The Final Warning

25

MAX. FLY TO THESE COORDINATES.I rubbed my eyes, hoping it had been a dream. Then a topographic map flashed into my brain, even as the Voice gave the directions. I groaned inwardly, hoping the Voice could hear it. So much for our bit of downtime. As I watched the flock slowly wake up, the Voice continued to give me instructions.

Then it said something amazing.Your mom is waiting for you.

“Okay, everyone up!” I said, clapping my hands. “Up and at ’em! It’s a whole new day!”

“I’m hungry,” said Nudge, yawning. “You know what would be good? Like, one of those sausageMcHeart -Attack things. The biscuit things. I want about eight of ’em.” She stood up and balanced on her branch, brushing off jeans that had long since reached the “grimy” crisis point.

“We’ll eat on the way,” I said. “The Voice says we have to go someplace, meet my mom.”

“Could it be a trap?” Angel looked worried.

“It canalways be a trap, sweetie,” I said, and jumped out into the air.

Trap,schmap. The glory of flying was still the glory of flying. This morning was crisp, cold, and drenched with sunlight. We flew above the clouds for almost an hour, making one fueling stop at a fast-food place. (If I were abazillionaire, I’d start a chain of healthy fast-food restaurants, except stuff on the menu would actually taste good and people would want to eat it. Smoothies, little dumplings. I could go on.)

But this morning was so beautiful that we couldn’t worry about whether we were flying toward a trap or whether our clothes needed washing. This morning it was us plus air, and we soared and floated and played in updrafts, and it was as though all the jagged puzzle pieces of our weird lives had come together perfectly, here and now.

You’re off course. Correct by three degrees, south-southwest.

I shifted my left wing slightly and adjusted our course, and the others followed me. An hour later, we were at our coordinates. Which corresponded to a private landing strip carved into the middle of a thick woods, not far from Pittsburgh. A small, gleaming white jet sat on the lone runway. Two men in orange jumpsuits were moving traffic cones, yellow flags tucked under their arms. It all seemed oh so familiar, if you know what I’m saying. I mean, how many secret landing strips are tucked into hiding places all across America? Why isn’t someone keeping track of this stuff?

I paused in midair, my eyes narrowing. Then I saw my mom come out of the plane, looking up at the sky, shading her eyes.

“Doesn’t look verytrappy,” said Nudge.

“No- but be on guard, just in case,” Fang said.

I nodded and angled my wings back along my body, losing altitude fast. I didn’t know what was waiting for us, but I was ready to find out.

26

“MAX!”

I hoped I would never take my mom’s hugs for granted.

“What’s going on?” I asked her. “I thought I wouldn’t see you for a while.”

“Me too,” she said. “ButJeb and I have come up with an unusual possibility for you guys, and we wanted to see if you were interested.”

“Unusual how?” asked Fang.

“Well, sort of a science trip,” said my mom. “A science trip where you would work with scientists in a pretty remote place. We think it would be kind of fun for you guys, plus you would be useful to the scientists, plus this place is so remote that we think you’d be safer than usual while you’re there.”

“Huh.” This was an interesting idea. I’d been wondering what our next step would be, and here it was, being offered to me. My mom was actually recommending it to me, and unless she’d recently been replaced by an evil clone (possible but unlikely), that meant it was probably a good idea.

“Where’s this remote place?” Fang asked.

Mom grinned. “I’d like to keep that a secret until you’re almost there. To help you keep an open mind. And now I’d like you to meet one of the scientists.” She turned to gesture to a woman waiting by the plane’s entrance ramp.

The woman was a couple inches shorter than me, with blond hair in a single braid down her back. Though her face was unsmiling, her eyes roamed over us hungrily: the bird kids, the mutant freaks, something she’d never seen before. She blinked whenIggy put Total down on the ground, and I got the feeling she really hadn’t known what to expect from us.

But then, most people don’t.

“I’m Dr.Brigid Dwyer,” she said, stepping forward and holding out her hand. She seemed awfully young to be a doctor.

“I’m Max.” I shook her hand, and I swear, she looked at mine like it was cotton candy. Then she realized it was just a hand, and the excitement faded a little from her eyes. “What’s this science field trip about?”

She nodded to the jet. “I’ll explain once we’re on board.”

– Uh-huh. “How about you explainbefore we get on board?” I asked pleasantly. Yes, Mom had recommended it, but that didn’t mean I had gone brain-dead.

Since this was her first Max encounter, I gave Dr. Dwyer a couple moments to find her sea legs.

“Or we could all split now,” I clarified.

“Dr. Martinez”- she gestured to my mother- “has recommended you for a… rescue mission.”

“Do tell.” I crossed my arms over my chest, knowing that the flock was scanning the area intently for any signs of danger. “What- or who- are we rescuing?”

“The world?”

27

I DON’T KNOW how many of you have been on private jets, but golly, they’re sweet.

“It’s ababy plane,” Angel whispered when we first got inside the dollhouse-like interior. “It’s going to grow up to be a seven forty-seven someday.”

It was small but very lush, all decked out, similar to the other private jet we’d been on recently. Big flat-screen TV, cushy sofas and armchairs, thick carpeting beneath our feet, little curtains on the little windows. Much nicer than most places we’d stayed in.

Mom had stayed on the ground, and it had been hard- again- to say good-bye to her.

Fang returned from checking out the galley and nodded to me: all clear back there.Gazzy andIggy had gone forward to the cockpit, and they held the door open to show me a startled pilot, copilot, and navigator. None of whom gave off instant “I am evil” vibes. Total trotted around sniffing everything, and call me crazy, but that actually made me feel safer.

It’s okay, Max,said my Voice.This is part of the bigger picture. You’re being used, but for good this time.

Oh, that makes it all worthwhile, I thought sarcastically.Being used for good is so much better than being used for evil. The operative words are still “being used.”

The Voice was silent.

“Please, sit down and be comfortable,” said Dr. Dwyer. Like we could avoid it. “Fasten your seat belts, just for takeoff. As soon as we’re in the air, you can have refreshments.”

The flock and I buckled ourselves in, as did Dr. Dwyer.

“Whose plane is this?” I asked.

Dr. Dwyer looked up. “It belongs to Nino Pierpont,” she said, and my eyebrows went up. Everyone knew he was the world’s richest man, richer than any country, company, or family anywhere. So we were either in good hands or totally screwed. Only time would tell. I hoped Mom knew what she was getting us into.

Total jumped up onto the sofa, and Angel buckled his seat belt. Dr. Dwyer watched silently, and I saw her eyes roving over Angel’s bulky jacket as if she were wishing a wing would suddenly pop out.

“So where are we going?” I asked. “Please tell me someplace warm. I’ve had enough cold weather this winter to last me a lifetime.”

“South America,” said Dr. Dwyer, her eyes not meeting mine. “Argentina.”

“Rain forest?” I guessed. Argentina was warm, right? This was one of those times when a little schooling would not have been amiss. They turned up every now and then.

“No,” she said. “We’ll be taking a boat from there.”

“A boat?” Fang asked. “To where?”

“How about something to eat?” Dr. Dwyer undid her seat belt and stood up.

Fang and I looked at each other, then nodded.

We agreed:Be on guard.

28

“ARE WE THERE YET?” Total grumbled as I held him in my arms.

It was nighttime in Argentina. Cooping up six bird kids in a weensy plane for hours had been a mistake on Dr. Dwyer’s part. We’d gotten twitchier and twitchier as the long flight went on, and when we finally touched down in SanJuliбn,Gazzy had burst through the emergency exit, setting off alarms and making the inflatable ramp deploy.

We had then resisted her efforts to get us into a car. Yeah, yeah, we’d signed up to save the world, but that didn’t mean we had to agree to being in a small enclosed space again.

Which was why we were flying low over Dr. Dwyer’s Jeep, trying to stay out of sight of the scarce traffic on this winding, narrow road. It was dark, cold, and windy. Maybe parts of Argentina, like up north, were warm, but down here close to the tip, it was cold. Great.

In just a few minutes, we were at the ocean, the same ocean that we’d swum in off the East Coast of America. But this was the South Atlantic Ocean, and that had been the North. This part of the ocean had chunks of real ice floating in it. I gritted my teeth, beginning to get why my mom had kept our destination a secret.

Dr. Dwyer drove her Jeep onto a broad dock. A large boat was tethered at the end of it, or maybe it was a small ship. Who knows? The Jeep stopped, and Dr. Dwyer got out, peering up at the sky, looking for us. We circled high above the area, searching for signs of danger, but everything was quiet. Finally we came to gentle landings about thirty feet from her. Total immediately jumped down and began sniffing the dock.

“You really can fly,” Dr. Dwyer said softly, almost to herself.

I shook out my wings, feeling the heat from exercise course through them.

“Well, it’s not just an elaborate hoax,” I said.

“It’s… very beautiful,” she said, then seemed surprised at herself for saying it. Smiling slightly, she shook her head and began to walk with us toward the boat. “I’m sorry. I know being able to fly wasn’t your choice, and I know only some of the trauma you’ve endured because of it. But to me, on the outside, it seems both beautiful and enviable.”

No one had ever put it that way before, and I didn’t know what to say. Shesorta seemed to get the whole pluses/minuses thing of being a bird kid. Not many people did.

“This is our research vessel,” said Dr. Dwyer, pointing at the waiting boat. “We’re from the International Earth Science Foundation.”

Frankly, “research vessel” seemed like a twenty-five-cent name for a ten-cent boat. It was big, maybe a hundred and fifty feet long, but it looked old and run-down. Huge rust stains streaked its blue sides, even covering part of its name: theWendy K. It had a crane-type thingy on the back, and a built-up cabin up front with lots of satellite antennas on top. Where was Nino Pierpont when you needed him to finance a cutting-edge research vessel, for crying out loud?

“We bought her as a retired offshore fishing trawler,” Dr. Dwyer explained as a man came out onto the deck and waved down at us. “Hey, Michael.”

“Yo,Brigid!” he called back with a smile. His eyes raked us curiously, and I could almost feel his excitement.

“But we’ve retrofitted her, mostly through donations, and now she’s one of our best research stations.” Dr. Dwyer went to the edge of the dock and grabbed a small metal ladder attached to the side of theWendy K. She began to climb up it, and I was sure her hands would be covered with rust when she got to the top. “It’s safe, I assure you,” she told us over her shoulder.

“Maybe. Maybe not,”Gazzy muttered. He flexed his wings, gave a little jump, and flew up to the deck, some eighteen feet above us.

Dr. Dwyer and Michael stared at him, then exchanged pleased smiles, as if they’d just discovered some neat new life-form.

Total jumped into my arms, and the rest of us flew up also.

“Oh, my God,” Michael said. “It’s true!”

“Well, it’s not just an elaborate hoax,” said Dr. Dwyer. “Michael, this is Max, Fang,Iggy, the, uh, Gasman, Nudge, and Angel. Guys, this is Dr. Michael Papa, one of our leading research scientists.”

Total growled softly.

“Oh, and this is their dog, Total,” she added.

Total sucked in his breath with disgust.

“Thank you for coming,” Dr. Papa said simply. He shook hands with us all, very formally, but he seemed warm and friendly, and not like he might want to stick us in cages and poke us with needles. For example.

“We still don’t know why we’re here,” I told him.

“Brigiddidn’t tell you?” Dr. Papa’s eyebrows rose. “You’re here to help us gather data for a research project- about global warming and its effects on Antarctica, among other places.” He grinned at us, his teeth pale but human sized in the moonlight. “You’re here to help us save the world.”

29

“THIS IS JUST LIKEMOBY DICK!” Nudge exclaimed happily, bouncing on her tiny bunk. “They were on a fishing boat, and we’re on a fishing boat too! Only this one doesn’t have sails. And isn’t made of wood. And we have radar and computers and stuff. Still. We have little bunks, like old-fashioned sailors, and we eat in the mess, and the bathroom is called the head, and it’s all boat stuff, everywhere!”

“Dr. Dwyer and Dr. Papa seem nice,” said Angel. She peered through the small porthole above her bed. If we punched out the glass, we could probably escape through it. Just a thought. “They’re really sincere and mean everything they say.”

The rumbling of the ship’s engines made the floor vibrate beneath our feet.

“We’re headed for the South Pole!”Gazzy jumped over the low threshold into our room from the boys’ room next door. “And it’s, like, so far south that it’s the bottom of the whole world.”

I tried to keep from groaning out loud. I really, really hate cold weather. I hate bundling up. I’m more of a beach-and-sun kind of girl.

“But you know, if the world is round,” said Nudge, “then there’s no real top or bottom to it. The South Pole could just as easily be at the top of the world. We could be thinking of everything completely upside down.”

“You’re making my head hurt,” Total complained.

Fang andIggy came in.Iggy was running his fingers gently along every surface, memorizing his surroundings, how many steps to here and there, where furniture was.

“It’s small in here,” he complained. “I feel like we’re inside a submarine. Can’t we sleep in hammocks on the deck?”

“It’s really cold out there,” I reminded him, trying not to sound too bitter.

