Project Chimera

by Lisa McMann

  Charlie smiled and reached behind her to pat her brother on the leg. “Exactly.”

  “Besides, I thought she threw the bracelet out,” said Andy. “Why did she lie?”

  “We’re not sure,” said their mom carefully, and glanced at Charlie. “But maybe she’ll come back and explain. She’s sort of . . . on the run, I guess you could say.”

  “Oh.” Andy grew silent. “I hope she makes it back okay.”

  “Yeah,” said Charlie.

  They stopped to pick up Mac and Maria, then ran into the grocery store to get some food supplies for the day. It was almost eleven by the time they got to home base.

  When they got out of the car, they proceeded with an abundance of caution as usual, looking right and left as they made their way into the building, knowing that home base was still the safest place they could hide in case things went crazy. They saw no one.

  Unfortunately, they forgot to look up.

  CHAPTER 36

  No Time to Lose

  Inside home base, as Mrs. Wilde and the four kids were entering the surveillance room, Mac went to the screens and muttered under his breath.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Mrs. Wilde. The rest of them set down their supplies and hurried over to the monitors.

  “There’s Miko on the cardinal cam, climbing down the side of our building. Did anyone see her?”

  “No,” said Charlie. “We were extra careful.”

  “She saw us, though, I’ll bet.”

  “Oh no,” murmured Maria. “What are we going to do?” Then she glanced at her backside as her tail pushed out. She sighed. “Here we go again.”

  “This is not good.” Mrs. Wilde’s expression flickered with deep concern and doubt. “I wasn’t planning on them being able to find us. Now Miko’s going to alert everybody over there. This changes everything.” She went to the window and looked up at the building across the street, but of course she wasn’t able to see anything. “Kids, we might have to relocate. I’ll call Erica. If her component arrived as planned, she should already be on her way to the airport. While I do that, why don’t you check the footage from last night and this morning?”

  “Already on it,” said Mac. He rolled through the footage in reverse.

  Charlie stood over his shoulder, straining to see if anything unusual had happened in the early hours of the day. “Wait—stop. They’re all gathered in the lab.” She swallowed hard. “Gray knows about Kelly. He must know!”

  Mac stopped rewinding and they watched, while Mrs. Wilde stayed by the windows to talk to Ms. Sabbith.

  “Mom!” Charlie called out. “He saw the show.”

  They continued watching through the rest of the footage, listening to Dr. Gray’s new orders, and then caught a rare moment when the three scientists had had time to speak freely.

  They were talking about a noon escape today instead of on Monday, from the lab instead of Gray’s office, and the kids began to realize that Mrs. Wilde hadn’t yet explained what the plan was going to be. And then they remembered that Ms. Sabbith wasn’t there yet to help enact it.

  And finally they realized that noon, the hour of escape, was exactly twelve minutes away.

  “Mom!” Charlie called out in a panic.

  Her mom put the phone down. “What is it? What’s happening?”

  “They going to try to escape today! Like, now. We have to go!”

  “But—” said Mrs. Wilde. “But Erica says we need to pack up and get out of here because of Miko—she says we have to protect ourselves first or no one’s left to do the rescue!” She ran over to where the kids stood around the monitor just as Miko was walking with Charles into the hallway on the video from earlier.

  “Quiet, everybody,” said Mac. “He’s going to tell us their plan.”

  Charlie looked at the time and jiggled her foot. “Eight minutes till noon,” she said. She could feel her bracelet grow warm. Maria was fully transformed.

  Finally Mr. Wilde was alone. He held the dragonfly up to his face and whispered, “The first shift of soldiers goes to lunch at noon with Dr. Gray on the eighth floor. We’ll be in the lab with the rest of them—Prowl, Miko, Zed, and a couple of new soldiers that Dr. Gray has been training and experimenting on. We won’t make a move until we see you, just in case you aren’t able to pull this off. But once you show up, we’ll help fight them off, grab as much of the technology as we can to slow Gray down, and get out of here. Take the elevator for the surprise effect—the soldiers use the stairs for lunch.” He hesitated and looked around, then gave a strained smile. “We can do this. Today’s our best chance.”

