Smitty stabbed the pancake-ball with murderous intent, but the ball would not submit and instead shot off his plate and right at Joe, who had finally gathered the courage to take a sip of his coffee-mud. Just as the mud was sliding over his lips, Smitty’s pancake-ball smacked into his cup, cracking it.
The coffee-mud exploded outward, splattering everyone.
At the same moment, Daisy whacked her bacon against the table with all her might (which for Daisy was considerable). The old table split in two with a CRACK!
The table collapsed inward, plates of food sliding off in all directions, projecting pancake-balls around the kitchen like atomic shrapnel.
“Take cover!”
A pancake-ball hit little Violet between the eyes, and she fell to the floor, out cold.
It was at that moment that the stove went up in flames.
“Oh no. I forgot the muffins!” Piper wailed.
Had there not been ten children with exceptional abilities on hand who had undergone years of emergency training, the McCloud farm would have burned to the ground that day. As it was, Joe set to work later that afternoon to make a new kitchen table, Betty ordered a new stove on the internet (with Conrad’s help), and Piper spent the rest of the day on her hands and knees scrubbing up the mess.
That night, for the first time ever, a pizza delivery boy showed up at the McCloud farm. He was instantly set upon by eleven half-starved children, prompting him to quit his job, go back to school, and become a doctor like his mother had always told him to do.
CHAPTER
14
Betty decided after the kitchen incident that Piper should help out a little less, and definitely not in the kitchen. As Joe had the farmwork squared away, Betty sent Piper out to tend to the chickens and collect eggs. By mid-morning Piper was at loose ends again, and the other kids had gone off somewhere Piper couldn’t find them.
Stepping out onto the porch, Piper used her hand as a shield over her eyes and scanned the yard and the fields. Except for the cows and sheep, there wasn’t a soul in sight.
What now?
The kids were probably working hard in the barn, Piper decided. Maybe she could help. She opened the door to the barn and stepped inside.
It was empty.
In the loft above, Conrad’s various experiments bubbled and fizzed. The meeting table was unoccupied and waiting. Piper walked up to the chair at the far end—her chair. She sat down in it and swiveled back and forth. At the other end of the table, facing her, sat Conrad’s empty chair.
A scratching sound caught Piper’s attention.
Searching about, Piper soon found Fido scratching at the door to the cellar.
“What’s up, Fido?”
Fido paddled his paws against the door. He wanted out.
Piper opened the door, and Fido flew down the stairs. “Glad I can be of help to at least someone.”
She was just about to close the door when she heard the muffled sound of voices. Cocking her ear, she stood very still and listened—yes, she definitely heard something.
Back before the kids had shown up, there had been stalls in the cellar of the barn for the cows to have shelter and warmth in winter. It was a dark, cobwebby place then, filled with swallows’ nests, fallen hayseeds, manure, and the low, heavy smells of cows. Now the cows had a proper barn all their own with heated floors and automatic water troughs so that when they were thirsty, the water was always fresh. Coupled with good ventilation and lots of light, the cows were very happy in their new quarters, and the children had refurbished the cellar into snug bedrooms with a large storage area at the very back.
Creeping quietly down the stairs, Piper was led by the sounds she heard past the bedrooms to the door of the storage room. The door was ajar.
There was a light coming from the deepest part. Piper threaded her way through the boxes, and the closer she came to the light, the more the voices became familiar.
“I don’t understand,” someone said. It sounded like Jasper.
“When the bugs fly upward, they aren’t going away,” said a voice Piper knew better than her own: Conrad. She wedged herself into a hollow against a box, where she was hidden but could see what was happening.
From her vantage, she could make out all the kids. They were sitting on boxes, with Conrad in the middle. He’d set up his 3-D computer so that it was projected in the air and could be seen from all sides and was currently showing the way the bugs were burrowing out of the soil.
“Each bug’s pattern is always the same. They climb out of the earth and wait for directional information. I believe they are communicating this to each other on a sonic frequency. Once they receive coordinates, they fly up and into position.
“This is what we’re dealing with now.” Conrad activated a different view showing the earth from outer space and how it was surrounded by the large bugs. The bugs hovered at very specific intervals around the entire planet, like they were forming a net. “By my calculations, we can expect the entire planet to be surrounded by them in less than seven days.”
“And what then?” Kimber half raised her hand. “What are they going to do?”
Conrad selected one of the bugs by tapping on its image and enlarged it. “Each bug has an energy sack where they are brewing a type of electromagnetic cocktail. When their bellies strobe red, they are preparing to blast it out, and when they do that, it creates a wave—a wall, if you will—of disruption.”
“Exactly.” Smitty jumped in at this point, getting to his feet. “It looks like an electromagnetic firestorm. These bugs have the power to wipe out anything that depends on magnets and technology.” Smitty exploded his fist outward. “Poof. Gone. Just like that.”
“So what?” Nalen shrugged, unimpressed. “Big deal. A few computers go down. That’s what tech support is for. Next.”
“One bug is not a big deal, but ten thousand bugs is a big deal,” Conrad pointed out. “One hundred thousand is a whole new category. And you have to factor in the effect of all of them blasting synchronously. In that eventuality the force of their blast will grow exponentially.”
