Fall of Hades

“Something peaceful.”

  She nodded, putting her hand back out. “After you are free, you will buy all the men in these black uniforms an ice cream, then take them to the beach to play volleyball. It’s a lot of fun.”

  “. . . Fun,” he said, sounding like a robot.

  “Now him,” I said, looking at the Zone Captain.

  The Zone Captain looked terrified. Somehow he got a word out. “Freak.”

  “That’s not nice,” Taylor said. “I’m not a freak. But I used to be a cheerleader. That was kind of freaky.” She put her hand just an inch from the Elgen’s forehead. “This is for what you did to McKenna.” She closed her eyes, and the man began shaking. When she stopped, he had the same blank expression on his face as the EGG.

  Suddenly Jack walked up to the man and punched him, knocking him over.

  “Scumbag Elgen,” he said. Then he walked around punching each of the terrified frozen guards.

  “Is someone going to stop him?” Tessa asked.

  “Why?” Zeus replied.

  “Hmm,” Tessa said. “Hadn’t thought of it that way.”

  Taylor looked down at Welch. “What about him?”

  Welch, who was still frozen, just stared at her without emotion.

  “I need you to lie detector him,” I said.

  Taylor touched Welch’s forehead. “Go ahead.”

  I said to Welch, “Did you have anything to do with this trap?”

  “No.”

  “He’s telling the truth,” Taylor said. “He’s glad to see us.”

  “Especially with the Elgen here,” Jack said as he walked back to us, rubbing his red knuckles. “I should have used a stick or something.”

  I turned to Cassy. “You can release him. We can go.”

  Welch’s shoulders dropped, and he breathed in deeply. “Thank you.” He looked at me. “The last time I saw you, you were embarrassing my forces at the Taiwan Starxource plant.”

  “You were at the plant?”

  “I was in charge of protecting the plant and catching you. Why do you think Hatch had me arrested?”

  “Really, guys. We’ve got to go,” Cassy said. “I can’t do this much longer.”

  “Let’s go!” I shouted to everyone. I turned to Cassy. “Are you alone?”

  “Just little me.”

  “Come on, we’re this way.”

  “Wait,” Gervaso said. “Michael, I want you, Taylor, and . . .”

  “Cassy,” Cassy said. “Can we please hurry this up?”

  “Cassy, come with us. We need to talk to Welch. Zeus and Tessa, go with Ben.”

  “Got it,” Tessa said. “Come on, lightning bolt.”

  “I don’t want to be in the same car as Welch, anyway,” Zeus said.

  “Can we go with you?” Ostin asked.

  “We’re full,” Gervaso said.

  “It’s good,” Jack said. “Abi and I can switch cars.”

  “All right,” Gervaso said. He turned to Welch. “Come with me.”

  We followed him back across the street to their van, which was still parked at the bank. Gervaso unlocked the doors, then said to Welch, “Do you have any weapons?”

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun. He offered it to Gervaso. “Just this.”

  Gervaso took the gun. “Anything else?”

  “No.”

  Gervaso looked at Ian.

  “No, that was it,” Ian said.

  “Okay. Ride up front with me,” Gervaso said to Welch. Welch got into the front passenger seat.

  “Taylor.” Gervaso leaned forward to whisper to her. “I want you to sit behind Welch and monitor him. We don’t know what’s going through his head, but I suspect he’s volatile.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He walked back to the driver seat. Nichelle opened the side door, and Cassy climbed in first and slid down the first seat of the van. I got in after her, with Taylor next to me and directly behind Welch.

  Ostin, McKenna, Nichelle, and Ian sat in the middle and backseats.

  “Are we all here?” Gervaso asked from the front.

  “Everyone’s here,” Ian said. “Jack, Abi, Zeus, Tanner, and Tessa went with Ben.”

  Sweat was streaming down Cassy’s face. “Seriously, I’m losing it. We’ve got to go.”

  “Shut the doors,” Gervaso said, starting the van. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Ian slid the side door shut, and Gervaso jerked the van forward out of the bank parking lot into traffic, eliciting a few horns. As he did so, Cassy let out a loud gasp. “I’m done.”

