Sylo

by D. J. MacHale

  Feit looked to Mr. Sleeper as if asking his permission to answer.

  “Tell him,” Mr. Sleeper said. “You owe him that much.”

  Feit let out a laugh, though it was more out of nervousness than anything else.

  “I do work for a company that makes sports supplements,” he said. “It’s my own company. I’m the only employee. I’m a biochemist. MIT graduate.”

  “If you’re trying to impress me, I might have to hit you again,” I said.

  “Okay, sorry,” he said, laughing.

  I almost clocked him again just for that annoying laugh, but I held back.

  “About a year ago this guy came to me. Said he worked for a well-funded private think tank that was developing a revolutionary dietary supplement. He said it was light years ahead of anything else out there, but they were running into problems getting it tested and quickly approved by the government. He said if I helped them, I’d be a joint patent holder when it finally got approval. Do you know how much money something like that is worth?”

  “No,” I said flatly.

  “A lot. Millions. Many millions. To a guy who is struggling just to get by, it’s too tempting an offer to resist.”

  Tori asked, “What did he want you to do?”

  “Run a test. A secret test. In a contained, controlled environment…like an island community.”

  “Like Pemberwick Island,” Kent added.

  “Yeah. He wanted me to casually introduce it to the population, take notes, record all the results, and then get back to him. He said with that data they could streamline their testing and cut years off the approval process. He promised me it was safe…and offered an incredible future. So I went for it.”

  “But the tests didn’t go so well,” Tori said.

  “They went too well!” Feit said. “A lot of people took it. Most you don’t even know about. The Ruby did everything it was supposed to do. The problem was dosage—and controlling it. It wasn’t until Marty Wiggins that…”

  “That people started to die,” I said, finishing the thought.

  “So the Ruby has nothing to do with SYLO?” Tori said. “Or the quarantine?”

  “Oh, no,” Feit said quickly. “SYLO has everything to do with the Ruby being here.”

  “How’s that?” I asked.

  “The guy who came to me with the offer was Captain Granger.”

  I thought my knees would buckle.

  “No!” Tori said with a gasp.

  “Yes,” Feit said. “I had no idea he was actually working for the government. With the military. There wasn’t anybody more surprised than me when he stepped onto this island with an invasion force. I’ve been hiding ever since.”

  “But…why?” was all I could say. “Why would our own government poison us with that stuff?”

  “Or invade us,” Kent said. “None of this adds up.”

  “Whatever the reason, you’re still responsible,” Tori said to Feit with disgust. “You’re going to prison for this.”

  Feit shrugged. “I’m already in prison. We all are. Irony is, the Ruby might be our only hope of getting out.”

  “No,” I declared. “No way.”

  “Easy there, Rook,” Kent said. “It helped us break out of the SYLO camp, didn’t it?”

  “We smuggled the Ruby into the SYLO compound,” Mr. Sleeper said. “We’ve got a lot of people on our side.”

  “Who is we?” Tori asked.

  “People who are ready to fight back,” Mr. Sleeper said. “Many of them were picked up by Granger and his thugs and stuck in that camp. He doesn’t want anybody challenging his authority.”

  I thought back to how all the prisoners kept to themselves and wondered how many of them were part of this group…whatever this group was.

  “Look,” Kent said. “I hate this scum. The Ruby killed my father, remember? But if it gives us a way to fight back, I say we use it. Use him. Just like we did tonight.”

  “You mean just like I did tonight,” I corrected.

  “Whatever. After that he can hang, for all I care.”

  There was a long moment of silence, and then…

  “I don’t know about you people, but I would really like to get off this crappy island and go home,” Olivia said softly.

  Tori’s father stepped between the two of us, but faced me.

  “You should see what’s going on here, son,” he said. “This Feit character is only part of it.”

  “I thought they arrested you,” I said.

  “They took me out of the house, but we never quite made it to the golf course,” he said, then smiled knowingly. “Somewhere along the route there’s a wrecked Hummer and a couple of soldier boys with severe headaches.”

