Chapter 17

     As Mr. Templehill and Kersta walked from the field where their people kept watch, the department head’s advisor said in a lowered voice, “Mr. Templehill, sir…are you sure this is wise? Just walking up to this institution’s administrative office and claiming runaway kids are on the loose? And we aren’t even from their dimension, so they have no idea who we are…”
     “I don’t think we have any other ready options here, besides waiting for something else to happen, which would make things more complicated,” he replied. “Besides, in an unknown land or dimension, it’s better to be upfront and honest about things, not underhanded or sneaking, don’t you?”
     Kersta shook her head to herself as they continued on. “What have we been doing these past few days, then?”
     “What? …Sorry, I was a bit distracted…”
     “Never mind,” she sighed.

     At the school’s admin office, everything was going as usual for Mrs. Lau. Paperwork, paperwork, tardy slips, paperwork, liability issues, and then…more paperwork. No, nothing out of the ordinary that day, as far as she could tell.
     The door opened, and in stepped a man (Caucausian-looking, on the tall side) in a sharp black suit and wearing sunglasses, and a woman (black, average height, well-styled hair she noted, remembering it for the haircut she was planning next week) in similar attire.
     The man, holding himself very much like an authority figure, came up to the desk, asked if we were the administration of this facility, told us their names, and then informed us there were some children they were looking for who had taken something very important they needed to retrieve. “We know that they’re around this area, so it should be fairly quick.”
     “How do you know they’re here, Mr. Templehill? Did you see them enter campus?”
     “No. But I’m sorry, ma’am, our method of tracking them is classified information.”
     Mrs. Lau blinked. Surely there was a reasonable explanation for something like this to crop of all of a sudden. Maybe she had been watching one too many spy movies lately to not be suspicious…
     Then things got stranger. Mr. Plazad, who was on duty, came into the office just then and informed the office personnel that there was a large group of people in uniform standing on the school field, to which the man calling himself Winston Templehill replied, “Oh, that’s the unit that accompanied us. There’s nothing to worry about.” The woman Kersta Rice grimaced uneasily, as if even she knew the absurdity of their situation (or merely her boss’s antics?)
     Sensing the disquiet, Mr. Templehill said, “We won’t be long. Perhaps a general warning of some sort would expedite things.” He looked around, and trying to lighten the mood, he added, “You had mentioned this was a…young person’s educational facility, right? Excellent. Schools are the ultimate nurturing grounds of ingenuity.”
     With that, he said goodbye and left with Ms. Rice following behind with veiled chagrin.
     Mr. Plazad, Mrs. Lau, and the rest of the office looked at each other in bewilderment.
     “I think that was the strangest conversation I’ve had in a long time,” Mrs. Lau remarked.
     “What, you saw them, too?”
     Mr. Plazad took a breath. “I think it’s pretty clear what we need to do right now.”
     “Of course,” Mrs. Lau said efficaciously, picking up the phone.
     Although, looking back on it, they could have called the alert for either the crazy people, or if they even existed, the even crazier kids the former was looking for…