The Rise of Nine

14

I pull my hoodie up over my head and hunch my shoulders. Nine’s wearing a dirty Cubs cap and cracked sunglasses, items he found in the train yard where we jumped off. After an hour’s walk south, we’re standing against the wall of a platform, waiting for another train. This one is elevated. The el, as Chicagoans call it. The Chests in our arms stand out against the other passengers’ briefcases and backpacks, and I do my best to act casual. Bernie Kosar sleeps comfortably inside my shirt, now a chameleon. Nine is still kind of pissed that I was skeptical that anyone would put a safe house in such a densely populated area. I know Henri would never have chosen such an exposed place.

We don’t speak as the train rumbles into the station. Bells chime, the doors slide open, and Nine leads me into the last car. When the train pulls away, we watch the city of Chicago slowly grow closer.

‘Just enjoy the view for now,’ Nine says. He looks more and more at peace the closer we get to the city. ‘I’ll tell you more when we get off.’

I’ve never been to Chicago before. We pass what feels like a million apartment buildings and houses as we clatter through the different neighborhoods. The streets below are full of cars, trucks, people, dogs being walked, babies being pushed in strollers. Everyone looks so happy, and safe. I can’t help but wish I were one of them. Just going to work or school, maybe for a walk with Sarah to get a cup of coffee. A normal life. Such a simple idea, but it’s almost impossible for me to picture. The train stops, people stream off and others push to get on. The train gets so crowded that two girls, a blonde and a brunette, are forced to stand practically leaning over us.

‘Like I said,’ Nine says, smiling happily, ‘just enjoy the view.’

After a few minutes, the blonde kicks the Chest under my feet. ‘Ow! Jeez, guys. What’s with the ginormous boxes?’

‘Vacuum cleaners.’ I’m nervous and Nine’s story from the other night is the first thing that pops into my mind. ‘We’re, uh, salesmen.’

‘Really?’ The brunette asks. She looks disappointed. I sag a bit; even I’m a bit disappointed in my fictional life.

Nine takes off his cracked sunglasses and elbows me in the ribs. ‘That was a joke. My friend here, he thinks he’s so funny. Actually, we work for an art collector and we’re taking these artifacts down to the Art Institute of Chicago.’

‘Oh, yeah?’ the blonde asks. The two girls glance at each other and look pleased. As she turns back to us, she tucks her hair behind her ear. ‘I’m a student there.’

‘Seriously?’ Nine says with a pleased smile.

The brunette bends down, looking curiously at the intricate carvings on the lid of my Chest. I hate that she’s so close to it. ‘So, what’s inside? Pirate treasure?’

We should not be talking to them. We shouldn’t be talking to anyone. We’re no longer just teenagers trying to blend in with the humans around us. We are alien fugitives who just destroyed a fleet of government vehicles. There’s a bounty on my head and I bet they’re putting one together for Nine right now. We should be hiding in the middle of nowhere, back in Ohio, or even out west. Anywhere but sitting on a packed train in the middle of Chicago, flirting with girls! I open my mouth to say that the Chests are empty, to make them stop asking questions and leave us alone, but Nine talks first. ‘Maybe my friend and I could swing by your place later this evening. We’d love to show you what’s inside then.’

‘Why don’t you just show us now?’ the brunette asks with a pout.

Nine looks left and then right. He’s really hamming it up. ‘Because I don’t trust you yet. You two are kind of, ah, suspicious. You know that, right? Two beautiful girls like you, you’re right out of a spy movie.’ He winks at me. It suddenly dawns on me; he’s just as bad around girls as I am. He overcompensates and looks kind of ridiculous doing it. It makes me like him more, even if he is totally embarrassing us both.

The girls look at each other and smile. The blonde digs into her purse, scrawls something on a scrap of paper and hands it to him. ‘The next stop is ours. Give me a call after seven and we’ll think about hooking up with you guys somewhere later. I’m Nora.’ I’m stunned his stunt worked.

‘I’m Sarah,’ the brunette says. Of course that’s her name. I shake my head. If that isn’t a blinking sign that we must end this conversation now, I don’t know what is.

Nine reaches his hand out to shake theirs. ‘I’m Tony, and this handsome stud next to me is Donald.’ I clench my teeth and give them a polite wave. Donald?

‘Cool,’ Nora says. ‘Well, talk to you later.’ The train stops and they get off. Nine leans over and waves to them through the window. After the train pulls out of the station, Nine chuckles to himself. He is looking very smug.

