فصل 19

Chapter 19: The Pick-Up

“We’re going to Peru?” asked McKenna, her mouth full of blueberry bagel.

“Isn’t that in Africa?” Wade asked.

“Did you even go to school?” Ostin said.

“Same one you did, loser.”

“Same school, different planet,” Ostin said.

All eleven of us were gathered in the loft eating bagels. I stood in front of the TV with Taylor by my side. “Yes, we’re going to Peru. The voice has promised to take us there.” I looked around the room. “This is going to be very dangerous—even more dangerous than what we risked at the academy. I don’t want you to go unless you’re positive you want to.” “I’m in,” Jack said immediately. “Wade?” “I already committed,” he said. “I owe you, Michael.” I nodded. “Thanks.”

“What about you, Mitch?” Jack asked.

“Uh . . .” His eyes darted back and forth between Jack and me. “I think my parents are . . . I think we’re going to be out of town. My dad—” Jack cut him off. “It’s okay, Mitch. It’s not your battle. It’s probably better that you don’t come.” Mitchell looked relieved. “If you say so.” “I’m there,” Zeus said.

“In with both feet,” Ian said. “Girls?” Jack and Zeus both looked at Abigail. She shrugged. “I’m coming.” “Me too,” McKenna said. “You’re going to need me.” “You can count on that,” Ostin said.

McKenna turned to Grace. “How about you?” She looked at us. “I guess I’m in too.” “Actually,” I said, “it might be better if you stayed back.” “Why?”

“If Hatch catches you, he’ll force you to reveal how much you downloaded. That will jeopardize all the information we already got from them. Plus, you know he won’t hold back on your punishment. It’s probably best if you’re not with us.” “Where will I go?”

“With the voice.”

Grace looked at me nervously. “But we don’t know who they are.” “I know,” I said. “Either way, it’s a risk. It’s your decision. But if Hatch catches you . . .” “You know what Hatch does to traitors,” Zeus said.

I looked at Zeus. I was afraid for him as well.

Grace looked down for a moment, then said, “All right. I’d probably just be in the way anyway.” “I think it’s the smart choice,” Taylor said.

“So when do we go?” Zeus asked.

“I don’t know.”

“Then I have a suggestion,” Zeus said. “We need to better prepare ourselves.” “How do we prepare for the unknown?” Ostin asked.

“By practicing our powers.”

“Practice?” Ostin said.

“We practiced using them every day in the academy. When I first got there, I could only shock things less than a yard away. Now I can shoot more than fifty yards.” “How do we practice our powers?” Taylor asked.

“By using them. Our powers are like muscles. They get stronger with use. And we need to eat right. We need to eat more bananas. More potassium.” “There are things with more potassium than bananas,” Ostin said. “Spinach has nearly twice the potassium as bananas.” “The Elgen scientists would have known that,” Ian said. “There must be something special about bananas.” “To begin with, they taste a lot better than spinach,” McKenna said.

“Mitchell,” I said. “When do your parents get back?” “Not until two weeks from tomorrow. They decided to stay an extra four days in Hawaii.” “By then we should be gone.” I looked around at the group. “So, I guess that’s that. I’ll let you know as soon as I hear something. In the meantime I suggest we take Zeus’s advice and prepare ourselves. Zeus, can you coach us?” Zeus nodded. “I’m your man.”

Later that afternoon a white, windowless appliance repair van pulled into Mitchell’s driveway. A husky man wearing a blue jumpsuit came to the door. “I’m here to check your washer,” he said.

“What?” Mitchell asked.

“You know why I’m here,” he said.

“Oh right. Come in.”

The man stepped inside, and Mitchell shut the door behind him. I stepped forward. Zeus, Ian, and Jack stood by my side while Taylor and Ostin stood on the opposite side of the foyer.

“Why are you here?” I asked.

He looked at me apprehensively. “I’ve come for the computer.” “You can’t have the computer,” I said. “We need it. But we’ve copied the information to a hard drive.” “That will do,” the man said. “Where is it?” “Before we give it to you, we need you to sit down.” I pointed to the upholstered chair we’d dragged from the den into the foyer.

The man looked at us suspiciously. “What is this about?” “We’re protecting ourselves,” I said. “Now sit down.” His eyes darted back and forth between us. “I’m not sitting anywhere.” He started toward the door.

Zeus shot a blue bolt of electricity to the door handle, the sound of which filled the room. The man jumped back. Zeus held up his hands and electricity arced between his fingers. “Try that again and I’ll light you up like a Christmas tree.” The man glared at us.

“He’s got two guns,” Ian said. “One in a shoulder holster, the other on his ankle.” “Put your hands in the air, now,” I said firmly.

Zeus stretched his hands forward. “You’ve got three seconds to comply, man. You go for the guns it’s the last thing you’ll ever do.” The man looked exasperated. “Look, guys, we’re on the same side.” “Then you won’t mind if we check your story,” I said.

The man hesitated, then slowly raised his hands in the air. “Okay. Do it your way. Whatever you say.” He sat in the chair. I walked over and put my hand on his shoulder. “Don’t move.” “You know he’s got enough amps to make sure you never move again,” Ostin said.

“We know what Michael can do,” the man said. “Let’s just get this over with. The longer I’m here the riskier.” “Jack, take his guns,” I said.

Jack pulled the man’s guns from the two holsters. “Nice,” he said, examining the pieces. “A Glock and a Walther P99.” “I want those back,” he said.

Taylor and Ostin walked over to the man. Taylor put her hands on his head while Ostin held out the list of questions he’d written.

“I want you to answer these questions in your mind,” Ostin said. He began reading from the list we’d put together as a group, asking each question twice and pausing between each question until Taylor nodded for him to continue.

“Who sent you?”

“Why are you helping us?”

“Did you know we were going to be attacked at the safe house?” “Did you really blow up the third car?” “Are you going to help us get to Peru?” “Are you allies with the Elgen?”

“Are you helping the Elgen?”

“How do you feel about the Elgen?” “How do you feel about Dr. C. J. Hatch?” When Ostin had finished reading his list, I looked over at Taylor. “What do you think?” “I think he’s on our side.”

Mitchell brought down the hard drive, and I handed it over to the man. “We’ve lived up to our side of the bargain. When do we go to Peru?” “We’ll call,” he said. “There’s a lot of preparation that needs to happen first.” “How long?”

“I don’t know. Could be a few days, could be a few weeks.” “A few weeks?”

“This will take some planning. We need to get you as close as possible without them knowing. Be ready and wait for our call.” He put the hard drive in his bag and locked it. Jack returned the man’s guns. He put them back in their holsters, then walked to the door. “Be ready.” He saluted me, opened the door, then walked out to his van.