Storm of Lightning Page 10

  “They can build boats that fast?” Torstyn asked.

  “No, fortunately, Schema had ordered it three years ago. Probably the only smart thing he’s ever done.”

  “What’s it going to be called?” Kylee asked.

  “The Westinghouse,” Quentin said.

  Tara said, “I heard it’s even nicer than the Ampere.”

  “Nicer. Faster. Stronger,” Quentin said. “It has two heliports, double the surface-to-air missiles, a surround sound theater. It even has a climbing wall and skateboard park.”

  “And it’s not sitting at the bottom of the ocean,” Bryan said without looking up from his video game. “That’s a plus.”

  “I wish you were sitting at the bottom of the ocean,” Kylee said.

  “Is that where Dr. Hatch went?” Tara asked. “To pick it up?”

  Quentin was still studying the board as he shook his head. “No. He flew to Jakarta to pick up a different boat. It’s our new warship, the Edison. He’ll meet us in Tuvalu.” Quentin eyed Bryan severely. “Keep that to yourself; that’s confidential information.”

  “Why did you only say that to me?” Bryan asked, raising his palms. “Besides, who would I tell? It’s not like I know anyone besides you guys anyway.”

  “Don’t tell anyone,” Quentin said. “We don’t need Vey and his terrorists blowing up another of our boats. He’s taken out enough of them.”

  “Ha!” Tara laughed. “I just took your horse-guy.”

  “It’s called a knight,” Quentin said, moving his bishop. “And I just took your queen.”

  Tara groaned. “Why do I even play this with you?” Suddenly she turned into the president of the United States. “Because it’s the prudent thing to do,” she said in the president’s voice.

  Quentin grinned. “That’s so cool.”

  “Hey, Tara, why don’t you turn into Scarlett Johansson and we’ll go out on a date?”

  “Hey, Bryan,” Tara said, “why don’t I throw up in my mouth?”

  “Idiot,” Bryan said.

  Torstyn laughed. “You had that coming, dude.”

  Bryan went back to his video game. A minute later he said, “Any of you hear about Welch?”

  “EGG Welch,” Quentin said, without looking up. “Show some respect. And what about him?”

  As Hatch had turned over more responsibility to him, Quentin had become more concerned with protocol and order. But this was more than a formality. EGG Welch was one of Quentin’s best friends. During Quentin’s early years at the academy, Welch had taught him to golf and ski and oftentimes took him hunting on weekends. Welch was the closest thing Quentin had to a father.

  “Well, the egg is scrambled now,” Bryan said, grinning.

  “What are you talking about?” Quentin said, looking up from the chessboard.

  “Dr. Hatch sent him to the brig. When we reach Tuvalu, he’s going to be rat feed.”

  Quentin suddenly looked panicked. “Who told you that?”

  “Everyone’s talking about it.”

  “Did you hear that?” Quentin asked Torstyn.

  “No.”

  “I heard it,” Tara said. “So did Kylee.”

  “He’s down in the brig,” Kylee said. “I passed the guards escorting him.

  For a moment Quentin was speechless. “Do you know why Dr. Hatch had him arrested?”

  “I heard it was because of Vey’s escape,” Tara said. “And the Chinese girl.”

  “Glad it’s not me,” Bryan said.

  Quentin looked even more upset. “Did it occur to any of you geniuses that Jade Dragon was our responsibility and that we might be next?”

  Everyone stopped what they were doing.

  “Dr. Hatch wouldn’t do that,” Kylee said, though the way she said it sounded more like a question than a statement.

  “Why didn’t someone tell me about Welch?” Quentin asked angrily.

  “I just did,” Bryan said.

  “I’m sorry,” Tara said. “I thought you already knew. You know everything.”

  “Apparently not,” Quentin said, standing. “I’m going to my room.” He stormed out.

  “You idiot,” Tara said to Bryan.

  “Why am I an idiot?” Bryan said. “He said he wanted to know.”

  Torstyn stood up and walked out after Quentin, followed by Tara. Kylee just looked at Bryan and shook her head. “Nicely done, moron.”

  “Shut up,” he said.

