Michael Vey 3 ~ Battle of the Ampere (17 page)

“I’ve never seen this,” Tessa said.

“It’s cacao,” Jaime said. “Chocolate.”

“Finally something decent,” Tessa said.

“It will not taste like a chocolate bar,” Jaime said. He pulled out some of the beans. “You suck the flesh off of the cacao bean. Then you chew the bean.”

Tessa and I followed his lead. The fruit surrounding the bean was
actually quite good, but the bean itself was bitter with only a vague semblance of chocolate flavor.

“This isn’t chocolate,” Tessa said, clearly disappointed.

“It is what chocolate is made from,” Jaime said.

“Could have fooled me,” she said, spitting out the seed.

“You can have this,” I said, giving her the last
piton
.

We finished eating, then we gathered around the radio that Jaime had concealed behind our tent. We were high enough up that I didn’t need to climb any trees to mount an antenna. I didn’t need to power the radio either. Apparently I had sufficiently recharged the batteries during our previous transmission.

Jaime flipped a switch and the lights of the radio came on. He handed me a headphone. The crisp crackle of static drowned out the jungle’s symphony.

“I want to listen,” Tessa said.

“I only have two headphones,” Jaime said.

“I’ll share,” I said. I flipped the two earpieces around and Tessa sat next to me, both of us holding a speaker to one of our ears. Jaime dialed a number, then said, “Lightning Rod, this is Southern Cross. Over.”

Nothing came back. Jaime signaled again. “Lightning Rod, this is . . .” He was interrupted by three beeps, and then a female voice said, “Southern Cross, we read you. Please confirm.”

“Diez, uno, uno, uno, nueve, seis, dos.”

“Please repeat the last two numbers.”

“No,” he said.

“Confirmed,” the woman said. “One moment, please.”

There was a pause, then the voice said, “Southern Cross. Are you still in possession of the jewels.”

“Yes.”

“We are pleased to hear that. At least not everything has gone wrong.”

“What do you mean?” Jaime asked.

“Things have taken a turn for the worse. Hatch has gained control of the Elgen. He has imprisoned the chairman and commandeered the Elgen fleet.”

“
Qué piña!
It could not be worse.”

“Our source has learned that Hatch plans to secure a land base so the Elgen can train soldiers and ultimately build weapons of mass destruction.”

“Weapons of mass destruction?” I said. “You mean nuclear weapons?”

“No,” the voice answered. “The Elgen are developing high-potency EMPs.”

“I know about EMPs,” Tessa said. “Quentin is an EMP. He can shut down machines and stuff.”

“That is right,” the voice said. “A powerful enough EMP device could create an electromagnetic pulse that could conceivably shut down all electrical devices for many thousands of miles.”

“Then EMPs don’t kill people,” I said.

“They will most definitely kill people,” the voice replied. “It’s estimated that up to ten percent of the population would die immediately. If you destroy all electrical devices, you shut down hospitals and all health devices. Anyone on life support would die.”

“But hospitals have backup generators,” Tessa said.

“An EMP doesn’t just stop the source of power, it permanently destroys all electronic circuitry. Lights won’t work. Cars won’t run. Communication will be shut down, including all cell phones and radios. Gas stations won’t be able to pump gas; grocery stores will lose refrigeration; food will rot and people will starve. All business will be brought to a standstill. There will be riots in the streets and looting. It is believed that an EMP may, in the long run, produce as many casualties as a nuclear weapon.”

“How long would it take to get power again?” I asked.

“The problem is, the machinery required to repair or rebuild the infrastructure is also powered by electricity. It might not be possible for a country to rebuild itself.”

“That’s incredibly stupid,” Tessa said.

“It’s shortsighted,” the voice replied. “But electricity has always been the Achilles’ heel of the modern world.”

“How will that benefit the Elgen?” I asked.

“The Elgen will offer aid by helping to rebuild the country’s electrical grid to run off their Starxource plants, ultimately putting them in complete control of the world’s power and economy.”

“Where is this land Hatch plans to conquer?” Jaime asked.

“Hatch’s target is a small country in the South Pacific called Tuvalu. The Elgen have already been there for more than a year and have already constructed a Starxource plant as large as the Peruvian facility that will serve as their administrative building and reeducation center.”

“Doesn’t the country have an army to defend itself?” I asked.

“No. Tuvalu is the size of a small American city. All they have is a police force, and there are more than a hundred Elgen guards to every police officer. The Elgen are also much better armed and trained. The Tuvaluans are a simple people. The Elgen will either slaughter them or turn them into their work force.”

“You mean they’ll make them slaves,” I said.

“Very likely,” the voice said.

“Qué lío!”
Jaime said. “They are pure evil.”

“The location of Tuvalu is strategic. It will give the Elgen unrestricted access to Hawaii, Australia, Taiwan, China, India, the Philippines, and Japan.”

“This is most horrible news,” Jaime said, rubbing his forehead. “What can be done to stop them?”

“We have leaked information to the leaders of Tuvalu, but it’s falling on deaf ears. The Elgen have just solved the country’s power shortage and are being heralded as heroes. But we have one other chance to stop them. Prior to their attack, the Elgen fleet is sailing to the port of Callao, west of Lima, to pick up the remainder of their force still quartered in Puerto Maldonado. There are thousands of guards stranded after the attack of the Starxource plant.

“They will also be refueling and stocking up on supplies. We estimate that it will take them four or five days to complete their preparations. But once they have left the port, there will be no stopping them. We must strike before they leave.”

“What are your orders?” Jaime asked.

“Sink the
Ampere
while it’s in port.”

“What’s the
Ampere
?” I asked.

