So, this chapter introduces a character from the JQ:TRA episode "Dark Sentinel." No, really. If you have the ability to watch the episode, I suggest you do so. If not, here's a basic synopsis:
Jonny and Hadji are visiting Cameroon with Benton and Race, assisting a local colleague of Benton's with his research into the mysterious healing properties of some local tree sap. Doctor Tigari Zimbati's son Ngama befriends Jonny and Hadji, and the three are working to get samples of the sap before loggers clear the entire area. But when the loggers threaten the lands of the Zimbati tribe who live as close to their traditional beliefs as they ever did, the shaman of the tribe summons an ancient power – a "guardian" that manifests in the real world by draining the life-force of a chosen member of the tribe. The chosen member is Ngama (whose father turned his back on the tribe many years before), and with multiple appearances by the guardian, the boy suffers increasingly dangerous seizures. In the end, Jonny and Hadji manage to transfer the guardian from Ngama to Hadji (because Hadji is just that good) and they hook the whole phenomenon into Questworld (I know – ugh) to send it away before it kills Hadji. The loggers are stopped by the government and the boys part friends.
Enjoy!
"Can't this thing go any faster?" Jonny demanded.
"I don't have the siren on this stupid van," Jim growled at him. "But you better believe me, I'm giving it all she's got."
"I know we are all very concerned," Hadji said with a gasp as Jim rounded a corner so fast two wheels seemed to leave the road, "but perhaps you could consider giving it slightly less than it has got?"
His suggestion was ignored. Normally, it took a bit more than an hour to get from the heart of Cascade to the SELF location, assuming little traffic and no odd delays. Thirty-five minutes from when they peeled out of the gates, Jim was screeching to a halt at a ring of police cars. All three of them basically jumped from the van to stride towards the center of the action, Jonny's arms wound tightly around Bandit.
"They're with me," Jim said as a patrolman made to stop Jonny and Hadji. He shrugged at the senior detective and let the kids pass.
"Jim!" Simon called, drawing his attention. The captain intercepted them. "Jim, they're okay. It wasn't really too bad."
"What happened?" Jonny demanded.
Hadji noticed that both Sentinels, even Jonny who was theoretically without his senses, were carrying themselves with the same alert tension, attuned to the environment and aware of everything that moved. If Hadji had been a betting man – or if it were permitted by his religion – he would have wagered that Jonny's senses weren't offline, not right now. Just as when he'd been running Jim's course, they were active when he was utilizing them instinctively. If it was pointed out to him, though, then they would once again fail.
"I asked Sandburg to go with Joel to look at another fire," Simon was explaining. At Jim's glare, he held up a hand. "Why I did it doesn't matter right now. Anyway, Jessie tagged along and they were at the scene for a little more than an hour when somebody drove by with a bottle of gas and a rag on fire."
"We're okay." Jessie appeared from out of the chaos. "All things considered, it was a pretty small molotov cocktail and the guy had crap for aim."
Jonny and Hadji dodged around Jim to her side. It was Hadji who put out a hand to touch the bandage looped around Jessie's forearm. "Not entirely unharmed, I see."
Jessie tossed her head. "My own fault," she confessed. "I tore a good gash diving for cover."
Bandit whimpered slightly and lunged from Jonny's arms to Jessie's, where he sniffed her bandage before licking her chin thoroughly.
"Saved my skin, though," Blair said. Now Jim unfroze from his position in front of his captain and faced his partner. "She heard the car take the corner too fast and told us to duck."
"Thank god somebody was paying attention," Jim was torn between berating anybody responsible for putting Blair in harm's way and praising Jessie for her swift action. He settled for doing neither and examining his partner to ensure he was unharmed. Other than being quite dirty, he seemed fine. Not even a lung-rattle this time.
"Yeah," Joel came up. "It probably wouldn't have killed us, but we'd all be in some pretty serious hurt if not for her."
"Tell them what you found," Simon said to Joel.
"Jessie helped us dig through the wreckage and we came up with this," he held up a baggie with a few small pieces in it. "And she warned us in time for me to protect the evidence, too."
"All in a day's work, huh, Ace?" Jonny teased her lightly. But his eyes lingered on her bandaged arm.
"Jonny," Hadji drew his attention back, "do you recognize this?"
"Yeah," Jonny said, peering at the items Joel was still holding up.
