Payback

by Gordon Korman

  Tori grabs my wrist with both hands and hangs on tight. “Stop it!”

  “I told you if you ever see me again, you’d better be running!” I shout at Hector.

  “Don’t hit me!” Hector hisses urgently. “I can help you.”

  “Like you helped us in Texas?” I demand.

  “I can convince them,” he promises. “I can get them to believe you. You have to trust me.”

  I lunge for him again, and this time, my three partners grab me. I don’t back off until I catch a glimpse of Robbie, gawking at us. This kind of violent scuffle is something a kid straight out of Happy Valley has never seen before.

  But his expression has gone from angry to confused. So Hector’s words must mean something to him.

  “What’s in it for you?” I growl at Hector.

  “Wherever you’re going, take me with you,” he replies.

  “In your dreams!”

  But Frieden speaks to Hector directly. “We have a boat. If you help us persuade the others to leave with us, we’ll take you too.”

  “No way,” I protest. “Nobody gets a second chance to double-cross me!”

  “I thought you guys deserted me,” Hector whines. “What could I do besides cut a deal?”

  “Because you’re a slimeball!”

  “We’re all slimeballs,” he shoots back. “If you consider what we’re made of, what choice do we have?”

  “We have a choice,” Frieden states firmly. “If there’s one thing we’ve learned it’s that there’s always a choice, no matter who you’re cloned from.”

  Robbie is taking this in, his mouth open in wonder. It’s as if he still doesn’t believe us, but we’re so worked up that it can’t be just an act for his benefit.

  “Robbie,” Hector explains. “I was in the Plastics Works with them. I saw what they saw. And I made a deal with the Purples not to tell the rest of you. Nobody was sick—they escaped. And now they’re here to save the rest of us.”

  Robbie is torn in two, like a sheet of paper ripped down the middle. “I should talk to my parents.”

  “You don’t have parents,” Amber tells him. “Just scientists in charge of your part of the experiment.”

  “No,” he barely whispers.

  “It broke my heart to learn it too,” Tori says kindly. “But it’s a fact. They raised you. They might even love you. But they’re not your parents.”

  For some reason, I remember my fake mother’s pot roast. The idea that she’s on this island somewhere—and that I can’t go see her—puts a lump in my throat the size of a beach ball. After everything I’ve been through, I’m the same pathetic mama’s boy as Robbie. Just a little more used to it, and resigned to my fate.

  Robbie’s tanned shoulders slump. “Can’t I even say good-bye?”

  That’s when we know we have him.

  23

  HECTOR AMANI

  Okay, I’m not the nicest person in the world. I betrayed my friends in Texas. I don’t deny it. What do you expect, considering who I’m cloned from? C. J. Rackoff is a notorious swindler and a complete jerk, but he’s also a survivor. Well, me too. Everything I’ve done has been just trying to survive.

  All my life, I’ve been on the outside looking in. In a town with only thirty kids in total—that wasn’t even a real town—I was the fifth wheel nobody wanted. I had to beg Malik and the others to let me escape with them. And when we got separated in the breakout, they just went on without me.

  I would have had zero chance on my own. Who could blame me for making my best deal with the only people I’d ever known? And double-crossing my friends? It was the only bargaining chip I had. C. J. Rackoff would have done the same thing. He told me so.

  Harsh? You bet. But it’s not like those four are cloned from anybody better.

  It hurts the most that Malik hates me, since we used to be best friends. Still, when I think back, that was kind of a one-way street too. He kept me around so he could push me around, or so I could help him with his homework. It felt like more at the time, but it wasn’t.

  Rackoff never would have fallen for it. That’s one difference between us.

  “I don’t trust the shrimp,” I overhear Malik whispering to Eli as we dry off at the towel cart. “Not after Texas.”

  “I’m standing right here,” I remind him sharply. “You know my big ears you always made fun of? Well, they can hear you.”

  Malik rounds on me, face flushed. “Excuse me for not being in love with the guy who stabbed us in the back. I’m not thrilled about giving you another chance to twist the knife.”

  Amber jumps in. “Cut it out, Malik. This place is crawling with Osiris people—including Purples.”

