Trouble in Warp Space Read online

  “She’s still in makeup, I think,” Joe said. “I’ll go get her if you want.”

  “Do that,” Sandy said. “Why doesn’t everyone take five while we find her? We’ve been going at it pretty hard.”

  “Fine, good,” Webb said. “Make it ten. Everyone get something to drink. Especially you, Slayer. I don’t want you collapsing from the heat. Why are you still wearing that helmet?”

  Chet pulled off the fiberglass headpiece. Underneath, he was sweating profusely. “You didn’t tell me to take it off,” he said.

  The crew laughed. “I admire your dedication,” said Sandy, “but you’re no good to us if you keel over.”

  “We’ve already lost one Slayer today,” Webb said. “I can’t afford to lose another one. Take ten, everyone! Make sure it’s a short ten, though. We’re losing our best light.”

  “Where are the drinks?” Chet asked.

  “Over by the production tent,” Claudia replied. “I’ll show you.”

  “I didn’t hit you too hard when I slapped that blaster out of your hand, did I?” Chet asked.

  Claudia Rajiv laughed. “You did fine. Great for a first-timer. You’ve got some talent.” She led Chet toward a tent on the other side of the pond. Jerri Bell went with them.

  “Maybe you can keep playing the Slayer if Wilson needs some time to recover,” Jerri said to Chet.

  “Gosh. I hope he doesn’t,” Chet said, “but it sure would be cool to shoot some more scenes.”

  Joe and Frank watched their friend go. “Chet seems to fit right in with the movie star crowd,” Joe said.

  “Who’d have thunk it?” Frank replied. He and Joe adjourned to the makeup tent to get Iola.

  Inside the tent, Stan Pekar was moving around furiously, touching up makeup and applying hair spray. Marge Nelson handed him what he needed, without Pekar even asking.

  “Director Webb wants Iola on the set,” Joe said.

  “What am I, a miracle worker?” Pekar asked. “I have to rework the whole cast, and he wants it all done in minutes.”

  “She looks fine now,” Ms. Nelson said. “I think we can send her out without ruining your reputation.”

  “All right,” Pekar said, stepping back. “You can go. Do me proud.”

  “I will,” Iola said seriously.

  Pekar and Nelson laughed. After a moment Iola and the Hardys joined in.

  “Get to the set, cadet,” Pekar added, saluting and clicking his heels.

  “Yes, commander,” Iola said, saluting back.

  She turned and left the tent at a jog, with Joe and Frank trailing behind. She cut up the alley between the tents and headed for the cameras.

  “She looks great in the uniform,” Joe said to Frank, but Frank wasn’t listening. Instead, the elder Hardy’s eyes were fixed on the long electrical cable snaking across Iola’s path.

  “Iola, look out!” Frank called.

  Too late.

  Her boot caught on the cable and she tripped. She staggered, tried to right herself, and fell against the pole of a tall light stand. The light sparked, and some bulbs burst with the impact. Both Iola and the light stand slowly toppled toward the pond.

  4 Downtime: Canceled

  “Iola!” Joe yelled, racing toward his girlfriend.

  Iola struggled as the metal of the light stand groaned, but her foot was caught in a loop of the electrical cable. She pushed away from the light tower and collapsed to the ground. “Joe!” she called.

  Frank ran up behind his brother and caught the light stand just as Joe reached Iola. The older Hardy seized the metal stanchion with both hands and pulled. “I can’t hold it for long!” he said.

  Joe grabbed Iola under the arms and pulled her away from the light stand. The loop of cable slipped away from her ankle, and she popped free. Iola and Joe toppled backward, landing in a tangle of arms and legs.

  Realizing that he couldn’t keep it from collapsing, Frank let go of the lighting tower. With a loud creak and a shudder, the metal stanchion fell. Frank leaped back, and Joe and Iola stumbled away as the light standard toppled into the pond.

  A resounding bang echoed through the park as the lights shorted out. A surge of power raced from the lights back to the electrical truck. Sparks flew from the control circuits, and smoke poured from the main generator.

