Artifact in Lawndale - Part 2

 

In the air

“So what is in common between the Lawndale Artefacts?” Myka asked.

“Good Question,” Artie replied. “Actually, there is little in common, other than the details I told Claudia earlier.”

“So, the locality, the fact that they need to be brought in to the warehouse in a short period of time, and the requirement of four agents,” Myka said.

“Correct. There is nothing else.”

“What about the geographical extent of where the artefacts have been found?”

“Another good question.”

“And?” Myka prompted.

“And the extent has grown with the town. No Lawndale artefact has been found beyond the urban limit of the settlement, and none were found in the area before the settlement was established.”

“So, there may be something in the town, an artefact created by the founding ceremony?” Myka asked.

“That has been proposed before,” Artie said.

“By me, in fact,” H.G. interjected.

“And by others,” Artie continued.

“Right,” Myka said.

“However, you are to only snag, bag and tag the artefact that set off the ping. Don't go looking for the hypothetical founding artefact. Once you have the artefact, return to the Warehouse,” Artie ordered.

“Understood,” Myka said.

“Of course,” H.G. said.

“Only get the artefact we were sent for, got it,” Pete said.

“Certainly,” Claudia added.

Lawndale, MD

While the Warehouse agents were still in the air above South Dakota, artefact related chaos was occurring at Lawndale High.

Principal Angela Li was very annoyed. Something was happening in the school. She had called two students to her office.

“Can you explain what it is that was happening?” she asked, as calmly as possible.

“I'm not sure!” Stacy Rowe said.

“Please, try!” the principal said.

“Sure!” Quinn Morgendorffer said. “Let's see. Mr. DeMartino was holding the class in the library for some reason.”

“I already know that, Ms. Morgendorffer. Skip to what happened.”

“Sure, Sandi found a weird book in one of the back shelves.”

“What does that have to do with it?” the Principal asked with impatience.

“It's what happened when she opened it,” Quinn said.

“Go on,” Li asked when Quinn had paused.

“Well, there was this glow when the book was opened, and some light hit Sandi in the face,” Quinn explained rapidly.

The Principal now knew what was going on, although not the specifics. It was another of those 'oddities' that cropped up in Lawndale from time to time. It had been some years since the last incident. “What happened next?” She asked in all seriousness.

“Sandi then started chanting some strange words. Her eyes looked strange,” Quinn then paused for breath.

“Go on,” the Principal encouraged.

“Then a lot of the books came out of the shelves and started moving about!” Stacy said hysterically. She started hyperventilating.

“Stacy?” Quinn asked in concern.

Stacy calmed down. “I'm okay, Quinn. You can continue.”

“Tiffany then asked Sandi what she was doing.”

“Go on,” the principal prodded.

“Sandi then somehow produced wind and blew the shelves over,” Quinn continued.

“That's when I ran,” Stacy murmured.

“I see,” Ms. Li said.

“Then I went over and tried to close the book. It was then that Sandi hit me with it.”

“I see,” the Principal said. “Thanks for filling me in. You can now go to your next class!”

The agents landed at Lawndale Municipal Airport a few hours later. Upon leaving the arrivals area Myka took out a map of Lawndale. “The High School is north of the town centre, but still near the river,” she pointed out.

“We should be there in ten minutes,” Claudia said.

“Good.”

“Visitors, Ms. Li,” the assistant said.

“Send then in!” the Principal groused.

Four people entered.

“How may I help you?”

“We're investigating an altercation that was at this school earlier today,” one of the women said.

“And you are?”

“Agent Myka Bering, with the Secret Service,” she said, holding out her badge. “There was a report of a strange occurrence at this school earlier today.”

“I don't think the Secret Service has jurisdiction here!” Angela said.

“The School District will beg to differ,” Agent Bering said, just before the phone rang.

Li picked it up. “Hello?”

“Ms. Li. We have received a request from the Secret Service to investigate today's strange events at your school. You are ordered to cooperate.”

“I will get to the bottom of this!” the principal exclaimed.

“Bye.”

She slammed the receiver down.

“And?” Agent Bering asked.

“Investigate! But I will be keeping tabs on you.”

Myka wondered what the Principal had to hide. She was certain that it was more than a juristictional issue. Nevertheless it wasn't her concern. She needed to focus on making sure that the artefact didn't affect too many students. “You notice how the Prinicpal was on edge?” she asked the others.

“Definitely,” Claudia agreed.

“Do you think she'll interfere with the investigation?” Pete asked.

“We can't ignore the possibility,” Myka said.

“But we need to find the students,” HG said.

“Of course,” Claudia said, with an edge in her tone.

They found two of the students near the Hall. “Hello, I am with the Secret Service,” Myka said.

“Quinn Morgendorffer,” the one with the long red hair said.

“Stacy Rowe,” the one with the brown hair in braids said nervously.

“And you are?” Quinn asked.

“Agent Myka Bering. We're here to ask about the incident earlier today.”

Quinn thought about it for a moment. She wasn't sure that she could trust this Agent Myka Bering, or whether she should call her mother first. “Can I call someone?”

“You mean, a lawyer?” Myka asked. “It's not that sort of issue.”

“It's my Mom, she's a lawyer,” Quinn said.

“You can call her,” Myka said.

“Myka?” Pete asked.

“I'm sure her mother would agree, Pete.”

“It's Quinn, Helen,” Marianne said.

“Quinn?” Helen asked. “Put her through.”

“Yes, Helen.”

Helen listened as Quinn explained about what had happened and the Secret Service agents showing up. “I see,” she said once her daughter had finished.

“So, you believe me about what happened?” Quinn asked.

“Yes, Quinn. I have heard about many strange things. And I saw strange things at Middleton and afterwards on the Commune. I seem to remember that the Secret Service was involved then too.”

“So, it's OK to tell them?”

“Yes, but do you have a recorder on you?”

“I do. I usually use it for Fashion Club Meetings, as you said.”

“Good. You can use it now to, just remember...”

“I remember,” Quinn said.

“Good.”

Quinn hung up. Myka had heard Quinn's side of the conversation. She guessed that Quinn's mother had asked her to take notes. A good idea all things considered. If Quinn was going to take notes, then so was she. “So you're taking notes?” she asked.

“Um... Of course,” Quinn responded.

“OK, let's go somewhere where we can talk.”

While Myka was interviewing Quinn, Claudia interviewed Stacy. She found the other girl's fretting rather annoying.

“Stacy!” Claudia admonished.

“Sorry, it's just that...”

“On topic please.”

“Right!” Stacy said with deep breath.

“So, there was this book!”

“Yes. Sandi picked it up and something happened!”

“What happened, Stacy?” Claudia prompted.

“There was this unusual book and Sandi opened it and some sort of glow hit her in the face!” Stacy said.

“Go on,” Claudia prompted.

“Right. She started changing and her eyes started glowing. Then many of the other books in the shelves came out and a wind came up.”

‘That’s certainly indicative of an artefact.’

“She then ran off,” Stacy added.

“So, where would she go?”

“Down by the Creek, near the Dock. She likes to go there when she’s upset.”