Chapter 12

The flock gathered in the conference room, along with Total, Dr. Martinez, Danny, Ray, Ram, and the Greene brothers—a pair of tough guys that Dr. Martinez had been using as personal bodyguards while working with the CSM. The elder brother, Balthasar, was tall and straight as a rapier with shoulder-length hair that was so pale that it was nearly the same color as his skin, and the younger, Mattie, was stockier with bristly blonde hair.

Angel had assured me that the Greenes were on the level—but in the meantime, neither of them would be playing the romantic lead in anything, and I'd be keeping my eye on them.

"Fang," Dr. Martinez said. "You're up. This is your crew now."

"Right," I murmured. "Um, Danny?"

Danny held up a pointer. "Okay, I feel that our primary concern is Jewel himself. He overestimates his forces."

Balthasar raised a hand. "I'm afraid I disagree with that, Dr. Brooks. I didn't get to where I am now by underestimating anybody—I think we should regard Jewel's soldiers with the same caution as their master."

Iggy tilted his head. "And where exactly are you now, Balthasar?"

"Alive," Balthasar said simply.

"I think you're right," I said. "Everything is dangerous, all of the time. That mindset usually worked for Max."

I didn't even bother to fight the twitching and voice-cracking that occurred every time I mentioned Max. Or anybody else mentioned her. Or she crossed my mind.

I'm sorry, I know I'm the coolest dude ever and all that, but you try dealing when your soulmate, the most rock-solid warrior in the world, goes into hiding because things are too dangerous for your baby. Personally, I think I'm taking it rather well.

"Anyway," I continued—everyone at the table had noticed my little stumble, "keep going, Danny. Tell us about Jewel."

"Jewel is insanely deadly," Danny said. "His second pair of arms can move at the speed of sound and cut through anything. Being made of diamonds, he's virtually indestructible. His mouth holds a number of weapons, including a flamethrower and a supply of incapacitating spider-silk." He shuddered. "The silk can smother a person in seconds. It's a dreadful way to die. And his ordinary pair of arms can deliver powerful punches that can break through nearly any material, and failing that can also be powered up with a charge that causes an explosion on impact."

"But how do we beat him?" Iggy demanded, pounding the table.

"We just do," I said. "Let's get going." I hefted a pistol—a customized one that Gazzy had whipped up for me a few months ago. Its tiny ammunition actually created immense explosions.

"Just like that?" Nudge said. "We're just… going?"

"Yep," I said. "Ready?"

"Uh, no," Nudge said.

I looked around. That seemed to be a general consensus around the table.

"Come on, people," I said. "The sooner we get rid of Jewel, the sooner I get my purpose for existing back, okay?"

"Fang, if you don't do this carefully, Max won't have anyone to come back to," Dr. Martinez said quietly.

"Don't under-plan just for the girl, you know?" Balthasar added.

I pointed my gun at him. "You call Max 'the girl' again, I'll kill you. If for no reason but to protect you from her. Clear?"

"Fang, you need to relax," Ella said.

I glared at her, and in doing so, probably saved the lives of the entire human race. I saw her eyes. They were Max's eyes, if Max's eyes had never been hardened by a lifetime of running and fighting and pain. An innocent version of Max's eyes.

"Okay," I said, sitting down. "We plan."

"Don't over-plan either," Balthasar cautioned.

I smiled at him. "We'll find the balance," I said. "Danny, could we sneak in as lieutenants, like you had Iggy and Nudge do before?"

"Certainly," Danny said. "That would be the safest route, I think. About two thousand people in Jewel's compound are of that rank, and the only people above them are the colonels, and finally Jewel himself. I propose that all of you—myself and the twins can't go, obviously—infiltrate the compound as lieutenants. Get close to the colonels and steal their special-issue laser weapons. Shooting Jewel at full-power with those weapons should then weaken him enough that he could be destroyed with a large explosion."

"Coo-ool," Iggy said.

"Complication; Jewel is never alone. The beam weapon being fired will attract the attention of Jewel's other soldiers, and the required explosion will most certainly take out many others besides Jewel—possibly including the person who sets off the explosion."

"My brother and I will do it," Balthasar said. "We're the only people with both the skill and the expendability."

I looked to see what Mattie thought of that, and got nothing from his face. "Hey, Mattie, do you ever talk?" I asked.

"No, he doesn't," Balthasar said. "But he's got a killer jump shot."

Mattie laughed. So, he could talk, he just chose not to.

"You sure you want to call yourselves 'expendable'?" I said.

"What choice do we have?" Balthasar said. "None of the other normal humans here have the experience, and the planet can't afford to lose any of the bird kids. Am I right?"

"Fine, but you two aren't going in alone," I said. "Iggy, Nudge, and I will go with you."

"Say WHAT?" Gazzy demanded.

"I'm sorry, Gaz, you're too short."

"I am not too short," Gazzy grumbled. "I can fit into a uniform just like the rest of you."

"Yeah, Fang," Angel said. "We can pass for adults if we're in disguise."

"Okay," I said. "You're not too short, you're too reckless."

Angel fell back, annoyed.

"Hey, now," Gazzy said. "She deserves that, but I'm not reckless! I am very much… with reck."

"With what?" Nudge said blankly.

"I don't know!" Gazzy snapped. "Come on, I don't need to stay behind!"

Angel gave me one of her precious, adorable "your-suffering-will-never-end" looks. I ignored her the best I could.

"Danny, who are the 'colonels' you mentioned?" I said. "They're the only ones who have weapons that could harm Jewel?"

"Yes," Danny said. "There are seven colonels. The first that he recruited were a small mercenary band from China; Chen Huzi, Lo Lang, Liu Shey, He Gwan, and their leader, Cho Lao Hu. Together, they're known simply as 'the Five', and they are all deadly warriors."

"And we're, what, Muppets?" I said. "We can deal with 'warriors', Dan."

"Of course," Danny said, nodding. "And the other two colonels, of course, are Brigid Dwyer and Keegan Beck. I think it would be best if the weapons were obtained from those two."

"Okay," I said. "Well, we've got our plan."

Nudge saluted. "Just give us the directions, Fang."

"Me, Iggy, Nudge, Balthasar, and Mattie are going undercover. Angel, stay here. Everybody else… make sure Angel stays here."

"If only it were that easy," Angel said sweetly.

"Don't be the villain here, Angel," I said. "We're heading out in five! Let's go."