Ridley Pearson - Power Play

“What did you do ?” Charlene asked.

Wanda lowered her voice. “My father has me monitor bandwidth usage on the DHI server, the same way Philby sometimes does.”

Finn nodded. If bandwidth usage surged, it meant extremely large data packs were moving in and out of the DHI servers. That, in turn, meant someone was crossing over or Returning. Wayne watched for unusual or unexpected bandwidth usage as a warning sign of possible Overtaker interference.

Wanda said, “There has been some unusual activity: data surges late, late at night. A spike at one point from the Animal Kingdom server. Others as well. We knew something was going on, we just didn’t know what. So I hacked one of Disney’s multi protocol routers. If the Internet is the information superhighway, I hacked a major intersection, a truck stop. That’s probably why the Homeland Security charges. It’s kind of like hacking Google or Microsoft.”

“But you work for Disney,” Finn said.

“That just makes matters worse. I look like a disgruntled employee.”

“Oh, my,” said Mrs. Whitman.

“I came away with more questions than answers. What seemed to be happening couldn’t possibly be happening. I needed more data, more time to drill deeper. That was when I was arrested, in the middle of all that. It was only then I realized that I’d probably been set up. That I’d walked into a trap.”

She looked each of them in the eye, making sure they understood the earnestness of what she was about to tell them. “Our friends,” she said, meaning the Overtakers, who weren’t their friends at all, “knew that if they made enough noise on the DHI servers it would attract our interest. Mine. Philby’s. Someone’s. They could then alert the authorities, who would follow the data mining back to its source and arrest whoever was messing around-in this case, me. That would then mean that I’d need to be bailed out, and who would bail me out?”

“Wayne,” Finn answered. “Wait a second! Are you saying it was all a way to make Wayne show himself?”

“To draw him out,” Wanda said, nodding. “That’s my guess. A father’s first instinct is to save his children. My dad nearly came here. If he had, he’d never have made it through the doors. They’d have had him out front. I’m sure of it.”

“So he contacted Philby in order to not come here in person,” Finn said. “I made him promise not to come,” Wanda said. “Was the Internet stuff you turned up for real?”

Charlene asked. “We won’t know without more tests,” she answered, “more investigation.”

“Do you know where your father is?” Charlene asked.

More questions, Finn thought. He said, “That’s none of our business!”

“It is, if the police are going to torture her or something,” Charlene said.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Charlene,” Mrs. Whitman said. “That kind of thing only happens in movies.”

Wanda and Finn exchanged a questioning look.

“We’ve got to get you out of here,” Mrs. Whitman said.

As the bus from the Transportation Center rolled into Epcot, Finn spotted a pair of crash-test dummies-CTDs-on Segways patrolling the parking lot and pointed them out to Jess. Moving her dark hair off her face to get a better view, Jess’s features reflected off the bus window. She had a teardrop chin with full lips and wide-set eyes. She changed her hair color-which had turned horse-tail white after an encounter with Maleficent-several times a year. She pointed out the Segways to Amanda.

The overhead monorail line divided the enormous parking lots; the lane beneath it was used for the parking lot shuttles and as a pedestrian walkway leading to the Park’s front gates.

A fun distraction for Park visitors, the CTDs-on-Segways were known to the Keepers as possible soldiers for the Overtakers. Some were nothing more than Cast Members in CTD suits, acting out a part. But others were robotic drones armed with high-tech detection and surveillance equipment outfitted with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. Originally, these had been introduced to Epcot by Security-an effective and inexpensive way to patrol the Parks during regular hours and after closing. Their popularity had led to the Cast Member variety-CTDs that would talk and interact with the visitors. But somewhere along the line, the Overtakers had managed to electronically hijack control of at least a half dozen of the robotic variety. Seeing them now so close put Finn on guard.

“Well, if they’re looking for you, they’ll never spot you,” Amanda said.

“Not with you looking like that, they won’t,” said Jess.

Finn wore an Orlando Magic jersey with a heavy chain around his neck, a Yankee cap sideways on his head, and mirrored sunglasses. His shorts went below his knees and he wore basketball shoes with Nike socks. There were probably a few hundred boys just like him in the Park at this very minute.

“You look sooooo stupid,” Amanda said, prompting a laugh from her and Jess.

“Good,” Finn said. It was true, he looked like an idiot, but that was the point. If he happened to be recognized in the Park as a Kingdom Keeper he’d be hounded for autographs; if he was hounded for autographs he’d win the attention of Security; if Security caught him or any of the Keepers in the Park without approval, his family could lose their Golden Mickey Pass-or worse-Operations Management could bring the hammer down. It was one thing to attend a school function in Downtown Disney, but something else entirely to be in Epcot without asking permission.

Operations Management did not want Park visitors seeing both the DHI hologram guides and the real-life models for the DHIs in the same Park at the same time. Finn and the four others were under contract not to visit any of the Parks without prior approval-approval they currently lacked.

“Plus, you’re hanging out with two gorgeous girls,” said Jess, striking a pose. “So we know who everyone will be looking at.”

Jess was typically more modest than this. The comment from her drew a shrill laugh from Amanda. They seemed to be having more fun than he was.

“We need to keep our eyes on them,” Finn warned. “Seriously.”

“Okay. We get it,” Amanda said.

He’d ruined the moment. He wanted to kick himself.

Entering Epcot, they passed beneath Spaceship Earth-which looked like an elevated giant golf ball-reaching the fountain plaza where a computer-controlled water show ran. It could mesmerize visitors for hours at a time. Pavilions rose on both sides: The Land, The Seas with Nemo & Friends, Test Track. Beyond the plaza was the fifteen-acre lake surrounded by the World Showcase pavilions, each representing a different country and duplicating its most famous architecture: the Eiffel Tower in France; a Mayan temple in Mexico.

The autumn Food and Wine Festival was under way. Special booths offered food and drink. The mood was even more festive than usual. The place was packed. At a few minutes before eight pm, the sun set. The IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth show would take over the lake-and the entire Park-before long. There was a buzz in the air.

For Finn, the buzz felt more like fear. Seeing Wanda locked up had upset him. The idea that the Overtakers had tried to trick Wayne out into the open worried him. They were planning again. They were up to something. With Wayne in hiding and Wanda in jail, it fell onto him and the Keepers to figure out what was going on, and to stop whatever was planned. The only timetable was right now .

Finn, Amanda, and Jess arrived at Norway’s Stave Church just behind Philby and Willa. The steeple on the dark brown wooden church rose forty feet in the air, while the interior space was quite small, a closeted, museumlike space.