Fall of Hades (16 page)

“And that leads me to another revelation I've had lying here. Here I am in one of the safest places on the planet, guarded by enough weaponry to have won the Civil War, and I was still almost killed.

“The truth is, life is a house of cards. Taylor could stay back and be killed in a car accident next week. She could get cancer. Heck, she could catch the flu and die. Safety is an illusion.” He leaned slightly forward, and I saw him grimace with pain. Then he said, “So I'm going to ask you a very important question, and I want your completely honest answer. No matter how painful it is for either of us. Can you do that for me?”

“Yes, sir.”

“In your opinion, how important is Taylor to this mission?”

I took a deep breath. “She's been important to every mission.”

“And this one?”

“There's no way of knowing that.”

“You're right, but what does your gut tell you? Can you succeed without her?”

I looked down for a moment, then said, “I don't know. We haven't tried. But looking back over Peru and Taiwan, we wouldn't have succeeded there without her.”

He was quiet a moment, then said, “I thought so.” He rubbed his chin. “I appreciate your honesty. I'm going to have a talk with her. Thanks for coming by.”

“Don't mention it.”

“Michael.”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for being so good to my daughter. I'd be proud to call you my son. Not anytime soon, but maybe one day.”

“Thank you.” I turned and walked out.

Mrs. Ridley stood as I came out of the room. “How was it?”

“Surprising,” I said.

She looked at me curiously. “Surprising good or bad?”

“I guess we'll find out,” I said, and walked out of the house.

I wondered what Mr. Ridley planned on saying to Taylor. More interesting, I wondered what she'd say back.

T
he following afternoon around three o'clock the dinner bell rang. Ostin, McKenna, and I were just east of the horse corral watching Eric and Peggy, our beekeepers, check the hives. They were dressed in white, full-body bee suits and looked a little bit like space people as they walked between the rows of white boxes.

When we first got there, they had sprayed the area with smoke to calm the bees, but the bees still weren't happy with them poking around and kept swarming them. I was glad it wasn't me, but it was still kind of cool to watch.

I did notice something peculiar. The bees were more attracted to me and McKenna than Ostin. Actually, more to me than McKenna. It didn't bother me that much, except that I kept killing bees. I'd gotten so electric that anytime they got too close, my electricity would zap them. McKenna purposely made herself too hot to land on, which kept the bees from stinging her.

Ostin noticed the phenomenon too and immediately created a hypothesis. “I think we're seeing an example of electroreception.”

“What's that?” McKenna asked.

“When bees fly, they collect atmospheric electricity in their antennas. When it visits a flower, it deposits that electricity. Bees can detect the pattern of electric fields on flowers and use that information to tell whether or not other bees have already visited the flower. You both probably look like very large flowers to them.”

“How disappointing for them,” I said.

*  *  *

A few minutes later the dinner bell rang. Ostin checked his watch. “That's weird. It's only three o'clock. Too early for dinner. Not that it's ever too early to eat.”

“Must be a special meeting,” McKenna said.

We said good-bye to Peggy and Eric and walked up the hill to the house.

Chairman Simon, my mother, and Gervaso were standing on the porch near the front door. They all had somber expressions—not freaked out or anything, just really serious. I also noticed that two of our vans were parked near the side of the house and things were being carried out to them.

“What's up?” I asked.

“Just go into the meeting room,” Gervaso said. “We have an announcement.”

I looked at my mother. She hugged me but offered no explanation.

Only Zeus and Tessa were inside, so Ostin, McKenna, and I sat down next to them and waited for everyone else to arrive.

Within ten minutes everyone came, even Grace, whom none of us ever saw much of.

Abi and Jack came in with wet hair. They had been swimming in the pond.

After everyone had arrived, my mother came in looking around for me. I waved to her, and she walked over and sat down by my side.

I should say that everyone came except Taylor. She wasn't there, but I guess that I didn't really expect her to be. She seemed to have checked out, not just from my life but the Electroclan as well. I can't say that I was happy or sad about her being absent; seeing her, not seeing her, both were painful. Hearts are weird that way.

We quieted as Gervaso and the chairman entered the room. Gervaso shut the door behind them.

“Thanks for coming,” the chairman said. “I'll cut right to the chase. We've just got our orders. It's time to go.”

Even though we knew it was coming, the actual announcement still knocked the collective wind out of us. Not one of us said a word. Gervaso let the announcement settle, then said, “We're leaving tomorrow morning at nine. We'll drive to Las Vegas and spend the day, then fly out early the next morning.”

“Yeah, Vegas,” Zeus said, slapping hands with Jack.

“Why Vegas?” McKenna asked.

“That's where the plane is right now. We also thought it might be nice for you to have some fun before you go.”

“You mean the mission isn't going to be fun?” Tessa mumbled.

