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  I ran for a couple hundred meters, then jumped, pushed off hard, twisted and spun for ‘fun’, and landed on my feet at the end of the first trailer row. Whoa, not bad… that was about…

  “Turn on your heads-up display and you can see exactly how far you went, Nostradamus.”

  I’ve heard that name before, but I’m not sure who it is… either way, I don’t think she meant it as a compliment… oh, boy…

  I clicked on my heads-up display and found the distance from my take-off spot in the range finder: seventy-six meters, seven centimeters. I think that’s my furthest jump so far…

  I continued running and jumping around the perimeter of the cavern, and one huge leap landed me just past the Bright Hand dining hall. I turned to measure my distance and saw a group of eleven startled Bright Handers staring at me. I smiled as they strode in my direction, thinking they probably wanted to ask me how I do it, what I’m made of, the usual stuff. They weren’t smiling but I couldn’t really tell what their expressions meant, so I waited.

  They stopped about two meters in front of me, and a tall, slender young man with long ebony hair tied in a ponytail, and wearing the standard grey scrubs, said, “That was an impressive jump. How long are you and the rest of your group gonna be staying here?”

  His accent sounded Californian, and I guessed he was probably from somewhere near where I grew up. “I’m not sure. I’m going to be leaving in two days, and I’ll be gone for a while, but the rest… I don’t know how long for sure. I’ll be back and a week or so, though. Hopefully.”

  Leaning forward, the young man said, “Okay, listen. We know about you, the things you can do, all of that. Some people around here are all excited that you and your friends are here, but to us, you’re just making us a target. Your being here is gonna bring attention we don’t want. In fact, the reason we’re all here is because we were trying to escape attention from the US, and they’re after you hard. Everyone here knows it. You’re gonna bring them down on you and ruin it for all of us. We don’t want you or your friends here, and most of the people here feel the same. We can’t force you out, ‘cause Kane wants something from you and your group, but you need to leave before you get all of us killed. The sooner, the better.”

  As he spoke, the rest of his group nodded and made sounds of agreement with his speech. I thought about what he said for a long moment. “We only came here because we needed help. The Americans captured my dad, and they’re forcing me to do stuff in order to get him released. We didn’t know that people didn’t want us. Everyone we’ve met so far seemed like they were happy for us to be here.”

  A young woman standing next to the ponytail guy, also in the grey scrubs, stepped forward. I would have thought she was pretty, except her face was scrunched up in an expression that seemed like anger to me. “You haven’t met the right people then, have you?” she growled in an Australian accent. “Look, we’re all smart people here, and I reckon we can see what’s happening, just like Duncan says. We all know you can do some crazy things, but that’s why they want you, isn’t it? Sorry about your daddy, but that’s not our problem to solve.”

  Duncan stepped in front of her and now was about a meter away from me. He jabbed his finger at me and said, “We’re going to gather up everyone who wants you and your people gone, and you’ll see there’s a lot of us. I suggest you get out before that happens, so no one gets hurt on either side.”

  I covered my mouth and quickly whispered, “Ava…”

  “Relax, sonny boy. It’s not like any of them can hurt us. Just tell them this.”

  I listened for a moment and repeated Ava’s statement. “We didn’t know there was a group of you who didn’t want us here. We don’t want to cause anyone any problems, so we’ll work on getting out of here as soon as possible. We’ll have to work through Mr. Kane, and I don’t think he’ll be happy with us leaving, so that might slow us down just a little. My name is Lucas Taylor. John Taylor is my dad. He’s the one they, the Americans, captured. We’re just trying to do everything we can to get him back before they kill him or get him to tell them how he made me this way. That would be bad for everyone, much worse than our being here is for you. If we joined together, instead of getting us thrown out, maybe we can come up with a way to recover my dad faster, but that’s up to you. Imagine what the Americans would do if they had this technology.”

  I pointed my right fist at the cavern wall, and unleashed a quick laser burst, causing a hole several centimeters deep in the rock and a bright red glow around it.

