Michael Vey: Rise Of The Elgen Part 30

"Something big enough to break through that fence."

"A ton should do," Jack said.

Ostin nodded in agreement. "That's about right."

"How much do you think one of those bulls weighs?" I asked.

Ostin smiled. "A ton. At least. The problem is, how do you get a bull to charge an electric fence?"

"Easy," Wade said.

We all looked at him.

"Oh yeah, my uncle had bulls on his farm. Those things are crazy. I've seen videos of them charging a train head-on. You just have to get them mad enough."

"How do you do that?" Taylor asked.

"Call them names," Ostin said.

Everyone looked at him.

"You're kidding, right?" Taylor said.

Ostin blushed. "Yeah, of course."

"Actually, it's easy," Wade said. "Those things are born mean. You just have to throw things at them. It always worked for us. Once we were throwing apples at them and one of my uncle's bulls got so mad it broke through the fence. He had us up a tree for almost an hour."

"Let's try it," I said.

We all went into the jungle looking for things to throw. McKenna found some softball-size seed pods on the ground. We loaded up with them, then picked out the largest of the bulls and started throwing things at him. We managed to pelt him a few times-I even knocked him once in the head-but he was pretty tranquil as far as bulls go. He didn't even look at us.

Finally Zeus got impatient. "I'll do it," he said. He walked up to the fence and began waving and shouting at the bull. "Hey, want a piece of me? Come and get me, you ugly cow." The bull looked at him, then suddenly began hoofing the dirt, like it was preparing to charge.

"I told you they don't like to be called names," Ostin said.

Then Zeus stuck out his hand and shot a bolt of lightning at the bull. The bull stiffened, then fell to its side, rolling all the way to its back, then onto its side again, its legs sticking straight out the whole time.

"I think you killed it," Ostin said.

"Way to go, genius," Jack said.

Suddenly the bull climbed to its feet and charged at us.

"Run!" I shouted.

The bull hit the fence with the force of a car crash. There was an electric snap, like the sound of a moth on a bug zapper, except a hundred times louder. The bull didn't break through the wire, but had lodged itself halfway through the fence, and sparks continued to fly all around it. Suddenly the sparks stopped. I looked at the top of the fence. The orange flas.h.i.+ng lights affixed to the posts had gone dim.

"He shorted out the fence," Ostin said.

I walked over and touched the fence to make sure the power was really out. It was.

"Perfect," I said. "They'll have to come out to free the bull."

"Which will take at least a half dozen men," Ostin said.

"All right!" I shouted. "Everyone back to the jungle!"

As everyone walked back, Ostin grinned at me.

"What?"

"I don't know," he said. "That 'everyone back to the jungle' just sounded kind of funny."

"Glad you liked it."

"I'm going to use that sometime."

It didn't take long for the Elgen to respond to the damaged fence. Less than ten minutes had pa.s.sed when Ian said, "Here they come."

"The guards?"

"No. They look like ranchers or something. They're driving the fence looking for the problem."

"How many are there?" I asked.

"They've got two trucks. Three in each of them."

"Any guards?"

"Doesn't look like it. At least not in uniform."

"This is perfect," Ostin said. "They'll have to get close to the fence to free the bull."

"And while they're freeing the bull, we'll take them down," I said. "Then we'll take their clothes and trucks."

"We should tie them to one of those tangarana trees," Wade said.

Abigail looked at him. "What a horrible thing to say."

"What were you thinking, man?" Jack said, glancing at Abigail.

Wade flushed with embarra.s.sment. "I was just joking. C'mon, can't you guys take a joke?"

The Elgen ranch trucks were larger than regular pickup trucks. And quieter. They looked like a cross between a pickup and a Sno-Cat, without the tank treads.

"They're electric of course," Ostin said, before I asked.

The first truck stopped just a few yards from the struggling bull. The men, all of them Peruvian and wearing boots, jeans, and white rancher s.h.i.+rts, got out of the truck and walked around the animal, trying to decide what to do with it.

They talked for about five minutes, then one of them went back to his truck and retrieved a rifle. He pointed it at the bull's head and fired. When the animal had stopped moving, the men took rope from the truck and tied the bull's legs together. Then they let out the wire from the truck's winch, wrapped it around the bull's torso, and began pulling it from the fence.

