فصل 41

Chapter 41: Go Time

The next two days passed uneventfully. We reviewed our rescue plan over and over, anticipating changes and creating alternate escape routes in case something went wrong. Ben was the only one who left the warehouse, and we all took turns watching the streets. We noticed a lot of police and military vehicles in the area.

Ben rented a boat, which he left at the small dock he had told us about. By the afternoon of our third day everything was ready. All we were waiting for was the Volta to arrive.

That night, a few hours after we’d gone to bed, Ben flipped on the lights in our bunk room. “It is time.” “Time to sleep,” Ostin said groggily.

“Time to go,” Ben said. “The voice called. The Volta is just twenty-five kilometers from the plant.” “Let’s go,” I said, pulling on my clothes.

Within five minutes we were all gathered downstairs in the garage. In spite of the hour everyone was wide awake. I guess fear will do that.

As we were about to get into the car Ostin said, “There’s one thing we haven’t talked about.” “What’s that?” I asked.

“If we fail, do we sink the boat?”

“You mean with Jade on it?” Taylor asked.

“If the Elgen get that information, millions of people will die.” We all knew the answer. I looked at Taylor. “Let’s not fail.” We took a different vehicle than we had before. It was a dark blue windowless van. Ben had observed that the coastal roads were being heavily patrolled, so he took the main roads through Kaohsiung before heading north to our starting point. I sat in the back of the van with Taylor. I hated that we would be separated during the rescue.

As we drove through the dark, Taylor knit her fingers with mine. “Remember our prom?” she said softly.

I smiled sadly. “Yes.”

“I’d rather be there,” she said.

Less than a half hour later Ben pulled off the highway and drove down smaller and smaller roads that eventually led us to a deserted, tree-lined dock. Ben parked along the road. It was a beautiful night with a full moon reflecting off the calm black sea. There was a light haze over the water, and from the moon’s glow we could see the silhouette of an eighteen-foot powerboat floating alone at the dock. We all got out of the van.

“I can see the Volta,” Ian said. “She hasn’t anchored yet.” “Can you see any activity at the Starxource plant?” “Not yet.”

Ben handed me a handheld radio. “We are on channel seventeen.” “Let’s test them,” I said. We turned the radios on. “Can you hear me?” Ben nodded. “Yes. Can you hear me?”

“Yes,” I replied, even though I could have heard him without the radio. I put the radio in my pocket, then looked around. “We’re ready.” I took a deep breath. “We’d better get going.” Taylor took my hand. I must have looked as afraid as I felt because she said, “Don’t worry, I’ll be back. With Jade.” “Be careful,” I said.

She smiled and kissed me. “Yeah, right.”

Ben handed McKenna the keys to the van. “You know where to go?” “You programmed it into the GPS, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then I know.”

Taylor and I hugged one last time, and then I turned to everyone else. “Good luck. De oppresso liber.” “Semper fi,” Jack returned.

Zeus walked up to me. “Any last instructions?” “Get the girl. Bring everyone back safe.” “I’ll do it,” he said. “Anything else?”

I smiled. “Yeah. Stay out of the water.” We man-hugged. “See you soon.” I glanced over at Jack and he nodded at me. Then the group followed Ben to the boat. Near the dock, Taylor looked back once more. She blew me a kiss, then turned and climbed into the boat. A sick feeling came over me. Something told me I’d never see her again.