Spell Robbers (16 page)

Argus waved him off. “You’re always fine, Ronin. More lives than Schrodinger’s cat.”

They didn’t know how close it had been. They’d left before Ronin got back. They hadn’t seen him almost get executed by Poole and his men. Ben wanted to say something about it, but Ronin nodded his head and spoke first.

“I told you,” he said. “The plan was good. I know Poole.”

But that wasn’t true. Ronin had miscalculated Poole. Ben guessed he didn’t want the crew to know that. Maybe he was afraid they’d lose confidence in the job.

“So.” Ronin clapped his hands. “Coffee. Then on to the next phase.”

Ben and Ronin spent the next few minutes filling the crew in on what they’d learned. Ronin went to the large table, pulled a map of the city from the stack of papers, and stuck it to the whiteboard with magnets.

“This is Mercer Beach.” Ronin drew a circle on the map. “The augmenter gun is here, somewhere.”

“I remember that place,” Argus said. “Used to go there as a kid.”

“Yeah, well. The clowns and magicians are gone now.” Ronin stopped. He looked at the crew, and they all chuckled. “Like I was saying, the clowns are gone now. It’s crawling with Dread Cloaks. The gun could be anywhere.”

“So how do we find it?” Lykos asked.

“Our inside man,” Argus said. “Ben just has to find the building that’s most heavily guarded. That’s where they’ll be. Pretty straightforward.”

“This isn’t business as usual,” Ronin said. “This isn’t just another job. We’ll have two packages we need to get out of there in one piece. The augmenter
and
the professor.”

“Why the professor?” Argus asked. “Can’t we leave her?”

Ben felt his shoulders tensing. For the crew, the only prize was the augmenter gun.

“The professor is part of the job,” Ronin said.

“That makes no sense,” Lykos said. “Wouldn’t it be a lot simpler if we didn’t bother with her?”

They could not leave Dr. Hughes behind. But Ronin would have a hard time explaining why to his crew. This was up to Ben.

“She’s important to me,” Ben said. “She taught me how to actuate. If you want me to be your inside man, she’s part of the job.”

The crew frowned and shook their heads. But that seemed to settle it.

“Will Poole have the professor and the gun together?” Meg asked.

“High probability,” Ronin said. “He’ll have her working on it.”

“Then smash and grab.” Argus punched his palm. “Ben finds out where they’ve got them, then we bust in and get them out.”

“No,” Ronin said. “They’re too dug in out there, guarded by Poole’s best. Too many.” He studied the map. “We need to flush them out somehow. We stand the best chance if we can catch them on the move.”

But what would make Poole move Dr. Hughes to a new location? He’d have to think it wasn’t safe to keep her where she was anymore. He’d have to feel compromised or threatened.

“The raid,” Ben said. “We use the raid to force Poole to move her.”

“What raid?” Meg asked.

Ronin pointed his marker at Ben. “That’s perfect, kid.”

“What raid?” Meg asked again.

“The League raid,” Ronin said.

“There’s going to be a League raid?” Lykos asked.

“Not yet,” Ben said. “But I’m going to make one.”

THE
next day, Ronin drove Ben back to the Quantum League headquarters. The thought of it made Ben uncomfortable. Nervous. Sasha and Peter may have been comfortable there, but the League wasn’t Ben’s home any more than the Paracelsus crew safe house had been. Still, he was looking forward to seeing his friends again.

“Good luck in there,” Ronin said.

“Thanks.” It came out sounding more sarcastic than Ben had meant it.

“Hey, don’t worry. The plan is good.”

Ben rolled his eyes. “That’s what you said about the last one.”

“
This
plan is good,” Ronin said. “Stick to the plan, and when you can’t, you’re pretty good at improvising.”

Only this time, a made-up League raid wouldn’t save him. Ben saw the building’s steeple up ahead, and the butterflies in his stomach grew teeth.

“But another thing occurred to me this morning,” Ronin said. “If you can get ahold of one, I’d like to see the schematics for the League’s prison cells.”

“Why?”

“Well …” Ronin adjusted his rearview mirror. “Look, I don’t want you to worry about this, okay? But Poole is powerful. If things go south, we might need a place to put him. Can you do that? They’ll have hard copies somewhere.”

“I’ll try.”

“Good. And remember. This will only work if we keep it quiet. If Weathersky figures out what we’re doing, he’s gonna want in on it. He’ll send agents, and the whole thing will blow up in our faces. Your Dr. Hughes will be as good as dead.”