  A few minutes later Tara and Torstyn knocked on Quentin’s door. “Q, it’s me and Torstyn. Can we come in?”

  “It’s unlocked,” Quentin said.

  They stepped inside. Quentin was lying on his bed, looking up at the ceiling.

  “What are you thinking?” Tara asked.

  Quentin hesitated. He had often suspected that his room was bugged, and now, just to be safe, he pulsed hard before speaking. “I’m thinking Dr. Hatch might be planning on punishing us, too.”

  “Won’t be the first time,” Torstyn said.

  “I mean mortally,” Quentin said. “He might feed one of us to the rats. Just to send a message that no one’s immune.”

  Torstyn blanched. “Let them try. I’ll microwave them like popcorn.”

  “You don’t think they’ll be expecting that?” Quentin said. “They’ll attack without warning. They’ll shoot us with darts, put RESATs on us to drain our power, and drag us away.”

  “All of us?”

  “No. Just one of us. To make an example. It’s how Hatch works.” He breathed out. “It’s probably me. I’m the leader.”

  Torstyn looked at Tara, then back at Quentin. “Won’t happen, bro. If he comes after you, we’ll rescue you.”

  Quentin nodded. “Thanks. That’s the way it’s got to be. For all of us.”

  “Except Bryan,” Tara said.

  Quentin shook his head. “Even Bryan. If they can take any of us, they can take all of us.”

  “What about Welch?” Torstyn asked.

  “I’m not going to let it happen to him, either. I need to talk to him.”

  “That’s impossible,” Tara said. “He’s in the brig. You know no one’s allowed down there except Dr. Hatch.”

  Quentin looked at Tara. “Then Dr. Hatch will need to visit him.”

  The two Elgen guards stationed outside the brig’s entrance stood at attention as Quentin, Torstyn, and Tara approached.

  “Admiral-General, sir,” they said in unison, sharply saluting. The guards didn’t know it was Quentin they were saluting, as Tara was using her powers to make him appear as Hatch.

  “Open the door,” Quentin said.

  “Yes, Admiral-General,” the first guard said. He ran an electric key over the pad and the lock clicked. The other guard opened the door.

  “Do not let me be disturbed,” Quentin said. “Do you understand me?”

  “Yes, Admiral-General.”

  “These are sensitive matters. Level C10. I want complete privacy. If I am disturbed, there will be consequences. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, Admiral-General.”

  Quentin and Tara stepped in through the door, leaving Torstyn alone with the guards in the hallway. Tara pulled the door shut behind them. Before coming down to the cell, Quentin and Tara had gone up to the ship’s bridge and taken out the brig cameras. Still, Quentin glanced up to the cameras again just to be sure they were dead. Then he looked at Welch sitting on the floor of the small cell. He had been there for less than twenty-four hours, yet he already looked haggard and defeated.

  “Stand up!” Quentin shouted at Welch.

  Welch quickly climbed to his feet. Like the guards outside the brig, he also believed Quentin was Dr. Hatch. “Jim,” Welch said. “Can we talk about this?”

  “Don’t ever speak that name,” Quentin said. “Jim Hatch no longer exists.”

  Welch lowered his head. “My apologies, Admiral-General,” he said weakly. “Please don’t do this.”

  “Quit sniveling,” Quentin said. “It’s unbe
coming of an Elgen guard, especially an EGG.”

  “Yes, sir. I thought you had already left for Jakarta.”

  “My plans have temporarily changed,” Quentin said, taking a few steps closer, his eyes locked on the prisoner. “Because of you.”

  Welch just stared at him.

  “I’m in a quandary, Welch. A quandary. You were my first. My most trusted. You have been with me since the beginning.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Which is why you understand better than anyone else why mercy is not an acceptable strategy. To show mercy is to allow weakness. And to allow weakness is to promote more weakness. As soon as people think I’m getting soft, they’ll start testing the waters. Then the trust of my army is like water in my hands.” He took a deep breath. “But still . . . there might be a way around this.”

  “Sir?” Welch said.

  “Don’t get too excited,” Quentin said. “It involves a choice on your part. Perhaps a difficult one.”

