Jack spotted the Enterprise in the distance. Whomever Skyman was, he was fast. His

own flying hero, Ikaris, might be just as fast but it was hard to say.

“Enterprise,” said Jack, into his com band. “This is the captain, open the hangar deck.

I’m coming aboard.”

“Affirmative,” said the machine. The back of the Enterprise opened. A force field

snapped on to keep the air inside.

“Secure all individuals onboard in the brig,” ordered Jack. “I want to talk to them

before Josie decides to do something to them.”

“Officer Aviras and guest are secured in the brig,” said the machine.

Jack touched down in the hangar. Mister Warner returned to normal at his side.

“That was faster than I thought,” said Warner. “So we are talking to Aviras first?”

“Is June Lee onboard?,” asked Jack.

“Negative,” said the machine.

“They already put her down on the ground,” said Jack. “Let’s talk to our prisoners.

Then we’ll check on June.”

“Maybe you should call Josie and let her know her duckling is okay,” said Warner.

“Good idea,” said Jack. “Enterprise, which brig did you put our prisoners in, and can

you call Josie?”

“Affirmative,” said the machine. “Officer Aviras and Passenger Matilda are in the

brig on Deck Forty Two.”

“All right,” said Jack. “Can you switch us to that deck, please?”

“Affirmative,” said the machine. Jack felt the tingle of transportation before stepping

on Deck Forty Two. He went to a station and asked for the location of the brig. The

screen pointed him toward the edge of the saucer.

“You built this?,” asked Warner. He had his hands in his pockets as he looked around.

“Transformed it from a bunch of material,” said Jack. “It has been a good resource the

short amount of time we’ve been using it. I still need to get the infected out of storage

and cure them. That’s what Josie was working on when we left.”

“Medicine here is still almost at the leech level,” said Warner. “I’m surprised they

even invented ways to do things with Alchemy.”

“Maybe the effects are simpler when you use monsters for ingredients,” said Jack.

“Maybe,” said Warner.

“Here’s the brig,” said Jack. “Shall we?”

“Let’s do this so we can move on,” said Warner. “I still have the goblins to deal with

before I can go home.”

They entered the brig. Matilda and Aviras sat on the bed. They winced when they saw

Jack grinning, and Mister Warner looking grumpy.

“You know they cut people’s hands off in some countries for thievery,” said Jack. “I

wondered which hand you two want to lose.”

“You wouldn’t,” said Matilda. She shared a look with her dragon. “I need my hand.”

“I can make you another one,” said Jack. “So who came up with the idea of stealing

a city in the sky and the hospital full of sick people?”

“We were guaranteed uses of resources,” said Aviras.

“You stole the resources,” said Jack. “Let’s try again. Who came up with the idea, and

then we’re going to let you explain everything to Josie, and she will talk to you about

which hand you want to lose.”

“It’s never better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission,” Mister Warner said.

“People who do that can’t be trusted.”

“We discussed it,” said Matilda. “I made the decision to take the Enterprise so we

could help June get through her trial.”

“You made the decision?,” said Jack.

“I did,” said Matilda. “I used Aviras to get access and the Enterprise carried us to

where we could look for Russ in the city below.”

“Is this true, Aviras?,” said Jack. He turned his gaze on the dragon.

“Some of it,” said Aviras. “We discussed the situation and how we could get across

the country if we had to, and I stated that my status would allow us to cross the

country faster. I helped them to carry out the scheme.”

“Really?,” said Jack.

“I would like to keep my forelimbs,” said Aviras. “You can have a rear leg if you

want it.”

“Really?.” said Jack. His eyebrows raised up to his forehead.

“I will make the payment for Matilda,” said Aviras.

“You can’t,” said Matilda. “Don’t take Aviras’s leg. It’s not his fault.”

“How old are you two?,” said Warner.

“I’m eight,” said Matilda.

“I think I am five hundred years old,” said Aviras. “I don’t know exactly. Why?”

“Jack isn’t going to cut anybody’s limb off,” said Warner. “You’re too young and

inexperienced to know that.”

