by Ron McGee
“Tasha! I found someone—”
But she didn’t let him finish. “They’re here. Two trucks of ASI soldiers just pulled in. Come on!”
Suddenly, a shot rang out and Tasha dropped to the ground. Ryan ducked back, terrified she had been hit. He glanced behind him. The villager had taken the girl’s hand and was moving deeper into the trees. Ryan looked between the man and where Tasha had fallen, not knowing what to do.
Then, Tasha stood and scrambled behind one of the big rocks. She was okay—she hadn’t been shot! But ASI soldiers appeared, cutting her off from Ryan and the trees. Tasha looked at him across the expanse with a fierce expression. Ryan had the weirdest feeling that she actually seemed angry.
Another gunshot reverberated through the canyon, and Tasha had no choice—she raced off in the opposite direction, away from Ryan. They were now separated by a squadron of soldiers with rifles. But Ryan couldn’t afford to even think about that. If he lost sight of the villager and the girl, he’d also lose any chance of finding his dad.
He cut back through the trees, only to find that the man was already far ahead. “Wait!” Ryan yelled, his bare feet stinging with every step.
The man didn’t slow down until his daughter pulled his arm, urging him to stop. It was just enough time for Ryan to catch up. “Please—at least tell me which way to go.”
The man’s focus was on getting to safety. “There is no time. If they catch us helping you, they will kill us.”
“You’re the only chance I have of finding my father.” Ryan didn’t even try to keep the desperation from his tone.
The man wavered, then let out a heavy sigh. “There is a path—easy to follow, but difficult to climb. It will take you down from Thanlin and up Mount Bana on the other side.”
“Can you show me?”
The man debated with himself a moment more, then turned to the girl. He spoke to her in their language and she nodded. “This way,” he said to Ryan.
Ryan started after him, then turned back briefly. “Thank you,” he said to the girl.
She held out the box of candy and repeated, “Thank you.”
Ryan hurried to catch up with the villager. Behind him, he heard soldiers shouting and the roar of more vehicles arriving. He had no idea what lay ahead, but he knew there was no turning back.
Ryan was now completely on his own.
CHAPTER
29
NEW YORK,
USA
Ever since Kasey learned what was going on with Ryan and his parents, all she’d thought about was how she could help. Before their walk downtown, Kasey had tried to talk to Ryan a few times during their classes, but hadn’t had much luck. He was quiet around her, but she could tell there was something special about him. And she’d been right. Their conversation had been so great. True, she really didn’t know him that well yet. But she’d sensed a real connection, like they’d been friends for years. When they talked, it didn’t feel like he was interested in her because he thought she was popular but because he cared about what she thought.
Kasey and Danny had met up after school yesterday, and he had shown her what he found in New York’s property records database. Danny had tracked down three buildings around the city that were owned by companies with ties to Andakar’s military regime. One of them was a warehouse pretty close to their school.
She had convinced Danny they should go investigate the buildings themselves, and he had finally agreed. They were standing across the street from the warehouse now, but they didn’t have much time before school started. Kasey had lied to her dad, telling him she was heading in early for a rehearsal. She hated lying to him, but she figured it was for a good cause. With three older brothers and a single father who had raised them all, Kasey had been treated like a breakable doll her whole life. She loved her family but felt increasingly suffocated by them. The Stieglitz men still saw her as a little girl they needed to protect. Well, she was done with that.
“I’m going in,” she told Danny.
Danny lowered his camera and looked at her like she was nuts. “You can’t just walk in there—these guys have guns!”
“What else are we gonna do? Call the police?”
“I told you, we can’t,” Danny said. “That Aung Win dude said he’d kill Mrs. Quinn if Ryan told the cops.”
“But the police know how to handle this kind of thing. We don’t.”
“It’s not up to us—it’s Ryan’s call. He thinks if he finds his dad, then he’ll know what to do.”
“Well, we can’t see anything from out here,” Kasey said.
