Kingdom Keepers VI(21)

“So? What’s that about?” Maybeck said, breaking the unbearable silence.

“We have friends working for us,” Storey proposed.

“Or enemies trying to trick us,” Finn said.

Professor Philby said, “Deceit typically involves subtlety. Dropping a note on a table is not terribly subtle.”

“So let’s be positive,” said the cheerleader, “and figure out what we do with everything.” Charlene cleared her throat. “I saw the hummingbird on Deck Four forward. The hyena was killed up there, too.”

“Interesting,” Maybeck said.

Charlene smiled widely.

Willa said, “Storey and I can Google the pictographs and the words on the mystery note.”

Finn lowered his voice. “The thing is, if she’s leaving us a clue, she’s got to be on our side. So why not just talk to us?”

Maybeck said, “Because we’re radioactive, Whitman. We’re nothing but trouble. She wants to help, but not get involved.”

“But if she’s helping us, then Wayne sent her.”

“Most likely,” Philby said. His face tightened. “Which is odd.”

“Odd that we weren’t told,” Finn said. “Maybe she’s part of the 2.0 upgrade. Maybe it isn’t rumor.”

“Maybe she was a hologram,” Willa said, silencing the group.

The rumor about 2.0, begun by Finn’s making assumptions about things said by Storey Ming, was that the Keepers might be facing early retirement. It seemed possible that, unbeknown to them, Wayne and the Imagineers were testing out the beta phase of 2.0 before fixing bugs and installing it onto a new set of DHIs—bigger, faster, stronger.

“That’s hardly critical thinking, Willa,” cautioned Philby. “There’s nowhere near enough empirical evidence to bring us to any kind of conclusion. It’s pure speculation. Speculation can be dangerous.”

Willa looked crushed. He’d blurted it out in typical Philby fashion; now he looked as if he wished he could take it back.

“Whatever,” Finn said. “We need to make plans to spy on the OTs.”

“Say, what?” Charlene said.

“We have to follow them,” Maybeck said. “We have to know what they’re doing. Same with the OTKs. If they leave the ship in Aruba, we need to leave the ship. If they stay on board, we stay on board.”

“How can we follow them if we don’t know where they are in the first place?” Charlene said.

Philby said, “I have access to all the shipboard camera feeds now. We’re not without assets.”

“Speak English,” said Willa, irritated.

“Let’s assume Jess’s sketch of the cave is accurate,” Maybeck said. “We know there are caves on Aruba. In her dream, there were women in the cave. Women—as in witches and dark fairies, maybe.”

“Maybe,” Philby said, emphasizing the word. “We don’t know any of this to be fact.”

“Shut up a minute. Let’s assume it’s fact. Okay? If so, we need to know what they’re doing in that cave. Right?” Maybeck answered himself: “Right. So… Thanks to Philby’s cameras, we can cover a lot of the ship. The problem is getting off the ship at the exact same time as the OTKs, so we don’t lose them.”

“Forward following,” Philby said.

“Say, what?”

“Now you’re just talking nonsense,” Willa said, her irritation showing again.

Group meetings had gotten way too complicated, Finn thought. Clearing his throat, he waded in, determined to break the tension.

“Willa, Philby’s saying that we don’t need to follow the OTs off the ship. There are probably only a couple of caves this could be. We can narrow it down using Jess’s drawing. Then we let them come to us for a change, by getting to whatever cave it is ahead of time. They walk into our trap.”

“Nice,” Maybeck said.

“We’ll have to check out the island tourist information for caves. I’ll bet one will match up pretty closely with Jess’s drawing.”

“I can do that,” Storey said. “Being a Cast Member, I can get a look at all the excursion stuff.”

“It could be at one of the other stops,” Philby reminded them.

“Aruba is known for its caves,” Storey said. “Not so sure about Costa Rica and Mexico.”

Philby took in the faces staring at him. “Fine. Charlene and Maybeck will get off early and, providing Storey’s found a match, go to the cave and hide. I will use my hack of the shipboard security cameras to keep an eye on the various gangways off the ship. If I see Luowski or any OTs leaving, Willa and Finn will follow them.” He added, “I should be able to get us all walkie-talkies.”