  “You don’t mess with my dad,” Tori said proudly.

  Mr. Sleeper was a big guy with thick arms and huge hands that came from a lifetime of working on boats. There was nothing complicated about him. When he spoke, he looked you straight in the eye, and if he was anywhere near as good as his daughter at taking down people who crossed him, I had no doubt that the SYLO soldiers who had arrested him regretted it.

  “C’mon,” he said. “Let me show you.”

  I looked at Tori, who shrugged and nodded. She didn’t like Feit any more than I did, but she wasn’t about to argue with her father.

  “Okay,” I said and instantly felt the tension melt away from the group.

  Mr. Sleeper looked to the other men and said, “Get that Jeep out of sight.”

  The guys got right on it and took charge of the Jeep while Mr. Sleeper led us along the sandy road, headed deeper onto the island. He had one arm around Tori, while I walked on his other side. Kent was next to me. The rest followed, including Feit.

  “We started this group a couple of days after SYLO landed,” Sleeper began. “It was casual at first. A bunch of us old-timers got together to try and sort it all out. Nobody bought the story they were feeding us about the quarantine. We tried contacting the state and even made some calls to Washington but kept hitting stone walls or getting doubletalk. We started holding meetings every couple of nights at a different location for fear of Granger catching on to us.”

  “How did I not know about this?” Tori asked.

  “I didn’t want you involved.”

  Tori snickered. “Great. I thought I was protecting you and the whole time you were in way deeper than any of us.”

  “My father was part of it,” Kent added. “That’s how I knew all about it.”

  “I kept thinking it would all just go away,” Mr. Sleeper went on. “Of course, it didn’t. More and more frustrated folks started showing up to vent. Not just locals either. Many of them were tourists who came here for vacation and got stuck. It got to be tricky keeping it all quiet. Those SYLO goons were always poking around, asking what we were up to. It came to a head when communications to the mainland got cut.”

  “The riot in town,” I said.

  “The anger just boiled over. We never bought the virus story. It wasn’t until Feit here paid us a visit that we knew for sure.”

  “Knew what?” Tori asked.

  “That there was no virus.”

  Feit came forward and said, “I told them why people were dying. I wanted to…”

  His voice trailed off.

  “Just say it,” Mr. Sleeper demanded.

  “I wanted to confess,” Feit said, barely above a whisper. “I told them how everyone who died had taken the Ruby…and that Granger was behind it all.”

  I glanced at Kent. He kept his eyes on the ground but I could feel his anger bubbling.

  “That’s when we knew we had to do something,” Mr. Sleeper said. “Sitting back and waiting for it all to blow over wasn’t going to happen. So we mobilized and came out here. It took a while. We didn’t want to raise any suspicion. We could only move at night and had to cover our tracks. But we made it. Been here a couple of days now.”

  “You’re all just camping out here?” I asked.

  “No
t exactly out,” Sleeper said. “More like camping under.”

  We were met in the road by a guy carrying a shotgun with the stock against his shoulder, up and aimed.

  “It’s okay,” Mr. Sleeper said to him. “It’s my daughter and her friends.”

  I knew the guy. He worked at the drugstore in town. He lowered the gun and said, “Welcome.”

  We walked past him and then by five other men and women who were stationed on the road to keep out unwanted visitors. I knew them all. One guy worked on my dad’s car. I recognized a woman who taught algebra at the middle school. There was even a husband and wife who owned one of the ice-cream stores in Arbortown. Seeing them guarding the desolate island, with weapons, was like stepping into a surreal dream.

  “Won’t it be easy for SYLO to find us?” Tori asked. “I mean, they have helicopters.”

  “And we got camouflage,” Sleeper replied proudly.

  We arrived at the edge of what was normally a dense scrub forest. Even in the dark of night, I could see that camouflage netting had been erected in the trees.

  “We only travel at night, and keep the lights out,” Sleeper said. “During the day we’re hidden beneath the canopy. Besides, we won’t be here long.”

