From: magsrose@comcast.net   
      
   Chapter 3   
      
   My father and his friends are journalists. They investigate government   
   conspiracies and how big corporations try to cheat people. I got to go   
   on a trip with them to investigate some corporate criminals. We went   
   on a stake out. It was scary but also very exciting.   
      
      
      
      
      
   Emma sat watching an old rerun of The Outer Limits. She thought the   
   special effects were pretty bad but the story was scary anyway.   
      
   Frohike watched Emma watching TV. He felt guilty that there was so   
   little for her to do. Two weeks earlier he had asked her what she did   
   during the summers before her mom died.   
      
   "Sometimes I traveled with my mom. A couple of times I went to summer   
   camp. When I was really little, she would hire someone to stay with me   
   and we would go to all the tourist spots around DC."   
      
   "So, she got you a nanny."   
      
   "I guess you could say that."   
      
   "That's what I should do then. Get you a nanny until you go back to   
   school."   
      
   "Very funny. I'd stay in my room all summer if you did."   
      
   "I'm just teasing." He knew that was a touchy subject. Anything that   
   implied she was younger than her 12 years was never appreciated. "What   
   about summer camp?"   
      
   Emma shook her head. "The best places fill up by April. Besides I   
   would rather stay here with you."   
      
   Frohike reached over and affectionately patted her cheek. "I'd rather   
   have you here, too."   
      
   He thought about other traditional summer activities.   
      
   "How about swimming lessons?"   
      
   "No, I've never done that."   
      
   "Well, how about it? Do you want to take swimming lessons?"   
      
   "I already know how to swim." Well, so much for that.   
      
   Emma could tell he was trying to find fun things for her to do during   
   the summer. "I do like swimming though. They have a swim club at the Y."   
      
   "Is that like swim team?"   
      
   "No, it's just a chance to go and swim with other kids your own age."   
      
   Frohike liked that idea. At 12, her friends should be one of the most   
   important things in her life but she didn't really have any. So the   
   swim club would give her something to do and throw her into the path   
   of other preteens.   
      
   But this was limited. She only went twice a week and although she   
   enjoyed it and seemed to be making friends, it wasn't filling much of   
   her time. And with the bulk of summer vacation ahead of her, Emma was   
   sitting inside watching reruns of The Outer Limits.   
      
   These concerns coupled with the fact that Patty and Paul were away for   
   a couple of weeks weakened Frohike's resolve never to take her on   
   `business trips' even though she frequently asked to accompany them.   
   Whenever he and the other Gunmen needed to go away on a stakeout or   
   just leave town to investigate a story, Emma stayed with Patty and   
   Paul, the neighbors back at the house.   
      
   Once Jimmy had stayed with her but Frohike was never sure if Jimmy had   
   watched out for Emma or if Emma had watched out for Jimmy. He figured   
   that together they equaled one levelheaded adult. But Jimmy was needed   
   for this trip and there was nowhere else for Emma to stay.   
      
   With time running out, Frohike made the decision to take Emma with   
   them on the out of state surveillance trip. Emma was ecstatic about   
   going. She kept this to herself as much as possible because she could   
   tell that no one else seemed to think it was a very good idea.   
   Traveling in the VW bus was a little cramped but they were only going   
   into Virginia. They got two adjoining rooms in a rather run down motel   
   just outside Richmond: one for Emma and Frohike, the second for the   
   other three guys.   
      
   They headed out very early the next morning to do their stake out.   
   Emma and Langly stayed in the Mobile Command Unit while the other   
   three took video cameras that were linked to the computers in the van   
   and picked strategic locations in the trees surrounding the parking   
   lot of a large office complex.   
      
   They didn't fill Emma in on the particulars but she got to help   
   monitor what went on outside. She had never seen the Gunmen use the   
   equipment before so was very impressed by everything they did: how   
   they talked to each other on headsets (they even let her wear one but   
   she wasn't supposed to say anything), how they were able to track   
   certain individuals in the parking lot as they arrived for work, and   
   how Langly was able to identify each of these people by using some   
   really cool software.   
      
   Jimmy started having trouble with his camera. Langly tried to talk him   
   through the steps to fix the problem but Jimmy was intent on following   
   his `suspect' and was just making it worse. Langly shut down the   
   equipment and set the password that would be necessary to turn it back   
   on. This was something he always did when exiting the van. He told   
   Emma to lock the doors and not let anyone in except one of the Gunmen.   
   The last thing Langly did was to make Emma get down out of sight   
   before he left to go help Jimmy. Frohike growled at Langly over the   
   headset. "Do not leave her in the van by herself!"   
      
   "She'll be fine. We haven't been spotted and Jimmy's not that far from   
   here."   
      
   It took Langly longer to find Jimmy than he thought it would. He   
   finally spotted him crouching in the bushes on the edge of the parking   
   lot.   
      
   "Shhh!" Jimmy cautioned.   
      
   "Just give me the camera," an irritated Langly whispered. He fixed it   
   quickly, showing Jimmy so that he could do it next time and headed   
   back to the van. He was about half way there when he realized he could   
   hear Emma in his headset. She was whispering but she sounded scared.   
      
   "Langly, where are you? There are people outside the van! Langly?! Dad!"   
      
   Langly started running. "Hang on, Emma, I'm coming." He could hear the   
   others telling her the same thing.   
      
   Now Emma was no longer whispering. "They see me and they're trying to   
   get in." Over the headset, he could hear the sound of pounding on the   
   outside of the van and muffled voices. Emma was talking to whoever was   
   trying to get in. "I'm not supposed to open the door."   
      
   Langly was close enough now to hear the pounding without the aid of   
   the headset. Suddenly, it stopped. Then he could hear Emma yelling at   
   someone to leave her alone. He ran even faster, crashing through the   
   trees with no concern for his own safety. He must have been making a   
   hell of a racket because all activity by the VW bus stopped as he   
   plowed into the roadside clearing where it was parked.   
      
   There were six armed security guards by the open door of the van. One   
   was standing behind Emma, his hands around her upper arms. When she   
   saw Langly she started struggling again. She kept twisting around and   
   doing her best to try to kick backwards at the man who was restraining   
   her but she couldn't aim or put any real force into it.   
      
   The other five guards pulled their guns and pointed them at Langly. He   
   stopped and put his hands up. "Let her go!!" he yelled at them. He   
   could hear the others coming through the trees.   
      
   Byers and Frohike also stopped dead as the guards yelled at them to   
   get down on the ground. Byers and Langly did as they were told but   
   Frohike's only concern was Emma.   
      
   One of the guards walked up to Frohike. "I said to get down on the   
   ground."   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)