“You okay?” Siobhan said, standing beside him, breathing hard.
Diego nodded, catching his breath. For all the stories Diego had heard, he’d never seen his mother like he did right now: as a warrior and a hero.
“I’m going to check on the others,” she said. “You know the way to the base?”
“Yeah.”
Diego leaned forward and gripped the wheel, focusing on keeping their speed up and avoiding the traffic in the canal. He tried to stay calm, to see in all directions at once, to spot anything out of the ordinary. More attackers could be anywhere.
By the time Siobhan returned a couple minutes later, Diego had discovered a problem with their plan. “We’re not going to make it to the base.” He tapped the fuel gauge. It was falling fast, past a quarter full and on its way to empty.
Siobhan peered over the side of the boat. “A bullet must have hit the tank.”
“We’re not far from home,” Diego said. “What about those extra boats Dad has at the dock there?”
“Good idea.”
It only took two minutes to get to Marina Towers, but they coasted in on the very last of the fuel, the engine sputtering out as they reached the dock.
They filed silently off the police boat. Archie helped Diego and Siobhan carry Officer Leahy. They laid him carefully on the back bench of one of Santiago’s service boats.
“This boat isn’t big enough for us all,” Archie said, looking at the small cabin.
“There’s another boat at the dock closer to the tower,” Siobhan said. “I’ll bring it around.”
She started off. Diego watched her go but then jogged after her. “Mom, wait up.”
He thought she might protest, but instead she paused and then put an arm around him as they walked. “How are you holding up?” she asked.
“I’m dealing,” he said. “I saw you arguing with Leahy before the attack. What was that about?”
“Oh.” Siobhan glanced at him but then looked away. “It . . .”
“Don’t say it was nothing,” Diego said. “Not after everything that’s happened.”
Siobhan smiled. “You’re right. Sorry. Leahy was giving me a message from Magistrate Huston. He wanted me to know that he does plan to launch a rescue mission, but he fears that the sabotage of the air corps fuel was an inside job and that the city council has been compromised. It’s got to be a secret operation. So he’s decided to enlist the help of mercenary pirates to find your father.”
“Wait . . . what pirates?” Diego coiled up. “It should be you going, Mom! Or at least the city’s air corps or navy. Hell, I should be allowed to go before some hired guns!”
Siobhan waited for him to take a breath. “They’re sworn enemies of the Aeternum,” she said, “but my reaction was like yours. I don’t know how we can trust them. Then again, if we can’t trust our own people, then we don’t have many options. Huston trusts them, and while he and I don’t always agree, I do trust him. I just don’t agree with how we’re paying them.”
“What do you mean? What are we paying them?”
“Cash mostly, but also supplies, and . . . they asked for two of your father’s robots.”
“Our robots? We’re giving them to pirates?”
“I don’t like it either, but they were very specific. They want a marine salvage bot and a construction bot. Magistrate Huston is offering them Seahorse and Redford.”
“No way!” Diego exclaimed. “Mom, Redford? That makes no sense. That old robot doesn’t even work that well, and besides, he’s mine!”
Siobhan shook her head. “I know, but they have it all worked out. Huston’s arranged a secret deal to pay the mercenaries without the council knowing. After tonight there will be nothing anyone can do about it. I know you’re upset, but if Redford and Seahorse are what it takes to get your father back, it has to be worth it.
“I understand how you feel, but I swore an oath. To this city, to its people. Believe me, I want to do exactly what you’re saying, but I’d be betraying my honor. And your father would never want that.”
Diego bit his lip, but inside, his blood boiled.
“Damn,” Siobhan said. They’d reached the second boat, and Diego saw that it wasn’t going to be of any help. “What are we going to do now?”
Santiago had removed the boat’s engine for one of his works in progress. Diego could picture it now, hanging from giant chains in the workshop.
“How about the Goldfish?” Diego pointed to the end of the dock, where Petey had parked the little craft yesterday. “We can probably fit Petey and me and the girls in there. The rest of you can take the service boat.”
“Only if you stay close behind us. I mean close.”
“Got it,” Diego said.
“Okay, bring it around,” Siobhan said. “And listen . . .” She looked at him strangely, her brow furrowing almost like she was mad, then she reached behind her and removed the service pistol and a spare clip that she’d taken from the police boat.
Diego didn’t move for a second.
“Take it,” Siobhan said. “You remember what I taught you about shooting?”
“Yeah.” She’d taken him to the firing range several times. Line up the sights. Keep the gun still. Never lock your arm. You had to be a good shot if you were going to be a fighter pilot.
Diego took the gun. Felt the cold weight of the metal in his hand.
“If anything happens when we’re on the way to the base,” Siobhan said, “you submerge and get out of there. You do not stick around. Understand?”
“Yes,” Diego said, though the thought of leaving his mom after he’d already lost his dad made his gut clench tight. He checked the safety and slipped the gun into the back of his pants. Once it was in his belt, he made sure his shirt covered it.
“That’s only to be used as a last resort,” Siobhan said. “If you and your friends have no other way out.”
“I got it.”
Siobhan nodded. She turned away, then spun back around and wrapped Diego in a tight hug. “I love you,” she said, and kissed his forehead.
