asserted. “You’re ready to get back on task.”
“It’s Mouse,” I reminded him. “If the situation was reversed, he’d be pulling out all the stops to find me and figure out what was going on.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll find him.”
“And that raises another issue: what happens when we actually locate him?”
“We take him into custody, of course.”
“And after that?”
My father looked at me with a queer expression on his face. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you guys are insisting something’s wrong with him. What’s the plan after we actually get our hands on him? Do we just hold him and hope that whatever might be wrong simply wears off? Are we taking him to a hospital? What?”
Alpha Prime appeared to mull on the question for a second, then said, “We’re still debating that issue.”
I looked at him askance, not liking his plans for Mouse (or the lack thereof), but decided it wasn’t worth arguing about at the moment. The first order of business was finding my mentor; any other issues could be dealt with after that.
Chapter 28
After our discussion about Mouse, Alpha Prime and I engaged in mostly small talk for the remainder of the drive to Electra’s house. She was apparently chomping at the bit, because she came walking out the door the moment we pulled into her driveway. She quickly waved goodbye to her father (who had come to the door to see her off), before opening the rear passenger door and getting in behind me. I saw Vir glance in my direction, but I judiciously avoided eye contact by turning to look at Electra in the backseat.
“You got enough room back there?” I asked as my father began to back out of the driveway.
“Oh, yeah,” Electra effused as she settled in. “I could probably fit a dining room set back here. Maybe a couple of couches, too. An ottoman…”
I laughed and reflected for a moment on how much I missed her. Missed being around her. Missed seeing her every day. Even though she had really irritated me earlier, I was actually happy she had joined us. Perhaps sensing my mood, Electra gave me a wink before I returned to facing forward (which I shrewdly timed so as to avoid any additional scrutiny from Vir).
“So,” I droned, looking at my father, “where are we headed?”
“Mouse’s shop,” he replied.
Frowning in confusion, I glanced back at Electra, who merely shrugged in a don’t-ask-me fashion.
“Mouse’s shop?” I echoed a few seconds later.
Alpha Prime just looked at me and smiled.
***
“So Mouse worked here?” I asked.
“Sort of,” my father said.
We were currently in what appeared to be a small electronics repair shop, located in what Mouse had once described as a Bohemian part of town. In addition to me, my father, and Electra, Solar Surge was also present. In fact, he had already been on the premises when we arrived and had opened the door for us.
Taking stock of our surroundings, I noticed that the front of the store appeared to serve as a sort of showroom, and I saw a couple of appliances on display, including an old microwave with mechanical dial controls and an ancient picture-tube television. The shop was clean and tidy, but I didn’t get the impression that anyone came here often. If it were