“Frankly, I’d rather be in Hawaii,” Total griped, and I silently agreed with him. “Can your Voice send usthere? We could be lying on a beach on Kauai, with drinks with little umbrellas in them. Instead we’re literally at theend of the world, doing God knows what. And what’s the foodgonna be like on this boat?” He shook his head. “I am not into this plan, I can tell you-”

Suddenly he stopped, and his eyes widened. “Well,alo -ha,” he breathed.

Dr. Papa- that name still cracked me up- was standing in our doorway. At his side, a snow-white Malamute was sizing us up with the practiced eye of a guard dog. Total stared at it, speechless.

“I know it’s not the Hilton, but it’s not too bad,” Dr. Papa said with a smile. “We’ll try to make you as comfortable as possible. Now, if you’ve settled in, we can gather in the conference room. You can meet everyone, and we can try to answer your questions.” Dr. Papa scratched the Malamute behind its small triangular ears. “This isAkila, our mascot and official rescue dog.”

“Does she talk?” Angel asked. A perfectly reasonable question.

Dr. Papa looked startled. “Uh, no.” He gave Angel an uncertain glance. Total was still dumbstruck, his mouth hanging open. “Come join us, okay? Go up to the deck, and the conference room is in the forward cabin hatch.” He left, andAkila trotted after him.

“Akila’spretty,” Angel said. “Like a white teddy bear.”

“Pretty? She’s a goddess!” Total said hoarsely.

“You’re drooling on Angel’s bed,” said the Gasman.

Total swallowed. “Oh, my God, she’s magnificent. Did you see her cheekbones? That fur, brighter than sunlight…”

Iggyrolled his eyes.

“Um, Total?” I tried. “Akila’sreally pretty and all, but you know, she’s just a regular dog, and…”

Total jerked upright, his eyes blazing. “Regular dog!She’sperfection! Don’t you ever call her ‘regular’ again! Is the Venus de Milo just a statue? Is theMona Lisa just a painting? Is theLouvre just a museum?”

“No, it was neat,” Nudge agreed.

I sighed, deciding to drop this hot potato for the time being. “Okay, everyone, let’s go find out what they want us to do. With any luck, we can quickly save the world and still have time to make the hot-air balloon festival in New Mexico. I’ve always wanted to see that.” Plus, it waswarm there.

“Cool,” Fang agreed, and we headed off to discover our mission.

30

THEWENDY K. was not the Love Boat. It had no casino, no swimming pool, no shopping atrium. It had a small gray-painted kitchen / dining hall, a small gray-painted lounge with a couple of ratty built-in couches, and a small white-painted conference room with some chipped Formica tables, a whiteboard, and some bookcases with bars across the front so the books wouldn’t fly off the shelves in rough seas.

“Welcome,” Dr. Dwyer said, indicating some seats. There were seven adults in the room.Akila was lying on the floor beneath Dr. Papa’s chair. Total had paused before we entered, puffed out his chest, then sauntered in as if he were a Russian wolfhound. Since he’s a small black Scottie, it was an odd effect.

All the grown-ups were staring at us, which we were used to.

“Please, sit down,” said Michael. “As you know, I’m Dr. Michael Papa, but you can call me Michael. You know Dr.Brigid Dwyer-”

“Can we call youBrigid?” Nudge interrupted. “Brigid’sa neat name.”

“Yes, of course,” said Dr. Dwyer. “We’re pretty informal around here.”

“I’m Melanie Bone,” said another woman. “The communications specialist.” She had the sun-streaked, tan look of someone who spent a lot of time outdoors.

The others were introduced as Brian Carey, dive specialist; Emily Robertson, eco-paleontologist; Sue-Ann Wong, ice specialist, whatever that was; and Paul Carey, ship’s captain (and brother of Brian), navigator, and expert in South Polar wildlife. They all seemed nice, but they all had a scientist’s rabid curiosity, and I felt their eyes boring into us as if making us into Swiss cheese.

“Okay,” I said, standing up. I gauged the width of the room- about fifteen feet, just barely enough. “Let’s just get this out of the way.”

I looked behind me to make sure there was space, then rolled my shoulders and unfolded my wings slowly, trying not to whap anyone on the head. The scientists stared at me, transfixed, as my wings stretched out farther and farther. Nudge ducked as one passed over her head, and then they were mostly extended, almost fourteen feet across.

I must say, I do have pretty wings. They’re a lighter brown than my hair, but not as tawny as Nudge’s. My primary feathers, the big ones along the bottom outside edges, are streaked with black and white. Thesecondaries are streaked white and brown. On the undersides of my wings, the covert feathers are a soft ivory color. And over the tops and down the backs of my wings, I have shiny, strong brown feathers fading perfectly into the primaries.

My wings kick butt.

“So they’re not connected to your arms,” Melanie Bone said unnecessarily.

I shook my head. “Nope. We have six limbs.”

“Like dragons,” Nudge said helpfully. I grinned at her.

“Like insects,” said the Gasman.

“They’re so big,” said Emily Robertson. “They’re beautiful.”

“Thanks,” I said, feeling self-conscious. “They have to be big because we’re bigger and heavier, proportionally, than birds.”

“How much do you weigh?” Paul Carey looked as though he wanted to take notes. Then he winced. “Sorry, I mean-”

“A bit less than a hundred pounds,” I answered. “The reason I don’t look like a skeleton is that our bones and muscles are made differently, lighter. So even though I’m five-eight, I look slender at ninety-seven pounds but not grotesquely skinny.”

They nodded.

“Do you identify as a human or as a bird?”Brigid asked.

No one had ever asked me that before. “I don’t know,” I said slowly. “I look in the mirror and see a girl. I have hands and feet. But when I’m up in the sky, and the ground is far below… I feel my wings working, and I know I can get oxygen out of thin, high air… it doesn’t feel very… human.”

Which is pretty much the most unguarded, touchy-feely, heart-on-my-sleeve thing I’d ever said. I folded my wings in as my face flushed. I felt naked and stupid, and wished I’d kept my big mouth shut. Cheeks burning, I slumped down in my chair, not looking at anyone.

“I feel more human, I think,” Nudge said cheerfully. “I like clothes and fashion and doing my hair. The stuff I like is what kids like, what people like. Music and movies and reading. I mean, I never want to make a nest for myself or anything.”

We all laughed, and for once I was relieved at Nudge’s chattiness.

“I don’t feel all that human,” said Angel, looking thoughtful.

Fang tapped my leg with his foot under the table, as if to say, There’s a surprise.

“I’m not sure what I see when I look in the mirror,” Angel went on. You have to remember that she was only six. “When I think of me, I picture someone with wings. I know I’m not normal. There aren’t any kids to hang out with who are like me. Besides the flock. I know I don’t fit in anywhere.” She turned big blue eyes on Michael, who was gazing at her intently. “This world isn’t set up for people like me, like us.” She gestured to include the rest of the flock. “Nothing in this world is designed for us, designed to make us comfortable. We always stick out, we always make do. People want us, or want us dead, because ofwhat we are, notwho we are. It’s hard.”

The room was silent. The grown-ups had stricken looks on their faces, like they actually cared. It was pretty heartbreaking, to think of a little kid like Angel having those kinds of feelings. No one knew what to say.

Except Total.

“Not to be pushy,” he said, “but is there any way to get some chow in this place? I’m starving.”

31

APPARENTLY THEIR BRIEFING had not mentioned the talking dog. EvenAkila seemed surprised, cocking her head to one side and looking at Total.

We kids just sat there, since we were, unfortunately, all too used to hearing Total talk.

“A sandwich would be nice,” Nudge said, breaking the silence.

“Yes, of course,” said Melanie Bone, recovering from her shock.

Twenty minutes later, we werescarfing down sandwiches and watching a PowerPoint presentation about global warming.

“Global warming is probably the most significant disaster modern society has had to face,” said Sue-Ann Wong.

“Clearly she hasn’t seen this season’s platform wedges.” Total sniffed. I nudged him with my elbow.

“If mankind continues with its current energy-use habits, there’s a probability that sea levels could rise by up to twenty feet within a hundred years,” Emily Robertson added.

“So we’ll all have beach houses?”Gazzy asked. “Cool!”

Paul Carey shook his head. “Not cool. It means that most countries will lose a lot of coastal land, plus the wildlife and ecosystems that flourish there. Many states and countries will be smaller, which means more people moving inland. We would lose big parts of Florida, Louisiana, and Texas, and a lot of the eastern seaboard. They would be mostly under water. So tens of millions of people would be displaced, needing new homes, new jobs.”

Huh. Was it really that bad? Maybe they were overreacting. I mean, how could it possibly be that bad if the earth wasone degree warmer? It just seemed as if the whole world would become like Hawaii or the Bahamas. Fabulous places. Wouldn’t we be able to grow more food if there were more warmer places? How much wheat were we harvesting in Siberia?

“What the heck is global warming?”Iggy asked.

“Basically, it’s a buildup of certain gases, like carbon dioxide, in our atmosphere,” said Melanie. “The earth’s atmosphere traps them there, and they act like a blanket. It’s making the average temperature of the oceans and the air slowly rise.”

“A gas blanket,” saidIggy. “Well, you should know all about that,Gaz.”

The Gasman grinned, in no way embarrassed.

“It would be nice if the world were a little warmer,” Nudge said. “I hate cold weather.”

“Yeah,” saidGazzy. “No more jackets, no more frostbite, no more car wrecks on icy roads. People would save money by not heating their houses. We could wear shorts all the time.”

That’swhat I was talking about!

Emily smiled. “If it were really like that, it might not be too bad,” she said. “Though I like cold weather and I would miss skiing. But the problem is that one little change in the earth’s temperature causes all sorts of other changes. Like falling dominoes.”

“Besides the catastrophic loss of land all over the world, even a slight temperature rise causes more extreme weather everywhere,” Paul explained. “We already have more hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, earthquakes, and rainfall just because the earth’s temperature has risen barely more than a degree in the last hundred years. On the other hand, we have more droughts and more wildfires as well.”

The slide show had pictures of Indonesia after its tsunami, and the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina. We saw pictures of deserts where there had once been crops, and lots of dead cattle and horses and fish whose water had dried up. But hadn’t stuff like that happened in every century? The earth had never been totally calm and perfect. There were hurricanes and floods and droughts thousands of years ago,before all this global warming stuff.

“The rising temperature affects crops and plants everywhere,” saidBrigid Dwyer. “Trees are germinating an average of ten days earlier. Plants everywhere are blooming earlier. Plants that need cooler weather are slowly moving northward. Plants that thrive in warmer temperatures are more widespread than ever.”

Again, I wasn’t sure why this was a problem. Ten days was a tiny amount of time.

“And that’s bad because…?” Total put his paws on the table. “Can I have a Coke or something?”

“Don’t give him soda,” I said quickly. “He’ll be hiccupping all night.”

“We don’t have any soda,” said Michael apologetically, as Total glared at me. “Just water, milk, tea, or coffee.”

“It’s a problem because plants affect animals, and animals affect plants, and the whole system goes out of balance,” Melanie explained.

“ ‘It’s theciiirrrcle ofliiiifffe,’ ”Iggy sang.

“Scientists estimate that at least two hundred sixty different species are already responding to global warming by changing their migration and reproduction patterns,” Sue-Ann said. “The loss of plant and animal life can’t be calculated.”

Fang had been silent this whole time. Now he spoke. “But what does this have to do withus? ”

Which was, of course, the important question.

32

“FRANKLY, YOU HAVE unique abilities,” saidBrigid in response to Fang’s question. “The Antarctic is an unpredictable and dangerous place, but someone who can fly to safety can take greater risks.”

“But we don’t know anything about science,” I said. “Or not much, anyway. I mean, we can hack into computers. We know all kinds of other stuff. But we don’t know anything about global warming or the Antarctic.” Or about any of a million things they taught inschools, say.

Brigidsmiled, and I thought again how young she looked. Shewas a doctor, right?

“That’s okay,” she said. “You don’t need to become experts overnight. We have some specific jobs we can teach you to do.”

“But that’s not the only reason you’re here,” said Brian Carey, speaking up for the first time. “The truth is, you guys are very newsworthy. As soon as you surface, people take note, and you get into all the newspapers. So who better to get the message out to the world?”

“And what message would that be?” Fang asked quietly, looking atBrigid.

“That our government needs to take global warming seriously,” she said directly to Fang. “That we need to develop alternative fuel sources, right now. That we need to slash our emissions of greenhouse gases. Plus, we need to do all we can to slow down the extinction by the year 2050 of more than a million species of animals, insects, and plants.”

“What if we don’t believe all that stuff?” I asked, and Melanie drew back and blinked. Had the file on me not mentioned my whole “uncooperative” thing?

“We won’t ask you to do anything you don’t believe in,” she said sincerely. “If, after working with us, you don’t think what we’re doing is worthwhile, then you’re free to leave, and you don’t have to publicize our cause.”

“You’re free to leave at any time,”Brigid said quickly. “The only reason you’re here is that Dr. Valencia Martinez recommended you. I took a course from her when I was getting my doctorate, and we’ve kept in touch. She called me a few days ago.”

That made sense. I still got a little thrill every time I realized that Dr. Martinez was mymom. That would never wear off.

“Okay,” I said. “We need to think about this and talk it over; me and the flock, I mean.”

“Of course,” said Michael. “Let us know if you need any more information. Are you guys still hungry?”

“We’re always hungry,” said Nudge.

