SYLO (THE SYLO CHRONICLES) (33 page)

It didn’t take long to get to the Blackbird Inn. The driver pulled up to the front and stopped.

“Need some help with your bags?” he asked, sarcastically.

Kent jammed the barrel of the rifle through the window and clipped him on the side of the face.

“Ow,” he screamed. “What was that for?”

“For being clever,” Kent said coldly.

Kent scared me sometimes.

“You got the guard?” Kent asked.

“He’s not going anywhere,” Tori replied.

“C’mere, Rook,” Kent ordered.

I moved to him and he handed me the rifle.

“If this clown so much as farts, shoot him.”

I took the weapon and Kent moved to the back of the ambulance.

“Where are you going?” Tori asked.

“I’ll be right back,” he replied and jumped out of the van.

I turned my attention to the driver, who looked at me with wide, scared eyes. I had never held a gun on anybody before. It was a frightening feeling of power. I could pull the trigger and end somebody’s life. Bang. Just like that. I could. But would I?

“You’re not going to shoot me, are you, Chief?” he asked. “You look kind of squirrely.”

With the Ruby surging through my body, I wasn’t in my right mind and I think the driver sensed that. He looked at me like I was some deranged lunatic, and maybe at that moment I was. I had been sitting still for too long and it was driving me crazy. I kept fidgeting and shuffling, doing anything I could to keep from crawling out of my skin.

“Take it easy,” the driver said. “We’ll do whatever you want.”

The guard that Tori was holding finally spoke. “Tell us what you want and we’ll do what we can.”

“I want you to shut up,” I snapped at him.

It was like the words had come out of somebody else’s mouth. Tori thought so too, based on the surprised look she gave me. The Ruby was doing a number on my body and on my head as I fought to stay in control.

Thankfully the rear door opened and Kent climbed in. He came right to me and took the rifle back.

“Drive out to Quahog Beach,” Kent ordered. “Don’t break any traffic laws.”

“You got it,” the driver said and got us back under way.

Nobody said a word on our way to the beach. I was dying to know what Kent had planned but didn’t think he’d explain it to us in front of our captives.

Our captives. Up until that point, I felt as though we hadn’t done anything wrong, but the fact that we had captured two people and were holding them prisoner changed that. We were kidnappers. I hoped the night would end before anything worse happened.

In my gut I knew that wasn’t likely.

Kent glanced out of the window as we drew nearer to the beach.

“Drive us right out to the bluff,” he commanded.

I could feel the ambulance bump as we drove off the road and started to travel over sand. We continued on for a minute or so, but then the driver pulled to a stop.

“That’s as far as we go,” the driver finally said. “Another few feet and we’ll be wet.”

“Get out,” Kent said. “Everybody.”

I took charge of the guard. Tori may have been more skilled at controlling people, but I had strength that came from the Ruby. As soon as I grabbed the guard’s arm, he knew it. He was not about to try to fight me.

“Everybody move over there,” Kent ordered once we were out.

The four of us stepped back from the ambulance and stood together facing him. I suddenly had a sick image: firing squad. What was Kent doing?

“C’mere,” he said to me.

I was happy to see he was still aiming the rifle at the bad guys.

“What?”

“Put it in neutral, and push it over the edge.”

Ordinarily I would have laughed at that, but not then. He was talking to the right guy. I opened the driver’s door, put the gear shift into neutral, then ran to the rear.

“Yeah right,” the driver said, scoffing.

I took that as a challenge. I leaned down, put my shoulder against the rear bumper, pumped my legs like I was hitting a blocking sled, and pushed the ambulance forward.

“Jeez!” I heard somebody exclaim in awe.

It only took five strides before I felt the ambulance begin to slide forward on its own. I stopped pushing and stood to watch as the white vehicle went over the edge and tumbled end over end down the steep bluff before crashing into the sea.

“That’s, like, impossible,” the driver exclaimed. “Can all you people do that?”

“You people?” Tori said quickly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

The driver didn’t answer. He looked at the ground as if he had already said too much.

“Now what happens?” the guard asked.

“Drop your gear,” Kent commanded. “Your walkie, cuffs, baton, everything.”

