Ch. 22    More Bad News

The Galactic helicopter landed around 7 pm atop the six-story Galactic building just outside of Rome. Bright orange lights flashed at the corners of the structure, silhouetting the waiting guards in the Galactic black uniform.

"Welcome back, sir," one of the guards shouted over the sound of the helicopter's rotors.

Cyrus shouted to Selene and Alain, "Get something to eat, then gather up the rest of the family in the conference room by eight." He turned to the guard. "Where is Gary?"

"He's in restraints in the basement detaining cell, sir."

"Come with me."

They took an elevator from the roof. Selene and Alain got off on the second floor while Cyrus and the guards went all the way down to the basement level.

   The marble-tiled corridor was dimly lit and the only sound was the echo of their footsteps as they walked. One of the guards opened the door, and Cyrus stepped in.

   Dr. Jung, the resident psychiatrist, was sitting in a chair facing a two-way mirror that looked into the adjacent room. He stood as Cyrus entered.

  "Dr. Cyrus, I was just—"

   Cyrus raised his hand, silencing the psychiatrist. He leaned forward toward the glass to better comprehend what he was seeing in the next room.

   Gary, one of the seventeen electric children, was cuffed and curled up in bed in the fetal position, softly whimpering. His long, auburn hair was tangled up around his face.

   Cyrus studied him for a moment, then turned back to the doctor.

  "You incompetent worm. I told you to fix him. Do those letters before your name even mean anything?"

   The psychiatrist was red in the face. "I'm doing my best."

  "And your best is in restraints curled up in the corner of his room."

  "He's not a machine, sir. He's a boy. You can't just go in and change out a few parts and make him better."

  "But I can change out a few doctors," Cyrus said.

   The psychiatrist took the threat seriously. He'd heard rumors about what happened to those dispatched from Galactic service. Most became GPs. Some of them just disappeared. He began stuttering, "W-w-what do you want me to do?"

  "Why are you asking me? You're the shrink. Give him a pill. Give him a hundred pills, just fix him."

  "He has a conscience. If you killed a thousand people, you'd have trouble sleeping at night too."

   Cyrus leaned in toward him, his eyes narrowing. "I never have trouble sleeping, Doctor. And if you ever insinuate anything like that again, I'll see to it that you never have trouble sleeping either."

   The doctor swallowed. "I didn't mean to imply . . . Gary's just really stressed right now. He's been worked too hard. Children need downtime. We need to let him spend time with the other teenagers. With his parents."

  "His parents?" Cyrus said softly. "You think he should see his parents?"

   The doctor looked terrified. "He said he misses them."

  "Of course he misses them, you idiot. That's why he's been taken from them. So you think he should spend a little quality time with them? And what if he tells his parents what he's been doing, and they tell him they would rather die than have him drop another plane from the sky? Add that to your list of mental problems." Cyrus walked across the room. "You're on probation, Doctor. Don't disappoint me again."

  "I'm sorry, sir. I'll figure him out."

  "You better. I'm taking both of you with me to Peru. I expect the boy to be heavily sedated. Heavily. I don't want to be along for the ride when he decides to take his life again. We leave first thing in the morning, oh five hundred hours."

  "Yes, sir."

   Cyrus looked back at Gary for a moment, then turned and walked out of the room. On the way to the elevator Cyrus's phone rang.

  "Dr. Cyrus, Captain Steven is on the line."

  "Put him through." Cyrus paused in the hallway. "Did you capture Ketchum?"

  "No. We lost him."

  "How do you lose a tracking device?"

  "He must have discovered the RFID tracers in the GPs and disabled them."

   Cyrus's anger reached a new high. "Find them now!"

  "Yes, sir. We'll find them, sir."

   Cyrus threw his phone across the hall. "Ketchum!"

   The guard retrieved his phone and held open the elevator door. "Your phone, sir."

   Cyrus took it from him. "Fifth floor."

740

Ch. 23 A Family Meeting

Brendan, Selene, May, and Kiawe were sitting in the Galactic dining room waiting for Cyrus to arrive. Alain was on the opposite side of the room, looking through a stack of Soldier of Fortune magazines.

"What's Alain's power?" Kiawe whispered.

The kids rarely talked about one another's powers, and Alain had been separated from them for so long that some of them had forgotten what he could do.

"He's like a human microwave oven," Selene said.

"That could come in handy," Kiawe said.

"Yeah," Brendan said dryly. "Around lunchtime."

Alain suddenly looked up from the magazine he was browsing, and Kiawe quickly turned away. Alain stood up and walked over to the group. "Hey, Selene," he said. "Do that thing again."

"What thing?"

"You know, what you did on the helicopter with your powers."

Brendan looked at Selene, and she blushed. "I don't know. . . ."

"Oh, come on. You said you needed to practice."

Brendan's eyes narrowed. "Whatever it is, she doesn't want to do it. So leave her alone."

"I wasn't talking to you, pretty boy. Mind your own business."

"I'm the student body president of the academy, so Selene is my business."

Alain grinned. "That is pathetic. Never before has so little power gone to somebody's head. And in case you didn't get the memo, school's out, loser."

Brendan turned red in the face. "Don't push your luck, Al-an't."

Alain pushed his face into Brendan's. "Do you think I'm afraid of you? While you've spent the last year and a half lounging around California in designer jeans and polo shirts, drinking girlie drinks with little umbrellas in them, you know what I've been doing for fun? I hunt anacondas alone in the jungles. No gun. No machete. Just me." He rolled up his sleeve to show a ragged scar across his biceps leading to two large puncture wounds.

