Once Kody pointed out exactly where the camera was on the garage’s crossbeam, Mariah took over and Jag watched in wonderment as she levitated the cloth high above them and guided it toward the back of the target camera. She lowered the fabric over the camera with the precision of a surgeon.
Jag gave her a small grin. “I didn’t know you could move things that accurately.”
“Neither did I,” she responded quietly. “I guess the crystal’s really helping.”
Kody tapped their shoulders. “The cam’s covered. You’re up, Jag.”
Jag nodded and backed up to the opposite side of the road. He bounced on his toes a couple of times, then ran toward the gate. When he was a few steps away, he leapt and sailed over the eight-foot tall obstacle, landing lightly on the other side with a roll. Turning around, he saw Kody and Mariah staring openmouthed.
He jogged back to the gate. “You two are gonna let flies into your mouths.”
Kody picked up his jaw. “Sorry. It’s just neat seeing you jump like ten feet into the air.”
Jag cracked his knuckles as he assessed the chain that held the gate closed. “This is a huge padlock they have . . . ” Taking the lock in his hands, he placed his thumbs within the shackle’s gap and gave a mighty tug. The lock didn’t break. He tried again without any success.
“C’mon, bud,” Kody murmured. “It’s just a lock.”
“It’s a pretty strong padlock,” Jag grunted. He tugged at the device with all his strength a few more times before letting it go in defeat. “I can’t do it. It won’t break. It’s built too tough.”
Mariah looked at him firmly through the gate. “Speed. Agility. Strength. Those are your gifts, Jag. You’re not going to be stopped by a petty lock. Try again.”
Jag massaged his hands. His fingers were hurting from pulling but Mariah had a point. He needed to concentrate and harness the power within himself.
He touched his crystal, letting his fingers linger on it, before clamping onto the heavy metal foe and collecting his thoughts. Then he gave one compact tug and the shackle suddenly snapped. The padlock popped open and he quickly unwrapped the chain securing the gate. He let his friends onto the property and, as they walked in, Mariah gave him a rub on the back. “That wasn’t too hard, right?”
“Quiet, you.” Jag smiled, taking the lead. “Stay in a single line right behind me. We need to keep inside the blind spot.”
The friends wasted no time getting to the regular-looking door right next to the main garage door. Before Jag could stop him, Kody put his hand on the knob. He was instantly thrown off his feet and landed on his back. He let out a shaky groan and remained on the dirt, gasping for breath.
Jag was by his side in an instant and looked over him worriedly. “Kody. Hey, bud, can you hear me?”
“The door . . . it . . . it’s charged.” Kody trailed off, muttering a jumble of curses.
Mariah knelt on Kody’s other side. “You were electrocuted!”
“Seems . . . seems like it. I’ll be f-fine.”
Jag slid an arm behind Kody’s back and helped the other teenager up. “I think it was a warning shock. Not meant to cause serious harm but enough to make you think twice about trying to go inside.”
“Which means they would surely have the inside rigged as well,” Mariah concluded.
“And that,” Kody said, shakily tapping Jag’s head, “is why you were right to create Plan B. Well done, sir.”
Jag let go of his friend when he saw that he could stand, albeit unsteadily. “You sure you’re okay to go on?”
“I’m good. Let’s go.” Kody rubbed his shoulders and nodded at Jag, his emerald eyes shining once again.
The three pressed to the wall and shimmied along to the back of the garage. Kody saw no cameras, which gave Jag a boost in confidence. He chose a spot on the wall and dropped to his knees as Mariah took out the tool he’d bought from the hardware store. It was a cordless reciprocating saw that could cut through the garage’s exterior siding.
“This saw isn’t too loud. Still, I’d like to get this done quickly.” Jag squeezed the saw’s trigger and let the blade in with a plunge cut, cutting out a two-foot square opening at the base of the wall. He pulled the loose wall section out as Mariah brought out a remote control toy car; it was another gadget Jag had picked up earlier. Fixed to the car’s roof was a wireless camera made to attach to a car’s rear license plate and display a rear view on a dash-mounted smartphone.
Mariah looked troubled. “What if there are motion detectors inside? Won’t this thing trigger an alarm?”
