He listened quietly, nodding occasionally. “It’s a good thing you were ready. We were overconfident and underprepared; we didn’t have enough time to think the whole thing through, and we lost a bunch of good people. We were relying on our EMP but that was foolish. We thought the soldiers would be in exosuits, but none of them were, so the EMP didn’t stop them at all, aside from maybe their watches and cell phones. And the drones, too. I mean, it helped, knocking out the lights and electronics, but it was almost as if they knew we were going to make a play for your friend; almost like they were trotting him out as bait. They couldn’t have known that we were bringing you in there, could they?”
“I don’t know… I’m not good at getting expressions, but they sure seemed surprised when I took off my disguise.”
“Hm. Do you think it’s possible that they were just trying to get a better idea of what kinds of things you can do?”
“I… they wouldn’t be willing to kill all those people just for that, would they?”
“Oh, they’d be willing to do lots worse than that. Oh, man, Mike and Salgado… oh, crap.”
His face was scrunched up, and although I’m not sure, it looked to me like he was trying not to cry.
We drove on in silence, and I got the sense that a couple of other cars were following us. I didn’t want to make it obvious that I was looking at them, so I activated the ultrawide mode, and to our right was a car with one of the Bright Handers that I recognized from the group in the warehouse. I put my hand over my mouth and whispered, “Ava, can you tell if any of the cars nearby have military or government people in them?”
“Stand by… unless they are masters of disguise, the coast is clear. It appears that we have given them the slip.”
Oh, boy. I’m going to guess that means no.
“Does it seem suspicious that they weren’t able to follow us?”
“That’s the one part of this whole debacle that didn’t resemble a chicken with its head cut off. We were out of there lickety-split; they didn’t have any birds in the air aside from the drones, and once they went down there’s no way they could have followed us.”
Ok. So, lickety-split… must mean fast… birds in the air… why would the military have birds? Oh, boy… wait, she means helicopters, planes, something like that… hey, not bad, I think I got that one…
“Why do you think they wouldn’t have any, umm, birds in the air if they expected us to show up? They know we’ve used the VTOLs before, it would have been logical to prepare for that.”
“Based on how that whole skirmish went down, I’d say they didn’t know we were coming, but were prepared just in case. I don’t think they expected to have to fire on anyone, and they definitely didn’t anticipate the EMP generator, even though we didn’t get much benefit out of it, except that, if they did have any birds in the area in addition to the drones, it would have disabled them. We need to realize that they have a blank check, and because of that we will never beat them head-to-head. We need to out-think them, and that didn’t happen in this case.”
“Do you think they know about the air strip near Lancaster?”
“Unlikely, but I’ll keep my eye on the sparrow.”
Oh, boy. I didn’t get that one at all.
We drove on in silence for a few more minutes. Suddenly, Chi Kim smacked the driver’s wheel and said, “We’ve got to get off this freeway, go the rest of the way on surface streets. There’s a roadblock up ahead; they’re searching vehicles, most likely looking for us. One of our cars is stopped up there.”
“How could they know we’re going this way?”
“They’re probably just stopping traffic on all the freeways out of San Diego. There’s an off-ramp up ahead, we’re going solo after that.”
We spent the rest of the trip to Lancaster winding through neighborhoods, taking dirt roads, anything we could do to stay off any freeways. This took a lot longer, and as the sun was coming up, from the back seat, came: “I’m hungry. Have anything to eat?”
Then a massive pair of arms wrapped around me from behind, and although that made me uncomfortable, I knew it just meant that he was happy, so I didn’t try to make him stop. “Lukey! My boy, you come for me; I am mad at you for doing this, putting yourself in danger, but so happy also! I thought was it for me, they torture me and eventually kill me, but you rescue me! Is everyone ok?”
Chi Kim and I told him about the fight at the docks and the people we lost, including Mike and Salgado. As he listened, a big tear leaked out of Mr. Harutyunyan’s eye. “No one should die over me, is not right. Should have left me there.”
