The four looked at each other. That was undoubtedly Isabel Kabra.
“Was she alone?” asked Dan. “That sounds a lot like one of the teachers who’s working with the students we’re competing against.”
“She was alone. But now that you say it, she did seem sort of teacherlike in her demeanor. And she was very articulate.”
“I’m sure. Did she ask to see anything out of the ordinary?” asked Amy.
Dr. Gwinn thought for a moment. “Well, just one thing, now that you mention it. The Lewis and Clark compass. She was quite taken with it.”
“Compass,” said Amy. She snapped her fingers. “That’s right. The famous compass.” She looked at the others. “We could use that as one of our centerpiece themes for the research paper.”
She turned to look at Dr. Gwinn. “Is there any way we can take a look at it, too?”
Dr. Gwinn shook her head. “She had an appointment. It’s the Smithsonian’s policy not to bring articles from the back of the building without an appointment.”
Amy looked crushed. “She told us we didn’t need an appointment when I asked her last week. She’s also on the competition’s organization committee.”
“Well, that’s hardly fair,” said Dr. Gwinn sternly. “It seems that she was trying to deliberately mislead you.”
Amy and Dan said nothing but looked at her hopefully.
Dr. Gwinn said, “If she got to see it, I think you should, too. That’s only fair. And one of the Smithsonian’s most important missions is to educate and enlighten. Give me a few minutes.”
After she walked off, Dan said to Amy, “You get better at lying every day. Should I be worried?”
She smiled. “I’m surprised you weren’t worried a long time ago. And look who’s talking. ‘That sounds like a teacher of the students we’re competing against’?”
“Hey, I just go with the flow,” replied Dan, grinning.
Atticus added, “But now we know that Isabel was here and she was interested in something about Lewis and Clark.”
“You were right, Atticus,” said Dan. “Good call on your part.”
Nancy Gwinn came back holding a black case. She had put on white gloves. She led them over to a table in a corner, set the case down on it, and opened it.
Dr. Gwinn said in an excited tone, “This is the famous compass of Lewis and Clark. It was actually purchased by Meriwether Lewis around 1803 in preparation for the mission that President Thomas Jefferson was sending them on. When the expedition returned to St. Louis in the fall of 1806, very few of the instruments and equipment they had purchased for the trip had survived. Fortunately, this compass was one of them. It was kept by Clark as a souvenir from the journey. Later he presented the compass to a friend of his. His descendants donated it to the Smithsonian in the early 1930s.”
She took it out of the black case. “It cost about five dollars back then. Lewis purchased it from a well-known instrument maker, Thomas Whitney. It has a silver-plated brass rim and the box is mahogany. It also has a leather carrying case. It’s a very handsome piece.”
Amy and the others crowded around for a better look, but none of them could see anything helpful in the object.
On a cue from Amy, Jake and Dan used their cell-phone cameras to take shots of the compass.
Amy said, “Can we see the bottom of the box?”
“Funny,” said Dr. Gwinn. “That woman asked the very same thing.”
She turned it over, and Jake and Dan surreptitiously took photos of it with their phones.
Amy leaned closer to look at the box. She said, “Is that writing on there?”
Dr. Gwinn looked more closely. “Yes. It seems to be a series of numbers scratched into the surface, although it’s been worn down over the years, of course. No one has ever been able to figure out what they mean. It was probably just a notation that either Lewis or Clark made during their journey. And the wooden case made a handy place to do so, I imagine.”
Amy glanced at Dan. They both knew that Lewis and Clark had been members of the Tomas branch of the Cahills. The Tomas were known for their stubbornness and the fires in their bellies. They had landed men on the moon, and Lewis and Clark had fought their way to the Pacific coast. Amy doubted that they would have scratched some meaningless numbers into the back of a compass box that William Clark had made sure would survive over the centuries.
Dan said, “Did the woman write the numbers down?”