I elbow him in the ribs. ‘Are you nuts? Why would you deliberately draw that kind of attention to yourself – to us? You had no right to drag me into your stupidity. And, why in the world would you do anything to encourage them to look at our Chests? Let’s hope any girl stupid enough to buy your crap is too stupid to think too hard about any of it!’ I liked him a whole lot better when he just looked like a loser.

‘Calm down, Donald. You think you could keep your voice from squeaking so loud? It’s no big deal. Nothing is going to happen to us here.’ He leans back, hands folded behind his head. When he speaks again, though, he doesn’t sound so puffed up. ‘Sandor would have been so damn proud of me just now, you know? I bet you’d never know it, but normally, I’m crazy nervous around girls. And the more I like them, the worse it is. No more. After what I’ve been through this past year, nothing really scares me anymore.’

I don’t respond. I slump down in my seat and watch the city get taller and taller, the architecture more interesting. There are playhouses, shops and beautiful restaurants all wrapped in glass. Some of the buildings shine so bright in the sun I have to shield my eyes. Cars clog the roads below us, their honks reaching us up on the track. No place could be more different from Paradise, Ohio. Our train stops and starts up again through two more stations, then Nine tells me to stand up. We’re next. A minute later we’re walking east on Chicago Avenue, each of us carrying our Chest under an arm. Lake Michigan is straight ahead.

When the crowd around us thins, Nine says, ‘Sandor loved Chicago. And he thought it was smart to hide in plain sight in a city like this. No chance of sticking out, always a crowd to disappear into, that kind of thing. I mean, think about it, where are you more anonymous than in a busy city?’

‘Henri would never have allowed it. Being in a city like this would have freaked him out. He hated being anywhere he couldn’t keep an eye on anyone who might have an eye on us. On me.’

‘And that’s why Sandor was the best Cêpan that ever lived. He had rules, of course. First and most important, “don’t be stupid.” ’ Nine sighs. Amazingly, he has no idea how infuriating, how insulting this talk about Sandor is.

I’m pissed and I don’t care who knows it. ‘Oh, yeah, if Sandor was so great, why did I find you in a Mogadorian prison cell?’ I feel horrible the minute I say it. Nine misses Sandor, and we’re in the last place they spent real time together, where Sandor told Nine he was safe. I know how powerful that kind of assurance is.

Nine stops dead, right in the middle of a busy corner with people streaming past us. He steps up to me until our noses are inches apart. His fists are clenched, not to mention his teeth. ‘You found me in that cell because I made a mistake. It was my mistake, not Sandor’s. And you know what? Where’s your Cêpan? You think yours was so much better than mine? Wake up, idiot! They’re both dead, so I really doubt one was so much better than the other.’

I feel bad for what I said but I’m sick of Nine trying to bully me. I push him away. ‘Back off, Nine. I mean it. Just. Back. Off. And stop talking to me like I’m your little brother.’

The light changes and we cross the street, both of us fuming. I follow him onto Michigan Avenue and we walk in silence. At first I’m too angry to pay attention to my surroundings, but slowly I become aware of the skyscrapers above me. I can’t help it. This city is awesome. I look around. Nine sees me admiring the city, his city, and I can feel his mood softening.

‘You see that big black one with the white spires on top?’ Nine asks. He looks so happy to see this building I forget I’m pissed at him. I look straight up. ‘That’s the John Hancock Center. It’s the sixth tallest building in the country. And that, little brother, is where we’re headed.’

I snatch him by the arm and pull him to the side of the sidewalk. ‘Wait a minute. That’s your safe house? One of the tallest buildings in the city is where you think we’re going to hide? You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s nuts.’

Nine laughs at the incredulous look on my face. ‘I know, I know. It was Sandor’s idea. The more I think about it, the more brilliant I realize he was. We stayed here for over five years, no problems. Hiding in plain sight, baby, hiding in plain sight.’

‘Right. Are you forgetting about the part where you got caught? We are not staying there, Nine. Not a chance in hell. We need to go back to the train, figure out a new plan.’

Nine rips his arm out of my grip. ‘We got caught, Donald, because of someone I thought was my friend. She’d been working with the Mogs and I was too stupid to notice. She betrayed me and I couldn’t see beyond her nice ass, so Sandor was captured. I watched him being tortured, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. The one person I loved more than anyone in the world. In the end, the only thing I could do for Sandor was put him out of his agony. Death. The gift that keeps on giving.’ His sneer can’t hide the pain in his voice. ‘Fast-forward one year and I see your ugly face outside my prison cell.’ He points up at the John Hancock Center. ‘Up there, we were safe. It’s the safest place you’ll ever be.’