  “Six minutes, Mom,” said Charlie. “You heard him. We have to go.”

  “Charlie, just wait a second.” Mrs. Wilde took a breath. “Listen to me. Our home base is compromised. Erica’s not here yet. This is all very sudden.” She put her face in her hands for a moment, then looked up. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t leave Andy here alone—not now that Miko found our building. And we can’t take him with us because it’s not safe.” She raked her fingers through her hair, her expression filled with indecision.

  “Mom,” said Charlie again. “Maria and I know the floor plans. You’ve seen us train—you know how good we are. We can do this.” She jiggled her foot. Mac took a hit on his inhaler, and Maria clicked to the Turbo screen and waited to see what Charlie’s mom would say.

  Mrs. Wilde’s expression was agonized. She cringed and shook her head. “Kids,” she said, “I’m calling off the rescue operation. We have a new huge threat to us. Ms. Sabbith said we need to get ourselves and the equipment out of here. This whole thing—it’s just too big. Too dangerous. I’m sorry.”

  “What?” cried Charlie. “But what about Dad?”

  “Charlie, please try to understand. Dad said they wouldn’t try anything if they don’t hear us coming—he knows this is a big change in plans and that we might not be able to pull it off. And I’ve made my decision. This isn’t smart. Let’s just . . . gather up the computer and screens and our other stuff before Miko comes back here with her friends. Erika will be here by tonight. Then we’ll regroup and try this again—from a safe location.” She turned and went over to Dr. Sharma’s desk and started piling things up. “Get the blueprints,” she called to them. “Save the electronics for last so we can keep an eye out for Miko. Andy, come help me get some empty boxes.” She went back to the partitioned area where the boxes were. Andy followed, looking over his shoulder wide-eyed at Charlie, afraid to say anything.

  Charlie stared after them, shocked. Her mom had gone full-on coward, just like that—just because of Miko, who might have seen them go into a building. But she didn’t know where in the building they were, did she? She’d have to go through six floors to find them, and even if she did manage to suspect there was something different going on in the Water and Sewage Treatment Complaints Office, she’d meet up with a locked door. Charlie watched the video, which Mac had switched to live. On the ladybug screen she could see her dad checking the clock, and Dr. Sharma biting her lip anxiously and glancing at the ladybug camera. Her heart twisted. Charlie looked at Mac and Maria, and they looked back at her, disappointment clear in their eyes. “I’m sorry about my mom.”

  Maria touched her arm. “It’s okay.” She hesitated, then added, “I didn’t realize just how much I wanted to rescue the scientists until your mom told us we can’t. I mean, here we have these abilities. . . . We can save your dad.”

  “And we have a responsibility,” Mac added. “Not just to rescue them but to stop Dr. Gray.”

  “And we’ve been training for this,” said Charlie passionately. “Ms. Sabbith is pretty smart and tough, but we don’t need her.” She glanced over toward the partitioned area, then looked at her dad once more, who was now reaching under his workstation counter and slipping the secret thing he’d been working on into his pocket. He was preparing to go. This was their best chance, he’d said. Charlie couldn’t let him down.

  She eyed the parti
tioned area. Her mom was still back there with Andy. She leaned in. “We have to do this without her,” she said in a low voice. “Now’s our only chance. But we’ve got to scram. Right now. Are you with me?”

  Mac and Maria stared at Charlie. Their faces lit up and they nodded.

  “Let’s go.” Charlie led, with Mac and Maria right behind.

  By the time Mrs. Wilde came back, they were gone.

  CHAPTER 37

  Going for It

  The decision to go rescue the scientists against her mom’s wishes felt reckless but also freeing. Like Maria had told Charlie before, when you have something special to offer the world, you have an obligation to do it. And the scientists were counting on them. The world was counting on them! They might not have another chance like this, with the three biggest brutes gone for a while. Charlie, Maria, and Mac ran outside with a fresh burst of energy. And Charlie began formulating a plan.

  As they went down the alley toward the bank building, Mac activated his suit. Maria, in full Turbo Mode, jumped a few times, then tried a couple of parkour moves. She ran up the side of a building and sprang off it, landing on a lone parked car, then rebounded to grab a street sign with one hand and her tail. She flipped around the sign and landed just in front of Charlie and Mac and kept in stride with them.

