The Turn: Chapter Seventeen

The Turn

Chapter Seventeen

~Short Vacations~

Two Years before the Turn

Zara sat on a towel on the beach, folder and pen in hand as she wrote feverishly. She looked up momentarily at the beach. Her team were scattered around the beach and in the water. It was a week into the start of their mandatory vacation. They worked their butts off for three months then they were given their pay checks and sent out of the Tower for two months, forbidden to return unless they were called.

She sighed and continued with her paperwork. Zara wasn’t exactly fond of the beach. Yes, she wore the beach attire, a simple black one-piece, but she had no intention of joining in the beach activities.

As she answered the questions listed, a pair of bare feet walked up to her, “Hello there.”

Zara looked up to the familiar figure of the Puppetmaster. Hatless and coatless he looked like a regular person on the beach. His purple eyes gazed around, watching the different members around the beach. Shuppet too looked around. The little doll sat on his master’s shoulder. Puppetmaster looked at her again and smiled.

“What are you doing here?” Zara asked.

Puppetmaster shrugged, “I thought it was too much of a beautiful day to waste inside, so I went for a walk.”

“All the way across the Island? Without shoes?” Zara laughed.

Puppetmaster nodded, “You’d be surprised how liberating it is to not wear shoes.”

“You’re a rebel,” Zara said as Puppetmaster sat in the sand beside her.

“So, this last mission was your first assassination prevention. Congrats,” he said almost out of the blue.

Zara glared at him, “Where did you hear that?”

“My amazing skills of observation,” Puppetmaster pointed the folder in her hand, “and the miraculous gift to read.”

Zara stuffed her documents in the folder as set the folder beside her. Puppetmaster smiled. He watched as Vicky, Deontay, Hina and Naru play volleyball. Chaud was the designated referee.

In their current set, Hina was serving. The volley ball sailed over the net. Vicky bumped the ball while Deontay set it. Vicky spiked the ball but Hina managed to dive for it, bumping it into the air. Naru set the ball into the air as his sister quickly got to her feet. She then ran up to the net for a spike. Hina would have won the point if Vicky’s quick reaction hadn’t saved the day. She dove into the sand and saved the ball. The ball however had a different plan. It flew into the air and headed toward Zara’s direction. It kicked up sand as it fell a few feet from her.

Zara ducked as the ball flew over her head. Chaud came running after the ball. He saw Puppetmaster and slowed down.

“Zara,” Chaud said cautiously as he walked up “Is the creepy man with the doll bothering you?”

“No, but you are,” Zara stated.

Puppetmaster looked up at Chaud. With a smile he said, “You would make a nice doll, you know.”

Chaud stared blankly at him, “That’s not at all creepy.”

“It’s how he says hello,” Zara explained.

“Right…” Chaud nodded.

Deontay ran up, “Hey, man! What’s going on?” The others followed behind him, just as curious of the strange man.

“Hey, everyone, this is Puppetmaster, he owns a doll shop near Transaction Square,” Zara introduced, “Puppetmaster, this is Chaud, Hina, Naru, Vicky and Deontay.”

“I really should make dolls of you all. Any of you willing to donate your hair?” Puppetmaster smiled.

Naru subconsciously took a step back. He had the longest hair out of anyone. Vicky walked up to Puppetmaster and poked at the doll on his shoulder. Shuppet started to lose his balance and started to flail his arms to regain its balance. Vicky jumped back when it moved. Shuppet crossed its arms unhappily.

“It just moved,” Hina pointed.

“He tends to do that when he’s pushed over like that,” Puppetmaster smiled.

That moment, Zara’s phone went off. She reached for her phone and glanced at the caller ID. It simply read unknown name, unknown number. She answered it. After a few moments, Zara set down the phone.

“It’s the Tower,” Zara stated, “They apparently have an emergency that we need to deal with.”

“What?” Chaud groaned, “Don’t they know that we’re on our vacation?!”

“They said their very sorry and will compensated heavily for out cooperation,” Zara answered.

“Like how?” Hina asked.

“I don’t know,” Zara shrugged, “Either with more vacation days or with a few more zero’s added to our pay check.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” Chaud said as he walked up to the parking lot.

“Right behind ya,” Deontay muttered as he followed.

Zara rolled her eyes. She found a small shell by her feet and tossed it at Chaud’s head. Almost as a sixth sense, Chaud ducked his head just before the shell hit. He looked back with a goofy smile. A small doll struck him in the face, knocking him to the ground. Zara looked over at Puppetmaster. The smile on his face said it all. Poor Shuppet had been launched in a follow up throw. Hina started laughing hysterically.

“What the heck!” Chaud moaned.

Zara smiled, “Thanks.”

Puppetmaster nodded, “Anytime.”

“Well, I’ll make sure to visit you when we get back,” Zara said as she got up.

“I’ll look forward to it,” Puppetmaster sat and smiled.

He watched quietly as they walked away. Poor Shuppet got to its feet and walked over to its master. It stopped and looked up at Puppetmaster for a while then continued walking past him. It sat a few feet away, its back to its master.

“Oh, grow up!” Puppetmaster laughed, “You’re made of wood! You can’t feel a thing!”

Shuppet threw up a tuff of sand. It didn’t matter if it couldn’t feel anything. It was a matter of principle.

IOIOIOIOI

Galaxy handed Zara a folder, “We seem to have found some information on an organization called the New Order. We don’t know exactly where they are located or what their plans are but we think he know where we can find out more.”

“California?” Zara asked.

“It isn’t their headquarters but it’s a start,” Galaxy smiled.

“May I ask how you came across this information?” Zara looked up at Galaxy.

Galaxy shook his head, “No, you may not.”

“May I at least know if it’s reliable?” Zara’s eyes narrowed.

“How about I just add $5,000 to your paycheck and that’s the end of it,” Galaxy fought the urge to laugh, “As much as asking questions go, I appreciate them but they take up time to answer them. I can say that you should proceed with caution. Come back safe.”

“Will do,” Zara shrugged.

“Your passports should be inside the folder,” Galaxy concluded.

Zara nodded and walked out of his office. Galaxy stood up from sitting on the edge of his desk and walked toward the long window. He stood there several moments until the office door opened behind him. Kaiba walked up to him.

“Any news?” Galaxy asked.

“It still seems that the company has something to do with the New Order but only came up on my radar recently. A careless email sent up a red flag in Kiri’s search net,” Kaiba explained.

“She really can be useful,” Galaxy smiled.

“I did a little further research,” Kaiba continued, “There weren’t any other emails that raised any red flags. It seems like a coincidence that one just popped up.”

“Yeah,” Galaxy sighed. He turned to look at his son, “Send a Fixer to look after them.”

“I could do it,” Kaiba volunteered.

Galaxy smiled at Kaiba. He knew his son had a ‘if you want it done right, do it yourself’ personality, “I’d rather have you here finding out more about the New Order. How about you send one of the other Fixers?”

Galaxy saw his son make a list of all the people he marginally trusted in his mind. After a quick pause, Kaiba turned on his heel and walked toward the door.

“I’ll get on that,” he stated as the door closed behind him.

“I know you will,” Galaxy muttered with a smile.