Sarah closed the door and dropped onto her bed. "Rachel, I want out!" The older girl had to bend her head to lean on Rachel's shoulder. "I'm sick of it. I'm sick of the adults telling me how I'm going to help other people, I'm sick of those stupid exercises where I have to explain where I want my parts to go—I want my own life!"
Rachel didn't know what to say until Sarah suddenly looked at her with her eyes full of hope.
"You—you're Supreme Commander of the Kids Next Door, everyone from your world says so. You help kids, right?"
Rachel for a brief moment had a doubt if she should be helping a teenager, but that notion quickly evaporated.
Rachel again let Sarah lean down and put her head on her shoulder. Unbeknownst to Sarah, a small smile began to inch it's way onto the Supreme Leader's face. There was a secret guilty glee that Rachel felt from having a kid who needed help and knowing she could help her. "It's okay Sarah, don't worry. I'll get you out."
The taller girl came out of Rachel's embrace, all red-eyed. "Really?"
"Really." Rachel looked around the room to see if anything was bugged. "If you want out of here, you can't go around the hotel looking like you've been crying, you know how things are. You'll be in a pastor's or counselor's office so quick you won't even have time to say your name. Now go, dry your eyes."
Sarah went into the bathroom and began to scrub at her eyes with almost a practiced air and Rachel realized with a jolt Sarah had done this before. When she came back, her eyes were still slightly red but there were no other signs that anything was wrong. "There are others too, I know 6 kids including me who want out of here... Do you think—?"
But without even thinking Rachel said "Of course, the more the merrier."
Rachel was secretly regretting that decision. It was not going to be easy to sneak a whole group out of the hotel. Still, she couldn't just leave them behind. This was her job.
Rachel and Sarah spent the next hour and a half finding all the kids and telling them to come by her room at separate times. The boys (Ben, Joseph , Simeon and Michael) would come earlier to avoid the patrols, who would be doing sweeps to make sure that kids were in their assigned rooms. The girls(María and Lilly) would come later. If a girl got caught going into another girl's room they might ask questions, but if a boy was caught trying to go into a girl's room, they'd might as well haul the lot of them either to their tithing or the Delightful Mansion because they'd wouldn't just be dead, they'd be super dead. Final prayers went off without much ado, except for the strong prodding for Rachel to tell somebody what was bothering her.
Rachel was relieved when she finally closed the door to the room where Sarah was waiting for her.
"When are they coming?"
"Soon." Rachel yawned, wishing she could take a nap but not trusting herself to wake up on time. She sat on the plush bed with Sarah and they waited.
Michael, Ben, Simeon and Joseph came thirty minutes after Rachel. They were a little too close together for Rachel's comfort, but they had encountered no trouble so she was more than pleased. Lilly came five minutes after the boys and María soon after. The little band clustered around Rachel's bed, waiting for her orders just like a sector listening to their leader.
Rachel was almost tempted to cheer "Kids Next Door rules!" She stopped herself at the last minute. This was a stealth mission after all. She took a deep breath and listened for any movement in the hall as Ben raised his hand.
"So is it true, Rachel? Are you really going to help us escape?" Rachel nodded, but before she could say anything else, Lilly raised her hand too. "What a polite little bunch of cadets!"Rachel thought, smiling again before calling on Lilly, a small redheaded girl with an almost cartoonishly small voice. " So... What are we going to do? Are we leaving tonight?"
Now it was Rachel's turn to feel like a little kid. She was about to give the vague but unsatisfactory answer of "I'm working on it, " but Sarah chimed in a voice that Rachel couldn't believe sounded smaller than Lilly's.
"I think I found a way out. It's through the ballroom ... You know, the one on the opposite side of the hotel? I was looking around there earlier today. No one goes down there and unlike the rest of the doors around here it was unlocked…"
Sarah looked down quietly at the floor, just like a kindergartener who felt embarrassed about an answer that they thought was stupid. Rachel beamed and the other kids beamed with her.
Within the hour, the tiny band of AWOL tithes were creeping their way across the hotel. They had to be extra careful to keep silent because it seemed that every adult was out looking for curfew breakers. As they ducked into a hallway that led out of the lobby, Joseph pantingly voiced what everyone must have been thinking about. "I thought they trusted us? They keep telling us that we're good kids and that they're so proud of us, so why do they think we'll all try to break out?"
Nobody answered. They were all hiding from the same woman who told Rachel about Number Infinity earlier that day. After what felt like forever, she passed them by and turned a corner with a flashlight. Finally Rachel answered his question.
"I think they might be expecting me to be trying to break out..."
