“The Taiwan Starxource plant is the largest in the world. It does not have the landmass around it that the Peruvian plant had, but the facility itself is larger. Like the Peruvian plant, it is also an Elgen training center, which means there will be more guards than usual.”
We all groaned.
“Lovely,” Ostin said.
“It gets worse,” Gervaso said. “In addition to the Elgen, you will also be facing the Taiwanese army.”
“Just like the Peruvian army,” Zeus said.
“Not exactly. The Peruvian army is ranked fifty-ninth in the world. The Taiwanese army is ranked seventeenth, just below Canada. It is a much more powerful force.”
“Why are they involved?” I asked.
“For good reason. The Starxource plant is vital to Taiwan’s national security. Taiwan imports one hundred percent of their energy, so they are extremely vulnerable. After the destruction of the Peruvian plant, the Taiwanese army took up the defense of the plant.
“We do not recommend shutting down the Taiwanese plant if you can help it. It will cost many, many innocent lives if you do, and you will be regarded as terrorists. It is best if you just get into the plant, get the girl, and get out.”
“Did he really say ‘just’?” Tessa said.
“Piece of cake,” Jack said sarcastically.
“You’re saying that the nine of us are taking on the seventeenth-largest army in the world?” Taylor asked.
“Eight of you,” Gervaso said. “Abigail will not be going to Taiwan.”
We all looked over at her. Jack must have already known, because he was the only one who didn’t look surprised.
“This is at our insistence,” Gervaso said. “Her powers will not be useful in Taiwan. We do not want to risk any of your lives unnecessarily.”
“I’m sorry,” Abigail said, looking embarrassed.
“They’re right,” I said. “And if we’re taking on such a big force, we’re not going to succeed with numbers anyway.”
“You can say that again,” Ostin said.
“Exactly,” Gervaso said. “This must be a covert operation.”
Ostin raised his hand. “Yesterday you said something about the Lung Li. Who and what are they?”
Gervaso frowned. “The Lung Li is an elite branch of the Elgen guard made up of Asian mercenaries. They are mostly Chinese, but there are Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Thai members as well. Lung Li, in Chinese, means ‘dragon strength’ or ‘power.’ It’s fitting. They are a formidable group of warriors. They are highly disciplined, fierce fighters. They make the rest of the Elgen guard look like mall cops.”
“This just keeps getting better,” Taylor said.
“They are also highly superstitious,” Gervaso continued. “They follow astrology and ancient mysticism. They believe that the electric children are the literal reincarnation of the lightning gods of ancient Chinese legend.”
“So if I shock them crazy they’ll all be worshipping me,” Zeus said, grinning.
“I’m afraid not,” Gervaso said. “They regard the Electroclan as fallen angels. Demons.”
“That’s creepy,” Taylor said.
“Not surprisingly, they religiously follow the teachings of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War.”
“These guys sound like ninjas,” Ostin said.
Gervaso nodded. “Precisely. They are very much a modern-day version of the ninjas. They have all taken oaths to die for the Lung Li and the Elgen cause. When they take the oath they are branded with the Lung Li symbol, the fiery dragon head.”
“Branded?” Taylor said. “Like cattle?”
Gervaso nodded. “With a red-hot poker. It’s a sign of bravery.”
“Or insanity,” Tessa said.
I groaned. “Great. We’re fighting high-tech ninjas who like pain.”
“Hopefully you’ll never see them,” Gervaso said.
“Isn’t that the point of ninjas?” Ostin said. “You’re not supposed to see them.”
“Let me get this straight,” Tessa said. “The eight of us are taking on a Starxource plant with extra Elgen guards, the entire Taiwanese army, and a powerful group of ninjas?”
Gervaso nodded. “Yes, but it could get worse.”
“How could it possibly get worse?” Zeus asked.
“There’s a chance that Hatch may be sending his Glows to protect the girl. We will know within a few days.”