“We need between three thousand and four thousand calories a day,” I explained. “When it’swarm. ”

The scientists unsuccessfully tried to hide their surprise.

“Um, well, let’s see what we can rustle up,” saidBrigid, leading the way to the galley.

“Thanks,” said Fang. “Appreciate it.”

I watched him follow her out the door, his dark head maybe six inches higher than hers. She looked back at him and smiled, and that’s when I got an icky feeling in the pit of my stomach.

33

LET ME TELL YOU, it wascozy in the tiny galley, which was so small that Fang had to totally squeeze in next toBrigid on the bench. Just too freaking cozy for words.

BeneathGazzy and Nudge’s excited chatter, I could follow the low undercurrent of Fang andBrigid playing the get-to-know-you game.

“You’re young to be a doctor,” he said, helping himself to a fourth sandwich.

“I’m twenty-one,”Brigid admitted. “Sort of whizzed through MIT, then got my doctorate at the U of Arizona.” She paused, thinking. “In a way, I understand what it feels like to stick out, to be different from everyone else. I finished high school when I was twelve.” She gave a self-conscious laugh. “People called me a freak. Even my parents didn’t know what to do with me.”

“That must have been rough,” Fang said sympathetically, while my eyes widened.

“Max?” Melanie was holding out a carton. “Would you like some milk?”

“Gross,no,” I said without thinking. “I mean, no, thank you. ButGazzy probably would. He likes it.”

“How old areyou? ”Brigid asked Fang.

I almost gagged on my potato chip.

“Fourteen. I think,” Fang said. “None of us are real sure of our birth dates. But we think Max,Iggy, and I are around fourteen.”

“You seem older,”Brigid murmured, and I shot to my feet, unable to bear this a second longer.

“I need some air,” I managed to get out between swallows.

I felt everyone looking at me as I bolted out of the galley and up the stairs to the deck.

“Max? Are you okay?” Sue-Ann called after me, but I didn’t answer. Instead I ran down the deck of the boat, feeling its engines churning beneath my feet. Just as I was about to slam into the metal side railing, I jumped out over the water and unfurled my wings. I stroked hard, down and then up, over and over, rushing into the cold night sky. Seconds later theWendy K. was just a tiny steam-emitting dot on the blackness of the ocean, and I felt like I could breathe again.

Okay, Max, what’s going on?For once the voice in my head was my own. I didn’t answer it. Instead I just wheeled through the sky, catching the occasional updraft and coasting. I breathed in and out deeply, thinking about this mission, thinking about Fang andBrigid, and Fang and me, and me and the flock.

I almost forgot to keep checking all around me for Flyboys. Almost.

Maybe a month ago, my mom had taken a computer chip out of my arm. (She’s a vet. How appropriate.) I’d been all dopey on anesthesia, and I’d said some stupid stuff to Fang. He’d thrown it back in my face several times since then. And lately he’d kissed me a couple times, and I didn’t know where he was going with that. I was torn between (1) wanting to give in, to just let those emotions flood out and see what happened between us, and (2) sheer terror.

Now he seemed to be making cow eyes at a doctor who was seven years older than him.

And the one thing that stood out in my mind as I wearily made my way back down to the boat in ever-diminishing circles was:

Fang had never said that stupid stuff back to me.

34

WHEN I GOT BACK to the boat, all seven scientists were waiting on the deck. Three of them had night-vision binoculars trained on me. I made a short running landing and pounded to a stop. I walked toward them with my wings still outspread, letting them cool off.

“What’s up?” I asked with a sudden clutch in my heart.Had something happened? Had the boat been attacked? Was the flock okay? I thought I’d kept it in my line of sight, but I knew that I’d been so wrapped up in my own personal soap opera I could have missedShamu leaping over the boat with a red ball in his mouth.

“We were just… watching,” Paul Carey said softly.

“Is something wrong?” I pressed.

“No, no, nothing’s wrong,” said Melanie quickly. “We just- we’ve never seen anyone fly before.”

“Oh. No, I guess you haven’t.”

“Is it… wonderful?” Melanie asked.

Again we were treading close to personal ground, and I was feeling all self-protecty, but I answered. “Yes. The flying part is wonderful. Better than anything.” Growing up in dog crates, being subjected to horrible experiments, being chased and attacked every time we turned around: not so much.

“I wish-,” saidBrigid. She stopped and shook her head.

“What?”

She looked embarrassed. “I’m a wildlife specialist, like Paul. I’m here to learn about South Polar animals. The scientist in me is dying to ask you questions, to learn what it’s like to be such a different form of human. But I know how awful that must seem to you.”

I bit my lip so I wouldn’t say something snide, like, “Why don’t you ask Fang?”

“You’re human, with intelligence, courage, feelings, impressions,”Brigid went on. “I can’t ask a bird how it feels to fly. I can ask you. But your very ability to tell me means that asking you such a thing would be horribly intrusive and insensitive on my part. I’m sorry.” She gave a little smile. “I’ll try to keep a lid on the scientist in me.”

“Good luck with that,” said Paul, chuckling. “Being a scientist isn’t what youdo. It’s what youare. ”

Brigidnodded, looking troubled.

These people were unlike most other humans I’d ever dealt with. They were just as curious, but they were actually respecting our personal boundaries- for now. Most other scientists were content to trap us, slap us into cages, and start sticking needles into us. It was weird. I wondered how long it would last.

“I’m going to turn in,” I said abruptly, and headed toward the aft stairs. (Aftmeans “rear” on a boat. See how I’m throwing the lingo around?)

I had just started down the narrow, steeply pitched steps when I realized Fang was waiting for me at the bottom.

“What’s the matter with you?” he asked. “Why’d you take off like that?”

Oh, like I would tellhim.

“Wanted some air,” I said, trying to brush past him. But he took my arms to hold me in place, and because I didn’t feel like having this escalate into a knockdown fistfight, I let him.

“Tell me what’s going on,” he said again, his face very close to mine.

“Nothing.” I’m nothing if not stubborn.

“Max, if you would just talk to me-”

“Aboutwhat? You and me? Thereis no you and me. Especially when you keep throwing yourself at everything in a skirt!” Okay, now, that was so, so stupid. Fang’s eyes widened- I’d given far too much away. Plus,Brigid Dwyer wasn’t wearing a skirt.

I wrenched my arms away from him, feeling as if my cheeks were on fire. I was confused and miserable- two of my least favorite things.

“You’re wrong, Max,” he said in a low, dark tone that made butterflies in my stomach. “There’s a you and me, all right. There will always be a you and me.”

I pushed past him, hard, and tried not to run for the room Nudge, Angel, and I were sharing.

35

“MAX!”

I was assaulted by excited bird kids as soon as I stepped over the threshold.Iggy andGazzy were sitting on our bunks, and there was so much energy in the air that we could have powered the boat with it.

“Yeah?” I said, trying to calm my jangled nerves.

“Max, this is great!” said Nudge. “This is way better than going to school. Or being on the run. It’s like we have something fun to do,plus we have people protecting us,plus food and beds, all at the same time!”

“The food and beds are a huge plus,” I agreed.

“And we have a real mission,” saidGazzy. “I mean, you’vebeen having a mission. But now we’re in on it too. And it’s a good mission!”

“You think?” I looked for a place to sit down and finally chose the tiny chair at the tiny built-in desk as my only option. Total was stretched out on Angel’s bunk, not sleeping, just sighing heavily from time to time.

“Yeah, I think!” saidGazzy.

“It’s pretty cool,” saidIggy. “Despite being cooped up like sardines in this can. It still makes sense. I’d like to do some actual good, instead of just trying to thwart bad all the time.”

“What’s wrong withhim? ” I jerked a thumb at Total just as Fang joined us. I didn’t look at him and was furious to feel my cheeks heat up again.

Angel patted Total’s small black head. “I think it’sAkila,” she confided.

“Cruelty, thy name is woman!” Total moaned. “Or rather, dog.”

“She won’t talk to him,”Gazzy told me.

“Total, she doesn’t talk,” I pointed out.

“She won’t even talk to me in theuniversal language, ” Total said.

“French,” Angel said knowingly.

“Love hurts,” Fang said, almost to himself.

“Oh, shutup! ” I snapped.

Which made five heads swivel toward me. I wanted to spit.

“Let’s talk about something interesting,” I said pointedly. Fang +Brigid = pain. Check. Fang + me = confusion, and also pain and fear. Check. Mission to save the world? Scary, challenging, uncertain, possibly very worthwhile. Check.

Total in love with a Malamute? That I could handle.

“What’s the problem, Total?”

“She won’t give me the time of day,” Total said wearily. “I can’t blame her. Look at her- she’s purebred, classy, important.Tall. I’m… a short mutant with no papers. Always on the run, hanging out with hunted criminals-”

“Hey!” I said.

“You’ve stolen three cars,” Total pointed out. “That I know of. Plus breaking and entering, assault-”

“Okay, okay,” I said irritably. “Whatever. Hey, anytime it’s too much for you, pal…”

Angel wrapped her arm around his neck.

Total drew himself up proudly. “And leave you on your own? I’m not a traitor! You need me!”

I was about to retort with a scathing “Forwhat? ” when Nudge interrupted.

“Total, just be nice toAkila,” she advised. “Don’t grovel. Just be yourself, but extra thoughtful, polite. Act more like a dog, you know, strong andsilenter.”

Total seemed to take this in, nodding thoughtfully.

“Now, about the mission,” said Nudge. “I’m all for it! I mean, it’s cold here, which sucks, but I like these people. I say we stay for a while.”

“Me too!” saidGazzy.

They were all waiting for me.

I didn’t want to argue with them about jumping on the global warming bandwagon. What the hey. We had food and beds. “All right,” I said, and they erupted into cheers. “Let’s stay for a while.”

36

“YOU NEED A JACKET,” I told Total the next day. We were on the upper deck, and it was, hey, really cold! The scientists had all sorts of cold-weather gear for us kids, so we were okay. They hadn’t even minded us slicing long slits in the backs.

Total was shivering, watching the endless ocean through the metal railings.

“Akiladoesn’t wear a jacket,” he said through chattering teeth.

“Then go below before I have to chip ice off your nose,” I said.

Turning with great dignity, he trotted over to the stairs and jumped down them.

“I can’t get used to a talking dog,” said Melanie, coming up next to me. “Or even flying kids, really.” She gave me a friendly smile, then went back to making notes in a log.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“We document weather conditions every day,” she explained. “Air temperature, barometric pressure, water temperature. Wind direction and speed, what the seas are like.” She flipped through the pages in her log to show me month after month of meticulously graphed weather conditions. It was cool thatsomeone was doing this, but it would have made me gonzo by the fourth day.

“Yougotta check out their computers,” Nudge said, running up to us. “They are so cool! They can show you what the earth will look like in fifty years, or what would happen if there’s an earthquake.Gazzy just ran a demonstration of what would happen if a tsunami hit Los Angeles!”

“Cool,” I said. “What’re Fang andIggy doing?”

“Scalping Brian andBrigid at poker,” she said matter-of-factly. Melanie looked up in surprise.

“What about Angel?”

“She’s ahead by about thirty bucks.”

Here’s a freebie: Don’t play poker with a kid who can read minds. Well, they would have to learn sometime.

“How long have you been here?” I asked Melanie out of sheer boredom. I don’t usually bother getting to know people, because (a) I don’t trust any of them, (b) we’re usually leaving soon, and in a hurry, and (c) they’re usually trying to kill us. The only humans I’d ever met and liked were my mom and my half sister, Ella.

“I’ve been part of an Antarctica team for five years,” she said. She put a small plastic container in aclawlike thing, which she lowered over the boat’s side on a rope. “Off and on. We’re privately funded, so every once in a while we run out of money and have to scramble.” She looked at me curiously. “How long have you been on the run? Dr. Martinez warned us we’d have to take extra measures to keep you safe.”

I decided it wouldn’t be a disaster to tell her. “We’ve been on our own for more than two years. On the run for- I don’t know- six months? It feels like forever.”

She nodded sympathetically.

Just then Angel appeared on deck, stuffing a wad of money into her pocket. “Whales,” she said.

37

“HUH?” I SAID.

Angel nodded toward the ocean. “Whales. I wanted to see them.”

Melanie drew up her water sample. “Yes, we’ll probably see some before too long. There are eight different species of whales in this region.”

“We’regonna see ’emnow,” said Angel, moving to the railing.

Smiling, Melanie said, “We’ll definitely see them at some point.”

“No, they’re here,” said Angel, pointing. “They’re curious. They think this boat smells yucky.”

“What?” Melanie said, just as the biggestgol -dang animal I’ve ever seen suddenly burst out of the ocean.

I gasped- it was like a gray-and-black wall of wet skin, almost filling my vision. It was super close, maybe forty feet away, and it got about two-thirds of its body above water before crashing back down in aginormous belly flop that rocked our boat.

Angel smiled.

“That was a humpback,” said Melanie. “They love to throw themselves out of the water. You think he was curious?”

“She,” Angel said absently, watching the water. “She’s curious. There’s a bunch of them down there.”

Paul Carey came out of the pilothouse. “There’s a pod of humpbacks all around us,” he said. “I just saw them on sonar.”

Angel glanced at him pityingly but didn’t say anything.