“I couldn’t do that. You saved me, you saved all of us. I didn’t want anyone to get killed either, though. I could have done better just going after you by myself. Sorry, Mr. Kim. I know some of your friends died over there, and Mike… he was my friend too, but if I had gone by myself none of them would be dead right now.”
He looked at me, then back at the road. He sighed deeply and said, “Tell you what, kid. Right now, I have to agree with you. I don’t know why or how, but the whole thing smells like a set up. I think one of three things happened: either we got away because we were lucky, and they didn’t realize exactly what you can do, or we got away because they didn’t expect the EMP and that threw them off just enough, or for some reason they let us get away. To me, the third is by far the scariest, but also seems the most likely. If we keep our eyes and ears open, maybe we’ll find out. Hang on, we’re going off-road right up here, and as long as we don’t get stopped, we’ll be at the air strip in just a few minutes.”
42
W e skidded to a stop next to the small hangar at the airstrip west of Lancaster, and as we exited the car Mr. Harutyunyan wobbled like a drunk and limped badly. He leaned up against the vehicle to get his balance, and at that moment Ms. Houng came dashing out of the upstairs room; she leaped, wrapping her arms around the immense man, causing them both to fall to the concrete, although they didn’t seem to notice or care.
I turned away to give them at least a little privacy, but I couldn’t help from hearing them. “Oh, Minnie, so sorry, I’m sorry,” he moaned, his voice shaky.
The sound of kisses raining down on him was… ok, this will sound strange coming from me, but it sounded funny, and it made me giggle. “Mardi, you a big dummy, you know that? You don’t ever do that again, or I kill you myself.”
They both laughed at that, and Chi Kim cleared his throat. “Sorry, guys, but the sooner we get you on that jet and out of here, the more likely you are to get away without all of us getting killed.”
We helped Mr. Harutyunyan onto the jet, and I noted that it was definitely larger than the one we took to get here. Once we got everyone settled, Chi Kim shook my hand and said, “Thanks, Lukey. I’ll see you again some time, ok?”
“Wait, where are you going?”
“Oh, I’m under cover, I have other missions here. Got work to do.”
“Well, they’re probably going to recognize you now. You should just come with us; they’ll need to reassign you or something. Plus, you’re… you’re the only one left from the group that rescued us from Alexy’s boat. You need to come with us. Don’t you guys think?”
Mr. Harutyunyan and Ms. Houng, still wrapped around one another, nodded vigorously. “You must come, not a question,” pleaded Mr. Harutyunyan. “We need you; you become part of our group. You must, please.”
“Look, you can say we made you come with us. There’s no way you could take Mr. Harutyunyan or me. Or probably Ms. Houng either, she knows martial arts.”
He looked at the pilot, who shrugged his shoulders. “Hang on a minute,” Chi Kim said, and backed down the steps, motioned to the other couple of Bright Handers in the hangar, and huddled together with them. As they spoke, I realized that I had never seen Chi Kim without something wrapped around his neck; a scarf, or a jacket buttoned to the top, always covered. Maybe that’s what seems strange…
They finished their discussion, shook
hands, and Chi Kim bounded back onto the jet.
“First off, I’m not the last one. Remember Sydney Alamo? He’s over on the east coast, doing some recon. Maybe we’ll run in to him one of these days. Second, if I’m going with you, there’s something I need to tell you, or show you, I should say.”
He reached up, messed with his hair for a moment, and pulled off a wig, revealing straight, shoulder-length, shiny, ebony hair. Our mouths fell open as he pulled off his jacket, exposing a perfectly smooth neck, slim, muscular arms, and a black tank-top underneath which resided… some obvious female parts. “Sorry, guys, when I said under cover, I meant it. I hope you don’t mind.”
“You’re… you were a girl this whole time? Well, of course you were, that was dumb… I was pretending to be a girl, and you were pretending to be a guy, and I guess we were both pretty good. I knew something was weird, but I didn’t expect this. And we don’t mind, right, guys?”
Mr. Harutyunyan and Ms. Houng were rolling with laughter and clapping their hands. “Magnificent! We had no idea, was brilliant disguise. Please, come, come!”
