Mr. Bartlett went behind his desk and pulled out a small file.  He waved Sam over as he set it down, “So far, this is all I know about the mission you and the others are on.”  He opened the file, revealing several small photos and a few papers. 

Sam picked up the photos and examined them carefully.  A small object was photographed moving through the sky towards the ground.  Another picture showed a crash site, and the last revealed several metallic pieces broken off form the main object.  “What is this?”  Sam picked up the papers and started looking through them for some answers. 

“This thing, whatever it is, was seen flying over a field, far from here.  It came crashing down in a blaze of glory, so to speak.  There was a flare up of Institute communications, they seemed to respond the quickest, and they mobilized, and grabbed whatever this object was, and hid it away.  All talk about it died out about three months ago.” 

Mr. Bartlett flipped some pages of the paper in Sam’s hands, “About a week or so after the object crashed, all of the underworld creature organizations, the vampire clans, werewolf packs, the mutant under cities, the west cults, even some of the east cults, started looking for whatever it was, but with no luck.  The Institute hides things well.” 

Mr. Bartlett flipped a few more pages. “Here, about a day before you picked Starr up, information leaked from the Institute, and all this info about the  flying object was up for grabs by anyone equipped enough to decipher the information.  That’s probably why you ran into the vampires and the mutants at the warehouse.”  Mr. Bartlett then stepped back, “Then you guys brought in Starr, and I had to wonder if she was the falling object, or at least part of it.” 

Sam’s eyebrows furrowed, “So they all want Starr?  What for?” 

Mr. Bartlett shrugged and took his seat, “I’m not sure why, or if they even want her. I held this information back in case any of your friends are not as loyal as you think.” 

Sam quickly looked to Mr. Bartlett, “You think so?” 

“A day before your mission, word leaked out from the Institute, probably from one of its members.  It had to be from someone on the inside.” 

Sam started thinking about what Mr. Bartlett said.  She didn’t think of any of her teammates were disloyal, but it was a possibility. 

“Keep what you’ve heard secret.  If one of your team is a spy, then you will alert them to your knowledge.  Who knows what they will do.” 

Sam nodded as a ding from the elevator sounded off. 

Starr jumped out of the elevator and landed on both feet inside the room.  “Sam!”  She saw Sam first and ran up to her jumping and latching onto her. 

Sam noticed the girl wore a new pair of jeans with a yellow shirt and black shoes.  She was still wearing Sam’s coat, “How are you, Starr?”

Starr looked up at Sam, “Great!” She shouted as Scott walked over to Mr. Bartlett and started whispering into his ear. 

Sam stared at the two men and wondered what they were saying.  She looked back down at Starr and forgot about them for a moment. “What did you do?” 

Starr’s eyes lit up, “Mr. Scott is very nice.  He got me these new clothes and took me into the kitchen.  There were people running all over everywhere, cooking food and fire jumping up in the air out of their pans.  I met Dan, the head chef and he made me some gourmet mac ‘n’ cheese.  It was amazing.”  Starr was grinning the entire time. 

This was the most she had ever talked to Sam.  She had even learned to speak English as well as an adult.  Sam knew if those pictures Mr. Bartlett had shown her were real, then this girl was something more than human.  Even so, Sam realized she was childish at heart, but the act at the docks showed Sam that Starr was quite capable of taking care of herself, “Sounds fun, Starr.” 

Mr. Bartlett and Scott moved to the large window overlooking the restaurant.  She overheard Mr. Bartlett talking to Scott, “Get the remaining guests out, refund them their money to make them happy.  We don’t need any casualties if things get rough, and notify the guards to let our special guests in.” 

Sam was curious of what casualties he was talking about, “What’s this about casualties?  What’s going on?”  She held Starr a little closer.