  “Please, sir. Whatever you ask.”

  “You were in charge of Operation Jade Dragon. But you were not alone in this assignment. You and the electric youths were in charge. And Quentin is in charge of the youths. For reasons I’ve already explained, I can’t let this failure go without punishment. But the one I punish doesn’t necessarily need to be you. So I came to ask you, EGG Welch. Should I feed Quentin to the rats instead of you?”

  Welch stared at him. “I don’t understand.”

  “This is not a difficult question,” Quentin said. “It’s you or Quentin.”

  Welch didn’t answer.

  Quentin continued. “On the way to your cell this evening, I realized that, in this circumstance, life is imitating art. You are familiar with George Orwell’s book 1984?”

  “Of course, sir.”

  “Then you must see the irony of what is happening here. In the book we have Winston in room 101 facing his greatest fear—his primal fear of rats. Do you remember what he does to save himself?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And what is that?”

  Welch swallowed. “He betrays his love, Julia.”

  “Exactly,” Quentin said. “ ‘Do it to Julia,’ he says. ‘Do it to Julia.’ Now here you are facing a nearly identical fate. The rat bowl. You and Quentin have always been close, haven’t you?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Quentin moved closer to the bars. “So what is it, Welch? Who should I feed to the rats? You or Quentin?”

  Welch gritted his teeth as he stared at the man he thought was Hatch, then he said forcefully, “It’s my fault. I’m the only one to blame.”

  Quentin stared at him in disbelief. A weak, frightened part of him had hoped that Welch would betray him, as it would make his path easier, as crooked as that path might be. But deep down inside, in a part of his heart that had been kept shrouded for too long, he wanted his friend and mentor to be true. Welch was. Now the burden of action was back on his own shoulders. Quentin looked at him for a moment, then said softly, “ ‘Under the spreading chestnut tree, I sold you and you sold me . . .’ ” He looked back at Tara. “You can stop.”

  Tara released her power, and Quentin suddenly appeared to Welch as who he was. “You didn’t betray me,” Quentin said softly.

  Welch looked at him in disbelief. “Quentin?”

  “I came as soon as I found out.”

  Welch didn’t speak for a moment, then he said, “Thank you. But I’m afraid that there’s nothing that can be done. It’s dangerous for you to even be here.”

  “There’s always something that can be done,” Quentin replied.

  Welch looked up at the camera. “You need to go. You’ve already taken too great a risk. . . .”

  “They can’t see us,” Tara said, furtively glancing at the dark security camera. “We took out the cameras before coming down.”

  “We’re safe,” Quentin said. “For a few more minutes. Tell me what you know about what Hatch plans to do to you and when.”

  “He plans to keep me locked up until we reach Tuvalu, then, after the revolution, send me to the bowl.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” Quentin said. “I won’t let it.”

  “He won’t change his mind,” Welch said.

  “Then we’ll help you escape.”

  “You can’t do that. He’ll punish you instead.”

  “Then we’ll come with you,” Quentin said.

  “It’s no use. They’ll find you. You’ve been implanted with tracking devices.”

  Tara looked at Quentin. Quentin had suspected as much, but it was frightening to hear it was true.

  “We have tracking devices inside us?” Tara asked.

  “You were implanted years ago,” Welch said. “When they gave you your immunizations. They’ll track you down in a matter of hours.”

  “Then we’ll have to fight him,” Quentin said.

  “Fight Dr. Hatch?” Tara repeated as if Quentin had just blasphemed.

  “Yes,” Quentin said. “He’s always talking about the extermination of the nonelectrics, but he’s a Nonel. He’s not one of us.”

  “I can’t believe we’re talking about this,” Tara said.

  “We knew it had to come to this someday,” Quentin said. “We always knew.”

  “So did Hatch,” Welch said. “He’s always been paranoid, but he’s especially afraid of you kids. He’s like a man who has raised baby tigers knowing that they could turn on him when they grew up. He’s talked to the EGGs for years about what would happen if any of you turned against him. He’s prepared.”

  Quentin frowned. “Hopefully he won’t be prepared for all of us.” He looked into Welch’s eyes. “What do you think we should do?”