“I can’t believe how huge they are. How many of them are there?” I asked Angel.

“Can’t tell,” she said slowly. “They’re all thinking at once. Maybe twenty-five?”

Melanie’s brow wrinkled, and she looked at Paul, who shrugged.

“There are babies,” said Angel. “They want to come closer, but their moms are saying no. Their moms know the boat is unnatural and shouldn’t be here, but they’re mostly curious, not mad or anything.”

Paul looked at Angel. “Do you like making up stories about things you see?” He sounded friendly, not trying to be insulting.

Angel gazed at him seriously. “I’m not making things up. Uh-oh.” She turned quickly, and two seconds later, another whale suddenly breached even closer to us, leaping almost entirely out of the water and then crashing down. It looked so, so fun.

“He was showing off,” Angel told me. “Like a teenager.”

“Are we missing something here?” Melanie asked. “I don’t understand.”

“I’m not just a weird little kid,” Angel told Paul, whose eyes widened. “Well, actually, I guess Iam a weird little kid, but not in the way you’re thinking.”

“I’m not thinking-,” Paul began, but Angel shook her head.

“My file should have told you,” she explained. “I can hear what people are thinking.”

I decided not to mention that often she could alsocontrol what people were thinking.

Angel patted her pocket of poker winnings regretfully, as if realizing she wouldn’t be able to pull that again on this crew. “Not just people, but most animals too. I heard the whales thinking and came up to see them.”

Paul and Melanie were at a loss for words.

Get used to it,I thought.

38

IT WAS HARD HAVING to stay on theWendy K., taking three days to get from Argentina to Antarctica, when we could have flown it in about five hours. We did go for nice, long flights a couple of times a day. The air was cold, but no colder than it was at 25,000 feet, which was well below freezing. We found out that frigid air didn’t bother us as long as we were moving, but standing around on the ship’s deck got pretty uncomfortable.

Total broke down and consented to wear a small down dog coat.Akila had worn it as a puppy. During a record-setting cold spell, when it was, like, eighty below zero.

“Land ahoy!”Gazzy shouted from five hundred feet in the air. He pointed into the distance, where I could see a white island sticking up out of the ocean.

Michael Papa squinted at the horizon. “It should be visible pretty soon,” he said. “The air is so clear here that we get great visibility.”

“It’s visible now,” I told him. “We have really good eyesight. Like hawks.”

He nodded, digesting this, and again I saw the look of almost envy that I’d seen on all these scientists’ faces from time to time. No one had ever been truly envious of our abilities before, and it was a cool feeling. The bird kid version of being a football captain or homecoming queen. Sort of.

“I see gray, like rocks,” I told Michael. “I thought everything was covered in snow.”

“Virtually everything is,” he said. “But along the coasts and some of the outer islands, there are thin strips of bare rock where glaciers have broken off. Also, it’s summer here now, since the seasons are reversed, so things aren’t as icy as they can be.”

“I see red buildings.”

“I don’t see a thing yet,” Michael said regretfully. “But, yes, the buildings are usually bright red or bright lime green, to stand out as much as possible.”

“Like if there’s a blizzard?”

“Uh-huh. Though here blizzards just mean ferocious winds blowing snow and ice around. Hardly any new snow ever falls. Almost never.”

“That’s so weird,” I said.

“What’s weird?” Fang asked, making me jump. I hadn’t heard him come up behind me, as usual. For the past two days I’d been kind of avoiding him. I’d stood back and watched as he andBrigid Dwyer struck up a mutual-admiration society. She didn’t flirt with him, but they hung out together a lot, and every time I saw their heads bent over a computer screen or map, it made my stomach clench. Also my teeth. And my fists.

“That it doesn’t snow here,” I said. “Not a lot of precipitation.”

Fang nodded. “Brigidsays the air here is some of the driest on earth.”

“I guess you’ll be glad to get off the boat,” Michael said. “We’ll be staying in the guest quarters at theLucir station. They get tourists there every year.”

“I didn’t realize we’d be around a bunch of other people,” I said slowly. I’d gotten almost- well,comfortable is a strong word, but somewhatless tense, which is about as good as I ever get- around the scientists on board theWendy K. I didn’t want to start over with a bunch of strangers. Especially given the explode-o-pizza in Washington.

“There are twelve permanent families who live and work here,” Michael explained. “About forty people in all.”

Fang’s eyes met mine. Time to be back on guard.

39

A Poem

By Max

White is the color of little bunnies with pink noses.

White is the color of fluffy clouds fluffing their way across the sky.

White is the color of soft-serve ice cream in a cone.

White is the color of angels’ wings and Angel’s wings.

White is the color of brand-new ankle socks fresh out of the bag.

White is the color of crisp sheets inschmancy hotels.

White is the color of every last freaking,gol -danged thing you see for endless miles andmilesif you happen to be in Antarctica trying to save the world, which now you aren’t so sure you can do because you feel like if you see any more whiteness- Wonder Bread, someone’s underwear, teeth- you will completely and totally lose your ever-lovin’ mind and wind up pushing a grocery cart full of empty cans around New York City, muttering to yourself.

That was my first poemever.

Okay, so it’s not Shakespeare, but I liked it.

We tied up at theLucir station’s dock, next to a couple other boats. Awaiting us were a bunch of bright red metal buildings built up on stilts.

“They’re expecting us,” said Sue-Ann, motioning to the first building. “We can go in, meet some people, and they’ll show us to the guest quarters.”

“Okay,” I said, teeth prepared to clench,prebattle adrenaline starting to trickle into my veins.

There was no green: no trees, no shrubs, no grass, no weeds. There were also no sidewalks, no trash, no skyscrapers, no cars. It was completely different from anything we’d ever seen before, and suddenly the phrase “polar opposites” made a lot more sense.

“This is like being on the moon,” Nudge said in an awed voice. “It’s so clean.”

“We’re explorers,” saidGazzy happily. “We might see stuff no one else has ever seen.”

I looked at my flock. Each of them seemed a little nervous and a lot excited. They had a real purpose, beyond just cleaning their rooms or keeping watch or finding food. Even if that real purpose was concocted by scientists to create needless panic in the populace, still. The kids felt as though they could help. Clearly they just wanted to forget that this time three weeks ago we’d been fighting for our livesagain. And, I mean, why would any kid want to forgetthat?

If they really liked being here, reallyreally liked it, would they still come with me when it was time to leave? Because no matter what happened here or how much they felt they were helping, we would still eventually have to leave. We always leave.

This reality check brought to you by Max. You’re welcome.

Fang andIggy were facing away from the station buildings, in the direction of the endlesswhitescape. Fang stood out against the ice as if carved out of black marble. He turned and motioned me over with a nod.

“Gosh, lots of… white, huh?” I said, bouncing on my heels, already feeling the cold.

“Yeah…,”Iggy said in a weird voice.

“You’re actually not missing that much,Ig,” I told him. “It’s not like other places, where there’s tons of different stuff to see. Everything here is pretty much white. Lots of sharp white edges.”

Fang touched my hand, and I turned to him. He nodded atIggy.

“I know,” saidIggy. “I can see it.”

40

OKAY, I’M GOING to float out a theory here, and maybe it’s crap, but I’m thinking that the complete absence of color had something to do with the blind kid suddenly being able to see stuff.

’Cause he really could. I waved my hand in front of his face, and he blinked and pulled away.

“What are youdoing? ” he asked, frowning.

I let my jaw drop open, looking from him to Fang and back, and thenIggy was smiling huge in a way he hardly ever does, and Fang was grinning in a way he hardly ever does, and I felt like skipping around like a ballerina, which, I promise you, I never, ever do.

“What’s going on?”Gazzy asked, coming over to us.

“Iggycansee, ” I said, still unable to believe it.

ExcitedlyIggy whirled to see the Gasman, and then stopped dead, frowning. He blinked several times.

“It’s… it’s gone,” he said in a hollow voice.

“What?”

“You could see?”Gazzy asked.

Iggyturned around again, his head hanging. He sighed heavily, then stiffened. “No! I can see again! I see the white mountains again!”

So here’s the deal:Iggy could seewhiteness. He could see the shapes of the cliffs and glaciers, the occasional gray rocks jutting out from the snow, the horizon line where land met sky. When he turned around, the ocean, the rocky shore, everything, went blank.

“I’m cold,” I said after we’d been standing around looking atIggy look at stuff for a while. “Let’s go inside.”

Lucirstation consisted of about fifteen metal buildings raised up on steel stilts. Some of them were connected, like stepping-stones, going up the nearest hill. A few stood alone. Most of them hadsnowcats and bobsleds and ice trucks parked underneath.

We climbed the stairs, and once againIggy had to rely on touching the hem of my jacket and concentrating on the sounds around him. I could feel him seething with disappointment.

The door of the building opened into an air lock. We took off our jackets and stuff there, then went through another door into the actual station.

We met the scientists who lived and worked at the station, ignoring their curious looks and unspoken questions. They showed us to the guest quarters, which were in a separate metal hut. It was small but cozy and comfortable, with one room full of bunk beds, four high; a small living room; a bathroom; and a tiny kitchen.

“Hey!” saidBrigid, knocking on our door. “You guys want to see some penguins?”

“Yeah,”Iggy muttered bitterly. “Make ’emstand against a white cliff.”

Fang and I looked at each other. Some of us had had new skills show up lately. WouldIggy’s be his eyesight?

And here’s another question: When was all our world-savinggonna start?

41

THE UBER-DIRECTOR’S ASSISTANT looked up from a computer monitor. “The mutants have arrived at the station, sir, as expected.”

TheUber -Director couldn’t nod, but he blinked. “They’re all together? None of them stayed on the boat?”

“No, sir.” The assistant gestured to his monitor and pressed a button. Instantly the screen showed a somewhat grainy image of the six mutant children trooping across packed snowdrifts toward theLucir station. The screen split, and the other half showed a still image taken from inside the dining hall of theWendy K. Quickly the assistant zoomed in on the faces of the small group heading inside the station and compared them with close-ups of the faces on the boat. They matched.

“All six are accounted for,” the assistant said.

“Very good,” said theUber -Director. “Send a message to our contact, saying that the schedule will continue as planned.”

“Yes, sir,” said the assistant, turning back to his computer.

TheUber -Director sent a thought command, and moments later the door opened. A hulking creature almost seven feet tall and easily over three hundred pounds stepped into the room.

“Ah,Gozen,” said theUber -Director.

The assistant stiffened in his chair and slowly sneaked a peek. If the soldierscreeped him out, thisGozen thing positively terrified him. Not only was he huge, but he had a human face patched onto a Frankenstein body. A curved, shiny metal plate covered part of his bare skull where they couldn’t get skin to grow. One arm was a foot longer than the other, and the hand had metal spikes grafted onto the knuckle bones. His other arm, tinted faintly greenish as if the circulation had never worked properly, was hugely veined and muscled, the result of injecting human growth hormone directly into the flesh.

The face was human, but when the creature spoke, you could clearly see the bolts in his jawbone right beneath the skin. Just the other day, the assistant had seenGozen reach out, snatch a songbird from the air, and casually break its neck, tossing the light, brightly colored body aside. The assistant didn’t know whetherGozen had morals or ethics or any sense of right or wrong. Mostly what he had been given was extreme, astonishing power.

“Gozen,” theUber -Director said again as the hulking thing stood near him, at attention. “It’s almost time. Prepare your troops.”

“Yes, sir,”Gozen said without moving. His voice sounded like a tape of a human voice played too slowly.

A chill went down the assistant’s back.

42

AS IT TURNED OUT, all the world-saving started the next day.

Now, someone who doesn’t know better might think that playing with penguins wouldn’t really do a lot to prevent the apocalypse, but hey, we were just there to help.

“Look at this! I’m a penguin!” Angel yelled, flinging herself onto her stomach and sliding down a steep, hard-packed snow slope. She raced incredibly fast toward the bottom, where about twenty emperor penguins waited for her, flapping their wings.

“Me next!”Gazzy didn’t wait for Angel to get out of the way, he just threw himself down the slope, cackling maniacally. He collided with her, of course, causing her to skid into a few penguins who, frankly, should have been paying more attention. Two of the big heavy birds went down, one right on top ofGazzy. I heard his breath whoosh out from where I was standing, taking scientific notes.

Here’s a sample of my contribution to the world’s scientific knowledge.

Place:Lucir station, Antarctica

Date: Remind me to check and fill in later

Time: Hard to tell, what with the midnight sun and all, and I hocked my watch ages ago

Subjects: Emperor penguins

Quantity: Twenty-seven adults- no way to tell at a glance who’s male or female, and Iain’t checking under their hoods. Twelvefuzzums littlechickums. Five avian-Americans.

Size: These penguins are surprisingly big- about four feet tall. Solid and heavy, judging from the wayGazzywhoofed when one fell on him. I’d say- sixty pounds? We’re talking major birds here.

Birds’ condition: They’re hefty little suckers, built for comfortand speed. And they’re sure not feeling the cold. I’d put them on the “chunky” end of the scale.

Activity: Basically, sliding on ice, just for fun. Leaping into the frigid water every once in a while, then popping back out as if shot from a toaster. Noticeably fishy smell afterward. One barfed up part of an octopus, almost onIggy’s boots. Good thing his vision was out again. I almost heaved myself.

