Kingdom Keepers V (9781423153429) (32 page)

“Something like that,” Storey Ming said.

“Philby set up a connection so we can cross over to the parks. Maybe it's time.”

“They'll let us know. You all are plenty busy.”

“Tell me about it.” He wasn't sure if he should tell this girl about the journal. He decided against it.

“A huge crate was brought onto the ship via the forward gang.”

“You do get around,” he said. Wayne's choice of her made slightly more sense.

“It wasn't on any manifests. I hear about that sort of thing.”

“How?”

She studied him and shook her head. “No. I don't think so. Not yet.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” he said.

“There have been some attempts to breach security. Is that you and your friends?”

“No. Not that I know of.”

“If not your friends, maybe your enemies.” Storey sounded worried.

“Speaking of getting around.”

“You've seen them?”

“Face to face. On the beach tonight. Maleficent.”

He thought he saw her shiver. He knew the feeling.

“Yet here you are.”

“Here I am.”

“That's impressive.”

“That's lucky. Friends in the right places.”

“Friends in deep places,” she said.

“Triton.” Finn was awed by the extent of her knowledge.

Storey took a deep breath and held it as if savoring it. “You know how we envy you? Having a chance like that? You met him?”

“I did.”

“Unreal.”

“Tell me about it. But I also saw Jafar. That wasn't so nice.”

“I hate Jafar.”

“Strong word.”

“I'm not changing it,” she said.

“His staff came alive. A snake.”

“Like in the Bible,” she said.

“Like in the
movie
,” he said. “I hate snakes.”

“Strong word.”

“I'm not changing it,” he said.

They both laughed.

“If it's not you breaching security…I'd be careful if I were you.”

“Yes, you would,” he said.

“No way to know what they might have been after.”

“Us. It's us.” He paused. “It's a lot of things.”

“Does that scare you?” Storey asked.

“It does.”

“I would think so.”

“You know that stupid line ‘Failure is not an option'? That's kind of what it's like. Like you can't fail but you don't know how to succeed. I feel like a hamster on a wheel most of the time. The OTs obviously have some goal. Our only goal is to not let them reach theirs. It's like always playing defense. Hard to win a game that way.”

“The best offense is a good defense.”

“Maybe.”

“How can I help?”

“You are. Believe me. The crate? The one that came aboard?”

“No one knows about it. I mean, some guys hauled it aboard. I have my sources. But not the normal guys at the loading bays. Different guys.”

“Six people arriving by Boston Whaler,” he said. “Let me guess. They arrived right when the crew was on a break or busy somewhere else.”

“Shore duty,” she said. “Getting ready to sail.”

“The thing that gets me is how well planned everything is,” he said. She didn't comment. “Any idea where it went, this crate?”

“Forward gang? An odd choice, except its location away from the dock. Could be for one of the bars. A piece of replacement equipment or a computer for
the bridge. Any of the galleys. Or, I suppose, the big theater.”

“It's not a piece of equipment,” he said, thinking of the air holes in the crate. “Fewer people nosing around in the galley or in the theater?”

“A lot more hiding places in the theater,” she said. “Backstage, the catwalks, below stage, the dressing rooms, prop area. And a good part of every day no one's around.”

“So that's where we start.”

“Sounds good.”

“What are the chances there's some surprise planned for one of the shows? Something new?”

“It happens,” she said.

“Often?”

“Not on a regular cruise, but this is no ordinary cruise. The first ship through the new locks? They could have anything planned. And it wouldn't have to be by anybody but a few key people. The captain. Director of entertainment. Information moves around this ship faster than seawater. There are no secrets. For a really big surprise, I can see them pulling something like this.”

“So maybe it's nothing more than that,” he said.

“I can check it out.”

“I'd rather you not.”

“Because?”

“Because that's what we're here for.”

“The big important holograms.”

“The thing is, when we're holograms not much can hurt us.”

“So it's safer.”

“Much,” he said.

“I know the big theater really well. It's crazy back there. Different levels, dressing rooms. Prop storage. I could be your guide.”

“Or maybe just talk us through it.”

“Because I'm not one of you,” she said. “You don't want me along because I'm not one of you.”

“It's a safety thing.”

“I get it. If you need me for the GPS…or for anything else, I'm up in the Vibe—outside, actually, giving a demo tonight.”

“Good to know,” Finn said. “And what about this stateroom we're in? We could use a room or two that won't get looked at.”

“Philby knows the empty rooms. I can get key cards to him.”

“That would be great.”

“Done. You heard about the stowaways?”

“Philby told me. Have they caught them?”

“Not that I've heard. There's a lot of weird stuff going on on this cruise.”

“Tell me about it. It seems to kind of follow us around,” he said.

“Lucky you.”

“Not always.” He made her laugh. “Not even often.” Another chuckle from her. “How do I reach you?”

“I don't trust the Wave Phones,” she said, “just so you know.”

“I do now.”

“I leave notes at the door because no one pays the slightest bit of attention to them. The crew leaves hundreds of them around each day: invitations, spa confirmations, concierge. The one or two I put up at a door hardly stand out.”

“Just so you know…” he said. “I saw something on the island. Not everyone on the crew can be trusted.”

“Like who are we talking about?”

“I'm not sure.”

“That narrows it down.”

“At least one officer,” he said, thinking of the man following him on the staircase. “In case your sources are crew members or Cast Members.”

“No,” she said sarcastically, “it's Chip and Dale. I only deal with chipmunks.”

“I'm just saying…it was dark. I didn't get all that good a look.”

“Guys and girls?”

“Yes.”

