Seven Wonders Book 2: Lost in Babylon (32 page)

“In due time, my boy,” Brother Dimitrios said with a proud smile. “We will have great uses for all of your powers.”

Marco was dancing around the room, shadow-boxing, kicking his legs. To him it was all about G7W. Our cool powers. The Massa were letting him loose with it. Turning his G7W skill into a killing game.

To him, this was more than fun. It was an addiction.

What did they have in store for the rest of us?

I stood from the wheelchair. I didn't need it. My head still hurt but I could walk. Cheers rang out from the battle room, which was now full of guards, medical people, animal wranglers. It was Marco Day at the Massa Headquarters. Everyone wanted a piece of the celebrity.

Behind us, the rotunda was empty. Totally empty. No one was minding the store. I quickly scanned the circular room and noticed a corridor to the left that appeared to be empty.

I edged backward. I pictured Aly disappearing into the crowd. She had managed to escape by bucking the odds. By showing courage. She had run when it seemed like a crazy thing to do.

Cass was backing up with me. I could tell we were on the same wavelength. “Ready?” I whispered.

“Ready,” Cass said.

“Now!”

We turned and ran. As we sped into the corridor, I noticed a tiny marble-sized contraption on the ceiling. It began blinking red and white. “Hurry!” I called out.

I fought against the pain in my head. One foot in front of the other. The path inclined upward and forked. I chose left.

With a loud thump, a metal gate dropped from the ceiling, blocking my path.

Cass and I whirled around and bolted down the other pathway. We followed it as it curved sharply to the right, ending in a steep flight of stone stairs.

We took them two at a time. At the top, I stopped short.

Before us was a small chamber, lit with candles. In the center was a long wooden sarcophagus, lying on a stone altar. Inside was a tightly wrapped mummy.

“It's a dead end!” Cass said.

“In more ways than one,” I said, creeping closer to the coffin. “There's got to be a way out. These guys were supposed to have free passage to visit the gods.”

“Maybe there's a secret passageway,” Cass said.

I noticed something glint from inside the mummy's eye slits. I leaned closer. The slits flashed red.

Sensors
.

“Go!” I said, pushing Cass toward the door. “Just go!”

Below us, the floor shuddered. Hard. We fell to our knees and struggled to stand. But we were sinking fast. The entire room, mummy and all, was dropping downward into darkness.

UNCORRECTED E-PROOF—NOT FOR SALE

HarperCollins Publishers

..................................................................

“H
ELLO
, J
ACK
.”

My eyes blinked open. I had no idea where I was. The voice had come at me from all sides. The same kind of scrambled voice we'd heard earlier. I was lying on a sofa in a darkened room, with pillows on the floor and a flat-screen TV showing scenic vistas with soothing music. “You guys really get a kick out of knocking kids unconscious, huh?” I said.

“It is the last thing we want to do,” the voice said. “We aim to keep you safe. Pampered, even. Brother Dimitrios asked that you be put into this relaxation room. We have several. Are you comfortable?”

I stood up and looked around for a window, a two-way mirror, a curtain like the one in
The Wizard of Oz
. “No, I'm not,” I said. “As a matter of fact, I'm creeped out beyond belief. Especially by you. Who are you?
Where
are you?
Why are you disguising your voice?
”

“That's a lot of questions,” the voice replied. “I'll start with the last one. I have to disguise my voice. My identity must remain a secret to all but the top echelons. A security precaution. I am known as Nancy Emelink Margana, but I confess, that's not real either. I may not even be female.”

“So you're the boss?” I said. “The one Brother Devious reports to?”

“I wouldn't be so harsh with Dimitrios,” the voice replied. “He cares deeply about your well-being, and he is a crackerjack manager.”

“Crackerjack?” The sound of that term grated against me. The only other person I knew who ever used that expression was my mom. Hearing it from the Massa CEO, or whoever this was, felt like a slap in the face. “Maybe you want to brush up on your slang.”

The voice made a strange noise that I took to be a laugh. “Old-fashioned, I suppose. I'm sorry. If you do not like it here, I will arrange for you to be taken to your room. Cass is there already. At any rate, I thought I would personally welcome you from the executive board of the Massa organization. You can be assured that I will be there to help you find the correct path. That's a promise.”

I flopped down onto the cushions and stared blankly at the bland images on TV. The Massa organization. She made this sound like some Wall Street company. Which, somehow, didn't surprise me. “Thanks a bunch,” I muttered.

* * *

“I'm really, really, really sorry,” Marco said, inhaling a pint of Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream by the spoonful. “I know you think I'm this total Arnold Benedict.”

The lounge had a full kitchen, a fridge stocked with food, and two giant flat-screen TVs. There were four windowless bedrooms off the lounge, one for each of us. They were actually going to keep all four of us together. Tinker, Tailor, Sailor, Traitor. They'd made us wear these bright yellow jumpsuits that would make us stand out a hundred yards away.

“Benedict Arnold,” Cass mumbled. “A world-class turncoat.”

“Right, that guy,” Marco said. “Hey, I know exactly how you feel. I felt the same way when Brother Dimitrios first found me. I was ready to floor him.”

“For about fifteen seconds, before he changed your mind,” Cass remarked.

“You'll come around,” Marco insisted. “You'll see.”

“Why did they put you in here with us?” I blurted out. “You're not one of us. You're Massa. You should be with them. They're a company, did you know that? A killing company. And it's looks like they're training you well.”

“That was crazy, right?” he said. “I couldn't believe myself. It's almost like I left my body. Like I was standing outside it and watching all these moves. What did you guys think? Was that awesome or what?”