“Do I really look like a guy who will pull out a chainsaw and get to work?,” said Jack.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

He frowned at them.

“This is a trap,” said Aviras. “I prefer it when you are cold and menacing, instead of

all smiles and hi-ho.”

“Points for you, dragon,” said Warner. “People who try to be funny all the time tend

toward an emotional state called depression and try to hide what they are really

feeling.”

“I’m not depressed,” said Jack. “I am really this happy most of the time when Josie’s

youngest sister and her familiar are not stealing my stuff.”

“Sure,” said Warner. “Are you going to keep your thieves in jail until we get back to

Hawk Ridge?”

“Would you like to get out of jail?,” said Jack. “Have you learned your lesson?”

“I will never steal another flying city again,” said Matilda. She held up her hand in

a way that he took was close to the girl scout salute.

“Okay,” said Jack. “We’re going up to the bridge. We’re going to find June and figure

out what’s going on.”

“This was actually smarter than I thought you would come up with as transportation,”

said Warner. “Who told the Enterprise not to answer calls?”

“June suggested it so we could get across the country without being recalled,” said

Matilda.

“Score one for you,” said Jack. He pushed the button to drop the glowing field door.

“Jack?,” said Josie from his com band. “The Enterprise pinged me.”

“June is on the ground somewhere,” said Jack. “We’re going to go up to the bridge

and look for her.”

“Matilda?,” said June from the girl’s band. “I need some suggestions here.”

“Speak of the devil,” said Jack.

“What do you need, June?,” asked Matilda. She looked at Jack and Warner. Jack

nodded for her to go ahead with whatever she needed to do.

“Is it normal to find limbs in boxes of ice?,” said June.

“I don’t understand,” said Matilda. She frowned at her com band.

“There is a set of work rooms,” said June. “One has a set of boxes with different body

parts on ice. Is that normal here?”

“No,” said Jack. “June, I want you to get out of there. Mark the building from the

outside. I think this might be worse than what we were led to believe by the Society.”

“I got it,” said Juni. “Unless Russ is one of the people cut up and put in a box

somewhere.”

“You will be hanged if you are caught in the house by anyone else,” said Jack. “Get

out so we can evaluate what you found. If Russ isn’t there, then there’s no reason for

you to stay. Just find a spot to watch the place from the outside.”

“I can take this guy,” said Juni. “I have Bond the spy dog.”

“As your coach, I ask you to get outside if you can without being seen,” said Matilda.

“We don’t know what this fiend looks like. It could be a monster. We need to know

before you can do anything.”

“Okay,” said June. “I’m backing out.”

“Did she say limbs in boxes?,” said Josie.

“Yes,” said Warner. “There was a thing years ago. A serial killer.”

“More of Todd Fain’s organization?,” asked Josie.

“Don’t know yet,” said Jack. “I’m taking a personal hand in this. This is more

important than a job interview.”

“Do you need me to come out there?,” said Josie.

“Not yet,” said Jack. “I’m just going to do a little snooping and dig up who’s

responsible. Juni might have stumbled on someone else doing their business while

she was supposed to be looking out for herself.”

“Someone is in the building with me,” said June. “I’m going to use Deku and try

to get out of here.”

“I’m coming down, June,” said Jack over his band. Her watch cut him off. “Dang it.”

Jack looked around. He frowned at being with the kids, one kid and dragon.

Shouldn’t there be another man dressed like the eleventh Doctor on the bridge with

him?

“What happened to Mister Warner?,” asked Jack.

“He turned into ectoplasm and sank through the floor,” said Aviras. He leaned against

Matilda.

“I guess I am going to be the last one in line,” said Jack. “Enterprise, can you show

us what’s going on down there.”

The city street appeared on the big screen. One of the walls of a house flew out

in the street. Deku appeared on the street, landing on her back.

“That didn’t look good,” said Jack. He started to reach for his watch. He paused

when a giant flew through the hole. He landed on the street and tried to push himself

off the ground. “Close up on that guy, please.”

“Affirmative,” said the machine.

