Ash Ketchum: Hunt For Jade Dragon

Ch. 25 A Second Look

I woke the next morning to Clemont shaking me.

"Iscan just called," he said. "We need to go."

"Go where?" I said, rubbing my eyes.

"To the plant."

I sat up. "What time is it?"

"Late. It's almost eleven. Didn't you sleep last night?"

"Not like you did."

"I love to sleep. It's like being dead without the commitment."

I pulled on the same clothes from the day before, and we walked out of our room at the same time as Serena, Marnie, Iris, Korrina, and Brock. The hallway was empty except for the housekeeping staff who were cleaning rooms.

"Where are Calem and Zeus?" I asked.

"They're already in the lobby," Brock said.

As we walked toward the elevator Serena asked, "Should we split up?"

"We better," I said.

Clemont, Ian, and I waited as the four girls went down on two different elevators. We caught the next elevator that opened on our floor; then we walked out of the hotel to the idling van.

"Dzau an, good morning," Iscan said as we climbed in. "Are you tired?"

We all looked as if we'd been woken in the middle of the night.

"Lei szle," Clemont replied.

Iscan started laughing. "That is very good."

"What did you say?" I asked Clemont.

"He said he is tired to death," Iscan said.

"He's the one who slept," I grumbled.

Iscan weaved the van between several idling taxis, then pulled out of the hotel's driveway. The weather was better than it had been the day before, with only a few passive clouds blotting a beautiful blue sky. There was also less traffic, and we made it to our destination in less than a half hour.

As we neared the plant we veered off on a different road--one that led us to a coastal outcrop just south of the Galactic's peninsula and the coast guard station. Iscan parked the van at the end of a vacant tree-lined street near a small temple, and we walked, single file, along a stone path to the water, staying behind the trees to conceal ourselves. We could see the silhouette of the Starxource plant from its southernmost exposure. It may have just been the contrast of the clear sky, but the plant seemed to be emitting more steam than the day before. There was a large white-and-red fishing boat docked on the south end of the compound.

"So that's it," Zeus said, his voice heavy with dread.

"Yeah, that's it."

Iscan looked out through his binoculars for a moment, then pointed to a place about two hundred yards from the end of the peninsula. "I think that is where the Volta will anchor. I have found maps of the depth of the water in this bay. The water near the peninsula is shallow with reefs and sand bars. The size of the Volta will keep it from coming too close to the plant."

He handed me the binoculars and I looked out over the water, following the horizon to the end of the peninsula.

"What is that boat doing there?" I asked. "It doesn't look like a Galactic boat."

"It is a fishing boat. The local fishermen catch fish and bring them to the plant. They are there all the time, night and day, bringing tons of fish."