Jag powered the car on with an app on his phone and did a quick test run on the grass. “If I did the research right, no. Motion detectors are usually set to ignore anything less than a foot or so above the ground. They’ve got the tolerance built in so that they don’t pick up pets or pests. If there was a mouse running around, it wouldn’t be setting the alarm off constantly.”
Happy with the way the RC car was handling, he used his phone to guide it into the garage through the hole he’d cut. He moved the car judiciously, spinning it to give the camera a view from every angle. “It’s really dim inside,” he said. “But looks like we lucked out. This hole we just cut is concealed under a row of shelves and, from what I can see, there are only two things to be worried about. There’s a camera on the left corner of this end of the garage but it’s pointed away from us, and there’s a motion sensor across from us, facing our way. It doesn’t seem like an alarm’s gone off, so I think we’re still good.”
Mariah produced two more black cloths. “Guess I’m up again.” She went down onto her stomach and looked through the hole. Jag and Kody could hardly stand the suspense; they prayed that neither the sensor nor the camera would activate a warning system. It felt like too many minutes had passed but Jag understood that Mariah was taking her time to avoid mistakes.
“Done.” Mariah sat back and wiped some perspiration off her brow. “That was stressful.”
“You’re doing good, ’Riah.” Jag brought their spy car back out and tucked it back into the bag. Then, together with Mariah, he crawled through the hole and into the garage while Kody stood watch outside. Jag cleared the metal shelves above their small entrance and gave Mariah a hand up.
The garage wasn’t too big. There was another row of shelves to their right but what piqued their interest was a ten-foot long table at the center of the building. A bank of computers sat on its stainless steel top and three LCD monitors casted a bluish glow onto the wall.
Mariah toyed with her mini-flashlight attached to the belt hoop of her jeans. “Is there someone in here?”
“I don’t think so.” Jag called softly to Kody, whose head emerged through the hole. “Kode-man, can you tell if anyone’s been in here recently?”
Kody shook his head as he scented the area. “It’s stale. No one’s been around here for a while.”
“Good to know. Thanks.”
Kody wiggled back out. Mariah unclipped her flashlight and shone it around, then walked to the long steel table to study what was on the monitors. “These look like they’re running something.” She pointed the light under the table to see where the cables led but all that was to be seen was a mess of wires. “What’s that humming sound.”
“A generator, I think,” Jag answered. “They’d probably want their own source of power that isn’t connected to the grid.” He’d taken out his flashlight as well and traced it around the garage. “Bingo.” He strode over to the corner where both of the shelves met. What appeared to be a cap for a fuel tank was sticking out from the ground. Jag uncapped it and took a small whiff before covering it back up. “Yep, definitely fuel down there.”
Mariah waved her light under one of the shelves. “Bet that manhole under there leads to the generator.”
“Seems like a good guess to me.” Jag wandered around the garage. “I don’t see anything that could house the nanomites. Unless they just roam free in here . . . ”
“Doubt it,” Mariah said. “Take a look at this.”
Jag found her staring up at the pipe that connected to the chimney outside. “I wonder why it’s not attached to anything?” he asked “It’s just sticking out a few inches from the ceiling.”
“It’s probably just an open passage for the nanomites.” The beam from Mariah’s flashlight bounced off something at the back corner of the garage. “Hey, look. Another pipe. It leads right into the floor.”
Jag followed her to it. The opening of the pipe was shaped like a funnel and covered by a metal cap that didn’t budge when he tried to pry it open. “What in the . . . ?” Then his flashlight illuminated a thin black wire that linked to the cap. “Oh, I see. It’s like a valve or shutter. When it’s time for the nanomites to leave, it slides open automatically.”
Right beside the pipe was another manhole; it was larger than the one they’d found earlier. It looked heavy and had a recessed locking handle on it. Jag twisted the handle, then pulled open the cover and looked down. A ladder descended into a separate space below.
“Are we looking into Hades’ residence?” Mariah wondered.
While it was obviously not so, Jag had to admit that it was a fitting question. The lower chamber was dimly lit just like the garage but was tinted an eerie red. It also seemed to be the source of a humming sound that reminded Jag of the drone of a dishwasher.
He swung his legs down. “Shall we?”
“Take it away,” Mariah replied.
