What do you do when a teenage movie star makes it seem as if you've kidnapped him? After working two summers at his father's health club as a towel boy, Peter Fisk saved enough money to visit California. He literally runs into Lance Hardwood in his...
"Fire alarm. One of the oldest tricks in a problem student's playbook," Tomas chuckled. It was said with such glee we all stared at him.
"I wasn't always a model student. Geez, stop judging, okay?"
"If the Museum's on fire, they've got to evacuate. They'll go after Donlon." Micky scratched his head.
I wasn't certain that they knew where the professor was and said so. "It might give our guys time to retreat."
Manny shook his head. "Where are these agents gonna gather? Won't they start shooting at each other, and endanger the kids?"
"The entrance is on the street. It would call too much attention to them. The Fire Department would be on their way," Nina observed, "And they'd have to get the heck out of Dodge. This could work, but things would have to happen pretty quickly."
"Involve the kids," I said. And got exactly the response you'd expect. When their indignations had all been voiced or shouted, I gave them my reasoning.
"There are 400 plus kids and adults. There are nine enemies, total. They're outnumbered by more than forty to one. The Russians and the Chinese won't be working together. We need a way to communicate with the students, letting them know what the plan is without tipping off the bad guys."
"If they're on a field trip," Nina responded, "They probably have someone who knows American Sign Language interpreting for deaf students."
"I have a kid who's deaf. I know ASL," said Manny.
Scarlett stated urgently, "We're down to 25 minutes. What do we have to start a fire?"
Tomas held up a gas can. "Will this do?"
After attaching the can to a drone, Nina guided it in a zig-zagging pattern along the rear of the building. Then launched a micro-missile at the ground, which did no damage to the building but did light the fire. In a matter of 3-4 minutes, the fire alarms screamed their warnings. Student were herded in groups outside the doors.
"Where are the ASL students? Where are they?" Four-foot-tall Manny ran into the groups, and in the mayhem was not even paid attention to by either the Russians or the Chinese, who stayed away from each other, uncertain and uneasy. We could see Scarlett moving among the students, telling them to calm down and what to do when our signal came.
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Tomas kept a gun trained on the Russians, who in his opinion were the ones to watch. I stood outside the SUV, ready to help if needed. The sirens began, and fire engines were starting to turn the corner when hundreds of teenage male voices shouted, "SPARTANS RULE!" and the students overtook the baddies in seconds. The burliest Russian pulled his gun to aim it at one of the Chinese, but Tomas had a clear shot, and down he went.
I looked at my cell – 10 minutes left. I told Micky to stay with Tomas, and Nina followed me in the direction of the secret tunnel. Because we'd had no word from Farhad or Derek, we ran to the entrance in the empty building and made our way through the long, partially lit corridor. I froze when we reached the doorway to the secret lab that we'd all expected to be there. There was a body blocking the way. The nameplate above the labcoat said "Silas Donlon."
His hands were blackened, resembling the type of physical damage you'd find from an electrical surge or overload. Next to him lay a blackened sledgehammer. There were sounds coming from the lab. One was the erratic beeping of a heart monitor. And the other was Derek, softly weeping. Eight minutes left.
His body was draped over a glass cylinder, in which lay what remained of Luke Stoneridge. From above the shoulders, his handsome face and neck were perfect. But the area below that...was nothing but artificial organs, filling with air or blood in a never-ending whoosh of pumps and tubes. No limbs. His eyes were open and focused on Derek, of course. Seven minutes left.
I put my hand on Derek's shoulder, but he couldn't stop weeping.
"He's been like that since he saw Sleeping Buddy over there," Farhad said, cradling his broken, bloody left forearm in his other arm.
"Hello, Peter. I would have liked to have met you in happier times." The voice was not AI but uniquely Luke's and came from speakers all around the room.
"That's enough, Luke. You're part of Team Pete. And we haven't come here to listen to you wallow in self-pity. I've brought you this. This thing that could have gotten any one of us killed." I brought out the chip, which came to life by emitting hundreds of energy sparks. It floated over to Luke's head and began to vibrate.
"Donlon thought that I should let myself die. That I was a monster. But I was given the chance to become part of a once-in-a-lifetime experiment, and I took it. I didn't fully understand then what I'd have to sacrifice." He looked at the professor's body. "The chip wouldn't let Donlon hurt me." Five minutes left.
"Luke, what happens when your time runs out? Do you know? Can you guess? I'm not asking if this weird-ass metal holds an ET inside of it, but is your end simply a new beginning for you?"
"I don't know. I'm not behaving the way AIs are supposed to. I think I'm evolving, but to do that...to do that..." Luke went silent.
"You're scared shitless, that's what I know. I would be, too."
Nina, who'd been quiet, spoke up. "I can't imagine a superior intelligence going to all the trouble of establishing contact without having a billion backup plans in place. You know what I think, Ja...I mean, Luke?" Three minutes left.
"You'll tell us, whether we want to know or not. No offense, Miss Moen."
"Call me Nina. I think you've got an amazing future ahead. And we're all going to help make it happen. And who knows? Maybe there's a VR set that can bring you and Derek and Pete together for a little virtual whoopie?"
I started to laugh. I couldn't help it. When the next laugh came, it belonged to Luke. And it spread, because laughter really is the best medicine. It's quintessentially human. Farhad laughed through his pain, and Derek just gazed into Luke's eyes.
I know it sounds odd, but with the sounds of firehoses putting out the gas fires, the three of us stayed with Luke, holding hands. At the last 10 seconds, the chip sank through the glass shielding and settled on Luke's forehead, instantly causing a blinding blast that sent us flying. When we came to, we found ourselves outside on the grass. Derek wore a bracelet around which the chip was wrapped, and we were surrounded by our Team, firemen, medics and scores of high school students applauding.
Scarlet, Manny, Micky and Tomas all wore Spartan Tees that just happened to have been on one of the buses. Parents were arriving in cars and hugging kids tightly. My parents were probably back in SF, wondering how to explain everything to MI6 and the CIA.
"Hey Farhad, Tomas?" I hailed them with a wave. They finished speaking with a local reporter who'd shown up, making certain that there were no cameras or film crews taking shots of them.
"What up, Pete?" Tomas asked.
"Let's round up everyone and go back to San Francisco International Airport. We've got a team member waiting for us there who needs our attention. And not a word of this to my parents. They've done enough, if you ask me."