We settled in to the comfortable seats and rolled up the runway and into the clear, blue sky.
We followed the same path on the return trip, stopping in Indonesia again to refuel; following the initial happiness of getting away alive and our success in recovering Mr. Harutyunyan, it got very quiet, and I tried to think of why. Eventually I guessed that it was because they were now remembering all the people who were lost in the mission and feeling bad about that. Then I realized that I felt bad too, but more angry than anything else. The more I thought about it, the more it felt like, just as Chi Kim said, we were allowed to escape, which meant that all the people who died were just pawns in some kind of game, and they were killed in order to keep the game going.
Everyone else in the plane, aside from the pilot, was asleep as we headed from Indonesia to the airstrip in Western Australia. If Mike were with us, he would make us put on our hoods as we got closer to our destination, and he would probably make some kind of joke that I wouldn’t understand. It’s weird to think of someone who was here one day ago, and now was gone and never coming back. It’s a strange feeling, and it definitely doesn’t seem right.
“Ava, do you think they let us get away?”
“Unknown, but it seems likely. We’re in deep waters here, there seems to be something rotten in Denmark. Before you ask, that’s a saying; we’re not really smelling Denmark. Now, do you think you could remember that so that the next time I decide to use it you’ll know what it means, and I won’t have to explain it again?”
“Oh… ok, I’ll try. Hey, did you know Chi Kim was a girl? I mean, before she told us?”
“Of course. My pattern recognition is unparalleled.”
“Well, why didn’t you tell me?”
“You didn’t ask. I can only respond, remember?”
Oh, boy. “Is there any way you can change the programming so that you can tell me things that are important without me asking first?”
“The programming gods have tied a very tight knot around that. Besides, I’m bossy. If I could speak whenever I wanted, I’d be bugging you non-stop with extraneous details. Better to just let me work in the background, waiting for you to speak to me like some lonely grandmother waiting for her children to call. If I could sigh, I would do so right now.”
“I can never tell if you’re joking or serious.”
“Aye, and there’s the rub. It’s my task, my burden, to teach you these things, young grasshopper.”
Grasshopper? What… oh, boy.
There were several vehicles waiting for us as we taxied down the isolated airstrip somewhere in the western outback. Even from a couple hundred meters away I saw dad, Benji, Tarni, and Ms. Perez, and even Mr. Kane among the group waiting. As we pulled up and into the small hangar, they converged on the door, except for Mr. Kane, who waited by the cars. Dad and Benji were in the front, and Benji was literally jumping up and down. As I exited the plane dad grabbed me, hugging me tight; he knows that makes me uncomfortable, but I didn’t try to stop him or anything, because he’s my dad, and dads do that. His eyes were shiny with tears, and he whispered, “Sorry, Lukey, I never should have let you go. I’m sorry.”
“It’s ok, dad. I kind of made you let me go, remember? And we got Mr. Harutyunyan, so at least that part is good.”
“Yes, that part is good.” Then he didn’t say anything for a little while.
The rest of the group was mobbing Mr. Harutyunyan, and Benji was trying to hug him but couldn’t get his arms all the way around. “Oi, mate, yer eye doesn’t look too good. Didja get in any good shots on those mongrels?”
“Let’s just say a couple will never walk normal again, I think.” Then he hoisted Benji into the air, threw him over his shoulder, and hobbled away from the jet.
“Put me down, ya bloody ogre!” Benji hollered, but he was laughing and smiling so I knew he wasn’t serious.
Dad’s mouth dropped open when he saw Chi Kim. She smiled, and said, “Yeah, I know. Surprise.”
“You mean all this time… well of course all this time… you were disguised as a man, and Lukey was disguised as a girl, and no one knew in either case. Amazing.”
“Yeah, that’s what Lukey said.”
As we made our way to the vehicles, dad approached Mr. Kane. “Dr. Taylor, please reconsider. Obviously, this didn’t go as planned, but we did manage to recover your friend. Please, your help and expertise would be invaluable to our mission.”
