by Lisa McMann
Miko nodded. “Yes, he’s coming with the equipment and all the samples from the old lab. Morph and Fang are with him.”
“Oh. Thanks for letting me know.” Kelly couldn’t stop the sarcasm in her voice. She was feeling alone and the situation seemed awful, and Miko had distanced herself from Kelly since Dr. Gray had revealed his true purpose.
Miko stopped, then went back to the door and closed it. “Look, Kelly,” she said softly, “I don’t mean to be standoffish with you. But Prowl and I go back a long way. And even though he thinks you’re great soldier material, he’s still a little wary of you. Especially with this new development—Prowl and I aren’t safe. And he doesn’t trust anybody anymore.”
“I suppose he has a right to be nervous about me,” mumbled Kelly. After all, she’d put him through a lot of agony with her platypus spike attack. She looked at the floor. “I’m scared,” she said. “I don’t know what to do. I want to get out of here.”
Miko sighed heavily and went over to Kelly. “Oh, honey, I’m sorry. We’re trying to figure out what to do. It’s all pretty confusing. And I don’t trust anybody but Prowl and you right now. I don’t think you should tell anybody else about how you’re feeling—especially not Braun or Mega. They are definitely on board and excited about what Dr. Gray wants to do. Cyke is questionable—we’ll have to see about him once he gets here—and the other two as well. They’re newer recruits to the experiment … or whatever this really is … and we’re not close with them.”
Kelly felt better now that Miko was talking to her. “So what are we going to do? You don’t really think Dr. Gray can change everybody in the whole world into chimeras, do you?”
Miko gave Kelly a wary look. “Never underestimate what that man can do,” she said. “I hope you’re right, that it’s impossible. But he could do a lot of damage trying.”
“Is there anybody we can go to for help? What about Zed?” And now that Miko was opening up, she ventured, “Is Zed who you were talking to on your comm device when we first got here?”
Miko hesitated, then flopped her arms. “Yeah. But she never answers. Either she’s not wearing her suit anymore, or she’s chosen not to respond to me. I think she’s written us off. Or me, at least.”
Kelly was quiet for a moment. Then she looked up. “What if we have to hide forever?”
“Then we hide,” said Miko. “But you won’t have to. Dr. Gray has your passport—I saw him pick them up. And the police don’t have any good surveillance photos of your face. You look like a regular person. You’ll be able to get back to the US if you want to. It’s … the rest of us who can’t. Not like this.” She pointed at her features, the fur growing under her chin and close around her ears, and the wings that were now a part of her body forever. “When I was a kid, I always thought wings would be so cool,” Miko said with a bitter laugh. “Now I’m just an extra-weird freak.”
“No you’re not,” insisted Kelly. “You’re like a superhero.”
Miko shook her head sadly. “I used to think that. But the superheroes are the good guys. Now that I know what Dr. Gray is planning, I’m starting to realize we’ve been the villains this whole time.”
The statement left Kelly cold. She knew that she’d done some bad things. But did that make her a villain? If it did, was there anyway she could undo it? Didn’t heroes make mistakes sometimes? She looked up, scared and confused. “But Dr. Gray thinks we’re the good guys—he wants to save the world. He told me so. Maybe … maybe this isn’t so bad.”
Miko frowned.
Kelly continued anyway. “What if we’re just not seeing all the good that could come from changing everyone into chimeras? I mean, sure, it sounds really extreme. But if everyone had animal abilities on top of our human minds, just think how strong that would make us. And—maybe you wouldn’t stand out quite so much with those wings on your back if you weren’t the only one with them.”
Miko eyed Kelly carefully. “Maybe you’re right,” she said in a stiff voice. She didn’t sound convinced. She sounded like she was giving in. Like she didn’t want to talk about it anymore. Like maybe she didn’t trust Kelly now either after what she’d just said. Miko stood up and started toward the door.
“Wait,” Kelly said, suddenly realizing that what she’d said had sounded a lot like she was defending Dr. Gray’s plan. She ran to the door after Miko. “I’m just … I’m trying to make sense of things. I don’t want to be a …”
The chimp-vulture turned and afforded a small smile. “I know, kiddo. It’s all good. We’re all trying to do the same thing. It’s okay to talk things out. I just … I have to go help Dr. Gray now.” She opened the door.
