Planet Heist (The Dunham Archives Book 1) (20 page)

“Sounds like she’s your kind of girl.” I smiled, and he smiled and shook his head.

“She also mentioned a friend of hers who was the smartest teen in the country. She said it was serendipitous that she met me, as it was her friend’s dream to work with us. Imagine that, someone who dreams of working with
us
?” Rowan smiled.

As we stepped out of the ship that morning in the heart of Tornado Alley, the scenery absolutely took my breath away. Normally, I wasn’t a big fan of America, but today was somehow different.

We had taken the
Condor
, one of our larger space-ships, because we wouldn’t be heading back to Saize, instead to a planet that orbits it, called Neolis. The flight wouldn’t have taken long in the
Wasp
, but my favorite little starship could only accommodate so many people and things. Four teenagers and at least two bags simply wouldn’t fit into the
Wasp
. The
Condor
, on the other hand, is fairly massive, as every luxury vehicle should be, with cloaking abilities so that nobody would notice. It would take about a day and a half to reach Neolis in this bulkier, but more luxurious starship. The exterior, when not cloaked, was jet black with intricate silver lettering across the front. The ship had an entire crew to man it, Saizians whom I trusted my life with, whom my brother and I had hand-selected to do the job. We stepped down huge, plush stairs down onto Oklahoma before the ship vanished.

I looked down at what I was wearing, wondering if I was too formal. I was a bit dressed down for my personal taste, but dressed up for middle-class America. My dress was pristine, white eyelet lace, with a popping red belt so accentuate my curves. I stood on the tallest pair of red heels I owned, making a whole two inches taller than my brother. This morning, I had spent half an hour pinning up my hair to look, at least somewhat, mundane.

But, as usual, I was more than prepared for a fight – mostly. Though I had weapons, there were fewer than normal strapped on me. I had simply a dagger, my razor pins, and the family ring.

I took in the view, wondering what awaited us here.

The tall, dying grass rolled in the breeze like the ocean, bright greens to dead browns mixing together to form one big sea, splashing and crashing on each other. A grayish blue midmorning sky greeted us. Lemon yellow sunlight filtered through puffy white clouds and hit patches of grass. A single tree interrupted the skyline, a tall oak striving for life in the heat of summer.

I was surprised to find a tall, old house about half a mile from where we were standing.

It was obviously where Rowan was headed.

“Let’s run.” He said quietly, but it sounded loud in the Midwestern silence.

“Anytime.”

We reached the house in about two minutes, smiling and panting. After a moment to resume normal breathing, I took in the house in front of us.

The place was old, probably from the very settlement of the American mid-west. The siding was a strange, grayish wood that smelled like it had seen its last days a long time ago. We stood on a creaky porch that had a grandmotherly style rocking chair. The door was a white metal frame with a tattered mesh screen that allowed a view into the house.

Rowan knocked on the wall next to the screen door loudly. Footsteps echoed from the top floor of the house down to where we stood. In a second, a flustered girl stood before us, wearing a somewhat hilarious hat.

She looked a bit older that us, maybe seventeen, and she was only an inch or two shorter than me in my heels – at least 5’11. Long, black hair down to the small of her back flew around her in the breeze, suppressed on the top because of her hat. Her skin was pale and almost reflective in the midmorning sun, flushed from running to the door. I almost mistook her as Saizian because of her large, sapphire eyes, but she was clearly human. Upon further examination, I saw that her left eye was blue-hazel, creating an interesting odd-eye cat effect. She was clearly an athlete, tall and lanky, but she had inquisitive eyes that made her look keen and clever. Her face reminded me of a classic elfin princess. She had a pretty, thin face and nose, with full, almost circular lips coated in shiny pink gloss, and her eyes were surrounded with long, almost fake-looking eye-lashes.