The driver and the guard obeyed quickly.

“Now climb down the bluff,” Kent ordered.

“What?” the driver exclaimed.

“Or I could shoot you,” Kent said.

The driver and the guard exchanged nervous looks.

“You’ll be fine,” Kent said quickly. “All we want is a head start.”

The two gave in and marched to the edge of the bluff. The driver went first, carefully climbing down the steep embankment. It was treacherous but not impossible. The guard was next, but before dropping over the edge, he looked up at Kent with hatred like I’ve never seen before.

“We’ll never give up,” he said defiantly.

Tori gave me a questioning look.

“Stop talking! Go!” Kent barked.

The guard began his descent.

“What did that mean?” Tori asked. “And what did he mean by ‘you people’?”

“Who cares?” Kent replied. “By the time they make it back up, we’ll be long gone.”

Kent walked quickly to the edge and looked over to make sure that the two men continued to climb down.

I didn’t know what to think about the guard’s odd comment. I was too busy fighting to stay in control of my racing heart. I wondered how long the Ruby would be working on me. It seemed as though once it was in your system, so long as you called upon it, it gave you what you needed. It wasn’t until you forced yourself to calm down that the effects would lessen.

But it wasn’t time to calm down. Not yet.

“Oh my God,” Tori exclaimed. “Listen.”

At first all I heard was the sound of crashing surf. Before I could ask Tori what she meant, I heard it too.

“They’re back,” I said fearfully.

“Who’s back?” Kent asked.

Once again the eerie music floated down from the sky. We all looked up to see another formation of dark shadows approaching from the east.

“What the hell is that?” Kent asked.

The shadows moved fast, headed west toward the mainland. There looked to be about a dozen of the stingray-shaped objects, each emitting the same incongruous musical sound. They were moving fast, far faster than what we’d seen two nights before. They flashed overhead and were gone in seconds. Moments later, the sky to the west lit up with the same kind of brilliant display we had witnessed before.

Kent took a few steps toward the light show, as if those few feet would give him a better view.

“What’s going on?” he asked, numb.

“It’s the same as the other night,” I answered. “There’s a battle going on but I have no idea who’s fighting, or why.”

Unlike the previous night, the light show didn’t last long. Nor was there another dogfight. No fighter planes arrived to challenge the dark shadows. The light show soon ended and I expected to see the mysterious aircraft flying back our way, having completed whatever mission they were on. But they didn’t.

The three of us stood there, staring west, trying to understand what it was that we had just seen. It was at that moment that a pair of headlights appeared on the sandy road in front of us, headed our way.

“Uh-oh,” Tori uttered.

“It’s okay,” Kent assured us. “All part of the plan. Pick up their gear and toss it.”

I snapped back into the moment, the disturbing light show momentarily forgotten. I didn’t care about the handcuffs and the baton, but the walkie would cause us trouble if the guard got it back too quickly. I picked it up and heaved it into the sea. It was the longest throw I had ever made.

Kent did the same with the rifle. He wound up and tossed it away, spinning it into the sea. Part of me was relieved. I didn’t like the way he was waving that thing around. I wouldn’t have put it past him to use it on
us
. But we were on the run and could have used the protection, especially since somebody was driving toward us.

“C’mon,” Kent said and ran toward the car.

“Do you trust him?” Tori asked.

“It’s not like we have a choice,” was my sober reply.

We followed Kent, who became a silhouette against the approaching headlights. He ran right up to the driver’s side as the car came to a stop. The driver jumped out and threw her arms around him.

“It’s about time,” she cried.

It was Olivia. The stop at the Blackbird Inn now made sense.

“I’ve been so worried,” she squealed while hugging Kent and giving him a big kiss. She was wearing her usual short-shorts with a halter top—not exactly a practical uniform for aiding a prison break.

“Are you okay?” she added when they came up for air.

“Fine,” Kent said perfunctorily. “But we gotta keep moving.”

Olivia looked at me and said, “I was afraid I’d never see you again, Tucker.”

Maybe not as afraid as not seeing Kent again, but I appreciated her concern.

“Strange days,” I said with a shrug.

“Who is
she
?” Tori asked me.