The whole group turned to face Rachel, except for Sarah, who stared off into the distance to make sure the coast was clear.
"Why don't you just go and leave us?" This was María, the most soft-spoken and sensitive of the group. "If you're leader of the Kids Next Door, you should be trying to save the most kids as possible from unwinding! You shouldn't be worried about us!"
Quiet, shy María got louder and louder until her voice should have brought everyone on the whole ground floor down on them. Rachel wanted to shake her, but she kept it together and only gave her a stern look and a finger to her lips. Embarrassed and anxious, María nodded. Sarah gave the all-clear signal and the little band moved from their hiding spot closer to their chance at freedom.
Now they were in the older part of the grand hotel that needed remodeling. The wallpaper was peeling off and the floorboards were rotting and uneven.
Simeon tripped and sprawled out on the floor, filling his hands with splinters. He didn't scream, but he began to whimper. "I think I've twisted my ankle. Go on without me, get out of here."
María and Rachel were there in a flash, helping him to his feet. María supported Simeon and became a crutch while Rachel crouched down beside him and examined his leg. Sure enough, he'd twisted his ankle.
"Rainbow Monkey balls!" Rachel muttered under her breath, making María flinch. If they needed to run, he wouldn't be able to keep up.
"I've got him." María said, helping Simeon to his feet. Ben, the largest kid in the band, volunteered to be the caboose and trail after them to fight whatever came their way. Rachel handed him her musket (not the old muzzleloader but a mustard pistol she had been saving for emergencies) and sent Lilly to stay with him for backup. Michael and Sarah led the way down the unfinished halls. The group kept their spread-out formation as they got closer to their escape.
"Rachel, can I ask you something that I was trying to ask you back there?" Rachel remembered the question and grunted an inaudible reply. She didn't even want to think about it right now. There was so much to process: unwinding, the G:KND, Nigel... What was she going to tell Sector V?
But as Rachel thought that last horrible question, María spoke. "Why didn't you just leave us?"
Simeon, through gasps of pain, repeated the question. "Yeah, you could have gotten out of here by yourself a whole lot quicker without us."
Rachel looked the two tithes and a red hot flash of anger went though her—not at them, but at their parents. These kids had been raised since infancy to question their own worth. It made Rachel furious, not just at the adults, but a little bit at herself for believing all this crud.
"Rachel?" María asked. This time Rachel had an answer. It was a good answer. It was the only thing that made sense to her at the moment and the utter goodness of it made her smile.
"I'm a Kids Next Door Operative. I save kids. It's my job."
The little group traveled in silence until Rachel asked "María, what made you want to run away? You too, Simeon. Why?"
Simeon smiled through his pain. "I don't know if you know this or not, but unwinding is outdated."
"What?" Rachel said, confused.
"Yeah, back in my world they came out with this machine that literally prints body parts. So what's the point of me being tithed if you can just print out a couple dozens sets of lungs in an hour when I can give only two?"
Rachel was shocked. It seemed like the more the day went on, the more it looked like when this was all over Roberta was going to be a guest of a resort of Rachel's choosing :the Arctic prison. Rachel looked at María , who looked down at the floor.
"It's my brother. He didn't want me to be tithed."
Rachel's mind automatically went to Harvey.
"He always made a fuss about it. He fought with my dad... At one point he punched him hard in the nose..."
An image flashed in Rachel's mind of Harvey wearing tithing whites. If her parents decided to tithe Harvey, would she have done the same thing? Rachel decided the answer was yes and she liked Maria's brother tremendously.
"Anyway, you know how it is... He was sixteen and two days after that he was on a bus to Cold Springs Harvest Camp." Tears began to prick in María's eyes and if Simeon wasn't leaning on her, Rachel would have hugged her. "I just can't stand the thought of me going through with this after that. I loved my brother more than anyone in the whole world..."
After they reached the ballroom, the whole team met up together and celebration was in the air.
Michael let out a laugh. "When I get out of here I'm going to be a preacher, then instead of being given funeral rites I'll be giving them."
Rachel laughed at Michael's dark humor. It felt good after spending a week in an environment that would have been too sweet for Rainbow Monkeys.
"I want to be a farmer." Ben said.
"Doctor!" squeaked Lilly in delight.
"Rich." Joseph said, smiling.
"Free." María said, drying her eyes.
"How about you, Sarah? Any plans when we get out of here?" Rachel asked curiously as she entered the grand ballroom.
Sarah stopped just outside of the door. "Well, Rachel, I've always wanted to be an actress ..."
And with that the trap was sprung.
And with that the trap was sprung .
