Read Online Tracy Tam: Santa Command by Krystalyn Drown - Free Book Online Page A

appeared in the doorway, his body a shadow against the brightly lit hallway. “You wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't insisted on bringing that little girl here.”
    And now Walt's here , Phil thought. Just great. At least his boss couldn't do anything before he fixed the computer. Phil was the top programmer at Santa Command, and the only one who could fix it.
    Walt stood blocking the door with his hands on his hips. “Every control room is at a standstill. We have no clue what people are seeing out there! It's our job to keep the secret. If we fail, what do you think my boss is going to do?”
    Phil's blood pounded through his veins, and he wondered if he was going to have an early heart attack right then and there. He didn't worry so much about being fired, because he knew that was going to happen. He had joined Santa Command to help keep the secret, and that's what he was going to do. “I'm on it. Just give me a few minutes.” He pulled a small spiral notebook and pen from his pocket and wrote down the error listed on the screen.
    “Can I do anything?” Beth asked.
    Phil sighed with a small amount of relief. At least there was one person who wasn't trying to send his blood pressure through the roof. In fact, there was something she could do, and Phil had the power to order it. “I need some more time.”
    “Time?” Beth asked like she wasn't sure she'd heard correctly. At Santa Command, that word carried a lot of weight.
    “Do you have any idea what you're doing?” Walt asked.
    “Yes.” Phil answered both of them as he calculated what he thought he needed and not a second more. Still, he struggled with getting the words out of his mouth. Stopping time was tricky. It didn't always work out as planned, but at the moment, it was the only way. “I need half an hour.”
    Erlek blew out a low whistle. “Glad I'm not you.”
    Phil wanted to strangle the creature, but instead chose to focus on the computer screen. As Beth was leaving the room, Phil called back over his shoulder. “And do me a favor. Take the Inkling with you.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN
     
    Tracy
     
    Tracy sneezed as the fluffy white insulation settled around her like snow. Well, at least something at Santa Command reminded her of the North Pole.
    “Ouch,” she said as she sat up and brushed dust out of her hair. Her tail bone was sore as well as her right arm. Again. She flexed her fingers. At least nothing was broken this time. She pushed herself off of the broken pieces of ceiling and to her feet.
    She was in a square room, empty except for a large, oval shaped mirror mounted to the wall. The room had no windows, and the lights were out, but there was light coming from the mirror. It gave the room a soft, yellow glow like a living room lamp at night.
    Tracy couldn't look away from the mirror, like it contained every happy memory in her life all rolled into one. She walked slowly toward it, even though the feeling in her bones told her to go for the door or find her way back to the attic. She needed to find out what the deal was with the mirror. Why did it glow like that? Why did she want to reach out and touch it?
    As she got closer, the yellow light shivered, then swirled into an image, not a reflection, but a picture of a library. It was a lot like a trick she'd seen in Belle's house at Disney World, and she wondered if Santa Command had the same designers.
    Once the picture stopped shifting, Tracy gaped at how welcoming everything looked. There was a red arm chair sitting next to a crackling fire. Green garland and red bows were draped across the mantle. The floor to ceiling bookshelves were stuffed with books. It was as if someone had reached into her mind and came up with the perfect reading room.
    It was so detailed, she was certain she was looking through a window and not a mirror. But if the mirror was actually a door into another room, why not just build a door? Why go to the trouble of making it seem like a magical entrance when