Michael Vey: Rise Of The Elgen Part 16

Ostin just stared at the screen. "Mitch.e.l.l, do you have a pen and paper?"

"We've got some downstairs."

"I'm going to need a whole pad. Actually a couple. Is there paper in your printer?"

"What printer?"

"Just get the pen and paper, Einstein," Jack said.

I checked the printer drawer. "Looks full."

Ostin continued examining the file names, shaking his head in wonderment. "That's a lot of data. It's going to take me all night. At least."

Mitch.e.l.l returned. "Here's your pen and paper," he said, setting two yellow writing pads on the desk next to Ostin.

"You're sure about this?" I asked. "I can stay up if you want."

"I'm good," Ostin said. "Everyone can go to bed."

"This is my bed," Mitch.e.l.l said.

"Not tonight it's not," Jack said. "Ostin's got work to do."

"A few terabytes' worth." Ostin said this more to himself than us, and I could tell that he'd already started to slip off into his own world. I don't think he even noticed when we left.

"Michael."

I opened my eyes to see Ostin standing over me. I had fallen asleep on the couch on the main floor of the pool house, and sunlight was streaming in through the blinds above me.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Morning," Ostin said, looking very tired.

I rubbed my eyes. "Did you stay up all night?"

"I found your mother."

Suddenly I was wide awake. "You found her?"

"She's in Peru. I found her file on the computer."

"Peru? Show me." I pulled on my T-s.h.i.+rt and grabbed the cell phone.

We were walking to the front door when Taylor called to me. "Michael."

I looked up. She was leaning over the loft railing. "What's going on?"

"Ostin found my mother," I said.

"I'll be right there." Taylor hurried down the stairs and joined us at the door. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure she was there when Grace downloaded the information," Ostin said. "They could have moved her."

"How did you find her?" I asked.

"I tracked her through their internal travel logs. I started with the date she disappeared, then went from there."

Taylor and I followed Ostin back to Mitch.e.l.l's room.

"Is anyone else awake yet?" I asked Taylor.

"No. Everyone was exhausted."

"They should be," I said.

We walked into Mitch.e.l.l's room.

"I've got a feeling things are going to get even crazier," Ostin said, pointing to a picture of my mother on the screen.

My heart froze at the sight of her. She looked tired and frightened and was wearing an Elgen jumpsuit.

"She's being held at the Elgen Starxource plant in Puerto Maldonado, Peru."

"Isn't that where the fire rats escaped?" Taylor asked.

"Exactly," Ostin said. "It's a jungle town in the Amazon rain forest."

"How long has she been there?" I asked. I noticed I was ticking but didn't bother to try to control it.

"The travel records show that she was transported to Peru directly from Idaho."

"How do we get to Peru?" Taylor asked. "Can we drive?"

"I'm not sure. We'd have to go through Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador and halfway through Peru."

Taylor just stared at him. "How do you know all that?"

"Geography is my strong subject," Ostin said.

"Everything is your strong subject," Taylor said.

"We're going to have to fly," I said.

"All of us?"

"We might have enough money," I said.

"You can't just fly into a foreign country," Ostin said. "There's customs and border control. Do you even have a pa.s.sport?"

I had never traveled outside the country, so I hadn't thought of any of that. "That will be a problem."

"Not our biggest one," Ostin said. "The compound she's being held in is a fortress. It's more prison than energy plant. It's built on a twenty-five-thousand-acre ranch, and it has hundreds of guards. At least ten times more than what we faced at the academy."

All the excitement I felt at locating my mother vanished in a puff of impossibility. What good was knowing where she was if we couldn't reach her? She might as well be on the moon.

I put my head in my hands.

"What do we do now?" Taylor asked.

"I don't know," I said. I turned to Ostin. "Do you have any ideas?"

"I think . . . ," Ostin said. He thought for a moment. "I think I need some sleep."

I exhaled heavily. "Yeah, get some sleep. Thanks for staying up."

"No problem," Ostin said. He lay down on Mitch.e.l.l's bed. A feeling of despair permeated the room.

Taylor said, "I know what we should do."

"What?"

"Get bagels. I need to get out of here."

After all we'd been through, something as normal as going out for bagels sounded fantastic.

"Maybe Jack or Wade are up by now."

I looked at Ostin. He had already shut his eyes.

"Do you want something from the bagel place?" I asked.

"Sleep," he said.

"Wow, you are tired," Taylor said.

"And a blueberry bagel," Ostin added. "Or chocolate chip if they have it. With strawberry cream cheese."

"You got it," I said. I started for the door, then suddenly stopped and turned back. The picture of my mother was still on the screen.

Taylor took my hand. "Things have a way of working out."

I looked at her. "My mother used to say that."

When we walked back into the pool house, Jack was sitting at the kitchen table holding a spoon and eating from a carton of vanilla ice cream. "Where were you guys?"

"With Ostin," I said. "He found my mother."

He set down his spoon. "Awesome. Let's go get her."

"It's not that simple," Taylor said.

"She's in Peru," I said.

"Is that in Idaho?" he asked.

Taylor covered her eyes.

"No," I said. "It's in South America. They have her locked away in a huge compound."

"Good," he said. "I like a challenge."

"Well, you've got one. The first is how we get there."

"Maybe the voice can help us," he said.

Taylor looked at me. "He's right. I bet they could fly us there."

The thought gave me hope. "If they call again."

"They'll call," Taylor said. She turned to Jack. "In the meantime, we're hungry for bagels. Will you drive us?"

Jack stood. "Sure. I'll get the keys from Mitch.e.l.l."

The three of us drove about six blocks to Taylor's favorite bagel shop-the Bagelmeister. I had never been to the place before, but I knew it was a hangout for the popular kids.

"Let's go inside," Taylor said. "It's faster."

"Wait," I said. "What if someone recognizes you? They've probably been hanging 'missing girl' posters around town."

"We'll just be a second," she said. "Besides, all my friends are in school right now."

"All right," I said. "But we can't stay."

I held the door for her as she walked inside. As we walked into the store, Taylor froze. There was a shrill scream. "Guys! It's Tay!"

I looked over Taylor's shoulder to see a group of girls. Her friend Maddie was pointing at her. "OMG! It's really you! Where have you been? You are in so much trouble."

Taylor just stared at them like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming car.

"Reboot them," I said. "Quick!"

Taylor closed her eyes.

Immediately the entire room froze. I grabbed Taylor's arm and pulled her to the door. As we ducked out of the shop I heard someone say, "I think I just had, like, an aneurysm. . . ."

We ran back to the car. I opened the door and pushed her in.