Enders(21)

Those happy faces—No idea what they’re getting into—Save them!

“Callie?”

The memory faded. But Helena’s sense of purpose lingered. I knew what we had to do.

“We should go find the other Metals,” I said.

Hyden stared at me like I was speaking a foreign language. I looked back at the plant on the conference table. Everything was now crystal clear.

“We need to find the other Metals, the donors that your father created,” I said. “And keep them safe.”

“Where?” He looked around the room. “Here?”

“Where else? It’s big, it’s underground. These will be Metals that your father can’t get, can’t blow up or use in other ways. Until you and Redmond can develop a way to block your father completely, this makes the most sense.”

Hyden folded his hands behind his head and gazed at the ceiling. “I guess we have the space. We could get more furniture.”

“You said you could scan for them. Show me how.”

We entered the lab. Redmond was still working on the other side. Hyden went right to his airscreen, and began plucking the icons. A grid appeared over a map of greater Los Angeles.

He squinted at the image and changed the view, looking at different sections. Finally, he stopped and locked on the grid. A red dot pulsed.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“That could be a Metal.”

“It’s not very far away,” I said. “We could go find out in person.”

“Wait, we’re going to jump in without a plan? How can I trust this random Metal?” he asked. “Bringing them in here, with all my research?”

“Any Metal out there is like me, right? They don’t know what to do with your research and they don’t care. But if you’re worried, there’s a lock on your lab. Use it.”

I could see he still had his doubts.

“What if you had found Reece before your father did?” I asked. “She’d still be alive. I think that’s worth any imagined risk.”

Hyden rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know, Callie. We’d need help.”

“You said your father was doing this, collecting the Metals,” I pressed. “Don’t you want to beat him at his own game?”

I saw his eyes narrow. That got him. He pulled out his cell phone and sent a Zing to someone. In less than a minute, a man appeared in the doorway of the lab.

“Callie, this is Ernie,” Hyden said.

Ernie commanded attention, with his smooth, dark skin and muscles that threatened to burst out of his expensive suit. But his most unusual feature was the thick black hair that covered his head. It was a rare sight on an adult.

He was a Middle.

He extended his hand. I was still staring at that hair. I caught myself and shook his hand.

“You’re the one who took Tyler to the cabin?” I asked.

“And the other two, yes.”

“So you live here too?” I asked, thinking of his quick appearance after Hyden’s Zing.

“He does. He’s my full-time bodyguard and an all-around good guy.” He turned to Ernie. “Callie wants to find more Metals. So we’re going to try.”

“I’ll go prepare the car,” Ernie said.

He gave me a polite nod and left.

“He’s a Middle,” I whispered.

“Yeah, very valuable,” Hyden said softly.

I wondered how a Middle bodyguard could have afforded the vaccine.





CHAPTER SEVEN





I sat in the passenger seat of Hyden’s special SUV, and Ernie rode in back. Hyden pressed a button, and a massive airscreen came up between him and the dash. A grid of the area filled the space.

I looked around. “Where’s the computer for that?”

Ernie popped the console between us. It looked like he’d opened up a service bot, there were so many parts inside.

“I have another one in the back,” Hyden said. “You can never have too many computers.”

The airscreen had everything: depth, dimensionality, and animation. Hyden reached in, plucked out a hidden page, and pulled it to the front.

“How can you scan when we’re in here?” I asked. “Isn’t it blocked?”

“Blocked from incoming signals. I raised the antennae to extend our reach.”

“Where’s the red dot now?” I asked.

“Long gone,” Hyden said. “But there’s got to be another one nearby.”

I saw a black dot pulsing on the grid. It moved as we did, so I figured that was the marker for us. I watched the screen for any sign of a red dot.

“How long will it take?” I asked.

“I’m guessing it could be a lot like fishing,” Ernie said. “Ever been fishing?”