“There will be twelve of us going on this mission,” Gervaso said. “Michael, Taylor, Ostin, McKenna, Zeus, Tessa, Abi, Jack, Tanner, Ian, Nichelle, and me. Grace will be helping from here. If all goes well, we'll be coming back with sixteen.”

“Excuse me,” I said, raising my hand. “But Taylor won't be going.”

“Yes, I will,” Taylor said.

I looked over. Taylor was standing next to the door.

Gervaso slightly nodded to her, then turned back to us. “So we've got an even dozen. Bring your bags with you to breakfast tomorrow. We're traveling light, so take only what you need. Breakfast will be ready at eight and we'll be leaving at nine sharp, so say your long good-byes tonight. Everyone get some good sleep. We need you sharp and well rested, and over the next two weeks that's not a luxury you're going to get enough of.” He took a deep breath. “All right, Electroclan. You're dismissed.”

I looked back over to where Taylor had been, but she was already gone.

I turned to my mother. Her eyes were filled with tears.

“You knew it was time?” I asked.

“They just told me.” She brushed a tear from her cheek.

“It's going to be okay,” I said. “We'll be back in a few weeks.”

I think we both knew it was false bravado, but she nodded. “Of course. Just a few weeks.” She gave me a hug. “Just be careful.”

I looked at her for a moment, then forced a smile. “I'm always careful. Besides, what could go wrong?”

I
n spite of Gervaso's counsel, none of us slept much. Jack, Zeus, and I played Texas Hold'em until three in the morning. Five hours later we carried our bags up to the house. As we trudged up the hill with our packs slung over our shoulders, we could smell the wafting sweetness of bacon and syrup.

“Waffles,” Ostin said with religious fervor.

“A proper send-off,” I said.

“How far is Vegas from here, anyway?” Jack asked.

“I think it is about three hours,” I said.

“I can't wait,” Ostin said. “I've been studying how to count cards. I'm going to bring down the house.”

“You're too young to gamble,” Jack said.

Ostin thought a moment, then said, “That's okay. I'll just tell some adult how to play.”

*  *  *

We ate breakfast while others loaded our bags into the vans. We finished eating, then walked out front of the main house, where the cars were waiting. Pretty much everyone on the ranch came out to see us off. Peggy handed Ostin, McKenna, and me a piece of honeycomb from their previous day's foraging. “The bees send their love,” she said.

My mother was pretty weepy, which didn't surprise me, but it didn't make things any easier. She held me for a long time. The truth was, I was feeling more sad than I let on. I wondered how she would handle it if I didn't come back.

Still, my mother wasn't as bad as Ostin's mother, who, no surprise, was practically wailing. I think Ostin would have been super-embarrassed, except he was crying himself.

The others weren't as bad. Zeus and Tessa showed no emotion whatsoever. It's not that they had attachment disorder or anything. It's just that, outside of the Electroclan, they lacked anyone to be attached to.

Taylor hadn't come up for breakfast and only showed up with her parents a few minutes before we were to leave. Mrs. Ridley's eyes were red and puffy, and Mr. Ridley looked sad but was walking for the first time even though he was leaning against a tall wooden walking stick.

Taylor climbed into the van I wasn't in, which didn't surprise me but still made me kind of mad. I wondered what was going through her head. I think it's the first time I wished that I could have her power instead of mine.

Gervaso took roll call, then climbed into the passenger seat of the other van. “Adios!” he shouted out the window. The vans pulled out, kicking up gravel and dust as we left the ranch.

My mother blew me a kiss, then covered her eyes with her hands. I had to look away.

M
aybe Vegas was kind of like a last meal before being executed, but I wasn't about to complain. We arrived a little after noon and checked in at the Bellagio hotel. I had never stayed anyplace so luxurious before. The closest I'd come was that hotel in Taiwan. Of course the Gadsden, that place in Douglas, Arizona, used to be nice. But now it was just haunted.

Zeus, Nichelle, and Tessa had stayed at the Bellagio before, but in a suite roughly the size of Idaho, so they weren't as impressed as the rest of us, but they were also still glad for the break.

Gervaso gave us a thousand dollars each and sent us off with a stern warning not to talk to strangers.

Ostin, McKenna, Taylor, Ian, and I went to the David Copperfield magic show, something Ostin had always wanted to do. I didn't sit next to Taylor. It felt strange to not touch her or hold her hand. It was as strange to have lost that privilege as it had been to initially have it granted.

Ian kind of ruined the show for us because he kept telling us how the tricks were done. We had to leave the show early because someone noticed us glowing and pointed at us. Everyone thought that we were part of the show. David Copperfield even took a bow for it.

Afterward, we ran into Gervaso in the casino, and Ostin gave him five hundred dollars and got him to play cards for him. They kept playing until Gervaso had won more than five thousand dollars and quit because he was drawing too much attention.