Battle of the Ampere

  “Zeus was good with those,” Ostin said. “He’d just blow them out.”

  “That’s not helpful,” I said.

  “We could make a distraction,” McKenna said. “We could blow up something like we did in Paucartambo.”

  “No,” Dodds said, shaking his head. “At best it would only distract them for a few minutes. And if something unexpected happens, the Elgen will go on heightened alert. They’ll pull in like a threatened turtle.”

  “Then we’ll need to look like them,” I said. “Like we did in the Starxource plant.”

  “How do we get Elgen uniforms?” Taylor asked.

  “We could steal them,” Jack said.

  “No,” Dodds said. “That would be another red flag. The Elgen are very strict about missing uniforms. They are like the owner of a burger joint who counts the cups each night to make sure his employees aren’t giving away free drinks to their friends.”

  “My friend Sara used to do that,” Taylor whispered to me.

  “But we could take one,” Jaime said. “That wouldn’t cause any suspicion. The Elgen sailors often go AWOL.”

  “What good is one?” Taylor asked. “There are five of us.”

  “We take one, and we copy it,” Jaime said. “We can make them close enough that they will not notice the difference.”

  “Do we have time for that?” Jack asked.

  “My people could make five uniforms in one day. The boats will be in port at least three days.”

  “What if no one leaves the boat?” Ostin asked.

  “The sailors have been at sea for many weeks. Trust me, they will come ashore,” Jaime said. “Leave it to me.”

  “So we will duplicate the uniforms,” Dodds said. “But we’ll need black cover-ups to go over them as you climb onto the ship.”

  “So we make a black cloak too,” Jaime said. “Simple.”

  “Okay, one more thing,” Dodds said. “All the exterior doors and some of the interior doors on the Ampere are locked with magnetic switches.”

  “This just keeps getting better,” McKenna said.

  “Then how do we get through them?” Taylor asked.

  “You will have to find a key,” Dodds said. “This probably won’t be too difficult, as every crew member will have one. You can take one from a guard, or perhaps when you get the uniform . . .”

  “No problem,” Jaime said. “We will take the key with the uniform.”

  Dodds looked back down at the blueprints and touched a spot near the boat’s stern. “This is where you will climb up. Once you’re all on board, you will gather here, at this door, which opens to a staircase. From what we know, this back staircase is a fire escape and is rarely used, usually only in the case of an emergency. It leads to all levels, including level one. It is very narrow so you will have to travel in single file.

  “At the bottom of the stairwell, you will move forward approximately thirty yards to the engine room.”

  “How will we know if we’re going the right way?” Taylor asked.

  “You’re already at the back of the boat, so there is no other way to go. Also, you will hear the Ampere’s engines long before you reach the engine room. The crew wears earplugs. This could be a problem in the hallway as you will have difficulty communicating with one another because of the noise.”

  “Even when the boat’s docked?” I asked.

  “The captain will usually keep at least one engine idling to keep it from drifting and to charge the batteries.” He looked up again. “You must remember, the engine room will not be unmanned. Even at night, there will be six to ten crewmen. They will probably be unarmed, but do not count on it. You will have to take out the crew, set the explosive and timer, then escape the ship before it explodes. It’s that simple.”

  “Simple?” I said.

  “Sorry,” Dodds replied. “In concept it’s simple. In practice it will be very . . . challenging.”

  “By challenging do you mean hopelessly impossible?” Taylor said.

  He shook his head sympathetically. “Hopefully not impossible.” He looked around at us. “But from what I’ve seen, this group seems to specialize in the impossible. Are there any questions?”

  No one spoke for a moment, then Ostin said, “Yeah. Is it too late to back out?”

  That evening Jaime and I drove out to the country, looking for a place for me to practice climbing.

  “There,” he said. “I thought I remembered seeing that.” He pointed out over the fence to a tall cylindrical structure. “It is a grain silo. It is made of steel.”

