“It’s not a chance,” Phoenix’s voice echoed back, “it’s a window—”
“Well, we’ve got plenty of those around here, if that’s what you’re looking for.”
“—of opportunity,” Phoenix finished.
“I think I’m looking for more of a door, really.”
“Could you just listen to me for a second, Vern?”
“I’m listening, and I’ve been listening all night, damn it! I’ve heard about your plan. I know all about the virus. But you know what? I still don’t think it’s going to work. It’s already over, Phoenix. Trust me when I tell you that. There was never going to be a war. That’s a good thing: war fractures the soul.”
“There are some causes worth fighting for—until we are beautifully broken.”
“You’re a fool.”
“Just one more raid, Vern. Just give me—give us, the Lost Boys—another chance. That’s all I’m asking. Just help with one more, and then that’s it. I’m out of your hair forever, gone. All it takes is help with one more raid. That’s all.”
“That’s all?” Vern sneered. “Help with one more raid, and that’s all? You and I both know that won’t be enough.”
“You don’t think we can do it?”
“Oh, I think you can do it, all right. You’ll do it and get one of yourselves killed. Like you did with Bugsy.”
“Damn it, Vern. I told you to quit bringing him up. You know we all cared about the kid. We just weren’t ready. They knew we were coming.”
“And they won’t know this time?”
“It won’t matter if they know this time. I’ll be on the ground. This time they won’t have a chance.”
“You’ve got a lot of confidence in yourself.”
“I could say the same thing about you.”
“And the new boy? Dr. Bradbury’s son? A great addition. Far smarter than Bugsy… or is he? Do you plan to bring him with you?” He paused. I guessed Phoenix nodded. “Then you’re a fool. Look what happened to Bugsy, and he had three months to prepare—”
“Bugsy wasn’t right. You and I both know that. Something was wrong with his head… he just wasn’t right.”
“And this kid is?”
“He jumped into the mouth of a megalodon.”
“So he’s crazy, too? Or just a fool? God, you really know how to pick ’em, Phoenix.”
“You know who his mother is. The kid’s not stupid.”
“Well, you’re operating under the assumption he’s anything like her, and I don’t operate under assumptions. I operate under facts. Dr. Bradbury’s research is what could save our cause, not another raid.”
“But the raid won’t hurt. So you’ll help us then?”
“On one condition.”
“Of course there’s one condition.”
“Kill the boy.”
My stomach did somersaults in my chest. It was getting harder to breathe. I could’ve used a Cotton Candy Cocktail.
“I—I can’t do that.”
“You can,” said Vern, “and you will. You’ve done it before, haven’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Ah, but I’m afraid you do, my friend. We both know you had a feeling that day on the Tube. There was a reason you stayed back, wasn’t there? Let Bugsy and Mila go ahead without you. You didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire, isn’t that right?”
Phoenix was silent.
“But,” Vern continued, “you had to get the shipment of Indigo, didn’t you, Phoenix? So you let Bugsy go in your place—even though you knew he wasn’t ready. That he’d probably die. But hey, no sweat off your back, if it saves the shipment. I know you too well, boy. You’ll kill for this cause, and not just the Feds. What’s another boy’s life to you? If the Feds get him, he’s dead anyway. If he dies for you, at least it’ll spare him the torture.”
Phoenix was still silent.
“We don’t know where his loyalty lies,” Vern said finally. “We don’t have the resources for another mouth to feed.”
Phoenix wouldn’t do it, would he? He’d already saved my life twice. Why go through the trouble, if he was going to kill me in the end? There had to be a reason he was keeping me alive. He couldn’t just kill me now. He’d told me about his family—no, there was no way he’d do it now. He might even think we were friends.
After a long pause, Phoenix sucked in a breath. “I’ll do it,” he said. “If you help us with the raid, then I’ll kill Kai when we’re done. I promise you he’ll be dead by the end of the mission.”
Chapter 24
I lay awake for hours while Phoenix’s words rang in my ears. He was going to kill me. There’d be no finding Mom, no saving Charlie, not if Phoenix had his way…
There was a deafening bang, and the sharp crack of shattering glass pulled Bertha from her sleep. “Get up, Car Battery!” she shouted, slapping a pillow across my face. “Jesus, get out of bed! We’ve gotta get off this boat and back to New Texas!”
Another bang sounded, and flames flickered on the spiral staircase from the roof above. It sounded like bombs were being dropped on the rooftop gardens. The shattering sounds must be the solar panels, splintering into millions of pieces.
Bertha dragged me along the stairs as flames raged on either side of the boat—both the front and the back were on fire. She pushed open a shop’s door and stuffed her mouth with three pastries from a glass display case, urging me to do the same.
“Umph uh umph uhh umph’ll uh!” she shouted.
“What?” I asked, eyes darting around the room as I searched for an exit.
She tossed me a cinnamon roll and swallowed her pastries. “It might be the last meal you’ll get for a while. Eat up.”
She stuffed her mouth with three more pastries and pointed toward the window before grabbing a chair in the corner and smashing it against the glass. New Texas loomed not far away. We dove headfirst and swam toward the island. Around us, boats lit the sea with their roofs of fire. New Texas was trapped in a circle of flames.
Bertha pulled herself onto the shore. “You wait for the others. I’m firing up the engines.”
“But we’re surrounded.”
“Just wait for it,” she said as she ran toward the fort. “The Caravites just need a minute…”
I scanned the water for other Lost Boys, and saw someone leap from a boat’s fiery roof. Another window was smashed open, and two more shadows dove in. I wondered when Captain Vern would order the Caravan to unfurl and run.
Kindred and Mila swam to the shore, followed by Phoenix. All three hurried past me and ran toward the island’s center.
“Shit,” muttered Mila as she ran past.
“Oh, dear,” Kindred whimpered behind her. “Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!”
There was a siren, and then the boats shot apart, forgoing their single-line formation and instead launching individually into the night. The Caravan disintegrated in front of my eyes. Its boats’ flaming roofs raced off to distant corners of the ocean, flickering like the stars we’d once had in the sky.
As the Caravan crumbled, I saw flashes of Federal boats firing bombs in the distance. Somehow they’d found us outside Federal waters, in the middle of the ocean, and it looked as if they’d brought the whole naval fleet. The mammoth ships sat like sleeping giants, stirring only with the occasional cannon’s flicker. The pastry ship where Bertha and I had slept sank in front of me. It was lucky Bertha’s snores had frightened the boat’s usual occupants into other lofts for the night.
Helicopters launched themselves from the decks of the Federal ships and raced toward us as two more shadows dove from the roof of a sinking Caravan ship. Dove and Sparky, I realized. Soon they reached the shore, clawing at the beach’s sand and aluminum cans with spread hands.