فصل 33

chapter-33 Premonitions and dreams

By the time we got down to the first floor, everyone else was already gathered. Gervaso and Ben stood next to each other on one side of the room, looking at a map. They both looked up as we came down.

“We’re here,” Nichelle said.

“That is everyone,” Ben said.

“All right,” Gervaso said, looking around the room. “Everyone listen up. I just got off the phone with Welch. He’s ready to surrender to us. This might be tricky. We know that the Elgen are in the area. Ben has seen them, and Welch said they’ve been tracking him for some time now and they’re getting close.

“Keep this in mind. Our number one priority isn’t rescuing Welch. It’s to make sure that this isn’t a trap. That’s why we’re meeting in a public place.

“The plan is to meet in front of the Cheng Gung High School near the center of town. As soon as the bell rings, the students will flood the front of the school to go home. Welch will be hiding somewhere near the school. Once there is a crowd, he will walk out with the students.” He turned toward McKenna. “McKenna, we have a high school uniform for you. You will blend in with the rest of the students.” Taylor shook her head. “It’s just like my dream.” I frowned. “Exactly like your dream. I need to tell Gervaso about it.” Ostin said proudly, “The part about McKenna was my idea!” McKenna dramatically crossed her arms and turned back to him. “Why, because we Chinese all look alike?” “Well, you do,” Ostin said. “Genetically speaking, you have the same hue of hair color, dark-pigment irises, an unusual relativity of height and . . .” McKenna glared at him.

“But not you,” he said. “You are one in a billion.” McKenna smiled.

“He’s getting so much better,” Taylor said softly.

Gervaso continued. “McKenna, you will find Welch and lead him back to where we are waiting. That way we are in charge of the situation. If Ian, or any of us, sees anything suspicious, we’ll call off the mission and leave Welch to himself.” He looked at his watch. “We have one hour and forty-eight minutes until the bell rings. McKenna’s uniform is on its way. We leave in one hour.

“We won’t be coming back here, so get your things packed up and have them waiting by the door. Once we have Welch, we’ll be going directly back to the airport to leave the country. Any questions?” Tanner raised his hand. “If we don’t rescue Welch, are we still going to try to steal the Joule?” Gervaso looked at him. “As of now, the plan is to steal the Joule no matter what.” “Even if it’s impossible?”

Gervaso looked angry. “Of course not. None of us has a death wish. Now go get your things. You’re dismissed.” As we turned to walk away, Ostin said, “I wish Tanner would keep his mouth shut.” Tanner overheard him. “Maybe I’m trying to save your little life, Einstein.” “Knock it off,” I said.

“Why did you even come?” Zeus asked.

“Yeah,” Tessa said. “If you’re already chickening out, you should just go home to your family.” Tanner looked at us all sadly, then said softly, “You guys are my family.” He turned and went up the stairs alone.

None of us knew what to say to that.

An hour later we all met back downstairs. McKenna was dressed in a schoolgirl uniform that looked like a sailor outfit: a navy-blue skirt, knee-high white stockings, and a white blouse with a broad blue-and-white collar, with a matching navy tie. There were Chinese characters above her left breast, presumably the name of the high school. She didn’t look happy about being in uniform.

“If anyone says anything, I’ll melt you,” she said.

Ostin shrugged. “I think you look cute.” I walked up to Gervaso. “I need to tell you something. Alone.” “All right.” We walked into his bedroom and he shut the door. “What’s up?” “This is going to sound a little weird, but Taylor’s been having these premonitions that come true.” “What kind of premonitions?”

“Like she had a dream that Timepiece Ranch was attacked by fire-breathing dragons just before the Elgen torched it. She also dreamed that her father was shot by deer hunters the day before it happened.” Gervaso looked at me with concern. “Did she have a dream about what we’re doing today?” “Yeah. She dreamed that we went for Welch in front of a school and that McKenna was dressed up like one of the students.” “. . . Just like we are planning.”

“Yeah.”

“Did she see anything else?”

“The Elgen found us.”

Gervaso looked even more concerned. “How did her dream end?” “This is the part that was most weird. She said that suddenly everyone was frozen like statues. Everyone but me.” “Frozen? As in dead?”

“She didn’t say ‘dead.’”

Gervaso looked down a moment to think. When he looked back up, he asked, “What do you think we should do?” “I don’t know. We need Welch.”

“Yeah, we do.”

Neither of us spoke for a moment. Then I said, “I just wanted to warn you that we need to be careful. If her dream is real, we’re going to run into Elgen.” He slowly nodded. “All right. Thank you. I’ll keep Ian especially close.” He took a deep breath. “Now we better go. We’re running out of time.” * * *

We climbed back into the same vans we had arrived in and quickly drove off.

“How far to the school?” I asked.

“Not far,” Ben said. “Maybe just fifteen minutes.” “Fifteen minutes,” I repeated. I wondered if we were driving into a trap.