“I gotta tell you,” Maybeck said, “until now, I wasn’t buying that Jez could dream the future.”
“And now?” Finn asked.
“Yeah, well. A person’s got a right to be wrong.”
34
FINN AND MAYBECK steadily pushed to the front of the throng gathered at the windows overlooking the tiger yards, where a blanket of green grass was interrupted by some trees and rocks. A huge tigress slumbered in the thick shade of a bamboo stand, her back against the tall rock wall that contained her. Jez had sketched both this window and the sculpture reliefs they’d just been studying, meaning this location had played a significant role in her dreams.
But what role? Finn wondered.
“It could be she’s hiding in the tiger yards,” Finn said quietly to Maybeck.
“You see her out there, do you?” Maybeck asked.
“No. But—”
“That’s because she isn’t there.”
“But it makes sense. She wouldn’t exactly be able to move if she was stuck in there. Not with tigers roaming the place.”
“Whitman, look around.”
Finn moved to the opposite side of the walled bridge dividing the two tiger yards. He didn’t have to challenge any crowds, because there weren’t any. There weren’t any tigers seen from this side.
“Convinced?” Maybeck said from behind him. He, too, had switched sides.
“But why would she have drawn both the window and the monkey? Can you explain that?” Finn asked anxiously. “They have to mean something.”
“She drew a lot of stuff: a dinosaur, the monkey, the window, a bat, some old dude. How are we supposed to know what it all means?”
“That’s just the point,” Finn said. “We are supposed to know what it means. We’re supposed to figure it out. We’re supposed to help her.”
“Maybe it’s about the animals, not the locations,” Maybeck suggested. “Something to do with monkeys, tigers, and dinosaurs. What do they have in common?”
“Nothing,” Finn said, “except that they’re all part of the AK.”
“The server!” Maybeck said excitedly. “The second server. Didn’t Wayne tell you the plan was to—”
“Make animals into DHIs!” Finn shouted a little too loudly. “You’re right.” He pulled out the page of Jez’s diary and studied it again. “What if these animals are the ones they’re turning into DHIs? Jez saw them in her dreams. They meant something to her, something important.”
Maybeck wrote to Amanda on the DS.
mybest: amanda. how many tigers u c?
panda: 3
mybest: finn and me think some animals may B DHIs.
Finn joined the D-Gamer chat room.
Finn: otakers might use dhis 2 fake us out.
mybest: maleficent cannot be trusted, she could have made a dhi of herself 2 use as decoy or something, no way 2 know.
panda: she wants control of the parks, it makes more sense she would use the dhis 2 scare the guests, or 2 put us into sbs. she doesn’t want us around, that’s 4 sure.
Finn: and with jez being able to see the future, she’s a real threat, what if she knows what Maleficent has planned?
panda: that would explain why maleficent wants 2 control her.
Finn: the diary drawings of animals may be 2 warn us 2 watch out for this or something.
panda: no. it’s more than that, her dreams involve her. have u ever had a dream that you’re not in? never! the diary is about her dreams, her life.
The screen flickered. She wasn’t through typing.
panda:…there’s a truck being unloaded behind the bat enclosure. 2 cages…both wrapped with tarps.
mybest: doesn’t mean anything.
panda: listen to me! the truck driver has a monkey on his arm. a live monkey, the park would never allow a monkey to be running around loose, these cast members are fakes.
mybest: how big r the cages?
panda: big! big enough for a large dog or…a wild cat or…
Maybeck interrupted by typing quickly:
mybest: philby and willa!
Finn: amanda, watch every camera in that area, we’re on our way!
35
FINN AND MAYBECK made their way toward the bat enclosure, just down from the tiger yard along the winding, dark trail of the Maharajah Jungle Trek. Bugs buzzed past their heads as the heat enveloped them, making their chests tight and their breath short. Birds cried out and fluttered past, winning Maybeck’s unflinching attention as he recalled his earlier horrifying experience. His DS beeped and he checked for the message.
panda: the backstage camera @ the bat enclosure just stopped working.
“That cannot be a coincidence,” Maybeck whispered to Finn. “That camera was sabotaged. Something’s going on back there, and we need to know what it is.”