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I sigh, simultaneously wanting to strangle him and kiss him. For a second, I’m not sure which instinct will win out. I want something more with Sam, I think. Eventually. I just don’t want to think about it right now. Last night was one thing, but now I’m back to fighting a war.
‘I don’t want the distraction, Sam. All right?’
‘Oh,’ he says, looking like I’ve just murdered his pride. ‘You mean, like you’d have to keep saving me from Mogs or stop me from stepping on some ancient Mayan spike trap or whatever. Because I thought we were past that. I can handle myself, Six. And I only accidentally shot you that one time in practice and –’
I kiss him. Mostly just to shut him up and illustrate my point, but also because I just can’t help myself. I hear Nine make an oohing noise off to the side and make a mental note to destroy him the next chance I get.
‘That’s the distraction I’m talking about,’ I say quietly, my face still close to his.
Sam is blushing again, and his mouth is still working like he wants to say something more. He’s probably trying to come up with some smooth way to say good-bye, but I’m sick of these drawn-out moments, so I take one last look at his sweet, dumbstruck face and turn away. A few seconds later, I’m strapped into the Skimmer’s seat next to Adam, ignoring the raised eyebrow and smirk Marina’s fixing me with.
‘Shall we?’ Adam asks.
We nod and Adam throws some switches, handling the Skimmer’s controls with much more confidence than I did. As we slowly rise up, I look out the window to see Sam and the others below, waving good-bye to us. I wonder if my life will ever be without these moments – the painful good-byes before we all go off to risk our lives. John always talks about how much he can’t wait for some boring normal life, but would I be happy like that? We gain altitude, trees zipping by beneath us, and I think about Sam. If it wasn’t for this war, the constant chaos, we’d have never even gotten together. What would it be like for us without the looming threat of Mogadorian destruction?
I’d like to find out.
19
Nine leans across me so that he can get a good look at Sam, saying to him in a stage whisper, ‘All right, dude. What’s the deal with you and Six?’
Sam pointedly looks out the window of the van. ‘What? Nothing.’
‘Psshh,’ Nine snorts. ‘Come on, man. It’s like a four-hour drive to New York. You gotta give up some details.’
In front of us, in the passenger seat, Agent Walker clears her throat.
‘Fascinating as I find the sex lives of teenage boys, maybe we could use this time to go over our operational parameters,’ she says dryly.
‘Agreed,’ I say, shoving Nine back in his seat so he can’t leer at Sam anymore. ‘We need to focus on the mission.’
Nine frowns at me. ‘All right, John. I’m gonna focus my ass off for the rest of this car ride.’
‘Good.’
Sam flashes me a grateful smile and I nod. Part of me really does think we should be thinking about the impossible odds we’re facing, but another part of me just doesn’t want to hear any details about Sam and Six. I’m happy for them, I guess. Glad they could find some comfort together. But I can’t get over the feeling that Sam is going to end up with his heart broken. I remember my vision of the future, the way Sam screamed right before the Mogadorians executed Six. Maybe that’s why I get the sinking feeling this is going to end badly.
Or maybe I’m just jealous. Not because Sam hooked up with Six, but more because the love of my life is miles away. Of course, there’s no way I’m expressing any of that in front of Nine, or Walker and the silent FBI-guy driving the car. Yeah, let’s focus on the mission.
We’re driving up I-95, from Washington to New York. Malcolm stayed behind at Ashwood Estates to finish going through the Mogadorian archives, hoping to turn up something else that might be useful. The vast majority of Walker’s renegade agents stayed back, too. They’re holding down the fort, using it as a base of operations to coordinate their efforts to undermine MogPro. I still don’t entirely trust Walker’s people, and I probably won’t ever reach that level after everything the government put us through, so I left behind our five remaining Chimærae with orders to protect Malcolm at all costs.
Besides Walker and our driver, there’s another SUV filled with agents following along behind us. That makes a grand total of six agents, plus me, Nine and Sam. Not much of an army. But then, the war hasn’t started yet. Maybe, if everything goes according to my plan, it won’t start at all.
‘Secretary of Defense Sanderson is staying at a hotel in midtown Manhattan, close to the UN,’ Walker says. She glances down at her phone, which she’s been typing away on all morning. ‘I had a mole on his security team, but …’
‘But what?’
