It was getting dark, and Fang and I had been combing the nearby hills for Jeb's car for hours now. It was obvious we weren't going to find them anytime soon, so we went back to mom's (our) house. Surprisingly, when we landed there, we saw Jeb's Mercedes in the driveway. Fang bounded up the front steps to the door, and I followed quickly.
The door was locked, but less than three seconds after Fang knocked, Nudge flew (figuratively) through the door, throwing her arms around Fang.
"I thought you guys were dead by now or something! I was sooooo worried. Did you get chased long? Did you fly back? What happened to the car? Are you guys okay?"
Fang, who was being a statue during this rant, decided to make a deal. "Nudge, if I hug you back will you shut up so we can go inside?"
Nudge nodded vigorously. She had been very worried about us. That and the fact that Fang never hugged anyone.
Fang leaned down and gently wrapped his arms around Nudge. Fang could tell she had been pretty freaked out today.
"Thanks Fang." She whispered, letting his go. I know this is going to sound so sappy, but honestly, I was touched.
I put my arm around her shoulder and squeezed it as we entered the house. The lower level was the picture of worry and anxiety. Jeb was hunched over a laptop, typing furiously. Mom was reading over his shoulder, surveying what he was doing. The rest of the Flock and Ari and Ella were scattered across the living room.
Jeb glanced up from the computer, noticing me across the room.
"Max." he said with relief. He strode across the room embracing me in a tight grip. Hadn't he realized yet that near death situations are all too common for us?
"What's going on?" I asked, my voice muffled because it was pressed into his chest.
Jeb released me, leading me back to the laptop. He sat down and clicked, bringing up a screen with what looked like a moving mass of red. My mom put her arm around my shoulders tiredly. I gave her a side hug back.
"Look at this." Jeb said, pointing to the red mass on the computer. All of us crowded around to get a look at it. "I was able to get a track on the Flyboy's coordinates, using their electronic signatures and locating their large electro-memory masses."
"English please!" the Gasman asked.
"Basically, I can track the Flyboys, and they're headed this way."
I saw Ella's jaw drop slightly out of the corner of my eye. She wasn't exactly used to this stuff.
"We have to leave, now." Jeb continued. If we get down to the airport, I can rent a plane and fly us somewhere."
"But wouldn't you have to book a pilot? How would we keep where we're going a secret if we have an extra person on our hands?"
"I have a pilot license." Jeb said curtly. "Valencia, we have to go now." he said, looking her in the eye.
I caught a last glance at the screen before Jeb closed it. The Flyboys were after us. Me and the Flock. I couldn't put Mom, Ella, Ari, and Jeb in danger like this. I just couldn't.
"You guys go catch a plane. I'll lead them off."
Jeb's mouth opened slightly. "Maximum, I should probably expect this from you by now. No. Absolutely not."
"Jeb is completely right. There is no way I'm going to let you try to 'lead off' these robot things." My mom agreed.
I sighed. "Mom, Jeb, do you know how many times I've done this before?"
"That's before I knew you were my daughter. No, Max." Mom said sternly.
"Fine." I said. But I gave each member of the Flock a look that said, Yeah, right. They returned the look with one of their own. We're in. Iggy included, he knows me well enough to know I gave him the look in the first place.