Tracy Tam: Santa Command (6 page)

The room was smaller than her parents' closet and just as boring. There was a plain wooden desk pressed up against one wall, with a single large computer sitting in the middle. A cartoon screen saver of a roaring fireplace danced across the monitor. The room didn't even have a window. Where were the flashing lights? Where were the elves frantically pushing buttons in order to keep Christmas from collapsing?

Tracy touched a finger to one of the dull, gray walls. It was solid. The room was no illusion. “This is it?”

Beth pulled one corner of her mouth up in a smile. Tracy recognized that look as one her mother used when she meant, “You're gonna be surprised.” The last time her mom had used that look, it ended in a trip to the dentist and three fillings. Tracy hoped Beth did not share her mother's sick sense of humor.

“Have a seat.” Beth nudged Tracy into the chair, then knelt beside her and shook the mouse. The computer whirred and grunted for half a minute before finally coming to life. When it did, only a pale blue desktop appeared. It wasn't even as fancy as the ones at school. They at least had an owl, the school's mascot, as the background.

Tracy studied Beth, wondering what the woman was hiding. None of these puzzle pieces fit together. If Tracy didn't make sense of them soon, these people were going to ship her back home. She'd be no closer to helping Pim than she had been two months ago.

“This is
nice
.” Tracy emphasized the word “nice” so Beth would know she was being sarcastic. “But when are you going to show me the real stuff?”

Beth tapped the flat screen monitor with her pointer finger. “You don't think this is real?”

“Oh, I think the computer is real, but you guys have jet propelled sleighs, television screens on windows, and an entire underground loading area. You're high tech, and this room is not. Whatever you're going to show me here will be just as fake as Santa Claus.”

Beth paused for a moment. Her forehead crinkled like she was thinking very hard what to say next. “Tracy, I'm asking you to trust me. Can you do that?”

Tracy didn't know Beth well enough to answer that, but she did know the room had been locked. It had to hold something important. Tracy turned back to the computer screen. “What's on this thing?”

“Magic,” Beth said. When Tracy rolled her eyes, Beth clarified. “Or what other people see as magic. These are the…mostly…logical explanations for what you've seen tonight.”

That was more like it. “My science teacher says I have a mind for logic.”

Beth let out a soft laugh. “I totally believe that.”

Tracy smiled at the compliment. She was beginning to like Beth. “So,” Tracy said as she settled into her seat, “are there only two Santas, or are there more?”

“Later,” Beth promised. “First, we'll start with this.” She opened up Google Earth and pointed to the image of the planet from space. “Where do you think we are?”

Tracy eyed Beth. “That sounds like a trick question.”

Beth placed Tracy's hand on the mouse and said, “Go on.”

Tracy shrugged and moved the pointer to where she thought the North Pole would be located. Somewhere in Canada maybe. But after zooming in, all she found were trees and a large chunk of ice. Beth shook her head, so Tracy zoomed in on a couple of other places. After three tries, Tracy finally gave up. “Well, it's around there somewhere. The building is invisible, so it wouldn't show up on a radar, would it?”

“One of those statements is true.” Beth took the mouse, zoomed out, and rotated the globe toward the southern United States. When she found the right spot, she zoomed back in, focusing on a forest somewhere in northern…

“Alabama?” Tracy exclaimed. “Why the heck are we in Alabama?” Then Tracy remembered she had no proof that's where they actually were. It wasn't like she could see the building. Tracy pursed her lips. “How do I know you're telling me the truth?”

“Look at the evidence. You know it's not cold enough. You know those aren't the right kind of trees. You know there's been something off from the moment you woke up here. This,” she waved toward the screen, “is one of the explanations you're looking for. There are twenty four different Santa Commands in the United States. We are simply one branch.”

“Let's pretend I believe you,” Tracy said. From what she'd seen, it was possible. “What other explanations are you going to give me?”

Beth looked back to Phil, who'd been hovering in the corner, looking very worried. “Can you pull up Mrs. Claus? I don't have access.”

Phil pushed himself away from the wall like he'd been glued to it. “I can.” He could have said “I’d rather die first,” and it would have sounded the same.

“Are you ready to see the biggest secret of all?” Beth asked.

