Michael Vey 9, page 22
“We should pull out anyone who has been involved. How many is that?”
I had to count. “Sixteen. And two bodies.”
“I’ll send the jet immediately. It will be there by morning. Will Cassy be ready to travel?”
“She should be.”
“What about Abigail?”
“We still don’t know where she is.”
“Keep your phone with you. I’ll have the pilots contact you when they’re close.”
“Thank you.”
“Son, I’m sorry for all the losses. I know how much that hurts. But I’m glad you’re safe.”
“Thanks. Good night.” I walked back into the hospital. Everyone turned to look at me.
“The jet will be here in the morning to take us home.”
“All of us?” Johnson asked.
“Everyone. Including Cristiano and Jacinta. We have room for you too.”
“Peru is my home,” Jacinta said.
“I know. But we’ve stirred up a hornet’s nest, and it’s not safe for you right now. It would be best if we let things settle.”
“He’s right,” Johnson said. He turned to Cristiano. “What about you?”
“I’m good with going back,” he said. “I don’t have a green card, but I’ll figure something out.”
“Neither of you needs to worry about a thing,” I said. “You’ll be taken care of. Just as you’ve taken care of us. Whenever you want to come back to Peru, we’ll take care of that, too.”
Jacinta slowly nodded. “Okay. I will come back to the States with you. At least for a little while.”
Johnson reached over and took her hand.
“I know a good Peruvian restaurant in Boise,” Ostin said. “In case you were wondering.”
“Thank you.”
About an hour later a nurse walked out into the waiting room.
“Your friend is awake now. She asked to see three people.” She looked down at a paper she’d written the names on. “Jax. Michael. Tessa.”
Taylor looked at me. “She doesn’t know.”
I exhaled slowly. “How could she?”
“I’d better go with you,” Johnson said.
“So will I,” Tara said. “Cassy and I are close.”
Taylor squeezed my hand. “Good luck.”
The three of us walked back to the room. It was good to see Cassy awake. She was now clothed in a cotton hospital gown, with a white bedsheet pulled up to her waist. As we walked in, her eyes darted back and forth between us. We walked to her side.
“Where’s Jax and Tessa?” She looked at Tara. “Taylor?”
“It’s Tara,” she said, taking Cassy’s hand.
“Tara,” Cassy said softly. “They got you out.”
“They got all of us out,” Tara said.
“Where’s Jax and Tessa?” she asked again.
“Cassy, what do you remember?” I asked.
“It’s still a blur…. There was a helicopter. Jax shouted something. Then he jumped onto me to protect me. That’s all I remember.” She looked into my eyes. “Is he okay?”
“It was a Chasqui helicopter Jax saw,” Johnson said. “Your position was hit by a missile. Jax saved your life. But he lost his. So did Tessa.”
Cassy stared at Johnson in disbelief. “You’re saying they’re dead?” She looked around at us. When no one answered, she said, “Don’t tell me they’re dead.” She turned to Tara. “Tara? They’re not dead, right? Tell me they’re not dead.”
“I’m sorry, Cass.”
“No!” she shouted. “Don’t say that!”
“I’m sorry, Cassy,” I said. “We’re all sorry.”
“You’re all wrong. It doesn’t end this way.” She broke down crying. “It doesn’t end this way. Oh, dear God.” She yanked a PICC line from her arm, and one of the monitors’ alarms started beeping loudly.
A nurse rushed into the room. “What is wrong?”
Tara said, “She just learned that her friends who were with her didn’t make it.”
The nurse asked Cassy, “Would you like something to help calm you?”
“I want my friends back,” Cassy said, crying.
Tara put her arms around her. I nodded to the nurse. She walked over and prepared a shot.
Cassy was sobbing so heavily, she could barely speak. “Why do things keep happening to us? What did we do to deserve this?”
“Not a thing,” I said.
I wished more than anything else that Abigail was with us. Abigail could always bring peace, not just physically but emotionally as well.
After a few more minutes, Cassy asked, “Michael, will you hold me?”
“Of course,” I said. “Will you let them give you a shot?”
She nodded. I put my arms around her. She wept until the shot put her back to sleep.
49 Splitting Up Again
The three of us stayed at Cassy’s side for another hour or so. Then Johnson said, “I think we should get everyone back to the hacienda. This town isn’t safe for us anymore.”
“We can’t leave Cassy alone,” Tara said.
“No,” he said. “Someone needs to stay with her.”
“I’ll stay,” I said.
“So will I,” Tara said.
“I want Ian to stay with us,” I said. “And Cristiano to translate. We’ll need someone who can talk to the staff when it’s time to check out.”
Johnson nodded. “Let’s go out and tell the others.”
Tara leaned over Cassy and kissed her forehead. Then we all walked back out to the waiting room. The others looked at us with anticipation.
“Cassy’s doing well,” I said. “At least physically. She’s taking the deaths really hard. We think it’s best that everyone goes back to the hacienda. Tara and I are going to stay. Ian and Cristiano, I’d like you to stay if you’re not too tired.”
“I’ll stay,” Ian said.
“Whatever you need,” Cristiano said.
