Since I always forget… Disclaimer: Nowhere on my middle school ID card, Social Security Card, nor birth certificate does it say "James Patterson." Therefore, don't own, don't sue.

Chapter 35: Inside Man…I Mean Max

FPOV

We crawled through the air vents with no sound whatsoever.

"Okay," I whispered to Max. "Just for the record, least favorite place: Air ducts of a potential threat to all of humanity or sewer tunnels of New York?"

She was silent before answering: "Still sewer tunnels of New York. Nothing will ever be as bad as that."

True, the tunnels were a lot dirtier than the lint-covered, dirt-smeared, spider-infested air vents of the Cult, but I wasn't complaining.

We had to stop several times to check the second map to find the right "drop zone" as we called it.

We unscrewed the grate for this one and dropped into the room.

There was no lights on, but thanks to our raptor vision, we had no trouble picking out shapes and objects.

We were in a computer room with carpet, so any sound we made was thankfully muffled.

"Put this on," Max whispered, handing me a black cloak with a hood.

I took it, eyed it, then stared at her.

"People in the Cult know who we are," she answered. "So it's best that it remains that no one knows who we are right now."

I nodded and donned the cloak. Max did the same.

Being sneaky, we crept out into the hallway. We pulled up the hoods of the cloaks.

It was dimly lit, but we had no trouble seeing. It was made entirely of metal, and red lights were the only lights there.

"We've only been here a few minutes," Max murmured. "But this place is already giving me the creeps."

I nodded slowly. "I know what you mean."

Underneath her cloak, I could see Max pressing a hand to her abdomen.

"What's wrong?" I asked, suddenly concerned.

"It's just…" she whispered. "I'm not sure of a lot of things."

"Like what?" I muttered.

She looked up at me. Her beautiful face looked eerie underneath the hood of the cloak and the red light illuminating it. "Like… how long do I have to deal with this? How long are our kind pregnant for?"

I looked at her and was just about to answer as a big-bellied old man and a SuperEraser turned a corner and headed straight for us.

We got out of the way and flattened ourselves against a wall.

"What are you two doing here?" the old man asked.

"We were…" I began, but I was out of excuses.

"We were just on our way to see the Master," Max answered.

The old man looked her over. "Really? Hm… You are a female, yes?"

Max nodded. "Yes."

The old man grinned. "Well then! That changes things! The Master is getting tired of his usual concubines! You are new, correct?"

She nodded. "Yes."

The old man laughed, and his belly jiggled with him. "Oh, how wonderful! You must come and visit me next! I'm getting tired of my own concubines!"

It was all I could not to snarl at the old man and strangle him.

Max laughed nervously. "Yes. I most certainly will."

The old man wiped a tear from his eye. "Oh, well, I must be going now! The Consul must decide how to kill this batch of sacrifices. There have been rumors going about that they are going to be burned alive!"

Max and I bowed.

The old man and the SuperEraser left.

"That was close," Max whispered.

"Too close," I said back.

We looked at each other and shuddered at the thought of what the Master did the girls of the Cult.

When we were certain we were out of earshot of the old man, who we knew now to be a member of the Supreme Consul, I stopped her and said, "Look, Max, I'm not sure of those things too. But you know what? We'll know when we know. Right now, all that matters is that we're together and we're going to take down the Cult."

Max gave me a determined look and nodded. "Let me guess: Because you know everything?"

I nodded and she laughed quietly.

But, before we could move again, Max gasped in pain and doubled-over.

I caught her before she could fall. "Max! What's wrong?"

Here eyes were clenched shut and her teeth gritted. "Just some pain." She opened her eyes and looked at me. "It's just been getting worse and worse."

When the pain had receded, we continued to walk down the seemingly endless hallways.

"Hey! You there!" a voice called from behind us. "Stop right where you are!"

Max and I glanced at each other. I could see the fear in her eyes.

Then we took off running.

Since I love adding the scary music in… Dun, dun, dun! Will they get caught? Find out in the next installment of… "Maximum Ride Book 7!"

LOL! Anywhoo, since I'm so bored it isn't funny anymore, I'll just do the rest of Part 3 today and get it out of the way. So expect awesomeness!

Again, FOR THE WHALES, review! Please!

-A$h