Her hat, though, threw off every thought I had of her. The hat was a cutesy, stuffed animal version of a snow leopard, with bright green felt eyes. Thick string was braided down from ear-flaps, and fist-sized balls of yarn dangled from them. I was about to ask a question, but then-

“Oh my god!” She exclaimed excitedly, “You actually came! Rowan, it’s so great to see you again.” She hugged him, surprising both my brother and me, “And you’re Kairee!” She turned to me and hugged me, then sobered, “I’m honored, and more than a little frightened to be standing here with the two of you. I…I’ll go get the friend I told you about, Rowan, he’s just upstairs. Come on in, guys, and…um…make yourself at home.” She told us disconcertedly, “And I’m Iesleen.” She said, and then ran back into her house.

Rowan gave me a confused look and stepped inside.

In the house, we found typical American furniture. The first room was Iesleen’s living room, painted red with shiny hardwood floors. There was a completely out of place large flat screen TV, two recliners, a couch, and a glass coffee table. On the wall were framed pictures and cowboy hats. The pictures showed Iesleen with various other people – most were clearly her family, but one caught my eye. Every other picture showed her with others who looked just like her, but this one depicted her and a boy about the same age in black and white. They were sitting on a bench laughing. The frame was wrought iron and said ‘best friends’ in loopy calligraphy. Next to one of the recliners sat a massive instrument case, clearly holding a bass or a cello.

There were excited whispers from upstairs – one obviously Iesleen’s and another must have been her friend’s – that came down through the open floor plan as if they were right next to us. In seconds, there were loud, hurried footsteps hurtling down the old, squeaky stairs. Then, Iesleen was standing in front of us with another person.

The boy she was standing next to was clearly her friend from the photo on the wall. He had shaggy, sandy colored hair that fell to the bridge of his nose. A splash of freckles sat under the rim of his glasses. He had bright, inquisitive, caramel colored eyes that darted across the room, until finally settling on my face. I immediately liked him when he aimed a little, crooked smile at me. His ever smiling, butterscotch eyes were framed by thin black glasses that reflected the light of the room. He was tall and lanky – clearly not the athletic type, but obviously brilliant. He wore a black, screen printed tee that said ‘I refuse to be in a battle of wits with an unarmed person,’ and I couldn’t help but smile back.

“This is my friend Ross, the guy I told you about.” Iesleen smiled.

“So this is the smartest boy in the country?” I smirked.

“I’ve also won the cleverest, most creative, and most intuitive national awards, and the national spelling- and geography-bee champion eight years running.” He replied smugly.

“Wow, I’m almost impressed.” I smiled slyly. “So,” I turned to the both of them, “you two want to go to another planet?”

“Wait,” Ross said suspiciously, “that’s it? No test or anything?”

“The only reason you two have such an easy pass is that I trust my brother’s judgment. But, if you really want a test, I’ll…give you a small brain teaser to test your mental capabilities, and then we can fight. For a fair warning, the only person I’ve ever lost a fight to is my brother.”

“I’m not so sure that either of us could handle fighting you yet.” Iesleen reasoned, “But I know that Ross could figure out any brain teasers faster than you can say ‘solve.’” Iesleen bragged.

“Alright then, a classic.” I mulled over what would be relatively hard to solve, and then spoke, “You’re in a room with two doors. There’s a guard at each door. One door is the exit, but behind the other door is a man, waiting to kill you. You are told that one guard always tells the truth, and the other always lies, but you don’t know which is which. In order to escape, you must determine which door is the exit. You man only ask one question to one guard. What should you ask in order to live? You have thirty seconds.”

Clearly, Iesleen had no clue, but it was obvious that she was trying her best to figure it out as quickly as possible, going over every possibility she could think up. Her jet black eyebrows knit together with intense contemplation. Even my twin brother was having a hard time with the answer. I, myself, took about three minutes to figure this classic out a few years back when I was asked during the eighth IQ test I had taken that year.

The year Rowan and I were fourteen was the year our IQs sky-rocketed into unknown territory. For some reason, we had this random jolt of intelligence where Rowan’s IQ shot up about fifty points, and mine soared up by ninety. That year left us both wondering what exactly our minds were capable of. These thoughts led me to increase my psychic will, bending metals to breaking bones.

My thought trailed for about three seconds, and then Ross smiled. I noticed that he had dimples.

“Ask either guard what door the other guard would say is the exit, then choose the opposite.” He said confidently.

“Why do you think that?” I asked.