  “So he gets a pass for what he did?” Malik demands.

  I can’t resist. “What choice do you have, Malik? Now that I’ve seen you here, how do you know I won’t rat you out?”

  If looks could kill, I’d be dead.

  Tori sighs. “If you want us to have faith in you, Hector, you’ve got to stop saying things like that.”

  I point at Malik. “He has to stop too.”

  He glowers at me. “If we can pull this off, we’ve got a long boat ride at the end. Try anything funny and a lot of sharks will be having indigestion tonight!”

  Eli has a question for me. “Where’s the best place for us to find the others?”

  “I’ve seen Freddie at the wave pool a lot,” I report. “I’m not in the water park as much as everybody else because Rackoff has been trying to play dad lately. He’s teaching me how to cheat at blackjack.”

  Robbie speaks up. “Margaret and Penelope love the lazy river, but one of the moms usually goes with them.”

  “We definitely want to avoid being seen by any parents,” Tori puts in. “And the Purples—forget it. They’re the biggest danger of all.”

  We try the wave pool first. We spread out as we cross the brick walkways. Eli, Malik, and Tori pull their hats low and Amber keeps a hand over her brow. Tori is about six feet to my left when a pained whimper escapes her, and she ducks behind a bathroom hut. Suddenly, the others have melted away too. Amber is off the path, admiring a flowering shrub. Malik veers into a shop and examines a rack of Hawaiian shirts. Eli steps into an outdoor shower and disappears behind the spray of water.

  Heading our way, balancing two iced coffees on a tray, is Mr. Pritel—Tori’s father. This is the first time she’s seen him since the night we broke out of Serenity. Out of all of us, Tori had the closest thing to a real family. I experience a rush of resentment—mostly jealousy. To my own parents, I was only valuable as a lab specimen.

  “Hi, Mr. Pritel,” I call, and beside me, Robbie waves.

  “Morning, Hector. Robbie.”

  I catch a threatening look from Malik from between the shirts, and I realize he’s fully expecting me to give them away. For an instant, I’m tempted to do it, just to pay him back for not trusting me. I can actually feel the words forming on the tip of my tongue.

  Mr. Pritel hurries past, and the coast is clear again. As Robbie and I keep walking, the others converge around us, and the mission is back on. Nobody says anything about the close call, least of all Tori. But an expression of grim determination is frozen on her face.

  The wave pool is dead ahead. As we get closer, we spy Ben Stastny in the deepest part, jumping breakers.

  “Jackpot,” I whisper.

  Right beside him, bobbing in an inner tube, is Freddie Cinta.

  “Ben and Freddie!” Eli breathes.

  “Two for the price of one,” I confirm. As a clone of C. J. Rackoff, I can’t resist a bargain.

  We’re just about to splash into the water when Tori herds us suddenly into a pool cabana.

  Malik is annoyed. “What gives, Torific? Are we doing this or what?”

  Her reply is one word, but it speaks volumes: “Purple.”

  We take turns peering out through the canvas drapery. I remember that about Tori—real eagle eyes. There, in another cabana across the c
urved rim of the pool, is the Purple People Eater we call Rump L. Stiltskin. He’s in Bermuda shorts and a muscle shirt, and he’s pretending to read a book. But it’s pretty clear he’s keeping an eye on Freddie and Ben.

  Eli frowns. “I guess we could wait till he goes to the bathroom or something. But that might be hours.”

  Tori thinks it over. “Well, obviously we can’t all go out there.” She turns to Robbie and me. “You belong here. You’ll have to do it. Get them out of the pool and meet us at the path down to the lazy river.”

  “What if Rump follows us?” I ask her.

  “He won’t.”

  “How can you be so sure?” I’m a wheeler-dealer. Stuff that happens in the real physical world isn’t my strength.

  Tori blinks. “You let us worry about that.”

  Robbie doesn’t say much as we splash out into the pool. He looks stunned—which is the way I must have looked when I first realized the truth.

  “Don’t overthink it,” I advise him. “Not unless you want your head to explode.”

  “You look nothing like him,” he blurts.

  “Huh?”

