Tracy Tam: Santa Command by Krystalyn Drown Page A

Erlek with her eyes narrowed. “A wipe is completely unnecessary, and I won't let it happen. Tracy understands how important it is to keep our secret. Don't you, Tracy?”
    Tracy lifted her head and gave a pitiful nod.
    “It's true,” Phil said. “She does.” He didn't sound quite as convinced as Beth, and Tracy wished he'd just kept his mouth shut.
    Erlek returned Beth's glare with one of his own, one that made a shiver run down Tracy's spine. “Oh, she may understand, but you don't. Walt wants to see all three of you. You're done at Santa Command.”
    And with that announcement, even Beth lost her cool.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
     
    Tracy
     
    “Out in the hall, now!” Beth pushed herself to her feet, leaving Tracy in a lump on the floor.
    Tracy got up to follow her, but when Beth gave her a look that said, “Stay here,” Tracy sank back to the floor and did her best to look pathetic. That involved putting on the puppy dog eyes that her dad fell for every time.
    Erlek humphed and shuffled into the hall. Phil followed, and Beth brought up the rear, shutting the door behind her. But just before she did so, she poked her head back through the doorway to say, “Don't worry. Everything will be fine.”
    Tracy wasn't worried anymore, because she spotted something on the ceiling that made her smile. With some quick thinking, she had a revised two-part plan.
    Beth's voice carried through the closed door. “…only place we're taking her is home.”
    Then, there was some mumbling. Tracy was dying to know what was being said about her, but the computer was just sitting there, hers for the hacking. That was part one of her new plan. Tracy situated herself in the chair, and within seconds, she had logged in using the password she stole from Phil. Her first selection—Sleigh Routes.
    When she opened the file, a little box popped up, asking whether she wanted text or graphics. She chose graphics and hit enter. A map of the world filled the screen, with the land divided into colored sections. Her own region—Florida, Georgia, and Atlanta—was purple. And within her region, there were several dozen colored lines criss-crossing the entire area.
    At the bottom right corner of the screen was a button that said, “Mouse over for more information.”
    “I don't care what you think.” That was Erlek. “You are coming with me, and so is that little nuisance.”
    The doorknob twisted, and Tracy froze, her heart pounding in her chest. Would they notice the screen if she turned around and blocked it with her body? She was about to do just that when she heard Beth's protest and Erlek's hand being yanked from the door handle.
    “Ouch!” the elf cried.
    “You will convince Walt to give us more time,” said Beth, “or I'll tell him what you did last Thursday in toy storage.”
    “I didn't break that many toys.”
    “Five Leappads, two bicycles, and a Furby!"
    "If you do that, I'll tell him about the time you…"
    Tracy was still for a moment more, but when it seemed the argument was continuing, she sighed with relief and continued her task. She hovered the mouse over the Orlando area, and a text box appeared.
    Name: Eugene Albert Blankenship
    Region: East Orlando
    Number of Houses: 708
    Santa Command reloads: 5
    So the guy who delivered presents to her house was named Eugene? Couldn't they have picked a guy who sounded more, well, Santa-y? Then again, if they were fooling the whole world, what did names matter? Santa was all about the look, and as long as the guy had the white beard and red suit, no one would know a thing. From what Phil and Beth had said, even Eugene didn't know it. His memory got wiped every Christmas.
    Tracy's head hurt just thinking about that. She'd seen enough Star Trek to know that when people started messing with the mind, things got ugly. Did he forget other things too, like his wife's name, or his grandkid's birthday, or what he had for breakfast? Did they replace his memory with things that never happened,