“I’d like to stay,” Jack said.
“Thanks,” I said.
Johnson said, “Okay, that’s you five. Cibor and I will drive the van and Hummer back. Michael, you keep the car you came here in. You know the way back to the hacienda?”
“I know the way,” Ian said.
“So do I,” Cristiano said.
“Then we’re good,” Johnson said. “Let’s go.”
As everyone got up, Taylor sidled up to me. “If it’s okay with you, I think I’ll go back with them. McKenna isn’t doing well. I’d like to stay with her.”
“Of course,” I said. We kissed.
“Don’t stay too late,” she said.
“That’s up to Cassy.”
“Michael,” Quentin said. He was standing next to Zeus. “Do you need us?”
“No, we’re good. Get some rest.”
“Thanks, brother,” he said. “I could use some sleep.”
Zeus gave me one of his man hugs. “Night, man.”
“Night.”
“Good night, Michael,” Ostin said. He had his arm around McKenna. She looked hammered. Her eyes were swollen.
“Get some rest, buddy,” I said.
“Roger that,” he said.
I grabbed Johnson before he left. “Keep an eye on Jaime,” I said. “I’m worried about him. He’s blaming himself for Jax’s and Tessa’s deaths.”
“I’ll tell him to get in line.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know,” Johnson said. “Don’t worry. I’ve had this talk before. I’ll handle it.”
“Be safe,” I said.
“You be safe.”
“We’re in a hospital,” I said. “What could go wrong?”
50 What About Abigail?
Cassy woke briefly around midnight, then fell back to sleep. The nurses came in every half hour to check the monitors and throw around some medical jargon about HCT and hemoglobin levels. I think a few of them just wanted to practice their English.
Every time I asked if we could go, they said they wanted to keep Cassy hydrated a bit longer and get her HCT level to thirty. I figured they’d tell us when she was there.
The hospital was quiet at night. They had transferred Cassy to a small private room. Cassy continued sleeping, which I was grateful for, while we just sat quietly around her trying not to fall asleep.
“What are you going to do when you get back to the States?” I asked Ian.
“Well,” he said, yawning, “after I sleep for a week, then get some good Thai food and sushi, I’ve got a contract for another shipwreck hunt. I’ve got these producers who want to shoot a pilot for a streaming series. About treasure hunters.”
“I’d watch that,” Tara said. “That documentary on the Titanic was cool.”
“If they can make a documentary about catching crabs,” I said, “yours is a shoo-in.”
“What’s a shoe in?” Cristiano asked.
“It means you made it,” Tara said. “Don’t bother learning it. You’ll never use it.”
“Shoe in,” Cristiano said, looking perplexed. “What is the shoe in?”
No one answered him.
“How about you, Tara?” I asked.
“My plan is to spend as much time with my sister as I can before you get the idea to marry her and take her away.”
“You can always move in with us,” I said.
“If you think that,” she said, “you don’t know my sister.”
“I hope I do. What else are you going to do?”
“My basic plan is to finish school and stay away from people who want to kill me.”
“That is a sound plan,” Ian said. “I’m adding that to my life goals.”
“What about you, Cristiano?”
“I don’t know. Starting over in a new country. I have no money. I will get a job somewhere to earn money. I have worked in a restaurant.”
“You gave up your old life to help us. Your reward is a new life with us helping you. Let me ask, if you could do or be anything you want, what would it be?”
“I would like to be a doctor. A brain surgeon.”
“That’s not ambitious,” Ian said.
“How are your grades?” Tara asked.
“I have a four-point-seven at ASU so far.”
“Those are… good,” Tara said.
“I have one more year. Then I would like to take the MCAT.”
“We can help you,” I said. “Our company has scholarship programs and clout to get you into a good school.”
“Really?”
“Really,” I said. “We’ll talk more later. What about you, Jack? You’ve been quiet this whole time.”
Jack didn’t move.
“I think he’s asleep,” Tara said.
Jack looked up. “I’m not asleep. I’m thinking.”
“About what?” Tara asked.
“Michael’s question.” He cleared his throat. “A week ago, I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life. But now that’s changed.” To my surprise his eyes looked like they were welling up. “I’ve been given a horrible but amazing gift. I got to face my death.
“When I was tied to that post waiting for those bullets to end me, all I could think about was Abi. She was the only thing on my mind.” He wiped his cheek. “I don’t know where she is, but whatever it takes, I’m going to find her. I’m going to ask her to forgive me. And then I’m going to ask her to marry me.
“I don’t know how long I’ll live, but starting yesterday, every day is a gift. I want to spend every day of the rest of my life with her.”
I looked over at Tara. She was wiping a tear from her eye.
“Anyway, that’s my plan,” Jack said to me. “I don’t know where I’ll start looking for her, but I’m hoping you’ll give me a hand.”
“We’ll give you more than that,” I said. “And McKenna will. She and Abi were in Purgatory together. I’ve never seen a closer bond. And if McKenna goes, Ostin goes.”
“If you go, Ostin goes,” Tara said. “Ostin will follow you anywhere.”
“The fool,” I said.