  “Mr. Rackoff. If you have his DNA, how come you don’t look alike?”

  “We will—when I’m as old as he is now.” Not a fun thing to admit. But if I’m stuck with his face, maybe I’ll be rich like him too. “And you’re going to look like some counterfeiter. And Freddie and Ben—you get the picture.”

  He shakes his head in wonder. “I still can’t believe it. I mean, I believe you guys. I just don’t believe—you know—it.”

  “At least you already know,” I tell him. “Poor Freddie and Ben still have their happy surprise coming up.”

  We’re up to our shoulders and jumping waves by the time we reach them.

  “Hi, Robbie,” Ben calls.

  Notice there’s no Hi, Hector in there. Rackoff may be loaded, but I’ll bet he was never very popular either. Anyway, I’m used to it. Accidentally or on purpose, Freddie splashes me in the face.

  I’ve got one eye on Rump L. Stiltskin in his cabana. He’s definitely watching us, but there’s no reason for him to be suspicious.

  All right, Tori. Whatever you’re going to do, do it now!

  As if on cue, Rump’s cabana collapses on him, and he’s tangled in metal poles and canvas drapery. As his arms and legs struggle against the smothering fabric, I spy Tori and Eli scampering through the maze of deck chairs away from the scene of the crime.

  “All, right, you guys,” I bark. “Come with us. Now!”

  “Why?” asks Ben.

  “It’s really important,” Robbie chimes in. “Let’s go!”

  We struggle through the breakers, Ben pulling Freddie in the inner tube. When we climb up on the deck, I can see that the undulating arms and legs in the wreckage of Rump’s cabana are close to escape.

  “Run,” I order.

  Maybe it’s the urgency in my voice; maybe it’s the fact that Robbie runs first. Or maybe criminal DNA is always good at crunch time. We take off, heading past the entrance to the lazy river into the cover of the trees.

  Once we’re out of view of the wave pool, we pull up, catching our breath.

  “What’s this about?” Freddie wheezes.

  Eli steps into the clearing. “We’ve got something to tell you.”

  “Eli?” Ben is wide-eyed. He’s even more shocked when Tori, Amber, and Malik join the group.

  “You’re cured!” Freddie exclaims in delight.

  “We were never sick,” Malik informs him. “Now, listen up. And get ready to have your minds blown.”

  24

  AMBER LASKA

  Freddie doesn’t believe us. I can tell by the way his lower lip sticks out. Or maybe he does believe us, but he doesn’t want to.

  It’s way more than accepting a new set of facts. It’s giving up your whole life, and everything you ever knew and loved. I did it because I saw hard evidence. Robbie and Freddie and Ben have to take the leap just because we say so.

  “I knew there had to be something messed up about Serenity,” Ben muses.

  Freddie is stubborn. “No way.”

  “It wasn’t so much when we were there,” Robbie puts in. “Then we didn’t have anything to compare it to. But now that we’re out, meeting people—a lot of the things our folks told us just don’t add up.”

  “A vacation resort isn’t the same as the real world,” Freddie points out.

  Listening to them brings back the days when the others knew the truth about Serenity, but I was too programmed to see it. I was as blind as Freddie. Even more so, because my mother was our teacher, so she had extra time to drum the un-facts into my head.

  Ben looks torn. “I don’t know. Have you turned on the TV here? The shows aren’t the same as what we got in Serenity.”

  Freddie’s appalled. “You watched TV? After our parents told us not to?”

  “That’s something you learn about the real world,” Malik puts in. “People don’t always do what they’re told. They lie sometimes. It’s actually pretty awesome—”

  I silence him with an elbow to the ribs. “You’re not helping.” Leave it to Malik to make a speech when the clock is ticking.

  “Project Osiris is the lie,” Eli insists. “They told you we were in the hospital—another lie. Here we are, not sick. And the last time we were in Serenity, it was a ghost town.”

  I’m in agony over the very real possibility that we won’t be able to convince them. Nothing could be worse than that powerlessness. “You’re not on vacation,” I plead. “Project Osiris is hiding here. When we escaped, they had to leave the country, because we could put them in jail with what we know.”