"How exactly do you two know an ignition switch on sight?" Simon asked sharply.
Jonny blushed slightly, so Hadji jumped to his rescue. "We did not have what you might call a regular childhood. Jonny and I have both been able to identify a wide variety of incendiary devices and their associated parts since we were twelve years old."
"That's why I didn't know it for sure," Jessie said. "By the time I came along, dad had decided he didn't want me to know as much about pyrotechnics as you two did. I think he thought it would be a bad idea."
"It is a bad idea," Joel said, frowning. "This is very, very dangerous."
"So's being a Quest," Jonny quipped.
"So we're all agreed? Even you kids, who really should not get a vote here, and I can't believe I'm listening to you in the first place," Simon complained more to himself than anyone else. "We're actually dealing with a bomber?"
"I'd say an amateur, though," Blair put in.
"Why do you think so?" Jim asked.
"Well, for one thing, his bomb wasn't very big. If he'd wanted this store gone and he really knew what he was doing, he'd have at least put some real fuel in the thing. But mostly it's because of the way he came back." Blair ran a hand through his smoky hair. "Clearly he didn't expect anything to be left that we could recover at the scene, and when he saw us digging through the wreckage, he panicked. He figured he had to get rid of us before it was too late, and that little molotov was his best idea."
"He's got a point," Simon acknowledged. "It doesn't scream of experience and competence to try to destroy evidence and witnesses by chucking a beer bottle full of gasoline out the car window as you swing by."
"Simon," Joel cleared his throat. "We also have reason to suspect that the coffee shop fire Blair and I witnessed wasn't an accident either."
"So we have a bomber and he's already hit two places?" Simon frowned darkly. "All right, that's it. Arson missed this, and whoever it is just took a shot at a pair of my detectives, so I'm taking charge of this investigation. Jim, whatever you're up to, you'll have to take a break." He stopped for a moment to glance apologetically at the three kids. "I hope you understand."
"Oh, yeah, no problem," Jonny assured him. "This is way bigger than, um, showing us around."
Simon blinked until he realized that Joel was watching them carefully. Joel, who wasn't in on any of the secrets.
Jim glanced at his watch. "It just after lunchtime now," he said. "Joel and I can start going over the evidence from the coffee shop and compare it to this place. Maybe we'll be able to narrow down exactly what this guy knows how to do. Sandburg, after you it the showers you can start on the research – find out what sort of connection might link the two places."
"Sounds good," Joel nodded. He turned to carry his evidence bag over to the forensic team, but paused to put a hand on Jessie's shoulder. "Good work today, Jessie. You've got a real instinct for this sort of thing."
"Thanks," she blushed slightly under the praise. "I'm just glad I could help."
Bandit barked once cheerfully and Joel scruffed his head before continuing on his way.
"Simon, think you can give me and Sandburg a ride home to pick up the truck?" Jim asked. He pulled out the keys to the van and tossed them to Hadji. "You guys can go get your stuff. Somehow I have a feeling you're going to want to stay a little closer to the campus for a while."
"Yeah, we'll crash at the house," Jonny nodded. "Perfect time to actually buy some furniture for the place."
"Don't let them buy anything I wouldn't buy," Blair said to Hadji with a wink. He, Jim, and Simon all looked at the trio with the same slightly expectant expression and the kids realized they were waiting for them to leave.
"We'll catch up with you guys around dinner time," Jonny offered. He started to lead the way to the van, Hadji and Jessie following.
But when they were in the van and safely away from the scene heading back into the mountains, Jessie leaned forward between Jonny and Hadji in the front seats. "We're not really not going to look into this, are we?"
"Of course not, Jess!" Jonny grinned. "Nobody tries to blow up a Quest or a Bannon without us taking an interest!"
"But first," Hadji said firmly, "let us establish a base of operations at SELF. And we must also ensure we do not earn the ire of either Jim or Simon. Neither will take well to us involving ourselves."
"What they don't know won't hurt them," Jessie shrugged with a smirk.
"We seem to be hiding information from a great many people these days," Hadji commented.
"All for the greater good," Jonny said airily.
"Yes," Hadji agreed, "but whose greater good is what we have yet to sufficiently determine."