“How’s it going?” Brian Carey asked, snowshoeing up to us. He and Sue-Ann, who was with him, had clipboards and special pens that wrote in extreme weather. Did I mention how freaking cold it was? Like, thanks, Mom!

– Sue-Ann looked at the penguins popping up out of the water and laughed. “They’re so cute-,” she began, as a whole horde of the tuxedoed birds shot up onto the ice. They were squawking and waddling away from the water as fast as they could.

And then suddenly an enormous creature surged out of the ocean, grabbed Sue-Ann by a leg, and sank back into the black depths.

43

“LEOPARD SEAL!” BRIAN YELLED, throwing down his clipboard and racing toward the water. “Get help! Get Paul and the others!”

– Sue-Ann’s head bobbed out of the water, and she screamed, but she was choked off as the seal dragged her under again. It was huge, with a watermelon-sized head, its sharp-toothed jaws clamped around Sue-Ann’s leg.

“Go!” I orderedGazzy, who was staring at the water. There were splotches of darkness in the water, and the ice at the opening was faintly tinged with pink. “Go! And the rest of you, get back to the station!”

Immediately, without question,Gazzy grabbedIggy, and they, Nudge, and Angel started slipping and running over the snow back to the station. I heardGazzy yelling for help.

“It’ll thrash her around in the water till she’s dead!” Brian cried, leaning over the sharp edge of the ice. “Sue! Hang on!” He looked back toward the station helplessly, and then shouted and waved his arms as the seal surfaced again.

He couldn’t jump in- he’d get sucked beneath the ice and never find his way out. Or the leopard seal would gethim.

“Come on!” I told Fang, and ran to a quick takeoff. He was right behind me, and we stayed low, swooping over the water, trying to see. A dark shadow almost ten feet long showed that the seal was still close to the surface.

“Grab her as soon as it comes up again,” I shouted, and Fang nodded, grimly determined. Together we flew low, six feet above the water, in tight circles, ready to pounce in a second. Already a rescue team was rushing toward us. Paul was carrying a harpoon.

“There!” I said, pointing. The shadow was growing darker, then, sure enough, the seal surfaced again, Sue-Ann still gripped in its jaws. She was limp, her eyes closed, but instantly Fang and I swooped down, dropping toward the water like hail.

Fang kicked the seal’s eel-like head as hard as he could with his heavy boot, and I brought both feet down on its sleek, arched back. It recoiled in surprise, opening its jaws for a split second, rearing to look at us. It gave a huge, awful roar, looking like a sea monster, but Fang and I had already grabbed Sue-Ann’s jacket and one arm, and we were stroking our wings downward with great effort, trying to get aloft. The seal roared again and snapped, narrowly missing my feet, and I pulled them up.

Then we were out of danger’s range and flying over land. We held Sue-Ann tightly, bypassing the astonished rescue team and heading straight to the infirmary building. We skidded to a clumsy landing, sliding on the ice, Sue-Ann’s wet jacket already frosting over with ice crystals. I didn’t even know if she was still alive, or if we had just rescued a body. Her pants were torn and blood soaked.

Two men rushed out of the infirmary with a stretcher and placed it on the ice next to Sue-Ann. One placed his fingers on her neck, feeling for a pulse, while the other prepared to lift her carefully onto the stretcher. Then he frowned. “What- what’s that?”

By this time, some of the others had circled around us. One of the infirmary guys gently touched Sue-Ann’s leg where it had been shredded by the seal. He moved her torn pants aside, and then Paul sucked in his breath. My eyes narrowed. Beneath the torn and bloody flesh, we saw a collection of wires and fiber-optic cables embedded deep within Sue-Ann’s leg.

“What the heck is that?” Paul demanded. “Does anyone know about this?”

The other infirmary guy looked up. “I got no pulse here, chief. She’s gone.”

Then the other scientists ran up, out of breath.

“Is she alive?”

“I can’t believe what you did!”

“That was amazing! Thank you so much!”

Their faces fell as they saw our expressions, and we stepped back so they could see Sue-Ann. I saw confusion and shock on each face. Unless they were dang good actors, none of them had known that Sue-Ann had been modified. That instead of being one of us, she’d probably been one of Them.

Paul looked up at us, dismay in his eyes. He nodded over at the other members of his team. “Brian. Get Sue-Ann’s computer. Search her quarters.”

“Oh, no,” said Melanie, tears forming in her eyes.

“You all,” Paul said, gesturing to us, “get inside, out of sight. You others- search the rest of theWendy K., the guest quarters here, the mess hall, anywhere there might be hidden cameras. We’ve had a traitor among us.”

44

AS EXPECTED, the antifreeze additive to their joint lubrication proved effective.Gozen gave the signal for the rest of the troops to offload, telling his internal counting program to register whether they were all here.

One by one, the soldiers stepped evenly down the metal ramp that led from the plane’s belly to the hard-packed snow. Their feet adjusted to the new surface instantly, springs and weights compensating for the slipperiness and slight give of the icy land cover.

All the troops were accounted for.

First, a small shelter. The plane’s crew had thrown their supplies out onto the ice, and now the ramp closed, and the plane’s engines whined.

“Find the shelter,”Gozen ordered three of the soldiers. “Erect it.”

They responded instantly, locating the large crate strapped with plastic rope. Untying the rope, they pulled the self-inflating, insulatingTempHut from the crate. With a couple of cord pulls, theTempHut unfolded and sprang almost comically into a fully inflated shelter, like a jack-in-the-box.

Without a sound, the soldiers found the three-foot screws that would tether the shelter to the ice, to keep the structure from blowing away in the intermittent gale-force winds. It had no heat, no windows, no beds. Which was fine. Since the soldiers weren’t human, weren’t even alive, that was no problem.

The first pair of recon scouts were ready to report.

“Yes?”Gozen’s voice wasn’t nearly as mechanical as those of Generation K- it had some inflection and a more normal tone.

“There’s a problem,” a scout reported. “One of our contacts has been damaged. She has sent no signal for the past five hours. Surveillance tapes show that she was attacked. She is presumed dead.”

Gozenconsidered. In all likelihood, the plan could continue. First, a report to theUber -Director, detailing what he could find out about their contact. Then he would sit back and wait for the right opportunity. It shouldn’t take long.

His job was to eliminate the dangerous mutants. TheUber -Director hadn’t specified how. Or how long he could take doing it. Or how much pleasure he could get from it.

All those things were up to him.

“Get into the shelter,”Gozen told his troops.

45

You are reading Fang’sBlog. Welcome!

You are visitor number: 545,422

Today’s theme: Weirdness at the bottom of the world.

Our lives are pretty freaking weird already- what with the wings, the fleeing for our lives, etc. And yet we can still be amazed when things get even weirder. Cool.

Some stuff has kept life interesting for us lately: (1)Iggy can see, off and on. He needs to be practically snow-blinded for it to kick in, but he’s actually seen stuff. Made Max wish she’d brushed her hair sometime in the last month. (2) We’ve flown with snow petrels. They’re beautiful white birds, about pigeon size, that are all over the place here. They’re like flying pureness, to sound stupid and goofy. If Angel were an actual 100 percent bird, she’d be a snow petrel. The Gasman would be anemu. (3) There have been some penguin incidents, caused byuncautious belly-sliding down packed-snow slopes. Did you know that a penguin, if startled, might suddenly barf on you? We didn’t either. Did you know how revolting regurgitated, half-digested krill and squid is? I do now. (4) We performed a daring rescue at sea, made possible by Max and yoursfeatherly. Unfortunately, the person we rescued turned out to be a mole who’s probably been spying on us for the past week. So now we’re most likely in mortal danger, as per usual.

Fortunately, the person we rescued didn’t make it. So I’m guessing her reports have slowed way down. In the meantime, whoever’s out there planning God knows what, we’re onto you. We see you coming. We’re not going to take it well.

I’ll go ahead and tell you: We’re in Antarctica. We’re here checking out the signs of global warming. Global warming maysound comfy- no more winter coats- but everything on earth right now kind of desperately relies on the climate stayingas is. But if we give up our childish fears of catastrophic flooding, earthquakes, tsunamis, untold plant and animal extinctions, droughts, famines, and whatnot, we could just relax right now and let ’errip!

However. For those of us who prefer the planet relativelyundisastered, it seems clear that things have to change. I mean, wehumans have to change our habits, our recklessness, our dependence on fossil fuels and beef.

Any questions?

Ali,Ju-Ju, Ariel, and Robin Bernstein from Palm Beach write:

Wassupup with no beef? No hamburgers?

Well, Ali,Ju-Ju, Ariel, and Robin Bernstein, Good thing you asked. For myself, I’m totally about the burgers. And steak. Shish kebabs. Stew. You name it, if it’s cow, it’s for me.

But this incredibly cool scientist I know, Dr.Brigid Dwyer, told me that livestock is causing more damage to the earth’s climate than cars. All the cars. For one thing, cattle “release” more methane and other greenhouse gases than even the Gasman, which is saying something. Plus, cattle eat about fourteen pounds of grain to produce one pound of meat. Which is energy efficiency in reverse. Not to mention the deforestation for their grazing land, the water they consume. It all adds up hugely. Makesya think, huh?

– Fang

BitterGummyfrom Honshu writes:

Get offur soapbox, man! When I want a lecture, I’ll go 2 school!

Sounds like you need it,BitterGummy. Try to stay awake this time.

– Fang

MinkyPuddinfrom Sydney writes:

Fang I miss uguyz so much. U haven’t bin in thenewz lately. I am all worried.

Your #1 fan.

No worries,MinkyPuddin. We’re fine. More fine than we’ve been in a long time, actually.

– Fang

Shy Babe from Seattle writes:

Dear Fang, I wrote u last month. Do u have a girlfriend?

I recommend you stick to your own species, Shy Babe. Thanks anyway.

– Fang

Okay, guys,gotta go. Global disaster to document, scientists to talk to. And it’s dinnertime. I’m guessing it’s not beef.

– Fang

46

“WHERE ARE WE GOING?” Nudge asked as we took off into the clear, crisp air.

“Just getting an overview of the area,” I explained. “A little recon. See what’s out here.” Since Sue-Ann’s death had revealed her to be a Bad Guy, I’d been extra cautious. Now we weregonna do a little looking around, in case we saw, like, a big trailer with “Bad Guys” written on the roof.

Fang was silent, flying a bit off by himself. I angled my left wing slightly and swooped closer to him. Things between us were still weird. I missed the old days, when our relationship was simple: each of us totally dedicated to constantly one-upping the other. That, I could understand.

“So I guess we can assume that Sue-Ann was sending updates of our whereabouts to someone,” I said.

He nodded. “Brigid’strying to hack into her computer for more info.”

There was that name again. “Nudge should do it,” I said, trying not to show irritation.

“Yeah- ifBrigid can’t get in, we’ll have Nudge take a whack at it,” he agreed.

“Can we go over the islands?”Gazzy called to me. “There’s a volcano in the middle of one! In fact, the whole island is the volcano.”

“Sure.” We arced smoothly in a huge circle to the left, heading away from the enormous continent of ice. It felt great to stretch my wings and suck in the cold, cold air.

“I can’t see anything,”Iggy said, sounding depressed.

“Maybe I could ride with Fang?” Total suggested, squirming nervously inIggy’s arms.

“I can stillfly, ”Iggy said irritably. “I can stillnavigate. ”

“Oh, so cool!”Gazzy shouted, pointing.

We’d left the peninsula behind and now were over an island shaped like a raggedy Cheerio with a tiny slit in one side. We began a long series of descending loops toward the island. We all kept our eyes open but saw no one else around.

“That water in the middle is where the volcano blew up,”Gazzy explained.

We got closer and closer. It seemed about as safe as any place could be.

“Thermal!” I said, feeling myself pass through a column of heavier, warmer air. It felt incredible, a pocket of warmth in the middle of the frigid air around us.

“Something’s bubbling below,” Angel said, looking down.

“Let’s check it out,” I said in myleaderly way.

We went lower, not seeing anyone else, and then landed on a moonscape of fine gray grit, small stones, a bunch of signs, and, oddly, a field covered with what looked like broken wooden barrels. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen before.

And soon it could all be gone.

So, you’re back,I thought to the Voice.Glad you could join us. Okay, maybe not glad, exactly-

Pay attention, Max, said the Voice.Memorize what you’re seeing. This place might not be here much longer.

So I guessed the Voice was on board with the whole global warming thing. I said, “Watch where you step, guys. Don’t get scorched by a geyser or anything.”

“There aren’t any geysers here,” said Nudge. “But steam is boiling up through the water.”

“There’s been a lot of people here,” said Fang. He stood in front of one of the many signs, in about eight languages, that warned us to be careful, to watch where we stepped, to not destroy any lichen or moss, to not litter, and so on. It was a protected spot, overseen by “the Deception Island Management Group.”

“Deception Island,” I said, smiling. “What a cool name. It sounds like where we should live.” I looked around at the surreal, unearthly place. “If we wanted to live in a barren wasteland.”

“’S not barren,” said Angel.

Nudge began pulling off her boots.

“What are you doing?”

She pointed to the edge of the water, where steam was misting heavily upward. “Hot bath! Those dinky little showers back at the stationain’t cutting it.”