“We’re so dead,” Tessa said.
No one else said anything.
* * *
That afternoon Gervaso and I practiced my magnetic-bullet thing again. This time it was my idea. After our morning meeting I felt even more motivated to prepare. Fear is a great motivator.
I experimented with focusing my pulse in different ways to see if I could increase the effect. It worked. Once I knocked a bullet out of range by more than eight feet.
“I can deflect bullets,” I said.
“Not just bullets,” Gervaso said. “If you can deflect something as small and fast as a bullet, you could deflect knives, axes, even Chinese stars.”
“Like in the movies,” I said.
“Yes. Just like in the movies,” he replied.
I just hoped our movie had a happy ending.
The ES Faraday Boardroom
Port of Callao Harbor, Peru
The Elgen board stood at attention as Hatch walked into the room. He sank into his throne-like leather chair, pausing a moment before saying, “You may be seated.” He silently looked around the table, his gaze resting momentarily on each member of the board. Then he took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. “I will be leaving for Switzerland in the morning. Our bankers are not cooperating with my demands, so I, along with Tara and Torstyn, will be paying them a visit. It’s possible that Schema might be involved.”
Hatch had sent out a memo to all Elgen that the former chairman was a traitor and criminal and should he still be alive, the reward for his capture was a million dollars.
“But, sir, wasn’t Schema killed on the Ampere?” asked Six.
“So we hoped. But some recovered video footage has led us to believe that he and the other traitors escaped the Ampere before it was destroyed. If so, I’m certain he would seek out our bankers, which is all the more reason to pay them a visit.” Hatch paused again, then added, “But that isn’t why I convened this meeting.”
Hatch stood, his expression growing impassioned. “We are entering a new age, Elgen. A golden age. A renaissance. We are on the cusp of fulfilling our vision. We are close to solving the problem with the MEI technology.
“This breakthrough came from a place we did not expect. A young Chinese girl named Jade Dragon is the first to fully understand the science behind the MEI since the brilliant scientist Dr. Coonradt. She will teach our scientists how to use the MEI to populate the world with a new species.”
“But, sir,” Seven said, “our scientists have been successfully using the MEI for years, electrifying rats.”
“Rats,” Hatch said, shaking his head. “Using the MEI is simple. It’s like a child playing a video game. He may know how to turn the machine on and even win the game, but he has no idea how the machine actually works. Until this girl came along, no one, including our scientists, has understood the actual dynamics of how the MEI alters human DNA. This child has figured it out without even knowing the MEI existed. It’s only a matter of time before we have the information we need from her to make the necessary alterations to the MEI that will allow us to create electric children”—he paused—“instead of just dead ones.”
Hatch looked around the room. “Are there any questions?”
Seven raised his hand. “After we solve the problems with the MEI, will we continue building Starxource plants?”
“Of course,” Hatch replied. “Populating the world with a new species will take more than a century. In the meantime, there are already seven billion Nonels on this planet. It is time we brought those numbers down to a manageable number.”
r /> “What’s a manageable number?” Six asked.
“A billion or so.”
“Will the Nonels ever become completely extinct?” Seven asked.
“I’ve not yet decided, but probably not. Just as the horse has survived the automobile, there will always be a use for beasts of burden.”
“Do you mean slave labor?” Seven asked.
“You make that sound like a bad thing,” Hatch said with a dark smile. The rest of the board members laughed.
“In spite of our setback in Peru, things are moving forward at a tremendous pace. The world’s hunger for energy has driven the Nonels to our door in increasing numbers. Dr. Benson will now give us our production report.”
A woman sitting to the side of the table wearing a white lab coat stood. “Good afternoon. I’m pleased to report that the Chad, Greece, and Portugal plants will be fully operational by the end of next month. That will bring us to twenty-nine operating plants—though, after the recent terrorist attack, the Peruvian plant will not be fully operational for another eight months.
