"Okay here's what we are going to do" I looked at the faces sitting around the table of the conference room, some in shock, some angry and some nervous. I had just shown them the message on the tablet that Carl had sent me and I was waiting for it all to settle down a little. People were all talking at once trying to process it all. I had invited Reece and Jacob, because they had been there when I watched it the first time, Laura and William were there to represent HR because to be honest if we were going to get through the next 8 weeks without me being here I needed them to suggest who would take control of certain parts of the factory. Production couldn't stop not now, that would be playing straight into Carl's hands.
Tommy after spending the last hour in the toilet getting rid of the cake concoction was leaning against the closed door making sure no one came in, Michael and Billy had run the footprints through the system but nothing had shown up so we now knew Carl hadn't had any help from within the town, which pleased me. After last time it was good to know that I could trust everybody here. Liam and Jack had come back after searching for any clues in the surrounding grounds, disappointed at not finding anything. Jamie and Grace were busy handing out cups of tea, they knew not to offer anything else, cake was defiantly off the menu for now.
"I've decided that myself and Tommy are going to go and get the Reindeer back on our own, I don't want any arguments about this, we've dealt with him before, we know what type of games he plays and we also cannot under any circumstances allow anybody to know that Father Christmas and Mrs Christmas have been kidnapped. Does everyone understand that?" A look of confidence on my face, hoping I was hiding how nervous I really was, I gripped the arms of the chair hoping no one would notice they were slightly trembling.
"What about us?" said Liam, "What are you going to do when you find the Reindeer? How are you going to get them back here? You cant do that on your own can you?" looking at Jack for support who nodded sipping his tea silently agreeing with his brother.
"We will cross that bridge when we come to it" I replied changing the subject and not willing to discuss it further at this stage.
"Not good enough Sammy" Laura said leaning forward "I cannot allow you to go running off on a wild goose chase with the King of the farts and no one else. When the Boss isn't here you are in charge of it all, you know that. Plus we are getting into our busiest time of the year and I have to make sure you come back in one piece, with everyone that is missing, but also that there is a place for you all to come back to and that production hasn't ground to a halt!"
"She's right" said William placing his pen on top of the desk, his tie hanging loosely around his neck "People will start asking questions straight away if you disappear, and we have to make sure that whatever happens the toys keep getting made".
"But you saw the message he's challenging me isn't he? I cant let anyone else do this, it has to be me and Tommy, we've done this before!" my voice raising more in frustration than anger as I started to rise from my chair.
"I agree you have to go I'm not saying that" Laura placed her hands in front of her on the table clasped together, dressed in a grey business suit her blond hair pulled back in a pony tail and pointed at Jack sitting across from her, "But you have to take Jack and Liam with you at least, they will help you get the Reindeer back and make sure that no harm has come to them, then there is the question of Security here so Michael goes as well which will not only help you if you get into trouble but will allow Billy to still cover things back here, to make sure we are not too vulnerable. Jamie and Grace will need to stay to help run the kitchens, after all everyone will need feeding, Jacob and Reece can hand over proceedings to your dad and brother, they both know this place inside out and the way things work, and William can go as well just in case you need any legal advice when you're out and about".
"Me?" said William almost chocking on a biscuit "Why me? I'm quite happy staying here thank you very much" he wasn't happy at this sudden turn of events and pulled on his tie nervously
Laura gave him a look that would have stopped a runaway Reindeer in its tracks.
"Of course Id love to come" he said slowly "After all what could be more fun than running around god knows where, chasing god knows who, and trying to keep you lot out of trouble from god knows what, apart from all of that what a great idea" he shook his head slowly from side to side as he said it and started shuffling papers in front of him.
"Great that's settled then now how do we find out where they are and how do we get you to where you need to go?" Laura asked looking around the room and finally settling on me.
"I think we have the solution to that" Reece said putting his rucksack on the table "We planted a small chip in all of the Reindeer many years ago, the Boss was worried that if they wandered off again we wouldn't be able to find them, so he had us put a chip behind their ears. Small enough that no one would know it was there, but powerful enough for us to be able to trace them wherever they went, we even use it on Christmas Eve so the humans can trace Father Christmas across the globe and get their children too sleep. Clever huh?"
"Why weren't we told about this?" Liam said crossly folding his arms across his chest "After all we are supposed to be looking after them?"
"The Boss said he didn't want anyone else to know, wasn't our choice to be honest" said Jacob "Sammy didn't even know did you?" He looked at me for support.
"Nope not a clue" I said smiling at our first break through " So how does it work then?" Making sure that all attention was back on Reece and Jacob.
"Well we just turn this on" Said Reece removing a tablet from his rucksack and placing it on the table.
He turned it on and placed it in the middle of the table where we could all see it. The screen showed a map of the world brightly lit up and coming into focus.
"You press this button here" said Jacob pressing a button on the left hand side of the tablet "And give it a few seconds"
We all moved in closer watching the map of the world waiting for something to happen and watched as slowly red dots began to appear flashing all over the wold.
"That's not good" said Reece rubbing his chin
"No its not" said Jacob looking closer at the screen
"What does it mean?" I asked impatiently, they both had concerned looks on their faces and they were beginning to worry me.
