The Neverland Wars

Chapter 3

Peter

    "Right," Seb says as the hover craft sets course to the outskirts of Wonderland. He sits in the driver's seat while I'm in the passenger. I feel strange being aboard a hovercraft again, considering how long it's been since...

    I shake off the memories of tearing metal and billowing black smoke quickly, focusing my eyes straight ahead.

"Tink, can you throw the map of the sewage system up on the dashboard please?"

On command, a digital map appears in front of us, showing several intersecting pathways under the streets of Wonderland. Some of the street names I recognize from previous missions.

"This area is Shantytown, right?" I point to the upper left-hand corner of the map.

"Yeah," Seb nods. "If anything goes wrong and we can't get out of the city, we'll hole up there until the coast is clear. Now for tonight I think this might be the best route."   

He drags his finger along a specific series of paths, leaving a lit up trail on the map for us to see.

"This area here is where we're being dropped off," he circles a portion of the map that I recognize as Skid Row. "Skid Row isn't a great part of the city, but it's the most direct path to the basement labs of the castle. We'll have to work our way up through the levels of the castle without being seen."

"Doesn't sound too hard," I jest.

Gentlemen, Tink's voice says. I'm intercepting a message from Shantytown. My security firewall has determined it is an ally making contact. The message is coming through in morse code.

"Who uses morse code anymore?" Seb wrinkles his nose. "That's a prehistoric form of communication."

"Maybe whoever is sending the message wants to make sure nobody else knows what it says," I shrug.

Tink puts the message through, a series of clicks and beeps: dash-dot-dash-dot, another dot, dot-dash-dot-dot, and that same letter repeated.

"Cell," I confirm the first word as Seb nods, writing it down.

The second part of the transmission comes through: dot, dot-dot-dot-dash-dash.

"That sounds like E and then the number three, maybe?" Seb asks as I listen again. After a moment, I agree.

"Cell E3," the whole transmission. "What is Cell E3, Tink?"

Unconfirmed, she responds. Checking all databases now.

"Where is this message being transmitted from?" Seb asks.

My sensors are picking up the transmission from the Shantytown segment of the city.

"Our agent posted up there?" I venture. Seb shrugs.

"Take note of the transmission but we are not to stray from orders," Seb decides. "We're getting our recon and then we're out of there. Got it?"

"Sir, yes sir," I chuckle. It's amusing seeing Seb in the position I used to be in, but he handles it effortlessly. I'm proud of him.

"Don't make fun of me," he flushes.

"I'm not making fun of you," I defend.

Peter, Tink's voice chimes in. I've just triple-checked my databases and found only one mention of a "Cell E3" from a year ago. It was another anonymous tip intercepted by Mr. Saint Clair.