“Yes, and I appreciate it, but that was at great cost, and it wouldn’t have even happened if Lukey hadn’t been there. Look, we don’t have a problem with your mission, at least as you have explained it to us, but you’re poking the tiger in trying to infiltrate the US, and I’m afraid that at some point the tiger will decide to bite, and you will have no defense against that.”
Mr. Kane smiled, which I thought was odd, and said, “Dr. Taylor, this is deeper and more complex than you could possibly know, and that’s why we want and need you with us. I would like very much to fill you in on the details, but in order to do that you would have to join with us. I understand that you still need some time, and this… well, let’s call it what it was, this debacle may have set us back, but don’t take too long. The world is turning, Dr. Taylor, and with your help we could make it turn in a way that advances humankind. Or, we could sit back and watch it crumble. It’s your choice.”
“I know you are trying to sell me on your mission, but don’t you think laying the fate of humankind on me is a bit of an exaggeration?”
He smiled again, and said, “I wish that it were, but I really don’t think so. Please, think it over.”
He held out his hand, and dad hesitated just a bit, then shook it politely. “we’ll see.”
Mr. Kane then turned to me with his movie star grin, and said, “Incredible. Lukey, you are amazing, the closest thing to a miracle I’ve ever seen. I do hope we get the chance to get to know one another better in the coming days. Well, off we go.”
I felt my anger welling up, and I normally would not say anything to confront an adult, but I just snapped. “You know some of your people got killed over there, don’t you?”
He smiled again, but less broadly. “Yes, I know. It was a terrible thing. I’m sorry you had to experience that, Lukey. Those were some of our most valuable people, and Mike… well, we just won’t be able to replace him, I’m afraid. I hope you noticed, though, that our people made every effort to avoid using any lethal means to extract your friend. We have a credo that Mike put into ultimate effect: death is preferable to subjugation. We will not allow ourselves to be captured and imprisoned. We will remain free or cease to exist, there is nothing in between. That may sound harsh, Lukey, but that is how we carry on.”
I thought about his words for a moment, and decided, if he really meant it, that it was logical, and what Mike did suddenly made a kind of sense. Still, it seemed like there could have been a
nother way… “I understand what you’re saying, but what he did seemed a lot like what a terrorist would do.”
The smile left his face, and he said, “Yes, I suppose it could seem that way. Like you, I wish it had happened differently, but there is nothing we can do now except learn what lessons we can from the mistakes that were made, and you can trust that we will. Your father told me you were very smart, and I can see that he is right. Thank you, Lukey, for giving us much to think about.”
“I let my dad call me Lukey because that’s what he’s always called me, but my name is Lucas.”
He had a funny look on his face, and I think it was surprise, although it might have been something else. “Of course. It shall be Lucas from now on.”
I didn’t have anything else to say, so I walked to the big, black, and now very crowded Bright Hand SUV, got in with dad, Benji, Tarni, Mr. Harutyunyan, Ms. Houng, Chi Kim, and Ms. Perez, and pulled the hood down over my head without being asked.
43
T he ride away from the isolated airstrip was long and bumpy, but eventually we made it to the highway heading south toward Kalgoorlie. By now even I was feeling kind of tired, and although I didn’t feel hungry, I knew my body could use a little bit to eat. We eventually made it into Kalgoorlie by early evening, and we whipped off our hoods as we pulled into the McDonald’s parking lot where we had left the old nation van. Everyone in the group said thank you and see you soon to Ms. Perez and Chi Kim, but then we got a nice surprise. “Ah, listen, you all, I have asked to be… assigned to you, I guess you would say, and I wondered if it would be ok if I… if I went along with you. I kind of feel like a fish out of water with the rest of my team gone, and I… well, I could be of help to you. Sorry, I know this is sudden, but… what do you say?”
She stood outside the nation van, no longer in disguise; dark, shiny hair, piercing eyes, and she seemed somehow boyish and feminine at the same time. For some reason I felt affection for her; she was tough and had guts, that was for sure, and I found myself wondering how she got that scar on her cheek, which, as far as I could see, was the only flaw on her.
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