On thinking about it, Lana wanted Duff with his sai there, so she went and got him before he made other plans.
Celia immediately objected to her eldest being put in such a dangerous position.
Lana laughed. "Celia, what rank is on your son's traveler tag?"
"It says B but it has to be honorary, right?"
Lana shook her head. "No such thing. The system was designed by the Green family. There is no way to hack it."
Her eyes went wide as she stared at her son.
"Mom, do you think I got these muscles by sitting around? If you work for Lana, she molds you into what you want to be."
"But…. Do you even have an ability?"
"Lana bought me one. She refused to have a level 1 on her team."
"Abilities are expensive! Is she your girlfriend? Is that your baby?"
Duff was shocked at the question then he chuckled. "Usually, it's Shalt who gets that finger pointed at him. No. Lana is my friend and my leader. I would not be where I am without her and she deserves respect. Please, never tell her I can't go with her again. She has already done so much for this family. We owe her our allegiance."
Lana was blushing bright red. "Get your things, Duff, I'm going out to the ship."
The food was done and Shalt grabbed four bags full of incredible-smelling food.
Twenty minutes later, they were leaving the planet once again. This time the destination was a good distance. Lana told Shalt to go as fast as "this little baby could go".
Five hours later, they were being challenged as they entered the atmosphere of the Star Faction's planet. Shalt responded and they were escorted to the landing area. Fromp met them on the platform with a slightly different attitude but was very nervous.
"Take me to Mr. Funnel. Now." Lana's eyes pierced his and he gulped.
"Right this way."
He was walking very slowly and waving his hand this way and that to show the friends all the sights. Lana looked at Alto. "Where does your father work and live?"
"He lost the house after I went to school so I don't know where he lives. His boss owned the house…"
"Where does he work?"
Shalt pointed down the street and off to the left.
Fromp pointed the opposite direction, "he works over here now."
Lana was cussing internally. She knew he was taking her for a ride. Max, are you back yet? She really could use his help right now. This time, she got no response. Since Fromp was trying to lead the way, Lana looked at Kattie and pointed to her shoulder. Kattie got the hint and quietly commanded Sven to fly to the building Alto was talking about. Sadly, Sven not being a familiar, there was no vision-share skill.
As they turned a corner, Sven took off and quickly flew to the building Alto described. The windows were all closed but Sven was able to make out some things and reported back to Kattie just as the group was entering a nice pristine building that looked like it was office space, not a building that manufactured clothing. Alto's father was the janitor but more work was demanded of him that just that. The pay didn't increase for the extra labor.
Fromp walked up to the front desk and asked them to page Sirus Funnel. The man behind the desk started trembling and Lana had seen enough.
She turned to Shalt, "use your influence on desk-boy," she whispered.
Shalt removed his sunglasses with one hand and grabbed the shirt of the person with the other. He stared him in the eyes as his eyes turned red. "Is Sirus Funnel in this building?"
"No," came a dreamy response.
"Which direction is he?"
The man pointed in the direction of the other building.
Lana and Shalt looked at each other and they all ran out of the building after Almin knocked out Fromp by hitting the top of his head with his fist.
Sven met them halfway and reported to Kattie what he had seen. She told the rest. "There are a hole bunch of people laying on the floor in the factory lined up."
"Kattie, go get the ship and move it closer. See if you can park right next to the building."
With the faction leader out, he was unable to sound an alarm that something was going on. This building looked run down and much closer to the way Alto remembered. "Dad's office is in the basement. There is a stairwell to the left just inside the building."
When they tried to enter, the door was locked. Almin used his metal ability to gain entry, effectively destroying the lock. They were going to go down the stairs when they noticed all the people Kattie told them about. These people looked starved and close to death's door. There were 35 men and women and 6 children. Lana's blood started to boil.
"Alto, look at them to see if your father is among them before we go below."
The smell was horrendous. Most were still alive but barely. On the gone list were four women and two men. Just as they got halfway through looking at the people, a man entered from the other direction forcing 3 more men into the room. Sirus was among them.
"DAD!!!"
He was in really bad shape, barely able to walk. The hologram he had used to talk to his son had used some embellishment to make him look better than he seemed. Lana immediately went after the man herding the others. She couldn't flip and do the aerial maneuvers she used to because her tummy threw her off balance but she was still able to do many other things, such as run, kick and jump. An out of shape person such as her foe was no match.
"Are you the boss?"
Lana had him by the hair and kicked the back of his knees to make him fall.
"Y…Yes."
Alto shook his head.
"Where's your money card?"
He handed it to her. She handed it to Shalt and then hers and told him to transfer all the funds to her card. "You are paying for their health care. Congratulations."
"Wait! I'm not the boss. He's upstairs." The man was crying and trembling.
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