The Maplethorn Initiative (Book 1, The Maplethorn Series)

Basement Bound

Keegan pulled his sweatshirt over his head and handed it to Tober. "Trade me."

"Okay," Tober said, hesitantly accepting the proffered garment. "What do you want?"

"Your jacket."

"It won't fit."

"Just give it."

Tober sighed and began unbuttoning his gray uniform jacket. "Do you want my pants, too?" he drawled. "'Cause they're not gonna fit you either."

Keegan struggled into the coat, which stretched about three-quarters of the way to his boney wrists. "No, this should work."

"I still don't get what we're doing," Cam said, hugging himself as if to keep his clothes in place.

Keegan tugged on the cuffs of Tober's jacket as he spoke. "I'm going to make Dr. Butt-Nugget walk me downstairs like I'm his latest science experiment while you two follow behind and hold hands so no one can see you."

Cam pointed to Keegan's jeans and sneakers. "What if someone notices you're, um, out of uniform?"

"This should be enough," Keegan said, buttoning the jacket. "From a distance."

"And what if they send a platoon of Reds after us?"

"Then you smash them against the wall, and we run."

"How's Cam supposed to stop a whole squad of CP's?" Tober asked, snickering.

Cam raised a hand and gently nudged Tober backward with his ability. "I got a little better since I left."

Tober's look of surprise swiftly became a toothy grin. "That is very cool! I still remember when all you could do was fly paper airplanes."

"That's because it was like a month ago."

"Be serious," Keegan growled. "Before I make both of you stick your heads in the toilet until the bubbles stop."

"Okay, sorry." Tober zipped the long sweatshirt and grabbed Cam's arm. "Let's go!"

•  •  •

They followed a dimly lit corridor from Dr. Bensen's office to a bright alcove that held the elevator. Keegan pressed the down button, waiting with the doctor and their two invisible companions for the doors to open.

"Empty," Tober breathed when they finally parted.

"Hey, Doc?" Keegan said. "I want to go downstairs. All the way downstairs."

Once inside, the doctor pulled what looked like a small house key from his pocket, sticking it into a lock below the elevator buttons. He turned the key and pressed "B" without saying a word.

"Sure wish I had one of those," Keegan added.

Dr. Bensen removed the key from the lock and handed it to Keegan as soon as the doors opened. "Here you go, cadet."

"What do we do if someone catches us on the way back up?" Cam asked, shaking off Tober's grip and becoming visible.

"I dunno." Keegan pocketed the key and stepped out into the basement. "Run like hell?"

"Are these guys going to be in any shape to run?"

"Believe me," Keegan said. "On my worst day down here, I could have run a marathon if it meant getting out."

Cam swooped behind the nurses' station, where he found a tablet with a detachable keyboard. "Guess this place is too cheap to spring for a real computer."