The Siren's Cry

by Jennifer Anne Kogler

  With a bewildered expression, Miles looked at Fern, newly arrived, and then at the looming stone building and the illuminated monuments he’d previously seen only in pictures. The fact that he had escaped from the control of Laffar and the Sirens began to sink in.

  “I’m free!” he said, shouting through the biting night air. He extended both his arms out to the side and ran at Candace and Fern, pretending he was about to clothesline them. Instead he wrapped one arm around each of their necks and pulled them to him in a forceful group hug.

  Fern thought about calling Mrs. Lin and the Commander, who were monitoring Fern from the makeshift command post at the hotel, armed with cell phones should anything go wrong. But she realized she didn’t need to notify Mrs. Lin that her husband was nowhere to be found in the concrete bunker—May Lin would have seen it with her own eyes in the Sagebrush of Hyperion she was using to track Fern.

  There was nothing more to be done right now. They would have to turn their attention to rescuing Mr. Lin after completing the impending heist.

  “I have to go see Aunt Chan! She’s probably so worried about me.”

  Fern wanted to tell Miles to lower his voice. After all, she had firsthand knowledge of the close watch the Capitol police kept on the buildings and monuments surrounding the National Mall. If Officer Hallet, or his equivalent, were to find her roaming near the Mall again at this hour, they would all be taken into custody on the spot.

  “Miles, you can’t go see your aunt yet.”

  “Why not?” he asked defensively.

  “Because we have something to do first.”

  “What?” Miles said, still close to Fern and Candace.

  “We’re going to steal the moon rock that’s inside this building.”

  “What?” Miles said, confused. “But that’s what Silver Tooth wants! He’s planning on stealing it tonight. . . . Why do we need it?”

  Fern sighed, hating to deliver the ominous news—that Miles would be hunted by Laffar so that he could complete the potion and carry out his plan. But before she found the right words to cushion the blow, Candace spoke.

  “Silver Tooth,” Candace explained, “is Fern’s father, though he doesn’t know it. His name is Haryle Laffar, and he’s a complete psycho who killed Fern’s mother. His actual strategy is to create a potion that will give him immortality, and the last ingredient is the moon rock inside this museum. Then he will add your blood, which will transfer your special powers to him and will most likely kill you.” Candace said it in a matter-of-fact way, as if she was reading aloud the label on her favorite breakfast cereal.

  “Who are you again?” Miles said, turning his attention to the strange girl with the backpack and the photographs.

  “Like I said before, I’m Candace Tutter, grade seven, and I am Fern’s friend.”

  “What can you do?” Miles demanded.

  “What can I do? What kind of a question is that?” Candace replied, raising her eyebrow.

  “What’s your special talent? Why are you here?”

  “Oh, I’m not an Otherworldly,” Candace said, wondering what Miles was getting at.

  “Candace has plenty of other talents that don’t exactly fall on the Otherworldly spectrum, believe me, Miles. . . . She’s here to help us.”

  “So what she says is true? If Silver Tooth, er, Laffar, makes the immortality potion, he can also use it to transfer my powers to him? That’s why he wants to make it?”

  “Yes,” Fern said gently, recalling how she’d felt when she first heard this information. “He’ll take your blood first, and then mine. Doing so will most likely kill us. Then he’ll have the special powers of two Unusuals.”

  “So how do we stop him?” Miles said, dejection replacing his earlier elation.

  “You two have to steal the rock before he does! Then you can destroy it.” Candace rarely raised her voice, knowing it was not the most effective way to express rational thought, but Miles and Fern had wasted enough time.

  “I know this is a lot to digest, but we don’t have much time, Miles.” Fern looked at her fellow Unusual compassionately. “You and Laffar committed the first robbery around one a.m., right? We think he’ll follow that timing again, which gives us about a half hour before he goes to retrieve you from your cell and discovers you’re gone.”