  After we were away, Ostin said, “Your power is really amazing.”

  Cassy took a deep breath in and out. “Thank you. It’s exhausting.”

  “McKenna, how are you?” Taylor asked.

  “I’m feeling better. That was a little terrifying.”

  “Thank goodness Cassy showed up,” Ostin said. He turned back to Cassy. “How far can you keep someone frozen?”

  “Just one person?”

  “Yes.”

  “About two kilometers. A little more than a mile. If it’s a lot of people, it depends.”

  “That was a lot of people today,” I said.

  “Tell me about it,” Cassy replied.

  “It depends on what?” Ostin asked.

  “Different variables. The weather. Obstacles. Mostly the people. Some people are just more susceptible than others.”

  “It makes sense,” Ostin said. “Electricity affects people in different ways. Some people get struck by lightning and live, some die.”

  “Where are we going?” Welch asked. It was weird hearing his voice.

  “Taipei,” Gervaso said.

  “When do we fly to America?”

  “As soon as we can,” Gervaso said. “There are some important things we need to attend to first.”

  “What things?” Welch asked.

  “Important things,” Gervaso said.

  Welch leaned back in his seat.

  “He doesn’t know about Tuvalu,” Taylor said softly. “Why didn’t Gervaso say something?”

  “It’s not the time,” I said. “Welch needs to digest things.”

  Taylor asked Cassy, “How did you get to Taiwan?”

  “I flew commercially. It’s not the luxury of a private jet like you guys had, but at least it was first class.”

  “I guess with your power the resistance doesn’t worry too much about protecting you,” I said.

  “No. I’ve never met anyone I couldn’t freeze. Except you.”

  “Where did you come from?” I asked.

  Cassy glanced up to the front toward Welch, then back at us. She asked in a hushed voice, “You mean, where was I born?”

  “No, where did you fly here from?”

  “I can’t tell you. It’s one of our secrets.”

  “The voice keeps a lot of secrets,” Taylor said.

  “Which is why the voice is still alive.”

  “Then you’ve seen the voice?”

  Cassy again glanced suspiciously at Welch, then said, “We need to keep our voices down.”

  “All right,” Taylor whispered. “So have you seen him?”

  “I see him every day. He’s my boss.”

  “Who is he?”

  “I can’t tell you.”

  “Can’t or won’t?” Taylor asked.

  “Won’t. Can’t. Both. Especially with Mr. Elgen sitting six feet from me.” She looked at Taylor. “I know you could read my mind if you wanted to, but trust me, you don’t want to. For your own safety. If the Elgen knew that you knew who the voice was, they’d stop at nothing to get that information out of you.” She glanced at me. “Including killing everyone you love.”

  “I get it,” Taylor said.

  “After we steal the . . .” She hesitated. “I mean, after we complete our mission, I’ve been instructed to tell you everything.” She paused. “Well, almost everything. There are things the voice wants to tell you himself.”

  Ostin
asked, “How long have you been with the voice?”

  “Since I was four. He’s pretty much like my father. The Elgen killed my parents, but when they tried to kidnap me, the voice and his people intervened. They were both looking for me at the same time.”

  “How long ago did the voice start the resistance?” I asked.

  “The voice didn’t—” She stopped herself and again nervously glanced toward the front. “I’ve said too much.”

  “There’s someone above the voice?” I whispered.

  Cassy hesitated. “No.”

  Taylor glanced at me.

  “I’ve said too much,” Cassy said again. “We can talk later.” She leaned back against the side of the van.

  The rest of the trip was mostly quiet except for Ostin, who kept grilling Cassy about her power. Ostin can think up more questions than anyone else I know. I suppose that’s one of the reasons he knows so much—he asks so much.

  Gervaso drove us to a hotel called the Hotel Midtown Taipei, which, I figure, must have been in the middle of Taipei City to get that name. Ben must have known a shorter route to our destination, because he was already there when we arrived, and the van was empty. Gervaso parked next to the van, then turned back to us. “Dinner in the ballroom at eight.”

