Hunt for Jade Dragon (5 page)

“We met once before,” she said. “Your father and I went to his apartment after you disappeared.”

I remembered that night well. Mr. and Mrs. Ridley had come to my apartment to see if I knew where Taylor was. I suddenly felt embarrassed. “I wasn't lying, I . . .”

“You don't need to explain,” Mrs. Ridley said. “I've been briefed about everything. I don't know how to thank you for rescuing my daughter.” She looked at Taylor and broke down crying again. “I'm never going to let you out of my sight again. Never, never, never again.”

No one has told her about Taiwan
, I thought.

About ten minutes later there was a loud squeal from a
microphone, then Joel said, “Good evening and welcome, everyone. There are some happy reunions going on tonight and I won't keep you from them. I just wanted to inform you that dinner is ready, so if everyone will find a seat, we'll begin serving.”

My mother and I sat down at a table for eight with McKenna, the Lisses, Taylor, and her mother. After we were seated I asked Taylor's mom, “Where's Mr. Ridley?”

“He's at home,” she said.

“He couldn't come?”

“If he knew Taylor was here he would have definitely come. He thinks I'm on a business trip for my travel company. In fact, until two hours ago, so did I.”

“What do you mean?” Taylor asked.

“A few days ago, a woman came into my office. She said she represented a very wealthy Arizona businessman who was looking for someone to handle his company's travel, but wanted to meet me first. She said he would send his private jet. So just a little after noon we flew out from Boise. I thought we were headed to Scottsdale, Arizona, not wherever this place is.”

“You don't know where we are either?” Taylor asked.

She shook her head. “Just an idea. It looks like Texas, but it could be Southern Arizona, New Mexico, or even Mexico. So after four hours in the air I asked the woman where we were. All she said was, ‘On course.'

“It was only after the plane had landed on a private landing strip and these guys with guns met us that I began to panic. That's when the woman told me that they were taking me to see my daughter.” She teared up. “At first I thought they had kidnapped me, too. But then on the drive here they explained things. It was all so strange, but when they told me that Taylor had these
powers
 . . .” She turned to Taylor. “This is still so hard to believe—not just what is going on in the world, but that you can do what they say you can. Is it true?”

Taylor nodded. “Yes.”

“Honey, why didn't you just tell us?”

“I was scared. It took me years to understand my powers, and
once I finally did I didn't know how to tell you.” She looked at me. “When I saw Michael use his powers it was the first time I thought someone might understand.”

“It's lucky she met you,” Mrs. Ridley said to me.

“Lucky for me,” I said.

* * * 

The dinner was as good as Joel promised. We had tomato and onion salad, sautéed mushrooms, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato and pecan casserole, and huge T-bone steaks. While we were eating, Joel walked up to our table. “Is everyone having a good time?”

My mother looked up at him with a large smile. “Everything is wonderful. Thank you.”

A similar smile crossed his face. The way they looked at each other made me wonder if there was more to their relationship.

“Thank you,” Mrs. Ridley said. “For bringing us together.”

“It's our pleasure,” Joel replied. He looked at Taylor. “I guaranteed you an especially good evening. Was I right?”

“Yes, sir,” Taylor said. “Thank you.”

“It's the least we could do.” He looked back over the table, his gaze again settling on my mother. “I'll let you enjoy your meals. But, sincerely, thank you for all you've done.” He turned and walked off to another table.

About a half hour later the servers brought out coffee and a dessert of fresh berries with sweet cream, and Joel lifted the microphone again. “I hope you've all had a good time this evening. It's getting late and we start early tomorrow, so it's about time we wrapped things up. Tomorrow morning we will be meeting in this same room at eight o'clock for breakfast. For those assigned to Operation Jade Dragon, which includes all of our young guests, please come dressed and ready for your first briefing. Thank you again, and good night.”

A few minutes later we all got up from the table. After telling everyone good night, I walked my mother to her room in the eastern wing of the Ranch House.

“You know, what Joel said earlier about you being a hero is true,” my mother said. “Your father would have been just as proud of you as
I am.” She looked me in the eyes. “But remember, you're still my son. You don't have to save the world.”

“What if I'm the only one who can?”

Her expression was a mix of pride and sadness. “That's something you're going to have to answer yourself.”

* * * 

By the time I got back to my room the lights were out and Ostin was already asleep. At least I thought he was. As I quietly undressed and slipped into bed, Ostin said, “Good night.”

“Good night,” I answered. After a moment I added, “It was cool seeing your parents tonight.”

“Yeah. It was. Sleep well.”

“You too.”

I had just closed my eyes when Ostin blurted out, “Did you know that the first woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize was from Taiwan?”

I think that could have waited until morning,
I thought. “No.”

“Did you know that Taiwan's national sport is American baseball? In 1995 they won the Little League World Series in the U.S.”

“No,” I said again. “Didn't know that either.” For a moment I lay there wondering why he was sharing these random factoids—not that this was unprecedented for Ostin. I sometimes wondered if there was so much information in his head that it occasionally just burst out. At my thirteenth birthday party I was about to blow out the candles on my cake when he said, “Did you know that Stalin tried to create a humanzee—a hybrid of men and chimpanzees—hoping to create ape-men superwarriors?”

Suddenly it occurred to me why he was pelting me with facts about Taiwan. “Are you worried about Taiwan?”

“A little,” he said quietly. “Are you?”

