Vickie took a deep breath once she got outside of the apartment complex. The morning air was crisp and cool. It helped her to think. First, she had to get to La Maison. Finding Michelle was top priority. She didn't think the New Republic would pay her back for the chocolate.
A small black box rolled down the street behind her. Spaz had noticed how confused she had seemed and was quite worried. It wouldn't do for him to leave her alone, especially after Twitch had told him to keep an eye on her.
Vickie's mind drifted as she walked. She thought about Mendellia and everyone there. That led her to thinking about her side job, getting Becki to become interested in Josh. That seemed to be progressing on its own. Josh, however, was a different story when taken by himself. Sure, he apologized. Sure, he sent her off to try to find evidence Crispy was still alive.
Still, she had to wonder why exactly he had done this. Was it to prove himself right? Or so she could prove herself right? The frustration was getting to her and she growled. A deep, cleansing breath calmed her. She could feel the Force settling around her. Looking up, she found herself in front of the place she was looking for.
La Maison du Chocolat was packed. Checking her watch, she noticed it was eight a.m. No wonder it's crowded, she mused. Slipping through the door, she weaved her way through the crowd towards where the manager was standing, watching her employees. "Bonjour," she said as she approached.
"Ah, bonjour. Puis-je faire pour vous?"[1]
"I was in here last night and one of your employees said that she would take my purchases to my apartment for me. Do you know if she's done so?"
"We do not normally do such things," she said in English, her French accent quite distinctive. "What was the employee's name? Perhaps I can find something out for you."
"Her name was Michelle."
The manager looked at her blankly. "I am sorry, Madame. We do not have a Michelle working here. Are you sure that was her name?"
Vickie's brow furrowed in mass confusion. "Yes, that's what her nametag said."
She smiled. "Ah, our people like to sometimes put false names on their tags."
Vickie dug into her pocket. "She gave me a card and..." Looking down at the card, she noticed it was blank. Inwardly she cursed herself. "And I really made a big mistake." She sighed deeply. "I'm sorry to have bothered you."
The manager looked at her with worry. "Is everything all right?"
"It's fine. I've just been duped. Thank you for your help." She turned and quickly left.
Spaz watched the door. Many humans went in and out of the building. He had to keep a sharp eye out for his Master. She was quick and sneaky. Luckily, he was better.
Vickie started cursing in every language she knew, and some she didn't know she knew, when she exited La Maison. She had been a fool to trust that young woman to get the chocolate back to the apartment. Right now, however, she didn't have time to contemplate it further. She needed to get looking for Crispy. She was positive he was still alive.
Spaz saw her and quickly sped off after the woman.
The main opening to the catacombs was swarming with cops and the press. Can't go in that way, she thought to herself. A scene from Return of the Jedi popped into her head and she smiled. "Back door, huh?"
Turning around, she stopped short as she nearly fell over Spaz. "What the...?! Spaz, I thought I told you to stay at the apartment."
THAT WAS YESTERDAY. TODAY YOU SEEMED TO NEED MY HELP.
"I don't need your..." she paused. Perhaps the diminutive droid could be of some help. "All right, you can tag along. Just be careful."
YIPPEE!! Spaz spun excitedly in a circle.
Vickie groaned and rolled her eyes, yet the signs of a smile tugged the corners of her lips. "Calm down and help me find a way into the catacombs that isn't swarming with cops."
A small radar dish popped from the top of the droid. It rotated several times before stopping. THIS WAY.
Spaz led her to a dark alleyway. Near the end was a grate in the ground. "Down there?" she asked.
MY SCANNERS DO NOT DETECT ANY HUMAN LIFEFORMS IN THIS AREA. HOWEVER, I DO SENSE SOMETHING THAT SEEMS FAMILIAR.
Crispy? She reached down to the grate and found it firmly rusted into place. Stepping back, she took a deep breath. The Force coalesced around her. Her hands reached out as if she were grasping the grate. She pulled.
Spaz rolled backwards in shock. The ground was shaking. His Master was going to get hurt if he didn't do something. Looking in front of her, he saw the concrete around the grate beginning to crumble and the rusted metal began to lift from the ground.
Vickie grunted with the effort. Risking a peek, she cautiously opened one eye and saw that the grate was free. With a satisfied sigh, she moved the grate to the side and gently placed it on the ground.
Dropping to her knees beside the hole, she pulled her Maglite from her pocket and looked down. "It's not but about five or six meters. Spaz, I'll carry you."
The droid had cautiously rolled up beside her and squealed when she picked him up.
"Calm down," she said in a very gentle tone. "You'll be back on the ground in no time." Sticking the light in her mouth, she lowered herself over the side with one arm. Once she was dangling free, she let go and used the Force to guide her descent.