Dr. Gwinn glanced at him strangely. “Why, yes, she did.”
“Thanks so much,” said Amy. “You’ve been a big help.”
“In fact, we almost had a disaster,” added Dr. Gwinn.
“A disaster?” asked Amy. “What do you mean?”
Dr. Gwinn looked chagrined. “It was my fault, really. I shouldn’t have let that woman hold the compass. She dropped it. It bounced under the display case over there. But she was able to get under the table and retrieve it. I checked it over. There was no damage, thank goodness.”
Amy and Dan looked at each other but said nothing.
As they turned to leave Dr. Gwinn said, “You all were a lot nicer than she was. I hope you win your competition.”
Amy and Dan turned back and together said, “Me, too.”
Talking the whole time, the four excitedly left the museum.
Jake and Dan showed the others the pictures they’d taken of the compass, front and back.
“Can you enlarge your image so we get a better look?” Amy asked Jake.
He nodded and did so. They fixed their gazes on the photos and kept commenting on various ideas and theories as they walked along.
So preoccupied were they with this that they didn’t see the four black SUVs screech to a stop on the street next to them until it was almost too late.
The doors opened and men poured out.
One leaped at Amy, but the six-foot-two-inch Jake leveled him with a textbook football tackle. The man flew backward and crashed into two other men climbing out of one of the SUVs.
Amy shouted, “Scramble, now!”
“Go, Att, go!” yelled Jake at his little brother.
The four ran off in different directions. This was a maneuver that Amy had had them practice for a long time. Four different directions meant that their pursuers would have to split up, too. And it increased the odds that at least one of them would escape.
As Amy sprinted away she glanced across the street and saw Isabel staring at her with unconcealed hatred. When Isabel saw that Amy had spotted her, she turned and ran off down an alley.
Amy quickly formed a plan and slowed down to let the two men chasing her catch up. Amy had trained hard to become a world-class fighter. But even with all that work she still had doubts about her combat abilities. Even now she could feel the nerves building inside her. But she didn’t have time to be nervous or doubtful. So she just let her training take over.
When the men were about to grab her, Amy executed a spinning kick right to the first man’s knee. Her blow bent it backward and the man screamed and went down to the pavement. Amy knew that when you took out the knee, you took the fight right out of an opponent for two reasons. First, he couldn’t stand anymore. And second, it hurt him too much to think about fighting.
The second man slowed and started to pull his gun. Amy never let him get there. She went low, supporting herself on one arm, pivoted, and hit the man with a whip kick, lifting his feet from under him. He crashed back on the pavement. Before he could begin to rise, Amy finished him off with two hard elbow strikes to the jaw.
Then she was up and running hard after Isabel. The woman was not going to get away this time. She was probably the only leverage they would ever have over Vesper One. Amy flew down the alley.
There was no way the older woman could outrun her. Amy could sprint like a gazelle. She was thinking, too, that despite what Ted’s Morse code had implied and what they had learned previously, Isabel might very well be Vesper One. If she was, they could use her to turn the tide and
wreck the Vespers’ plans to destroy the world. At the very least they could find out why Isabel was so interested in the compass.
Amy started to slow down as the alley grew narrower, darker, and definitely more sinister. It was like day had turned into night here. She stopped when she rounded a corner and found that the alley was a dead end. She was staring up at a brick wall that was six stories high.
But what had happened to Isabel? There was no door, window, or fire escape. Nothing.
But, no, there was something.
A big blue dumpster.
Amy assumed her favorite martial arts fighting stance. She took a few steps forward. She was confident that she could kick Isabel’s butt, but Amy had to admit that Isabel terrified her. After all, this was the woman who had burned Amy’s parents up in a house and had very nearly killed her and Dan a slew of times. Even now she could feel the cold dread spiking up her spine. And her mouth was so dry it was like someone had stuffed it full of cotton balls.