Whatever doubts Tracy had about the computer, those words made Tracy's heart leap in excitement. She looked Beth in the dead center of her eyes, and knew that despite her comments about magic, that woman was the real deal. “Yes.”

“All right then. Phil, show her Mrs. Claus.”

Tracy

Tracy stood up and let Phil take the seat in front of the computer. He may have looked young, but his shoulders curled like he carried more years than her dad. He hunched over the computer, his head held up by one hand while he worked the mouse with the other. He mumbled things Tracy couldn't quite understand, although they sounded an awful lot like words she wasn't allowed to say. How did anyone get to be such a grump?

Phil double clicked on a folder on the desktop. A login box appeared with the user name already populated—Mary Christmas. Phil glanced at the hallway to make sure no one was coming, then typed in the password. Tracy watched his fingers very carefully as he entered Nicholas343.

Numerous files popped up with titles like The List, Inkling Profiles, Sleigh Routes, Employee Selection, Holographic Imagery, and Inventions. Phil skipped all of those, going straight to a file labeled Mrs. Claus. He double clicked that, and a list of names appeared.

Tracy gasped when she recognized one of them. “Edward Higgens.”

“Do you know him?” Phil asked.

Tracy felt like she was at school, being asked a question she didn't know the answer to. “No, well, it's just…um…” She stuffed her hands in the Santa coat's pockets.

“Ah.” Beth got it before Phil did. “The name tag.”

Phil nodded, then clicked on Edward's name. A full profile opened up, complete with a picture of a man who looked very much like Santa, one with a curly beard.

Name: Edward Cornelius Higgens

Age: 75

Address: 11 Maple Drive, Sarasota, FL 34230

Occupation: Retired air force pilot

Recruitment date: July 31, 2009

Recruiter: Phil Marlin

Side effects to Santa program: None

“Side effects?” Tracy asked.

“Nausea, vomiting, disorientation, memories of the sleigh ride…” Phil might have kept going with his list if Tracy hadn't stopped him.

“Memories. Are you saying this guy pretends to be Santa, then you take away his memory?”

Phil sighed. “It's more complicated than that. You wouldn't understand.”

Tracy placed her hands on her hips and cocked her head in a way that would have gotten her sent straight to her room if she'd done it in front of her mom. “I'm ten. Not an idiot. Try me.”

Phil looked to Beth like he was asking for help. The two of them exchanged a few silent gestures which Tracy took to mean they were fighting over who talked next.

“Oh, for Pete's sake.
Someone
answer me.”

“Hey,” Beth said. “Cut the attitude. We're trying to figure out the best way to address this.”

“Which is not at all,” Phil insisted. Again, he glanced at the door. “If Walt finds out, it doesn’t matter what you think or how much you trust this girl, he is going to wipe her mind.”

Beth didn't speak for a long time, and Tracy realized it was because the woman was scared.

Now, Tracy was scared. Who was Walt? “What's a mind wipe?”

“It's nothing you have to worry about,” Beth finally answered, but she didn't seem too sure about it. She shooed Phil out of the chair, and he went back to lean against the wall with his arms folded across his chest. He looked like a statue that was about to crumble. For the first time, Tracy wondered if Santa's place was safe after all. Well, if they were in Alabama, it wasn't really Santa's place, was it? Who owned this operation? Who was in charge here? And if they wiped her mind, how badly would it hurt?

Beth took over the seat and babbled on about the process of choosing Santas. Tracy only half listened. What was the point if they were going to make her forget anyway? She had worked so hard to save Pim, and now instead of saving her, she'd gotten herself kidnapped. Would she ever see Pim again? And would she remember her if she did?

Tracy's knees started to shake. She clutched the edge of the desk, and her stomach clenched itself into a little ball. She felt herself sinking to the ground.

“Um, Beth…” Phil interrupted.

Beth stopped her monologue long enough to look at Tracy. Her eyes grew wide with horror. “Oh, honey. No.”

Tracy sat on the floor with her knees folded against her chest and her arms wrapped around them. Her mind felt as vacant as the pretend Santas.

Beth slid down to the floor beside Tracy and scooped her up into her arms. “Sweetie, no. We didn't mean to scare you. It's just, you've thrown us for a loop here. We're still trying to figure things out.”