Landing in a crouch, she set the droid on a dry spot, removed the flashlight from her mouth and looked around. She suddenly felt like she was in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It reminded her of the part below the library in Venice. The area was full of skeletal remains of Parisians who had been left to rest here long ago. Quickly, she shined the light down and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw there were no rats. Mice and rats were one of her few fears.
Thankfully, the skeletons didn't disturb her. In fact, they intrigued her. Any one of these could be relatives of hers. Her maternal grandfather's family had roots in France, very far back, but they were there. And from the looks of the bones, they had been here for quite a while as well.
She took a deep breath and immediately regretted it. The dusty air made her cough. She really wished she had remembered to take her medicine this morning. "Ok, which way is the familiar thing, Spaz."
A light had appeared on the front of the box-like droid. He beeped and began to make his way through the catacomb.
The path twisted and turned. Several times they had to backtrack and try another way when they reached a dead end. Spaz beeped in frustration as they came to yet another brick wall.
"It's ok, Spaz. We'll find it."
BUT IT IS RIGHT BEHIND THAT WALL! IF WE GO BACK, WE WILL ONLY RUN INTO ANOTHER DEAD END.
The tone of his beeps sounded resigned. She grinned and shook her head at the droid. "Well, maybe there's a secret door somewhere." She began running a hand over the wall, trying to find a switch.
Her mind's eye flashed.
A bulky figure carried a smaller one over its shoulder, covered in a grimy blanket. It stopped at a wall and bumped a rock with its foot. A loud grating sound accompanied the wall as it slid open to reveal a hidden room.
She blinked and looked in front of her. This was the wall. On the ground was a rock that looked just like the one she had seen the large figure kick. With a shrug, she pushed at the rock with her foot.
The sound didn't disturb Spaz as much this time. He had been expecting it. The wall before his Master slid open. He scanned the room beyond and found no lifesigns.
They moved in to find a cavern area. It looked like someone had been living in it until recently. There were boxes and crates set up like a table and chairs. Vickie's eyes picked up on something metallic and she moved to investigate.
Near a couple of crates was a PC, or what used to be one. "Crap," she mumbled as she picked up the dented casing and sat it on the crates. Pulling a swiss army knife from her pocket, she opened the screwdriver and began to remove the outer case from the computer.
"Oh man," she exclaimed as she saw the damaged cpu. The motherboard had a crack all the way across and the memory was broken into pieces. She sighed deeply, irritated at the sight.
Her eyes drifted to the cage the hard drive was in. There was a slight bend in the rail, but it didn't look like it had touched the hard drive. She unhooked the small drive and removed it from the bay. "Hey Spaz, Mike did refit you with that upgrade we talked about, right?"
YES, OF COURSE. ALTHOUGH, I DO NOT BELIEVE I WILL BE OF ANY HELP TO THAT THING.
"I want you to read the hard drive. Tell me what is on it." She pulled out a ribbon cable from the box and moved to the droid. A panel on the side of the droid popped open. She plugged one end of the ribbon cable into the hard drive and the other into the droid. She could hear the drive spinning up as he connected to it.
Spaz began beeping slowly. PROCESSING... PROCESSING... PROCESSING...
She waited patiently for the droid to finish. It seemed to take an inordinate amount of time. But, she had to admit that the droid was working in an unfamiliar environment, not only in the catacombs, but on the hard drive as well.
WINDOWS 98 SECOND EDITION. DATA PROCESSING PROGRAMS. INTERNET RELAY CHAT. ICQ. MSN MESSENGER. AOL INSTANT MESSENGER.
"Are there any log files for the chat programs?"
SCANNING... After a moment, he beeped affirmatively. Suddenly, he began to squeal.
"What is it," Vickie asked.
SKYWALKER, BILL. IMPSTAR1138. ALL OF THESE ARE FROM THE TG FILES ON PROJECT BOUSSH.
Her heart stopped beating when he mentioned the ICQ handle she had come across over a year ago. Skywalker held a grudge against Josh, she was sure. Could he be involved in the disappearance somehow? She reached down and quickly unhooked the drive. "We'll scan this more at the apartment." Slipping the drive into a pocket of her jacket, she began to scan the cavern again.
In one corner she found a faucet. Just its presence put her in an even more uneasy state. Over closer to where she had found the computer, there was something else out of place, an outlet. "Power and running water. What on Hoth was staying here?"
Spaz beeped to gain her attention. She moved over and crouched beside the droid. THERE IS SOME BLOOD HERE.
She pulled a ziplock bag from her pocket and used her knife to scrape some of the blood from the floor. To the side was a pile of bloodied and soiled clothes. She didn't really recognize them, but picked up the tattered shirt and stuffed it in another bag.
She sat back and looked around one more time. "Can you sense anything else?"
The scanner popped up on his back again as he checked the area. A mournful tone met her ears. "It's ok, Spaz. We'll find him."
[1] "Ah, good morning. Can I help you?"