The Blade of Shattered Hope

Tick nodded before he could stop himself. He was impressed.

Paul let out a low whistle, a small but telling sign to Tick that Jane hadn’t killed his spirit completely, not yet—Tick hoped not ever.

“The door is nothing compared to what you’re about to see,” Jane said, a hint of giddiness in her voice. “Follow me.”

She entered the brightly lit hallway, her shoes—hidden beneath the folds of her long robe—tapping on the tile floor. Tick hesitated a second before following, terrified of what horrors they might be about to see, not to mention the worry eating at him about the Haunce and what they were supposed to accomplish. His chest tight with every breath, he stepped through the doorway along with Paul and Sofia.

The first section consisted of offices—normal human people dressed in normal human clothes tapping away at computer keyboards with monitors, printers, and servers everywhere. Several odd-looking machines were also scattered about the desks, similar to the machines they’d seen back in the desert. But nothing too out of the ordinary. If Tick didn’t know better, he would have thought it was an accounting business.

“This is where data is analyzed,” Jane explained without turning around. She kept walking. “It’s also where oversight of the melding processes takes place—a tricky operation that needs tight supervision.”

Melding processes? Tick thought. She acted like she’d said cereal production or car manufacturing. How could she be so callous?

They came to another massive metal door exactly like the first one. Jane shoved her hand into the silver goop, and soon this one opened up as well. A rancid smell of decay surged through the door like an infested wind. Tick and his friends coughed and sputtered, covering their noses. Tick tried to breathe only through his mouth, but then he tasted the air, which was even worse.

“What is that?” Sofia managed to choke out.

“It’s the smell of progress,” Jane said as she entered the barely lit hallway on the other side.

Tick, despite the putrid smell, despite his queasiness, couldn’t help but feel extremely curious. The surging, throbbing pulses of invisible power emanating from the open door pounded his senses.

He followed Jane into the stinky darkness.

Chapter 47

Weapons of Mass Coolness

Sato kept trying to dampen his emotions, stay levelheaded, but a new surge of confidence swelled inside him. For the first time, he felt like they were a real army with a real chance.

Now they had weapons.

The reunion with Master George and Sally had been thrilling but brief, exchanging barely a dozen words before they turned their full attention to the large wooden boxes. The Fifths looked like their eyes might pop, they were so excited and intrigued by what Mothball and Sally started pulling out of the crates, George explaining their uses in his very sophisticated voice, Rutger butting in now and then to say how cool this or that was.

The usual: boxes of Ragers—those little balls of compacted static electricity that exploded on impact in a display of destructive lightning. Some Shurrics—large guns of sonic power that devastated with sound waves.

A couple of new things as well: Squeezers, which were grenades full of tiny but extremely strong wires. When it exploded, the wires shot out and latched onto whatever was closest, then immediately retracted and curled up, no matter what the material. Very nasty results.

Finally, there was the Halter. A thin but sturdy plastic tube that ended in a cone, with a simple trigger on one end of the tube and a small cartridge on the other. Each cartridge equaled one shot: a spray of tiny darts spread out and injected its victims—potentially dozens if it hit a group—with a serum that immediately paralyzed them for hours. It was a variation of what Master George had created for Sofia to stop Tick’s madness at Chu’s headquarters. Very effective.

Ragers, Shurrics, Squeezers, Halters. Plenty to go around.

This could be fun.

The other group that had gone exploring returned about a half-hour after Master George’s arrival, saying they found nothing but a very long, encircling wooden fence, with only one exception—a gate of iron bars. The only thing they could see through it was a small grove of trees and nothing they did would open up the gate or make someone appear. So they’d come back, relieved to see why they hadn’t met up with the others on the far side.

Once the weapons had been passed out and the wooden boxes thrown into the forest to hide them—though they were probably being spied on anyway—the entire Fifth Army gathered around Sato. Time for business.

“Okay,” Sato began, his voice raised. “Seems like we’ve got no choice but to climb over that stupid fence. It’s probably about thirty feet high, but there are plenty of handholds and footholds, so it shouldn’t be too hard. I’m just worried about what might be waiting for us when we pop our heads over the edge. Once we have a good, solid group of twenty or so right at the top, we’ll throw volleys of Ragers and Squeezers to clear the way, and then we’ll send the first group over to cover with Shurric fire while the rest of us enter. Sound good?”

Rutger tapped Sato on the arm. “What about me? Don’t see myself rolling up the side of that fence very easily.”

Sato had to hold in a laugh—he didn’t want to embarrass his friend. “I think you, Sally, and Master George should use the Wand to go back to headquarters, monitor us, and wink us out when we’re ready.”

The look of relief that washed over Rutger before he quickly wiped it away made Sato like him more than ever. George stepped closer, pulling a yellow envelope from the inner pocket of his suit coat.

“Goodness gracious me,” he said, ripping the envelope open. “I almost forgot the most important part.” He pulled out a handful of square pieces of paper—no more than an inch on each side—then shook them on his flat palm for everyone to get a look.

“What are those?” Sato asked.

“Nanolocator patches.” George poured the square pieces back into the envelope, then pulled a single one out and held it between his thumb and forefinger. “There are hundreds here, and all you need to do is slap this against the skin of any person. The microscopic nanolocator will immediately slide off the patch and onto the subject, at which point we can wink them away. If we’re looking to rescue children from this miserable place, these patches will be our best shot.”

Sato was amazed and thrilled. Solutions to his two biggest concerns had been opened up for him—how they’d fight without weapons, and how they’d herd a bunch of potentially injured, suffering children safely away while fighting Jane’s monsters. Everything was in place.