“Look,” said Angel, pointing upward. I heard them before I saw them: a flock of really big birds, coming off a cliff about a quarter-mile away.

“What are they?” I asked.

“Wandering albatrosses,” said Nudge, who had now shucked her coat and scarf and was peeling down to her underwear. “Sailors used to think they held the souls of dead sailors. Oh, my God, this water feels fantastic!” She sank down slowly, seeming to almost disappear into the mist.

“Be careful,” I said. “The water might suddenly turn boiling or something.”

“I’m going in too,” said Total, trotting over to the water.

The albatrosses wheeled overhead. The biggest ones had wingspans bigger than Angel’s- maybe nine feet across. They were amazing. They hardly ever flapped their wings- just glided on the rising currents of warm air. Because our body-weight-to-wingspan ratio was so much greater, we probably couldn’t pull that off.

“Oh, my God!” Nudge said again, sounding alarmed.

I whipped my head around and hurried toward her. “What?” Behind me, Fang was examining the sky, the sea, the land, for approaching threats. I skidded to a halt at the water’s edge, scattering grit and tiny pebbles. “What’s wrong?”

Nudge pointed at Total. He was up to his nose in the warm water, looking more cheerful than I’d seen him in a long time. His black fur was wet and slicked down against his sides. I peered at what Nudge was pointing at.

“What?” said Total sleepily, relaxing in the steamy water. “Man, this is heaven on my paws. They get so cold… Maybe little boots…”

Now all of us were at the water’s edge, frowning at Total.

He groggily blinked up at us. “Yougotta try this. If I had a martini right now, I’d never come out.”

Then it hit me, what I was looking at. I don’t know why it took me so long- I’d seen stuff just like it a bunch of times, and not only on us. I somehow never expected it to happen to Total, that’s all.

Fang raised his eyebrows. I made a “Holymoly ” face back at him.

“What?” said Total, waking up a bit, realizing we were all staring at him.

I swallowed. “Uh, Total? You’re growing wings.”

I knew there was something strange about that dog,mused the Voice.

47

“OKAY,” SAID MICHAEL Papa the next morning. “Let’s go over some things.”

We looked up from breakfast warily. I’d felt just a weensy bit guilty about how much the flock was eating until the station commander had dropped the info that they allowed between 4,000 and 5,000 calories per person, per day because of the cold. Unlike ordinary humans, we didn’t burn that many more calories in really freezing weather. So we were actually getting enough to eat, and we were wolfing it down.

The really jaw-dropping thing? Total had asked to have his breakfastin a bowl on the floor – next toAkila’s bowl. Of course, eatingAkila’s special cold-weather dog food was out- Total still had waffles with syrup and bacon, and a bowl of coffee with milk and sugar.

“We have to press on with our work, despite Sue-Ann’s betrayal. Today you guys will accompany some of the scientists here, do a little exploring,” Michael said. “But you have to remain extra on-guard.”

I nodded.

“You were helping document the status of our local penguin colony before Sue-Ann was attacked,” Michael went on. “Today you’ll go with Emily andBrigid as they take measurements and examine different ice layers. The chemical concentrations of the ice layers tell us a great deal about the history of the atmosphere in this area.”

“But before we set out, we need to go over some safety issues,” saidBrigid.

I tried not to, but I flicked a glance at Fang. His eyes were glued toBrigid, his face friendly andunforbidding. I felt my stomach twist, which made me madder at myself than I was at him.

“Obviously, this is an extreme environment,”Brigid said. “We do have dangers here, as you have seen. For example, what would you do if you suddenly realized you were lost? A lot of the terrain looks the same.”

“I’d fly up till I could see the station,” I said. “Then head back to it.”

The scientists looked at me, taken aback. I guess that solution hadn’t occurred to them.

“Okay,” saidBrigid, nodding slowly. “That would work. Now, there aren’t that many crevasses, but they can be extremely dangerous. If you happen to fall into one-”

“I would fly back out of it?” I suggested.

“Um, yeah,” saidBrigid, then heroically pressed on. “Okay, you know the penguins aren’t dangerous, nor are any of the other birds here, though you should stay away from nests. And of course there are no polar bears.”

We nodded. Nudge, Angel, and I had been crushed about the lack of polarbearity.

“But as you saw, leopard seals can on occasion attack,”Brigid went on. “We recommend staying at least twenty meters away from them at all times. But if you do find yourself confronting one again, I’drecom -”

“Flying away from it?” Really, this was too easy. I was bad.

By this time the flock were suppressing smiles.

“Blizzards,” saidBrigid firmly. “Katabaticwinds. Sometimes upward of eighty miles an hour. They blow snow and ice particles around, and it can feel like needles.” She paused, as if waiting for me to say I’d fly out of it.

Which I didn’t. You’d have to be a complete moron to fly in a storm like that. Last time I looked, I wasn’t a moron.

“Hunker down,” saidBrigid, relieved to finally be able to give us advice. “Dig a hole for yourself in asnowbank. Stay together. Don’t eat ice for hydration- it’ll only lower your core temperature. Stay put and wait for help. Wewill come find you.”

“Ayeaye,” I said, and saluted.

Brigidgave me a faint smile, and then we all suited up to brave the great outdoors. Brian Carey watched us gather our equipment. He was staying behind to type up some reports.

Ordinarily, Sue-Ann would have taken the ice samples we brought her and put them through her chromatograph. Now it was Melanie’s job. She would analyze how concentrations of carbon dioxide and other chemicals had changed through the centuries. Basically, they were finding that carbon dioxide levels- primarily a by-product of burning fossil fuels- were the highest they’d been in the past 800,000 years.

Being completely objective here, I could see how that would seem like a bad thing.

48

“KNOWING THAT THERE ARE EVIL, bloodsucking corporations out there willing to spend a bazillion dollars to create machines whose only purpose is to kill us mutant bird kids is depressing,” said Nudge. We were kneeling on the ice, helping Melanie andBrigid drill their core sampler down into it. “Knowing there are evil, bloodsucking corporations out there who are knowingly and willingly destroying the only planet we have to live on just tomake bazillions of dollars is worse.” Nudge sighed and looked bummed.

Okay, I totally admitted that there were evil corporations out there who were complete bad guys and were polluting everything in sight. I got that. But I still wasn’t sure that it was all causing global warming, or that having a slightly warmer earth would be that bad.

“How can they possibly stand themselves, knowing what they’re doing?” I agreed. “I mean, how many cute shoes can one company need?” You’d think I was megalomaniacal enough to understand their mind-set, but I didn’t. It was like, make a bunch of money so you can control things, like land or armies or governments or countries- and you want to control them so you can… essentially make more money. So you can control more things. So you can make more money. Kind of an empty loop, huh?

Not to be judgmental.

Butsomeone had to be judgmental! Someone had tojudge that this was crazy and wrong, and those companies were boneheaded idiots! If that person had to be me, so be it. I might not be the perfectspokesmodel against global warming, but I could still absolutely be against pollution. That had been proven to be bad, beyond a shadow of a doubt.

“I want a baby penguin,” said Angel, tugging on my jacket to get my attention.

She snapped me out of my alarm-clock-of-doom reverie, and I looked down at her.

“No,” I said, before I really processed what she had said.

Her face got that set look I’d learned to dread.

“No,” I said more firmly. “You already have Celeste and Total. We cannot also have a baby penguin to cart around. Especially when that baby will grow up to be the size of an average third-grader.”

Angel took a deep breath. “They’re so fuzzy and cute,” she began. “They make little cheeps. There’s a bunch here- it wouldn’t even cost anything. We could-”

“Angel?” I said. “Baby penguins eat a regurgitated mixture of partially digested fish, krill, and an oily substance from their fathers’ stomachs. Are you willing to eat a bunch of raw fish and krill, and then barf it back up into a baby penguin’s cute, cheeping mouth? Like, every hour?” Sometimes my crushing logic astounds even me.

Angel bit her lip. “Hm,” she said. She straightened her small shoulders and walked away with dignity. Another disaster averted.

Leaving me with only Fang’s adoration ofBrigid Dwyer to really get stuck in my craw. (Whatis a craw, anyway? I’ve always wondered.)

I watched as they worked side by side, his dark head almost touching her blond one. They knelt in the snow, and at one point the brilliant scientist couldn’t unscrew the lens from her special camera. She needed the help of asuperstrong fourteen-year-old bird kid. Her smile when Fang opened it was almost as blinding as all this freaking snow.

Just then,Akila strode by on her way to where Michael was working. She was followed by Total, who had to trot a bit to keep up. I barely heard part of what he was saying.

“I admire a woman with a career,” he said, his breath making puffs in the air. “I’m very modern that way. Strength is an admirable quality…”

The back of my neck twitched. Standing up, I cast a hard 360 all around us, shading my eyes from the intense sunlight. We had to wear sunglasses all the time, evenIggy. The bright sun here, reflecting off the snow and ice, could permanently damage our eyes.

“Max- check it out!” said Nudge as she and the Gasman ran up to me.

I held up one finger, meaning wait.

Something was wrong. The horizon was clear. The sky above and around us was empty. Even using my raptor vision, I couldn’t detect anything moving toward us over the ice. I looked again and again, examining the ocean, the land, and the sky. Anything coming at us from any angle would stick out like a pork chop at a vegan convention.

I couldn’t see a thing.

But something was wrong. There was a threat somewhere.

The flock was now aware of my unease, including Fang, who immediately stood and looked around himself.Iggy instinctively came closer to the rest of us, moving unerringly over the rugged terrain.

Fang completed his surveillance and raised one dark eyebrow at me. I shrugged and frowned. We both stood still, using all our senses to assess our safety.

“Fang?” askedBrigid. After another look at me, Fang turned and went back to her. I tried to focus on the neat shell Nudge was holding out, and the large tooth of something that the Gasman had found.

But I could only give them half my attention.

Something was wrong, and sooner rather than later, I would find out what it was.

49

You are reading Fang’sBlog. Welcome!

You are visitor number: 723,989

Yo, faithful readers. You know, when I was a kid, my big ambition was to someday not live in a dog crate. Some kids aim high, I don’t know. But here’s a thought, for those of you who haven’t decided on a big ambition: How about being a scientist?

I know, we all think Bill Nye the Science Guy. Or maybe Dr. Bunsen Burner from that kids’ show with the Muppets. But being a scientist (not the evil kind, obviously) can be awesome. I know, because I’ve met some non-evil scientists recently.

Right now we’re working with a bunch of scientists that rock the house. One of them is only a little older than me, and not at allgeekified. I have to say, a chick who’s super smart and super brave, dedicated to her work, wanting to help people, save the world- well, there’s nothing hotter than that.

So if you’re not a totalwastoid, consider checking out science. We’regonna need all the help we can get to save what’s left of the planet. It’ll be up to us. We’ll need to have some real skills, real tools. Remember my “Useful Jobs” list from before? There were a lot of jobs on it that could help us in the future. Put down your air guitars, quit pretending to walk down a fashion runway. Go review it.

Slimfan3 from Jacksonville writes:

What about all those guys who were after you?

Well, Slimfan3, either they haven’t found us yet, or they all got wiped out. Either way, the past week has been a primo vacation. If you like cold weather.

– Fang

MissLolofrom Tulsa writes:

Are you and Maxgonna get married anytime soon? ‹Blushes.›

Uh,MissLolo? We’re fourteen years old. We think. Who knows how much longer we’ll be around? Who knows where we’ll end up? We don’t plan more than a day or two ahead.

– Fang

Googleblobfrom Holy Oak, CA, writes:

– Fangalator-

Dude, you are the coolest. Iwanna get a tat of your wings on my back. Like, life-size.

Googleblob, unless your back is fourteen feet across, you are out of luck, my friend.

– Fang. Just Fang

S.Haarter from Johannesburg writes:

I really like hearing @ the stuff u rdoin to save the planet. U r my hero. I mgonna txt u apic of me. [picdeleted] I m readingurblog 2 my science class as my ecology project. Keep it up!

Your #1 fan.

50

“FANG… ALATOR?” I snickered.

Fang shot me a glance, then continued unlacing his polar boots. I couldn’t believe he’d written a wholeblog about Dr. Amazing and Her Quest to Save the World. I mean, excuse me, but who’s been saving the world for the past several months? That would beme. Do I get ablog entry? No. Who beat the Omega blockhead, back in Germany? Dr. Amazing? No.

“You’re just mad because I wrote aboutBrigid,” he said, tugging off a boot, and I pulled back, stung.

“I am not! I don’t even read yourblog! You can write about whoever you want!”

Fang looked at me. “You can’t have it both ways, Max,” he said. “You blow me off every chance you get, but then you get mad if I talk to someone else.”

“I do n-,” I began hotly, but then realized that was exactly what I did. My face flushed, and I shut my mouth. I didn’t even know what we were fighting about.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” I blustered, but Fang didn’t crack a smile.

“I said that we would never split up again,” Fang said, and my heart leaped in panic. “And I meant it. We have to keep the flock together to survive. But you might want to think about cutting me a break now and then.”

He gave me a last, long look that I could hardly stand, afraid of what I might see in it. Turning, he began to duck out the low doorway whenGazzy raced up, breathing hard.

