Maya Stark

Chapter 21: Parker Plants A Tracker

In shop class the next day, I watch Parker hit the weird weapon thing with a hammer. I wince slightly and it emits a purple light as it is partially freed from the metal casing.

    'Crazy idea, don't bang on an unknown alien subject with a hammer,' I say as he starts to pull it apart with his hands. He ignores me.

    'Hey,' Ned said, walking up to us, 'thanks for bailing on me.'

    'Yeah,' I said, 'well, something came up.'

    Ned finally spotted the alien thing. 'Oh, what is that?'

    'I don't know,' said Parker, still struggling to take it apart. 'Some guy tried to vaporize us with it.'

    'Seriously?'

    'More him than me,' I said.

    'Awesome,' Ned said. Parker and I both look at him like he's insane. 'I mean, not awesome. Totally uncool of that guy. So scary.'

    Parker gave Ned a look before going back to the weapon. 'Well, look, I think it's a Power Source.'

    'No shit sherlock, but it's connected to all these microprocessors,' I say, rolling my eyes. Parker gives me a glare.

    'Yeah,' said Ned. 'That's an inductive charging plat. That's what I use to charge my toothbrush.'

    'Whoever's making these weapons is obviously—'

    'Combining alien tech with ours,' Parker said, cutting me off. I glare at him.

    'That is literally the coolest sentence anyone has ever said,' Ned said.    
 
    Parker grabbed the hammer again and I roll my eyes. 'Parker, seriously I don't think—' He hits the thing really hard, not listening to me, making me wince again. The purple thing pops out of its place, glowing brightly. The three of us immediately look towards the teacher, who luckily hadn't heard a thing. This probably isn't the best school.

    'You see,' Parker said, with a smug expression. 'It all worked out just fine.'

    'And what would you have said if it exploded?' I ask, crossing my arms.

    He opens his mouth to say something, but decides against it and turns to Ned. 'We gotta figure out what it is and who makes it.'

    'Or we can just forget it and leave it to my dad,' I said.

    'We'll go to the lab after class and run some tests,' said Ned.

    Parker nodded. 'Let's do it.'

    'Wasn't it your moto to listen to my dad?' I ask as they did a weird handshake. The bell rang.

    'You don't have to come,' Parker said as he put his bag over his shoulder.

    'Are you kidding?' I said as we walk out of the classroom. 'Just because I don't think we should mess with it doesn't mean I'm not going to help messing with it. It's in my nature to go after dangerous things. We just cannot get caught again.'

    'Agreed,' Parker said.

    'And we still aren't friends,' I say, giving him a hard look. 'We're...co-workers.'

    'Whatever you say,' said Parker, amusement in his voice.

    'I don't like the tone in your voice,' I say.

    'I don't have a tone,' he said. 'Ned do I have a tone?'

    'I didn't hear a tone, no,' said Ned.

    'I hate the both of you,' I said, shaking my head.

    'And we choose to ignore that,' Parker said.

    I roll my eyes. 'Let's get back to the reason I'm talking to you two, shall we?'

    'Shall?' Parker said smirking. I glare at him, making sure my eyes go purple, which makes his smirk drop. 'I thought you were trying to be discreet?'

    'That's so cool,' Ned said.

    'Come on, guys. Back to the alien tech,' I said.

    'First, I say we put the glowy thing in the mass spectrometer,' Ned said.

    'First, we gotta come up with a better name than glowy thing,' I said.

    'She's right,' said Parker.

    'I'm always right,' I said as I look down the hallway and see the second guy from last night. Parker and I stop walking at the same time. 'Crap.' Parker jumps, literally jumps, behind a wall. I repress a laugh as I run over and join him and Ned behind us. 'They won't recognize us.' I look around the corner at the two men.

    'High schools creep me out,' the guy said. 'They got the funny smell, you know?'

    'That's one of the guys that tried to kill us,' Parker filled Ned in. I hid behind the wall again.

    'What?' said Ned. 'We gotta get out of here.'

    'No, no, no, no, no,' Parker said quickly. 'I gotta follow them. Maybe they can lead me to the guy that dropped me in the lake.'

    'Someone dropped you in a lake?' Ned asked.

    'Yeah,' I said. 'It was hilarious. Well, not at the time, but afterwards. He got wrapped up in a parachute.'

    Parker glared at me before starting to follow the guys.

    'Peter,' Ned whispers, but he was already gone. Somebody taps on the glass window that we were standing near; making Ned and I jump and look. A guy who goes by Tiny, was staring at us.

    'What are you doing?' Tiny asks.

    'Nothing,' I say.

    'Oh,' Tiny says.

    'Yeah,' said Ned. 'You good?'

    'Chess,' Tiny said. I roll my eyes and go over to the lockers and lean against them. I watch as the two men sneak out, and I wait for a couple seconds. Then Parker comes out and walks quickly towards Ned and I.

    'I put a tracker on them,' he said hurriedly as we walk up the hallway.

    'So, what?' I ask. 'We just wait until they stop?'

    'Yep,' he says.

    'Well, you two have fun with that,' I say. 'I have to stay at the compound, otherwise I won't be able to go to the decathlon.'

    'Did you get in a lot of trouble last night?' Parker asked.

    'Why would she be in trouble?' Ned asked.

    'Because I fought against him on the accords and disobeyed his orders and also broke the law,' I said quickly. 'It was a whole family thing. But no, I didn't get into much trouble.'

    'We'll keep you updated,' Parker said. I nod as we go our separate ways, thankful to be rid of them both.