"Well, see those red dots in groups of two?" said Reece pointing at the screen.
"Yeah" I replied watching them flash away
"That's the Reindeer" Jacob said looking at me
Slowly names started to appear under the red dots, Comet and Prancer, Dancer and Blitzen, Vixen and Dasher, Cupid and Donner but no Rudolph, I looked closer and closer hoping that the red dot would appear but it didn't. It stayed with just eight of them.
"There's one missing" Laura said touching the screen and counting the dots
"That's because he doesn't have one" Reece said slowly sitting back down in his chair
"What do you mean he doesn't have one? How are we supposed too find him without one?" I asked looking at them both for answers
"The Boss said it affected the glow of his nose, it made it duller or something like that, so we never attached one to Rudolph. The Boss wanted it that way" Reece replied. He was almost apologetic finally seeing the consequences of that decision but knowing it at the time.
"Great so how do we find The Boss then?" I said throwing my arms in the air in desperation and walking away from the table towards the window
"We find the others first, and then hope they lead us to the others, what else can we do? We have to start somewhere don't we? " Said Tommy walking towards where I was standing and patting me on the back
"He's right Sammy" said Emily joining him and placing her hand in mine "We have to find the others first then hope we get clues to where Father Christmas is" she gently squeezed my hand.
"Reece, where are they?" I asked turning back to face the others
"Well according to this they are grouped in twos and scattered all over the world, however it isn't as bad as it seems, we can locate them all to specific cities, Tokyo, Paris, London and New York. They appear to be in static locations. We cant get anymore details than that unfortunately, it was never developed to be more than a general locator's. We have contact points in all those cities as well, Elf's that make sure everything is running smoothly for when Father Christmas gets there so I'm sure they will help us out" he said looking at Laura
"Ill get on it right away" she said picking up her phone and starting to make a call
"How do we get there though?" Tommy asked putting his hands in his pockets
"We've been working on a new transport system, top secret of course, as Father Christmas was getting worried that with all the new children in the world and the development of new technology we might not be as productive as we once were, so I give you the Van of Dreams Mark 3" Jacob proudly said placing photographs on the table for us all to look at from a beige folder he had been holding.
"Mark 3 what happened to the other two?" asked Emily innocently.
"Well" said Reece slowly "The first one didn't quite work out the way we wanted"
"In what way?" Emily asked hesitantly
"It sort of caught fire" Jacob said trying not to meet any ones eye
"Caught fire?" Grace asked "You have ago at what we cook at least we don't set things on fire" turning to Jamie
"Very true" said Jamie nodding and looking a little put out.
"Okay, Okay moving, on what happened to Mark 2?" William asked trying to stop another argument starting, I smiled encouragingly at him, and he smiled back.
"It got stolen" Jacob said now looking at Reece for support who was looking anywhere but at him
"Stolen?" I said trying to keep the surprise out of my voice and failing
"Why weren't we told?" asked Billy and Michael together "If things get stolen we should be told straight away" they hadn't spoken since they had got here still a little guilty perhaps about not doing their jobs properly, and hoping to deflect some attention away from themselves for once.
"Yes why weren't they told?" I asked sitting back down at the table
"It was a little accident really" Reece said slowly getting more and more nervous
"It was not an accident" Jacob replied "It was your fault" pointing at him with his finger
"No it wasn't" replied Reece angrily pointing back at him
"Yes it was!" shouted Jacob slamming his hand down and leaning across the table almost nose to nose with Reece.
"Okay, Okay" shouted Emily leaning in between them and waving her arms "Forget who's fault it was how long ago did it get stolen?"
"About a week ago" replied Jacob quietly "And we told Michael said Reece" he said pointing at them
"Oh crap" said Billy looking a slight shade of grey all of a sudden
"Well?" I asked not sure I wanted the reply resting my head on the back of the chair and looking towards the ceiling.
"I think I mind wiped him by mistake" replied Billy so quiet we almost didn't hear him.
"You think, what do you mean you think?" my head now in my hands not sure I could take much more.
"Well he said I had a big nose, so I got cross and mind wiped him, this was just after he had a conversation with Jacob, he wouldn't tell me what it was about so I called him 'fat head' and he called me 'big nose' and I got angry and mind wiped him" he was getting upset now knowing the problems this was going to cause us.
"I knew there was something I was meant to tell you" said Michael looking crossly at Billy
"Well I think we can agree this hasn't been your best ever day has it guys?" said William almost resigned to the fact that things were never going to go to plan "So moving on what on earth does this Van of Dreams Mark 3 do?"
"Well its quite brilliant really" Reece was clearly getting excited now and was obviously glad to be changing the subject.
"Its the best thing we've ever built!" replied Jacob starting to smile widely
"It sleeps up to 8 people, its bullet proof, has all the latest gadgets including a defence mechanism, it has enough space to hold two Reindeer at a time, and best of all it runs on Elf fuel so its more efficient. It travels faster than the speed of sound, has a cloaking system so it can be left anywhere without it being noticed and is ready to go when you are" Reece smiled taking a breath
"So what's stopping us then, lets go" I said standing up and walking towards the door "We have Reindeer to find"
To be continued......................
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