“We are currently generating 776 million kilowatt hours each year and providing power to 194 million people, or 3.6 percent of the world’s energy. After we complete our Southern India, Pakistan, and Philippines plants we will be generating 2.8 billion kilowatt hours per year, providing power for about 11 percent of the world’s population, and 13 percent of the electricity currently being generated in the world. We are slightly ahead of schedule to reach our twenty-four-month goal of providing power to 19.89 percent of the world’s countries, comprising 46 percent of the global population.”
Hatch smiled with satisfaction. “I should add that currently, more than a billion and a half people in the world have no access to electricity. We will remedy this in three years. We will be their saviors.”
“Admiral, what if the oil producers pressure governments to stop us?” Six asked.
“Do you think I’m not prepared?” Hatch asked, his tone revealing his annoyance with the question.
Six wilted. “No, sir.”
“I was prepared long before they considered us a threat. This is global fencing. Pave and repave. Should Japan declare war on us, the Taiwanese and Filipinos will declare war on them. How could they not? We are providing eighty-six percent of Taiwan’s electricity and seventy-two percent of the Philippines’ energy. To lose our electricity would create anarchy at home. They can have wars in their own streets or war abroad; it’s an easy choice.”
“Sir, you said that we will reduce the Earth’s population. How?” Eleven asked.
“Efficiently, of course,” Hatch said. “Our efforts will be of biblical proportions.”
“Biblical?” Seven asked.
“Yes,” Hatch said. “Biblical. We are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse prophesized to bring about the end of man’s history. It was written thousands of years ago that ‘They,’ meaning us, ‘were given power over the Earth to kill by sword, famine, plague, and the wild beasts.’
“Of course we will not dirty our hands by bearing swords. We will provide money and arms to those countries who follow us; then we shall lead them into conflict. We’ll start with the small countries and, like the wars in Korea and Vietnam, these conflicts will draw bigger countries in behind them until we have World War Three. Hundreds of millions will die.
“But war is only the first horseman; next comes famine. War has always produced scarcity, but we shall add to it. We will shut down power to those producing food and to those who distribute it. There will be food riots and starvation and the human population will decrease still more.
“Then comes the third horseman—plagues. Our laboratories will release the plagues we have created—viruses that do not affect our electric species. Our GPs will be our carriers. We will infect them, then let them out into the world, and they will spread their diseases in public places. The death toll will dwarf the black plague of the fourteenth century.
“Then, when all is in commotion, and we have created a race of our superior electrical beings in sufficient number, we will unleash the wild beasts, our electric rats, to destroy and feast on what is left of the humans.
“Our scientists have just perfected the ER46, a strain of electric rat that will breed quickly and spread throughout cities, but that has been genetically disposed to survive for just three generations and then reproduce no more. The plague of beasts will last six years. The only thing that will be left in their wake will be the cities the Nonels have built, still intact.” Hatch looked around the table. “Any other questions?”
Seven began clapping, soon followed by the others.
“Very well,” Hatch said. “I’m off to Switzerland, then Taiwan. This meeting is adjourned.”
Beverly Hills Mall
Beverly Grove, Los Angeles, California
“Dude, we’ve got to go,” Quentin shouted at Bryan, loud enough to be heard over the sounds of the video arcade.
“Just a minute,” Bryan said. His eyes were glued to his game, as Quentin and Torstyn watched from behind. “I’m not done yet.”
“Yes, you are,” Quentin said. He raised his hand and the video game popped loudly and its screen went black.
“Dude, I was up to level eighteen! Turn it back on.”
“Yeah, right.” Quentin said. “I fried the circuitry. No one’s ever turning that game back on.”
“Thanks a lot,” Bryan said, standing.
“It’s time to go,” Torstyn said. “We’re meeting the girls for dinner at the food court before Tara and I have to leave.”
Torstyn and Tara were scheduled to fly out from Beverly Hills to Switzerland at midnight, while Quentin, Kylee, and Bryan would fly directly to Taiwan the next morning, which was why they had decided to make one last trip to the mall.