They pulled into the parking lot behind the church. “Got it,” Ben said. He climbed out of the car.

Ronin leaned toward him over the passenger seat. “You can do this, kid.”

“I know I can,” Ben said, even though he wasn’t sure.

“I’ll come back tomorrow and check in.”

Ben shut the door, and Ronin sped away. Ben turned toward the church’s back door as it opened. Agent Spear and Agent Taggart came outside to greet him, followed by Peter and Sasha. Behind them came Mr. Weathersky. Peter took a deep breath and waved.

“Welcome back,” Agent Spear said. He shook Ben’s hand.

“Thank you,” Ben said. He turned to Peter. “Hey.”

“Hi,” Peter said.

Sasha beamed. “Good to see you, Locus Boy.”

“Good to see you, too.”

“I’m relieved to have you back,” Mr. Weathersky said. “But formalities must come before further pleasantries. We’ll debrief in the library.” He did a military turnabout and marched back inside.

Agent Spear motioned Ben toward the door. “After you, son.”

Ben looked over his shoulder at Peter and Sasha. “See you guys later, I guess.”

They nodded, and Ben went inside.

Ben spent the next half hour telling the story he and the Paracelsus crew had come up with. It was pretty close to the truth, with a few key omissions. He told how he and Ronin had gotten Poole’s attention by breaking into his art collection. How they’d convinced Poole that Ben would spy on the League for him, making him a double agent. He left out the involvement of the other members of Ronin’s crew, and the actual location of Poole’s hideout.

“Where is Ronin now?” Agent Taggart asked.

“With Poole. He had to stay to maintain our cover.”

“Have you learned anything about the portable augmenter’s whereabouts?” Mr. Weathersky asked.

“Not yet,” Ben said. “But he mentioned it when he recognized me.”

“Was that a problem?” Agent Taggart asked. “Him recognizing you?”

“No,” Ben said.

“Does he have it working yet?”

“No.”

“How do you know?” Agent Spear asked.

“Right now, he’s worried about a rival in his gang. There’s somebody pretty powerful threatening his leadership. He wants the augmenter gun to take the guy out.”

“Why would he need the augmenter for that?” Agent Spear asked. “Poole is a powerful Actuator.”

“This rival can supposedly pull off Class Threes.”

That got Agent Spear and Agent Taggart looking hard at each other across the table, as if thoughts were going back and forth through the air between them.

“Who could that be?” Agent Taggart finally asked. “There’s no Class Three Actuator in the Dread Cloaks.”

“There isn’t a Class Three in the city right now.” Agent Spear looked at Mr. Weathersky. “At least, not usually.”

Something about what they were saying unsettled Ben. It felt familiar, like an itch that just kept coming back. It seemed like everywhere he looked, there was a mystery figure standing just out of view. Dr. Hughes had … Richter. Poole had this powerful rival. And now that Ben thought about it, there was that extra member on Ronin’s crew when they nabbed them during the jewel heist. None of them had ever talked about that guy. Why? Who was it? Who was Poole’s rival? Who was Richter?

“So is this rival somebody we’ve missed?” Agent Taggart asked. “Or a new player in town?”

“Or is he simply the exaggeration of a gang lord?” Mr. Weathersky asked. “That seems likely to me. You were saying, Ben?”

“Well …” Ben put his other line of thought aside.
Stick to the plan
. “That’s why Poole needs the augmenter gun. I think if it were working, he would have used it by now.”

Mr. Weathersky nodded. “I think you are right. So long as he hasn’t used it, I believe we can trust that Dr. Hughes is alive.”

“So now that Ben’s in place,” Agent Spear said, “what should be our next move? We’re running out of time.”

“I need to take something back with me,” Ben said. “Some kind of intel. I need to show Poole he can trust me.” So far, the plan was going just as Ronin had said it would. Next, they would ask what kind of intel Poole would be expecting.

“All right,” Agent Spear said. “Is there something specific that Poole’s asking you to deliver?”

Ben almost smiled. “He asked me a lot about raids by League agents.”

“Of course,” Agent Taggart said. “He’s worried we’re going to come after the portable augmenter.”

“That’s exactly why he’s asking,” Ben said. “So I was thinking, and Ronin agrees, what if I bring him information on a raid? Something big, lots of agents, but in the future, far enough off this will all be over by then.”

