فصل 35

chapter-35 Finders keepers.

Apparently, the Elgen had developed a new way to RESAT us without darts or boxes. “This just keeps getting better,” I mumbled.

McKenna dropped to her knees, then fell to her side on the asphalt, moaning and clutching her ribs. Three Taiwanese policemen walked up behind her and Welch.

“Cops!” Ostin said.

I’m pretty sure that Welch didn’t see the police as he stopped to help McKenna.

“They’re after them,” Ostin said. “We’ve got to help her.” “We’re walking into RESATs,” Taylor said. “We’ll be worthless.” “They won’t affect me,” Ostin said.

“I think I can do it,” I said. “I’m getting so electric. Go tell Ben to call Gervaso.” “Okay.” As Taylor ran back toward our van, Gervaso and his group began moving toward Welch as well.

“Ian must have already spotted them,” Ostin said.

“We’ll need help,” I said. “Especially Jack’s and Gervaso’s. Let’s go.” Ostin and I ran toward McKenna. When we were about twenty yards away from her, the back door of the food truck we were hiding behind slid open. More than a dozen Elgen guards jumped out the back.

“This way,” I said. We dropped to our hands and knees, and Ostin and I crawled under the truck toward McKenna.

“Déjà vu,” Ostin said. “Just like Peru.”

We stopped at the back of the truck just a few yards from the Elgen guards.

Then two other guards, one of them in the uniform of an EGG and wearing a mind helmet, walked up from a different direction. He took out a gun and held it to Welch’s head.

“Did you really think you could escape us?” Welch said nothing.

The other Elgen guard was dressed in the uniform of a Zone Captain and also wore a mind helmet. He pointed a gun at McKenna. “Tell your friends to give themselves up.” In spite of her pain McKenna said, “Tell them yourself, loser.” The guard took a small control from his pocket and turned a knob. McKenna screamed out.

“I can make it worse,” he said.

Ostin started crawling forward.

“What are you doing?” I whispered.

“I’ve got to stop them.” He stood and ran toward them, waving his arms. “Stop it! Leave her alone.” “That was stupid,” I said.

The guard, with an amused expression, pointed his gun at Ostin. “You must be Ostin.” “Let her go!” Ostin shouted.

“This isn’t catch and release,” he said. “It’s finders keepers. Now kneel down next to her, or I’ll kill you both.” “Yes, sir,” Ostin said as he knelt on the ground.

I watched the rest of our group slowly creep forward. I had no way to warn them about the RESATs.

“They’re coming, sir,” one of the guards said.

“We’ve got them covered,” the first guard replied.

That’s when I saw the full regiment of guards coming from outside the school grounds. There were at least a hundred of them. It was a trap, and we’d walked right into it.

When Gervaso’s group was within thirty yards all the electrics fell to their knees. I could feel a wave of RESAT wash over me, powerful enough to jolt me, like a slipped dental drill. But just for a second. It didn’t stop me.

“You are completely surrounded!” a Squad Captain shouted. “Don’t try to escape or we’ll kill your friends. Hands on your heads. You there!” he shouted at Gervaso. He pointed his gun at McKenna. “Bring everyone in, or I start shooting.” Gervaso looked furious but obeyed. “Come on, everyone. Put your hands up.” Everyone had been captured except for me, Taylor, and Ben. The EGG looked pleased. “Look at this. I swung for a base hit and got a grand slam. The general will be celebrating tonight.” It was a trap, only Welch wasn’t a part of it. They had set the trap for him, and we had foolishly rushed into it.

“Let them go,” Welch said. “I’m the one you want.” “Yeah, I’m not going to do that,” Daines said.

“How did you find me?” Welch asked.

The EGG looked at Welch with disdain. “It wasn’t easy, after you sent us on all those goose chases with your different phones. But in the end it was your cleverness that was your undoing. It occurred to me that you might still have more phones.

“We traced the phone we captured back to the shop in Kangshan where you purchased them, and with a little persuasion, we got all the phone numbers you had. Then I programmed our systems to look for the ones you hadn’t used yet. The very second you activated one, we were notified. It still took a while to find you, since you don’t stay in the same place long, but this time we were close, just patiently waiting.” “So now what?” Welch asked.

“General Hatch will be so happy to see you.” He looked around. “All of you.” “I thought there was a death order,” Welch said.

“There is. But I couldn’t exactly open fire around all these schoolchildren. We might accidentally hit a few of them, and you know what kind of negative press that would generate. So we’re going to take you back alive, and I’m going to give the general the pleasure of—” Daines froze midsentence. Actually, everyone around him froze: Welch, the students, the guards, everyone on the entire street. A car driving by slammed into a stopped car, and cars began stacking up behind them. A stuck car horn blared.

Everyone was frozen except for me. My electricity just amplified. It took me a moment to realize that I wasn’t the only one unaffected.

A young, blond woman about my age walked confidently through the midst of the people, looking as calm as if she were walking through a museum’s statuary.

As I climbed out from under the truck, she turned and looked at me. She wore a large smile on her face. “Michael Vey, I presume. I wondered if it would work on you.” I intensified my electricity. “Who are you?” “Don’t shock me,” she said. “We’re on the same team.” “I know my team. I don’t know you.”

“But I know you. And I’m a huge fan. My name is Cassy. The voice sent me.”