Conrad toggled his model to demonstrate. “If one bug looks like this…” Conrad showed a bug sending out a blast. “Then this is what it looks like when the planet is surrounded by them, and they all blast at the same time.”
The bugs threw off a red explosion, showering the earth in an electromagnetic firestorm.
In unison, Nalen and Ahmed whistled low. “Chaos,” Nalen said.
“Armageddon,” Ahmed agreed.
“Exactly.” Conrad nodded. “Every computer chip, cell phone, generator, solar panel; every satellite, motherboard—anything electronic will be wiped out. We rely on technology for everything, and once the computers go down on a scale of this size, the planet will be thrown back into the Dark Ages.”
“Max probably liked the Dark Ages,” Smitty said wryly. “It was easier for him to cause problems when he couldn’t be tracked or watched.”
“I’m so sick of Max and all his evil plans.”
“You can say that again.”
“So how do we stop it?”
Conrad took a deep breath. “That’s the problem. If there were a hundred of them, we could do it. A thousand would even be possible, but with over one hundred thousand, coming from every corner of the planet…” He shook his head.
“How much time do we have?” Jasper asked, worried.
“I project one week. At most.” Conrad paced.
“So what do we do?”
“We can’t do it alone. We need help,” Conrad said. “We’ll go to Xanthia.”
Piper gasped.
Xanthia was a paradise populated by people who all had exceptional abilities. They had chosen to hide themselves away from the rest of the world and live in peace and isolation. They called themselves the Chosen Ones and refused to have anything to do with anyone from the outside world, whom they called Outsiders. Piper and Conrad had managed to get into their world and learn abo
ut them, but they had refused to return to the outside with Piper and her friends.
“If the Chosen Ones will combine their knowledge, talents, and abilities with ours, there is a chance we can stop this infestation and save the planet.”
Kimber didn’t have a high opinion of the altruistic motives of the Chosen Ones, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “What makes you think they’ll help us?”
“Because the survival of the planet depends upon it, and they are living on the planet too.” Conrad’s voice lacked conviction. “We’ll move out first thing tomorrow morning.”
There was a rustling as kids got to their feet. Piper shrunk back into a shadow, crouching out of sight.
“We’ll need to travel light,” Conrad said to the kids, who were already hustling out. “Gather up what you need and be ready at dawn. And, guys…”
There was a pause in the activity as they waited on Conrad’s final words.
“We don’t talk about this mission to anyone. All of this information is strictly between us.”
A few of the kids muttered, but Kimber spoke up. “What you mean is that you don’t want us to talk about it to Piper. This doesn’t feel right, Conrad.”
“Yeah,” agreed Myrtle. “What are we gonna do? Sneak out in the morning?”
“Leave that to me.” Conrad’s voice was firm. “We can’t risk having her with us. Piper stays behind.”
It felt to Piper that she was going to ignite or explode. She cringed for the shame of it all. Her friends hadn’t been busy—they had been purposely leaving her out. They were now having secret meetings just so that she wouldn’t find out.
The thought of them leaving without her—of being left behind—was unbearable. She wouldn’t, she couldn’t let that happen.
Piper was careful to remain absolutely still and not make a sound until the meeting was over. It didn’t take long, because the others were anxious to get going and had a lot to do before they left. When it was safe to go, Piper snuck out to make her own plans.
CHAPTER
15
Piper decided to jump off the roof of her house.
This was her plan: shimmy out her window, mount the ridgepole, pick up speed by running from one end all the way to the other. Then jump off.
The first time Piper had flown, this is what she had done. It only stood to reason that it would work on her second attempt.
Piper lifted the window to her bedroom slowly so that it didn’t make a sound. Three equally silent maneuvers later, she was outside on the roof. She’d been on the roof so often that the feeling of the shingles on her feet was as familiar to her as the braided rug on her bedroom floor.
Still, she hadn’t climbed the shingles in a while. There was little reason for her to do that when she could just fly. She climbed slowly now, soundlessly and carefully, focusing on the way she placed her feet and, at times, bending over to steady herself with her hands. When she got to the top, she stood up straight.
The first time she’d jumped off the roof she’d been scared too. Not quite as scared as she was at that moment, but near enough. And it wasn’t just fear this time; it was desperation. The feeling that she had to fly: that without flying, she couldn’t go on.
It was still quite dark.
Maybe she should wait?
No, best to go quickly.
Raising her arms to shoulder height, Piper took a deep breath and started. One step, two steps. She picked up speed.
“Stop!”
Startled, Piper lost her balance, stumbling.
Conrad rushed up the side of the roof and grabbed hold of her arm just as she was about to tumble down the other side. When she’d regained her balance, they both crouched close to the roof.
“What are you doing out here?” Piper pushed Conrad’s hand away.
Conrad’s face was as white as a sheet. “I could ask you the same question.”
“I’m—None of your business.”
“You came up here to jump. I know what you are thinking, Piper, but if you fall off this roof, you’ll kill yourself.”
“Jasper would have healed me if I fell.”
“Jasper can’t heal dead,” Conrad argued. “There are limits—for all of us.”