But now was not the time for her courage to fail. She had to keep her wits about her. Amy knew she would have to be wary of poisons, a staple of the Lucian branch. Isabel might have a hidden needle in a ring, or perhaps embedded in her shoe. Whatever the case, Amy would be ready. This was one-on-one. And she was going to take Isabel down, finally. She balled up her courage and prepared to face one of her worst nightmares: Isabel Kabra.
“I know you’re here, Isabel, so you might as well just come out now.”
Amy didn’t think her words would have any effect on the woman, so she was surprised when Isabel Kabra stepped out from behind the dumpster and held her arms up.
“I guess you’ve won this round, Amy Cahill,” snarled Isabel. “But the plan will go on, even without me.”
“I don’t think so, Isabel,” Amy said, looking at her cautiously. She didn’t trust Isabel as far as she could throw her, which was not very far at all. “We’re going to use you to destroy the Doomsday device Archimedes designed.”
“So you know about that, do you?”
“No, but now I have confirmation of it, thanks bunches.”
Isabel looked furious at having given this key element away, but then her malicious smile returned. “You can’t win, you know.”
“I was about to tell you the same thing.”
“We seem to have a standoff.”
Amy pulled a pair of zip cuffs from her pocket. She had brought these with her for just this sort of situation. “Not really. Get down on your knees, hands behind your head, fingers interlocked.”
“And if I don’t?”
“If you don’t, you’ll be very sorry. And your perfect hair will no longer be perfect. That’s a promise.”
“You didn’t think I was going to actually fight you myself, did you?”
“I don’t see anybody else here.”
Isabel clapped her hands. The dumpster opened and three large men climbed out and quickly encircled Amy.
Amy froze, her limbs quivering with fear. This had been a trap all along. And she’d fallen right into it like an idiot.
“Say good-bye to your life, Amy Cahill,” gloated Isabel. “I’m sure there will be a few people who will miss you, misguided though they are.”
Amy eyed Isabel. “We know you’re not Vesper One. You’re not smart enough. And you’re predictable. The Vespers never would have elected you as their leader. You’re strictly the B-Team.”
Isabel glared darkly at her but said nothing.
“You’re too into your stupid fake charities. They needed someone with real vision.”
“I have vision,” declared Isabel heatedly. “I have more vision than anyone.”
“You’ve got nothing. Even your kids wised up and realized you’re an idiot. An evil one, but still an idiot.”
“The world will find out how smart I am,” shouted Isabel.
“The only way to do that is for you to become Vesper One. And that will never happen.”
Amy watched Isabel closely. She could almost see the wheels spinning inside the woman’s head.
“Well, unfortunately, Amy, you will not be around to see my triumph.” She nodded at her men. “Kill her. Now.”
The men drew closer. They did not assume fighting stances. They merely pulled their guns out, which had suppressors attached to the muzzles, and pointed them at Amy’s head.
Amy took a deep breath as she stared at the Sig Sauer 9mm pointed at her.
I’m sorry, Dan. But you’ve got to keep going. You’ve got to stop them. You’ve got to.
Amy closed her eyes and prepared to die.
Just at that moment, they all heard it.
Sirens erupting all over the place. They heard cars squealing down the alley, sirens blasting. They heard doors opening and then slamming closed. Rushing feet, voices calling out tactical orders. The crackle of walkie-talkies. The sounds of gun slides being racked back. And then the thudding sounds of a helicopter in the sky. A PA system blared out: “This is the police. Put your weapons down now and come out with your hands up. There is no escape.”
Isabel screamed at her men, “Get me out of here now!”
The men quickly pushed aside the dumpster, revealing a manhole cover. While her men covered Amy and the oncoming cops with their guns, Isabel slipped down into the hole. Her men quickly followed. The last one slid the heavy cover back into place with a clang.
Amy rushed forward and tried to lift the cover but she wasn’t strong enough. She turned back to the sounds of the cops, which had grown ever closer. She quickly thought about what she would say to them.