“So it doesn’t have to be an actual raid,” Agent Spear said.

Ben nodded. “Right.”

Agent Spear turned to Mr. Weathersky. “We could draft a false order. With your signature of authorization. That should impress Poole.”

“Perhaps,” Mr. Weathersky said. “Before we commit to such a course of action, is there anything else you can tell us, Ben? Anything you’re leaving out?”

“No, sir.”

The air stirred. A feeling of …
trust
washed over Ben.

“Are you certain?” Mr. Weathersky asked. “If there is anything else, now is the time to tell us. You know you can trust us.”

Ben looked at the director, the Old One, and he knew what was happening because he had figured out how to do it to Poole. He reached into his pocket, wrapped his hand around his Locus, and sent out waves of his own.
No
.
You
can trust
me
.

“There’s nothing else to report at this time, sir,” Ben said.

Agent Spear and Agent Taggart nodded, apparently satisfied.

But Mr. Weathersky stared at him. “Could I have a moment alone with Ben, please?”

Ben froze. He wondered if he’d just made a mistake, doing that. Why else would Mr. Weathersky want him alone? Had he seen through Ben’s lies?

“Of course, sir,” Agent Taggart said. Both agents gathered their papers, got up from the table, and left the room.

After they’d shut the door, the director sighed. “In my line of work, opportunities to speak candidly seldom come along. I’m grateful when they do.”

This was off the script. Ben was going to have to improvise, but for now, he decided to talk as little as possible. He’d done this with his mom countless times.

“To have done what you just did,” Mr. Weathersky said, “presumably on your own, without training is … unheard of.”

Ben said nothing.

“You are an exceedingly rare kind of Actuator. A master of masters. One who understands people. And as you have no doubt observed, I am one as well. When did you first use your ability? Just now, that wasn’t your first time. It was too clean.”

Still Ben said nothing.

“Ben, I’m not sure what Dr. Hughes taught you about quantum mechanics, but imagine you’ve taken a single electron, loaded it into a gun, and fired it. As it moves, this electron is a
wave
, spread out, literally everywhere at once along its path.”

Ben couldn’t help it. “That makes no sense. It can’t be everywhere at once.”

“Oh, but it is. This has been
proven
. But you are not alone in your confusion. Even Einstein struggled with certain aspects of the quantum world.” Mr. Weathersky traced his finger in a wavy pattern along the wood grain of the table. “This is called a
wave function
and the whole of it
is
the electron. That is, until you go to look for it along its path. Do you know what happens then?”

Say as little as possible
. “No.”

“You, the observer,
create
the electron’s position as a particle. Right here.” He pressed the tip of his index finger against the table. “Before you look, it is everywhere, but once you observe it, the electron is in a definite place. They call this a
collapse
of the wave. Do you know why I’m telling you this?”

“No.”

“I’ve looked into your past. All the moves. The schools. Here, there, never settling. A mother you haven’t ever been able to rely on.”

Anger flared, white-hot, barely contained. “Don’t you dare talk about my mom.”

“Ben, what I’m telling you is this. In the wave function of your life, you must be your own observer. You must look, and find yourself.”

Ben didn’t know what to say. Or how to improvise. This was so far off the script, he almost didn’t know what the job was anymore.

“Did you know,” Mr. Weathersky said, “that an Actuator with an understanding of the human body could look at your X-ray and then stop your heart?” He pointed at Ben’s chest. “Or burst a vein in your head? And that would be a small thing. A Class One.”

That was something Ben had never even thought about. “I — I didn’t —”

“Did you know that an Actuator with an understanding of molecular bonds in metal could weaken the welds holding a building together? A few well-placed cracks could bring down a skyscraper. Again, Class One.”

Ben’s throat dried up. He tried swallowing, but couldn’t.

“Do you know what else is Class One?”

Ben shook his head.

“Tripping the detonator in a nuclear bomb.”

This was all too much. Why was Mr. Weathersky telling him this? Was he trying to scare him? Was he threatening him?

The director rose from his chair. “There are evil people in the world, Ben. Evil people can do great harm with very little power. The Quantum League stands against such people. We are not perfect, but we are all the world has. Give that some thought as you go looking for yourself.” He left Ben sitting at the table and went to the door. “I’ll draft the false order for a raid on Poole. You’ll take it back to him in the morning.”

Then Mr. Weathersky was gone, and Ben was all alone.