فصل چهل و ششم

Chapter 46: Revelations and Reunions

For several minutes Jaime just stared at the burning wreckage of the Ampere, as if he were in a trance. Our speedboat started to rock more as the waves from the explosion’s shock waves caught up to us. The first streaks of dawn had begun to brighten the indigo sky. Set against the gradient horizon, the Ampere’s orange-red flames and sparkling cinders looked oddly beautiful.

Then Jaime said, “You did it, hermanos.” He turned back to us. “We now must go before the guardacostas arrives.” “Dodds is about a mile up the coast,” Ian said. “It looks safe.” “You know Dodds?” I asked.

“How do you think we got here?” Ian replied.

“Everyone hold on,” Jaime said, and he hit the throttle again. The boat lunged forward, gaining speed until we were bouncing from crest to crest. I looked over at Zeus. He was wearing a hoodie and wrapped completely in towels, sitting on the floor in the center near the front of the boat. For Zeus, even the refreshing ocean spray was dangerous to him. We might as well have been floating on a sea of acid. I couldn’t help but think how courageous he was.

“What happened to the Watt?” I asked.

“Zeus did that,” Tessa said. “From the deck of the Ampere.” “It was a fluke,” Zeus said. “They were loading torpedoes on top and I couldn’t resist. I didn’t think it would go up like that. Ka-boom.” “Ka-boom is right,” Taylor said.

“You rock, dude,” Jack said. Jack went to high-five Zeus, but Zeus quickly pulled back.

“Sorry, man,” he said. “Your hands are wet.” “My bad,” Jack said. He wiped his hands on his shirt, then they high-fived.

Ten minutes later Jaime careened the boat toward shore, which was now visible in the early light. As we approached the dock, I could see a white van in the distance with two figures leaning against it.

“Who’s that with Dodds?” I asked.

“It’s Abi,” Ian said.

“Abi came back?”

“It was her idea to come back,” Ian said. “But we were all thinking it. None of us could stand the idea of you guys doing this alone. We tried to radio you the same day we landed, but there was a communication problem.” “That’s because we were compromised,” Ostin said. “We lost radio contact.” “So you touched the States,” I said.

“For a day,” Ian said.

“More like a few hours,” Tessa said.

“Did you meet the voice?” I asked.

“No. But I saw your mother,” Ian said.

“You did?”

He nodded. “She gave me a hug. She looked good. Probably because she was eating something better than rat biscuits. She asked me to tell you that she loves you and to be careful.” He grinned. “I didn’t tell her that you were planning on blowing up the Elgen’s main boat.” “Probably for the best,” I said.

“I thought so,” he replied. He turned to Ostin. “I met your parents too.” Ostin’s eyes opened wide. “You saw my mom and dad?” “Yes. They were very proud of you. Your mom said something like, ‘I always knew he would make a difference in this world.’ ” “Awesome,” Ostin said. He was grinning from ear to ear. “Totally awesome.” * * *

As we pulled up to the dock, we could clearly see two massive pillars of black smoke rising from the port a mile south of us. Dodds and Abigail walked out to meet us. Abigail was frantically counting heads on the boat.

Jaime said, “Jack, please throw out the rope.” “Got it,” he said, climbing to the front.

Dodds caught the rope, pulled the boat up to the dock, and tied the rope to a metal cleat. Then he stood and raised his arms out to us. “The warriors return.” “You’re all here,” Abigail said.

“We thought of dying,” Tessa said. “But no one wanted to miss the after party.” Jack climbed out first, then helped everyone else out. Taylor and I were the last to disembark.

“Michael Vey,” Dodds said. “Your Electroclan has lived up to its reputation.” “We survived,” I said.

“That’s good too,” he said. We embraced.

Then Dodds stepped back, leaving Taylor and me standing next to Abigail.

“Welcome back,” she said.

“You too,” I said. “What brought you back?” “Something you said.”

“What was that?”

“You said not to regret my decision. I couldn’t. If something had happened to you, I would have regretted it the rest of my life.” She put her arms around me. “You were right to stay. But mostly I’m just glad you’re safe.” When we parted, Taylor hugged her as well. “You saved our lives.” Abigail held her tight. “They were worth saving.” * * *

The ride back to the villa at Miraflores was happily crowded, with Taylor and Abigail sitting across our laps. As we pulled up the villa’s palm-tree-lined drive, I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful everything looked. I remembered wondering as we drove off if I’d ever see it again.

Jaime pulled the van up to the front of the house and everyone piled out.

“I’m getting out of this clown suit,” Jack said, pulling off his sailor shirt. “Dodds, where are my clothes?” “I put them in the bags your sailor suit came in,” he said.

“I’m keeping mine for a souvenir,” Ostin said.

“I’m burning mine,” Taylor said.

“We burned a few of them on the boat,” Zeus said.

The idea of that didn’t bring me joy. We had sunk a ship. I didn’t want to think about all the people who were on it—even if they were part of Hatch’s navy.

Taylor was holding my hand and she looked over at me with understanding.

After we were all inside, Jaime shut the door behind us. Jaime said, “In a few minutes Mr. Dodds and I will be going to Lima to see what the Elgen are doing and how the government is responding.” “We will also be making arrangements for your flight home,” Dodds said.

Home. The word sounded sweet even if I wasn’t sure where “home” was anymore.

“Someday, the world may talk about what happened here today,” Dodds said. “But until then, we are very proud of you. You should all get some rest. You deserve it.” “Tonight we will be having a big fiesta to celebrate our heroes,” Jaime said. “While we are in town, we will shop for food. Does anyone want anything special from town?” “Inca Kola,” I said. “Muy cold.”

“Sí, Kola,” Jaime repeated.

“And some granadilla,” I said.

“Granadilla,” Tessa said. “You mean that snot fruit?” I shrugged. “It kind of grew on me.” “There’s something I need you to pick up,” Taylor said. She walked up to Jaime and whispered something in his ear. Jaime nodded and smiled. “Sí, senorita.” He turned to Dodds. “Vámonos.” The two of them walked out the front door. Taylor came back and took my hand.

“What did you ask Jaime for?”

“Just some things.” She looked into my eyes. “May I talk to you? In private?” The gravity of her voice worried me. “Of course.” We walked into a room and Taylor shut the door behind us. She looked a little uncomfortable. “I wanted to talk to you about what I said in the engine room—in those last seconds when we thought we were going to die.” I frowned. “It’s okay,” I said. “I understand. People say crazy things when they’re scared.” “I meant every word of it.”

We looked at each other, then my mouth rose in a large smile. “Me too,” I said. “Someday I’ll make good on it.” She smiled that beautiful smile. “I’ll be waiting.”