“I can’t find Angel anywhere,” he panted.

“Maybe she’s just out flying,” I said.

“She would have told someone,”Gazzy said. “Total’s gone too. Maybe they went walking or something, but it’s getting bad out there- listen to that wind.” He pointed toward the window, and then I realized that the awful wailing and shrieking that I had assumed was just me, panicking inside my head, was actually outside, and weather caused.

We heard voices out in the hall, and then Michael Papa leaned through our doorway. “IsAkila in here, by any chance? Last I saw, she was outside with Total and Angel, but that was an hour ago. Have they checked in with you?”

Fang’s eyes met mine, the tension of a few moments ago completely forgotten.

“Get the others,” I told him, and he nodded. “Tell them to dress warm.”

51

“WELL, THIS SUCKS BIG-TIME,” Total said, and Angel agreed. She swallowed hard and tried to calm down. If Max were here, what would she do? Angel grimaced- Max wouldn’t have gotten herself into this situation.

“It’s okay,” Total said soothingly toAkila. He turned to Angel. “Tell her it’s going to be okay.”

Angel sent thoughts intoAkila’s mind. She feltAkila’s fear and confusion, but also a tough determination.Akila wasn’t prepared to die here. She would do anything to get out.

Us too,Angel told her.Everything will be okay. We’ll get out. Max will come for us. Max always comes for us. To herself, she thought:I’ve got to stop getting into things where Max has to come for me.

Akila quieted and quit struggling against the ice.

They were probably about a mile fromLucir station. Angel could picture the exact terrain they had crossed, and she could also picture what it would look like from the air. Everything had been fine: They had plenty of time before sunset, she had Total andAkila with her, and there had been a clear trail of penguin tracks for her to follow. All she had wanted to do was get close to a baby penguin- maybe even touch it. If she sent the parents no-harm thoughts, they would probably let her. A baby penguin would feel so soft and downy.

The penguin tracks had led over the snow and ice, and Angel had followed them. Right up until she’d fallen into this crevasse. It had been hidden by hard-packed snow, and the penguins had somehow managed to cross it, though some of them weighed more than Angel. But for some reason, as soon as Angel stepped on it, it had given way. Her wings had flared automatically, pulling up painfully as she slid down deep into the hard, icy crevasse. Yelping and scrabbling frantically, Total andAkila had been sucked down with her.

Now, three minutes later, Angel, Total, andAkila were wedged tightly in avee made of ice and rock-hard packed snow. Her wings were stuck open, back and behind her, and it really hurt. She tried pulling them in and down but couldn’t budge them without feeling like they were going to be ripped out of their sockets.

Worse, Angel feared that below them, the crevasse opened out again, that they were caught in a bottleneck of ice, and if it broke, they would fall down who knew how far. One of her feet was dangling through a crack underneath them, and all she felt around it was cold air. She might be able to catch herself, if she had enough room, but she wouldn’t be able to save Total orAkila.

“How far down did we fall?” Total asked.

Angel looked up. “Um, maybe like… eighteen feet? Twenty feet?”

“Maybe if I brace my paws on each side, I can climb up, like a chimney,” Total murmured. “No- it’s too wide at the top. Dang it.” His bright black eyes looked at Angel. “We goofed.”

“Yeah.” Angel felt guilty- this was all her fault. If she sent a thought, could Max hear it? She didn’t think so. It only seemed to work when she was really close to the person.

Akilawhimpered and scrabbled again, trying to grab a paw-hold. But she only slipped farther down, and now some of her weight was resting on Angel, pushing her down an inch and making her wings feel an inch more ripped, and her foot an inch more precarious.

Akila, please stop,Angel thought at her.Calm down and stay very still. We have to think.

Akila let out a breath. Angel felt her trembling.

Angel’s stomach got butterflies when she realized that they wouldn’t be visible from the air. Because she wasn’t moving, she was starting to feel the horrible grip of coldness seeping under her jacket, her pants. She looked over and saw that both Total’s andAkila’s whiskers were covered with frost.

Oh, no,she thought with rising panic.I can’t feel my fingers inside my mittens. This was bad. Surely Max would find them. But until then, Angel had to do what she could to save them herself. What could she do? She was really, really strong. But they were wedged incredibly tightly. She’d already trying pushing with all her might, tounstick her wings, which had now gone numb.

She was really fast, but that didn’t help here. She could read people’s minds, which helped a little because she calmedAkila down. What else could she do? Well, she could change her looks. Maybe if she changed into her bird of paradise she might be smaller or skinnier and could pull herself out.

Angel closed her eyes and concentrated. She felt herself grow warm, and feeling flowed back into her feet and hands and wings with a thousand burning tingles. She felt the whisper of feathers forming on her face and hands, inside her mittens. She loved the way she looked as a blue bird of paradise. It’d be neat to keep it up all the time. But it took a lot of energy, a lot of concentration.

“Whoa,” Total said groggily, watching her. Angel feltAkila’s surprise and sent her calming thoughts.It’s still me. The transformation was complete, and Angel tried once again to pull herself upward. She pushed down hard with her hands, and though her feathery self was a little smaller, it didn’t do anything to help. She was scared to push down with her feet because of the ice maybe breaking away beneath her. Plus she had the weight ofAkila on her.

It was no use. Her new skill was worth zilch in this situation. They were going to die here. After everything she had been through, all the times Max had saved her, Max couldn’t help her now. Angel had done this to herself. She had killedherself, in the end. Tears welled up in her eyes but froze around the rims before they fell.

This was it.

This was the end.

52

IN THE END, I madeGazzy andIggy stay at the station. They started to give me a hard time about it, but one look at my “Gonnakill you if you argue” face, and they shut up. They would stay with the scientists and search around the station. Michael andBrigid were taking Nudge with them to search theWendy K., in case Angel and the dogs had gone back there.

“I don’t want you two flying in this storm,” said Paul Carey, looking concerned. “It’s not too bad now, but it’s going to get worse. We don’t want to have to look for you too.”

I pulled on another pair of socks and jammed my feet into my boots. Fang was looping a coil of climber’s rope over his shoulder.

“Max?” Brian said. “You need to stay here. Let us handle it.” There was an intent tone in his voice that made me glance up at him. He looked worried.

“Guys,” I said, zipping up my parka, pulling the fur-trimmed hood onto my head, “I take care of my own.”

Paul crossed his arms and took on his ship’s-captain persona. “Max, I forbid you and Fang to go out into that storm!”

I couldn’t help chuckling, and Fang cracked a smile.

We headed to the door that led to the air lock and outside.

Brian stepped between us and the door, and what had been amusing suddenly became irritating.

“Max, you don’t know-,” he began, and that was when I decked him.

A second later Brian was lying stunned on the floor, one hand to his jaw, blinking and wondering what had happened.

At least I assume that was what he was doing.

I wouldn’t know, because Fang and I were already gone.

53

FLYING IN HIGH WINDScan be the most exhilarating thing in the world. You just put your wings fully out and coast, doing micro-adjustments as needed to stay aloft. It’s a lot like surfing at the beach, riding the waves, except, you know, without the water. Or the beach. Or the surfboard.

At least, it’s fun like that when you don’t have to go anywhere and can take all the time in the world to enjoy Mother Nature’s roller coaster. If you need to go inany other direction, you’re screwed.

Fang and I are wicked strong, and our wings are, uh, not superhuman- I guess super-avian would be the term. But these were some freaking stiff winds, and on top of that, it was, to put it in words that won’t get edited out for younger kids, exceedingly cold.

Fang and I broke through the wind as best we could. We tried going above it, but before we got high enough, we realized we were so far up that we couldn’t see squat on the ground, even with raptor vision.

Teeth clenched, windburn tears streaming out of our eyes, we headed back down, staying close to each other. We started in small circles, then made them increasingly larger. And saw nothing. Nothing but whiteness. Ice. Rock. Snow. Right then, global warming seemed like a great idea.

“Hypothermia,” Fang yelled over the wind, and I nodded, biting my lip. Dealing with regular oldfreezingness was one thing, but being caught somewhere, unable to move and keep warm, was something else. If Angel had fallen through some ice or had gotten trapped somehow, it wouldn’t take long for her to freeze to death. Total, being smaller, would last even less time.

We kept seeing more of nothing. I realized that the wind was probably scouring away any tracks as fast as they could be made. I was so, so glad that Fang was with me, that we were doing this together. I looked over at him, his face focused and intent, and I felt a pang of- what? I didn’t know. Sort of longing mixed withmiserableness.

Feeling my eyes on him, he looked over at me, and his gaze seemed to go right inside my head, like a laser. I felt as if he could see right into my heart, see all my emotions, and I didn’t know what to do. His expression softened, and he looked a bit surprised, but then he gave me his lopsided smile, and suddenly I was less miserable.

“We’ll find her,” he called. “We always do.”

I nodded, and our moment was gone.

It seemed as if we’d been flying forever, though it had probably been about fifteen minutes. But the coldness, the battling with the wind, the worry about Angel- it felt like a week since I’d decked Brian.

Then… I blinked several times and peered downward. Was that…?

“There!” I said, pointing. “Are those tracks?” Below us, I thought I saw faint gray outlines of very small tracks.

“Penguins?” Fang guessed. The prints were being scoured away by the wind even as we watched. I glanced ahead at where they were going, and sure enough, about a half mile away, I saw a huddled black-and-white blob of penguins grouped together to stay warm.

“Yeah,” I said, disappointment burning in my chest.

Then I thought:penguins.

“Penguins!” I shouted at Fang. He heard me, despite my voice being ripped away by the wind. My eyes felt frozen open, and my mouth was incredibly dry.

“That’s what I just said!” he yelled back. Though he was only eight feet above me, I could hardly hear him.

“No, I mean, Angel wanted a penguin!” I shouted through cupped hands. “I’m going down!” Fang nodded, and we angled downward, seeing the ground rushing up at us.

Please, please let Angel somehow be in the middle of the penguin huddle, keeping warm.

54

THE LOSS OF HIS MAIN CONTACT was a regrettable obstacle,Gozen thought, but at least she had succeeded in placing tiny homing devices on the quarry before she was so unexpectedly terminated. NowGozen watched his small screen as the green beacons began moving across the ice. He and his troops had been about to set out to find the beacon that had suddenly stopped and become dimmer, but then others had appeared, meaning more of his quarry had left the station. He’d wait till they stopped, then go out to meet them.

Head tilted on his gargantuan shoulders,Gozen listened to the wind. The storm was intensifying. Fortunately, neither he nor his troops would be much affected by it. It could even play into their plans.

He turned to his troops. “Prepare for combat.”

55

NO, FINDING ANGEL huddled inside a warm mass of penguins would be too easy.

The second we landed, Fang and I were almost knocked off our feet. I quickly pulled in my wings and leaned into the wind. My face felt like it was being sanded with tiny ice crystals, and my cheeks were already burning.

Still, I tried to keep my eyes pried open enough to see the last traces of penguin tracks. Dropping to my knees, I looked carefully. Were those boot marks amid all the faint penguin footprints? There were no dog prints as far as I could tell. Any sign at all was being obliterated. Still, it was the only thing we’d found. I’d follow the tracks to the clump of penguins and then- like, question them or something.

I motioned to Fang and he nodded, reading my mind as easily as he always did. Not in an Angel-really-reading-my-mind kind of way, but in a Fang-knew-me-too-well kind of way. He stumbled slightly getting up, and I grabbed his hand and held it as we made our way toward the penguins.

Together we staggered forward, leaning into the wind, trying to keep on the trail between us and the penguins. Regular kids wouldn’t have made it- they would have had to lie down to keep from being blown away. It was getting harder and harder to see, but the flock has a built-in navigator system that allows us to find our way places, even in the dark, even across huge distances.

It seemed like we’d been searching for hours. I was freezing, trembling with the cold, and really starting to panic. I was just beginning to think we’d never get there when with no warning, the ground gave way beneath my right foot. I yelped and stumbled, and Fang instinctively tightened his grip on my hand, hauling me up and back.

“Help!”

“Angel!” I screamed back, not knowing where her voice was coming from. I looked around blindly but could see nothing that would hide even a small bird kid.

“Max! Help!”

“We’re here! We’ll get you!” Fang kept his arms around my waist while I cupped both hands around my mouth, shouting into the wind. “Where are you?”

“Down here!” came her little voice. “You just kicked snow on me!”

With that, Fang and I both dropped cautiously to our stomachs and inched forward until we saw the deep hole my foot had gone into. I brushed away some snow, and the hole got much bigger, fast.

“You’re dumping snow on us!” Angel cried.

“I’m sorry!” I called. “I have to find you first! We can’t even see where you went in!”

Finally we brushed away enough snow to see the deep, deep crack in the ice, maybe a yard across at the surface, then plunging steeply down in an ever-narrowingvee. It was way too narrow for her to fly out, or for us to fly in. I remembered my flip reply toBrigid, that I would just fly out of a crevasse, and saw immediately that none of us could have flown out of there. No room.

“Get the rope,” I told Fang, but he was already uncoiling it. “Angel? We’re going to drop a rope down to you. Just hold on tight and we’ll pull you up, okay?”

“Uh…,” Angel said, her voice weak and tired.

“What?” Fang asked.