  “But we need to know exactly what he’s after and what it looks like before we can steal it!” Miles said. “We don’t know what kind of security there is, what the exact moon rock even looks like so I can teleport there. . . . Before I went in to get the Hope Diamond, Silver, um—I mean Laffar—reviewed the details with me for days.”

  “We may not have much time to prepare,” Fern said, noting Candace busy at work, carefully laying sheets of photos on the bench in front of them. “But just listen.”

  Candace took that as her cue to explain to Miles all that she’d discovered and memorized about the layout of the museum, the placement of the security cameras and infrared sensors.

  “The rotating security cameras at the north and south ends of the gallery containing the moon rock should be no problem because you’ll be invisible,” Candace said, pointing to a color image of the entire room. “Miles, you don’t happen to know if the invisibility coating you apply stops you from emitting black body radiation, do you?”

  “What?” Miles said, pushing his glasses up his nose to get a clearer look at Fern’s peculiar “friend.”

  “Never mind. Because we’re unsure, you must be careful to avoid all doorways and thresholds. I’m simply not certain if you two will set off the infrared sensors when you’re invisible, so it’s best to play it safe.”

  “You two?” Miles questioned. “Who else is coming with me?”

  Fern stepped forward.

  “I am,” she declared. “You can make me invisible, can’t you?”

  Miles felt as though he had unwillingly dragged Fern McAllister into this whole mess.

  “Yeah,” he started, “but there’s no need for both of us to put ourselves in—“

  “Listen, Miles. We got into this together and we’re going to get out of it together, all right?”

  “Now, once Sam and Lindsey arrive, they’ll take their positions at the southern and the eastern entrances to the museum,” Candace said, continuing her instructions. Miles considered asking who in the world Sam and Lindsey were but rejected the idea. He was on information overload as it was.

  Sam and Lindsey were to follow Fern on foot to the zoo, about a five-minute walk away, in case she needed support. But once they’d been given the all-clear signal, they were to go to the Air and Space in a taxi to act as lookouts. Fern expected them to arrive at any moment.

  Candace fished in her backpack once again. She produced a hammer and a flathead screwdriver and laid them on the bench next to her collection of Air and Space Museum printouts. pointing to a close-up of the moon rock, Candace explained the specific task at hand.

  “Miles,” she began, “you will teleport to the southern base of the stand that holds the moon rock.” She pointed to the south side of the stand in the photo.

  “Where’s the moon rock?” Miles said, growing confused as he studied the picture. The picture showed a rectangular cube that appeared to be about chest high, without a glass case or even a stand of any kind. It was like the podium for a statue without the statue.

  Candace pointed to the sheet of paper closest to the screwdriver and the hammer. It was the only sheet with a single picture on it. Miles and Fern hovered over it.

  Fern recognized it immediately, having seen it only two days ago (though it felt like those days had been weeks). Miles, on the other hand, had no idea what he was looking at. The top of the marble rectangular stand was covered with a gray granitelike substance. A small space had been cut into its center. The small triangular-shaped object placed inside the opening was about the size of an arrowhead, slightly darker than the gray material surrounding it.

  “That is the moon rock!” Candace revealed. />
  “That is the moon rock? It’s so dinky,” Miles said.

  Candace put her hands on her hips impatiently. “I guess some people are impressed that they’re able to touch a four-billion-year-old artifact from space and others are not.”

  “Well, I think it looks like any old rock,” Miles said, returning Candace’s volley. He peered more closely at the picture. “It’s like someone dug a hole in the granite stand and then cemented it in there. How are we going to remove it?”

  Candace moved her hand toward the screwdriver and hammer. “You can turn objects and people invisible, correct?”

  “Sure,” Miles said, picking up the hammer. “Where did you get these tools?”

  “Why does it matter?” replied Candace.

  Fern looked at Candace and then at Miles. One thing she had not expected was for them to butt heads.

  “If you must know,” Candace said sharply, “Fern and I gained access to a supply closet at the hotel. We secured them before Fern left to rescue you.

  “Now one of you will hold the screwdriver in place, wedged into the crevice where the rock’s been glued, and the other will hammer the top of it, which will turn the screwdriver into a forceful lever, enabling you to separate the moon rock from its display.”