“I love you, too, Mom.”
“Guys!”
Diego spied Petey over Siobhan’s shoulder.
“Officer Leahy’s coughing up blood!” he called. “We need to hurry.”
Siobhan pulled away. “You ready?”
Diego nodded. “Petey!” he called. “Get the girls and get down here! We’re taking the Goldfish.”
“Your elbow’s busting my ribs!” Paige groaned.
“Sorry!” Petey said. “There’s nowhere else to put it.”
“I’m gonna put you out the roof of this thing unless you get out of my business.”
“Working on it,” Petey said, worming around.
“Ow, watch it!” Lucy snapped.
“Guys!” Diego said. “Knock it off. You’re shaking the whole car.” He was crammed far against the side, his head pressed into the curving glass. It was a struggle even to move the wheel. “Lucy, shift to third gear,” he said.
Lucy reached down by her knees. “You and your father built this contraption?” she asked as she moved the shift and the Goldfish lurched into a faster gear. She’d been appraising the controls and construction with a skeptical look since they’d taken off.
“Don’t forget I helped,” Petey said.
“I hope you weren’t in charge of the waterproofing,” Lucy said to him. She sat back, adding, “That said, it is quite a nifty device.”
Diego smiled to himself.
Suddenly there was a shrill growling sound.
“Ow!” Petey shouted. “What in the—”
“Petey, settle down!” Diego said as the Goldfish rocked back and forth. Diego swerved, barely avoiding the lumbering leg of a robot beside them.
“Ah, what is that?” Lucy shouted. She started grabbing at her head and then threw something forward in a blur of fur. Paige screamed.
“Hold on, you guys!” Diego shouted. He lunged toward the floor of the
Goldfish and scooped up the writhing thing in his arms.
“It’s Daphne!” he said, holding up the panting, terrified dog. “How’d you get in here, girl?”
Daphne yipped.
“Must have been when we loaded the gravity boards yesterday,” Petey said.
“You didn’t take them out?” Diego asked.
“No, totally forgot.” Petey glanced down behind him. “They’re still right here.”
“You poor girl,” Diego said, nuzzling Daphne. She was breathing faster than an engine, her little chest heaving. “You must be starving.”
“It kinda smells back there,” Petey said.
“Aw, gross!” Paige said. “Did the dog . . .”
“What was she supposed to do if she’s been trapped in here for a day?” Diego said. He passed her to Lucy.
“I don’t really. I . . .” She grimaced and held Daphne at arm’s length.
“Lucy, move her. She’s blocking my view.”
Lucy bit her lip and cradled the animal. “I hope you don’t have any more business to do.”
Daphne nuzzled into her arm and panted.
Diego focused on keeping up with the service boat. Siobhan wasn’t too far ahead of them, but a maintenance bot was tromping along right in stride with them, making frothy waves and spraying the windshield with each lumbering step.
“Can’t you go around that thing?” Paige said. “Any more of these waves and I’m gonna barf.”
“Relax, you landlubber,” Petey grumbled.
“When I can move my legs, you are so going to get the beat down of your life,” Paige said.
Diego glanced at Siobhan. She motioned for him to submerge and pointed off in the direction of the base. She was already turning her craft in the other direction, toward a side street.
Diego hated to see her go but swallowed that fear and nodded back to her.
“We’re separating?” Lucy asked, craning her neck to glimpse her mother and brother.
“Those are enemy agents blocking the canal ahead, and they stopped a boat that looks like the one we were just on. We’re splitting up so we don’t attract attention,” Diego said. He took one last look at the other boat, then put the Goldfish into a dive. As they submerged, Diego surveyed the surface view of the canals around them one last time. “We can get to Meigs Field a lot faster if we cross Dusable Harbor.”
“You sure that’s a good idea?” Petey asked. “Being out in the open like that?”
“Better than being penned in on these canals,” Diego said. “Besides, they won’t expect it.”
Diego flicked switches, activating the exhaust covers and seals, then plunged them into a steep dive. The surface world slid from sight, replaced by murky shadows and shimmering light.
“How deep are we going?” Petey asked.
“We’ll skim along the bottom,” Diego said. “Shouldn’t be too much—”
CLANG!
The Goldfish shuddered and rattled, and all of them were thrown into each other. Silt and mud rose up from the seafloor where they struck.
“What was that?” Lucy said.
“Guess I dove a little faster than I thought,” Diego said.
“Watch where you’re going!” Paige shouted.
“Crud!” Petey squirmed again. “We’ve got a leak in the floor.”
Diego heard the hiss of spraying water.
Lucy screamed. “We have to get to the surface!”
Daphne started barking.
“Hang on,” Diego said, peering out the top of the Goldfish. “This is all for nothing if we go up now.”
“It’s all for nothing if we drown,” Paige said.
“Water’s coming in fast,” Petey said.
“Just a little longer,” Diego said. He felt the frigid water clutching at his ankles.
“Take us up this instant!” Lucy shouted. “I insist—”
“Ssh!” Diego pointed toward the surface and lowered his voice to a whisper. “We’re passing beneath them right now. If they hear us, we’re done for.”
