“Right, I remember. Paul was able to give that order, because that’s kind of what the Pontifex needs to do, right? Be the better person?”
“That’s right. So, let me ask you a question. Do you, in your heart, believe that Paul would be able to give that same order now?”
Didn’t have to think too hard on this one. “I’d like to say yes. Because I think Paul is that good a person.”
“I do, too. But here’s my dilemma—I don’t want to discover he’s not. I don’t want our people to discover that our Pontifex is unable to do the right thing all the time. There’s no one else trained or even close to ready—Paul couldn’t step down to avoid the decision. And the decision, whether he makes the right one or the wrong one, would eat at him. For the rest of his life.”
“Okay, I see the problem. Why are you discussing it with me and only me?”
“Because, when it comes right down to it, you’re your mother’s daughter.”
Thought about this, about the specific event Gladys was talking about. Mom had point-blank asked me why Jeff didn’t just kill Ronaldo and be done with it. And, frankly, Mom had been right, because Ronaldo had escaped, and he’d helped bring an alien invasion down on Earth. He’d tried to destroy our world, my world. And he’d tried to steal my baby girl while doing so.
“Don’t tell me, let me guess. You want us to do a commando raid and finish the job Jeff started.”
Gladys smiled. “I’d prefer to think of it as a fun, girl’s bonding excursion.”
“Gladys, I believe this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
CHAPTER 65
“YOU WANT ANYONE besides the two of us?” I asked as I ensured I had everything I could possibly need in my purse, which included a variety of Poofs On Board. Harlie gave me a little purr. Great, the Poofs were all for the raid.
Squinted. Bruno was in stealth mode but I could just make him out next to my right foot. He looked up at me and winked. Excellent, Bruno was in as well.
“I’d love to grab your mother and Adriana. But your mother might need a warrant and you need Adriana for the funeral raid, so we can’t risk her getting hurt.”
“What about the princesses?”
“I prefer to fight with people for whom battle isn’t the highest honor, just something that has to get done. They’re learning, but they’re too green to trust with this.”
“Works for me. So, where’s Ronaldo at?”
She sighed. “That’s the one problem. I saw where he was, but it was in a dream so it’s fragmented. However, I know you’ve found a way to leave and return without using the Embassy’s gate.”
“How?”
“Walter and William noted that you disappeared, reappeared, disappeared, and reappeared again. Because it was quick and they could determine that you were here, they decided it was equipment failure due to the hack. Of course, the Science Center advised me that you were there, and then not there, and then there again, and so on. So I assume you’ve found that hidden gate you’ve had everyone looking for for the past year and a half and were testing it out.”
“Wow. You’re good. Yeah, I have.” Gave it a shot. “I’ve also met—” Dang, couldn’t say the name. But I could try something else. “The A-C Elf.” Ha! Take that, Algar. Chose not to wonder whether he’d allowed me to say this or not.
Gladys seemed impressed. “Good for you. I was told by . . . someone in my dream . . . that this gate works differently from the others.”
“It does. I think it works based on thoughts. I’m pretty sure it’s a Z’porrah power cube.” So Algar had given Gladys the suggestion to come see me. It wasn’t a surprise that he visited her in her dreams, after all. Passive noninvolvement my ass.
Of course, there was always the chance that Gladys had been turned again and was working for the bad guys. Bruno nudged up against me, I looked down, and he turned visible, looked straight at Gladys, looked back at me, cooed, and went invisible again.
“What was that all about?” Gladys asked.
“You just got the Peregrine Stamp of Approval.”
“Good to know. Let’s get going before Jeffrey notices that you’re revved up and excited and comes to find out why.”
Headed us to the isolation room and crawled up onto the big bed.
“Seriously?” Gladys asked as she clambered up with me.
“Don’t complain to me, I think the Colemans are responsible for this location.”
“Figures.”
“Okay, hold my hand and think of the place where you saw Ronaldo. Then touch the square. Supposedly we can’t land in something solid or on top of someone or some such. I haven’t tested enough to know for sure.”
“You only live once, kiddo.”
“Kiddo? Really?”
She laughed. “It’s better than what I used to call you.” With that she took firm hold of my hand, and put her other onto the Cube Gate.
We were instantly in a dark room. Looked around. I didn’t see anyone. “Where are we?” I whispered.
“No idea,” she whispered back. “But this is what I saw in my dream, the dark room before the room where he is.”
There was some light near the floor, but father away. Light coming in from under a door. We crept toward it. Looked back and around. “I don’t see the return square.”
Gladys put her hand over my mouth and I shut up. Heard what she had—voices.
So, Ronaldo wasn’t alone. Well, there were two of us. The voices weren’t raised so it was hard to make them out. But I had a feeling there were more than two people in the next room. No worries, Gladys and I were both capable of kicking major butt.
We reached the door and listened harder. No keyhole and the door was shut, both of which were really inconsiderate of the cosmos.
My eyes were adjusting to the dark and I could make out some of the things around us. Most of said things were boxes. The room appeared to have no windows and just the one door we were standing by. Could make out a stamp on the side of a box on the floor that the light was hitting—GB: NAS.
Contemplated what these letters could stand for as the voices died down and Gladys slowly turned the door handle. Maybe whoever was in the room hadn’t noticed the handle turning. Or else they’d noticed, were really good, and were lying in wait for us. Gave it fifty-fifty odds either way.
Door opened a crack to discover that, for once, the odds were on our side. Well, sort of. The door didn’t open up to another room—it opened up to a hallway.
From what little we could see, it was a long hallway, with what looked like many doors, and a T-intersection at the far end from us.
As we looked, people came walking by, speaking to each other. These people were in Navy and Marine uniforms. They went past without looking at our door, which was a relief.
My brain decided to mention that it had a really good idea what NAS stood for—Naval Air Station. And that meant, by both process of elimination and the total way our luck worked, that GB most likely stood for Guantanamo Bay.
Nudged Gladys. “We’re in Guantanamo,” I whispered in her ear. “I don’t think that’s good.”
“If we’re here, it’s because my half brother is here.”
“Good point. Just saying, I think we could be really screwed if we’re caught.”
“Better caught by the Navy than caught by our enemies.”
Found the light switch, closed the door, and turned the light on. Sure enough, we were in a storage room that confirmed we were in Guantanamo—lots of boxes stacked all over the place, clipboards hanging on the walls near different stacks, a couple of plain tables holding stuff. Of course the sign that said “Supply Room #30, Naval Air Station: Guantanamo Bay” was also a clue.