Jag climbed down and Mariah landed shortly after him. A structure stood at the center of the chamber, taking up nearly all the space of the eight-by-eight room; a five-foot-tall dark sphere that rested on a concrete pedestal. The stainless steel pipe that pierced the ceiling beside the access cover connected near the base of the sphere.
“The nanomites’ hive,” Jag breathed.
Mariah made herself as small as possible so she could maneuver through the tight space around the sphere. “There’s a hatch here with writing on it—P.O.D. 003-16”, she said. “I think they call these things pods.”
Jag was barely able to fit in after her. He directed his flashlight at the hatch Mariah had found. It was hardly larger than the size of his head. “Looks like a maintenance access.” He took out his phone and snapped photos of different angles of the sphere, as well as the serial number.
“We found it, finally.” Mariah pointed her light upward, strobing it as if they were at a rave, and did a little dance.
Jag ruffled her hair. “Yeah. Now let’s get out of here.”
They scurried up the ladder and closed the cover behind them. Jag took a few more pictures of the garage and the equipment before heading out. Mariah levitated the cloths off the devices she’d covered and Jag shoved the section of siding he’d sawn back into place; he was glad to see that it fit back in just fine.
Kody and Mariah ran out so Jag could shut the gate and chain it back up. He methodically rested the padlock at an angle so that it would appear to be locked, then jumped back over the gate. Mariah was removing the fabric that covered the middle camera when Jag heard Kody whisper. “Guys, the nanomites are coming back . . . and they’re glowing red.”
“What?” Mariah rasped. “It’s not time! They didn’t return till almost dawn the last time we were here!”
Jag lifted his head and noted a faint red cloud approaching the garage in the shape of a bird.
That’s not right . . . I’m not supposed to see them!
The nanomite swarm was expanding, extending the wingspan of the formation from six feet to an intimidating sixty.
“Run.” Jag backed toward the truck, fear finally setting in. “Run!”
They turned and made it to the vehicle at breakneck speed. Jag could hear an incensed metallic buzzing like angry bees behind him. The buzzing grew louder too quickly for his liking. He dared a glance back.
They’ll be on us in seconds!
The friends crashed against the truck, peeled themselves off, and dove inside. Just as they slammed their doors, the nanomites began impacting the side of the vehicle like countless minute missiles. Jag brought the truck to life as the bird shape reformed and banked like a fighter jet, turning to attack them from the front. The teenagers screamed.
The oncoming assailants smashed into the truck before scattering into angry glowing particles, leaving behind countless pits on the windshield. Jag didn’t wait for them to regroup. He hit the gas and sped out of Ransom as the nanomites returned to formation and pursued the teenagers.
“Everyone okay?” Jag asked. “Did any of those things get in?”
“No,” Kody said, checking himself over. “I think we’re fine—”
Mariah cut him off with a shriek. “Something’s biting me! They’re on my arms!”
Kody unbuckled himself and climbed into the backseat. Jag heard Mariah slapping at her arms while Kody was telling her to stay still so he could help her get the nanomites off.
Jag kept his foot on the gas pedal and looked into the rear view mirror to check on the swarm. He was startled at how quickly they were closing the gap.
Are they gonna chase us all the way back to Concordia?
The swarm was now only yards behind them. As Jag came into the next town, streetlights began to appear. Mariah and Kody were still struggling to get the nanomites off. “They’re moving too fast!” Kody exploded. “I can see them drilling into her with their blades! We need to open the windows, Jag! It’s the only way we can get them off her!”
Jag drove past the first set of streetlights. “We can’t do that! They’ll be on us at any moment!”
To his astonishment, when he checked his mirror once more, he saw that the swarm had hung back before reaching the first lights. The nanomites were hovering, as if staring at the truck. Then, with a perfect barrel roll, the entire swarm turned as one and headed back in the direction it had come from. The menacing glow faded.
“They’re leaving,” he said breathlessly, easing off the accelerator. “They’re gone. We’re safe.”
“Then we can open the windows!” Kody rolled down the screen next to him. Jag couldn’t see what they were doing, but he figured that Kody was holding Mariah’s arm out the window and swatting the nanomites away with his vision magnified.
“Are they gone?” Jag asked.
“One second . . . ” Kody was in deep concentration. Jag heard two taps, then Kody’s triumphant voice. “Peace out, jerks! I found a new use for my debit card!”