Hunt for Jade Dragon (38 page)

“I promise,” I said. “No one will leave the building.”

He turned the ignition and the van started. “I will be back soon.”

Taylor leaned forward and kissed Jade Dragon on the cheek. “
Dzai jyan
,” she said.

A tear fell down Jade Dragon's cheek. Taylor wiped her own eyes, then shut the van door as the garage door opened. I gave Ben a half wave, then he looked over his shoulder and backed the van out of the garage. The door shut behind him.

“I wish we were going with them,” Taylor said.

“I know, but Ben's right. It's safer for him to go alone.” I took Taylor's hand. “Are you still tired?”

“Yes. But I don't want to go back to bed or I won't sleep tonight.”

“Want to go up to the roof?”

She smiled. “Sure.”

I took her hand and we climbed the stairway three stories to the top of the warehouse. The stairwell's last door let out onto a flat tar-and-gravel roof with occasional vents that rose like tin mushrooms. Near the western edge of the roof, facing the harbor, was a telescope, several plastic chairs, and some faded, green-and-white-striped vinyl cushions from an outdoor sofa. It was a beautiful, clear day with only a few cotton-puff clouds, and we could see the sun's glimmering light on a sea stretching out past the Earth's gradual curve. After we settled down on the cushions Taylor said, “So now what?”

“Back to the ranch,” I said.

“And after that?”

I looked up to the blue sky, then said, “We retire.”

I could feel Taylor's eyes on me. “Are you serious?”

“I've been thinking a lot lately. We've shut down the academy and two power plants, and sank the
Ampere
. We rescued Jade Dragon. I think we've done our share.” When she didn't say anything I looked over at her. She looked stunned.

“You want to disband the Electroclan?” she said.

“Break up the team? No. Just retire our jerseys.”

Taylor smiled. “Did you really just use a sports metaphor?”

“I'm full of surprises.”

“Especially this one,” she said. “Retiring the Electroclan.”

“I'm not saying good-bye to everyone. I just think it's time we got on with our lives.”

“You know we can't go back to Idaho. The Elgen will just hunt us down.”

“I know. It will have to be one of those witness protection things.”

“You mean where they change our identities and move us to a different city?”

“Exactly.”

“What would we do?”

“Finish school. Go to college. Be normal and boring.”

Taylor sighed. “Boring sounds nice. You know, I'd like to live on a ranch. Someplace rustic. Maybe even without electricity.”

“No electricity,” I said. “That counts me out.”

She smiled. “You're the one exception.” She looked out over the horizon, her gaze following a squadron of pelicans. “I've always wondered what I would do for a living.”

“Think about it,” I said. “With your powers, you could be the greatest negotiator the world has ever known. You could be, like, Secretary of State.”

“Not to mention the greatest mother,” she said. “My kids would never lie to me.”

“I'm sure they'd still try,” I said. “They just wouldn't get away with it.” I breathed deeply. “I'm ready for our future.”

For a moment Taylor looked content; then her smile fell. “What about the Elgen?”

“It's going to be a long war,” I said. “Maybe someday we'll return to it.”

She looked at me quietly, then said, “Michael, why do you really want to retire?”

I didn't answer for a moment, then said, “How do you read my thoughts without even touching me?”

“That's just being a girl.”

I looked down for a moment. “This morning when I left you on
that boat I didn't think I would see you again.” My eyes welled up. “I can't go through that again.”

She took my hand. “You would leave the cause for me?”

I looked at her, then said, “You are my cause.”

W
e stayed on the roof for several hours, though at least an hour of it was spent sleeping. When we finally went downstairs everyone was in the kitchen. Jack and Zeus were playing knuckles, and Nichelle was at the stove cooking something in a wok.

“It smells good,” Taylor said. “What is it?”

“Fried rice,” Nichelle said. “The chef at the academy taught me how to make fried rice when I was eight. It's the only thing I can cook besides toast.” She grimaced. “And tacos.”

“For the record, I was sous chef,” Abigail said.

“Where have you been?” Ostin asked me.

“On the roof,” I said.

“I told you,” McKenna said.

Taylor and I both sat down at the table.

“As long as we're all here,” I said, “I want to thank everyone. Zeus,
you did an amazing job leading the boat attack. You got the job done. And we didn't even celebrate you two shutting down a Starxource plant by yourselves.”

Zeus smiled. “Thanks, but it was a team thing.”

“And, Ostin,” I said, “once again that huge brain of yours saved our bacon.”

“Bacon is so good,” Ostin said.

“Figuring out the Lung Li's shell-game trick was brilliant,” Ian said.

“And signaling the
Volta
to blow up her own boats was genius,” McKenna added. She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “But then, you are a genius.”

Ostin turned bright red. “
Nali
,” he said.

“No idea what that means,” I said. “But thanks again.”

Before Ostin could explain, Taylor said, “I have something to say.” She looked at me. “Michael will never say ‘I told you so,' so I'm going to say it for him. On the way here everyone thought he was crazy when he told us we were picking up Nichelle. But he was right.” Taylor looked at Nichelle. “I trusted Michael when he said that we had to work with you, but I never thought I would be able to forgive you for what you did to me. But you were the only one who knew I'd been kidnapped and you risked your life to save me. Thank you.”