Kelly grasped Miko’s arm. “If you learn anything else, will you tell me?” whispered Kelly. “Please?”
“Of course,” said Miko, gently pulling away. “Don’t worry about that.”
Miko left the room with Kelly staring after her, the girl’s heart sinking. Had she just alienated her only ally?
A tear slipped down Kelly’s cheek and she turned back into the room. She sat on her bed, then buried her face in her hands. Everything was such a mess. And she had just made it worse. She didn’t know what to do or where to turn.
After a few minutes, she heard a tap at the door. Kelly whisked her tears away and dried her eyes on her sleeve. “Come in,” she said.
Dr. Gray opened the door a few inches and peered in. “It’s time to visit a new zoo,” he said. “Be ready in ten minutes.” He closed the door, leaving Kelly standing there. Her shoulders slumped. She went to the closet to change into her camo suit. Hanging there were Miko’s bodysuits. Kelly flipped past them, then stopped. She went back to one and peered at the communication device that was implanted in it. An earpiece was attached to the collar. She examined it, trying to figure out how it worked. She saw a small dial with names going around it—Dr. Gray, Cyke, Prowl, Zed, Team.
Kelly’s heartbeat sped up. She touched the dial, then turned it to Zed. Before she could think about what a mistake she could be making, she pressed it. “Zed, can you hear me? This is Kelly Parker. We need your help.”
Kelly let go of the button and pressed Miko’s earpiece to her ear, half praying that Zed would respond, half hoping she hadn’t heard her. After several moments, and with the clock ticking, Kelly blew out a breath and dropped the earpiece, letting it dangle from the suit. She quickly changed into her own suit and then, on a whim, listened again. But there was no one there.
After Kelly left the room, there was a crackle inside the closet, followed by a whisper. “Kelly? Are you there?”
CHAPTER 30
Changing Gears
Dr. Jakande had been in the Wildes’ bathroom changing back into her human form with the reversal bracelet when she’d heard the call from Kelly. As soon as the last of her panther features had dissipated and she’d had a second to see herself the way she used to be, she slipped on her street clothes and reached for her suit. She squeezed her eyes shut, unsure what to do, then listened at the door for a moment. Torn, she went with her heart and answered. Kelly was just a kid.
But Kelly hadn’t replied.
Dr. Sharma knocked on the door. “Is everything okay? Did it work?”
Dr. Jakande dropped the suit. “Fine!” she shouted. “I’m just … looking at myself. Trying to remember the old me.”
“Great news! Come out when you’re ready.”
Dr. Jakande gathered her wits and folded up her suit, squashing the comm device inside the folds of it to muffle any noise that might penetrate if Kelly responded. She took another look in the mirror and opened the door.
“Wow,” she said. “This feels strange.” She emerged from the Wildes’ bathroom wearing a T-shirt and jeans and the slim reversal device around her wrist. Her panther fur was completely gone. In its place: brown skin and black hair. Normal fingernails instead of claws. She ran her hand down the skin on her arm, then looked up with a shrug and a self-conscious grin. “What do you think?”
> The doctors and children crowded around her, congratulating her. She took the reversal device off and handed it to Dr. Goldstein. “This worked perfectly. I wonder …” She hesitated and tilted her head, thinking. “Hey,” she said softly. “If we had more of these, couldn’t we use them on the other soldiers?”
Dr. Goldstein looked sharply at her. “You mean to turn them back to normal and stop them from being so powerful?” He tapped his lips. “That’s a terrific idea.”
“We’ve figured out how to change someone without their original DNA,” said Dr. Sharma, growing excited at the thought of stopping Prowl from ripping her to shreds. “So the hard part is finished. We would just need to make more devices.”
“Even a few could help,” said Nubia. “We could reload them with the reversal formula in a pinch.”
Dr. Goldstein nodded and slipped the device into his shirt pocket. “I’ll reload this one as well.”