“Kent’s girlfriend, Olivia,” I answered. I guess that was official now.

“And who are
you
?” Olivia asked, giving Tori an appraising once-over.

“Kent’s other girlfriend,” Tori said without missing a beat as she walked past Olivia toward the car. “Didn’t he tell you about me?”

Olivia stood stock-still with her mouth open, stunned. I would have laughed if my head weren’t still exploding. Seemed as though Tori liked pushing buttons too. Quinn would have loved it.

Quinn.

Thinking of him snapped me back into the mission.

“Where are we going, Kent?” I asked.

“Someplace where all your questions will be answered,” he said. He put his arm around Olivia’s shoulders and said, “Tori’s not my girlfriend.”

Olivia smiled with relief. “I knew that.”

We all got into the vehicle, which turned out to be a Jeep. Olivia sat behind the wheel while Tori and I climbed into the back seat. Olivia hit the accelerator and turned quickly, slinging up sand while the wheels spun. For a moment I thought she had no idea of how to drive and I feared we would follow the ambulance over the edge. But the tires bit, she spun the wheel back, straightened out, and we were on our way.

“Tell me everything,” she said.

“Not until we get there. Turn out the lights.”

“The lights?” she complained. “I won’t be able to see.”

“I’m more worried about somebody seeing
us
. Your eyes will adjust.”

Olivia shrugged and killed the lights. It was disconcerting for a moment as everything went black. But our eyes adjusted quickly and Olivia kept us on the road to…somewhere.

Tori put her hand on my arm and said, “How do you feel?”

“Okay. I think I’m coming down.”

“Perfect timing,” Kent said.

“That was a rotten thing to do, Kent,” Tori said to him. “You used him.”

“And he used me. You both did. But we’re out, right?”

“Yeah, we’re out,” I said. “So now tell us what’s going on. How did you get the Ruby inside?”

“And where are we going?” Tori added.

Kent gave us a cat-that-ate-the-canary smile. “When you see where we’re going, you’ll know how I got the Ruby.”

We had trusted Kent this far and it had worked out okay, mostly.
We had to let him play it his way. I took a deep breath and actually could feel the effects of the Ruby lessening. I had survived. At least that part of the nightmare was over.

Tori kept her hand on my arm and said softly, “Thank you.”

I shrugged.

“You’re welcome,” Kent said.

Tori smiled. It didn’t happen often, but when it did her face lit up. I was beginning to really like Tori Sleeper. She took my hand and gently rubbed my arm. I wasn’t sure if it was an affectionate thing to do, or if she was trying to calm me down. Either way, I didn’t hate it.

Olivia drove without saying another word. Thankfully. She must have been using all of her brain power to keep us on the road. I knew the island as well as anybody and saw that after moving along the Memagog Highway for several miles, we turned onto High Pine Road, the road that led due north and ended at Chinicook Island.

Chinicook was a desolate stretch of land that was technically part of Pemberwick but surrounded by water. The only access was by a long wooden one-lane bridge that had been built before the Second World War. Islanders never went out to Chinicook unless they were bird watchers. There wasn’t much there except for miles of beach surrounding dense scrub. Tourists were the only ones who made the trip. It was supposedly romantic to pack a picnic and get away from the crowded island beaches. At least that’s what it said in the guidebooks. But the drive took over an hour and then there was the half mile of narrow bridge. It was a trip that was daunting enough to turn back most casual explorers.

The longer we stayed on High Pine Road, the more certain I became that we were headed to Chinicook. The question was why?

Olivia drove fast, considering we were flying without lights and the road was covered with sand. I closed my eyes, suddenly feeling weary after losing my Ruby boost. Tori rubbing my arm helped with that. I think I might have fallen asleep because the next time I opened my eyes, we were approaching the Chinicook Bridge.

“Take it easy here,” Kent warned. “We don’t want to go over the side.”

It was good advice. There was no rail to speak of, only a long wooden beam that ran the length of both sides a foot off the deck. One wrong move and—splash.

“You’re awake, Olivia, right?” I asked.

“Wide awake,” she replied quickly.

I sensed the tension in her voice. She was alert and locked in.