“You know you're freaking me out now?”

“I can see that. Yes. It's dark, and I don't know you that well, but you do kind of look freaked.”

“You know me better than a lot of guys. We've kissed, after all.”

He said nothing. She didn't have to remind him of that.

Finally, he managed to say, “I should take off.”

“If you need me, fold your
Navigator
into a triangle and put it in the note holder outside your door. I'll find you.”

“Who…are…you?”

“Go on,” she said, giving him a slight but playful push. “Get out of here.”

* * *

In a reversal of roles, Philby turned the controls of the DHI server over to Willa, who ran things from the Radio Studio. He did this in order to have her cross him over so that he might gain access to the security recordings while Charlene, also crossed over, would explore wherever he directed her. It was an ambitious plan, but one that required quick execution in case the Overtakers had a means to erase or replace security footage and hide their tracks.

He couldn't tell his mother he wanted to go to bed early because it would tip her to their plans, and Mrs. Philby was one of the parents who did not approve of Kingdom Keeper activity. Instead, he told her he wanted to watch TV in Finn's room. He shut the connecting door, left a note for Finn in the hall, and turned off the lights and lay down. With the activities of a long day behind him, he fell quickly to sleep.

* * *

Finn was a good ways down the endless Deck 8 starboard-side hallway when a voice from behind him stopped him.

“Why would you do this to me?”

Not just any voice.

He didn't know whether to turn around or to run. But he felt the power she had over him affect him like gravity. He turned.

From this distance, she looked just like the mom he knew her to be. He wanted to run and hug her, but his feet knew better and remained planted on the hallway's spongy carpet.

“Mom…”

“We were supposed to room together.” She sounded crushed.

Had the green-eye curse only lasted a matter of hours—a day? Was she his real mom again? Again, temptation pulled him toward her. Again, he resisted.

“You're not…yourself.”

“Don't you talk to me like that, young man.”

She stepped forward, and he felt himself take a step back. The overhead light had caught her eyes: they were green.

“What is it?” she asked.

“I…ah…I've got to get going.”

Another step toward him. The thing was, Finn wanted to hug her. He wanted to help her. This woman who had helped him through so much. He didn't move, allowing her to slowly close the distance between them.

“I…can…help,” she said.

“The thing is…”

“We're a team, aren't we?”

He felt the strings attached inside his chest tighten and winch him toward her. “We are,” he said.

“Always have been.”

He nodded.

“A darn good team,” she said.

His real mother would have never used that word. Her use of it slapped him in the face. An internal battle raged inside him: his head versus his heart. And he'd always been bigger of heart. She would have been the first to tell him that.

The first to take advantage of that.

He felt tears on his cheeks and wondered where they'd come from; they were traitors, these tears, trying to give him over to the enemy.

His mother, the enemy? Was such a thing possible?

“You know how you and Dad take different sides in politics?” he asked. She said nothing. “But you still love each other? That's what's going on here. Between us. Different sides.”

“I've always been on your side.”

“I know, but—”

“Why would I have anything but your best interests at heart?”

“All I know is…you're different.”

“Am I? How can you say that?”

“It's the truth. You and Dad have always told me the truth counts more than anything.”

A couple walked past them in the hall, barely taking any notice. Finn felt invisible. Only this woman and him.

There were tears in his mother's eyes now.

“‘The truth comes first,'” he quoted.

Her face bunched like the air had been sucked out of it.

“Mom, don't…”

He couldn't stand it when she cried.

She knows that!
he reminded himself.

She was close now. Too close. But close enough that as he stared into her green eyes he saw them tick quickly over his shoulder, then flare with surprise. He heard a whoosh, as soft as the piped-in air, but distinctly flame, not air. He ducked.

A fireball exploded into his mother's chest, and she went over backward like a bowling pin. He dove atop her and knocked the flaming ball off her, pounding her clothing to extinguish the fire. The color of her eyes flickered between blue and green. The ball of fire rolled against the wall and went out.

Finn rolled off his mother, not wanting to make her the target.

Maleficent strolled toward him, her black cape lifting behind her. “Give it to me!” she said.

“I don't have it.” Finn backed up and got to his feet.

The smoldering ball of flame sputtered in her hand. The excited voices of guests at the end of the hallway rose to the occasion.

“Check it out!” a kid hollered.

Maleficent toyed with the ball above his fallen mother.

“How do you think she'll look with a face burned to a crisp?” she said, juggling the burning ball between both hands and pretending to drop it before catching it at the last second.

Finn lunged forward, then back.

“I don't have it,” he repeated. “I tried to get it. You bet I did, but it sank and the water was too dark…and
I don't have it
.”

He'd never seen real panic on the green fairy's face, but there was a first time for everything.

He looked down at his mother. She was staring back at him out of the tops of her eyes. Blue eyes, sparking green.

“Run!” she gasped. With that, she kicked out and caught Maleficent in the legs and knocked her down. His mom jumped to her feet.

That was another first. As Maleficent fell, a crow appeared and the fairy was gone.

Finn turned and took off, his fingers reaching back for his mom's outstretched hand. Their hands connected just as the black crow hovered over his mother's head.

“Mom!”

Her blue eyes were turning green again. The same color green that occupied the crow's eyes. Finn swiped out awkwardly at the crow while running backward. It cawed and threw its talons forward and scratched him.

His mother's eyes held green for longer than they were blue, pulsing between the two colors, tightened in warning. She shook her head, meaning for him to let go of her.

“No…” he cried out.

But now her eyes were solid green and growing darker by the second.

The crow cawed again.

Some kid cheered from down the hall.