“It’s the Elgen’s superyacht,” Tessa said. “I’ve been on it. It’s very cool. It has a helipad, sushi bar—it even has a disco.”

“The
Ampere
is the Elgen command base,” the voice said. “It’s where Hatch operates from.”

“How are we supposed to sink a ship?” I asked.

“You and your friends destroyed their largest and most secure Starxource plant. We’re confident that you can sink a ship.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t have my friends with me,” I said. “And the last time we spoke, you told me not to go after them.”

“We were only protecting you,” the voice said. “We believed that the chance of your success against their army was less than the chance of our success. But that’s before Hatch took over. Now we are certain that we have no chance of diplomacy. The Elgen will be pressuring the Peruvian government for blood. You need to rescue your friends. Jaime, do all in your power to assist Michael in this cause. Call in assistance if you have to.”

“Yes, sir. Do you know where the others are?”

“They are still being held in Puerto Maldonado. They nearly escaped but were recaptured outside the compound. Our sources tell us that the army is preparing right now to move them to Lima. So if you expect to breech their compound, you’ll have to move fast.”

“We have a different plan,” Jaime said. “There is a narrow highway they will have to pass through on the way to Lima. We believe it is a place where we could stop them. We just need to know when they are moving.”

“Very well. We’ll alert you when the army is moving.”

“And then what?” I asked.

“After you have rescued your friends, we will instruct you on everything we know about the Elgen fleet and the
Ampere
. Is there anything else you need right now?”

“I want to speak with my mother.”

“I’ll arrange for you to talk. I will give you a time during our next communication.”

“Wait, I have a question,” Tessa said, leaning forward toward the microphone. “Do you know anything about the Amacarra? Are they okay?”

There was a long pause. “The Amacarra tribe no longer exists.”

Tessa turned white. “W-what do you mean?”

“The army massacred the tribe for harboring terrorists.”

Tessa’s eyes welled up with tears. “No!”

“I’m sorry. The army has been ruthless.”

I put my hand on Tessa’s back.

Tessa grabbed her beads, and tears began falling down her face. “My mama . . .”

There was a long pause, then the voice said, “I’m sorry, but we must sign out. There is one more thing you must know. We have been compromised.”

Now Jaime turned white. “How?”

“The army learned of our existence while interrogating the others. They passed it on to the Elgen. They don’t know who or where we are, but they now know that we exist. We have called a few of our agents in the field to come in.”

“This cannot be true,” Jaime said, putting his hand over his eyes.

“I wish it weren’t. We will contact you when the army starts to move. Over.”

The radio went dead. I took the headphone and gave it back to Jaime. The dread was palpable. It was as if a bomb had just gone off in our midst.

Jaime was the first to speak. “They know of us . . . ,” he said, slowly shaking his head.

I looked at Tessa. She was sobbing.

“I’m sorry,” I said, returning my hand to her back.

“They were so innocent,” she said. She covered her eyes with her hand.

I didn’t know what to say. I just kept rubbing her back. After a few minutes her sobbing slowed, turning to a soft whimper. Then
she stopped completely. She held her hands at her temples, her fingers digging into her hair. Then she looked up at me. Her eyes were red and swollen. “They’re going to pay for this. We’re going to make them pay.”

A
fter all the bad news we’d just received, the next few days passed in misery. We were low on food, and edible fruit was not very plentiful where we were camped. Now that we were close to the road, Jaime didn’t dare go out foraging. “Too risky,” he said. He told us that the army would likely send out an advance patrol before they moved.

The second day it rained hard and for most of the day we just sat in our tent, with nothing to do but sleep to escape the malaise. Jaime acted calm, but I could tell that he was going crazy inside. Tessa was not as stoic. She broke down crying at least a dozen times. The Amacarra tribe was the closest thing to family she had.

Early in the morning of the third day the rain finally stopped, and Jaime led us down the rugged terrain of the south side of the mountain near the highway. We needed to scout the pass to make our plans.

The road was covered on both sides by thick forest, which would be advantageous to us. The biggest question we faced was how to stop an army. Actually, we didn’t need to stop all of the trucks, just the ones in front, creating a traffic jam.

The problem was, anything obvious might look like an attack and surprise was vital. If four thousand soldiers dug in for battle, we were through.

For nearly an hour we crouched down in the jungle, looking out over the highway, away from the road, in case an army patrol drove by.

“How many trucks do you think there will be?” I asked Jaime.

“Many,” he said.

“Like how many?” I asked. “Twenty? Thirty?”

“Maybe two hundred. Or more.”

“Two hundred? How will we know what truck they’re being kept in?”

Jaime shook his head. “It will not be a simple thing.”

“I can find them,” Tessa said.

I turned to her. “How?”

“I can sense electricity. That’s how I knew you were electric when I met you. It’s the same way Nichelle sensed powers.”

“Nichelle could sense powers?”

“If she didn’t, she wouldn’t be able to feed off your electricity. Hatch once had us walk through the academy blindfolded to find the electric kids. Nichelle and I are really not that different.”

“Believe me, you’re different.”

“Personality-wise,” she said. “Nichelle’s all Goth and all that. But the scientists at the academy said we were similar in physiology. Nichelle was better at finding electricity than I was, but I can still do it. I just need to get closer than she did.”

“How close?”

“Maybe thirty feet.”

I looked at the lush jungle encroaching on the road. “That will work. We stop the convoy, then we’ll move along behind the trees until you feel something.”

“Then what?” Tessa asked.

“I shock the guards, we open the trucks, and we free my friends.”

“How do we stop the trucks?”

“The question is, how do we do it without causing suspicion.”

“Look,” Jaime said. “That sign.” He pointed to a yellow, diamond-shaped precaution sign that showed stones showering down on a road.