Everyone gazed up at the underside of the boat, directly above them.
Diego held his breath. Almost there . . .
His gaze flashed back and forth from the hulls above to the murk before them . . . then they were through. Diego dared to turn on the headlights. He picked up speed, weaving around dock supports and the legs of parked robots, making for the harbor.
“My dress is soaked, and my feet are going numb,” Lucy said. “We have to surface.”
“Just pick your feet up,” Diego said. “A little water never hurt anyone.”
No one responded.
Outside the Goldfish, the water deepened, the colors muting, and the currents settled. They blurred through a world of slow-moving fish, silt, and trash.
“What’s that smell?” Petey asked.
Diego hadn’t noticed, but now he sensed the acrid tinge of burning pistons. He checked the temperature gauge. If he kept it at full throttle much longer, they would overheat. He backed off the speed.
“Petey, is there any water getting to the engines?”
“No . . .” Petey checked the dials in front of him. “We’re okay right now but not for much longer.”
“The water’s almost up to my knees,” Lucy said.
“You better do something fast, Ribera!” Paige shouted. “I’m gonna kill you if we drown!”
“Thanks for the update,” Diego said.
“Let’s check to see if they’re still following us,” Petey suggested.
“Good idea.” Diego rose to periscope depth.
“’Scuse me, m’lady,” Petey said as he wormed his way out of his seat and wriggled back to the periscope, nearly crawling over Paige in the process.
“Man, I did not sign up for this,” Paige said.
“Okay,” Petey said, “putting up the periscope.” He wound the crank and watched through the lens.
“See anything?” Diego asked.
“Nope,” Petey said. “I don’t think anyone’s following.”
Diego exhaled hard. “Okay, we’re going up.”
He hit the tank switches and turned the pump crank. The Goldfish popped to the surface. Paige threw back the bubble hatch, and cool night air flooded in, along with the sounds of the harbor.
“I’ll get the pump going,” Petey said, returning to his cramped spot.
They rode in silence, except for the chugging of the engine and the rhythmic cycle of the pump.
Diego wondered how Siobhan and the others had fared. Lucy’s worried expression suggested she was thinking the same thing. Paige and Petey stared out at the water, no doubt wondering what they’d gotten themselves into.
Halfway across the harbor, Diego spied the lighthouse near Meigs Field, where the air corps base was located. Closer, they would soon be passing Navy Pier.
“We shouldn’t even be here,” Lucy said, breaking the silence. “I should be back in London, in school with my friends. If it wasn’t for those stupid steam converters, we’d be home, and Dad and Georgie would be safe.”
Diego thought of his dad. Of their fight. “It sucks,” he said, for once agreeing with her.
“How dare Magistrate Huston be such a bloody coward!”
“He’s not a coward,” Diego said. “It’s the senate and the city council.”
“Oh, come on, how can you even say that?”
“Because,” Diego replied. “Look . . .” He knew he wasn’t supposed to say anything, but didn’t Lucy deserve to know, too? “There is a plan, actually. . . .” Diego explained about the secret mission.
“Pirates . . . bloody hell!” Lucy said. “Why on earth would we trust them?”
“I don’t know,” Diego said, “but Huston trusts them, and my mother trusts him.”
“And that’s supposed to be enough for the rest of us?”
“I guess.”
Lucy slammed the dashboard. “I hate this! What are we supposed to do? Just sit around and wait for word from a bun
ch of mercenaries?”
Diego gripped the wheel. He agreed with her, in so many ways. All this made him feel so helpless. He felt something snap inside.
“No,” Diego said. He veered the Goldfish sharply toward Navy Pier.
“Why’d you bring us here, Ribera?” Paige demanded.
“Yeah, D, what gives?” Petey asked.
“Petey, get the girls back in the Goldfish and safely to the air base.”
“Um, and what exactly are you scheming to do?”
“No more running for me,” Diego said. “No more hiding.”
“Which means what, exactly?” Lucy asked.
“Huston is sending pirates to rescue our parents.” He hoisted his backpack over his shoulder. “My mom said that they were getting two of our robots as part of their payment tonight. Those robots are stored here, which means those pirates have to come here to get them. And when they do . . . I’m going with them.”
“Slow down,” Petey said. “You gotta think this through.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Yeah, you do! Because you sound like a fool!” Paige shouted. “If you think it’s a good idea to run off with a bunch of pirates, you’re a bigger idiot than I thought.”
“What else am I going to do?”
“How about not get yourself killed?” Petey said. “Magistrate Huston has a plan. You don’t see your mom running off and disobeying orders. Why should it be any different for you?”
“Yeah,” Paige said. “You think you can go and play the hero just because your momma’s one in real life?”
“That’s not it,” Diego said. “You guys don’t understand.”
“We—” Petey sighed and turned to Lucy. She stared out at the distant city. “You haven’t made a peep; what do you think?”
Diego watched her. Lucy would understand; it was her dad, too.
But the gaze she turned on him was frigid. “I think you’re bloody bonkers,” she said. “You’ll probably make it worse!”
Diego shrugged. “Fine. Think what you want. I guess this is good-bye, then.” He started up the pier.
Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic Page 8