I registered two rooms: one for Tracy and Paula, and one for Picky, me and Tony. Ñrutas would probably be fine with a cot. Or sleeping on the floor. He's simple that way.
I flopped onto my bed in the Enrich Grand. It had been a most ingratiating day.
First we get separated from Paula, Ness and Lomond. Then we crash into Fourside; and Tracy nearly got killed, though we found Paula. After that, I get confused with someone, get their dictionary, and that nearly killed me. Dusty has to be serving Giogas. There's no other explanation.
I sat up, and opened the nightchest's drawer. I pulled out the Fourside Telephone Directory.
"Takeuchi, Takeuchi..." I leafed through the pages until I reached the T's. "Takeu-- ah, there it is. Takeuchi, Okiko. That must be his mother."
But as I read the name, I felt unsettled somehow. I looked at the phone number and dialled.
The phone rang six times before anyone.
"Who is it?" a female voice asked, with a hint of an Oriental accent. I suppose it was Okiko.
"BJ Nichols. I'd like to speak with Dusty, please."
"No Dusty here." She hung up.
The dial tone buzzed in my ears. "I thought I called the right number..." I muttered.
I mentally recalled myself dialing. I hit each key as I should have.
So why did that woman say there wasn't a Dusty here? I would have to call Tracy.
She knew him. And trusted him.
Even though he was evil.
I dialed the Receiver phone's number.
"BJ?" Picky asked. "Where are you?"
"Where am I?" I half-responded, half-asked. "I'd much rather know where you are."
"Oh, we're in Summers. We're just waiting for our Sky Runner to come in."
"Didn't the Sky Runner crash in Fourside?"
"That one did. Tony called Dr. Andonuts and got him to send us a Sky Runner, Mark III."
"Mark III?" I wondered.
"It doesn't crash."
"Isn't that impossible with Sky Runners?"
"No; they crash when they land. This one doesn't land: it just hovers above the ground at an appropriate altitude for effective embarking and disembarking. But, everything aside, why'd you call us? Besides to see where we were?"
"I need to talk to Tracy for a few seconds."
The line went quiet; no one was talking directly into it. But I could hear everyone talking. Tracy and Ñrutas seemed to be arguing.
About what, I don't know. I could hear angry words, but no specific works. Then I heard Tracy talking, clearly this time.
"BJ?" she asked.
"Tracy?" I asked mockingly in return.
"What did you want to talk to me about?"
"Dusty. I have reason to believe that he is on Giogas' side. He attacked me for the sole purposes of getting his encyclopaedia back."
"Maybe he's just very possessive," Tracy offered, stumbling over every word.
"He had three Crystal-shards."
"What do you mean?" she demanded.
"Remember, some robed kid stole the Power Crystal from me in Winters. He must have brought it to Giogas, who split it, kept the five unclaimed shards, and gave him the Water, Fire and Darkness shards."
"It can't have been Dusty. It had to have been someone else." Tracy remained silent for a second, then suddenly screamed, "SHUT UP, you head with feet!"
I sat, in silence, for a few seconds.
Tracy came back on the line. "I'm sorry. But it had to be someone else. I just can't see it being Dusty. He's too nice to serve Giogas."
"Just hear me out," I pleaded. "You don't have to believe me; you just have to help me. You know Dusty; he knows you; and the two of you trust each other. I tried calling his house to find out why he went after me, and his mother hung up on me, claiming there was no Dusty there. You have to try to talk to him."
"And you won't try to kill or maim him or otherwise injure him?" she pressed.
"I promise, Tracy."
"Then I'll find him; I'll talk to him." She hung up.
I collapsed onto the bed again. I was tired. And it would take a while for them to get here.
I slept.

Tony
"The new Sky Runner should be arriving soon," I announced.
Tracy pocketed the Receiver phone.
"Good," she said. "It's too worrisome. I can't believe Dusty would serve Giogas."
"Naive!" Ñrutas cried. "You're naive! He serves Giogas, I know it!"
Tracy's pupils dilated. "How... dare..."
"Stop, you two!" Picky shouted. "This is no time to be arguing as you are. The world's hanging in the balance. And unless the two of you manage to get over this petty rivalry, we're going to get nothing done. Giogas will win. The world will be destroyed."
"Let them fight, Picky," Paula noted. "If they work out their aggressions now, it'll be better for us later: they won't have this to fight over."
"If only it could be proven beyond reasonable doubt," I said. "That's all we would need. And both sides would be better for it."
"That's only if Dusty isn't serving Giogas," Picky amended. "If he is serving Giogas..." He trailed off as his voice was reduced to a whisper. "If he is, then Tracy might not be able to handle the shock."
"You're right," Paula said.
A beacon of light in the Summers night sky became brighter; became bigger. It was the Sky Runner.
"Finally," Tracy muttered. "I was getting tired of waiting." She climbed in.
Paula and Picky climbed in after her, wanting to keep the confrontations between her and Ñrutas to a minimum. I jumped out, picked up Ñrutas, and brought him in.
"Hey Tony!" Sebastian, the Tessie Watcher, cried.
"Back at you, Sebastian."
"Where to?" he asked.
"Fourside. Then you can head back to Winters."
"Right." Sebastian went over to this Sky Runner's navigational system. It was a helmet.
That reminds me of the virtual reality Fly High game that Jeff developed for his Comp-Sci class a few months ago, I thought. I wonder if Dr. Andonuts integrated the idea into the new Sky Runner.