They looked back at the warehouse across the street. It was a brick fortress, square and flat with no windows, bearing a sign across the top that read: Assured Moving and Storage. The front door was gated, and a large, rolling metal door for trucks had been closed since they arrived.
“How would you get inside?” Danny asked. “It looks pretty sealed up. We can’t just go in through the front door.”
“Actually,” Kasey said, “that’s exactly what we’re going to do. Switch the camera to video. I’ll ring the bell and see if I can angle it to shoot inside.”
“That sounds like a terrible plan.” Danny went ahead and put the tiny camera in video mode.
“You got a better one?”
“Nope. But that doesn’t make yours good.”
Kasey took the camera, knowing he was right. She crossed the street, thinking of clever things to say that might get her inside. She could pretend she was a Girl Scout selling cookies—or maybe she should tell them she was working on a school report about the Lower East Side? Those both sounded kind of lame, but they might work. People often underestimated Kasey, assuming she wasn’t very smart because she was pretty. Truth was that Kasey was curious about almost everything: How things worked, why people acted the way they did, what other people’s lives were like.
Just as she was about to ring the front bell, the metal garage door made a grating sound and began to lift. Thinking fast, Kasey walked right past, stopping instead at the next building down, which was under construction and surrounded by scaffolding. She hid behind a beam and watched as the garage door slowly opened. A truck rolled out and idled on the edge of the sidewalk.
Across the street, Danny silently motioned her to stay hidden and safe. But Kasey knew this could be the only chance they had to see inside. In a heartbeat, an idea came to her—crazy maybe, but it might work.
Kasey scanned the scaffolding and spotted what she needed: a jagged edge of metal sticking out dangerously. With only the briefest hesitation because she knew her dad was gonna be pretty pissed, she used the sharp metal to slash a tear in the seam of her jacket. Holding the coat to the metal with one hand, she jerked hard, ripping the sleeve wide open. Kasey ran her hands through her hair, messing it up as much as she could. She hit record on the camera and took off running for the garage door.
“Help!” Kasey screamed, waving her arms in panic. The truck had just started rolling again, but jolted to a stop. “Please, somebody, help me!”
She ran past the startled truck driver and into the warehouse. Kasey stopped in the center of the cavernous space. She spun around as if looking for someone to come to her rescue, but she was actually sweeping the camera in every direction to film as much as she could. The driver jumped out of his vehicle and several workers hurried toward her.
Three men surrounded her, all with East Asian features. One of them was older and seemed to be in charge. “You must leave this place,” he said. But he seemed to believe her act, not at all worried that a thirteen-year-old girl might pose a threat.
“This weird man,” Kasey cried. “He was following me and then he grabbed my arm and I just ran.” Kasey glanced all around the warehouse, hoping for some indication that Ryan’s mom might be here. Except for a small office, though, it was one huge open space. Lots of boxes and equipment around, but there was no obvious place to hide a hostage.
“You must go!”
&n
bsp; “What if he’s still out there?” Kasey knew she was almost out of time, keeping the camera hidden in her palm as she tried to film behind her.
The man finally noticed the awkward motions she was making with her hand. He stepped toward her threateningly, reaching for her hand.
“Watch it!” Kasey snapped, stepping back.
But the man had seen the camera and he grabbed for it once more. Kasey dodged, running for the garage door. The truck driver grabbed her as she passed, but he only caught the torn sleeve. It ripped the rest of the way, coming off completely in his hand!
Kasey dashed out the garage door as the men yelled behind her. She never looked back as she raced toward Danny. “Go! Go!”
Danny jumped from his hiding place and ran with her around the block. “I told you it was a terrible idea,” he said.
Four blocks and several turns later, they finally slowed down, checking behind them. Breathing heavily, Kasey said, “I think we lost them.” She leaned against the wall, her hands and legs shaking. That was the scariest, stupidest, best thing she’d ever done in her life!
“Oh my god, you’re as crazy as Ryan,” Danny wheezed.
