Wade and the Scorpion's Claw by Tony Abbott Page B

information.”
    I wanted to brush all my caution out of the way, especially since we were finally together again—and food was on the way—but it wouldn’t leave me. The way Feng Yi had swept in to rescue Dad and us was awesome, and a real spectacle. I was grateful, really. But it was also . . . convenient. I wasn’t sure how much Guardians knew about us, but asking him questions might tell us.
    â€œMr. Feng,” I started, “can I ask you something?”
    â€œBy all means.”
    Dad fixed his eyes on me and nodded to go ahead. “Markus Wolff, the German man, he’s not here for . . .” I stopped. “I mean . . .”
    â€œFor Vela, is this what you mean?” he said.
    So he knew about Vela, at least.
    â€œAll of what the Order does is about every one of the twelve relics of the Copernicus time machine,” he said. “They are linked in different ways. You must know that the symbol of the Teutonic Order is the kraken?”
    Of course we knew that. Uncle Henry’s first coded message used the word before we discovered what it really meant. Hearing it again made me uneasy all over again. I nodded.
    â€œWell, Markus Wolff and his Star Warriors are arms of that great kraken whose head is Galina Krause herself. They are her servants. Often they are slaves of the Teutonic Order. Allow me to show you.”
    From a locked cabinet on the wall next to the kitchen, he removed a black leather satchel. “Do you recognize this?”
    We didn’t, although the black leather was the same as Wolff’s coat.
    â€œI stole it earlier from Herr Wolff, and Liang has kindly kept it for me here. One compartment is locked by a clever microchip device, the sort that will destroy its contents—and its carrier—if it is breached. But this will interest you.” From another compartment, he slid out a tablet computer of a sort I’d never seen before. It was compact, black, and rugged.
    â€œWe could sure use one of those,” said Lily, practically sitting on her hands to keep from snatching it out of the man’s grasp.
    â€œIs that Leathercoat’s?” Darrell asked.
    Mr. Feng smiled at the name. “It is. I have friends—Guardians—in Shanghai who work in the Chinese government computer surveillance division. They are seeking a way to unlock the compartment, but in the meantime, they have reconstructed Wolff’s last conversation on this tablet. Behold . . .”
    He tapped the power switch and held the tablet so we could all see the screen. A few moments later, it lit up with the image of a ghostly white face surrounded by jet-black hair.
    It was the face of Galina Krause.
    As close to us as if she were in the room.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
    G alina Krause was nearly as hypnotic on the tablet’s screen as she is in real life. Beautiful doesn’t even begin to describe her—with her two differently colored eyes, her skin as white as snow, and her raven hair (about which, by the way, don’t get Darrell started, at least not in front of Lily).
    We had seen her several times, but never so close as in that cave in Guam, where she had demanded we give Vela to her. When we refused, Galina shot her crossbow at us, wounding Becca, who now winced to see the woman’s face, and it made me angry all over again.
    After a quick rattle of words in German, we heard the off-screen voice of Markus Wolff speak to Galina in English. “I am sending several images to the Copernicus servers in Madrid.”
    â€œMadrid?” said Darrell. “Is that where they plan to take Mom . . . ?”
    Dad was riveted on the image. “That may be a lead.”
    I realized at that moment what he’d meant in Honolulu about the Copernicus servers and the Order’s vast computing resources.
    Galina smiled coldly into the screen. “So the great Markus Wolff requires the resources of our