“It’s a message for Sally. It’s short, but he should get the point. I want him to gather the Realitants so they’ll be ready on a moment’s notice. For what, I have no idea—but he needs to get them to headquarters straightaway.”
That made perfect sense to Tick, but he had a bad feeling about this all the same. “And . . . what does that have to do with me?”
Master George looked at him, his eyes shifting slightly back and forth. “Well, er, well, I need you to . . . wink it to Sally.”
“What?” Tick rasped, way too loudly.
Sofia noticed. “What are you guys talking about over there?”
“Never you mind,” Master George answered, surprisingly harsh.
Sofia, of course, completely ignored him and walked over, dragging Paul with her. “No secrets, boss. What’s going on?”
Tick couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen Master George look so perplexed. His face was red, eyes darting around the room, sweat trickling down his temples. “Someone’s going to hear us!” he exclaimed in a half-shout, half-whisper.
Tick didn’t like it that Master George had asked him to use his power in the first place. Only a half an hour ago, Jane had threatened to kill his family one by one if she sensed him using Chi’karda. “How am I supposed to wink the message? Even if I could, even if I had a clue how to do it, I can’t risk Jane finding out.”
“Yes, yes, I know,” Master George said, throwing all the frustration he could into the last word. “But perhaps you can risk it when she’s . . . occupied with whatever she has planned. If we don’t gather the other Realitants to help us, it may all be quite moot anyway.”
Tick slid the message tube into his pocket. The old Brit was being coy, but Tick knew exactly what he was really trying to say. “So you think it’s okay to sacrifice my family for the greater good. Let them die if it’ll save the world. Worlds. Whatever.” Tick couldn’t believe how bitter he sounded. To make it worse, Master George had a point. But not one Tick could accept.
For the hundredth time, he felt an overwhelming, gloomy sorrow squeeze his chest and lungs. His sisters. His mom and dad. Jane had them. No matter what, he had to save them. No matter what.
But how?
“Tick?” Sofia asked, jolting him back to reality. “You okay? What does he want you to do?”
“We need to stop talking about this,” Master George said. “Right now!”
“Dude,” Paul said, “what are you two freaks talking about?”
Tick looked at him and shook his head. “It’s nothing—George just wants to get a message to Sally.” He turned his attention back to Master George. “Don’t you have a way of talking to him? Through your nanolocator or something?”
Master George shook his head. “I think she’s done something to us. Shielded us somehow. I’ve tried making contact several times. Nothing.”
“Since when is Sally in charge?” Paul asked. “Rutger finally explode or something?”
“Maybe he ate one of his own Ragers,” Sofia added.
By the looks of it, Master George was not amused. He turned his back to the three of them and walked over to a corner.
Sofia elbowed Paul in the arm. “Way to go, smarty.”
“You, too, Godzilla,” he replied. “Your comment was worse than mine.”
Tick couldn’t remember a time when he’d been less in the mood to listen to his friends fight. “Guys! You think this is all some kind of stupid joke?” As soon as the words were out, he regretted them. Especially when he saw the look on their faces—shock, mixed with a little hurt.
“What crawled up your pants and started biting?” Paul asked.
“Tick’s right,” Sofia said, her eyes never leaving Tick’s. “His family’s been taken. I can’t imagine . . . what that must be like. We need to take things more seriously.”
She looked away, and Tick saw an expression he couldn’t quite identify come over her face. Regret? Longing? Whatever it was, it was something to do with her, not him. He thought about all her comments in the past, the subtle remarks here and there about her family—none of them very nice. Maybe she was wishing she had parents and siblings whom, if taken, she’d worry about as much as he was worried about his. The twisted thought added to his sadness.
“Well, we still have to be ourselves,” Paul said. “Tick, dude, sorry, but if we get all mopey, then we might as well just give up and die. You know I don’t think this is all a joke, man. Give me a break.”
Tick looked at him, surprised at the angry tone of his voice. Paul was always laid back, taking what came at him. Even his sparring words with Sofia were always filled with obvious jest.
Tick shook his head. “Okay, whatever. This is all stupid anyway. We’re sitting here in a soap opera while Jane’s planning something diabolical. What are we gonna do?”
Master George was still in the corner, but he turned around to face them. “We need to stay on our guard and look for the first opportunity that comes along. I’ve no idea what that may be, and I’ve no idea what we’ll do. But something will come along, and we must be ready.”