Kasey handed him the camera. “I filmed the whole place, I think. But Ryan’s mom isn’t there. The warehouse doesn’t have any rooms to hide her in.”
Danny was disappointed. “There’re still two other properties to check. Think we should take a look?”
“Definitely,” Kasey said. “But it’ll have to wait until after school. First bell’s in six minutes and I can’t afford a tardy. My dad’s already gonna be mad enough I ruined my new coat.”
Danny smiled. “Really? You bust into a building filled with guys who might shoot you on sight, run for your life through the streets of New York—and you’re worried about a tardy?”
CHAPTER
30
NANSANG PROVINCE,
ANDAKAR
Gunshots echoed through the night as Ryan fought his way up the hillside. After changing back into his high-tops, T-shirt, and jeans, Ryan had started along the perilous path. The jungle’s thick undergrowth made the climb difficult, but Ryan forced himself to keep moving forward. He had been on the run for what seemed like hours and had actually come to look forward to the occasional gunshots. Every time he heard another shot it gave him hope. If the ASI soldiers were still firing, they probably hadn’t caught Tasha.
Not much moonlight penetrated the canopy of leaves overhead and, twice already, he had nearly twisted his ankle when he failed to see an obstacle hidden in the shadows. But this wasn’t Ryan’s first time trekking at night. Over the years, his family had been on camping trips to all sorts of crazy spots: on a camel trek in the Sahara desert, at the top of a volcano in Ecuador, and in the shadow of Mount Everest in Nepal.
During every trip, they would take a “Moon Hike,” where no flashlights or lanterns were allowed. As a kid, he’d been scared of the dark and always dreaded these excursions. But when he was eight, they took a trip to Iceland and camped by a series of towering waterfalls. His mom took him out on the “Moon Hike” that night, and they trekked up the falls. At the top, Ryan was shocked to discover the sky was lit up with a cascade of violet and green pulsing lights. It was his first glimpse of the northern lights, the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. It was also the last time Ryan was afraid of the dark.
Scrambling over a fallen tree, Ryan stopped for a moment, looking back. There was no sign of pursuit, so he took a moment to sit and catch his breath. He pulled out his phone and turned it on, but couldn’t get a signal.
During the difficult climb, Ryan had dumped everything from his knapsack other than food. All that was left was one last piece of fruit, a red mangosteen. He tore it open to reveal the white pulp inside and ate every juicy bite. Getting to his feet, Ryan folded the bag and stuck it in his pocket in case he needed it later.
The steep path got increasingly challenging and for the next ten minutes Ryan struggled. It ended at a vertical outcropping of rock, and Ryan had to find a foothold in order to lift himself high enough to grab the upper edge. Physically exhausted and emotionally drained, it took all the strength he had to haul himself up and over the ledge.
But Ryan was surprised and excited to discover that he’d finally made it to the top. Breathing heavily, he looked out across the plateau before him. Misty fog and silvery moonlight gave everything an eerie glow. Ancient stone temples were scattered across the field, their whitewashed domes pale against the night sky. The villager had told him these were the Mae Wong Temples, a Buddhist stronghold abandoned long ago. Ryan wondered if his father had made it this far.
The man had directed John Quinn to a secret chamber located inside a temple with a gold-plated dome. That was the first place Ryan wanted to check, and he headed directly to the closest of the temples. But in the moonlight, it was hard to tell which domes were gold and which were regular stone.
Ryan was so preoccupied with searching for the right temple that he almost missed the ASI soldier patrolling fewer than fifty yards ahead of him. Just as the soldier turned, Ryan saw him. He dropped to the ground, not moving a muscle. Ryan held his breath for what seemed like forever. Finally, the soldier moved on, passing behind one of the pagodas.
Keeping silent, Ryan raced across the open ground and pressed against another of the numerous temples. Peering around the corner, he saw a second soldier pass in the distance. When the sentry wandered out of sight, Ryan darted toward the next pagoda, using it to shield him from view. Through the fog, he caught a glimmer of light shining off one of the domes, taller than the others. Could that be the gold temple the villager described?