“That’s such a genius plan,” said Mac. “There won’t be any hybrids or chimeras left to worry about.”
“That’s what I’m hoping,” said Dr. Sharma. “Maybe you won’t have to fight at all.”
“I’m not so sure it’ll be that easy,” said Dr. Jakande with a laugh. “But you three start on those, and I’ll get back to fixing Maria’s device. Now that Cyke is heading to Gray’s location with the remaining soldiers, I suspect he’s almost done narrowing down the options for his ultimate chimera. Once he’s got that formula made, he’ll be able to replicate it quickly. And if he’s planning to affect a large number of people almost at once, all he has to do is release it in the air or water.” She paused. “I wonder if he somehow fixed the machine.”
“Either way, we’ve got to stop him,” said Charlie emphatically.
“All of them,” said Maria. “The soldiers too. And especially Kelly.”
Dr. Jakande flinched. “Kelly’s in a tight spot,” she said. “I know what it’s like to be in her shoes.”
Maria glanced at her. “What do you mean?”
“Well, switching sides,” said Dr. Jakande lightly. “I imagine she’s regretting it right about now.”
Charlie looked up. “Why would you say that? Are you regretting it too?”
Mr. Wilde gave Charlie a stern look. “Charlie,” he said, sounding disappointed in her.
“I’m just wondering what she meant,” Charlie protested.
Dr. Jakande turned to her solemnly. “No, Charlie,” she said. “I’m not regretting it. But I switched to the right side.”
“I don’t think Kelly’s regretting anything,” said Mac a little later from the pool in his backyard. “Or else she’d stop hurting people.” He took a run across the surface, practicing, then slowed down to see how long he could stand still without sinking.
“Maybe she was attacked,” said Maria. “It could have been self-defense.”
Charlie was thoughtful. “If Kelly regretted anything, she’d have texted you by now.”
“True,” said Maria. “I’ve given her enough opportunities. She doesn’t even read my texts anymore.”
Mac looked at Charlie. “Did you ever test out your starfish abilities?”
“Yes,” said Charlie. “At the beach in Puerto Rico. And it’s just as we expected. Makes sense, though. My dad only wanted the very best feature from each animal, and he told me the Linckia diplax starfish is the best at healing. If he’d been looking for a swimming feature, he’d have picked a different animal for that.” Charlie was glad her dad hadn’t wasted an ability on swimming, though. She hadn’t needed something like that in any of the situations she’d ever been in. It would have been a waste.
When they got out of the pool they saw that Ms. Sabbith had texted to let them know that the white van had stopped traveling and was stationary in a city several hours outside of Guadalajara, Mexico. She believed the entire team was together now. Only time would tell when they’d be ready to make a move, and Dr. Gray probably wasn’t going to risk uprooting everyone and being recognized if they were finding success hiding where they were. Everyone needed to be in place and ready for Gray whenever he decided to act.
“Time to alert the parents that we’ll be leaving soon,” Charlie told her friends as they toweled off. Mac and Maria nodded. They talked about what to pack so that they’d be ready in a hurry.
Once again the scientists worked late into the evening to get things done. Dr. Jakande finished the tweaks on Maria’s device. Dr. Sharma was doing something mysterious with the Mark Five that she didn’t want to talk about yet. And Dr. Goldstein and Dr. Wilde replicated as many of Nubia’s DNA reversal bracelets as possible, and packed up the remaining formula so they could refill them if necessary.
In the morning when Maria arrived, the Mark Two was waiting for her to test.
Maria didn’t hesitate to put it on. She clicked it shut, then tapped the screen, going into monkey mode first. Then, with a deep breath, she tried to switch over to the alligator like she’d done in Puerto Rico. This time all the monkey fur disappeared. And going into alligator mode, Maria barely changed shape. She stayed upright on her legs. Her body turned scaly. She grew an alligator tail and extremely sharp teeth and claws.
“Wow!” cried Mac.
“That’s more like it!” said Charlie.
Maria ran to the bathroom to look herself over. Mac and Charlie ran after her. “That’s what I’m talking about,” Maria said, pleased. She turned and snapped her jaw at Mac for fun, and he jumped and nearly tripped over Charlie trying to get away.