I wheeled around on him. “Are you kidding us? You think all is forgiven, that it's okay for us to sit here and worship you?”

“Jack,” Marco said, leaning forward, “cool stuff is going to happen to you, too. And you, Cass. And Aly, when she gets back. These guys are not like the KI. They don't just do lame exercises—you know, testing us in the garage, in the kitchen, on the mountain. These guys challenge you. That's the only way to strengthen your G7W abilities. Aly will be hacking things you never imagined possible. Cass, you'll be mapping routes all over the world. Jack, you . . . um . . .”

I hated hearing the pause in his voice. The old question in everyone's mind—
What's Jack good for?
“I don't like it,” I said. “It smells bad. Like they're trying to brainwash us.”

“The food is great, you have to admit,” Cass said, pulling another carton of ice cream from the fridge. “Look, they have Chubby Hubby too, my favorite. And I liked the relaxation room. And the lady with the scrambled voice.”

“Nancy,” I said. “Morgana. Or whatever her fake name was. Or his. They're just trying to bend our minds. Soften us up.”

Marco exhaled deeply. He threw his empty ice cream carton across the room and sank a perfect shot into the trash can. Cass offered him the Chubby Hubby, but Marco just set it down on the counter. “I owe you guys. If I were you, I'd be mad at me. But I'm mad, too. At the KI. They've been on that island forever. What have they done there? They didn't know about the vromaski, which almost killed me. Or the maze, which almost killed Cass. They didn't know enough to warn Jack about the griffin—which almost killed all of us! Then when things get really bad, they send us halfway around the world with some bearded goon who can't keep himself out of jail.”

“And then the Massarene tried to kill us in Greece!” I reminded him.

“That's because they didn't know who we were, Brother Jack,” Marco said. “They saw us destroying everything they believed in. They didn't know we were Select.”

“We all have the lambda,” I said. “It's pretty obvious.”

Marco nodded. “They thought we painted it on, the way they do. They figured we were trying to fake them out, to blend in. When we tried to steal the Colossus, of course they went ballistic. Then Brother Dimitrios saw us flying—and everything changed. He knew we were the real deal. He's smart, guys. We stay with the KI, we die. Their leadership is bad and they have nineteenth-century ideas. They're like the hard-core nerds in school who make jokes you can't understand and ignore you when you try to talk to them.”

“I'm like that,” Cass piped up.

“Yeah, but you're cool, brother Cass,” Marco said, giving his head a good-natured push. “You're a real person with feelings. I trust you. That's the thing—I trust these guys, too. They're going to take care of us,
support
us. We will find those Loculi twice as fast.”

“And then what?” I said.

“They're close to finding the island,” Marco said. “They almost did. A few weeks ago, there were a series of brooches in the KI firewall.”

“Breaches,” Cass said. “Brooches are things you wear on a blouse. I think the reason they were able to break through is because Aly had to disable the firewall briefly. That's because we needed info from the outside. Info about you, Marco.”

“Cool,” Marco said. “So now when the Massa do locate the island, we'll be able to bring the Loculi back where they belong.”

“How is that any different than what Bhegad wants?” I said.

“Bhegad wants to nuke the Loculi,” Marco said.

“That's not what he said,” I pointed out.

“It's the
Karai Institute
, Brother Jack,” Marco said. “Their mission is to do what Karai wanted—which was to destroy the Loculi! Massarym was the one who hid them in the Seven Wonders, so that someday they would be returned permanently. And when that happens, the energy will flow again. Not only will we be cured, but the continent will rise.”

“Uh, rise?” Cass repeated. “As in, come up from the bottom of the sea, where it's been for eons?”

Marco smiled. “Can you picture it? A new land mass, dudes. A place with that awesome energy flow. A hangout for the best minds, the best athletes, the best everyone—all picking up that Atlantean vibe. Imagine what they'll do. End all wars, solve the fuel crisis, make the best movies and songs. And we'll all be at the top level. Cass can be Transportation Commissioner, Aly can be Chief Tech Guy. Jack can be something cool too, because Brother Dimitrios will be choosing. He'll be the chief of staff.”

“And what about you?” I asked.

I figured he'd say
Chief Food Taster
or
Sports Czar
or
Babe Magnet
. The whole thing was loony.

But Marco was grinning like me as if he'd just wandered into an ice cream store on a hot August afternoon. “Brother Dimitrios has big plans for the Immortal One. He says I have leadership ability.”

“Let me guess,” I said. “Head court jester.”

Marco shook his head. “In the new world, you can keep calling me Marco. But to everyone else, I'll be His Highness King Marco the First.”

The words hung in the air. I looked at Cass. He looked at me.

“You're joking,” I said.

“Hey, in the old days, thirteen-year-old kings were pretty common,” Marco shot back. “Read your history. Also, Atlantis can only be run by descendants of the royal family if it's expected to survive, right? So you learn on the job. And you surround yourself with wise advisers, like Brother Dimitrios. And loyal staff. You attract the best minds from all over the world. The coolest artists and athletes. It will be the most awesome country ever!”

He was beaming. He was also crazy. “Marco, we're friends—or we used to be friends, before you betrayed us all,” I said. “So I have to be honest with you. That's the most unbelievably ridiculous thing anyone has ever said. Sorry.”

Marco's smile faded. For a moment he just stared down at the table.

Then he looked up, and I flinched from the flat, hard look in his eyes.

“You think I'm ridiculous?” he said, his voice as cold and deadly as his expression. “Fine. I'll do it without you. Go tell Brother Dimitrios. Tell him you want nothing to do with any of this. You'd rather back away from the opportunity of a lifetime. Your loss.”