Then Dan poked his head around the corner.
Amy looked at him, stunned.
“Dan?” She looked behind him. “Where are the cops?”
He held up his phone. “I doubled back and saw what was happening. I downloaded an action movie onto my phone and played the scene where the SWAT team comes in to save the day. With my amp upgrade and movie-quality, modified speakers on steroids, it sounded like the real thing, didn’t it?”
She smiled. “Yeah, it did. You’re a freaking genius.”
She walked over to him and squeezed him tight.
“I love you, little brother. And thanks for saving my life.”
The two stood there for a long moment just holding on to each other. Tears slid down Amy’s face because she knew how close she had come to never seeing her brother again.
And tears slid down Dan’s face because he realized the very same thing.
The bus pulled to a stop outside the motel. It was designed to look like a Swiss ski chalet, although there was no snow and thus no skiers. Ian and Evan stepped off the bus, the only passengers to disembark here. The bus pulled off and they stood there looking around.
Ian said, “This truly is the middle of nowhere.”
“No, where they’ve got the hostages is the middle of nowhere,” Evan pointed out. “To them this would be paradise.”
Ian looked at him guiltily, no doubt thinking of his sister. “You’re right. Let’s go find Phoenix.”
As it turned out they didn’t have to. Phoenix found them.
Before they even reached the front door of the motel, Phoenix rushed over to them from a shadowy corner.
“I’ve been watching for you,” he explained.
Evan was startled when Phoenix hugged him so tightly that he thought his already queasy stomach might give back whatever was in it. But he also realized that Phoenix was just a kid and had just been through an ordeal that would have paralyzed most adults.
Both Evan and Ian noted that Phoenix was dirty and thin and looked like he hadn’t eaten in weeks.
“It’s okay; you’re not alone anymore,” said Evan, patting him on the back.
“Quite right,” added Ian. “The light cavalry is in position and we’ll be calling up reinforcements in no time. It’s time to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.”
Evan said, “Phoenix, are you hurt?”
“Just bumps and bruises and some cuts
from when I fell. And from crawling around the countryside. The mountains have lots of sharp edges.”
Evan, once more noting Phoenix’s emaciated look, said, “Let’s get you something to eat. You can tell us everything then. Okay?”
Ian added, “Right. A bit of food and you’ll feel so much better.”
Phoenix looked torn. He was indeed hungry, but he was obviously also thinking about the other hostages. Finally, his belly won out.
“Okay, but let’s hurry.”
They walked into a small restaurant just off the lobby and sat down at a table.
Outside, the vehicle was mostly hidden behind a large tree but still had a clear view of the motel’s front entrance. Sandy Bancroft, the intrepid weatherman and also Vesper Four, was driving. In the front passenger seat was the malicious and highly dangerous Cheyenne Wyoming, also known as Vesper Six.
“So that’s where our little one got to,” commented Sandy.
“Stunned that he was able to escape,” groused Cheyenne, looking accusingly at Sandy.
“My dear girl, these things happen. But we have now reacquired the wayward youth and we can execute our plan. In fact, it’s much better now.”
“I guess I see that.”
“Two additional hostages. As Vesper Six I would very much hope that you would see that.”
Cheyenne cast him a dirty look. “Don’t push it, Vesper Four. No one died and made you supreme being.”
“True, so very true. We all know who our leader is, don’t we, Cheyenne?”
He glanced at her with a gleeful condescension. She merely looked away.
“How do you want to do this?” she asked.
“The plan is set,” Sandy said sharply. “Just execute the plan. No deviations, my dear. None!” He did not sound the least bit nice or charming now.
A sullen Cheyenne climbed out of the vehicle and walked off to “execute” the plan.
Inside the restaurant, Phoenix had just finished telling Ian and Evan everything he knew.
Evan said, “Okay, that’s very helpful. Now let’s fill you in from our end.”
Day of Doom Page 4