Hearing a shout from behind, Ryan whirled around, just in time to see a soldier raise his rifle and fire. Ryan dodged around the side of the temple as the bullet shattered the stone where he’d been standing.
Ryan sprinted away, zigzagging so he didn’t make an easy target. Another shot rang out, this one from the second sentry. They were cornering him from two directions. His best chance to stay alive was to take out these two before they could radio for help—and pray there weren’t even more of them lurking in the shadows.
Darting around another building so he couldn’t be seen, Ryan abruptly stopped, crouching, waiting silently. The two soldiers yelled to one another as they gave chase, attempting to cut Ryan off and trap him between them. But as the first soldier came around the corner, Ryan swung around and smashed his foot, heel first, into the man’s right knee! The soldier screamed in pain as he tumbled to the ground, dropping his rifle. Ryan was pretty sure the kick had broken his leg.
Ryan grabbed the weapon, only to see the soldier wasn’t giving up. He had pulled a handgun from its holster. Ryan smashed the butt end of the rifle at him, obliterating the man’s nose and knocking him out cold.
Hearing boots approach from the other direction, Ryan pressed his advantage. Instead of running, he dropped the rifle and charged forward, meeting the second soldier just as he rounded the corner. Using his smaller size to his advantage, Ryan grabbed the man around the waist and lifted him straight up. The soldier flipped over Ryan’s shoulder, landing on his back with a thud. As he struggled to sit, Ryan delivered a perfect Krav Maga chop to his neck, striking the vagus nerve and rendering him instantly unconscious. The guy dropped back to the ground. He’d be out of it for a while, and when he did wake up, he’d have a heck of a headache.
Ryan turned, only to discover he was staring down the barrel of a rifle. Another soldier! Ryan knew there was no getting away this time. It was over. There was no one left to help his parents now.
But as the person holding the rifle stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight, Ryan saw it wasn’t another soldier, after all. It was a girl, probably only a few years older than him.
The rifle never wavered as her finger hovered over the trigger. She said something to him in Andalese, her tone fierce and accusatory.
Ryan raised his hands in surrender. “I’m sorry. I don’t
understand.”
Her expression changed, confusion replacing suspicion. “Who are you?” she asked, in perfect English.
Ryan’s instinct told him that the truth was the only thing that might save him. “My name is Ryan. I’m looking for my father, John Quinn. He came to your country to help Myat Kaw.”
She slowly lowered her rifle and looked him right in the eye.
“My name is Lan,” she said. “I am Myat Kaw.”
PART THREE
NO WAY OUT
CHAPTER
31
MOUNT BANA,
ANDAKAR
Lan never intended to become a rebel.
Two years ago, she was just a normal schoolgirl. Well, maybe not normal exactly. Lan’s life in Andakar was more comfortable than most kids. She knew that now.
Lan’s father was a lawyer with the Ministry of Justice, which meant the family was part of the government’s inner circle. That came with a lot of perks: a nice house, plenty to eat, and people to help with the cooking and cleaning. She had good friends and went to a school that was only for the children of Andakar’s government workers. If it weren’t for her father, Lan would never have even questioned how easy they had it.
But Lan’s dad didn’t allow her to simply accept the comfortable life they led. He worked inside the system, but insisted it was only so that he could help change it. He represented the citizens of Andakar in the government’s courts where they didn’t stand a chance of being treated fairly. Lan’s father would fight for them even though he knew it was usually pointless. Occasionally, he would win some small victory. On those rare days, he would be filled with passion, insisting that change would come to Andakar, but that it moved as slowly as the sluggish Chin Yon River.
Back then, Lan was impatient with her father’s lectures. She was fourteen—she was interested in her friends and music and boys. What happened outside her comfortable world didn’t seem to matter that much.