  When we were certain that no one was around, we climbed over a barbwire fence to the farm, then walked fifty yards to the base of the silo.

  “Do you know whose farm this is?” I asked.

  Jaime shook his head. “No.”

  “Will anyone see us?” I asked.

  “I hope not. You climb. I will keep lookout.”

  The silo was made of ribbed, galvanized steel and rose about forty feet high, the top tapering off to a cone.

  The best way to describe what it’s like magnetizing myself is to say it’s like pulsing inside my body instead of outside of it—a little like stifling a sneeze.

  I reached my hand as high above me as I could, then pulsed. My hand stuck firmly to the cool metal. Then, pulsing my legs, I jumped up with my knees against the silo. Both my knees stuck. For a moment I just sat there, stuck in place. As Jack had said, I had climbed the wall at the Starxource plant, but it was really just hanging on. Actually climbing upward involved more than just sticking to the metal, but a carefully timed process of sticking, releasing, then re-sticking.

  It took me ten minutes to climb just ten feet. At this rate it would take me an hour to climb the Ampere, far too long to hang on to the side of the boat without being seen.

  After some experimenting, I developed a rhythm, shifting my magnetism from one side of my body to the other. About twenty feet up, I accidentally released one side before fully magnetizing the other and fell about five feet before, in panic, I magnetized my entire body and stuck to the side of the silo like a magnet on a refrigerator door.

  I climbed to the top of the silo and back down again in about a half hour, which wasn’t too bad considering that the first twenty minutes I was still figuring out what I was doing. When I got down I was covered with sweat and panting. I leaned over on my knees to catch my breath.

  “Let’s try again,” Jaime said.

  I looked up. “What?”

  “Not fast enough. This time I will time you. On your mark, get set, go.”

  I jumped up and began climbing. It reminded me of the time in seventh grade gym class when we had to climb the rope to the ceiling. I didn’t set any gym records, but at least I had made it to the top.

  This brought to mind another problem. Ostin, who was not only out of shape but also afraid of heights, made it only a third of the way before he gave up and slid down, which gave him a wicked rope burn on his thighs and arms. His mother called the school the next day and gave the gym teacher an earful. After all we’d been through, Ostin was in better shape than he was back then, but still I wondered if he could do it.

  I reached the top of the silo, then slid back down in a controlled slide. I dropped the last six feet to the ground, rolling on the grass below.

  “How’d I do?”

  Jaime nodded. “Very good. You made it to the top in four minutes. If you can keep this fast, you will climb the side of the boat in less than fifteen minutes.”

  “Except I’ll be wearing an Elgen uniform and cloak,” I said.

  “Yes, and carrying a heavy rope,” Jaime added.

  “I didn’t think about that,” I said. “I better practice with the rope.”

  “I will purchase one tomorrow,” Jaime said. “We will come back tomorrow.”

  On the drive back to the villa, I said, “Any word on my mother?”

  Jaime shook his head. “It is very strange,” he said. “The voice is not respondi
ng to our signal.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. But I will keep trying.” After a few more minutes he said, “I am worried about our friend Jack.”

  “So am I,” I said. “He hasn’t been the same since we lost Wade. He blames himself for Wade’s death.”

  “That is bad,” Jaime said.

  “Taylor told me that she read his mind and he’s not expecting to survive the attack. It’s like he’s just accepted this is going to be a suicide mission.”

  Jaime nodded slowly. “Perhaps that is his wish.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of.” I frowned. “I don’t know what to do when someone loses hope.”

  “You pray for them, my friend. You pray for them.”

  We were quiet the rest of the ride home.

  I’m not sure why Jaime didn’t just stay at the villa with us, but he didn’t. He usually just showed up when we needed him—like for my climbing practices. The next day we found an abandoned metal storage shed closer to the house. I went there twice a day until I got my time down to just twelve minutes. Taylor started coming with me to watch. Or maybe just to feel like a cheerleader again. She was good at that. She even made up a cheer.