“If you asked the guard who always tells the truth, he knows the other guard would lie, so he’d point you to the door leading to death. If you asked the guard who always lies, he knows the other guard would truthfully show you the exit, so he'll lie and point you to the door leading to death.” He reasoned.

I smiled at my brother, who looked positively shocked.

“To my surprise, you’re right.” I said curiously, “So, will you two come with us?”

The two looked at each other, and Ross nodded.

“Let’s go.” He said.

“So, you’re parents, or whatever, are okay with this?” Rowan laughed in disbelief.

“Well,” Iesleen explained, “I live with my older sister, and Ross lives with his mom. Both of them think we’ve been offered private tuition at a boarding school in Norway.”

“How are you making that lie work?” I asked, “You’d need paperwork, signatures, letters from advisers, proof that the school actually exists. It’s nearly impossible to set up a lie that big.” I reasoned.

Ross spoke up, “I set up a website for the ‘school’ that let parents see the campus that I uploaded from some castle, meet the professors, who are people I simple created with photo-editing software, and get the e-mails of each professor. I run all the e-mails myself, of course, and manage phone calls. It’s more work than necessary, but if it keeps my mom and her sister off our cases, it’s worth it. I’ve been working on it for years, so it’s all fairly simple.”

“Hm. Well, if you think it’s all under control, then let’s go.” I said, standing up, “You two need to bring all the things you’ll need for…a few weeks at least. Don’t forget a coat, since it’s already winter where we’re going. Of course, we have a place to stay and all the amenities of every-day life and more at your disposal. I’ll need to talk to Rowan for a while outside, so you two can just meet us there when you’re done.” I told them, and my brother followed me out of the house.

“I feel good about this, Kai.” Rowan told me when we were on the porch and Ross and Iesleen were off packing.

“I haven’t felt good about much lately.” I replied solemnly, “Now that Salah’s been killed, it just feels like we’re cursed or something, as if we’re simply…doomed.”

I fought to suppress tears that heated my eyes as the thought of life leaving Salah passed through my head again.

Rowan, in a gesture so caring it made silent tears burst from my eyes, put his strong arms around me. That was when I realized that sometimes, a person simply needs a hug.

Twenty or so minutes later, Iesleen and Ross arrived back on the front porch with their bags – Iesleen with three separate bags – one backpack and two suitcases (presumably at least one for hats) – and two instrument cases: a huge upright base on wheels and what appeared to be a saxophone. Ross held only one suitcase.

“So, where’s your…” Ross began to ask, but apparently didn’t know how to finish the unusual question.

“Our spaceship?” I finished, “It’s cloaked right now, just one second.”

I took out my pager, directly connected to Micah, the pilot of the
Condor
, and told him that we were ready to board.

In a second, the massive ship was before our eyes, and one of the crew-members stepped out to take Ross and Iesleen’s bags. She wore what all of the Dunham help wore, a black power-suit with silver lapels and nametags.

I watched the expression on Ross’s face as he took in the spaceship. He was clearly in a state of utter shock, not believing what was right in front of his face.

“This is like something out of a sci-fi!” He exclaimed excitedly.

“Our life is pretty much a real-live science fiction, and you’re about to be the next character,” I told him, and his eyes widened.

The four of us walked up the soft steps and into the hull of the massive ship.

Inside were eight chambers – the cockpit, the pilot and co-pilot quarters, staff quarters, security headquarters, storage for fuel so the ship could stay aloft indefinitely, hospital wing, weapons area in case of emergency, and the living area. The living space was divided up like a massive house – five bedrooms, two bathrooms, a massive kitchen, a study, and a car holding area. Inside this space are fifty luxury cars (and the
Wasp
, since I would be using it later) – from classic vintage Earth models like Ferraris to the sleeker, air-powered cars of Saize like the Lita X60, made for high speeds with fantastic features. The X60 is my absolute favorite model because of its phenomenal add-ons. It has high-def tiny televisions, capacity for over three hundred miles per hour, and all sorts of little gadgets and weapons, making it the ultimate in escape cars. I had been on a waiting list for one for two years until last month, when mine finally arrived.