  “How do we know we’ll be able to get the moon rock out at all?” Miles demanded, stepping closer to Candace so that their faces were inches apart.

  Candace did not back down, instead moving a little closer to Miles. “We know because the Smithsonian officials in charge of the exhibit are not likely to use a corrosive material on a rock that’s worth millions of dollars. You may have to strike it a few times, but I have little doubt you will be able to pry it loose.”

  “All right, enough, you two,” Fern broke in. “We’re all on the same team, okay?”

  Two people approached from the north on Independence Avenue. They stopped adjacent to the entrance.

  “Get down!” Fern whispered, directing the group toward a covered area behind the bench. Fern, Candace, and Miles all stumbled behind the bench’s cover.

  Through a crack in the wood-planked back of the bench, Fern watched the pedestrians. She spotted Lind-sey’s long dark hair first and felt herself relax.

  Sam and Lindsey, dressed in black from head to toe, ran quickly up the steps leading to the entrance of the museum.

  Fern emerged from behind the bench as the black-clad duo approached.

  “About time you arrived,” she said. Sam smiled broadly as he spotted Fern.

  “We had a little trouble getting a cab at this time of night,” Sam said.

  “I didn’t see a taxi pull up,” Fern said.

  “I made him let us off a few blocks away. I didn’t want him to get suspicious. Gave him twenty bucks to wait there for us.”

  Sam was wearing a black beanie, and Lindsey had on a charcoal jacket. There was no other activity on the street in front of the Air and Space Museum. All was quiet in the District.

  Realizing that there was no immediate danger, Can-dace hopped out from behind the bench and grabbed another sheet of paper from her backpack. It was a Google map showing the streets in the surrounding area.

  “By the way, Miles, this is my brother, Sam, and our friend Lindsey Lin,” Fern said, feeling awkward because they all knew so much about Miles and he knew nothing about them.

  “Nice to meet you,” Lindsey said, extending her hand. Miles took it in his own and gave it a shake.

  Lindsey pulled the hood of her jacket around her head. They all crouched around the map.

  “Lindsey, you are going to be watching the museum from here,” Candace said, pointing to the intersection of Jefferson Drive and Seventh Street. “I will man my post from the front of the museum, and Sam, you’ll take the other side of Jefferson Drive.

  “If anything goes wrong, we’re going to call your cell phone, Fern. You should both be able to hear it. Remember that you cannot answer it—we don’t want your voice winding up on a surveillance recording. One ring means we all will meet back out here, near the side of the museum. Two rings means that our lookout positions have been compromised and we will reassemble at the hotel. But either way, if your phone rings, you need to get out of the museum.”

  Candace pulled out a brochure. At the top, it said WOODLEY PARK MARRIOTT, and inside there were glossy photographs of the hotel. The first was the lobby. Candace pointed to the picture.

  “Two rings means you need to teleport back here, Miles. Do not go back to your aunt’s house. It may not be safe.”

  Miles looked at the photograph of the nicely decorated lobby, memorizing the upholstered checkered chairs and the light orange drapes. As an insurance policy, he crammed the brochure in his back pocket.

  “Okay,” Miles agreed. The group of conspirators stood in a circle and stared blankly at one another for a few moments. They weren’t sure what to do next but weren’t quite ready to flip the mental switch on and officially embark on the riskiest stunt of their lives.

  “Have you gone over everything?” Sam asked.

  Candace was clutching her notebook and pencil, making entries on a to-do list. She handed Fern the screwdriver and then Miles the hammer, instructing them to hide the tools in their jackets.

  “I believe so,” Candace said, checking off the last item on the list.

  “What’s left then?” Fern asked, so nervous that she could taste the stomach acid in her mouth.

  “I guess there’s just one thing,” Lindsey said, inspecting Miles first, then Fern. “You two need to get invisible.”

