Shelby and Shauna Kitt and the Dimensional Holes. P. H. C. Marchesi
in the air.
“Everyone’s looking at him,” Ian replied, nodding towards Lendox’s table. The mirian vice consul had a growing audience gathering where he sat. In his usual pleasant and polite manner, Lendox seemed to be answering questions one by one – much to the irritation of general Falconbridge, who looked furious at the lack of ceremony with which his conversation had been interrupted.
“I guess they finally figured out who he is,” said Shelby, going back to his plate. “Maybe he should have kept his sunglasses on.”
“Who’s that next to him?” asked Jit.
“That’s Marina,” Shauna said. “She’s awesome. She builds planes.”
“Is she single?” asked Jit.
“I think so,” said Shauna, surprised. “Why?”
“There you go, Ian,” said Jit. “There’s still hope for you.”
Ian smiled, looking highly amused at Jit’s apparent concern for his bachelor status.
“I think Lendox is gonna make some sort of announcement,” said Shelby, seeing Lendox stand up and wait patiently for everyone to quiet down.
“I knew you would be curious about my world,” the vice consul began, pulling what looked like silver key cards from his jacket. “I am happy to say that I brought some surprix tickets with me.”
“What are they?” asked the general, frowning.
“They are virtual tickets,” explained Lendox. “With them, one can visit all the most famous attractions on Miriax. We use them for virtual sight-seeing. The sand-people of Jumara, for example, cannot leave their habitat, so they do all their sight-seeing virtually.”
The general looked as if he could not have cared less about the sand-people of Jumara.
“But how do the tickets work?” he insisted.
“Each ticket randomly picks a surprise location on Miriax,” said Lendox. “Surprix tickets are very popular. They make excellent birthday, wedding, and graduation gifts, as well as –”
“Is there any kind of risk involved?” interrupted the general, lowering his voice. “I don’t want a lawsuit here.”
“A lawsuit?” asked Lendox, raising his eyebrows. “Why would lawyers oppose sight-seeing?”
The general sighed in exasperation, and Marina stifled a laugh.
“Fine,” he said. “You can give them to the kids, but only if Dale gets one.”
Lendox glanced at Dale, who had his eyes fixed on the surprix tickets, and Shauna suddenly caught herself thinking that his eyes were like those of a dead fish, unblinking and still.
“You should see his room,” whispered Jit, noticing her staring at Dale. “I went past it the other day, and he was there with the door open. It’s so neat it’s disturbing.”
“He has a room here at the base?” asked Shelby, suddenly interested.
“A pretty large room, too,” said Jit. “His mum and dad both work here, so I suppose that makes sense. Anyway, when he saw that I was looking in, he shut the door right in my face.”
“Can you show me where it is?” asked Shelby.
“You want to go there now?”
“It’s the perfect chance,” said Shelby. “No one will notice, ’cause everyone wants those tickets.”
“Everyone including me,” said Jit, seeing that Ian was already making his way forward to stand in line for the tickets. “I’ll see you later.”
“But what about Dale’s room?” insisted Shelby.
“It’s on this floor, right next to the infirmary. You can’t miss it.”
Jit quickly caught up with Ian, and Shauna decided that she didn’t want to miss out on virtual sight-seeing, either.
“Wait – don’t you want to see what Dale’s room looks like?” asked Shelby, disappointed at her lack of enthusiasm for his brilliant idea.
“Oh, come on,” she protested. “Can’t we do that some other time?”
“We won’t get another chance,” he urged. “Look!”
Shauna saw that, as Dale received his ticket, he suddenly became still as a statue. Several whispers ran through the dining hall as Jeannie Falconbridge and her husband traded worried glances.
“He is perfectly safe,” said Lendox. “His mind is sight-seeing. He will be back once the tour is over.”
“See?” Shelby told his sister. “It’s perfect!”
“What if someone catches us?” Shauna asked. “The general already hates us, in case you haven’t noticed.”
“Dale’s the spy, Shauna!” protested Shelby, as quietly as he could. “I know it! I just need to get some proof.”
“Fine,” snapped Shauna, thinking that her brother could be really annoying. “Let’s get it over with.”
They sneaked out, and wandered for a few moments in the corridor before they walked past the infirmary, and then past another door that unceremoniously said “Dale Falconbridge: Keep Out.”
“Wow - even his door’s unfriendly,” observed Shelby.
“This was a stupid idea,” said Shauna. “I bet it’s locked, anyway.”
The thought that Dale might have locked his door had not occurred to Shelby, and he worriedly turned the handle. The door was open, however, and he triumphantly looked at Shauna. She rolled her eyes, and then went in after him, closing the door behind her.
Dale’s bedroom was large and plain, with plaid drapes, a blue comforter, and a desk with a computer.
“I guess he likes science,” Shelby said, seeing that there was a poster of the periodic table on the wall.
“Check out all this stuff,” said Shauna, walking towards a wall that had several diplomas displayed. She stopped in front of the first one, and read it aloud:
Dale Falconbridge
First Prize
2009 National Science Competition
Washington, D.C.
“He’s won a ton of competitions,” exclaimed Shelby, scanning all of the other certificates that were hanging on the wall.
“I guess it’s true that he’s a genius,” said Shauna.
“If it’s true,” said Shelby, “then he’s definitely smart enough to be the spy.”
Shauna shrugged unenthusiastically, wishing she were on a virtual tour of Miriax. They looked through several picture frames that were scattered through the room. Shauna stopped in front of one that caught her attention more than the others did: it showed a younger Jeannie Falconbridge against an undefined background, holding the newborn Dale. She was smiling, but there was something unsettling – a kind of dread – in her eyes.
Shelby quickly left the picture frames behind, and went on to search Dale’s desk. Shauna, however, stood stubbornly in front of the pictures. Why were there not pictures of Dale’s birthday parties, or other family gatherings? Dale always seemed to be in front of some unidentifiable background, either alone or with his mother. Even the general – who was clearly so proud of his son – was oddly absent from the pictures.
“Shauna, look at this!” Shelby cried, pointing to the screen of Dale’s computer. On the desktop, off to one side, were two folders. One was called “Dale’s stuff,” and the other was ominously called “Klodian