It's been a week since we returned from our vacation on the Earth with the Pokémon. We had a lot of fun and one minor scare when Team Rocket tried to kidnap and ransom Little David and Jessica. It was like we were having had more fun than superior beings like us were supposed to have. Everything on the vampire front was being handled by all of our allies, so that wasn't what came through one of our satellites. On Earth037, where there was so little vampire activity to concern us, the satellite reported that there had been a rash of child kidnappings for the last 40 years. 

I wasn't concerned because child abduction is nothing new. In every society, from Ancient Rome to the present day, there had been child abductions. What did concern me was that 20% of these kids were considered highly intelligent. And because of what Fred told me had happened to him at Area 51 on Earth001, that concerned me. I got my Sword, quantum pistol, ten thousand dollars in gold and my combat jacket that was created when we helped out at the Quest compound. Even though there is very little magic on this Earth, I took my rings against magic and evil. An ounce of prevention...

I left a message for Fred and Jennifer to be sent by Alakazam 60 seconds after I left.

 

To the Fromthefields,

I have left for Earth037 to investigate the kidnappings of intelligent children. There's very little magic there, so I probably won't need any assistance. I took a Linda unit, a mobile emitter, and the APV with me. Kiss David and Little Jessica for me. I'll be back in a few hours.

-D

 

I strapped myself into the Daedalus III, and had Linda pilot the ship to Earth037. When we reached the new universe, Linda immediately activated the Level 2 Cloak. I scanned for an Area 51 on this Earth, but found none, so I had Linda transport the APV to a barren desert in Nevada. I put the APV in convertible mode, since it was 90 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Linda made herself an attractive brunette, to keep our cover intact. While we were driving to Washington, DC, Linda checked for clues on the Internet. She found something interesting on a UFO sighting site: a group of buildings in Delaware called the Centre.

According to the site, they were supposed to kidnap highly intelligent children and exploit them for their brains. Guess they're so cheap, they don't want to pay them for their time. We just installed a cloak on the APV, so we were able to go at Mach 1 to the Centre. It was easy for the best AI in any universe to hack into their computer network without being spotted. Once we were in their system, we found two things out. One, they were looking for one of their Pretenders, a genius who can be anything he wants to be, had escaped named Jarod. Two, there was an internal power struggle between a Mr. Raines and Mr. Parker. There is nothing that will destroy a secret agency or group of villains more than an internal power struggle.

I asked Linda to link with the Daedalus and look for Jarod. He was found walking on the highway outside Charlotte, North Carolina. We hurried to him as fast as possible without getting into accidents or drawing attention. He was looking behind him like he was losing someone. I pulled up beside him.

"Jarod. Get in. Quickly." He hesitated for a minute until I heard a woman yell, "FREEZE!" He got in, and we drove away casually and activated the cloak. We pulled over to let them pass us, and I had a good chuckle about it. Jarod was laughing, picturing that woman who yelled for us to freeze with an angered look on her face seeing as how she lost him again. I figured they were heading back to the Centre, so that's where I plotted a course. Now was a good a time as any to tell Jarod who I am, what I am doing here and what my plans are. I knew he'd need convincing, so I drove to a field with no one around for miles.

"Jarod, I'm Daphnix Smith..." and for the next three hours I told him of my powers, the Ketari, Fred, Jennifer, the Daedalus, the APV, everything.

"I'm sorry, but what you're saying is impossible. I don't believe you." 

I figured he'd need proof, so I had Linda activate the cloak on the APV. He said he'd done this trick before. Trying to hold my laughter, I told him to stand where he thought the car was. He reached out, and saw nothing, but felt cold metal.  Now he believed me.

"Why are you in this universe?"

Our cloaked satellite detected that intelligent children were being abducted, but their bodies weren't being found. That led to the theory that someone was holding them somewhere. When we got here, Linda, my AI companion, checked the web. We found information on the Centre. Now, I'm here to destroy them."

"Wait a minute," Jarod swallowed roughly, "you're going to kill them all?"

"Not the children. I'm sending them back to their families, like I'll do for you. They kidnap children, and that is immoral. For that, they die. Why do you care? Don't you want to be with your mother and to stop running? Don't you want to make sure that what happened to you won't happen to other children ever again?"

"Yes, I do, but there must be an easier way," his naiveté was getting on my nerves. 