  Go, Michael.

  Climb that wall.

  Reach the top

  And please don’t fall.

  Goooooooo, Michael!

  Then she’d do this little kick thing. Jaime just looked at her like she was crazy. Truthfully, her cheering was counterproductive. The first time she did the whole cheer, I started laughing so hard that I fell ten feet.

  *

  The next three days were an emotional roller coaster for me. At one moment I imagined us sinking the boat, escaping, and flying home, having saved the country of Tuvalu, wherever that was. The next moment the whole thing looked like a suicide mission.

  On the morning of the third day, Jaime came in while we were all eating breakfast. Taylor had made French toast and fried Peruvian bacon, which was so thick it looked like ham.

  “You’re early,” I said. “I thought we were going at eleven.”

  “Get something to eat,” Taylor said. “Help yourself, I made a ton.”

  Jaime looked at us seriously. “The Elgen fleet is in port.”

  We all stopped eating.

  “All of them?” Ostin asked.

  “Sí.”

  “I want to see it,” I said.

  “You will soon enough,” Jaime said. “When we attack.”

  “I need to see it before then. I need to see it in daylight.”

  “That is risky.”

  “Unlike sneaking aboard and sinking it,” Ostin said.

  “I have to see it,” I said firmly. “I need to know what I’m facing. I need to visualize the attack.”

  Jaime looked unsure. “I will have to see if Dodds can come.”

  “We don’t need Dodds,” I said. “I just want to see the boats for myself.”

  “Me too,” Jack said.

  “And me,” Taylor said.

  Jaime looked at us for a moment, then said, “Very well. I must make arrangements to capture our sailor’s uniform, then I will be back.”

  “Don’t forget his magnetic key,” Ostin added.

  “Sí. And the key. Then we will go visit the Elgen.”

  *

  Jaime returned to the house around five in the afternoon. All five of us were waiting for him in the front room and walked out to meet him before he reached the front door.

  When we were in the van, Taylor said, “Jaime, did you set your sailor trap?”

  “Sí, senorita.”

  “What are you using for bait?” she asked.

  “A pretty woman, of course.” Then he added, “It works every time.”

  “Worked for me,” Ostin said, looking over at McKenna. She smiled at him.

  “Wow,” Taylor whispered to me. “Just wow.”

  *

  Jaime drove north up the Pacific coastline about twenty miles before we came to a solitary cliff overlooking the Port Callao harbor. We reached the port after the sun had begun making its descent, turning the bay a hue of golden rose.

  After Jaime was completely certain that we were not being watched, he retrieved a pair of binoculars from beneath the van’s driver seat and we walked out to the edge of the cliff and got down on our stomachs. The Callao bay stretched out below us, bustling with barges and cranes, navy ships, yachts, freighters, and cruise liners.

  “That’s a lot bigger than I thought it would be,” Taylor said.

  “Port Callao is the largest seaport in South America,” Jaime said.

  “What does Callao mean?” Ostin asked.

  Jaime looked at him. “This you do not know?”

  “Nope,” he said.

  Jaime nodded. “Neither does anyone else.” He pointed to a group of ships a few hundred yards north of us. “They are there, all together,” he said, handing me his binoculars.

  Even without the binoculars I recognized the vessels. It was impressive to actually see all seven boats of the Elgen fleet together—impressive and terrifying.

  The Ampere was in the middle of the fleet and wasn’t hard to pick out. It was the coolest boat I had ever seen—the kind of craft Ostin would have cut out of his Popular Science magazine and pinned to his wall.

  What made it even more fascinating was knowing that Hatch was somewhere on that ship. I just wished that I could throw a massive lightning ball and blow the ship and Hatch off the planet.

  “So that’s the Ampere,” I said.

  “Sí,” Jaime said.

  “I told you it was cool,” McKenna said.

  “The space shuttle is cool,” Ostin said. “That thing is freakin’ epic.”