  Welch was quiet for a moment; then, in a rare show of emotion, his eyes welled up. “You should go back to your rooms before anyone finds out you’ve been here.”

  “But what about you?” Quentin asked.

  “I knew the risks when I joined Hatch.”

  “That’s not an option,” Quentin said. “I refuse to accept that.”

  “As powerful as you are, you can’t beat him,” Welch said. “Even if I somehow escaped, the Elgen would hunt me down until they found me. They have the men, the money, and the power.”

  “Michael Vey has beaten Hatch,” Quentin said. “Three times. I’m just as smart as he is. And Hatch doesn’t know that we’re not on his side. That gives us an advantage.”

  “Don’t be too sure,” Welch said. “Hatch knows that you and I are close. He’s going to be watching how you deal with this.”

  “He must not be too suspicious,” Tara said. “Or else he would have taken us with him. Or at least Quentin.”

  They were all quiet for a while; then finally Welch sighed. “No. No matter how you look at it, it’s too big a risk. You need to get out of here.”

  Quentin shook his head. “It’s already too late for that. The guards saw Hatch come in. They’ll report that visit. Their superiors know that Hatch is gone. It won’t take an Elgen scientist to figure out what really happened.”

  Tara turned white with fear. “You didn’t tell me. . . .” She began to tremble. “He’ll feed me to the rats.” She grabbed Quentin’s arms. “He’ll feed all of us to the rats.”

  “No one’s getting fed to the rats,” Quentin said calmly. “At least not any of us.” He turned back to Welch. “I need your help. You know Elgen protocol. What do we do to get you off the ship?”

  Welch looked at him for a moment, then finally relented. “We need to get rid of the guards before they file their shift report.”

  “How do we do that?”

  Welch thought about it for a moment, then said, “It might be easier than we think.” He turned to Tara. “We’ll just have Hatch give them a different order.”

  “To do what?” Tara asked.

  “Have them transfer a Taiwanese prisoner off the ship.” He looked at Tara. “You can make me Taiwanese?”

  “I can make you a d
olphin,” she said.

  “Taiwanese will do. Can you change more than one person at a time?”

  “No. It takes too much focus. It would be like playing two different songs on the piano at the same time.”

  “All right. We’ll just have to think around this.” He looked down for a moment, then back up. “Okay, I know what we need to do.”

  The guards stood at attention as Quentin, still disguised as Hatch, walked out of the brig. Quentin nodded to Torstyn, then turned to the guards. “I have spoken with the Taiwanese government. They are ready to take Mr. Yin into custody. We will oblige them.”

  The guards glanced at each other. “Who, sir?” the first guard asked.

  “Don’t you even know who you’re guarding?” Hatch bellowed. “Didn’t you check your prison log?”

  “My apologies, sir. I must have missed the name.”

  “Indeed. Tara will finish interrogating Mr. Yin; then you will escort him, unfettered, off this boat to the Taiwanese officials. They will be waiting for you on An Ping Road. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, sir,” the guards said simultaneously.

  “An Ping Road. Do you think you can handle this?”

  “Yes, sir. No problem, sir.”

  “I don’t want to be bothered any more concerning this matter. I’m angry enough that we have to return this criminal. I’m going back to the bridge.”

  “What about EGG Welch?” the senior guard asked.

  Quentin spun around. “What did you say?”

  The guard cowered. “. . . EGG Welch. I was just wondering, who will . . .”

  “Citizen Welch is no longer an EGG, and he will not be called one. The penalty for using that term for him is imprisonment. Do you understand me!”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Now, I gave you a simple order. If my orders are too difficult for you to follow, then perhaps your rank should be changed to something a little more basic, like GP.”

  Both men shuddered. “No, sir. We’ll see that everything is done as requested.”

  Quentin looked back and forth between them. “We’ll see. Tara will call for you when she is ready. This prisoner exchange is an embarrassment to me. I want you to take Mr. Yin out the back of the boat and avoid all guards. You must hurry; we are about to set sail. If you are asked what you are doing, you will tell them you are following specific orders from higher up. Do you understand me?”