  The cast and crew of Warp Space poured from the tents to see what was happening. Chet, Claudia Rajiv, Jerri Bell, Sandy O’Sullivan, and director Rod Webb came running.

  “What’s going on?” Webb barked. “What happened to the power?”

  “Iola tripped over an electrical cable, and a light stand fell into the pond,” Frank said. His eyes caught someone moving away from the camp, even as the others arrived.

  “Great! Just great!” Webb said. “Where’s Rich Millani? He’s supposed to be in charge of this stuff.” The director walked to the generator truck and turned off a master control switch. The generator stopped smoking.

  “Rich took Peck to the hospital, remember?” Sandy said. She took a small extinguisher from the cab of the truck and sprayed the generator.

  “Wonderful!” Webb said. “That means we have no chance of getting this fixed today.”

  “I could take a poke at it, chief,” Stan Pekar offered.

  Webb shook his head. “No. No way. Then we’d have trouble with both our insurance and the union. We have enough problems as it is. That’s a wrap, people. We’ll have to pick this up at the end of the week.”

  “But that’ll set us back on both our schedule and our budget,” Sandy said. “It might even require overtime.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you,” Webb replied. “This kind of thing happens when you’re working with amateurs.”

  “That’s not really fair,” Claudia Rajiv said. “Any one of us could have tripped over that cable.”

  “The cable wasn’t there earlier,” Frank said. “It must have gotten moved during the commotion over the fire.”

  “Well, it doesn’t matter how it got moved,” Webb said. “We don’t have power to continue the shoot today. Everybody pack up your gear. We’re heading back to Jewel Ridge.”

  “Just another day in Warp Space,” Stan Pekar said, shaking his head. “Come on, Marge. Let’s put our gear away.”

  Sandy O’Sullivan appeared crestfallen. “Everybody remember to return your costumes to wardrobe and your props to Stan, since Rich isn’t here.” She turned to the teens. “Iola and Chet, you’d better let Stan and Marge help you out of those getups.”

  Iola sighed. “My first day on TV and I don’t even get to shoot a scene,” she said.

  “Don’t worry,” Sandy said. “We’ll work you in somewhere else. It may not be as glamorous a part as being wounded by the Slayer from Sirius, but—”

  “Oh, I wasn’t complaining,” Iola said. “It’s been thrilling, even if I didn’t get on camera.”

  “A little too thrilling, I’d say,” Jerri Bell said.

  “Come on, Jerri,” Claudia Rajiv said. “We need to get out of costume, or we’ll have fans following us home.” Jerri nodded and the two of them headed for the costume tent. Chet and Iola walked to the makeup tent to get their gear removed.

  “Oh, my gosh!” Sandy said as they left. “Rich still has my car! I need to find a ride home.”

  “We’d be happy to give you a lift,” Frank said, “if someone can ferry us to the parking lot.”

  “I’m sure I can arrange that,” Sandy said. “Thanks, guys.”

  “No trouble,” Joe said. “We need someone to show us the way to our hotel, anyway.”

  At that moment a ranger who had been patrolling the scorched area came down into the camp. “What’s all the commotion?” he asked.

  “An accident with the electrical truck,” Sandy said. “We’re quitting for the day. We’ll be back at the end of the week, though, with any luck.”

  “The fire’s out,” the ranger said, “but we’d appreciate it if you’d be more careful in the future. The guy in the hosp
ital must have been careless with his cigarette.”

  “Peck’s usually very conscientious,” Sandy said.

  “Nevertheless. Our people will probably want to talk with your lawyers about it.”

  Sandy sighed. “All right. You have the number in the location use contract that we signed.”

  The ranger nodded. “Right. Is there anything we can do to help you get going?”

  “Well, some of us need a lift back to the main parking lot,” Joe said.

  “I’ll send someone down with a truck,” the ranger replied. Nodding goodbye, he hiked back over the ridge.

  “I need to organize a few things before I can leave,” Sandy said. “I’ll meet you back here after Chet and Iola are out of costume.”

  “Sounds good,” said Frank.

  Some of the tents were already coming down as Sandy hiked off. The Hardys paced around the area, watching the commotion.

  “Do you think TV shows are always this exciting?” Joe asked.

