فصل 49

chapter-49 A Cannibal fork

“Michael, wake up.” I looked up to see Gervaso standing above me. “It’s time.” It took a moment for recognition to sink in. I was hoping the night before had just been a nightmare. It was, just not the sleeping kind.

It was ten o’clock in the morning, not early, but I’d still only gotten a few hours of sleep. And it didn’t look like morning. There was no sign of the sun.

After I got up, Gervaso and I went around waking everyone and telling them to eat and prepare to dock. Then Welch, Jack, Taylor, Ian, Zeus, and I followed Gervaso up to the control deck. Ostin came as well, even though he hadn’t been invited.

Outside the door to the control deck Gervaso said to Taylor, “I need you to stand next to J.D. I need you to read his mind.” We still hadn’t told everyone else about our concern, so Taylor looked surprised. “Why?” “We have reason to believe that he’s working with the Elgen.” Taylor blanched. “I’ll stay close.”

We walked into the control deck single file. There were three crew members along with Captain J.D., who was in his chair. The men were speaking in Fijian but stopped as we entered.

“Good morning, friends,” J.D. said. “You see our destination ahead, just as planned.” Ahead of us in the far distance was a sliver of land. It looked bleak, like a South Pacific version of Alcatraz. It had a five-hundred-meter-tall radio tower held up by guy wires stretching hundreds of yards in each direction. A series of red lights flashed near the top of the tower. A light plume of steam rose above the island, mixing in with the dark, low-lying clouds. The Elgen had burned almost every tree on the island, leaving it black and desolate.

“There’s your Hades,” J.D. said.

“Yeah, it looks like hell,” Jack replied.

“Why is there steam coming off the island?” Taylor asked.

“It must have a small Starxource plant,” Ostin said.

We were all quiet. There was a dark foreboding, made more so by the lightning and weather.

“Did you see that?” Taylor asked. “Lightning just struck the tower.” “It’s the tallest thing around for a thousand miles,” Ostin said. “It probably gets struck hundreds of times a year. And technically, it’s a mast, not a tower.” “What’s the difference?” I asked.

“Towers stand on their own. Masts have wires that hold them up.” “It’s a tower,” Jack said.

As we neared the island, we passed several Elgen shuttles. One of them looked like some kind of a prison barge with barred windows.

“Where’s the prison?” I asked. I’d seen a map of the island, but it was different seeing the land in real life.

“It’s on the other side of the island,” J.D. said. “There are two docks, an old one and the new dock for the prison. We will dock on this side. Otherwise we will be seen by the prison guards.” I turned to Ian. “Can you see anything?”

“There’s activity at the far dock. It must be a changing of shifts. There’s a boatload of guards leaving.” “Maybe that’s a good thing,” I said. “The new guards will just be settling in.” “I don’t see new guards,” he said.

“They wouldn’t come and go at the same time,” Ostin said. “The old guards won’t leave until the others have taken their place.” “That’s what I mean,” he said. “I don’t see any guards at all. I see a lot of prisoners in their cells, but no guards.” “That sounds like an evacuation, not a shift change,” Gervaso said.

“Why would they all be leaving?” I asked.

J.D. glanced at me. “You never know, Mr. Vey. The Elgen are always changing their ways.” “We’ve got trouble,” Ian said. “There are two very large boats coming our way. I’ve never seen them before.” Welch’s brow furrowed. “What do they look like?” “One of them looks like a destroyer. The other one has a huge deck with helicopters on it.” Welch’s brow furrowed still deeper. “It’s the Edison and the Franklin, Hatch’s new attack boats.” “It’s no problem,” J.D. said. “They’re just on patrol.” “Are you sure?” Taylor asked, walking up close to the captain.

J.D. put his hand on Taylor’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, honey. Everything will be just fine.” Taylor’s face turned ashen, and then she shoved the captain away from her. J.D. laughed and turned to me. “You have a feisty girl there, Mike.” “You were right,” Taylor said to us. “He’s betrayed us. He sold us out to Hatch.” Jack and Welch pulled out guns. One of the crew members reached for a gun, and Zeus blasted him against the wall.

“What is this about?” J.D. said, trying to act innocent.

“You tell us,” Gervaso said. “Tell us why you betrayed us.” “Why would I do that? You are my friends.” He even sounded like a liar.

“He’s not a friend,” Taylor said. “He’s a traitor. He sold us all out for money. He wants the million-dollar bounty for Welch, and he asked Hatch if he could own me. As his pet.” “I’m going to electrocute him,” I said.

Before I could shock him, Gervaso knocked him out of his seat with a punch. Then Gervaso jumped on him and continued to beat on him until his face was bloody. “Tell us what you did.” J.D. cried out, “Okay, okay. I will tell you.” Gervaso leaned back, his fists red and covered with blood. “Are the Elgen waiting for us?” J.D. looked up at us from his back, terrified. “Yes.” “We’re dead,” Jack said, taking over the boat’s steering.

“Not before he dies,” Zeus said. “I’m going to fry him slowly.” “No,” Gervaso said. “Not yet. We need to know what he’s arranged. Taylor, come touch this scumbag. I need to be sure he’s telling the truth.” “I’d rather touch vomit.”

“He is vomit,” Jack said.

Gervaso turned back to J.D. “If you lie once, Zeus will burn off your feet. Do you understand?” “Just give me the word,” Zeus said, grabbing the man’s ankle.

His voice quivered. “I understand.”

“What arrangement did you make with the Elgen?” “I told Hatch that I would bring all of you to him.” Jack groaned out.

“Why didn’t the Elgen attack us at Nike?” I asked.

“Hatch wanted you to get to Hades. Then he was going to send his forces to surround the island.” “To capture us?”

J.D. didn’t answer.

Gervaso repeated more forcefully. “To capture us?” “No. He intends to kill everyone in battle.” He glanced at Taylor. “Except this girl. And Vey. He has ordered Vey to be taken alive. He has special plans for Vey.” “What kind of plans?” I asked.

“An ancient Fiji tradition. He said to prepare the ai cula ni bokola.” Ostin looked at me with horror. “It’s what I was telling you about. It’s the cannibal fork they used to eat people.” For a moment I was speechless. “Hatch is planning to eat me?” Taylor covered her mouth as if she were going to throw up.

“The general plans to serve you for the feast to celebrate the end of the resistance.” I looked at J.D. “You knew this, and you were still going to deliver me to him?” “What he does with you is not my business.” “How much did they pay you for us?” Jack shouted. “Thirty pieces of silver?” “How could you do this?” Gervaso said. “I trusted you.” “I needed money,” he said.

“For what?”

“. . . For drugs.”

Gervaso’s fist balled up. “You pathetic piece of crap. When did you become a junkie?” “It’s your fault,” J.D. said. “After I got shot saving you, they put me on painkillers. I got addicted. When the painkillers stopped working, I needed something stronger. If it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t be a junkie. You share the blame.” Gervaso spit on him. “You had a choice. Everyone has a choice. You took the cowardly way.

“And if you couldn’t handle it, you should have put a gun to your head instead of ours.” J.D. was quiet for a moment, then said, “You’re right. I should have. But I didn’t.” “No, you didn’t. But before we’re through, you’re going to wish you had.”