  “Looking good, Maria,” said Charlie. She clicked through her device. The cheetah and elephant were pulsing with life. That was a good start.

  “I’m feeling good,” said Maria, bouncing around. “Confident. We did great stuff this week to prepare. I may look ridiculous and awful, but it’s a cool sort of awful when you really think about it.”

  “Like I said the other day,” said Charlie, “you look like a superhero to me.” She looked at Mac. “Aren’t you going to activate your scales for protection?”

  “I move better and faster without them,” he said, “so I’ll wait until we get there. What’s our plan? Are we just going to rush in there and start fighting? Who do you want me to go after?”

  “I’ve been thinking about it,” said Charlie. “Let’s stay together if we can. Okay? We’ll keep it simple. We know there’s a guard at the door inside the lab.”

  “Zed’s there now,” said Mac.

  “Got it. We also know my dad and the others won’t do anything until they hear us, so we’ve got to make some noise. We’ll rush in, hopefully surprise the soldiers, and get to the biologists so we can protect them as we fight our way out. The bad guys won’t know what’s happening at first—we’ll be a wall of terror coming at them.”

  Mac snorted. “Right. They’ll probably kick our butts.”

  Maria poked him with her elbow. It bounced off Mac’s armor and she rubbed it. “Well, if they try kicking your butt, they’ll definitely be hurting.”

  “Hey, that gives me an idea,” said Charlie. “Mac, you can go after Prowl and Zed since they have claws—they won’t be able to hurt you. Maria, use your tail and your swinging abilities to knock the soldiers out of commission, but stay out of reach if you can so they don’t hurt you. I’ll do what I can with my abilities—I’ve only got strength and speed activated so far, but hopefully the others will turn on if I need them.”

  “Got it,” said Maria, and Mac nodded.

  While they talked through the plan, they tried to sneak past the cardinal even though they knew Charlie’s mom had probably noticed they were gone by now. She’d see them soon enough, one way or another. Then they slipped into the back door of the bank building, found the elevator, and hit the button for the ninth floor. Feeling guilty, Charlie looked up at the spider cam, mouthed, “Sorry,” and blew a kiss in case her mom was watching.

  Maria tapped the elevator wall nervously on the ride up. When they reached the ninth floor, they peered out. There was no one in the hallway. Charlie tried to get her bearings—things looked a little different in real life than they did on the cameras and blueprints. But soon she figured it out.

  “There’s the lab door,” Charlie whispered, pointing down the hallway. “That’s where we want to go.”

  Mac and Maria nodded.

  She looked at her friends. “Are you ready?”

  “Ready,” said Maria.

  “Almost,” said Mac. He clicked his device. His scales appeared and fanned slightly away from his body. He tapped through a few screens and his fingers and tips of his feet morphed into pangolin claws. “Okay, I’m ready.”

  “Cool,” said Maria. “I didn’t know you could do both at the same time.”

  “Multitalented, that’s me,” Mac whispered.

  They snuck out of the elevator and stayed together, running as quietly as they could, though Mac still clanked a little in his suit of armor. They managed to make it all the way to the lab door without anyone seeing them.

  Charlie made eye contact with her friends, and then she yanked open the lab door and they all yelled. Zed jumped, startled, and turned around to see who was there. Her claws came out and her body blocked the entrance. She screeched in alarm.

  “Dad!” Charlie called, and she threw a punch at the woman’s face.

  Zed’s head snapped back, but she dug her claws into the frame and stayed blocking the doorway. She yowled, freeing her hands, and started swiping wildly. Charlie dodged to avoid her, and Mac stepped in. He bent over and plowed into her. Zed stumbled backward, caught herself, and then swung at Mac, her claws scraping loudly against his suit. As Charlie tried to get around her into the lab, Zed put her head down and slammed into Mac. He went flying, knocking into Charlie and Maria, and landed in the hallway, curled to one side. The sharp edges of his scales beveled out farther than they’d done before and gleamed.

  The girls didn’t have time to comment on that new development. Maria leapfrogged over Charlie through the doorway, giving Zed a sharp kick in the face before she landed inside the room. Charlie scrambled in after her.