  They have a million questions—they should have a million questions considering what we’re asking them to do. But we haven’t got time to answer them. The longer we spend on West Cay, the greater the chance that we’ll be spotted by someone from Serenity. And that’s not the only time pressure we’re under. Rump L. Stiltskin is probably already looking for Freddie and Ben, and Hector and Robbie have been unaccounted for even longer than they have. Sure, people get separated in a place like this. But sooner or later, Osiris is going to realize that the disappearance of their clones is more than a coincidence. When that happens, we need to be gone.

  “When we get to the boat,” Tori promises, “we’ll show you the web page on Project Osiris. We can prove all of this. Just not now.”

  “They can,” Hector confirms. “I’ve seen it.”

  “So bust a move,” Malik orders.

  And they follow us, even Freddie. Somehow, being pushed around by Malik is an old, familiar feeling that calms everybody’s nerves in a crisis. It’s about time his obnoxious personality came in handy.

  Next stop: the lazy river. We stake out the riverbank along the artificial waterway, hoping Margaret and Penelope will float by soon. Actually, we hope they float by at all. Our luck, we’ve chosen the one morning when the girls decide to ride the slides or go to the beach first thing.

  Eli, Malik, Tori, and I hide in the bushes, leaving Hector, Robbie, Freddie, and Ben standing by the water’s edge. It feels like a hundred years, but in reality, it’s more like eight or ten minutes. At one point, we see Rump L. Stiltskin crossing the footbridge over the rapids. He never glances down, though, to see the object of his search.

  There are a lot of people on the lazy river, at least half of them adults, so I almost miss Mrs. Rauha as she passes. Another Serenity adult, coplotter of the Osiris deception. She’s got her back turned as Margaret and Penelope come bobbing along. Convenient.

  The girls spot the boys and call out greetings.

  “You have to come with us!” Hector hisses.

  “We’ll catch you guys later,” Penelope calls back.

  “Get them out, shrimp!” Malik hollers beside me.

  Hector stretches and grabs Margaret’s arm, but the momentum of the tube yanks him off his feet and he tumbles into the lazy river. The four of us abandon the
bushes and rush down to the water, where Robbie, Freddie, and Ben are rescuing Hector instead of hauling out the girls.

  Penelope and Margaret are laughing, but that stops when they get a look at us.

  “Eli?” Penelope cries in amazement.

  In a Herculean effort, Malik lifts both girls clean out of their tubes and is about to topple into the water himself when Tori grabs him around the midsection. There we teeter, fighting gravity, as Mrs. Rauha’s tube bumps the side and turns her around to see what’s going on with her girls. Her eyes widen first in shock and then in horror as she identifies the four Osiris escapees.

  She begins to struggle, attempting to paddle back against the current toward us. But she’s already thirty feet downstream. As a single figure we keel over onto the bank and break apart into individuals.

  “Stop!” Mrs. Rauha shrieks, and swings around the corner out of sight.

  “Mom—?” Margaret begins.

  “No time to explain!” Eli cuts her off. “Come with us. It’s an emergency.”

  The girls look at us uncertainly. The fact that we’re here and not dying in a hospital in Santa Fe doesn’t explain anything, but it seems to communicate that the situation is as urgent as we say it is. And the fact that other Serenity kids are with us persuades them even more.

  We scramble up the grassy bank to the pathway. There are ten of us now—all the Osiris clones except one.

  “What about Aldwin?” I pant.

  “We can’t save him,” Tori replies sadly.

  “We came for everybody!” I challenge my best friend. “There are eleven of us, not ten!”

  She’s unmoved. “If we don’t get to the boat right now, we’ll be caught. Mrs. Rauha saw us. As soon as she can get to a phone, she’ll sound the alarm.”

  “What are you saying?” My outrage is swelling. “Aldwin didn’t happen to be in the right place to get rescued, so tough luck, he doesn’t get a life? How’s that fair?”

  I feel a gentle hand on my arm. Malik. “We got ten, Laska. We did amazing.”

  “Ten’s not eleven!”

  “If we push it, we’ll get zero,” he insists.