  “I doubt it,” Frank replied. “I’m sure that cable wasn’t there earlier. That and the fire make two accidents in one day.”

  “It could just be the hustle and bustle of the production,” Joe said. “Everybody seems on edge, and we know they’re short on both time and money.”

  “Could be,” Frank said. “But, after the lights fell, when everyone was coming to see what happened, I saw someone taking off into the hills away from camp.”

  “A ranger, maybe?” Joe suggested.

  Frank shrugged. “Let’s just stay on our toes,” he said.

  • • •

  “So, where are we staying?” Joe asked as he pulled the van onto the highway.

  “The Benson studio in Jewel Ridge,” Sandy said.

  “The studio?” Iola said.

  “We’re giving you the guest star trailer on the lot,” Sandy said. “It’s a nice touch, don’t you think?”

  “Cool,” Chet said.

  “And saves money, too, I’ll bet,” Frank added.

  Sandy grinned sheepishly. “Busted.”

  “Did you hear anything more about Mr. Wilson?” Iola asked.

  “Rich called my cell phone and said that Peck was okay, but he’ll miss a couple of days of shooting,” Sandy said. “It looks like we’ll be needing Chet for a while longer.”

  “Cool,” Chet said again. “Not that I’m glad that Mr. Wilson’s hurt. I hope he recovers real soon.”

  “Well, until he does, you’ve got a job,” Sandy said. “Unless, of course, Rod Webb objects.”

  “He seems pretty high strung,” Joe said.

  “He’s got a lot riding on this,” Sandy said. “He’s not getting his usual fee, just a percentage—and a chance to finish his last contractual obligation with UAN. If the show’s a big hit, he’ll do well, if not . . . well, let’s just say that the bread lines are long in showbiz. It’s the same for most everyone on Warp Space, including me. We’ve come a long way in a very short time, and there’s a lot at stake.”

  Joe nodded. “WUAN has gone from a local superstation to the United America Network in just a year.”

  “Despite our original programming, we’re still just an upstart,” Sandy said. “We’ve got a long way to go to compete with the big networks.”

  “But Warp Space is a good start,” Chet said.

  “Assuming UAN gives the show time to grow,” Sandy replied.

  “Are you worried about cancellation?” Iola asked.

  “A new show, like ours, is always in danger of cancellation,” Sandy said. “Especially if the show is different from the norm.”

  “Even small networks are quick to pull the plug on unprofitable programs,” Frank said.

  “Funding for new shows is in short supply,” Sandy said. “So we’re trying to maximize our yield in story, production, and advertising.”

  “Thus, the great Web site,” Iola said.

  “And the contest we . . . Iola won,” Chet put in.

  The whole group laughed. “It’s okay for you to feel like a winner, too, Chet,” Iola said. “However, I’ll be really upset if I don’t get at least some screen time.”

  “Don’t worry,” Sandy said. “I guarantee we’ll get you into the show.”

  “I’m already having a great time,” Chet said. “Despite everything.”

  Iola rolled her eyes. “Fire, flood, earthquake . . . my brother could have fun in any disaster.”

  Sandy said, “I hope we’ve had our share of bad breaks for this episode. With any luck, it should be smooth sailing from here on out.”

  • • •

  A few hours later, Joe pulled the van off the highway into Jewel Ridge. The city was once a factory town, but it had ridden the high-tech boom back to prosperity. Expensive new housing had replaced the factories that once lined the city’s central river.

  Following Sandy O’Sullivan’s directions, Joe wound through the New England streets to the Benson lot. The studio was in one of the less prosperous sections of town, surrounded by empty warehouses and a few old factories.

  “Not quite Hollywood, is it?” Sandy said wistfully as they pulled up to the studio gates.

  “How old is this studio?” Frank said.

  “It was founded in the twenties by movie-serial pioneer Gus Benson,” Sandy replied. “The studio did pretty good business before shutting down in the fifties. Scott Broadcasting did some rehab work on it in the seventies. It’s been functioning on and off since then. UAN snapped it up when they needed a cheap production facility.”

  “I think it has character,” Iola said.