  We stepped into the forest to see an elaborate camp filled with small tents. There were no campfires to give them away. Instead there were multiple containers stacked everywhere for storing food. Dozens of camp chairs were scattered about. Most were empty because it was so late, but there were still plenty of people awake and talking in hushed tones.

  Calling this a camp for guerilla fighters seemed silly, considering that the people didn’t look anything like hardened revolutionaries. It seemed more like a campground for parents who wanted to get away for the weekend. All that was missing was the beer. The only sign it was something more ominous was that most of them carried guns.

  “What’s the point?” I asked. “I mean, you’re not really planning some kind of revolution, are you?”

  “Depends on your definition of revolution,” Mr. Sleeper said and kept walking.

  As we moved through the campground, we kept getting suspicious glares from the people we passed. There were no smiles or waves or words of welcome. These people were living on the edge—and they were scared. I recognized a few more faces, but there were just as many people I had never seen before.

  Mr. Sleeper led us to the largest tent in the campground. Inside were several portable picnic tables. It could have been a food tent, or a meeting hall. The only light came from shielded camp lanterns that were hooded to keep the light contained.

  “Take a load off,” Mr. Sleeper said.

  Tori and I sat at one table, Kent and Olivia at another. Feit sat by himself.

  “We’re not kidding ourselves here,” Mr. Sleeper said. “We have no hope of bullying SYLO off the island. But we can make ourselves heard.”

  “How?” I asked. “They’re an army. You guys…aren’t.”

  “We’re going to kidnap Granger,” Mr. Sleeper said as nonchalantly as if he had said, “Pass the salt.”

  None of us reacted. I think we might have been in shock. I know I was.

  “Why?” Tori finally asked.

  “To force their hand. You know as well as I do that we’re isolated here on Pemberwick. Nobody on the outside knows what’s happening. They haven’t since the day communications were cut. We figure that if we can pull in SYLO’s most important player, somebody somewhere will finally listen to us.”

  “But there’s no guarantee of that,” I argued. “Even if you get Granger—and I’m not so sure you can—we’d still be cut off. Nobody outside of Pemberwick would even know.”

  “Exactly. That’s why we wouldn’t keep him here,” Sleeper said with a satisfied smile. “The plan is to bring him to the mainland. We’ve got a half dozen speedboats ready to make the run. We’d send them all at once so they won’t know which one’s got Granger. Once we get to the mainland, we can parade him in front of every camera we can find and let the world know what he’s been doing here.”

  “Awesome,” Kent said. “I can’t wait to see that guy squirm in front of TV lights.”

  I wanted to tell Mr. Sleeper what a crazy plan that was, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it wasn’t much different from what Quinn, Tori, and I tried to do. We wanted to get to a radio or TV station to blow the whistle on SYLO and that was exactly what Mr. Sleeper was planning. The only difference was that he wanted to do it armed with some serious evidence. Granger.

  Tori must have been reading my mind because she looked at me and said, “It’s not bad.”

  “Where are the boats?” I asked.

  “Out here on Chinicook. Hidden in Crescent Bay. It was a hell of a risk getting them out here at night, but we pulled it off.”

  My mind raced—and it had nothing to do with the Ruby.

  “Is there a plan to get him?” I asked. “I mean, sneaking a couple of people out of that compound is one thing. Breaking in and nabbing the boss is a whole ’nother ball game.”

  “We’ve got a lot of people on our side,” Mr. Sleeper said. “Out here and on the inside.”

  “Prisoners?” Tori asked.

  “That’s how we smuggled in the Ruby. SYLO doesn’t know who is innocent and who they have to be afraid of. People have sacrificed themselves just to get inside. We have total surprise on our side. And something else too.”

  Sleeper nodded to Feit. Feit walked to the side of the tent where a tarp was stretched over a bulky object. He grabbed one end of the tarp and yanked it off to reveal eight clear plastic containers, each the size of a cooler—and each packed solid with the Ruby.

