Hunt for Jade Dragon (35 page)

“Who will be on the boat?” Taylor asked. “And who will be on land?”

I thought about it a moment, then said, “Taylor, Ben, Zeus, Tessa, Nichelle, and Jack should be on the boat.”

Zeus dropped his head. “You know I hate boats.”

“I know, but we'll need your firepower. With Tessa near you, you'll be able to take out a few Elgen boats if things go south.”

“I'll go,” he said, “but I don't have to like it.”

“Great, because you'll be in charge.”

“You won't be with us?” Taylor said.

“No. They'll need me on land. I'll take Ian, McKenna, and Ostin up the coast. Ian will be able to tell us when they're ready to transport. If we encounter Elgen, McKenna and I can protect the group.”

“Shouldn't I be with you?” Nichelle asked. “In case they send the Glows?”

“No,” I said. “It's more likely they'll put the Glows on the transport with Jade Dragon.”

“If Quentin is there he could shut down our coast guard boat before it can escape,” Ostin said. “We'll be sitting ducks.”

I looked at Nichelle. “You'll have to shut the Glows down first.”

“I can do that,” she said.

“We'll need radios,” I said to Ben.

“I can get those.”

I looked around the table. “What do you think?”

“What about me?” Abigail asked.

“You want in?”

She looked insulted. “What, you think I'm worthless?”

“No, your powers just aren't . . .” I searched for the right word.
“Aggressive.”

“Neither are Ostin's,” she said.

“I'm going to pretend you didn't say that,” Ostin said.

“At least I
have
powers,” she mumbled.

“You come with us,” Jack said.

I continued, “After we stop the transport boat, Taylor, with Tessa's help, reboots everyone while Jack and Zeus go on board, grab Jade Dragon, and bring her back to our boat.”

“What if they're wearing mindwave helmets?” Taylor asked.

“Then it will be easier for me to shock them,” Zeus said. “Those helmets of theirs make great conductors.”

I looked at Ben. “Where do we go after we have her?”

“There is a small dock here,” Ben said, pointing to a spot on the map. “It is south, around the rocks from the coast guard. We can dock there.”

“Okay,” I said. “As soon as you have Jade Dragon, we'll leave our point here, drive down and pick you up, then drive back to the safe house.”

“Who's going to drive?” Taylor asked. The question stung a little. Usually it would have been Wade.

“I'll drive,” McKenna said. “I learned at the academy.” Then she added, “Before purgatory.”

“McKenna drives,” I said. I looked around the table. “Are we good?”

Most everyone was nodding.

“That's a plan,” Ostin said.

“Yeah,” I said. “Let's just hope it works.”

* *  *

A few minutes after our meeting, Ian and I took Ben aside.

“We need to tell you something,” I said. “In private.”

Ben's expression fell, mirroring ours. “We can go downstairs.”

After we were alone in the garage I shut the stairwell door behind us, then said, “We need to warn the voice that the Elgen might know where the ranch is.”

He looked back and forth between us. “How would they know?”

“Because I told them,” I said.

Ben looked stunned. “Why did you tell them?”

I felt like a fool. “After they captured us . . .” I shook my head. “I thought Hatch was my father. He asked where my mother was. And I told him.”

Ben looked even more distraught. “I don't understand. Why did you think Hatch was your father?”

Ian stepped in to defend me. “It's not Michael's fault,” he said. “Tara can do things to your brain. She made Hatch look like Michael's father. Michael didn't know.”

Ben nodded slowly. “What did you tell him?”

“I told him that the ranch was three hours away from Los Angeles.”

“That is all?”

“And I told him the weather.”

He thought for a moment, then said, “I will tell the voice.”

I took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. “I'm sorry. I'm really worried. I don't know what else to do.”

Ben looked into my eyes then said, “There is a Chinese saying. If a problem has a solution, to worry is no use, for in the end it will be solved. If a problem has no solution, there is no reason to worry, because it cannot be solved.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “We do not have time to worry. For now we have other things to use our minds for. We need to rescue Jade Dragon.”

T
hat evening, as Taylor and I were finishing our shift on lookout, I told her what I'd told Ben. She tried to comfort me.

“It will be okay,” she said. “America's a big place. That's not enough information to find them. Three hours away could be like Kansas. Or Nebraska.” She put her arms around me and held me.

After we parted she smiled and said, “Besides, remember what your mother says. Things have a way of working out.”

“You're right,” I said.

After a minute she said, “There's something really important I need to tell you, too.”

“What?” I asked.

“I think I can explain it better with Ostin around.”

“All right,” I said. “Let's go find him.”

We climbed down from the roof and found Ostin sitting next
to an oscillating fan in the men's bunk room. He was translating a Chinese magazine into English.

“Hey,” I said. “We need to talk.”

He looked up, his eyes wide. “What did I do?”

“You're not in trouble,” I said.

“We'll need some paper and something to write with,” Taylor said.

Ostin held up his pen and pad of paper. “Already got it.”

Taylor walked over and locked the door, then sat down on the bed across from Ostin. “I need to write something.”

Ostin gave her his paper and pen. Taylor flipped through the pad to a clean page and began writing. When she was finished she handed it to Ostin.

Ostin looked at it for a moment, then said, “Where did you get this?”

“Jade.”

“Can I have my pen back?” Ostin asked. Taylor handed it to him and he began scratching numbers on the paper. After a moment he said, “This is incredible.” He looked at Taylor. “Do you understand this?”

“It sounds weird since I barely made it through algebra, but I sort of do.” She looked at me. “I mean, I don't think I could explain it to anyone, but it's, like, part of me.”

Ostin went back to filling the paper with symbols, numbers, and letters. Every now and then he'd mumble “Whoa,” or “Brilliant.”

“You understand what that means?” I asked Ostin.

“Most of it. Without understanding the dynamics of the MEI machine, I can't fully understand the formula. But it's the algorithm of the MEI waves. I would have to compare it with the Elgen's information to see the variance, but I guarantee it's different from what the Elgen have been operating from.”

“Is this what the Elgen are looking for?” I asked.

Ostin looked at me gravely. “I think so.”

For a moment we were all silent as the reality of what we had sunk
in. Like E = mc
₂
, this formula could change the world. Or destroy it.

“Burn that paper,” I said to Ostin. “Now.”

“All right,” he said. He walked out to the kitchen.

“Why would she give it to me?” Taylor asked.

“Because she trusts you.”

Taylor's brow fell. “But she didn't say it. She only thought it to me. That means she knew I could read her mind.”

“It also means that she must know it's what the Elgen want from her,” I said. I took a deep breath. “We've got to get her out of there.”

T
he 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.”