Return to Paradise by Pittacus Lore Page B

hovering nearby and I don’t want him to see me cry.
    My dad squeezes me through the bars. “You’ve grown up so much,” he says, a note of sadness in his voice.
    “Guys,” the Mog interrupts, “we have company.”
    I can hear them coming. Soldiers pouring into the cellblock from below, their boots rattling the gangway as they run up the metal stairs towards us. Finally, I’ve found my dad, he’s right here in front of me, and it’s all about to be ripped away.
    The Mogadorian pulls my dad away from my cell door. He turns to me, his voice commanding.
    “Stand in the center of your cell and cover your head.”
    My instinct is not to trust him. He’s one of them. Except why would one of the Mogadorians bring my father here? Why would he try to help us? There’s no time to think about that now, not with other Mogadorians—ones I can guarantee aren’t here to help—closing in.
    I do as he ordered.
    The Mogadorian reaches his hands through the bars of my cell, focusing on the wall behind me. Maybe it’s because I was just thinking about them, but for some reason, I’m reminded of those early days when we tested John’s Legacies in the backyard. It’s something about the way this Mogadorian focuses—the determination in his eyes undermined by shaking hands, like he doesn’t quite know what he’s doing.
    I feel something pass through the floor beneath me, like a ripple of energy. Then, with a piercing crack, the wall behind me crumbles. A piece of the ceiling shakes loose, smashing my toilet. The floor shifts and moves beneath my feet, and I’m thrown to the ground. It’s like the entire block of cells has been hit by a tiny earthquake. Everythingis tilted. My stomach turns over, and it’s not entirely due to the shaky floor. It’s fear. Somehow, that Mogadorian just knocked down a wall with his mind. It was almost as if he was using a Legacy.
    But that’s impossible, right?
    Outside my cell, my dad and the Mogadorian have been knocked backwards against the gangway’s railing. The door of my cell is cockeyed now, the metal warped and bent. There’s enough space for them to squeeze through.
    As the Mogadorian pushes my dad towards the door of my cell, he points to the opening in the wall behind me.
    “Go!” he shouts. “Run!”
    I hesitate for a moment, glancing at my dad. He’s already squeezing through the bars. I reassure myself that he’ll be right behind me.
    I cough as some of the dust from the destroyed wall enters my lungs. Through the opening in the wall I can see the inner workings of the base; pipes and ventilation shafts, clumps of wiring and insulation.
    Wrapping my legs around one of the larger pipes, I start shimmying down. Pins and needles shoot through my weakened legs and for a moment I’m worried that I’ll lose my grip and slip. But then the adrenaline kicks in and my grip tightens. Escape is so close, I have to push myself.
    I see my dad’s shadow in the opening above me. He’s hesitating.
    “What’re you doing?!” my dad shouts at the Mog. “Adam?”
    I hear the Mogadorian—Adam—reply, his voice resolute. “Go with your son. Now.”
    My dad starts climbing down after me, but I’ve stopped. I’m thinking about what it was like to be left behind in one of these places. Mogadorian or not, this Adam guy just broke me out of jail and reunited me with my father. He shouldn’t have to face down those soldiers alone.
    I call up to my dad. “We’re just going to leave him?”
    “Adam knows what he’s doing,” my dad answers, but his voice sounds unsure. “Keep moving, Sam!”
    Another vibration strikes, nearly shaking me loose from the pipe. I look up to check on my dad, just as another shock wave jostles loose the gun he’s been carrying in the back of his pants. I’m clinging too tightly to the pipe to catch it and the weapon goes plummeting into the darkness below.
    “Damn it,” he grunts.
    The Mogs must have closed in on Adam and he’s fighting back. Shortly