Kingdom Keepers V(103)

“Presumably to be used against us,” Philby added.

“So planning something big.”

“If this is the work of Overtakers, we’ve never seen anything like it.”

“It is,” came a voice behind them.

All three jumped.

Maybeck slipped in alongside of them.

“You about scared the pee out of me!” Charlene complained.

“I caught Luowski in a shed.” He gave them the shorthand of his encounter with the school bully.

“Luowski’s on the ship?” Willa gasped. “The OTKs?”

“I went back to have another ‘chat’ with him,” Maybeck said, “after the plane took off, but he was gone. He’d smashed out some boards at the back of the shed.”

“We need to know what’s in that crate,” Willa said.

“If one of you could get to sleep the minute we’re back on board,” Philby proposed, “I could cross you over before whatever it is is unpacked.”

“Can I remind you we have no idea where they’re taking it, and the ship just happens to be huge?” Charlene said.

“If I can get into ship security’s camera files we can follow the crate,” Philby stated.

“Can you?” Maybeck asked.

“We won’t know until we try.”





A silent alarm sounded in Philby’s head as he and the others boarded the ship: their key cards tracked their every movement. When they left the ship; when they returned. When they entered their rooms; when they left. The main dining rooms kept track of guest attendance (although the other food areas did not). If the shipboard security cameras could be used to track the arrival of a secret crate, what about the arrival of five key card–holding kids? In the wrong hands, such information put the Keepers at risk.

As celebrities, their staterooms were not registered in their names. Only key officers knew how to track them down. These included the heads of entertainment, security, and what was called hotel management. There was no question the Beach Blanket Barbecue had been arranged by an officer; who else could convince the captain to stay extra hours on Castaway Cay? There seemed little doubt that whoever had arranged the extension had connections to the Overtakers. And since this had to be a highly ranked officer, it seemed likely that the Overtakers might now have knowledge of the Keepers’ staterooms. That meant there was nowhere safe on board.

Nowhere.

Philby didn’t want to freak out the others, so for now he kept this realization to himself, but as he reentered the ship he was already scheming about ways to use some of the empty staterooms for DHI sleep during crossover in case the OTs had plans to kidnap them or attempt to trap them in SBS. With too much to do and with too little time, he pushed his concern aside and focused on crossing over Charlene in hopes she could follow the mystery crate.

He texted Finn:


i need to see it



There was no need to mention the journal by name; Finn would know. He was excited to get a look at it to find out what was so important to the OTs to risk stealing it in the first place. He might have wondered why Maleficent would keep it on her person, but then again she was such a control freak it really didn’t surprise him all that much.

“Welcome back,” the steward said as Philby ran his key card past the sensor. “Did you enjoy the fireworks?”

“Oh, yes!” Philby answered. “They were much more than I expected.”

The steward smiled at him, then welcomed the next guest. Philby crowded in with others awaiting the elevators, then broke free of the pack and climbed the stairs.


meet u @ the room



…came Finn’s reply.

Good, Philby thought. Finn was okay and was either back on the ship or would be soon. That was a load off his mind. Without the crate and the mystery plane, without Luowski being seen on the island, without Tia Dalma’s involvement, it might have felt to Philby like their mission was nearly over. They needed the GPS data on the OT server, but he expected that any minute. Then it would be a matter of finding and disabling the OT server.

Given the recent developments, the recovery of the stolen journal didn’t merit celebration the way it might have. There were too many variables—too much going on that needed explaining. The ship was not safe, whether Wayne and the Imagineers knew it or not. Maleficent had brought the battle to the ship, and as much as he didn’t want to think about it, there was no better place to get rid of someone than by throwing the person overboard at night.

Or five people, one by one.

The cruise had been promoted as featuring the DHIs. So far he had faced two DHIs trying to dispatch him. Was it a Murder Cruise?

We should have stayed behind on the island, he thought, catching a glimpse of the beautiful Castaway Cay as he reached Deck 4. He looked down over the rail at the churning water. For the next two days there would be only this one way off the ship.