Maria switched back to monkey mode, then immediately into alligator mode to see how fast she could transform. The transition was physically much easier now that she remained upright. All she needed to do now was test out her alligator abilities in this new mode.
“Do you have a Turbo alligator like you have a Turbo monkey?” asked Mac, looking at her device screen.
“Don’t think I need it,” said Maria with a laugh. “This is just perfect the way it is.” Gingerly she felt her pointy teeth. “Hope I don’t hurt myself,” she said, but she seemed happy with her new chompers. She and the others went to the lab, where all four scientists were working. Mrs. Wilde was there too.
“It’s great!” Maria told Dr. Jakande.
The woman looked up with a warm smile. “Wonderful.” She told Maria to turn around so they could see her tail. “That looks a hundred percent better. Let me know if you think it needs anything else.”
“I will,” said Maria, turning to look at her alligator tail trailing behind her and helping her balance. She tried not to knock anything down with it. “This is going to take a little getting used to,” said Maria.
“Now all three of you are set,” said Mr. Wilde.
“Just in time,” said Dr. Goldstein. They glanced at each other, and Charlie’s dad nodded at Dr. Goldstein to speak. “Remember what Ms. Sabbith said about trying to convince Captain Zimmerman in Washington that we’re looking at a real threat?”
The kids nodded.
“Well, she thought it might help to get some video of you three in action so she can present it to her. Show her what we’ve had to do to fight.”
The kids looked at one another. “Sure,” said Charlie. Mac and Maria agreed. “I need to train a little bit anyway,” said Maria.
“I’m off work today,” said Charlie’s mom, “so I can take you three to the mountains to train like we did before. Maybe this time we can go to Canyon Lake and rent a boat. Take it out where nobody else can see us. I can shoot some video.”
“That would be perfect,” said Mr. Wilde.
“That sounds good to me,” said Mac. The others nodded.
“Can I come along this time?” asked Andy.
“Sure,” said Charlie. “It’ll be hot, though. It’s going to be a hundred and twelve today.”
Andy shrugged. “I don’t mind, especially if I can go swimming. It’s not like I’m going to be training for anything.”
“I’ll swim with you,” said Charlie. “I c
an try out my viper vision underwater.”
“Cool,” said Andy.
They left before it got too hot. On the way up into the mountains, Mrs. Wilde stopped at an overlook area. They were high above Canyon Lake. Smooth rock walls led to the water glistening below. The children leaned over the railing, looking down.
“Dad would freak if he were here,” said Andy.
“Why?” asked Maria. “Does he get sick driving in the mountains? My stepdad does.”
“No, he’s afraid of heights,” said Andy.
Charlie nodded. “He’d take one look over this railing and go straight back to the car.”
“He wouldn’t even get this close,” said Mrs. Wilde.
“How’s he going to handle that gecko ability in the Mark Five?” Mac wondered.
Charlie shrugged. “I guess we’ll see soon enough.”
At the lake, Mac and Maria got in a couple hours of practice with their water abilities. Mac ran circles around the others. Maria’s swimming was smooth and sleek in alligator mode. She jokingly stalked the others down in the water, slithering just below the surface.
Charlie discovered that her heat vision worked underwater, too. Then, while her mother filmed, she shimmied up the rocky mountainside using her gecko ability.
Back on land they stopped at a trailhead and switched abilities to give Ms. Sabbith more footage. Charlie lifted a boulder the size of a refrigerator and held it high in the air, then threw it, making the ground shake. Then she ran at cheetah speed down the trail. Mac used his pangolin claws to crack a giant stone in half. Maria jumped and swung among the rocks and trees in monkey mode.
By the time they were done, they were feeling good about their training. And that the video would be more than convincing.
Ms. Sabbith was there when they got home, packing up her electronics. She looked up when they came in. “Were you able to get any video?”
“I’ll send you the file right now,” Mrs. Wilde told her.
“Perfect,” said Ms. Sabbith. “Fingers crossed. I’ve almost got Zimmerman to believe me. Here’s hoping this’ll help put her over the edge.”