  Other than himself, Miles had turned only one person invisible before. Aunt Chan, who always seemed more interested in investigating the full extent and limits of Miles’s power than Miles himself, had insisted that he practice on her, and he was fairly certain he could erase Fern in front of the National Air and Space Museum.

  Candace, Sam, Lindsey, and Fern all watched as Miles closed his eyes tightly. He put his hands together as if he were beginning to pray. Then he began rubbing his hands together, slowly at first, then faster and faster until finally no one could tell where one hand ended and the other began.

  Fern was the first to notice Miles’s fingertips disappear. She nudged Sam and pointed.

  “Whoa,” Sam said, incredulous.

  Soon Miles’s arms vanished, followed by his legs. He was a torso with a head, floating off the ground. His eyes were still closed, and he grimaced. Though no one could see his hands, the frantic swish of Miles rubbing them together filled the night air. Fern began to worry that Miles would rub his skin right off. Only Miles’s head, complete with his thick-framed glasses and his Twins cap, was left, magically levitating off the ground.

  “Moving things with your mind is pretty cool,” Sam said, “but that right there is real magic, Fern.” Even Fern had to admit that it was an amazing feat. There was no trace left of Miles.

  “Miles?” Candace asked. “Where are you?”

  “Are you ready, Fern?” Miles’s voice came from a spot directly in front of her. Fern squinted and stared as hard as she could, but there was no trace of Miles—not the thick curls on Miles’s head, not his dirty Twins cap, not his torn shirt.

  “Yes,” Fern said, feeling a surge as every neuron in her head fired.

  “All right, put out your palms, facing up,” Miles’s detached voice commanded. “You’re going to feel something wet on them. That’s what I’m putting on them. Once you feel the liquid on your hands, rub them together as fast as you can, like you saw me do. It will cause a reaction and turn you invisible.”

  Fern put her hands out. She felt Miles’s hands on her own, and it was as if he’d dipped them in slime. He rubbed the gooey liquid all over her hands. It felt ice-water cold at first. Then it started tingling like Icy Hot.

  Fern began to rub. At first she thought she wasn’t rubbing fast enough, so she clenched her teeth and moved her hands even faster. Soon both her arms were aching so painfully, she felt like they might fall
off. But she continued to rub.

  “Whoa,” Sam said again. Fern looked down at her hands and arms. She could no longer see them, though she could feel the sharp ache vividly.

  It was working! Fern rubbed faster and faster. Soon she could no longer see her legs. Then her torso disappeared. She knew she couldn’t rub much longer without completely running out of steam.

  “You’re gone, Fern! You can stop now.”

  Fern let her arms drop to her sides. The tingling sensation had overtaken her whole body. It was as if she’d jumped in a huge vat of superstrength Vicks VapoRub.

  Fern waved her hand in front of her face. She couldn’t see anything.

  “You have to quickly touch the screwdriver to make sure it turns invisible too,” Miles said. Fern was anxious to ask more questions about Miles’s awesome power, but she knew they didn’t have time. She followed instructions and rubbed her palms all over the screwdriver.

  “You should bottle that stuff and sell it,” Sam said, hoping he was talking in Miles’s direction.

  Miles’s disembodied voice came from behind them. Candace, Lindsey, and Sam turned around. “Yours is going to wear off in about fifteen minutes, Fern. So we don’t have time to waste.”

  Fern felt a bulge inside her jacket. She’d forgotten until her hand brushed up against them, but she was still carrying the bolt cutters. She rubbed them with the palms of her hands. She probably wouldn’t need them, and her invisible coat covered them. But it was best to play it as safely as she could. As she was about to check to see if they’d turned invisible, Candace called out to her as she moved back to the bench.

  “Come over here, so you can look at the exact place you’re supposed to teleport to.”

  Fern stepped toward the bench when her knee collided with something hard, causing her to topple to the ground. Her kneecap was radiating pain.

  She heard Miles let out a low moan too.

  “What is it?” Candace said, looking around, speaking to the open air because she was unable to see Fern or Miles.

  “We slammed into each other,” Miles said. “I think we hit knees.”