  That, along with hearing dad’s name, seemed to stop them in their tracks. “How… okay, we’ve seen tactical lasers before, but how did you do that without burning your hand off?” said Duncan, backing away a step.

  “A lot of my body, including my arms and legs, are made of nano-machines, and they’re made of carbon nano-tubes. They can take different shapes quickly, like the hole that opens up in my fist when I need to shoot that laser. You’ve seen how fast I can run and how far I can jump. Come over here and hit me and see what happens.”

  “Are you kidding? I’m not crazy. I know you could take me down without a thought. That’s one of the reasons we want you out of here. If you went off the rails, you could kill us all.”

  “That’s just it, though. I don’t want to hurt anybody. None of us do. I wouldn’t have any of these weapons in my body if the Americans didn’t put me in the position of needing them. Go ahead, hit me, just so you can see what the Americans could do if they had my technology.”

  Duncan shook his head. “I’m not doing it. Mongo, you do it.”

  From the back of the group, a young man stepped forward. He was as broad as two normal people, like Mr. Harutyunyan, although not as tall. His eyes were black, as was his impressive bush of hair. In a deep, rumbling voice, he said, “Look, man, I have some enhancements of my own, although mine are more, like, chemical in nature. You might call me a test subject success story, in fact. Are you sure you want me to hit you?”

  “Go ahead. Hit me in the chest, as hard as you can.”

  “But you’re… you’re kinda small, you know. I can bench press half a ton.”

  “It’s okay. I’ll do my best not to hurt you, although I can’t make any promises.”

  That brought a laugh from the group, which had grown to about twenty as more people came to and from the dining hall. I didn’t quite understand what was funny, but I thought it was better than anger and yelling.

  Mongo’s eyes narrowed, and he growled, “Okay. As hard as I can?”

  “Yep. Good luck.”

  After another chorus of chuckles from the crowd, Mongo drew his right hand back and swung at my chest; the impact pushed me backward almost to the ground, although my gyroscope took over and put me back upright almost immediately; the recoil from Mongo’s punch spun him around and backward so hard that he bowled over Duncan, Angry Girl, and two others of the group, along with Mongo himself. A gasp went up from the crowd, and Mongo’s hand was swelling rapidly. Then he did something strange: big tears fell from his eyes, and he cried loudly. “My… my hand… it’s broke! Waahhh!”

  After a few moments with people patting him on the back and consoling him as he sat on the ground, he got himself under control and said, “Sorry, dude… the stuff they are testing on me messes with my emotions. It’s okay, it’s my fault. That really hurts, man. But that was the coolest thing ever! How did you do that?”

  “It’s how my body protects itself. I’m even mostly bulletproof. I got shot in the back once, and it just bounced off. And as you can see, I have no armor, no tactical exo-suit, nothing. In fact, three American soldiers in exo-suits chased me, and I outran them easily. Now, do you think it would be a good idea for the Americans to have this technology? Imagine a whole squadron of super-soldiers like me. You can see why it’s so important to get my dad away from them before they can get him to tell them how he did it. Plus, he’s… he’s my dad.”

  Then, I did something weird. Maybe I
was just caught up in the emotion of the moment, but I cried a little, too. Just for a few seconds.

  8

  DIRECTOR’S NOTES

  CONVERSATION WITH SRB

  121351 11:37

  -I bet that’s the last time you go off half-cocked in a meeting. Have anyone to lead the extraction committee yet?

  -Yeah, me and my bloody big mouth. But get this: I got (IG) to lead. About time that bloody Peruvian stepped forward, I’d say.

  -Could be good, could be bad. Keep a close eye on him and keep me advised. He’s one of the few of us with much ‘in the trenches’ experience, but that could mean that his thinking on such subjects as this extraction plan could be based on training, which also makes him potentially predictable, especially since the CIA provided the underground training for the Peruvian insurgents. He may even have conflicting allegiances, so be careful and report to me immediately.

  -Is there any underground insurgency that the bloody Americans ain’t had their hands in?