  “Oh, man,” I exclaimed and jumped to my feet. I couldn’t help myself. Seeing that much of the deadly substance was a shock.

  “It’s like making a deal with the devil,” Mr. Sleeper said ominously. “But if used properly, it’ll give us the advantage we need to get Granger, bring him to the mainland, and end this nightmare.”

  “I like it,” Kent said enthusiastically.

  “Shut up, Kent,” I snapped.

  Kent was ready to jump at me but thought better of it and backed off.

  “Let me make one thing clear,” Mr. Sleeper said. “I’m only telling you this so you know what’s been going on. You all are not going to be part of the operation. You’ve been through too much as it is.”

  “You get no arguments from me,” Kent said.

  I shot him a dirty look but he avoided eye contact.

  “When?” I asked.

  “Tomorrow night. There’s no telling how long we can keep Chinicook a secret so we have to move fast. One last thing we need before we move is something from the three of you.”

  “Anything,” Kent said quickly, but I didn’t think that extended to him taking the Ruby.

  “You’ve been inside the compound,” he said. “We need maps and any other information you can give us about how it all works. Hopefully between the three of you, we can get a good idea of what we’ll be faced with.”

  “What about me?” Olivia asked. “How can I help?”

  Kent took her hand and kissed it. “You’ve already done your part by getting us out here.”

  Tori rolled her eyes and said, “I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.”

  Olivia ignored the cut.

  There was so much to digest. What had started out as the search for answers about a mysterious virus had become something far bigger.

  “There’s something else,” I said. “Have you seen those flying shadows?”

  “We have,” Mr. Sleeper said. “We think they have something to do with SYLO.”

  He looked at Feit, as if expecting him to add something.

  “They do,” Feit said. “I don’t know what kind of aircraft they are, but they’re SYLO all right.”

  “How do you know?” I asked.

  “Two weeks ago I was supposed to get a shipment of the Ruby. I got a call to be out on the
bluffs on the east side of the island at midnight. I drove out there and saw this shadow fly by—and it exploded. Scared the hell out of me so I just took off.”

  “And the next day a boatload of the stuff washed up on shore, along with the wreckage,” Mr. Sleeper added.

  “And killed my horses,” Tori said.

  “The pickup truck,” I said. “The one we saw on the bluffs. That was you?”

  Feit nodded. “I didn’t think anybody saw me.”

  “But that doesn’t explain what the shadows are, or what they’re doing,” Tori said. “There was a dogfight over the mainland. If those shadow planes were SYLO, who were they fighting? And why? Planes were blown out of the sky. People died.”

  “Quinn died,” I said.

  “What?” Olivia exclaimed. “Quinn is dead?”

  Tori ignored her and said, “Even if you get Granger and make it to the mainland, what are you going to find there? Whatever SYLO is doing, it’s not just about Pemberwick.”

  “We thought about that,” Mr. Sleeper said. “All of it. I’m sorry to hear about your friend, Tucker. And your father, Kent.”

  “I can’t believe that Quinn is gone,” Olivia said, genuinely upset.

  “And I’m sorry about my parents,” I said. “They’re working with SYLO.”

  That shut the conversation down. With each new revelation about SYLO, I kept thinking about my mom and dad and wondering what part they were playing in this nightmare. For me, that was the nightmare.

  “We don’t have a whole lot of answers,” Mr. Sleeper said. “But we all feel certain that the only way to get the truth is to blast off of this rock and get back to civilization. Nobody knows what we’re going to find there and who might be on our side, but what other choice do we have?”

  “None,” I said quickly. “I’ll help. I’ll draw you as many maps as you want and tell you every last thing I learned about the place, but I want something in return.”

  “What’s that?” Mr. Sleeper asked.

  “I want Tori and me to be on one of those boats going to the mainland.”

  “What about me?” Kent asked.

  “And me?” Olivia chimed in petulantly.

  “You do whatever you want, but Tori and I will be on one of those boats.”