“I’m suggesting borrowing a car,” Diana corrected. “Surely there’s a way to compensate the owner.”
Theo reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. “I have twenty-six bucks and my Better Latte Than Never card. Only one more stamp for a free cappuccino.”
“Wait a minute,” said Jason. “Can any of us even drive?”
“I drove,” said Theo. “Once.”
“That was a golf cart,” said Alia.
“So? It had four wheels and went vroom.”
“You crashed it into a tree.”
“I’ll have you know that tree had been drinking.”
“Everybody, relax,” said Nim. “I can drive.”
“Where did you learn to drive?” Alia asked incredulously.
“With the rest of the peasants on Long Island.”
“We have a driver,” Diana said, new hope surging through her. “Now we just need to find a car.”
“You know this means I get to choose the radio station,” said Nim as they set out across the field.
Theo whimpered. “How about I just let you run me over?”
—
It took far longer to locate a car than they’d hoped. Many of the farms they passed didn’t seem to have much in the way of vehicles beyond donkey carts and bicycles, and in one case, a truck set up on cement blocks, its wheels long vanished.
As they were approaching a promising-looking farmhouse with Jason in the lead, he snapped, “Get down.”
They sank to their bellies in the grass just as two men emerged from the front door of the house.
“Police?” whispered Alia.
“Those guns don’t look like standard police issue.”
The men wore nondescript blue uniforms, but the long, ugly guns they carried looked like those Diana had seen their attackers use.
“That’s some serious firepower,” said Theo.
“Are you surprised?” asked Jason.
“That they’re willing to just walk around the Greek countryside brandishing semiautomatics? Kind of.”
“They weren’t afraid to attack us in a New York City museum,” said Jason. “Why would they hesitate here? They know the stakes.”
“And it’s possible Alia’s power is at work here, too,” said Diana, “eroding the barriers to violent action.”
“Ironic,” said Nim.
“That’s not technically irony,” said Theo.
“Do I need to remind you that I tried to strangle you this morning, loser?”
“Let’s get moving,” Alia said hurriedly.
They made sure the men were leaving, then circled around the back of the farmhouse to a dilapidated stable. A horse nickered from a stall on the intact side of the structure. The roof on the other side had almost completely caved in and was covered by a tarp, but there were two vehicles parked beneath it: a truck with its hood open that seemed to be missing part of its engine, and a funny bubble-shaped car the color of a tangerine.
Theo shook his head. “We’re going over a mountain range in a Fiat?”
Diana eyed the car doubtfully. “It doesn’t seem very…sturdy.” In fact, it looked less like a real vehicle than one of the pretty handbags Nim had shown them.
“We don’t have a lot of other options,” said Alia. “Unless you want to try the horse.”
“I’m not really the noble-steed type,” said Theo.
Diana sighed and glanced over at the horse watching them with dark, steady eyes. She would have preferred riding, but she knew they needed the little car’s speed.
“So…,” said Alia. “Does anyone actually know how to steal a car?”
“We could break into the house,” said Nim. “Take the keys.”
“There are people in there,” said Alia. “What if they catch us?”
Nim tossed her hair back from her eyes. “Well, you guys are the science geniuses. Can’t you just hotwire it or something?”
“We’re biologists,” said Jason. “Not electrical engineers.”
“All I’m hearing are excuses, people.”
But for once Theo wasn’t weighing in. He was silently contemplating the car. “I can do it,” he said slowly. “But I’m going to need to use my phone.”
“Out of the question,” said Jason.
“I told you it’s untraceable,” said Theo.
“Even so—”
“You know, I can actually be helpful if you’ll let me.” Theo’s tone was light, but Diana heard the edge in his voice and felt a surge of sympathy for the skinny boy. She knew what it was to be underestimated. But was he trustworthy? If he’d wanted to harm them or alert their captors to their whereabouts, he’d certainly had plenty of opportunities.
She met Jason’s gaze and gave a short nod. “Let him try.”
Jason blew out a long breath. “Okay.”
“Okay?” said Theo.
“Yeah,” said Jason more firmly. “Do it.”
Theo’s smile was small and pleased, far shyer than Diana would have expected.
“All right, then.” He pulled the phone from his pocket, his thumbs moving rapidly over the screen, and said, “If this were an older car, we’d be screwed. No Bluetooth. No wireless. But everything’s digital now, right? Cars are basically just tricked-out computers on wheels.”
Jason folded his arms, unconvinced. “And you have a magic phone?”
“This phone can’t be sold in some countries because the computer inside it is powerful enough to operate a missile-guidance system, and I can use it to access my desktop through a spoof IP I set up on the dark net.”
“Okay, okay,” said Jason. “All hail the mighty phone.”
“Thank you,” said Theo. “The phone accepts cash gifts by way of apology. Now, all we have to do is mimic the signals the key sends to tell the car to unlock the door. It’s not like the car cares if the key is there.”
“Same with the human brain,” said Alia. “We see something, we react based on the stimulus, real or artificial. It’s all just a collection of electrical impulses.”
“Divine lightning,” said Diana.
Alia frowned. “Huh?”
“I second that huh,” Theo said, not looking up from the little screen, thumbs moving so fast they blurred.
Diana shrugged. “It’s just what you were saying reminded me of Zeus. He’s the god of thunder and lightning, but what you’re describing in our minds, those electrical impulses…It’s another way of thinking about that power.”
“Divine lightning,” repeated Alia. “You know, it’s kind of fundamental to the way we think about thinking. Like a big idea at the right time is catching lightning in a bottle.”
“Or when you’re dumbfounded, you say you’re thunderstruck,” said Nim.
The corner of Jason’s lips tugged upward in a small smile. “And when you connect with someone, you call it a spark.”
Despite the morning’s long silences and her lingering anger, Diana was glad to see that smile again. She couldn’t help returning it. “Exactly.”
Theo held up his phone. “Who’s ready for a little divine lightning?”
“Just do the thing,” said Nim impatiently.
He jabbed his finger down on the screen. “Shapow!”
Nothing happened.
“Oh, wait a second.” His thumbs flew over the screen again. He cleared his throat. “What I meant to say was, shablammy!” He gave the screen a firm poke. The car doors released a satisfying clunk. “I’ll ask you to hold your applause. And now the engine—”
“Wait,” said Jason. “Let’s roll it out to the road before we start it.”
Diana raised a brow. He was so dedicated to this falsehood. “Do we really need to roll it? Wouldn’t it be faster and quieter just to…”
A moment later, they had hefted the car above their heads, Diana gripping the front bumper, Jason at the rear.
“Maybe Nim doesn’t need to drive,” Theo said, panting as the others hurried to keep up. “Jason and Diana can just carry us.”
“Don’t make me strap you to the roof,” grunted Jason.
They jogged the car across the field and down the road from the farmhouse, then deposited it on the dirt road.
They waited beside the little vehicle as Nim slid behind the wheel. She wedged the seat up as far as it could go to accommodate her short legs. “Okay, let’s do this.”
“When was the last time you actually drove?” asked Alia.
Nim flexed her fingers. “It’s not the kind of thing you forget.”