“What are all those scars?,” asked Matilda.

“I need to get down there,” said Jack. “We might be looking at some kind of golem.

You two stay up here and out of the way.”

A column of flame wrapped around the giant. The body blasted upwards in a burning

trail like a meteor.

“What was that?,” asked Jack. “Talk about the Human Torch.”

“What happened, Jack?,” said Josie.

“Mister Warner turned into a gold body of fire and blew up a Frankenstein monster

in the street,” said Jack. “Everybody all gangster until an old man pulls out a big

gun.”

“I’ll say,” said Aviras. Matilda nodded in agreement.

“So you don’t need me?,” asked Josie.

“Maybe later,” said Jack. “We’re going to have to sort things out in the next few

days.”

“All right,” said Josie. “Matilda, Aviras. Can you hear me?”

“Yes, missus,” said Matilda. She frowned at the coming doom she sensed on the other

side of the com.

“You two are going to be grounded,” said Josie. “I will think of something horrible

as punishment. This joy ride had better be worth my wrath.”

“I think June has found something horrible,” said Jack. “I might need Matilda and

Aviras to help me with the rest of this.”

Josie’s bird sitting in her chair screeched at him.

“Don’t mistake my kindness for mercy,” said Josie.

“You don’t have either,” said Jack.

“I’m glad you know that,” said Josie. “I am going to hang up. Enterprise, call me if

they blow things.”

“Affirmative,” said Enterprise. Jack frowned. Was the faceless machine taking some

kind of mirth from this?

The fire bird hopped on the seat, watching everything. It wasn’t going anywhere until

its creator needed to be on the Enterprise in a second. Then it would pop and drag her

across space.

June reverted to normal as she looked up in the sky. Her com lit up again.

“All right,” said June. “That was not Russ. Suggestions?”

“Go back inside and look around for clues, dopey,” said Jack. “You’ve seen Scooby

Doo.”

“Okay, Mister Crankypants,” said June. “Good job, Mister Warner. What was that?”

“The Flame,” said Mister Warner. “Jack is right. We need to take another look around

and see if we can find Russ.”

“He was alive when we came here,” said Matilda. “Has your quest cleared?”

“No,” said June.

“The giant monster man wasn’t Russ,” said Matilda. “See if you can smell him and

track him down.”

“Really?,” said June.

“You are still in your trial,” said Matilda. “Mister Warner helping you has not stopped

you. You have to go forward if you want to succeed. You have to figure out a way to

find Russ from this house that we found through the model. You can do it.”

“We are getting grounded,” said Aviras. “Make it worth that.”

“Yeah, young lady,” said Jack. “Make their sacrifice worth it because Josie sounded

like she was thinking about hard labor for the three of you.”

“I’m older than you,” said June. “Shut up.”

“I’m your boss now,” said Jack. “I can totally fire you. Think about that.”

“You’re kidding,” said June.

“What you should be considering is what Josie is thinking about doing,” said Jack.

“It’s going to be worse than a firing.”

“All right,” said Warner over the radio. “We have a lot of diagrams, boxes full of

body parts, and some stuff out of Breaking Bad. I am going to say our guy is an

alchemist in his day job.”

“Trying to make a perfect woman?,” asked Jack.

“Looks like,” said Warner. “It smells something like a skunk. Doubt it’s weed.”

“Get to work, June,” said Matilda. “Find that skunk.”

“You heard her,” said Jack. “Get to work.”

“All right,” said June. “Bond should be able to do it.”

The large sheep dog leaped out of the house and started walking down the street, head

down and sniffing the sidewalk. Warner stepped out of the hole in the wall and

gestured for a man to come over. He pointed at the house and asked the man to get

the watch before following the persona.

“Where is Russ?,” asked Matilda.

“I think Mister Warner is right,” said Jack. “He could be at his alchemy shop and

mixing ingredients for sell.”

“Why did he have body parts in boxes?,” asked Matilda.

“Maybe he was working on another golem,” said Jack.

Matilda opened her mouth to ask him why again. She stopped when she saw his face.