  Ben walked up to Gervaso’s window.

  “Where is everyone?” Gervaso asked.

  “They have gone to their rooms,” Ben said. “I have your room keys.”

  “Where are our bags?” Taylor asked.

  “Your bags will be in your rooms,” he said.

  Ben walked around to the curb while one of the bell captains opened the door for Welch, then the side door. As we got out, Ben handed us our keys. He said to Cassy, “You are alone.”

  “No worries,” she said. “I’m used to it.”

  As usual Ostin and I were together, as were Taylor and McKenna. Cassy got off on the floor before the rest of ours. The tenth.

  We rode to our floor, then got off. As we walked up the hall to our room, I said to Taylor, “Is Cassy the girl you saw in your dream?”

  “Yes. And she was lying.”

  “About what?”

  “About there being someone else besides the voice. There’s someone above him.”

  “You shouldn’t read her mind.”

  “I wasn’t trying to. Her lie was so obvious that I couldn’t not. I’m surprised you didn’t see it.”

  “I knew she was lying,” I said. “But if there’s someone above the voice, I can see why she wouldn’t want to share that.”

  “I think she would share everything with you.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “I told you, it’s just like my dream. She likes you.”

  “No, she doesn’t.”

  Taylor’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not being a jealous, crazy girlfriend; I’m telling you what I know.” Her brow furrowed. “Or maybe I am being crazy jealous, but I’m still telling the truth. If it wasn’t the truth, why would I be jealous?”

  “I don’t know why you would be jealous.”

  “Because she’s pretty and cool and powerful, and she thinks you’re a rock star. Even Ostin was slobbering all over her.”

  I stopped walking and turned toward her. “I didn’t notice she was pretty.”

  Taylor rolled her eyes. “Really. You didn’t notice.”

  “I really didn’t.”

  “How could you not notice?”

  “Because I wasn’t looking. Someone already owns my heart.”

  Her expression changed with my response. “Who would that be?”

  “Do I need to say it?”

  Taylor took my hand. “Yes. I kind of need to hear it right now.”

  “You, Taylor Ridley, own my heart. Forever.”

  Taylor leaned forward and kissed me. “Sorry, Michael. I’m just feeling really insecure.”

  “I know.”

  “You own my heart, too,” she said. “You always will. No matter what happens.”

  Ostin and McKenna were going for a walk in the city, and Taylor wanted to take a shower, so I went to my room to rest. It was dark when Ostin returned to get me for dinner. He had McKenna and Taylor with him. I splashed some water onto my face; then we met up with the rest of the Electroclan on the hotel’s fourteenth floor for dinner.

  The dining room was modern and clean and took more than half of the entire floor. Against the wall was a massive buffet. Fortunately, we didn’t look out of place, because there were as many foreigners as there were Chinese. More, in fact.

  Even though we blended in, we still kept separated in small groups just to be safe. Taylor and I got in line together at the back of the entrée line. The food was mostly Chinese. There was duck, chicken, pork, noodles, bao dz, egg drop soup, and hot-and-sour soup with curdled pig’s blood. (I’m told that’s the only way to eat it.) They also had syau lung bao dumplings, one of the foods I liked and remembered from our last visit to Taiwan.

  “You love those things,” Taylor said.

  “Love them,” I said. “So does Ostin. I’ll have to tell him.”

  “Look, they also have swamp eel.”

  “I just threw up in my mouth.”

  She grinned. “Just kidding.”

  While I was lifting dumplings onto my plate, a redheaded American woman on my right side leaned toward me and pointed at the syau lung bao. “What do you suppose those are?”

  I looked at her. “They’re called syau lung bao. They’re dumplings.”

  “What’s inside them?”

  “They have pork and kind of a broth inside. They sometimes call them soup dumplings.”

  “That sounds interesting. Are they good?”

  Considering that my plate was full of them, it was a dumb question. No, they’re sculpted vomit. That’s why I filled my plate with them. “Yes, ma’am. I like them.”