‘They were pulled this morning,’ Walker replies. ‘All his bodyguards, replaced by a new team. Pale guys in dark trench coats. Sound familiar?’
‘Mogadorians,’ Nine says, grinding his fist into his palm. ‘Keeping their pet politician safe before his big sellout speech.’
‘I think it actually works to our advantage,’ Walker says, looking at me. ‘My people weren’t looking forward to fighting through their own on the way to Sanderson. I mean, some of these guys are just doing their jobs.’
‘Yeah, we aren’t in the habit of fighting humans either,’ I say, giving Walker a pointed look. ‘Unless they make us.’
‘So, that’s the whole plan?’ Sam asks, skeptical. ‘We go to his hotel, fight our way through a bunch of Mogs and then kill this Sanderson guy?’
‘Yes,’ Walker answers.
‘No,’ I say.
Everyone looks at me. Even our stoic driver is staring at me in the rearview mirror.
‘What do you mean, no?’ Walker asks, her eyebrows raised. ‘I thought we were clear on this.’
‘We’re not killing Sanderson,’ I say. ‘We don’t fight humans. We sure as hell don’t kill them.’
‘Kid, I’ll pull the trigger if you get me in front of him,’ Walker replies.
‘You can arrest him, if you want,’ I say. ‘Charge him with treason.’
‘The penalty for treason is death,’ Walker exclaims, sounding exasperated. ‘Anyway, his MogPro cronies won’t let an arrest go through. And you think anything in the courts is going to matter once Setrákus Ra is here?’
‘You said it,’ I reply. ‘Setrákus Ra is who’s important.’
‘Right. Instead of Sanderson, it’ll be you guys there to greet him at the UN. We’ll show the world the difference between good aliens and bad aliens. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, my people will dismantle MogPro.’ Walker rubs her temples. ‘I’ve got other agents already in position. Around the time we take out Sanderson, a dozen other MogPro traitors will –’
I cut her off. ‘If you’re about to tell me about more assassinations, I don’t want to know.’
Nine raises his hand. ‘I want to know.’
‘That’s not what we do, Walker,’ I continue. ‘It’s not what we’re about.’
‘Kid, you want to get the word out about the Mogs, sooner or later you’re gonna have to get your hands dirty.’
‘And what if Sanderson gets the word out for us?’
Walker squints at me. ‘What’re you talking about?’
‘He’s giving a speech at the UN, right? Going to talk up Setrákus Ra, tell humanity how it’s safe to welcome the Mogadorian fleet.’ I shrug, trying to seem nonchalant about this, confident in my plan. ‘Maybe he gives a different speech. Maybe he delivers a warning.’
‘You’re talking about turning him?’ Walker exclaims. ‘This late in the game? You’re out of your mind.’
‘I don’t think so,’ I reply, glancing left and right at Nine and Sam. ‘My friends and I are pretty persuasive.’
‘Yeah,’ Nine jumps in, grinning fiercely at Walker. ‘I’m convincing as all hell.’
Walker stares at me for a long moment, then turns around and goes back to typing coded m
essages into her phone. ‘I didn’t realize I was teaming up with some hippy-dippy peacenik aliens,’ she sighs. ‘Fine. If you can talk Sanderson into flipping sides in front of the UN, go for it. But if I’m not convinced, I’m shooting him.’
‘Sure,’ I reply to Walker. ‘You’re in charge.’
We stop at a gas station in New Jersey to fill up the SUVs. Since I’ve got a few minutes alone, I decide it’s a good time to check in with Sarah. I take out my phone and wander across the parking lot. As I do, I can feel Walker’s eyes boring into my back.
‘Where are you going?’ she calls after me.
‘To call my girlfriend,’ I say, raising the phone. ‘Remember? You illegally detained her that one time.’
‘Oh, great,’ Walker replies. I can hear her mutter to the driver. ‘We’re depending on a bunch of horny teenagers to save the world.’
Better us than people like Walker, I think, but pretend not to have heard her snide remark.
The phone rings five times, each one causing my heart to beat a little faster, before Sarah answers, narrowly evading the dump to voice mail.
