The video, obviously shot on a cell phone, begins with a thunderous rush of water. A massive waterfall that I instantly recognize as Niagara Falls appears on screen. Whoever’s filming this is standing on a grassy outcropping level with the waterfall’s drop-off.
“Oy, it’s bloody loud—!”
The camera gets jostled as whoever’s holding the phone jogs away from the waterfall. In those few seconds of bouncing around, I’m able to pick out a few details: a blond girl who looks like she should be yodeling on a six-pack of imported beer stands near the edge of the cliff right next to a jagged protrusion of otherworldly blue stone.
Loralite. A new growth, just like Ella said there would be.
Before I can examine the stone too closely, the camera steadies and is turned around so we can look straight into the pockmarked face of a grubby teenage boy. He’s gaunt, with a Mohawk that’s bleached nearly white and patches of peach-fuzz stubble. He wears a torn-up denim vest covered in patches, a ratty tank top, and while I can’t see his feet, I can almost guarantee he’s rocking combat boots. Of course, I recognize him from the telepathic summit Ella held for us. He’s one of the kids who seemed most eager to heed John’s call to action.
Even though he moved away from the edge, the kid still has to yell to be heard over the waterfall.
“Hello, John Smith and super-friends! You out there? Nigel Rally here. We met at . . . uh. The thing. Found your bloody stones, and, y’know, it’s been a real laugh popping round the world and all, but at what point are you lot gonna come pick us up?”
It doesn’t surprise me at all that these international Garde are lost and confused. John told them to come help us, and Ella explained that they could use the Loralite stones to teleport around the globe simply by picturing a location. But Setrákus Ra crashed our meeting before we could give them any concrete idea how to find us, which isn’t exactly an easy task considering we’re in hiding.
“I ran into a couple of others while taking the tour, eh?” Nigel continues, and turns the camera to pan around his surroundings. “Wave to John Smith, protector of the world and absent Big Brother who has apparently forgotten to fetch us.”
Behind Nigel, the blond girl I caught a glimpse of before waves. Next to her, there’s a stocky boy with a shock of brown hair who waves awkwardly. I recognize him immediately as the German from the meeting, Bertrand, the beekeeper who can control bugs. Also, standing a little off from the others is a frail-looking Asian girl who stares blankly into the camera before tossing up a halfhearted peace sign.
“That’s Fleur and Bertrand,” Nigel narrates, “and over there . . . well, I think she calls herself Ran. Doesn’t speak any English that one, not since your mega-psychic bird with the glowing eyes stopped with the translating anyway.”
Nigel flips the camera back around to himself.
“So look, we’re at Niagara Falls, if you haven’t figured that out yet. I memorized as many spots on that map you showed us for five bloody seconds as I could, but I’ve never been to the States, so I had to bop around Europe for a bit until I met ol’ Bertrand. Picked up some other tagalongs on the way. . . .” Nigel blows out a sigh. “Lotta weird places on your map, John Smith. New Mexico? What the hell does that look like, eh? Stupid, I bet. Bertrand was here once for a family vacation, so . . .” Nigel lowers his voice. “If you read me, Major John, we’re waiting for a pickup. If not, well, I guess we’ll just start walking towards the nearest alien battleship and hope for the bloody best, eh? Cheers.”
And with that, the YouTube clip ends. It’s attached to the comment thread on the video Sarah made introducing John to the world, and it’s already got a ton of likes and views. Nigel posted his video about three hours ago. Me, John, Adam, Nine, Ella, Sam, and Daniela are all huddled around a cell phone that Daniela swiped from one of the soldiers.
We’re all crowded into John’s room. Before we started the video, I couldn’t help but make note of some of the grim details of John’s room. The bed hasn’t been slept in, and there are scorch marks on the kitschy wallpaper, like he punched the wall with his Lumen on. Nobody remarks on this, although Sam does raise an eyebrow when he catches me looking.
“Dibs on Fleur,” Nine says as soon as the video is over.
I elbow him in the ribs, and Daniela makes a face. “You’re nasty.”
“I’m lonely,” Nine replies.
“This video was posted three hours ago,” Adam explains, ignoring Nine. “I’ve been monitoring Mogadorian transmissions, and it seems like they’ve just picked up on it. The closest warships to Niagara Falls are in Toronto and Chicago. They’ll be sending in Skimmers.”
“Posting on the web,” Nine says, clicking his tongue. “Rookie mistake.”
“We’ve all been there,” I say. “So, the Mogs have a head start on us. Let’s get some jets and get out there.”
“We want to keep this quiet, which is why we’re hiding out in here,” John replies. “Better if we do this ourselves without Lawson’s people knowing.”
I give John a questioning look.
“I’m not sure what his intentions are with the human Garde,” John elaborates. “Until we decide he’s on the level, I want our people to be the ones bringing them in. I don’t want to leave it up to Lawson to decide who’s ready to fight and who need his ‘protection.’”
“Whoa, hey, what kind of intentions you worried about?” Daniela asks.
“I don’t know,” John says with a sigh. “Compelled enlistment into a secret military organization? Who knows?”
“You learn not to be so trusting of people in power when you’ve been through what we have,” I tell Daniela.
She nods. “Sounds totally sketch.”
“I’ve already reached out to Lexa telepathically,” Ella says, her eyes still sparking with Loric energy. “She’s getting our ship ready.”
“Nice,” Nine says, and claps his hands. “Let’s go save some newbies.”
“I need you to stay here with me,” John says to Nine, and immediately Nine’s face falls.
“Aw, come on,” Nine replies. “What the hell for?”
“You think I wouldn’t rather be out there fighting?” John asks, his tone resigned. “We’ve got preparations to make if we’re going to sneak our way onto a warship. I need your help with that. Six can handle Niagara Falls.”
“You know it.” I grin at John, feeling as eager as Nine to get back out there and fight. I look around at the others. “The rest of you in?”
“I should stay back and monitor the Mog communications. They don’t know we’re listening, so I’ll be able to tell you what their status is,” Adam says. “I’m also supposed to meet with Malcolm and some of the engineers about replicating the cloaking devices.”
“I’m with you,” Sam says to me.
“Me too, if that’s cool,” Daniela replies.
“And me,” says Ella.
That makes everyone pause. I watched Ella die just yesterday. I’m not wholly sure that she’s ready for combat yet. She must pick up on that vibe—probably because she can read our minds. Ella puts her hands on her hips.
“If the Mogs get there first and these other Garde have to go on the run, I can track them telepathically,” she says, a note of defiance in her voice, which is still all resonant and Legacy-like. “I’ll be fine.”
“Good enough for me,” I say.
“Me too,” John adds. “Take the Chim?rae with you.”
“We’ll take a couple,” I say. “Not going to leave you guys without backup here in case something else goes down.”
John nods. “Just make sure you’re packing enough firepower to knock out whatever the Mogs send.”