Chapter Forty-Two: Hidden in Plain Sight

Day Twelve

Jior Morning:

Day Four in the Jior World

Leo stared out across the crowded square. He and Raph lay prone on a gently sloped sturdy wooden roof of a house at the edge of the square, while Casey and Saja lay further back, away from the edge.

Apparently the Moon Gathering did not occur at night like its name implied, but the morning after. From the clues Leo had picked up from eavesdropping on guards and had relayed to the others, Saja had realized that the Moon Gathering would occur today. And since Leo and Raph had again been unable to rescue Don and Mikey from the Council Building last night—the number of guards made up for their lack of technological security—the group had been forced to attend the gathering in secret.

Jior villagers had begun collecting early in the town square, and more continued to arrive; they stood in little clusters, chatting but glancing often toward the Council Building. The elders and men serving as guards had appeared and clustered near the columns. Finally, activity began to pick up near the oversized double doors.

Guards slowly wheeled The Technology out from the Council Building, to the visible discomfort of the waiting crowd of Jior waiting. They seem a bit excited, too, some of them. It's their fear tactic as well as the most exciting thing that's happened in months.

Raph nudged Leo's elbow. "What's happenin' at th' door?"

Leo's eyes snapped from the crowd to the front of the Council Building. The guards at the doors now seemed to be having whispered conversations with flapping hands and quick gestures. Several elders appeared, the white-haired elder at the forefront, and the guards conveyed some information to them.

"Something's up," Leo whispered back. "I bet Don and Mikey escaped."

"I'd bet on that," Raph growled.

The crowd rustled, and Elder Nafti—as Saja had informed them—raised a hand and issued a command.

In a moment, guards exited the building with a familiar tan-skinned young man sandwiched between them. Even at this distance, Leo could see that it was Taevon, face blank with fear.

"Shell." Leo and Raph said at the same time, then glanced at each other.

"That explains why the Old Anchor was unguarded yesterday afternoon," Leo said. "I hoped this wasn't why, but…"

"But it makes more sense than the Jior just givin' up or whatever," Raph growled. "Still doesn't answer where Taevon was, or what he was doin,' but now we gotta rescue him before we can ask him."

"Don probably has a plan. If we figure out what it is, we can help—"

The slightest of noises from very close by made both ninjas freeze. What's that? I thought all the Jior were watching the show. Is someone climbing—

A paper appeared on the roof in front of Leo; Leo jumped several inches. What in the world—wait. That's Don's handwriting.

A muffled giggle right in front of him made Leo look up. He saw nothing. "Mikey?"

The note waggled as if to get his attention, and Leo read it. He felt Raph's eyes on it, too.

"Leo and Raph, I think I've come up with a plan, but I'm going to need your help…" A slow grin spread across Leo's face as he read his genius brother's idea.

Don watched Mikey climb down from the low rooftop across the square where the others were hiding and start skirting back around the crowd. He couldn't quite see Leo and Raph anymore, but he could see that metal glinted in Mikey's hand. Good, he got it.

Now maskless, Mikey dodged around latecomers joining the crowd and then slipped past the guards standing near The Technology. Thankfully the knot of wizened elders stood fifteen feet away on the far side of the machine, except for Elder Nafti. He stood a little nearer the machine and the crowd, speaking gravely.

As two guards strapped the frozen Taevon into the seat, Don bent to give Mikey a hand climbing onto The Technology; Mikey moved much more carefully than normal roof traversal, given that he could have reached out and touched the nearest guard. Once safely up with the Jior none the wiser, Mikey handed Don his homemade translator and a note and flashed him a thumbs up and a wide grin.

Don glanced at the note with his question and the answer written in Leo's neat handwriting—"Saja says 'keva' is the masculine adjective, 'kaiva' is the feminine, and 'kovar' is the verb form"—before nodding and slipping the paper into his duffel. We'll see if I get a chance to use that information.

Don adjusted his duffel on his hip again. He felt doubly naked, standing out in the open before dozens of eyes—even though they couldn't see him—and without his mask. At least I have my bo and my tools again.

As he and Mikey, invisible to everyone except each other, had followed the guards wheeling The Technology out of its storage room and their makeshift prison cell, they'd paused in the hall to collect their weapons and confiscated equipment. Thankfully, anything worn or held became invisible as well, and no one had noticed any items go missing in the confusion over missing prisoners.

The moment they opened the storage room door was one of the scariest moments of my life. Of course Mikey couldn't see me or whatever I picked up when I first tested the invisibility effect yesterday, and then when I applied the beam to him, we could see each other just fine again, but I couldn't know for sure until the Jior saw or didn't see us. It worked perfectly—all we had to do was avoid them touching us—but in a minute, we'll find out if the other effect works.

Mikey touched his arm and made an "okay?" gesture with his hand, looking concerned.

Whoops. I was thinking too much again. Don nodded at Mikey and returned the "okay" sign. Taking a deep breath, Don clipped on the translator, plugged in the headset he'd fished out of his bag earlier, and turned it on.

After three seconds, the machine clicked and began providing a rough translation of Elder Nafti's proclamation of Taevon's many crimes. Oof, he's not pulling any punches. I don't know much about Taevon, but I don't think 'eccentric' necessarily means 'psychopath.' Most of these charges seem to be speculation at best. And Taevon doesn't get a chance to defend himself. Not like it looks like he could right now. Taevon sat pale and frozen in the seat of punishment, golden eyes filled with terror. I wish there was a way to reassure him without blowing our cover. Especially since he's being held guilty for our disappearance, too. Don frowned. Is it my imagination, or are his eyes kind of… dull? Faded? Is that necklace doing something to him? Focus, Don. You've got a job to do, and you've got to be ready when it's time.

While the elder droned on and the crowd of Jior listened intently, Don knelt and eased open the hatch on top of the machine. Mikey stood on the very edge to give him as much room as possible.

"And so is it that Council of Elders must punish Taevon Yue'lah of the Reddeh Tribe for breaking more High Law than any previous Jior has ever manage doing." He paused theatrically. Sheesh. This creep is definitely enjoying this way too much. "As always, The Technology itself will deciding the punishment of the criminal."

Not today, it won't.

Elder Nafti marched over; the guards stepped out of his way as fast as if he'd pointed a gun at them.

The entire crowd seemed to hold its breath.

Elder Nafti moved around the machine, making a great show of flipping various dials and switches, some more than once.

Don almost chuckled. He just turned that lever off and on five times. He has absolutely no idea what he's doing.

Finally, the elder touched the activation lever of one of the front-facing panels. He turned slowly to face the crowd and Taevon. "Taevon Yue'lah is punished!"

That's my cue. With his navy sleeves over his hands, Don reached into the hatch and pulled the power crystal up and out of its socket. It tingled in his hands.

The Technology ceased its humming.

Elder Nafti threw the switch. Nothing happened.

Taevon's eyes bugged out; he looked like he was about to pass out.

Elder Nafti frowned, but before he could try again, Don carefully passed the glowing crystal to Mikey—who had pulled his sleeves low to accept it—closed the hatch, and stood.

Then Don bellowed, "WHAT IS THIS, O PEOPLE OF JIOR?"