“You didn’t have to destroy the game,” Bryan grumbled.
“You like that?” Quentin said as they walked out of the arcade. “Watch this.” He raised his hand and pulsed. The entire arcade went dark. There was a moment of stunned silence; then everyone started shouting. Quentin grinned. “Do you have any idea how much it will cost them to fix that mess?”
Tara and Kylee were already in the food court when the boys arrived. They were leaning against a wall near the entrance, comparing their clothing purchases.
“Hey, beautifuls,” Quentin said to the girls.
“It’s about time you guys got here,” Tara said. “We’re starving.”
“We had to drag Bryan away from Grand Theft Auto. Where do you want to eat? They’ve got sushi, Chinese, Mexican, Italian . . .”
“I’m getting Chinese,” Bryan said. “I gotta have tofu.”
“You’ve got tofu for brains,” Torstyn said. “You’re going to be eating nothing but Chinese food for the next month.”
“I’m getting a calzone,” Quentin said.
“Sounds good to me,” Torstyn said.
“And me,” Kylee said.
“Make that four,” Tara said.
“I’m still getting Chinese,” Bryan said, walking off alone.
“Suey yourself,” Torstyn said.
Quentin led the rest of them over to DiSera’s, an Italian café squeezed in between a corn dog restaurant and a sandwich shop.
“Do you know what ‘calzone’ means in Italian?” Quentin asked.
“Let me guess,” Tara said. “Folded pizza?”
Quentin shook his head. “It means socks.”
Tara grimaced. “You mean like the kind you wear on your feet?”
“Esatto,” he replied.
“Makes you want the capellini instead,” Kylee said.
“Capellini means hair,” Quentin said.
“Now I’m totally grossed out,” Tara said. “The Italians don’t know how to name food.”
“But they know how to make it,” Quentin said.
Quentin ordered four calzones, two capellini with sage and pine nuts, and six garlic breads topped with mozzarella cheese. After they’d gotten th
eir food they walked out to the courtyard.
“There’s no place to sit,” Tara said. “This place is a zoo.”
“No,” Quentin said. “It’s a chicken pen. And these chickens are too stupid to know they should scatter when hungry Eagles arrive.”
“I can take care of the chickens,” Torstyn said. “Where do you want to sit?”
“Ladies?” Quentin said.
“How about that table right there?” Tara said, pointing to a rectangular table crowded with diners.
“You got it,” Torstyn said. He reached out toward the table. Suddenly everyone jumped up screaming and clutching their backsides. Nearly half the people in the food court turned to look at them.
Two of the people tried sitting back down, but after Torstyn burned them again they grabbed their trays and left.
“Leaving so soon?” Torstyn said as he sat down at the now-abandoned table.
Quentin sat at the head of the table, with Torstyn on one side and Tara on the other. It had taken a while for Torstyn to accept Quentin’s leadership of the group but now that he had, he had done so completely, assigning himself the role of enforcer.
“It’s good to get back to Beverly Hills,” Kylee said, sipping her Coke. “It feels like it’s been years since I’ve been shopping.”
“It’s been a week,” Quentin said. “If that.”
“I mean real shopping,” she said.
“As opposed to fake shopping?” Torstyn said.
“Don’t mind them,” Tara said. “I know what you mean.”
“Enjoy it,” Quentin said. “You’re not going to get any shopping done in Taiwan.”
“They have malls,” Tara said. “I checked.”
“You won’t have time to shop,” Quentin said. “We’ve got a job to do.”
Kylee frowned. “I don’t even know where Taiwan is.”
“It’s an island a hundred miles off the southeast coast of China,” Quentin said.
“Why are we going there?”
“To guard a girl the Lung Li brought to the Starxource compound,” Quentin said. “Didn’t you hear anything Dr. Hatch said on the call last night?”