The doors to the hall closed and a horde of adults rushed in to capture the party of runaways. Sarah looked into the ballroom at Rachel like she was some type of caged animal. She had a look of triumph as Roberta appeared from the darkest part of the area beyond the ballroom and put a motherly hand on Sarah's shoulder. The look of triumph soon vanished as Sarah heard the crying of the children who she promised freedom but so cruelly and coldly betrayed.
Rachel was too stunned for words. Followed by the AWOL tithes, Sarah and the counselors, Roberta strutted primly into the ballroom to a row of chairs waiting on the far side of the room. Sarah took her place beside Roberta, looking down at the ground. She never lifted her eyes. Not towards Rachel or Roberta, or the swarm of adults and especially not the kids who she betrayed(who were apparently going to be a captive audience for whatever morose spectacle Roberta had in mind). For a whole two minutes Roberta stared at Rachel, who stood defiantly in the center of the room.
"What are you looking at?" Rachel screamed angrily when she could no longer bear the silence. Roberta gave no reply. All that anyone could hear was the whimpering of the tithes.
"What are you looking at?" Rachel screamed even louder.
"A lousy teenage traitor." came the reply in a voice that had the same clipped British accent that Roberta had… only it wasn't Roberta.
It was then Rachel discovered what the bit of gold she had seen in the chapel earlier that day was. She saw that speck of light as it descended rapidly from the high chandelier above until it ceased to be just a speck of gold and became a visor set on a bald head wearing a long red hoodie. That speck of gold was Nigel Uno.
He stood at attention like a statue, gazing at Rachel impassively though his yellow visor. Rachel looked back at the boy who had once been one of her closest friends. Neither one of them said anything. There was nothing to say.
Roberta was watching them both like a hawk. "I'd thought since Number Infinity was unable to calm your nerves that maybe Number 1 would be better suited to the task."
Rachel didn't take her eyes off of Nigel, but she could hear the laughter in Roberta's voice. Rachel's hands clenched into fist as she stood quivering in a fury.
"Now Rachel, don't be childish about this. After all, in a couple of weeks, you won't be a child anymore. Isn't that right Nigel?"
Number 1, for the slightest instant, looked at the floor and Rachel knew if she said the right thing right now she could get through to him. "Nigel, please listen to me! The Galactic Kids Next Door is rogue! They've been playing us for a long time!"
"Number 1!" Roberta said sharply as if talking to a trained dog. "Number 362 is a threat to intergalactic security. She is plotting to betray the Kids Next Door. Take her into custody."
Number 1 drew his weapon, not any type of Kids Next Door weapon that was known to Rachel or even a weapon seen in the Galactic Kids Next Door. Instead Nigel drew a tranq pistol that Rachel knew the new Juvie cops were using. One hit would knock her out cold.
"Nigel please, if you don't believe me about the Galactic Kids next Door, then at least believe me about her!" Rachel pointed to Roberta, whose smile was beginning to slip. "Don't be a fool like me, I've already been fooled, don't make the mistake I've made..."
"Number 1, carry out the order!" Nigel had the tranq pistol leveled at Rachel. For once in her life she was defenseless. All he had to do was pull the trigger and Rachel would be out like a light. Instead of pulling the trigger. he threw the gun clear across the floor and took a defensive stance. Gesturing with his fingers, he beckoned her to dance, and she accepted with relish.
The two figures battled their way across the ballroom's dance floor, trading blow for parry and parry for blow. Rachel kicked at her enemy's face, which was dodged by Nigel and countered with an elbow, followed by a swift punch aimed at Rachel's belly. She dodged the punch and tried a leg sweeping kick, which Nigel nimbly jumped over. Rachel had always been a couple inches taller than Nigel, but she had shot up two or three inches since they last saw each other. This didn't bother Nigel, who was used to fighting opponents taller than him. Indeed, his time with the Galactic Kids Next Door had only sharpened his skill. Despite Rachel's agility and training, it was the reach of her legs that gave her only the slightest of edges.
From the gallery of onlookers, the captive tithes and the adults watched this great contest. The captive tithes (excluding Sarah, who had buried her head in her hands in sheer shame) cheered with every movement and counterattack while Roberta and the adults sat stone-faced.
"Well, I guess we all know who your fan club is, don't we, Rachel? How does it feel, leading your own clan of Teen Ninjas?" Nigel made a mad dash for Rachel, who quickly sent him flying into the air.
"What are you talking about, Nigel? For Zero's sake, look at them! Do they look like Cree or Chad?" Rachel was still fighting defensively for the most part. She didn't want to hurt Nigel, but she did make an attempt to smash that stupid visor of his.
"Maybe that would smack some sense into him?" She thought with bitter humor.