-==OOO==-
Three hours later found Jessie, Jonny, and Hadji unloading the last of the simple furniture they had bought for the SELF house. The downstairs was fully set up already as an office space for Blair, but the upstairs rooms had been utterly spartan except for one sad-looking cot. With the van to transport things, the trio had acquired two more cots and some simple, some-assembly-required tables and chairs and chests of drawers. They had also dropped by a grocery store to grab the essentials, which they could store in the kitchen on the main floor.
Bandit was upstairs napping on one of the newly-made cots while Jessie was already constructing a chest of drawers, leaving Jonny and Hadji to haul the rest of the stuff inside. They were poised on the front steps, Jonny just inside the door and doing a strange hopping motion to prop the door for Hadji at the other end of the unwieldy box, when a voice called out from the sidewalk.
"Hadji! Hadji Singh!"
Hadji fought to turn without dropping his end of the box and succeeded in almost losing his balance on the step. He swayed in place before a sudden strong arm was supporting him from behind.
Jonny had been ready to drop the box and grab for his brother, but instead he looked to the dark face at Hadji's shoulder with genuine shock. "Ngama?"
The young man grinned. "You remember me!"
"I'm not sure we could ever forget!" Hadji said brightly. "Give us one moment, please, my friend."
By the time Jonny and Hadji had finished hauling the box inside and setting it down, Jessie had come downstairs at the commotion. She stopped at the bottom step, surprised to see Jonny and Hadji each putting an arm around the shoulders of a lean young African man she had never seen before. He was taller than either of them, his dense, curly hair cut close to his head.
"I did not imagine I would ever see you again!" he was saying, smiling widely.
"Us either," Jonny was still a little breathless at the surprise. Spotting Jessie, he waved her over. "Jessie, this is a friend of ours from a few years ago. Ngama, this is Jessie Bannon, Race's daughter."
At that moment, Bandit bounded down the stairs, looking for some of his own attention.
"And this is Bandit, my dog," Jonny finished. Bandit responded to the introduction by circling Ngama once, then trotting over to the couch, hauling himself up on it, and going back to sleep, causing them all to laugh.
"Ah, the intrepid Jessie Bannon," Ngama greeted her cheerfully, offering her a hand. "I heard many stories of you when the three of us first met."
"It was the week we were in Cameroon when you were in Belize with Estella, I believe," Hadji explained. "Doctor Quest was helping Ngama's father, Doctor Tigari Zimbati, work with a remarkable sap from a local tree, as well as attempting to protect the trees until the government passed a resolution against logging."
"I remember you telling me about that," Jessie said. "Something about a tribal guardian?"
"That's the one," Jonny nodded.
"So what are you doing in Cascade, Ngama?" Hadji asked.
"I am traveling with my father," Ngama said, his eyes sliding a little to the side as he spoke. "This is my last year in secondary school, so while he is busy conferring with a colleague, I am traveling to a few different universities to help me decide where I might wish to apply for my further studies. I just arrived a few hours ago."
"And you're considering Rainier?" Jonny asked.
"Yes," Ngama nodded. "It is one of my first choices."
"That's great!" Jonny cheered. "It's our favorite choice, too!"
"Although we have applied for immediate entrance in the spring term," Hadji said. "So, with luck, we will be students here in a matter of months."
"All three of you?" Ngama asked. They nodded. "Then it must be a very good school."
"It has some real advantages for us," Jessie said. "Do you know what you would like to study?"
"Yes," Ngama affirmed. "I would like to follow my father's work. He has continued to study the native plants of our lands and how they are used medically so that he can bring those uses to modern society."
"Bio-chemistry, then, with an emphasis on the medical anthropology and traditional medicines," Hadji said. At Ngama's surprise, he smiled. "We recently made the acquaintance of one of Doctor Quest's friends in that very field when we were briefly in Hawaii. I can see how it would be of interest to you."
"Do you mean Doctor Waihee?" Ngama asked.
"You know her?" Jessie was surprised.
"No," he shook his head, "but my father does. That's who he's visiting right now, with that same sap we went through so much trouble for when we first met." He looked ruefully at Jonny and Hadji. "Were it not worth all that suffering and more for what it may do for medical science..."
"Do not worry, my friend," Hadji put a hand on his shoulder. "Yours is not the only such adventure we have faced. It was our place to be there at your side to help you in your time of need."
"You're going to have to tell me the story again," Jessie said.
"We will!" Jonny said. "Let's just get all the rest of this stuff inside and start building things or we'll be camping inside a house and that's just wrong."
