فصل 37

chapter-37 Ancient history

Ostin and McKenna were going for a walk in the city, and Taylor wanted to take a shower, so I went to my room to rest. It was dark when Ostin returned to get me for dinner. He had McKenna and Taylor with him. I splashed some water onto my face; then we met up with the rest of the Electroclan on the hotel’s fourteenth floor for dinner.

The dining room was modern and clean and took more than half of the entire floor. Against the wall was a massive buffet. Fortunately, we didn’t look out of place, because there were as many foreigners as there were Chinese. More, in fact.

Even though we blended in, we still kept separated in small groups just to be safe. Taylor and I got in line together at the back of the entrée line. The food was mostly Chinese. There was duck, chicken, pork, noodles, bao dz, egg drop soup, and hot-and-sour soup with curdled pig’s blood. (I’m told that’s the only way to eat it.) They also had syau lung bao dumplings, one of the foods I liked and remembered from our last visit to Taiwan.

“You love those things,” Taylor said.

“Love them,” I said. “So does Ostin. I’ll have to tell him.” “Look, they also have swamp eel.”

“I just threw up in my mouth.”

She grinned. “Just kidding.”

While I was lifting dumplings onto my plate, a redheaded American woman on my right side leaned toward me and pointed at the syau lung bao. “What do you suppose those are?” I looked at her. “They’re called syau lung bao. They’re dumplings.” “What’s inside them?”

“They have pork and kind of a broth inside. They sometimes call them soup dumplings.” “That sounds interesting. Are they good?”

Considering that my plate was full of them, it was a dumb question. No, they’re sculpted vomit. That’s why I filled my plate with them. “Yes, ma’am. I like them.” “Then I guess I’ll just have to try some. Thank you.” I started to move down the line when she asked, “Are you American?” Another dumb question. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Me too. Where are you from?”

“Idaho,” I said.

“No way! I’m from Idaho. What city?”

Now I was feeling a little nervous. “Meridian.” “I’m from Eagle! We’re practically neighbors. We might have met before. What a small world.” Taylor glanced at me anxiously.

“Sometimes it is,” I said.

“What brings you to Taiwan?”

“I’m just visiting,” I said. “I’m with a school group. . . .” “Which school?”

I hesitated. “It’s just a little private school. You probably haven’t heard of it.” “My son went to a private school in Meridian. Which one is it?” I swallowed. “. . . The Liss Academy.”

Her brow furrowed. “I don’t think I’ve heard of that one.” Before she could ask another question, I said, “What are you doing here?” “My husband’s here on business. His company manufactures steam turbines for electric plants. There’s a really large power plant in the southern part of Taiwan that just broke down. We’re headed there to . . .” Her eyes suddenly went blank. Then she pointed at the syau lung bao and said, “Excuse me, do you know what these are?” I looked over at Taylor. She slightly nodded.

“They’re called syau lung bao dumplings,” I said. “They have pork and soup in them. They’re really good. You should have some.” “That does sound good. I guess I’ll have to try some.” “Great, have a good dinner,” I said. Taylor and I quickly slipped away.

After dinner we all gathered in Gervaso and Jack’s room on the seventh floor. Jack and Gervaso still hadn’t eaten, as they were talking with Welch, and Ostin and McKenna brought them boxes of food.

Taylor, Tessa, and I sat next to Welch on the edge of the bed.

Again, Gervaso wanted Taylor to monitor Welch’s thoughts without him knowing it. The room was pretty crowded, and so it didn’t seem weird that Taylor was slightly touching him.

Tanner was sitting by himself against the wall by the closet. He’d been pretty quiet since his last outburst. I felt bad for him. Also, I noticed that Cassy wasn’t there, but I didn’t say anything. I figured it would only bother Taylor that I noticed.

“Mr. Welch has been telling us what he knows about the Elgen movement,” Gervaso said. “Especially after they attacked the ranch.” “Call me David,” Welch said. “The Elgen thought they had destroyed the resistance.” “They came close,” Gervaso said. “Fortunately, we were tipped off. The ranch was deserted before the Elgen forces arrived.” Welch looked ashamed. “That was fortunate.” “It was more than fortunate. It was prepared for,” Gervaso said. “We are careful.” “Of course.” Welch looked around the room. “Thank you again for rescuing me. When will we head back to the States?” Gervaso looked around as if to make sure we were all prepared for Welch’s reaction. Then he said, “We’re not going back to the States. We’re headed to Tuvalu.” Welch made no attempt to conceal his feelings. “You’re not serious . . .” “As a heart attack,” Zeus said. He looked like he was relishing Welch’s pain.

“I’m not going to Tuvalu,” Welch said. “It’s a death trap. The entire Elgen guard is there right now. No one gets in or out of Tuvalu without Hatch’s permission. No one.” “No one gets in or out of the Elgen Academy, the Peruvian compound, the Ampere, or the Taiwan Starxource plant, either,” Jack said. “But we did.” “Notwithstanding, I can’t go back. They have a price on my head.” “We all have prices on our heads,” Gervaso said. “You know that. You put them there.” “Only a few of you,” Welch said, furtively glancing at me.

“What a chicken,” Zeus said.

I hadn’t realized until then just how much Zeus hated Welch. There was clearly bad history between them.

“Watch your tongue, Frank,” Welch said.

“What are you going to do to me, Davey?” Zeus retorted.

“Stop it,” I said. “Both of you. Whatever history you two have is past. We’re on the same team now.” I turned to Welch. “We’re going back to Tuvalu because of you.” He looked at me, then Gervaso, then back at me. “I don’t understand.” Jack said, “If it wasn’t for you, they wouldn’t be getting ready to execute Tara, Torstyn, and Quentin.” Welch looked as if Jack had just slugged him in the stomach. “What?” Gervaso said, “Hatch found out that the three of them helped you escape, and he has them locked up. He originally put Quentin in Cell 25. After that Quentin was locked in the monkey cage in the city square, where he’ll stay for the rest of his life. Tara and Torstyn are scheduled for the rat bowl.” Welch’s head dropped into his hands. When he looked up, his eyes were fierce. “I didn’t know. I had no way of knowing.” “You do now,” Zeus said. “Still want to run away?” I glared at Zeus. “Not helpful, man.”

Welch took a deep breath, then said, “What do you need from me?” “We need your help rescuing them,” I said. I purposely didn’t tell him about the Joule.

“Then I’m with you.”

Gervaso glanced at Taylor for confirmation. Taylor nodded in the affirmative. “We’ll fly out early tomorrow morning,” Gervaso said. “We leave here at oh-five-hundred hours. We’ll fly to Sydney, then Fiji.” “You have a plane, then?”

“We have a jet.”

Welch nodded. “Good.”

“From Fiji we’ve arranged to stow away on one of the supply boats. We’ll free Quentin first, then the others.” “Be aware that the Elgen have spies all around Fiji. Are you sure you can trust everyone on the boat?” “We can trust the captain,” Gervaso said. “He’s a friend of mine.” “All right. I’ll help however I can.”

Gervaso glanced at Taylor, and she nodded again. I was glad that Welch was telling the truth. It would be good to have someone on our side who knew everything about our enemy. It was still hard to believe that a month ago he was the enemy.

“All right, then,” Gervaso said. “We leave first thing in the morning. Try to get some sleep. You’re going to need it.”