  “And we’re going to sink it,” I said. “It’s kind of sad in a way. Like blowing up a cathedral.”

  “More like a house of horrors,” McKenna said.

  “They are docked close together for protection,” Jaime said. “You can see the guards have blocked off the entire shoreline.”

  Ostin grimaced. “If we scuba dived in, we’d have to swim at least a half mile underwater.” He was the only one of us who had actually scuba dived, and that was during a highly supervised excursion on a family trip to Hawaii. “That won’t be easy.”

  “What part of any of this is easy?” Jack said.

  “I’m just saying, it’s going to add at least an hour getting there and we’ll all be exhausted when we do. And by the time we blow the ship and get back to shore, the place will be crawling with military. How will we come ashore?”

  “We’ll have to set a longer delay on the explosive’s timer,” I said.

  “Which gives them more of a chance to find it,” Jaime said.

  “And where do we put the scuba tanks while we climb the boat?” McKenna asked.

  None of us had an answer.

  I looked back out over the fleet. “What are those boats out there? The little ones behind the fleet.”

  “Fishing boats,” Jaime said.

  “They’re close to the ships,” I said.

  McKenna had the binoculars and was looking out at the boats. “That one’s not even a hundred feet from the Ampere,” she said.

  “They don’t suspect them,” Ostin said.

  Jaime smiled. “I think we just found our way to the Ampere.”

  Dodds and Jaime came over the next day around noon. Both men looked anxious, but Dodds looked especially on edge.

  “We’ve learned that the resupplying is moving faster than we anticipated,” Dodds said. “They’ve filed with the port authority to pull out Thursday afternoon.”

  “The day after tomorrow,” Taylor said.

  “That means we’ll have to attack tomorrow night,” Jack said.

  Dodds nodded. “We have the uniforms and cloaks but no key. Apparently the sailors are not allowed to take them off the ship. We’ve secured scuba gear, but I understand you won’t be using it.”

  “We
think it will be better to use a fishing boat,” I said. “We’ll get close enough to raft over to the Ampere.”

  “I have already found a black raft,” Jaime said.

  “What about the explosives?” Jack asked.

  “They’re ready,” Dodds said. “In a backpack with detonators and timers. I’ll go over the timers with all of you later.”

  “No need,” Jack said. “I’ll be carrying the explosives.”

  Dodd looked at him with an uncomfortable expression. “Just in case something happens to you, it would be best to have a backup.”

  Jack nodded. “You’re right.”

  “I have chartered the fishing boat,” Jaime said. “We will leave at two thirty a.m. from the north end of the port.”

  “Won’t that look suspicious?” Ostin asked. “A fishing boat at night?”

  “No,” Jaime said. “Local fishing boats often return late at night.”

  “There is one other factor to keep in mind,” Dodds said. “The weather. It’s expected to rain. As long as it doesn’t hamper Michael’s climbing, it could be to our advantage.”

  “I’ve never climbed a wet surface,” I said.

  “Kylee could do it,” McKenna said.

  “How is the rain helpful?” Taylor asked.

  “Cloud cover, no moon, poorer visibility,” Dodds replied. “And less chance that someone will be taking a leisurely walk on the deck.” He looked around. “Anything else?”

  “Did you arrange for me to talk to my mother?” I asked.

  Jaime and Dodds looked at each other. “I’m afraid that will not be possible,” Dodds said.

  “Why?” I turned to Jaime. “You promised that I would be able to talk to her.”

  “I’m sorry,” Jaime said. “But we have lost communication with the voice.”

  “What?”

  “You know that we were compromised,” Dodds said. “Things have taken another turn for the worse. Two days ago the Elgen discovered our agent on their boat. We must assume that they now know everything he knows, about the voice, the resistance, everything he knew.”

  “Then they know about our plans!” Ostin exclaimed.

  “Fortunately we had not yet told him what we were planning to do,” Dodds said. “We were waiting until we knew our exact timing so we could warn him to leave the boat.”