He put on the helmet, placed his hands on the quartz plates, and became very quiet.
The Sky Runner slowly flew up, up and away.
"This is a much smoother ride than than the first Sky Runner," Paula observed. "Maybe it's because there's more compensation for human error in this one than in the first."
"It's smoother than the second, I know," Tracy said. "But there's no scanner software. Regrettable. I wish I hadn't put my scanner with Escargo Express."
The other Tessie Watcher, who was sitting quietly in a corner of the Sky Runner, suddenly perked up.
"Escargo Express? Didn't they close down long ago?"
"A few years ago, yeah. I worked part-time for them. But I guess the owner's wife can handle their baby and housekeeping now."
"You worked there?" the Tessie Watcher asked, shocked. "But you look like you're only eleven."
"I am. It was premature work experience. At least, that's what they said to get me hired. And around the anti-child labour laws."
"Oh."
Sebastian spoke. "We're now passing over Winters. If you look to your left, you'll see the tip of Autumns, and if you look to your right, you'll see Printon. Estimated time of arrival for Fourside: forty minutes. Please relax."
We slipped over to benches and sat down. He was right; we should relax.
And we did.

"We are now vectoring in on Fourside," Sebastian announced in his best pilot's voice. "Please grip the landing bars located above your heads. For those Tenda and Mr. Saturn among us, please have one person hold you in a hand during the landing procedure."
We landed. Sort of.
Sebastian took the helmet off.
"OK, we're in Fourside. It's night, so you may want to grab a hotel room. But now Robert and I have to return to Winters."
"As long as you don't start with your pilot impersonations again!" Robert pleaded.
"Sure, I won't do that again."
We disembarked, got a good distance away from the Sky Runner, and watched it disappear into the night.
"We should talk to BJ," I said. "This Dusty issue has to be resolved soon."
I received unanimous agreement, and we walked to the Enrich Grand Hotel.
"Excuse me," I said to the girl at the counter, "but do you happen to know if a --"
"BJ Nichols," Picky said.
"--a BJ Nichols has reserved any rooms for us."
The girl popped a gum bubble. "Your names?" she asked, rolling over to the computer.
"Armuffin," I said.
"Lee."
"Minch."
"Polestar."
"Dosei."
Her fingers clacked at the keyboard for a few seconds.
"We have a room for Lee, Tracy, and Polestar, Paula. Mr. Nichols has already registered a room for himself, Armuffin, Tony, and Minch, Picky. No Dosei, though."
"No room for me?" Ñrutas asked, offended.
"Who is saying that?" the girl then asked, and looked over the counter. "Eww, what an ugly little thing."
"Ugly?"
"Ignore her, Ñrutas," Paula said.
"OK!"
The girl coughed. "I think I can fit you in with the ladies, Mr. Dosei. All I'll need is an extra 10 dollars in addition to the money Mr. Nichols has paid."
Picky, Paula, Tracy and I rummaged in pockets and purses [for the girls] for money. We came up with $10, in varying counts of bills and coins. She counted the money.
"Yeah, that's fine." She gave Tracy and Paula each a magnetic card; and Picky and I received one altogether. "Use those cards to enter your rooms, second floor. 224 and 225. Have a nice rest."
We climbed the stairs to the second floor. Ñrutas went with Tracy and Paula into their room.
Picky took the magnetic card and swiped it through the lock. There was a small square that flashed green. He opened the door. There were three beds. And BJ was sleeping on one of them.
"Wake up!" I cried.
He shot up.
"You got back?" he asked.
Picky nodded. "And we heard about your battle with Dusty."
"So, you think it's him too?"
"No," I answered. "We're sceptical. We don't think it's him."
"'We' being you two?"
"Paula too. Tracy's excluded: she's insistent it isn't him, can't be him, wouldn't be him, hasn't been him, has never been him." Picky continued on like that for another minute or so, conjugating the verb to be in as many tenses as he could think of.
BJ rolled his eyes.
"I had some doubts. Then I was attacked. By Dusty, who wanted the encyclopaedia. And who had Crystal-shards."
"Tracy told me about that," Picky observed. "Can I see the shards?"
BJ brought out the shards. One was blue, the other red; and the last was black.
"Water, fire, darkness?" I guessed. BJ and Picky nodded.
"And why was he after the encyclopaedia?" I asked.
"Maybe it has to do with the page it was on, and what was highlighted there."
"And that would be...?" Picky pressed.
"Bats. Bats. But why bats?"
"Afraid of bats, BJ?" I joked.
"No. It just doesn't seem right. Bats. Why would he be interested in that?"
"He would have tried to freeze you, but failed, right?" Picky wondered.
"Yeah... he claimed he was stronger than I thought he was. But he tried to say something else -- then changed his mind. He did freeze me, though."
"He was defeated? And he froze you?"
"It was weird. I was helpless. He had the encyclopaedia. He had the Darkness shard, ready to kill me. Then someone called out 'rip fire' and I was saved."
"That is weird."
"The strangest thing is that it sounded a lot like something I heard before you disappeared."
"And that was?"
"Field of View."
"That's strange and weird," I said.
"Then I found this." BJ rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a long, slender piece of paper.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I don't know. It was smouldering after Dusty disappeared as a result of that rip fire thing."
A knocking came at the door. I answered it.
Tracy was there. She was all smiles.
"Dusty called me."
BJ turned around, although Picky turned around faster.
"What?" Picky asked. I could somehow sense the fear in his voice.
"He wants to talk with me. Tomorrow. Alone."