As the animal was being dragged to the truck, one of the men pointed to the branch that Jack had cut. All but two of them walked over to examine it. One of the men crouched down, running his finger over the machete marks. He began speaking excitedly. They looked up to where the branch was cut from, then in our direction. One of them pointed directly to where we were hiding.

"They're on to us," Jack whispered. "We've got to attack."

"We've got to get them closer to the fence," I said. "That guy's still holding his gun. Ostin, any ideas?"

Before he could answer, Abigail stood. "I've got one."

"What are you doing?" I said.

"Get down!" Jack said. They'll see you."

"I'm counting on it," she said, stepping from the shade of the canopy. "I'm betting they won't be expecting a blond American girl to come walking out of the jungle."

Abigail began sauntering toward the fence with a big smile.

"Zeus," I said. "Be ready to hit the guy with the gun."

"I'll try," he said. "But he's pretty far."

"Hola, amigos!" Abigail shouted.

The men all stopped what they were doing and stared.

"Excuse me," she said. "I'm lost. I'm looking for the beach."

The men looked at one another in amazement. One of them translated, then they all started to laugh.

"h.e.l.lo, how do you do?" said one in broken English. He started walking toward the fence. The rest followed.

"Pretty girl," another said. "Come close."

"Es un angel?" one man said. "De donde vino?"

"They think she's an angel," Ostin said.

"Taylor, now," I whispered.

Taylor concentrated, and the men suddenly stopped talking. Some of them looked around as if they were confused; two fell to their knees, their hands on their heads.

"Now!" I shouted.

Jack, Zeus, Wade, and I sprang from the bushes. Zeus began firing, first hitting the man with the rifle, then knocking three others to the ground. I knocked out the two on their knees with lightning b.a.l.l.s.

I tested the fence to make sure it was still dead, then all four of us climbed through the wire. Wade and Jack grabbed the man closest to the fence and dragged him over to Ian.

"Grab that guy's rope," Ian said. "And his knife."

"Got it," Wade said. He took the man's bowie knife from its sheath, then grabbed his coil of rope and threw it through the fence. "Here's the knife to cut it," he said, handing it to Ian.

McKenna began stretching the rope in long, straight pieces. "How long?"

"About five-foot lengths," Ian said. "Here's the knife."

"Don't need it," McKenna said, her hand burning red. She easily melted through the nylon rope.

Zeus, Wade, and I worked together dragging the men over to the fence within reach of Ian and the girls.

"I'll check the truck for weapons," Jack said, running toward the first truck. He returned holding two cans in the air. "Check this out. Bull mace."

We carried the men into the jungle, where we removed their rancher uniforms, leaving them in their underwear. Suddenly one of the men jumped up and ran.

Zeus shot at him but was too late, as the man was already in the trees.

"Get him!" I shouted. Jack and Zeus ran into the jungle after him.

We finished tying the rest of the men, then I said, "Ian, we better go help them. McKenna, you better come too. We'll need some light." I looked at Taylor. "Can you guys make sure they don't get away?"

"They're not going anywhere," Taylor said.

Wade held up one of the cans of bull mace. "I guarantee they're going nowhere."

Ian, McKenna, and I ran into the jungle in the direction Zeus and Jack had taken in pursuit. Even in the middle of day the jungle was dark enough that a person could hide, at least until McKenna lit up, illuminating everything around her like a great torch. After a few minutes of running we heard shouting in the distance.

"They're over there," Ian said.

When we caught up with them, the rancher was lying facedown on the ground between Jack and Zeus; Jack was pointing a can of mace at Zeus, and Zeus had his arms outstretched toward Jack, electricity arcing between his fingers.

"Stop it!" I shouted. They both turned to me. "What's going on?"

"Lightning stink shocked me," Jack said.

"It was an accident," Zeus said. "He was standing next to the dude."

"I had the dude pinned down, you stinking-"

"You say 'stink' one more time and I'm going to fry you-"

"Stop it!" I shouted again. "Are you guys crazy? We're about to walk into a camp of two thousand Elgen soldiers who want to kill us and you're fighting with each other?"

They both lowered their hands.

"If we can't do this together, we don't stand a chance. You two have got to stop fighting."