  -Good point. I’m sure they would say that having other countries destabilized by internal conflict makes their own country more secure, even in a relative ally country like Peru. Who else do you have?

  -There’s me, of course, (JM), from China, (AM), our German thorn in my side, and that’s all so far. That’s a good start, I’d say, and it’s still early.

  -(JM) is an interesting fellow. Has some wacky ideas, but he’s smart, make no mistake. I’m surprised you landed (AM), though. She has quite a habit of busting your… let’s just say she likes to prove you wrong.

  -True, but she’s a non-linear thinker, one of the best. I kinda like the give and take, anyway.

  -Well, as you say, that’s a good start. Be sure to have it done by the end of the day, and schedule planning sessions for tomorrow, otherwise I might have to throw you to the sharks. Speaking of sharks, aren’t we having fish for lunch?

  ****

  A fter the confrontation at the dining hall, I trudged back toward our trailer with lots to think about. I had no idea so many people wanted us gone… I guess I can’t blame them, but we didn’t have any choice… what will we do? We have to get out of here, but there’s no way I would have succeeded so far without their help… I know there are people here who want us to stay, want to help us… Dr. Bhat, Tom and Barry, Ms. Perez, Jimmie Early, Dr. Lazenbee, even Mr. Kane… I can’t think of any others… I guess that’s not that many after all… we’re in a lot of trouble…

  I was about halfway back to the trailer from the dining hall when I had a sense that there was someone behind me. I turned, and there was Mongo, trotting in my direction, still wiping his eyes and holding his injured hand across his chest. His nose was running and he was doing his best to wipe it with the sleeve of his left arm as he jogged. He really is huge, and he seems to be made completely out of muscle… “Ava, are we okay here?” I whispered as he approached.

  “We’re fine. Wait for him, he may need some help.”

  “Hey, hey, kid,” he called, his voice low and phlegmy. “Wait up, man.”

  When he got near, he held up his right hand, which had swelled to twice its normal size, a huge grin on his face. “Check this out, man. It really hurts, but it was my fault. I should have known better; you even warned me. That was cool, how you just bounced back up. How did you do that?”

  “There’s a gyroscope built in to my system; it keeps me upright. We better get someone to look at your hand, don’t you think?”

  “Yeah, probably so. I won’t take too long to heal, though. They put stuff in me that makes me recover quick. If I get a cut, two days later it’s like it was never there. It’s crazy. Hey, I know Duncan’s kind of a douche bag, but he’s smart. And he’s not wrong, either. There are lots of people here that think you guys shouldn’t be here. I’m not one of them, though. I think it’s cool.”

  As he spoke, I dug around in my pockets, looking for something he could use to wipe his nose. He had stuff running all down his face, but it didn’t seem to bother him; it was almost like he didn’t know it was there. I found nothing, but I was wearing two shirts, so I pulled the top shirt off and handed it to him, gesturing toward his nose.

  Beaming, he said, “Oh, thanks, man, but I don’t want to mess up your shirt.”

  “No, no, it’s okay. Go ahead, clean yourself up. I’ll just wash it later.” Or maybe throw it away… that’s kind of gross…

  “Thanks, dude. You’re cool. Those guys are wrong about you.” He rubbed his face vigorously with the shirt, then held it out to me.

  “You go ahead and hang on to it for now. So, your name is Mongo?”

  He giggled, and it made him seem much younger. “No, they just started calling me that when I got so big. I wasn’t always like this. Well, I was always big, but not gigantic. I guess there was some monster or something from a movie a long time ago, and when I blew up, they all started calling me that. I don’t mind too much, though. My real name is Ernie. Ernie Mesa. What’s yours?”

  “I’m Lucas Taylor. Why don’t you come with me to our trailer? I’ll get you some help for your hand.”

  “Oh, thanks, dude. That would be cool.”