"Would you like some assistance?" Ngama offered. "I am certain I can help with the incomprehensible directions within these boxes. I helped my father and a few others assemble a school last year for a remote village, and it, too, came in a series of boxes."
Jonny and Jessie began talking animatedly with Ngama as they went back to the van to gather up the last of the supplies, but Hadji found himself at the window, staring at the young man he had once known as a friend. Ngama had grown up healthy and sturdy, which was a welcome sight given that the last time they had seen him, he had been suffering the after-effects of a very dangerous ailment.
But something is different now, Hadji thought. He is the same person, but not. There is something that has changed.
Hadji realized it all in a flash. "Oh no!"
He flew down the stairs as the sense of tension in the air began to crackle, although the other three seemed unaware of it. He reached Jonny's side in a rush.
"Hadj? Everything okay?" Jonny turned to him in concern.
"Everything is fine," Hadji said slowly, deliberately. He put a hand on Jonny's shoulder, though, and held on firmly.
"What is it?" Jessie asked. Ngama had turned, too, but the tension had finally reached him and his dark eyes were beginning to narrow.
"We are all friends here," Hadji said firmly. "And that will not change."
But he looked at Jonny and took a deep breath. "But something else did change. Ngama is a Sentinel."
"What!?"
-==OOO==-
"How's it going, Chief?" Jim leaned back to look over his partner's shoulder.
"Not too bad," Blair answered, squinting at his screen. "Well, kind of bad, but it could be worse, I guess."
"Want to share?"
"I mean, the good news is that it was pretty easy to figure out that there's not a lot in common between those two places," he said, finally looking up. "One's a mom-and-pop coffee shop owned by a local, and the other is a box store franchise as part of a chain. They don't have the same bank, the same kind of financing, the same insurers, or the same owners. And the coffee shop is pretty new, so it doesn't even have any current or former employees that were ever connected to the department store, either."
"Well, that's pretty clear as a dead end," Jim said.
"Not necessarily," Blair shook his head. "There is one thing they have in common." He pulled up a series of maps on his screen. "I started thinking it wasn't the places, but the people that we should start looking at."
"They're in totally different neighborhoods," Jim pointed out.
"Yes, but there's this," Blair keyed a few commands and the two crime scenes were highlighted in red. He added another layer and a series of small yellow dots appeared. Then he added some green lines.
"What is that?" Joel asked, appearing behind Jim and looking over the two of them.
"Both crime scenes are within a few yards of a major bus stop," Blair explained. "And there's only one bus route that runs past both of them, the 221, which goes from downtown out to the eastern suburbs a couple of times in the morning and again at quitting time. That's still several hundred possible suspects, though."
"But it means our firebug could be a mass-transit commuter," Jim concluded. "And he used both the coffee shop and the department store. If we can get the receipts from each place, we can narrow down our suspect pool." He squeezed Blair's shoulder. "Good catch, Einstein."
Suddenly a full-body tremor went through Jim, as though he'd been blasted with a shock of cold air.
"You all right?" Joel asked in surprise.
"Yeah, sure," Jim answered immediately. "Just a chill. What do you call it? Someone walking over my grave?" He shrugged.
But Blair watched him carefully and, as soon as Joel had turned back to the map, Jim shook his head slightly. Well, Blair already knew he hadn't been telling the truth – that was obvious even to a non-Sentinel. The Guide took in Jim's expression, the set of his shoulders, the unconscious slight tip to his head that meant he was trying to listen to something that was out of range. Blair was Jim's Guide, and he was also an anthropologist who had spent more than a decade learning to read people's subtlest signs.
"You need to go?" he breathed, barely forming the words and only just giving them a puff of air to carry them. But it was enough for Jim. Jim shook his head again.
But the odd feeling wouldn't let up no matter how he tried to ignore it. Jim was always peripherally aware of it, an odd twitch between his shoulder-blades. It wasn't the same feeling of being watched that he'd gotten way too familiar with in his time on stakeouts, in the military, and even in the jungle. It was more…a sense of strangeness. A sense of waiting.
An hour later, armed with a list of the businesses that were at the downtown end of the bus line that might be the daily destination of their firebug, Joel went off to pull in some uniforms to canvas the area. Finally, Blair turned to Jim and asked, "What is it?"
"I don't know," Jim shook his head. "I can't shake it, though. It's like an itch."