"Fine. I'll have them imprisoned and destroy all hard drives and hard copy they have. Will that be OK with you?" Jarod nodded. "Is there anyone you want me to grant pardons to?"

"Three people, my friends Sydney, Broots and Ms. Parker, that's the woman who yelled 'Freeze!' when we met. Also, I'd like to have Angelo stay with me."  I nodded, and we shook on the deal, I swore to him that they would be pardoned from my imprisonment.

Before we went on our mission, we stopped at a diner to have lunch, as we were both hungry. During lunch we discussed the plan. After lunch, we went back onboard the Daedalus, so we could retrieve the Ortega.  We would need the cargo space. I hope the Fromthefields don't mind taking a trip. 

"I can't believe I lost him again, and he was right in front of me. How could he have disappeared like that? I know he's Houdini, but what he did was impossible!" Ms Parker fumed as she stormed into her office. "Whose car did he get into and where did it go?  Broots, here's the license plate number. Check it out for me. Now." 

"Yes, Ms Parker. That's odd. This can't be right. First, it said it belongs to the Secret Service. Then, it belongs to the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff's security. What's going on here? I thought we were the only ones who could do the false license plate trick. There's something going on here, and I don't like it. I wish I could quit, because I'm scared."

 :::Wheeze:::  "What's scaring you, Mr. Broots?"

"M-M-Mr. Raines. Sir, ugh there's a problem. A car picked up Jarod outside Charlotte, and then disappeared. Ms Parker got the license plate of it, but when I checked it, it said a different thing each time. Aren't we the only ones that can do that?"

"Jim, make sure our files are secured. Get my plane ready. I leave in 5 minutes."  I don't like this one bit, Mr. Raines thought. 

At that moment, everything at the Centre went batshit. The lights went out for 5 seconds, when the power came on all the children were gone and the Phalanx symbol appeared on all of their computer monitors. They panicked when they saw Daphnix' face.

"I am Daphnix Smith, Admiral of the Earth Strategic Mental Forces. Those of you at the Centre have been found guilty of crimes against humanity and multiple kidnappings. The children you have kidnapped have been returned to their families." 

The children were all in the fighter deck looking at Daphnix's face on a big view screen.

"Watch as the Centre is totally destroyed."  A low-level quantum pellet obliterated the Centre. The aliens in Independence Day had nothing on them. Linda teleported Mr. Raines, Mr. Lyle, who was a sociopath with 9 fingers, Sydney, Broots and Ms. Parker to the brig. Each one in their own cell.

"Is everybody comfy? Mr. Raines and Mr. Lyle, you two will spend the rest of your lives on a planet untouched by civilization. There is already one guy there, but he has been so emotionally scarred that he will never help you out. But first Mr. Raines, I'll fix your heart and lungs so I can take out your pacemaker and you won't need your oxygen tank. You will never be able to hurt anyone else ever again. That is your punishment. Sydney, Broots and Ms. Parker, thanks to the help of your attorney," Jarod stepped into the light, "you will all return to your Earth.  But first, there is a question Ms. Parker needs answered and Mr. Raines you might as well tell her why you had her mother killed."

"I will never tell you..." he never finished his sentence because I forcefully pulled the information out of his mind. I couldn't believe she was killed for such bullshit reasons. "Ms. Parker, your mother was murdered because she helped children escape the Centre and she wanted a divorce. She was going to expose the Centre during the divorce trial. Those are the only reasons. Your father consented, so I'll leave his punishment up to you. Ms. Parker, your release is on condition that you leave Jarod alone unless you want to get romantic with him. Sydney, you can do whatever you want to, and Broots, make sure your daughter grows up to be a good woman."

Since Sidney, Broots and Ms. Parker had been pardoned, I released them, while the others remained in their cells while I transported them to their new home. Ms. Parker was real cold to Jarod, while Broots and Sidney both thanked him for getting them free. I transported Jarod, Broots, Sidney, and Ms. Parker down to the surface, and then set a course for the same planet where Fred had dropped off Zells.

After beaming down the screaming and threatening bunch, I returned the Ortega to where I had found it: our own little uninhabited universe, and went to check on my 'niece', and my 'nephew'. Uncle D… it took me some getting used to, but now I couldn't live without those two.