Note: Because we all worked so hard to make changes this year, I want to catch us up. I think what that means is I’ll keep posting through this weekend, and next Friday. Then we’ll be back to Monday-Thursday.
Thirty-One
“Got a little overexcited?” Rui said, causing Ben to start. “I hear that happens to young men entering their prime.”
“It was a gas main,” Ben said, deflated.
“That may not be a problem,” Cris said, stepping out from behind Rui. “I’ve been thinking… about alternatives. Angela?” He bellowed, and she started towards him “I’m also going to need any telepaths or telekinetics, front and center. Doesn’t matter how good you are- this is a team effort.”
“Angela?” Ben asked, as a series of small explosions erupted around the facility.
“I figured some chaos would be helpful in covering our exit,” Sonya said, “though I didn’t think the plan was for you to literally cover our exit.”
“Impressive wordplay,” Cris said, “but we need everyone on the sidewalk across the street. Pack in as close as you can, please. And everybody, we need silence. We’re going to get you home, to your moms, dads or whatever family we can; but we can only do that if we win this high stakes game of hide and seek.”
Everyone worked on crowding the kids onto the sidewalk, except for Cris and Angela. She was standing in the middle of the road, holding the bridge of her nose, keeping her eyes shut tight. “Can you do this?” Cris asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I’ve never done anything as big as hold back a building full of federal agents before. I wasn’t planning on an encore performance this soon.”
“Well this time, you don’t have to hold them back- you just have to keep them from seeing us.”
“Oh, is that all?” she asked. “You know before I met you I never made anything bigger than me invisible.”
“Well, before I met you, I’d never rescued a whole bunch of kids from a racist government before. It’s a big day for both of us.”
“I’ll try.”
“I believe in you.” He smiled, and she knew it, even though she could barely see the moonlight glinting off the whites of his eyes. He jogged to the sidewalk, overflowing with children. “Telepaths, what you’re going to do is imagine me. You’re going to put the image of me, scrambling into that hole. An instant later, the rocks collapse, and block the hole.”
“So it will look like we escaped underground?” a young girl asked. “Where it smells?”
“Exactly. Telepaths, I want you to join hands, and then minds. Because you’re coordinating, not just with each other, but also with the telekinetics. They’re going to lift the rubble up, and hold it where it used to be, so at a glance it looks like the road is intact. The telepaths will do the rest of the work, there, make it look like it hasn’t exploded yet. I know this is going to be tough. But as soon as they leave, we can run. And once we run, we can make sure they never find you again.”
“Won’t they see us?” a small boy whimpered.
“It’s okay,” Rui said, kneeling to pat the boy’s head. The boy ran at him, pushing his head under Rui’s chin and squeezing him so hard he could scarcely breathe.
“Angela’s going to make us invisible,” Cris said. “That’s why we have to stay quiet. So they think we’ve all gone, when really we’re right here. We’re really close to being free- and we’ll get there together.” Cris turned his back to the crowd, and stepped onto the curb.
“If this doesn’t work,” Rui whispered to Ben, holding his hands over the ears of the boy still clinging to him, “I’m burning these agents alive. There is not a single innocent person working in that building.” “Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Ben said.