  They pulled up to the gate, and a sleepy-looking guard waved them through. The studio had a number of large, warehouselike buildings, a smattering of trailers—some for stars, others serving as offices—a security office, and a cafeteria with vending machines and storage lockers outside. The biggest of the warehouses had a fancy sign on the outside, which read, Warp Space—Studio One.

  “You don’t have to be a detective to figure out where the show is shot,” Frank said.

  “Are all of these big buildings stages?” Iola asked.

  “No,” Sandy said. “A lot of them are taken up with storage. One has Stan Pekar’s workshop in it. The UAN execs have some offices on the far end of the lot.” She smiled. “They have a fancier parking lot and a better view.

  “You, on the other hand,” she continued, “have a great view of the soundstage, and the offices of the Warp Space production crew. At least you don’t have far to walk to get to work in the morning.”

  “What’s the building over there with the light on?” Chet asked.

  “Those self-same offices. Rod Webb and I have space on the side nearest your trailer. The part abutting the soundstage is where Stan Pekar works his magic. You’ll probably be going there first thing in the morning. Makeup call is at four A.M., so you’ll want to get a good night’s rest.”

  “Sounds fine by me,” Iola said. “I just want to have some dinner and crash.”

  “Will you join us, Sandy?” Frank asked.

  She sighed. “I wish I could, but I’m afraid I have to spend some time pulling the shooting schedule back together. I’ll have a cab take you to a great pizza place I know—on the studio, of course.”

  “Maybe we could bring you something back,” Chet suggested.

  “No,” Sandy said. “I’ll be working at home. Thanks for offering, though. Just make sure you’re ready for shooting bright and early.”

  “We will be,” Iola and Chet said simultaneously.

  The teens dumped their bags in the trailer. Then they all went out for dinner. After a good meal at the Town Spa pizza parlor, they went back to their trailer for the night. Before Sandy had taken a cab home, she had given them gate passes, which got the four friends past the guard. He waved the teens through and welcomed them to the Warp Space family.

  “That was so cool!” Chet said.

  “I really feel like a star,” Iola added.

  “Just wait until you
get in front of the cameras,” Joe said, smiling.

  Frank used the keys to open the trailer, and they all piled into the small, streamlined space. The inside was a bit cramped, but well kept and cleverly arranged. There were two small bedrooms and a private bath, as well as a dining area with a tiny kitchen and a refrigerator.

  As Chet scoped out the fridge, Iola went to get ready for bed. “I can’t believe you’re hungry,” she called to her brother. “We just ate!”

  “I’m just seeing what’s available,” Chet said.

  “One never knows when the urge for a midnight snack might strike,” Joe commented.

  “Men!” Iola said. She went into one of the bedrooms and shut the door. A moment later she reappeared, dressed in the same clothes but looking pale and shaken. “I think you should see this,” she said.

  The Hardys and Chet scrambled through the narrow door into the bedroom.

  Iola’s pillow had been slashed. A dark red stain spread out over the torn cloth, and in the middle of the stain lay a smashed figurine of the Slayer from Sirius.

  5 Sirius Business

  “D-Do you think that’s blood?” Iola asked. Joe put an arm around her and gave her a reassuring hug.

  Frank leaned close to the pillow and shook his head. “It smells like ketchup to me,” he said.

  “There’s a half-empty bottle of ketchup in the fridge,” Chet suggested.

  Joe scowled. “Who could have done this, and why?”

  “And why did they single me out?” asked Iola.

  “I wouldn’t be sure that whoever did this intended it for you, Iola,” Frank said.

  “Maybe it’s just a prank,” Chet said, “a joke on the new kids.”

  “If it’s a prank, it’s not funny,” Joe said angrily.

  “It’s not,” Frank said. “But it’s possible that Chet could be right.”

  “Frank, if you’re trying to spare my feelings, I wish you wouldn’t,” Iola said.

  “I’m going easy on you,” Frank said, “it’s just that we don’t have much to go on here. We’ve got a slashed pillow stained with ketchup and a broken statuette in our trailer. Clearly, it’s a staged event, but the ketchup makes it seem like a spur-of-the-moment act.”