فصل سی و سوم

Chapter 33: Silo Practice

That evening Jaime and I drove out to the country, looking for a place for me to practice climbing.

“There,” he said. “I thought I remembered seeing that.” He pointed out over the fence to a tall cylindrical structure. “It is a grain silo. It is made of steel.” When we were certain that no one was around, we climbed over a barbwire fence to the farm, then walked fifty yards to the base of the silo.

“Do you know whose farm this is?” I asked.

Jaime shook his head. “No.”

“Will anyone see us?” I asked.

“I hope not. You climb. I will keep lookout.”

The silo was made of ribbed, galvanized steel and rose about forty feet high, the top tapering off to a cone.

The best way to describe what it’s like magnetizing myself is to say it’s like pulsing inside my body instead of outside of it—a little like stifling a sneeze.

I reached my hand as high above me as I could, then pulsed. My hand stuck firmly to the cool metal. Then, pulsing my legs, I jumped up with my knees against the silo. Both my knees stuck. For a moment I just sat there, stuck in place. As Jack had said, I had climbed the wall at the Starxource plant, but it was really just hanging on. Actually climbing upward involved more than just sticking to the metal, but a carefully timed process of sticking, releasing, then re-sticking.

It took me ten minutes to climb just ten feet. At this rate it would take me an hour to climb the Ampere, far too long to hang on to the side of the boat without being seen.

After some experimenting, I developed a rhythm, shifting my magnetism from one side of my body to the other. About twenty feet up, I accidentally released one side before fully magnetizing the other and fell about five feet before, in panic, I magnetized my entire body and stuck to the side of the silo like a magnet on a refrigerator door.

I climbed to the top of the silo and back down again in about a half hour, which wasn’t too bad considering that the first twenty minutes I was still figuring out what I was doing. When I got down I was covered with sweat and panting. I leaned over on my knees to catch my breath.

“Let’s try again,” Jaime said.

I looked up. “What?”

“Not fast enough. This time I will time you. On your mark, get set, go.” I jumped up and began climbing. It reminded me of the time in seventh grade gym class when we had to climb the rope to the ceiling. I didn’t set any gym records, but at least I had made it to the top.

This brought to mind another problem. Ostin, who was not only out of shape but also afraid of heights, made it only a third of the way before he gave up and slid down, which gave him a wicked rope burn on his thighs and arms. His mother called the school the next day and gave the gym teacher an earful. After all we’d been through, Ostin was in better shape than he was back then, but still I wondered if he could do it.

I reached the top of the silo, then slid back down in a controlled slide. I dropped the last six feet to the ground, rolling on the grass below.

“How’d I do?”

Jaime nodded. “Very good. You made it to the top in four minutes. If you can keep this fast, you will climb the side of the boat in less than fifteen minutes.” “Except I’ll be wearing an Elgen uniform and cloak,” I said.

“Yes, and carrying a heavy rope,” Jaime added.

“I didn’t think about that,” I said. “I better practice with the rope.” “I will purchase one tomorrow,” Jaime said. “We will come back tomorrow.” On the drive back to the villa, I said, “Any word on my mother?” Jaime shook his head. “It is very strange,” he said. “The voice is not responding to our signal.” “What does that mean?” I asked.

“I don’t know. But I will keep trying.” After a few more minutes he said, “I am worried about our friend Jack.” “So am I,” I said. “He hasn’t been the same since we lost Wade. He blames himself for Wade’s death.” “That is bad,” Jaime said.

“Taylor told me that she read his mind and he’s not expecting to survive the attack. It’s like he’s just accepted this is going to be a suicide mission.” Jaime nodded slowly. “Perhaps that is his wish.” “That’s what I’m afraid of.” I frowned. “I don’t know what to do when someone loses hope.” “You pray for them, my friend. You pray for them.” We were quiet the rest of the ride home.