  “Then I guess I’ll just have to try some. Thank you.”

  I started to move down the line when she asked, “Are you American?”

  Another dumb question. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Me too. Where are you from?”

  “Idaho,” I said.

  “No way! I’m from Idaho. What city?”

  Now I was feeling a little nervous. “Meridian.”

  “I’m from Eagle! We’re practically neighbors. We might have met before. What a small world.”

  Taylor glanced at me anxiously.

  “Sometimes it is,” I said.

  “What brings you to Taiwan?”

  “I’m just visiting,” I said. “I’m with a school group. . . .”

  “Which school?”

  I hesitated. “It’s just a little private school. You probably haven’t heard of it.”

  “My son went to a private school in Meridian. Which one is it?”

  I swallowed. “. . . The Liss Academy.”

  Her brow furrowed. “I don’t think I’ve heard of that one.”

  Before she could ask another question, I said, “What are you doing here?”

  “My husband’s here on business. His company manufactures steam turbines for electric plants. There’s a really large power plant in the southern part of Taiwan that just broke down. We’re headed there to . . .” Her eyes suddenly went blank. Then she pointed at the syau lung bao and said, “Excuse me, do you know what these are?”

  I looked over at Taylor. She slightly nodded.

  “They’re called syau lung bao dumplings,” I said. “They have pork and soup in them. They’re really good. You should have some.”

  “That does sound good. I guess I’ll have to try some.”

  “Great, have a good dinner,” I said. Taylor and I quickly slipped away.

  * * *

  After dinner we all gathered in Gervaso and Jack’s room on the seventh floor. Jack and Gervaso still hadn’t eaten, as they were talking with Welch, and Ostin and McKenna brought them boxes of food.

  Taylor, Tessa, and I sat next to Welch on the edge of the bed.
br />   Again, Gervaso wanted Taylor to monitor Welch’s thoughts without him knowing it. The room was pretty crowded, and so it didn’t seem weird that Taylor was slightly touching him.

  Tanner was sitting by himself against the wall by the closet. He’d been pretty quiet since his last outburst. I felt bad for him. Also, I noticed that Cassy wasn’t there, but I didn’t say anything. I figured it would only bother Taylor that I noticed.

  “Mr. Welch has been telling us what he knows about the Elgen movement,” Gervaso said. “Especially after they attacked the ranch.”

  “Call me David,” Welch said. “The Elgen thought they had destroyed the resistance.”

  “They came close,” Gervaso said. “Fortunately, we were tipped off. The ranch was deserted before the Elgen forces arrived.”

  Welch looked ashamed. “That was fortunate.”

  “It was more than fortunate. It was prepared for,” Gervaso said. “We are careful.”

  “Of course.” Welch looked around the room. “Thank you again for rescuing me. When will we head back to the States?”

  Gervaso looked around as if to make sure we were all prepared for Welch’s reaction. Then he said, “We’re not going back to the States. We’re headed to Tuvalu.”

  Welch made no attempt to conceal his feelings. “You’re not serious . . .”

  “As a heart attack,” Zeus said. He looked like he was relishing Welch’s pain.

  “I’m not going to Tuvalu,” Welch said. “It’s a death trap. The entire Elgen guard is there right now. No one gets in or out of Tuvalu without Hatch’s permission. No one.”

  “No one gets in or out of the Elgen Academy, the Peruvian compound, the Ampere, or the Taiwan Starxource plant, either,” Jack said. “But we did.”

  “Notwithstanding, I can’t go back. They have a price on my head.”

  “We all have prices on our heads,” Gervaso said. “You know that. You put them there.”

  “Only a few of you,” Welch said, furtively glancing at me.

  “What a chicken,” Zeus said.

  I hadn’t realized until then just how much Zeus hated Welch. There was clearly bad history between them.

  “Watch your tongue, Frank,” Welch said.

  “What are you going to do to me, Davey?” Zeus retorted.

  “Stop it,” I said. “Both of you. Whatever history you two have is past. We’re on the same team now.” I turned to Welch. “We’re going back to Tuvalu because of you.”