Nichelle was suddenly emotional. When she could speak she said, “You're welcome.”

“It's a good thing you were with us on the boat,” Tessa said. “The Glows would have had us. Quentin would have shut down our boat so we couldn't get away, and Torstyn would have melted our brains.”

“I know I was hard on you,” Ian said. “But I'm glad you came.”

Nichelle stopped stirring the rice. “What was I going to do?” she said. “It was this or the taco stand.”

“So once you get paid, where do you want to go?” I asked.

“I haven't given it much thought,” she said. “I don't really have any place.” She suddenly looked nervous. “I was wondering if maybe I could hang out with you guys. Join the Electroclan.”

No one spoke for a moment; then Jack said, “We're down a member. I say we take a vote.”

Taylor looked at me. In spite of what we'd just talked about on the roof, it was no time to discuss retirement. “You're the president,” she said.

“All right,” I said. “All in favor of making Nichelle—”

“
Inducting
,” Ostin interjected. “All in favor of
inducting
Nichelle . . .”

“Great, now you're correcting
my
English,” I said. “All in favor of
inducting
Nichelle as the newest member of the Electroclan, raise your hand.”

The vote was unanimous. Nichelle smiled broadly. “Thank you for giving me the chance to be someone else.”

* * * 

Nichelle's fried rice was delicious. After dinner, everyone went back to bed except for me. I waited up past midnight for Ben's return, eventually falling asleep in my clothes. I woke the next morning after the sun had risen and went out to the kitchen. Ostin and McKenna were making pancakes.

“Is Ben back?” I asked.

“Not yet,” McKenna said. “He probably got stopped by traffic.”

Or Elgen
, I thought.

The day passed excruciatingly slowly. Ben had said he'd be back early, so by three in the afternoon I thought I would lose my mind. We were sitting around the kitchen table playing cards when I suddenly lost it. “Where is he? He was supposed to be back by now.”

For a moment everyone was quiet; then Taylor said what we all feared. “You don't think he was captured, do you?”

“He's smart,” Abigail said. “They won't capture him.”

“If he was, we have no way of knowing,” Ian said.

“What if he was?” Tessa asked.

“They'll torture him to find out where we are,” Zeus answered.

“They could already be on their way,” I said. I looked around the room. “This isn't good. If he's not back in two hours, we prepare to leave. If he's not here by sundown, we leave.”

“What do we need?” Jack asked.

“There are two cars,” I said. “We'll fill them with rations and weapons. Ostin, you figure out a route.”

“To an airport or harbor?”

“Whatever gets us out of Taiwan,” I said. “You figure out the details.”

“Zeus and I will get the weapons,” Jack said.

“Hold it,” Ian said, suddenly standing. “He's coming.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Tessa said. “I hate packing.”

Taylor, Jack, and I went downstairs to meet him. Ben pulled in and climbed out of the van, forgetting to shut the garage door.

“The door,” Jack said.

Ben looked at him blankly.

Jack pointed at the open door. “You need to shut the garage door.”

“
Dwei
,” he said. He reached into the van and pushed the remote, then stared at us. He looked pale, like he might faint.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“We must talk,” he said. “With everyone.”

We followed him upstairs and I called everyone into the kitchen. As we gathered around the room, Ben just looked silently at the floor. Taylor glanced at me with a frightened expression.

“What's wrong?” I asked.

Taylor was suddenly panicked. “Did they take her?”

Ben looked at her but didn't speak.

“Did they take Jade Dragon?” she asked.

“No,” Ben said. “Jade Dragon is safe.”

“Then what is it?” I asked.

Ben gripped the back of a chair. “The ranch has been attacked.”

“What?” I said.

“The Elgen have attacked the ranch.” He looked around at all of us, then said, “We do not think anyone survived.”

It was as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room.

“My mom and dad . . . ,” Ostin said.

Panic and anger filled my chest. “How do you know this?”

“The voice,” Ben said.

“I need to talk to the voice,” I said.

“You cannot. The voice has gone into hiding. He has been”—he struggled to remember the word—“compromised.”

Compromised
. This was my fault. I had told Hatch where the ranch was. I had told him about the voice. I had betrayed my mother and my friends. I had compromised the entire resistance. For nearly a minute I stood there, paralyzed. I looked over at Ostin. His face was red, streaked with tears. “I need to go there,” I said. “I need to see the ranch.”

Ben shook his head. “It is much too dangerous.”

“I don't care!” I shouted. “I have to see it. I won't believe until I see it.” I looked around. “No one has to go with me.”

“I do,” Taylor said, wiping her eyes.

“We all need to go,” Jack said, his voice uneven with emotion. “We need to see what they've done. If Hatch has done this, I swear on my life, that either he dies or I do. We will avenge them.”

I turned to Ben. “I don't care how you do it, but get us there. Now!”

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