  Zed slammed the lab door shut so Mac couldn’t follow them in.

  “Hey!” shouted Charlie as other soldiers in the lab realized what was happening. Maria hopped onto a lab table and jumped on Zed, while Charlie ran to the door and ripped it right off its hinges. She tossed it aside and helped Mac to his feet, then they both charged back in. Maria was cowering, bleeding from claw scratches, and Zed was on the floor. One of the new soldiers ran toward them from the back of the lab, while others were diving to contain the scientists. Charlie whipped her head around, looking for her dad. She spotted him being held down by Prowl. “We’re coming!” she cried.

  Still on the floor, Zed reached for the communication device attached to her suit. “We’re under attack!” she screeched into it. “Get up here!”

  “She’s calling Dr. Gray and the other soldiers!” shouted Dr. Sharma from another part of the lab, where Miko had her pinned to the wall. Miko twisted the woman’s arm harder, and Dr. Sharma cried out in pain.

  Mac dove at Zed, trying to keep her away from the girls. Maria dodged the new soldier while Charlie came at him, unsure what kind of hybrid she was facing, but hoping he was so new that he wouldn’t be very good at fighting yet. She put her hands out and caught him as he tried to grab her. She lifted him up, and hearing commotion from incoming soldiers in the hallway, she pivoted and flung him out the door. He bowled down Dr. Gray and two other new soldiers, sending them sprawling.

  “Let’s go!” said Charlie. The three kids regrouped and started for the back of the room to where Prowl held Mr. Wilde. Dr. Gray and the three new soldiers got up and came barreling into the lab. Miko, holding Dr. Sharma, inched her way along the windows toward Prowl.

  “Look,” said Maria in a low voice to her friends as Miko got closer and started plotting with Prowl. “If we take her out, she can’t tell anybody what she knows, know what I mean?”

  “It might be too late for that,” said Charlie, catching her breath. “But we may as well—she’s not as strong as the others, so hopefully she’ll be easy to handle.”

  Maria peeled off from the other two and hopped up
onto a workstation, running down the length of it. At the end she sprang at Miko, trying to knock her off balance so Dr. Sharma could get away. Miko tried to dodge her but didn’t want to let go of Quinn, and all three of them tumbled to the ground. Charlie ran to pull Dr. Sharma from the others while the two primates tussled on the floor. But Prowl saw her and Mac coming. He threw Dr. Wilde on the floor and hissed at Charlie, coming toward her.

  Maria freed herself from Miko, jumped onto a lab table and gazed perplexedly at the ceiling, as if looking for something to grab on to so she could use her swinging momentum. Miko jumped onto the workstation next to her, and Maria sprang up and punched at a ceiling tile. It popped up, leaving the rectangular metal grid empty in that space. “Aha,” she muttered. She jumped up and swung on it with one hand, testing its ability to hold her, then swung back and shot forward, managing to clock Miko in the jaw with her foot and knocking the soldier off the table. With Miko temporarily down Maria quickly hopped around the lab knocking out ceiling tiles every few yards.

  Meanwhile, Prowl struck out at Charlie. She squirmed and dodged and tried to signal to her dad to run for it. Mac caught up to her and slammed into Prowl, but that sent him reeling backward into a workstation. He grabbed the corner of it, then used his pangolin claws to chip off a hunk of the tabletop. When Prowl pounced on Charlie, Mac swung as hard as he could, slamming it into Prowl’s shoulder. He stumbled and tripped over Charlie.

  “Good idea!” Charlie said, scrambling to her feet. She kicked her foot into the leopard man’s stomach as hard as she could, leaving him doubled over.

  “That’s gonna hurt for a while,” said Mac. He and Charlie high-fived and looked around for Dr. Wilde. He had gone over to Dr. Goldstein, and now he and Dr. Sharma were fighting off the new soldier who’d been guarding Jack. “Come on,” Charlie said to Mac. “He looks hurt!”

  While Maria duked it out with Miko overhead, the other two zigzagged through the wreckage to Dr. Goldstein. “Are you okay?” Charlie asked the man.