Kingdom Keepers V (9781423153429) by Ridley Pearson Page B

ammonia, blinding it and sending it running for first aid. He squinted into the dark, trying to judge the distance. His muscles tensed, ready to spring. He knew a thing or two about defending himself. Life wasn’t always perfect as an African American kid in central Florida. He’d learned to be a step ahead and to see around corners. You didn’t wait for your opponent to own your space—to crowd you. You got the jump on them.
    He dove out into the open, grabbing the person by the knees and squeezing in the perfect execution of a football tackle. The person collapsed and Maybeck rolled on top of…her.
    â€œJess?”
    His hologram passed right through her so that he lay on the asphalt. She, too, was crossed over.
    â€œWhat the…? That could have hurt!”
    â€œThis way!”
    He hurried behind the crate. Jess followed.
    â€œ2.0,” he said.
    â€œYeah. I noticed.”
    â€œThanks for coming.”
    â€œI’m not volunteering for war duty, or whatever it is you call it,” she said. “I came here to warn you.”
    â€œAbout?”
    â€œI…hang on…”
    Sometimes when the Keepers crossed over, objects in their pockets crossed with them. Sometimes not. This was one area 2.0 still had not perfected, though it was more consistent now.
    â€œIt’s here!” Jess said, withdrawing and unfolding two pieces of paper, one atop the other. “I didn’t recognize this for what it was or I would have brought it up at the meeting. I have so many of these dreams. Always so random. This one was…maybe a week ago.”
    Maybeck held it up to the light. A bunch of rectangles and clusters of Xs. Jess’s “gift”—and what made her valuable as a Fairlie—was an uncanny ability to dream the future. It wasn’t perfect, and it wasn’t constant. But when one of her dreams could be interpreted correctly, it always proved insanely accurate. She sketched out what she had seen in the middle of the night after she awoke from one of the nightmares.
    â€œI don’t get it.”
    â€œNeither did I,” she whispered. “That’s why I didn’t really even think about it. But then Jeannie was doing this history project and was on Google Earth and something just clicked. I realized what this is…” She slid out the second sheet of paper. “It took me some time to narrow it down.”
    Maybeck angled this page to catch the light as well. It was a satellite image of rooftops.
    â€œIt’s here. Right here,” she said. “Amanda figured it out, once I realized what I’d dreamed. And check it out,” she added, pointing between the two sheets.
    â€œNo way!” Maybeck said.
    â€œShh!”
    He compared the two pages and turned her drawing until the positioning of the structures undeniably matched.
    â€œIt’s tonight,” she said. “Look at these numbers.” Awaking from her dream, she’d written down three numbers: 417. Together they made no sense. But separated, they could be a month, 4, April, and a date, 17.
    â€œTomorrow,” Maybeck said. But then, realizing it would soon be after midnight: “Or late tonight.”
    â€œTonight.”
    â€œAnd these?” he asked, indicating the Xs.
    â€œI thought you might know. I don’t have any idea.”
    Maybeck oriented himself to the Google Earth sheet and then to her drawing. He turned away from her and looked up.
    â€œIt’s them,” Maybeck said.
    â€œThe OTs?”
    â€œYeah! Has to be. Their positions. This is…incredible. This gives us the chance to attack instead of waiting to be attacked. Have you studied siege strategies? The best, really the only, way for the besieged to win is to wait for disease to kill the enemy, or pull off an ambush. And we don’t have time for disease.”
    â€œBut what if I’m wrong?”
    â€œYou? You’re never wrong.”
    â€œI’m