  As we walked, I learned more about Ernie. He grew up in central California and moved to a town north of San Diego at fifteen, where he met Duncan through his older brother. Duncan was a college student; he told Ernie about his plan to run away and join The Bright Hand, and Ernie became obsessed with going along with him. He didn’t have any science knowledge or skills to speak of, but he was more than willing to be a test subject as long as he got to go. At seventeen he ran away with Duncan and eventually wound up at the Bright Hand cavern, and for the following two years was the subject of tests with various kinds of drugs and biological enhancers, which resulted in his current musclebound condition.

  “So, how do you feel? I mean, do the drugs have any bad effects?”

  “I feel great, physically. I feel like I’m made of steel or something, to tell you the truth. They kind of mess with my emotions, though. I don’t have much control, like you saw. They tell me they’re working on some stuff to kind of level that out and it’d be cool if they gave it to me soon, ‘cause sometimes it’s a little embarrassing, you know what I mean?”

  “Yeah, I know. I kind of have the opposite problem, though. I have Asperger’s, and it’s hard for me to tell what people’s facial expressions mean, and I don’t get the same kind of emotions over things that most other people do. And, I don’t get jokes very well.”

  Ernie laughed and raised his hand for a high five. “Oh, man, so both of us are crazy? That’s too much, man!”

  I gave him a high five and said, “Neither one of us is crazy, we’re just a little different. My dad used to tell me that all the time.”

  “Oh, dude, your dad, he’s John Taylor, right? The one the Americans kidnapped? Sorry, man, I didn’t mean to bring up a bad subject.”

  “It’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

  “Hey, so you’re made of… what, nano-stuff?”

  “Not completely. I have a body and most of a head under all this, but it’s all covered with nano-machines. They’re tiny, the size of human cells.”

  “Man, there’s no way you could tell by looking at you. Everything looks normal. How old are you?”

  “I’m almost fifteen. How about you?”

  “Man, you’re smart for a kid. I’m nineteen now. What other stuff can you do?”

  We chatted the rest of the way to the trailer, and I decided that Ernie was the kind of guy that would be fun to be around. He was interested and excited about everything, and his eyes got wide when I told him about flying, how fast I can run, and everything else. On top of all that, he’d definitely be a good guy to have on your side if you got into a scuffle.

  “… so, anyway, I’ll try to talk these guys out of hassling you, but I don’t know if it’ll work. They seem pretty, like, decided on the subject. I’ll try, though.”

  “Thanks, Ernie. We need all the
help we can get right now. Here’s our trailer.”

  “Oh, man, I’m a little nervous. Are you sure it’s cool if I go in?”

  “Yeah, it’s no problem. I don’t know what people are saying out there, but we’re all nice people. You might even know one of our group, Chi Kim.”

  His mouth formed an O the size of a coffee cup, and he said, “No way! I knew Chi from before we ever even got out here to Australia! She was with a group that trained us up before coming over. Man, I had a big crush on her. Let’s go!”

  We bolted up the steps and I threw the door open to find… everyone still asleep. Cheri was snoring softly on the couch, so I held my finger to my mouth and we tip-toed back out the door and down the steps.

  “I guess it’s still awful early. It’s… like, five forty-five. What happened to Chi’s arm?” Ernie whispered as we stepped away from the trailer.

  “That happened on our last mission. It’s quite a story.”

  “No way! Well, what should we do?”

  “If it’s okay, with you, I wouldn’t mind if we just kept walking for a while. You can tell me more about where you came from and how you got here.”

  “Forget that. You need to tell me about these missions you’ve been doing. Now, that’s cool. I mean, not about Chi’s arm, but you know what I mean.”

  We spent the next hour walking around the perimeter of the Bright Hand cavern, and by the time we were through, I felt like I had known Ernie my whole life, and I think he probably felt the same way.

  9

  DIRECTOR’S NOTES

  CONVERSATION WITH SRB, SVC

  121351 15:49

  -Okay, so who are the final committee members?

  -(SRB) There are the ones you already know of, (IG), (JM), and (AM). I’ve added (BG) for tech and software support, (MZ) for data mining, and (DA) for logistics. Any more big brains than that and we’ll get bogged down in minutiae, don’t you think?