“My foot’s stuck,” she said, sounding scared. “And I have Total andAkila with me. They can’t hold on to a rope.”

56

NORMALLY I WOULD have been swearing bitterly to myself at this point, but what with the Angel-reading-minds thing, I tried to hold off.

I looked over at Fang, lying next to me on the hard-packed snow. The strong wind was filling our mouths, noses, ears, and eyes with icy grit. “Great,” I muttered, and he nodded.

“I’m sorry,” Angel called up, close to tears.

“It’s okay,” I said. Years of successful lying stood me in good stead, and I sounded convincing even to me. “Just hold tight for a second…”Plan, plan, need a plan.

“It’s awfully cold,” said Angel, teeth chattering. “Akilaand Total went to sleep, and they won’t wake up.”

Oh, crap,I thought.

“Angel?” I called. “The only way we can get the dogs out is if you tie the rope around them and we haul them out first. Then we’ll get you.”

“Them first?” said Angel.

“They can’t hold on to the rope, like you said. But you would have to be last. Or”- I had to give her all options- “or we can get you out first, if you really can’t wait.”

Which meant leaving the dogs to die, if they weren’t already dead. Silence, while Angel considered.

“I’ll tie the rope around Total first,” Angel called up, and my heart flooded with pride.

Total was pretty light, so he was easy to pull up. When we got him out into the biting wind, he blinked and stirred a bit. Fang quickly zipped him inside his jacket. Fang himself was shaking with cold, and I knew having a big icicle next to him wouldn’t help. We threw the rope down again and waited for eons while Angel tried to tie it around the much bigger dog.

“Akila’sreally heavy,” Angel finally called. “I tied it on the best I could.”

Fang and I both pulled together, and we hauled up the eighty-pound dog without too much difficulty. As it had with Total, the frigid wind seemed to wakeAkila up a bit when she got to the surface. I started rubbing her fur roughly all over, trying to get her blood going, while Fang dropped the rope into the crevasse again.

Total’s voice came sleepily out of Fang’s jacket. “Angel?Akila?”

“They’re okay,” Fang told him.

“Angel?” I called. “They’re both out. You did so good, sweetie! I’m so proud of you. Now you just hang on tight to the rope, okay? We’ll have you up in a sec.”

“I got the rope,” Angel said, close to tears. “But my foot’s still stuck. I don’t think I can get out.”

I looked at Fang in anguish. All of us were risking hypothermia. I already felt sleepy and weirdly warm, and Angel’s voice was weaker and weaker. Plus, even if we got Angel out, would she be able to fly? How would we carryAkila? She weighed almost as much as I did.

Crap.

57

FIRST THINGS FIRST,I thought.

“Angel, instead of holding on to the rope, tie it around your chest, under your arms. We’ll pull you out.”

“But my-”

“I know,punkin,” I said determinedly. “We’ll just have to try.”

Fang and I together were strong enough to pull so hard that we’d break Angel’s ankle. She wouldn’t be able to hold on through that. Hence the tying. But at least she would be free. I still had no idea how to getAkila home.

“Okay, I’m ready,” came Angel’s small voice.

Fang and I nodded to each other, then slowly, firmly pulled on the rope. There was hardly any give. I heard Angel make a little wail of pain, but we kept pulling as it became harder and harder. Suddenly Angel cried out, and the rope was much easier to pull.

“Angel?”

“My foot’s out,” she said miserably.

We had her up top in a few seconds, and then we were both hugging her.

Angel looked up at me, her face shockingly white. “We won’t make it back,” she said. “Not in this storm.”

“She’s right,” Fang said. “We need to dig a hole and hunker down, wait it out.”

It took me only a second to agree. Carefully we stepped away from the crevasse and began looking for shelter. There was a rocky outcropping about ten yards away, and slowly, painfully, we dragged ourselves there, holding tightly to Angel andAkila.

Angel and the dogs crouched down while Fang and I dug out a cave as fast as we could. Since our hands were frozen and we couldn’t feel them, this took longer than we hoped. Finally it was big enough to hold all of us- barely. We grabbed Angel, Total, andAkila, and pulled them into our makeshift shelter. Fang and I kept our backs to the wind, and within a minute, the storm had blown enough snow to seal us in. It was amazing how the wall deadened the sound outside. The lack of wind howling in my ears was deafening.

I took off my sunglasses and checked us all out. Angel was still pale and shaking with cold. Fang was trying hard not to shiver, but he was obviously grimly miserable. Total was struggling to his feet.Akila was standing uncertainly, pressed against the back wall of the shelter. Her thick fur was full of ice, and I quickly rubbed my gloved hands over her, brushing the ice to the ground.

“How’s your ankle, Angel?” I asked.

“It hurts. It might not be actually broken, though. Don’t know. It hurts.” She was wiped, hardly able to speak.

“Okay, everyone, rub your arms and slap your hands against your chest,” I ordered, fighting the urge to just lie down and go to sleep. It was quiet in here, cozy almost, and maybe I was imagining it, but I felt warmer. “Get that blood going!” I reached over and rubbed Total’s fur. “How youdoin ’?”

“I’d give a lot for one of those thermal pools about now,” he said, his voice thin and crackly.

“You and me both,” I said with feeling. I glanced at Fang. “Too badBrigid isn’t here. I bet she’d know what to do.” I probably only sounded about 70 percent bitter.

Fang met my gaze evenly. “I’m sure she’ll come find our frozen bodies.”

“We’re notgonna freeze!” Angel said anxiously. “Are we?”

Instantly I regretted baiting Fang, but what do you know, even a little bit of anger warms you right up. “No, sweetie, we have this shelter. We’ll be okay,” I said. “We’ll just wait out the storm, and as soon as it’s over, we’ll all get back to the station.”

I wondered if the others had got caught in the storm. I sure hoped not. I was totally not up for rescuing anyone else.

58

HERE’S A TIP: If you’re ever stuck in an ice cave in the middle of a storm with two bird kids, a talking dog, and another dog, do yourself a favor: Bring a book. ’Cause once it seems as though you might not die any second, it suddenly becomes intensely boring. And if Total hummed another song fromMy Fair Lady, I wasgonna throw him back out into the blizzard.

“I’m cold,” said Angel, then caught herself, sitting up straight. “Not that cold.”

That was my brave little soldier. Tough as nails.

“And my ankle’s so cold it doesn’t hurt much,” she said with a little smile.

We had to get her back to the station, have someone look at her ankle. We all heal supernaturally fast, but if her ankle was broken and it healed wrong, they’d have torebreak it.

The storm was still howling outside, as far as we could tell. I was starting to feel sleepy again- one of the early warning signs of hypothermia. This space was too small for us to move around to keep warm, and despite the fact that we were packed in like sardines, we didn’t seem to be warming one another up. It was slowly growing darker and darker as the storm made our snow wall thicker.

I tried thinking angry thoughts to get my blood warm, but after just a few minutes it seemed like too much trouble.

“This is the end,” Total said.

“What?” I said. “No, it’s not. This is not the end.” I wanted to say a bunch more, but it seemed so hard to speak. “It’s not the end till I say it’s the end.” My tongue felt thick, my mouth dry.Brigid had told us not to eat snow for water, but I was dying to.

“This is one thing you can’t control, Max,” said Fang. Angel was leaning sleepily against him, and he was stroking her hair.

Well, I just didn’t accept that.

“It’s been an honor serving with you,” Total intoned mournfully. I started to break in, but he held up a paw. “No, no, don’t stop me. Certain things must be said. I always swore I’d face death with dignity and honor.”

“No, you didn’t!” I exclaimed. “You always said you’d fight it tooth and nail! You said you’d go out kicking and screaming!”

Total frowned at me, then went on as if I hadn’t spoken.

“Life, like that first burst of color at dawn, is fleeting,” he said. “Ah, sweet life! What a short, strange trip it’s been! I’ve done,been, so much more than a typical dog.” He looked fondly atAkila. “Just like you, my beauty, my queen. You’ve served a nobler purpose.”

I found I had enough energy to roll my eyes.

“And now it’s come to this.” Total gestured to our tiny, ever-darker cave. “I had such dreams, such hopes! There’s a whole world out there…” He shook his head. “I always wanted to be an astronaut. Now I’ll never even get to try my wings.” In the dim light, I saw his tiny baby wings flutter slightly, and for some reason, I got a lump in my throat.

I blamed it on the hypothermia and near death.

“How many fine wines I haven’t tried.” Total sighed. “How many sights I haven’t seen. The Pyramids in Egypt. The Great Wall of China. The bonny, bonny White Cliffs of Dover. Gone, all gone, lost to me forever!”

“Please tell me the end is soon,” Fang muttered.

Suddenly I had a thought: air. We were sealed into this place. Had we used up all the oxygen? Was that why we were so dopey? I twisted around and punched my fist through the snow wall as hard as I could. My hand was so numb it was like I was using a stick. A gust of fresh, icy air blew in, and we all inhaled and blinked.

“Is the storm over?” Angel mumbled.

“No,” came a deep, odd voice from outside.

My eyes flew open wide, and so did Fang’s. Normally my body would have been instantly flooded with adrenaline and I’d have been in full-on fight mode, but this time I could barely react, barely raise my arm.

“The storm is just beginning.” The deep voice laughed, and then the wall crashed down on us.

59

THEY WERE GHOSTS, ice ghosts, my brain thought sluggishly.

Except ghosts couldn’t drag us out into the freezing air. Despite being half dead from hypothermia, Fang and I still had enough strength to immediately throw ourselves into the air, each of us holding one of Angel’s hands.

“Agh!” I cried, feeling a fine wire net smash against my face. The net whipped us down against the icy ground hard enough to make me lose my breath.

“Max!” Angel cried.

Pushing myself up on my numb hands, I searched frantically for a way out, at the same time trying to identify our attackers. The storm had lessened a bit, so I could see at least a couple feet in front of me. I blinked up through the mesh and saw that our captors were some kind of jazzed-up robots, kind of like short Flyboys with no wings. Only they hadn’t bothered making them look even halfway human.

We just couldn’t get a break.

Fury warmed my blood, and I tried to leap up, snarling, but the net only closed tighter around us, knocking me to the ground again.

I heard laughter, and spun my head this way and that to identify its source. The wind still howled in my ears, making it hard to tell where the laughter had come from.

One of the things was bigger than the others, who were only four feet tall or so.

“Do not hurt them,” he said in the deep, gravelly voice we’d first heard. “Remember, we must save them.”

“News flash,” I spat, trying to rise up again. “Your saving us is practically killing us! Let us up!”

He laughed again, but his face didn’t change expression, which was way creepy. I squinted, trying to get a better view. “Oh, jeez,” I muttered in disgust. Clearly they had gotten this guy from Frank-n-steins R Us. First off, he was enormous- maybe seven feet tall. And huge, broad and heavy. One arm was like an I beam: way too long, out of proportion with the rest of his body. I could barely make out metal spikes that seemed embedded in his flesh. Gross. He gave an impression of being chunked together from different alien species, and somehow it seemed even worse thanAri’s awful wings, sewn into his back.

“Not saving you from this storm, mutant,” he said. “Saving you for your later fate, we are.”

His voice was weirdly inflected and metallic, like an automated answering machine.

“Oh, good. Yoda captured us,” Fang whispered.

Something hauled the net up with us in it, and we dangled a foot off the ground. Fang was hyped, also trying hard to get out. Angel still lookedshocky and frozen, confused and scared. Total was struggling to right himself, andAkila couldn’t get on her feet, but she was growling.

“I amGozen,” said the bigger thing. “I do not want you to freeze to death. I want to watch you die later.”

“You need to get yourself a new hobby,” I snarled.

“It’s alwayssome thing,” Total muttered, still trying to get upright.

“Killing things is not a hobby,”Gozen said, sounding as though he would have smiled if he could. “It is my life. It is what I was created to do. I am able to kill things in many, many different ways.”

Gross,I thought. Someone had programmed him to feel pleasure about killing. I could hear it in his voice.

“We’re able to kill things in many different ways too,” I said, putting as much steel into my voice as I could, in case he was programmed to pick up on stuff like that. “We like breaking things, for instance.” I shifted my glance to one of the robot soldiers, deciding that if we all suddenly swung toward it, we could move the net enough for me to try to kick its head off.

“That is something we share,” saidGozen. Hisclawlike hand shot out before I could blink, and he grabbed Angel’s arm through the net. “Like this.”

We all heard the horrible, unmistakable sound of Angel’s bone snapping, accompanied by her barely suppressed shriek of pain. My heart leaped into my throat, and I chopped down onGozen’s hand as best I could. My hand bounced off his grip, and the rebound almost dislocated my shoulder.Way to go, Max. Chop down on solid metal.

Gozen released Angel, and I immediately grabbed her, drawing her to me and holding her against my chest, feeling her trying to stifle her cries. We were still swinging above the ground, and the mesh wasn’t stopping the freezing winds from tearing at our faces, our jackets.

“Move them,”Gozen directed.

Whatever was holding us started moving slowly across the ice. I felt as if I’d been cold forever, had been surrounded by screaming wind my whole life. Inside the swinging mesh, I looked at Fang’s eyes, the only dark things visible in the endless, swirling whiteness.

Wait,he seemed to say.Wait, and when we see a chance, we’ll take it.