A hologram.
“You have a stateroom, do you, Greg?” Finn said. He was trying to signal Storey that she was looking at one of the stowaways.
“Don’t bother yourself with my stuff, Witless. I’d be thinking about how well you can swim.” Luowski stepped forward.
Some of the other kids overheard the confrontation and began forming a ring around the two boys.
“Somebody get a counselor!” a girl’s voice called out. Finn knew that voice.
Luowski elbowed one of the boys by his side. The kid took off and tackled another kid heading for the doors.
“Let’s keep this between us, okay?” Luowski said.
“So let me ask you: doesn’t it bother you being someone’s goon?” Finn said. “Or is that what they call in drama class typecasting?”
Luowski took another step forward. As a DHI, regardless of the operating system, he had the advantage. Never mind his considerable strength. Never mind his supernatural size. Never mind his fighting skills and wrestling championships. The kid was a DHI with a blue outline that told Finn he could touch and hit and bite and thrash—probably for several seconds at a time. The rest of the time he’d be untouchable, unhittable—nothing but a projection of light.
For Finn, it was exactly the opposite. He was flesh and bones.
Luowski intended to throw him over the side of the ship, and Finn wasn’t sure what could be done about it.
At night. In the dark. In the middle of the ocean.
“They’ll catch you, flubber belly,” Finn said, “because you’re a loser. It’s a ship, brainless. Where are you going to hide?”
The whole idea was to instill a mixture of anger and fear into the boy. It didn’t take much to pull a version 1.6 DHI’s hologram back to reality.
“Shut up!” Luowski said angrily.
Sweet!
Finn shifted onto his left foot, raised his right, and kicked out, connecting with the boy’s midsection. Luowski flew back and fell down, his green eyes in shocked disbelief.
“Hmm,” Finn said. “That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
Luowski clambered quickly to his feet and charged. But Finn had his senses about him. He waited until the last second and moved aside. Luowski struck the rail with a thud.
The crowd groaned.
“Nice job, doofus!” Finn said.
Luowski turned and took a mass of wet clay in his face, courtesy of Storey. The fact that it stuck to the boy’s face was the only test Finn needed.
He charged Luowski from behind, leading with a shoulder to the boy’s right knee and collapsing Luowski like a folding chair. With Luowski down and moaning, Finn took Storey’s slimy hand in his and fled. The automatic doors swung open, revealing two pirates.
Not Cast Members. Not costumes. Not role-playing. Pirates. Just like the ones at the Sail-Away Celebration. They grabbed Finn and Storey, spun them around, and lifted them off their feet. The sound of Storey’s cries echoed in Finn’s ears.
The pirates turned and carried the two toward the crammed club. They’d be out into the companionway in less than a minute. Once out there, who knew what was going to happen to them? Being thrown overboard might have seemed a luxury by the time these guys got through with them.
In an instant, all the lights went out. The music stopped. The projector quit. For a heartbeat there was complete darkness and total silence. Then, as the emergency lights switched on, pandemonium. Kids charged for the exit as counselors hollered for calm.
Finn drove his heel into the arch of the pirate’s right foot. He felt something give. The pirate let go of him, cried out in pain, and fell like a tree against the pirate next to him, who released Storey to catch his friend.
Philby, Finn decided, without a second thought. The power outage had been Philby’s doing.
In the crush of terrified kids, Finn led Storey into the dead-end area, against traffic. He pulled the couch away from the wall and climbed behind, helping Storey in there with him.
“What are you doing?” she asked above the roar of the chaos.
“They’ll look for us out there,” he said, pulling the couch in tightly against them. He typed a text on the Wave Phone.
thnx. hiding behind couch in alcove
A moment later a text was returned.
no prob. i c u. nice move. so far, no worries. tell SM hi 4 me
“Philby says hi,” he told her.
She looked frightened.
“If you’re going to train to take my place,” Finn said, “you’re going to have to get used to this stuff.”
“Shut! Up!” She paused. “Tell him hi back.”
“I will not. You think I share, or something?”
It won a smile from her. She had bright white teeth.