Trapped!: The 2031 Journal of Otis Fitzmorgan Read Online Free Page B

much—”
    “Get away from him!” Charlotte stormed in, followed by Crockett. “What are you doing to my dad?” she demanded as she strode
     over to us.
    “Otis was calming him down until you came bursting in here like a bully,” Lysa said.
    “And he was doing a very good job of it,” Mr. Noonan added. “I think I'm ready to join the other adults now.”
    Charlotte looked confused. “Dad…” She reached out to him.
    “I'm fine, dear,” he said, taking her hand and patting it. “Why don't you just stay here and make friends?”
    With that, he walked out and left Charlotte standing in the middle of the room. She appeared embarrassed.
    Crockett glanced away. Lysa gave her a long look. Gazing at Charlotte and Lysa, I noticed how much alike they looked. They
     could have been sisters—twins even—except for their hair color and style of clothing. Where Lysa had straight, jet-black hair
     almost to her waist, Charlotte had a mass of curly shoulder-length blonde hair.
    And now she was on the verge of blushing under those curls.
    “Okay,” she said to me. “Maybe you made me think something different was going on.”
    “Is that an apology?” Lysa asked.
    Charlotte shrugged defiantly then cracked a smile. “My dad did say I should make friends. Guess I'm not following orders,
     as usual,” she said, her smile becoming a grin.
    Her change of mood seemed to take the last of the tension out of the air.
    Crockett, Lysa, Charlotte, and I chatted for a while. It turned out Crockett and Lysa are both from New York City and Charlotte
     is from Seattle, Washington. When the conversation started to lag, a flash suddenly erupted at our feet.
    Startled, I looked down to see Teddy winking up at me mischievously. Teddy was equipped with a digital camera and had just
     snapped our photo.
    I was about to apologize for Teddy's behavior when Charlotte struck a pose like a fashion model. Lysa gave him a few silly
     poses, and Teddy's metal tail whacked back and forth in glee. Soon, Teddy was bouncing around us and snapping photos like
     a full-blown paparazzo.

    LYSA AND CHARLOTTE POSING FOR TEDDY
    At one point Charlotte leaned over and said in a soft voice, “Don't think this gets you off the hook for nearly having us
     arrested for carrying a piece of fruit. I still can't figure out how you knew my dad had that kiwi.”
    I shrugged. “Lucky guess,” I said, not completely truthfully. “What can I do to make it up to you?”
    “I'd like to see the art collection,” she said as if she were asking for a glass of water. “I want to see the art that was
     sold at the auction.”
    The words, “No can do,” were on my lips. After all, the artworks from the auction were on two different levels, one inaccessible
     and the other strictly off-limits to the passengers.
    But instead I said, “Sure. Why not?”

LEVEL 2 WAS DARK EXCEPT FOR THE SECURITY LIGHTS.

JANUARY 2, 2031
Day 2 of 6      6:45 PM
    Charlotte's eyes went wide, and she whispered, “Oh …”
    I held my finger up to my lips. “We have to keep quiet. We're not supposed to be here.”
    We'd just exited the elevator onto Level 2. Only people with security clearance could get here. I'd had to press my thumbprint
     against the elevator's control pad to gain access to the level, which was like a warehouse. The dull hum and clank of the
     powerful magnets that controlled our descent toward Earth echoed through the huge room. A 'bot or two whizzed around, but
     otherwise, we were alone.
    “It's awfully dark,” Charlotte said, peering into the gloom.
    There were no windows, only the large door through which the 'bots had loaded the art sold at the auction. Not wanting to
     attract attention, I left the main overhead lights off. We'd have to do with the security lights that cast pools of illumination
     over each work of art. Most of the artworks had been packed carefully into crates and stored on Level 5. But I'd asked the
     worker 'bots to put the larger