“Are you…” Asking the question meant that she might get an answer she didn't want to hear, but she had to ask it anyway. “Are you going to let me go home, or am I trapped here?”

“Trapped is such an ugly word,” said a squeaky voice from the doorway, “but I'd say it's accurate.”

Tracy

The elf wasn't as cute as the ones back at the house. Then again, the ones at the house hadn't been so cute either once they turned into wolves. What was this guy going to turn into?

Phil jumped to attention. “What are you doing here, Erlek?”

“Walt sent me because you weren't back yet.” A sly smile spread across the elf's face. “I think he will be very interested to know what I found out."

Beth slipped a hard mask onto her face. Yet, her arms were still gently wrapped around Tracy. “What? That we found Tracy lost and scared? That we were comforting her?”

“Inside the main computer room?”

“She didn't see anything.” Beth spoke calmly, as if she hadn't just showed Tracy the biggest secret in the world. Of course, it helped that Beth had put the computer in sleep mode before she slipped to the floor. Once again, it showed nothing but the crackling fireplace. Because of that, Tracy knew that she could trust Beth. “Tracy woke up in a strange place, wandered off, and got lost. When we found her, she was in hysterics because one of your brothers scared her half to death. This was the closest room we could find to get her away and calm her down. Fat lot of good that did. You've gone and freaked her out again.”

Tracy knew a cue when she heard it. She buried her face in Beth's shoulder and wailed. In truth, the cries were only half-fake. She remembered what those elf things did to her on the roof. Through her tears, she kept one eye on the creature in case he decided to turn into a dragon or a rattlesnake.

Erlek folded his wrinkly brown arms across his chest.

“Whatever,” he said with a sneer. “Walt said no more stalling. He wants you in his office, and I have a feeling I know why.” He patted the tiny pouch of dust hanging from his belt.

Phil dropped his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.

Tracy guessed what was inside the pouch. They might wipe the Santas’ minds every Christmas Eve, but nobody was coming near her with that stuff. She needed her memory of this night more than she ever needed anything in the world. She had to trust that she had enough evidence to win the fair, because with the elf stepping toward her, she could only think of one out. Tracy let out another wail. “I want to go hooome.”

“Of course you do.” Beth smoothed Tracy's long black hair, then addressed Erlek with her eyes narrowed. “A wipe is completely unnecessary, and I won't let it happen. Tracy understands how important it is to keep our secret. Don't you, Tracy?”

Tracy lifted her head and gave a pitiful nod.

“It's true,” Phil said. “She does.” He didn't sound quite as convinced as Beth, and Tracy wished he'd just kept his mouth shut.

Erlek returned Beth's glare with one of his own, one that made a shiver run down Tracy's spine. “Oh, she may understand, but you don't. Walt wants to see all three of you. You're done at Santa Command.”

And with that announcement, even Beth lost her cool.

Tracy

“Out in the hall, now!” Beth pushed herself to her feet, leaving Tracy in a lump on the floor.

Tracy got up to follow her, but when Beth gave her a look that said, “Stay here,” Tracy sank back to the floor and did her best to look pathetic. That involved putting on the puppy dog eyes that her dad fell for every time.

Erlek humphed and shuffled into the hall. Phil followed, and Beth brought up the rear, shutting the door behind her. But just before she did so, she poked her head back through the doorway to say, “Don't worry. Everything will be fine.”

Tracy wasn't worried anymore, because she spotted something on the ceiling that made her smile. With some quick thinking, she had a revised two-part plan.

Beth's voice carried through the closed door. “…only place we're taking her is home.”

Then, there was some mumbling. Tracy was dying to know what was being said about her, but the computer was just sitting there, hers for the hacking. That was part one of her new plan. Tracy situated herself in the chair, and within seconds, she had logged in using the password she stole from Phil. Her first selection—Sleigh Routes.

When she opened the file, a little box popped up, asking whether she wanted text or graphics. She chose graphics and hit enter. A map of the world filled the screen, with the land divided into colored sections. Her own region—Florida, Georgia, and Atlanta—was purple. And within her region, there were several dozen colored lines criss-crossing the entire area.