All the kids stared, and Alain was pleased by their response. "Last January, during the rainy season, I was wading through a patch of jungle when a thirty-foot anaconda shot out of the water and grabbed me by the arm. It tried to drag me into the river."

"No way, dude," Kiawe said.

Alain smiled. "As it was wrapping its coils around me, I looked it in the eyes and cooked it. It's brain exploded out it's ears."

"Whoa!" Kiawe said. "Awesome!"

"I had some of the servants drag the snake back to the compound, and I had boots made out of its skin. The thing was a monster. I could have made a dozen pairs." Alain looked at Brendan and sneered. "I'm guessing the scariest thing you've faced the last year was too much starch in your shorts, pretty boy."

   Brendan didn't back down. "You want to see how much you scare me, Tarzan?" Brendan said. The air around him began to crackle with electricity.

  "Don't start what you don't want me to finish, tough guy," Alain said.

  "C'mon, guys," Selene said. "This isn't cool. Someone could get hurt."

  "Shut up," Kiawe said. "I want to see them fight. Battle of the Titans."

  "There better not be a fight," Cyrus said sternly, walking into the room. "Stand down. Both of you." He looked at Alain. "You weren't thinking of using your powers on another family member?"

   Alain fidgeted. "Uh, no, sir."

  "And you, Brendan?"

  "No sir. I was protecting Selene's honor, sir."

  "That sounds noble," Cyrus said facetiously. "You were going to protect her 'honor' with your powers?"

   He swallowed. "It hadn't come to that, sir."

  "You both should be glad for that. Remember my rules, gentlemen. Then remember the penalty for breaking my rules."

  "Yes, sir," they both said.

  "Now listen up. We are flying out first thing in the morning. So pack up tonight. We'll be gone for awhile and where we're going there are no shopping malls and no concierge desk. You're going to be roughing it. So bring extra necessities. Especially you young ladies."

  "How long will we be gone?" May asked.

  "More than a month. Possibly as long as a year."

  "A year?" Selene said.

   Brendan raised his hand. Alain rolled his eyes.

  "May I ask where we're going, sir?" Brendan asked.

  "No, you may not. I will fill everyone in on the details during the flight. Now go to bed. We have a long day tomorrow, and I need you all to be sharp. Everyone's excused except for Alain and Brendan. You two stay."

  "Yes, sir," Brendan said.

   Alain breathed out heavily. "All right."

   When everyone had left Cyrus looked at the two young men. Brendan's head was slightly bowed; Alain was slumped down in his chair.

  "Sit up," Cyrus said to Alain.

  "Yes, sir," he said, straightening himself up. "Sorry, sir."

  "You thought you were going to fight? What were you thinking? This isn't a schoolyard playground. With your powers, any fight is to the death. Or have you grown stupid in the last two days? Who gave you permission to kill each other?"

   They sat quietly, avoiding Cyrus's fierce gaze.

  "I asked you a question!" Cyrus shouted. "Who told you that you could risk your life without my permission?"

  "No one, sir," Brendan said.

   Cyrus leaned forward. "Let me make myself perfectly clear. I don't care what you think about each other. But if either of you lets your ego get in the way of what's about to happen, you'll spend the rest of your life guarding a Starxource plant in Outer Mongolia. Do you understand?"

  "Yes, sir," both said in unison.

  "There will be order and strict obedience. Do you understand me?"

  "Yes, sir," they repeated.

  "Good. Brendan has been in charge of the group for the last five years in Pasadena and has done an adequate job of keeping the Galactic youths in line. I see no reason to change that. Brendan will remain my number one."

   Brendan crossed his arms triumphantly over his chest, giving Alain a satisfied look. "Thank you, sir."

  "Don't get smug, Brendan. You're number one over the rest of the youths, but not Alain. Alain answers only to me."

  "Thank you, sir," Alain said, glaring at Brendan.

  "Where we're headed is no Beverly Hills vacation, and none of the you, except Alain, are ready for what you're going to encounter. Alain knows what it takes to survive in a hostile environment, don't you, Alain?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Now hear me and hear me well. Whatever you do, you will not get romantically involved with any members of the family. We do not need any complications right now—a house divided against itself cannot stand. Do you both understand?"

  "Yes, sir," they said again.

  "What we are facing will test everyone. We've lost half the youths already, and now Gary is on the verge of cracking. In fact, he already has. I need both of you one hundred percent. Now shake hands."

   Brendan reached out his hand. "My apologies."

   Alain gripped his hand. "Okay," he said. "Me too."

  "Good," Cyrus said. "I'm not surprised that you're at odds. You're both alpha males and you're both warriors—which is exactly what I need right now. Warriors." He leaned forward. "Gentlemen, the pieces are in place and we're about to make the first move. The war has begun. But first we must cleanse the inner vessel."

1220
Surprise! Two chapters in one. I combined two shorter ones for you today. How do you like this format? Please tell me and vote on the chapter.

Remember Gary? Of course you do, he was mentioned several times last book. Well now, he's going to be an important character later on.

How are you liking this side of the story? Seeing how Alain conflicts with the rest of the kids.

Sorry I wasn't able to finish the oneshot in time for Amourshipping day, but it should be done. I'm finishing the last few scenes. And aren't the girls up top so cute in each other's outfits? Which is your favorite?

See you later for the next chapter