“I wasn’t going to die, and maybe, just maybe, I could have—”
“Flown.” Conrad finished her thought and then shook his head.
Color rose in Piper’s face. “The last time I jumped off the roof, I did fly. Maybe I just need to try again. You don’t know!”
“I do know, Piper, because we’ve tried everything. If you still had the ability to fly, then you’d have done it.”
Piper pulled her lips into a hard line. “I’m going to jump. I can fly. It’s my choice.”
Conrad got quiet and placed his hand across his mouth, thinking before he spoke. “I was going to tell you before, but I wanted proof. The truth is, Piper, that you aren’t like us anymore.”
Piper was aware that this moment was somehow very important. It made time wrap around itself and slow down. She released her breath in a measured way before she allowed herself to speak.
“What do you mean?”
“I took blood samples from all of us, the entire team,” Conrad explained. “All of us have an extra hybrid gene between our thirty-third and thirty-fourth chromosomes.” Conrad cupped his hands. “It’s unprecedented. I’ve never seen anything like it.” For a moment the scientific novelty of his discovery converted Conrad’s face from sad to excited. “I believe that extra chromosome is the reason that we can do the things we do. It’s like a switch or a conductor inside us that lets us be who we are. I call it the superhero cell.”
“And we all have it? The same thing?”
“Yes! We all do.” Conrad pointed to himself when he said “we” but not at Piper. “I went back to the stored DNA samples from before, and you had it too. Except not now.”
“You mean it’s gone? Just disappeared?”
Conrad nodded.
“Well, find a way to put it back in so I can go back to the way I was!” Piper had seen Conrad do so many amazing things, surely this wouldn’t be difficult for him to fix.
Conrad shook his head. “When the bug bit you, the venom reprogrammed your immune system to reject the superhero cell. Even if I transplant one from your stored DNA and replace it in your body, your immune system will attack it and kill it.”
“So get me a new immune system. Change my DNA!” Piper felt herself getting frustrated.
“I can’t fix it, Piper. There’s no way for me to get you a new immune system and change your DNA.”
“If you wanted to, you could.”
“You know that’s not true.”
Piper could feel her frustration bubbling and popping. She felt like a teakettle at full boil. “Maybe you like the fact I can’t fly.”
“That doesn’t even make sense, Piper.” The sun was pushing over the horizon, and Conrad was aware that the others would be gathered and waiting for him. They had a long way to travel to get to Xanthia and time was of the essence. He got up and started down the roof. “We’ll talk about this when I get back.”
“No.” Piper jumped to her feet and stood on the ridgepole. “I want to come with you to Xanthia. I’m part of the team too, and I want to help.”
Conrad stopped. “You know you can’t come.”
“Why not? Because you don’t want me to?”
“Piper, they’ll never let you into Xanthia as you are now. Last time was different—you could fly then. You know how the Chosen Ones are about Outsiders and people who aren’t extraordinary.”
A wild river of rage burst Piper’s dams. Her body started to shake from the force of it. “You don’t want me. That’s the problem. If you wanted to help me, you would. You like going around feeling superior to me and leaving me out, not telling me things, treating me like I’m a stranger.” Piper stamped her foot. “You aren’t very nice, Conrad. This is my house. All of this was my idea. I was the one who i
nvited you here. You just treat me like … dirt.”
Conrad’s face was now flushing with anger. “No one is treating you like dirt. I have done everything I could—”
“Everything but help me to fly. You just wanted me out of the way because I’m inconvenient.”
Hurt shone in Conrad’s blue eyes. “That’s the most unkind, mean thing you’ve ever said, Piper McCloud.” He dragged his hand through his hair, pulling it from his face. They had been friends for a long time, and they’d had their squabbles and their differences of opinions, often on a daily basis, but they’d never truly fought, and never ugly like this.
Piper’s fingers curled into fists. The fact that Conrad was attempting to be calm and rational only served to infuriate her more. “I will not go to the dance with you,” she said.
Conrad formed several questions and released them before he uttered, “What dance?”
“The spring dance!” Piper shook her head at his obtuseness. “I know you didn’t ask me, but even if you did ask, I wouldn’t go with you. So don’t ask. The answer is no.”
Conrad was on the verge of unraveling the mystery of this remark when he thought the better of it. “I have to go.”
Conrad walked down the roof.
Piper stood up on the ridgepole, pulling her arms out to her side and preparing to run.
“Don’t do it, Piper.” Conrad didn’t turn around.
“I can fly.”
“No, you can’t fly, and you have to accept that. You have to get on with your life.”
Piper snorted. “Without flying? Impossible.”
“Being extraordinary has its perks. You know that as well as I do, but it’s not what makes us great, and it’s not everything,” Conrad said, glancing back at her. “There are other things you can do…”
“What other things?”
“We’ll talk about it when I come back.” Conrad slipped through the window and was gone.
Standing alone on the roof, Piper was faced with a decision: either take her chances and jump, or get off the roof and find a way to be normal.
Piper could hear the team below wordlessly loading into the transport. Soon after, they moved out, and the farm was quiet again.
The Girl Who Fell Out of the Sky Page 8