"It's not making you want to do something stupid like throw me out of the loft again, is it?" Blair asked with only a hint of teasing.
"No," Jim denied. "Not that. It…" He sighed. But he'd promised his partner not to ignore his instincts, and also not to keep quiet about them. "If we were camping, or if I were back in Peru, I'd want to climb the tallest tree I could find because I'd be expecting to see something wrong from the air."
"Well," Blair shrugged, "Let's do that. Come on – the roof access shouldn't be locked, right?"
"Right."
As they made their way towards the stairwell, Jim considered his partner. I don't know what's weirder – this feeling or the fact that Sandburg is just going along with it like it's completely reasonable.
The latter was making Jim feel a lot better about the former, though.
-==OOO==-
It took all of Hadji's skill to keep his breathing even and maintain a steady heart-rate. This was not the moment for his pulse to begin pounding in his ears; too many people would be upset by it. And there wasn't room for any more upset than had swept through the four of them.
All traces of the friendly tableau had disappeared at his pronouncement. Where there had been excitement and trust and renewed acquaintance, now there was cold suspicion and open hostility. Ngama had been in the process of lifting a box with Jessie – now they stood, frozen, the box between them almost trembling with the tension. Jessie's body was taut, as if she were bracing herself to drop the box and fight at a moment's notice. Jonny, a step to the side, was taking deep breaths, his chest rising and falling a little too fast. He'd turned to Ngama at Hadji's words, and Hadji didn't miss his brother interposing his body between their old friend and his Guide.
"Now," Hadji said softly, not lifting his hand from Jonny's shoulder but taking a deliberate step forward and around to where he could face Ngama openly, "as I have said, this need not change what matters between us."
Ngama frowned. "What do you accuse me of, my friend?"
"He's not accusing you," Jonny said with a frown of his own. "It's fact. You're a Sentinel." Dropping his voice even lower, he added, "Like me."
"And what, exactly, do you believe that to mean?" Ngama asked.
"Heightened senses," Jonny said. "You can probably hear all our hearts beating. Maybe you can see the very ridges of another person's skin or smell what they ate for breakfast from their clothing. Hear stuff from half a mile away. It's a genetic advantage some people have."
Ngama, if anything, grew more tense. "Is that what you think it is?"
"Should we go inside to discuss this?" Jessie asked, inserting herself carefully.
"No." Jonny's answer was sharp. "That space is mine. We settle this first."
"My friend," Hadji said carefully, taking another step towards Ngama. He noticed Jonny bristle again and was silently grateful that his brother, for all his protective feelings, was in no way impeding him in his own choice. "What do you think it is?"
Ngama smiled, but there was nothing warm in the expression. "I guess that depends who you ask." Moving very slowly, he eased the box back into the waiting van before he faced them, crossing his arms across his chest. "What you call heightened senses my father believes is some form of neurological condition, akin to schizophrenia. But the shaman I'm sure you remember well from our first meeting said something else."
"He told you that you were a protector of your people," Hadji concluded. "He told you that it was a gift, not a disease."
"He told me," Ngama said bitterly, "that to be such a protector I had no will of my own. That I belonged to his village and to him, to serve for the rest of my life. That I am like a warrior's spear – I am a tool to be refined and used against whomever he deems an enemy to our people. No better than a dog and with no more autonomy."
"I don't understand," Jessie shook her head. "Every time we've heard of peoples understanding about Sentinels before, like in Peru and Borneo, they've seen them as gifted and were respected. It was only the jerks from Wellmen and the totalitarian governments who saw Sentinels like servants or worse."
"People are people, Jess," Jonny said. "And that shaman was not the nicest guy we've ever met."
"Given that he tried to kill us both, I have to agree," Hadji said, never looking away from Ngama. "If he was willing to trade your life once for his village, I am not surprised he now wants you to do the same."
"That was almost better than what father suggested," Ngama said. "We both pretend that I will be attending university next year, but just as I am touring colleges, he is also touring institutions in case he cannot cure me."
"It doesn't need a cure!" Jonny was angry now. "It's just you! Like it's just me! There's nothing wrong with being born with perfect pitch or an unusual hair color or being double-jointed. This is not different!"
"I agree with you and have so far rejected both my father and the shaman," Ngama said. "In a year, I will be of age by the laws of both our nations, and I will be legally able to choose my path. I came to Cascade because my research suggested there was someone here who might be able to help me do that."