“I'm always worried.”

“You don't act like it.”

“I'm just good at faking.” I was quiet a moment, then said, “You know, you don't have to go.”

“If you go, I go.”

“Thanks, buddy.”

More silence.

“Michael.”

“Yeah?”

“Something's really been bothering me.”

“What's that?”

He hesitated for such a long time that for a moment I thought he'd fallen back asleep. “I know Hatch is a demon and all that, but what if he's right?”

“Right about what?”

“About making an electric species.”

I wasn't sure what to say. “Why would he be right?”

“Everything evolves. That's how nature survives. What if an electric species is the natural evolution of humans?”

“There's nothing natural about what Hatch is doing.”

“But wouldn't the world be a better place if we didn't have to worry about electricity anymore?”

“Better for whom? The humans the Elgen kill or the ones they enslave?”

“You're right.”

“It's not electric power I'm worried about. Hatch doesn't care about the world or clean energy or a better species. He uses those things to manipulate people into doing what he wants them to do. Just think how much oil those boats of his need. He probably uses more oil in a second than most people use in three or four lifetimes.”

“You're right,” Ostin said. “It's subterfuge.”

“Exactly,” I said.
Whatever that means
. “Good night.”

“Night,” he echoed. I had almost fallen asleep when he said, “Michael.”

“Yeah?”

“You won't tell anyone I said that, will you?”

“No.”

“Okay. Good night.”

“Good night,” I said, rolling over. Now my eyes were open. I was ticking.
What if the devil was right?

W
hen I woke the next morning Ostin was dressed and sitting cross-legged on his bed, reading. “Did you hear that rooster?” he asked. “It was crowing at like four in the morning.”

“No, I was too tired.”

“If I were you I would have thrown a lightning ball at it.”

“Should have,” I said.

Actually, I felt more rested than I had in days. It was the first time I'd gone through an entire night without having a nightmare since we'd sunk the
Ampere
. “What time is it?”

“It's after seven. I was about to wake you up. Breakfast is in a half hour.”

“I'm going to shower,” I said. I grabbed some clothes, then walked into the bathroom. A hot shower is one of those luxuries you don't think about until you've been deprived of it. I stood under the water until Ostin banged on the door.

“It's time to go,” he shouted.

“I'll meet you there,” I said. “Save me some food.”

* * * 

By the time I arrived for breakfast the dining room was crowded. Taylor waved to me as I entered. She was sitting at a table next to both of our mothers. Ostin was sitting with his parents at the table behind them. The rest of our group, including Tanner and Grace, was sitting together.

Taylor got up to meet me. “Good morning, sunshine.”

“Looks like I'm the last one here,” I said.

“As usual,” she said, smiling. “The food's over there. You just help yourself.”

The food was served buffet-style from long tables at one end of the room. There was thick bacon and sausage, scrambled eggs, hash browns with cheese and red and green peppers, and blueberry pancakes. I loaded up with everything, then, after saying hi to the rest of our group, sat down next to my mother.

“How did you sleep?” my mom asked.

“Good. I didn't hear the four a.m. rooster alarm.”

“I did,” Taylor said. “It went on for like ten minutes before I rebooted it.”

“You rebooted a rooster?”

“I think so. It stopped mid-crow.”

“You should eat,” my mother said. “The food here is really good. They grow everything. Even the wild blueberries in the pancakes. They're completely off the grid.”

“This is where I want to be for the zombie apocalypse,” Taylor said.

“Or the Elgen one,” I said. I looked at Taylor's mother. “How are you, Mrs. Ridley?”

“Thank you for asking,” she said. “I woke this morning thinking I had dreamed it all.”

“Sometimes I still do too,” I said. I took a bite of blueberry pancake. It was delicious.

“Tell us about Peru,” Mrs. Ridley said. “And this tribe you were with.”

“You should let him eat,” Taylor said.

“It's okay,” I said. “I wasn't with the Amacarra that long. But they were good to me. They saved me from the Elgen.”

“I'd like to meet them someday,” my mother said.

“You can't,” I said, frowning. “They don't exist anymore. The Elgen and the Peruvian army wiped them out for helping us.”

Her expression fell. “I'm so sorry. That's horrible.”

“It's hard to believe that their entire civilization is gone,” I said.

“If Hatch has his way that will be true of all of us,” Taylor said.

Just the mention of Hatch's name brought a cloud over the table.

As we finished eating, Joel walked in. He greeted a few people, then went to the front of the room. “Excuse me, I have an announcement. For members of the Electroclan, we'll be meeting in this same room at nine thirty, so you'll have a little time to go back to your rooms or walk around the grounds before then, but please don't be late. Thank you.”

As soon as he finished he headed to our table. I again noticed the unspoken interaction between him and my mother.

“Good morning,” he said to all of us. Then he turned to me. “Michael, before things get started, the council would like to meet with you.”

“What's the council?” I asked.

“They're the leadership of the resistance,” my mother said.

“They're waiting in the conference room right now,” Joel said.

“They're waiting for me?”

“Yes. As soon as you're ready.”

I glanced at Taylor. “What about everyone else?”

“This time they'd just like to see you,” Joel said.

I stood. “All right. Let's go.”

My mother and I followed Joel back to the Ranch House, then across the main room, through a doorway, and down the central wing. At the end of the hallway Joel opened a door for me. “Go on in,” he said.