“Then you’ve got another fool,” Ian said. “Because I’m with you. Don’t forget, those are my girls too. I was in Purgatory with them. Besides, those ships have been down there for hundreds of years. A few more months isn’t going to hurt anything.”
“Don’t leave me out of this,” Tara said. “Or Taylor. We’re in. Abi’s our girl.”
“What about your plan of staying away from people who want to kill you?” Ian asked.
“That can start after we find Abi.”
“I never doubted any of you,” I said. “That’s what the Electroclan does.” I looked at Cristiano. “You still think our loyalty is our weakness?”
He grinned sheepishly. “I’m sorry. That was a very stupid thing for me to say.”
“Not stupid,” Tara said. “Just not… smart.”
Ian laughed. “What about you, Michael? You and Taylor have plans?”
“I love her.”
“Technically, that’s not really a plan,” Jack said.
“Technically, that’s the best plan,” Tara said. “Love is the destination and the journey. If you’ve got that down, the rest of life is just commercials.”
“Commercials?” Jack said.
“If you had known that before,” Tara said, “you wouldn’t be hoping a certain girl would take you back.”
“That stings,” Jack said. “It’s true, though.”
“That’s why it stings,” Tara said.
“I just want to be a mom,” Cassy said.
We all turned to look at her. We hadn’t known she was awake. Or listening.
“Welcome back,” Tara said.
Her voice was soft. “I’ve always wanted to be a mom. I want a little boy and a little girl.”
“Where do you want to live?” I asked.
“Maybe I’ll go back to Switzerland. I loved living in Switzerland. But then, maybe somewhere on the ocean. Maybe both. I’m young.”
“How are you feeling?” Tara asked.
“Sad.”
“I meant your body.”
“My body is sad too. But I don’t feel like I’m dying anymore. I think I could walk now.”
“Are you ready to go?”
“I’d like to go home,” she said. “Someplace soft that doesn’t smell like rubbing alcohol.”
Just then there was a loud commotion outside Cassy’s room. Loud shouting echoed down the hospital’s tiled corridor.
“What’s that?” Tara asked.
I turned to Ian, who was looking intensely toward the wall facing the emergency entrance. “What do you see?”
“Chasqui soldiers. Two helicopters just landed in the parking lot.”
Jack and Cristiano immediately stood.
“They found us,” Jack said. “I knew someone here was a snitch.”
Cristiano looked pale with fear. “They’ll torture and kill me. I’m not going with them alive.”
“Calm down,” Ian said. “They’re not looking for us. They’re carrying someone on a stretcher. They have an IV on him.”
“Who?” I asked.
He looked at me. “I think it’s Amash.”
51 It Is Finished
“Amash is out there?” Cassy asked.
“Maybe,” Ian said. “It’s a little hard to tell.”
“Are the guards wearing Chasqui patches with purple and gold?” Jack asked.
“Yes, they are.”
“That’s Amash, then. Those are Amash’s special guards. They’re the only ones with those patches.”
“The chief told me that the Amacarra were going after him last night,” I said. “He said their tribal seer had a dream that Amash was kneeling before the Amacarra with a spear through his side.”
“Not a spear,” Ian said. “A bullet. They must have used the Chasqui’s guns they collected.”
I turned to Cristiano. “I thought you said the Chasqui had their own medical facility.”
“In the cave they do, but we locked them out of their cave.”
“What about the Starxource plant?”
“They have an excellent medical facility there, but they do not have sophisticated equipment. Amash must be hurt badly for them to bring him here.”
“How bad is it?” I asked Ian.
“They’ve got him on the table, and they’ve started a transfusion. The bullet is lodged near his heart. He has internal bleeding.”
“Can they save him?”
Ian’s brow furrowed. “Cassy’s puncture was bigger, and they saved her. I think they should be able to save him.”
“No, they won’t,” Cassy said. She closed her eyes, then reached out an open hand, her palm facing up toward the ceiling. We all watched her in silence. After a moment she said, “There it is.” She very slowly closed her grip, like she was squeezing a ball, crushing it.
Suddenly the sound of alarms went off. Then, over the hospital’s PA system, came the words “Codigo azul. Codigo azul.”
“Code blue,” Cristiano said. “Someone is in cardiac arrest.”
I looked over at Cassy. Her jaw was clenched, and the anger on her face told me everything I needed to know. The code continued for another few minutes, then stopped. Cassy put down her fist and exhaled loudly.
We were all quiet for a moment. Then Cassy said, “Tetelestai.”
“What?” I asked.
She slowly turned to look at me. “I’m ready to go home.”
Acknowledgments
As an author, Michael Vey has not only been an amazing writing and literary journey, but it has also demonstrated to me that despite the borders drawn on maps, we earthlings are not as different from each other as we might think we are. As I hear from fans, male and female, young and old, from the US, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Taiwan, France, Italy, Australia, South Korea, and dozens of other countries, they all share the same concern and hope for the Electroclan and their struggle to overcome evil.
I wish to thank Veyniacs around the world for making the Michael Vey series such a remarkable success. Shock on—there is more to come.
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