Kingdom Keepers V (9781423153429) by Ridley Pearson Page A

they can be slippery. I’ll toss your board in.” She lifted the long board like it was nothing, walked to the rail, and lowered it, dropping it into the water.
    â€œOkay, then,” Finn said.
    â€œNice meeting you. And I mean it. There are a bunch of us that think what you’re doing is awesome. We’d love to help. Or just hang out. Or whatever.”
    â€œSure,” he said, returning to his non-sentences. A thought occurred to him a moment too late: what if the Overtakers had replaced his contact at the Boatworks with an OTK? Could anyone be as nice as Melanie to a total stranger?
    He made his way down the stairs and jumped into the water. In the distance, he saw a Cast Member escorting the partying kids from Crush ’n’ Gusher out of the park.
    Once in the water, he looked back up the steps.
    Melanie was gone.

W hile Philby remained locked in his room with a towel across the base of his door to block any light from giving him away, Willa, Maybeck, and Charlene were riding in the back of a Pargo toward the Base in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Each carried a large water gun—filled with ammonia—capable of shooting thirty feet. The air was thick with humidity and smelled of burning rubber, the remains of a late rehearsal at the stunt show. The park’s backstage area was like a warehouse district—nondescript, steel-sided one- and two-story buildings, bland and boring. But the three holograms hidden behind a bench seat on the Pargo could feel their hearts pounding, another unexpected result of the upgrade to 2.0.
    The Overtakers could be anywhere. The Fantasmic! show was known as an outpost for them—a place the real villains could blend in with their Cast Member counterparts. Despite security screening to prevent such substitutions, the Overtakers’ powers were not to be underestimated. On a night like this, when an assault on the Base was anticipated, it wasn’t a question of if but where they were gathered.
    Maybeck rolled out of the Pargo first, taking advantage of his holographic state. He rolled across the pavement, never feeling a thing, and crawled quickly into the shadow of a nearby building. He watched as Willa went next. Then the Pargo disappeared around the corner. Charlene was scheduled to bail out on the turn. If she did so, he didn’t see it. With everyone in place, while not perfect, they had decent views of all four sides of the two-story building that housed the Base.
    A dark window on the second floor filled with light and then went black again, the signal to Maybeck that Kenny Carlson, along with another boy and two girl recruits, had successfully crossed over as a DHI. It was a historic accomplishment: seven DHIs already backstage. When and if Amanda and Jess crossed over there would be nine.
    Maybeck practiced control of 2.0 by reaching out and touching the crate he hid behind, and then, with his next effort, burying the arm of his hologram up to the elbow. He’d worked on shortening the time needed to jump between the two states, finding the bandwidth ample enough to allow incredibly quick switching. They were just scratching the surface of 2.0, but already it was like an entirely new experience.
    Willa waved and he signaled back. Time slowed—either a product of 2.0 or his own nerves. He didn’t want to know which. The Cast Members inside the Base were no match for the Overtakers. A computer operator didn’t have a lot of skills when matched with a flame-throwing fairy. It left him and the others as the last line of defense—which no doubt made the Cast Members uneasy.
    A streak to Maybeck’s left. A hunched figure was running quickly toward him. Friend or foe? He had no idea. The ammonia wouldn’t kill, but it wouldn’t be pleasant; he wasn’t about to spray a “friendly” with it.
    He prepared to tackle the person. If it turned out to be an OT, he’d hit it in the face with the