"Blair Sandburg," Jessie said. When Ngama nodded, she let out a breath. "You're right. He can help you. He helped Jonny, too. That's what we're doing here," she gestured at the SELF house. "He can teach you how to control your senses and everything."
"And the visions?" Ngama asked it as if it were a challenge.
"Yes," Hadji answered calmly. "They too are a part of being a Sentinel. We hypothesize that a true Sentinel is possessed not of five enhanced senses, but six. Sentinels are aware of that which is beyond traditional reason and perception."
"This all sounds very much like what I have been seeking," Ngama said, "and as you could not have anticipated this meeting nor my own search, it must be the truth. Even now, I cannot believe you would deceive me so far." He stopped and looked at Jonny with coldness. "But…"
"Sentinels are naturally territorial," Hadji explained. "Like wolves in a pack, they establish areas of control and hierarchies within their numbers that they defend fiercely. From what we have learned, Sentinels who are close in status – or, in your case, age – tend to clash with one another."
"I'll say," Jonny frowned even more, remembering the feeling of wanting to strike Jaga, especially any time the Sentinel from Borneo was anywhere near Hadji.
"Do you consider me a threat, Jonny Quest?" Ngama challenged.
"I don't know," Jonny said sharply. "Are you one?"
Ngama took a long breath. As he let it out slowly, he uncurled his arms from his chest and let them fall, palms turned out. He took another long breath, closing his eyes and visibly stilling himself. When he at last looked up, he met Jonny's eyes unflinchingly.
"I do not wish to be. You saved my life when I had no hope, both of you," he nodded to Hadji. "I did not know then that I was a Sentinel, as you call it."
"I didn't know either," Jonny said, aggression melting from his tone.
"If we could be friends and yet so different, can we not be friends when we have this in common?" Ngama took another breath, but this one shuddered. "I wish not to fight you, and yet I feel..."
"I feel it too," Jonny admitted, and he seemed more upset than angry.
"Let me," Hadji said softly to his brother. Jonny looked at him piercingly for a moment before nodding.
Hadji moved from Jonny's side to approach Ngama. He held out one hand, palm up. Almost without conscious thought, Ngama breathed in deeply through his nose, scenting what Hadji offered. But he made no move to touch Hadji, just to breathe and understand.
"You are a Sentinel's companion," Ngama finally said. "The shaman told me of one like you, that I might find and claim a partner or lover and through them achieve even greater powers."
"I am a Guide," Hadji affirmed. "I am Jonny's Guide."
At this, Ngama smiled. "Of course you are. You could never belong at the side of anyone else."
"You don't...um...want to fight over him?" Jessie asked awkwardly.
Ngama shook his head. "My heart tells me that, while you may be of help to me, and we have similar spirits, we are not compatible that way. Perhaps because our minds have already been one, I do not now wish to unite with your soul." He smiled a little. "But I think it is likelier that your soul already has a place to belong and I feel no great compulsion to resist that."
Hadji smiled too. Though it had been many years before, he had been very deeply connected to Ngama in the act of saving his life. Somehow, he was not surprised that their very closeness had dimmed Ngama's interest in him as a Guide.
Jonny smiled at last. "If we don't have to fight over Hadji, I'll feel better. I already did that once."
"I still feel..." Ngama trailed off with a shrug. "Uncomfortable," he finished.
"Jonny, just do that pack hierarchy thing and get it over with," Jessie said.
He shot her a mild glare but nodded. Crossing the distance between them, Jonny reached out. Ngama did not flinch, not even when Jonny put a hand on his shoulder, his thumb curving around his dark throat. Ngama did not tip his head as Jaga had done, but met Jonny's eyes steadily.
"This means you are the alpha of our pack?" Ngama asked.
"Unless you want to be. Then we have to sort it out," Jonny answered honestly.
Ngama huffed a laugh. "No. I am new to this country, new to these abilities, new to this future. And I have never sought authority. It's yours and welcome."
"Jonny doesn't exactly seek authority either," Jessie commented. "But it's easier this way for now." Then her eyes lit up. "I can't wait to see what happens when we fill this place up with Sentinels, though!"
"More Sentinels?" Ngama asked.
"Come inside," Jonny invited him, dropping his hand but not his smile. "We've got a lot to tell you."