Nigel caught the fist and charged, only for his body to run smack into thin air as Rachel calmly moved aside. Nigel muttered a curse in some Galactic language and the two went back to circling each other.
"What's the matter, solider? It seems to me that you're holding back."
Nigel was still focused on her. "I've received orders to take you in as best condition possible."
Rachel smiled tauntingly at Nigel. "A Kids Next Door operative obeying an adult's orders?"
Without missing a beat, Number 1 snapped back at her. " I receive orders from Galactic Kids Next Door, and we both know there are no adults in the Galactic Kids Next Door."
"Then Roberta Griswold is the ugliest looking kid I've ever seen in my entire life!" Rachel's retort was loud enough for the entire audience to hear and a chorus of laughter echoed down. Even some of the adults snickered. Roberta, however, sat in silent fury, pursing her lips. Nigel, who had been a pillar of stoicism a few seconds ago, forced back a small smile. Rachel smiled too. Was there a Kids Next Door operative still there behind that visor after all?
The two went back at it, slugging away at each other with both of them growing more tired with each swing.
"I'm surprised a desk jockey like you can keep up this close to retirement."
Nigel said, panting like a dog on on a hot Summer day.
"I see zero gravity hasn't improved your skills much." Rachel said, sweat dripping down her blond hair. She didn't know how much longer she could fight.
Then another thought dawned on her. What time was it? Other tithes would be getting up soon and Rachel was sure that this little party was only going to last as long as the sun was down. Not to mention there were still seven adults to fight. This had to be ended quickly if she still had a chance to run.
"Nigel , please. I don't know what those alien kids put into your head, but please just listen. You know this is wrong, deep down you know it's wrong. Help me, please..."
Number 1's shoulders went low and Rachel could see a change in the boy's posture. "Come on, Nigel, think ! What would Abby say about this? Or Hoagie? Or Kuki? Or Wally? What about your Dad? Do you think Number Zero would want us to help this woman harvest kid's organs?"
"They're not kids!" Nigel said bitterly, "They're just teenagers. Just like you soon enough."
"Come on Nigel, you and I love the Kids Next Door, but I think we both know how stupid that idea is."
Nigel took off his visor now, and Rachel saw tears in his eyes. "You were the Leader of Sector V. You're my best operative, you're no one's puppet. Please." The girl shifted to an open stance and held out her hand.
"Thank you…" Nigel said softly. There was conflict in the boy's eyes, deep, deep conflict.
"… for lowering your defenses!" The conflict was over. Swiftly and ruthlessly, Nigel became the second person to betray Rachel's trust that night. With one swift blow, a kick to the top of her head, Rachel was in a crumpled heap on the ballroom floor. The audience of tithes cried and moaned as they were taken from their seats and marched off out of the room.
Roberta approached Nigel. "Was all that violence really necessary?"
She brushed the boy aside and examined the top of Rachel's head. "There is a goose egg here, Number 1, a very large goose egg."
"My orders were to subdue her. I obeyed." Number 1's voice was cold and collected again.
Roberta smiled sweetly, almost as if she was glad to be able to chastise someone. "Your orders were to bring Rachel McKenzie down swiftly and with as little damage to her person as possible. It appears that even a child such as yourself cannot follow simple instructions."
Just then two figures emerged from beyond the ballroom's entrance. "They're all loaded up, ma'am. Do you want us to take this one?"
"By all means!" The sweet motherly Roberta was back and had more syrup then a maple tree. "This remarkable boy helped to bring our little problem down, he should be—"
"Nigel!"
Number 1 turned his head to see Rachel being picked up by someone in a uniform. She was in a semi—conscious state with tears pouring from her eyes. Nigel knew they were not from the kick.
"I'm sorry Nigel, I'm sorry, it's all my fault, I failed you, I failed the whole entire Kids Next Door, please snap out of it …You have to stop this…"
Roberta smiled sweetly at Rachel as she was carried away. Then she turned to Nigel, still smiling her blood-red smile. "I know it was hard for you, having to... take care of a friend like that." Roberta, who was usually a picture of self control, couldn't stop herself as the smile widened at that last little comment. Number 1 flinched, but only for a second. She placed a manicured hand on his shoulder and continued.
"But you did your duty. Your organization will receive glowing reviews by my account."
Nigel said nothing as he stood at parade rest. Roberta turned to go, but stopped just short of the ballroom's door. "Oh… and I trust that you will be able to take very special care of Sector V for us?"
"Galactic Kids Next Door rule!" Number 1 said firmly. Roberta's blood red smile was vicious and Nigel Uno's visor barely covered his tears.