‘We’ll be trapped,’ I say. ‘If the Mogs find us up there, there’s nowhere to run.’

‘Oh, you’d be surprised.’ He winks and then walks towards the building.

All of a sudden I am very conscious of just how many people are going by us. I’m nervous as hell, without a single clue where else I should be or go. One thing I know for sure, the Mogadorians keep getting better at blending in, so I have zero confidence we’d even know it if one just brushed by. This thought terrifies me so much I literally twitch as it occurs to me. And I have to assume there are thousands of cameras all over Chicago, and with the Mogs and the government working together, the Mogs probably have access to them. Great. We’re on some predatory Candid Camera and there is nothing we can do about it. Inside, anywhere inside, is going to be safer than standing around out here. I put my head down and follow Nine.

The lobby is amazingly luxurious. There’s a grand piano, leather furniture, and sparkly chandeliers. At the far end I see two security desks. Nine hands me his Chest and takes off his cap. One of the security guards is a large bald guy who is seated behind the desk, until, that is, he sees Nine. Then, he lets out a howl and leaps to his feet.

‘Hey! Will you look at who the cat dragged in! You don’t write, you don’t call, where the heck have you been?’ the man asks, shaking Nine’s hand, his other hand clutching his arm. He just stands there, beaming at Nine. The long-lost son returns, and all that, I guess.

Nine is grinning at him with real affection and puts his other hand on the man’s shoulder, ‘Oh, I think a better question is, where haven’t I been?’

‘Next time, tell us when you’re taking off. I worry! Now, where’s that uncle of yours?’ He looks over Nine’s shoulder, as if expecting Sandor to come up behind him.

Nine doesn’t miss a beat. ‘Europe. France, actually.’ No flinch, nothing. He’s good. I know how hard this must be for him.

‘He got some kind of visiting teaching gig?’

‘Yup,’ Nine says. He nods at me. ‘It’s a long gig, he’s thinking about maybe even taking a permanent spot, so I’ve been staying with my friend Donald on the south side. We need to hang upstairs for a while so we can work on a history project. Check out these boxes, man, we have work to last us months!’

I look down at the Chests in my arms and the security guard stands aside and lets us walk past. ‘Sounds like you guys have yourselves a plan. Hey, nice to meet you, Donald. Good luck with your project!’

‘Same here,’ I say. ‘And, thanks!’ I’m trying to sound friendly, but it’s hard. Nine is clearly fine with this guy knowing his comings and goings, noticing his absence, setting up a lie it might be hard to back up later on. But I hear Henri’s voice in my head, warning me this is the exact opposite of what we should be doing. I try to shake off the nerves making my stomach do flips. Second-guessing things won’t help.

We make our way to a small elevator bank and Nine presses a number. The light above one of the sets of elevator doors brightens with a big arrow pointing up.

‘Oh, hey, Stanley?’ The security officer jogs over just as we are about to step through the elevator doors, his keys jingling on his belt.

I look at Nine with a smirk. ‘Stanley?’ I mouth. That’s worse than Donald!

‘Not now,’ he mumbles back.

‘I’ve got a bunch of packages for you. We’ve been holding them in storage. We didn’t know where you were and you didn’t leave a forwarding address. You want me to send them up?’

‘Give us an hour to settle in first, okay?’ Nine asks.

‘Absolutely, boss.’ The guard salutes as we step into the elevator.

Once the doors are closed, I feel Bernie Kosar crawl from one of my shoulders to the other, and back again. He tells me he’s tired of hiding. ‘Just a few more minutes,’ I say.

‘Yeah, BK,’ Nine says. ‘We are just about home. Finally.’

‘How could you be so confident this place would be yours to come back to? I mean, you’ve been gone a really long time.’ There seems to be no situation, no idea that makes Nine second-guess what he believes. I wish I could be like that. Even if he isn’t always right, it makes for a great team member and an even better warrior.

‘Sandor set everything up. Payments for this place are made automatically from his account. We always kept things pretty vague about what he did. And we referred to his “teaching gigs” the other times when we went away for months. Clearly, people bought it.’

Nine presses a series of numbers into a small keypad below the floor numbers and the elevator rockets upwards. The numbers increase so fast I barely have time to think about how high we’re going. We pass the eightieth floor and then start to slow down. We come to a stop and the doors open silently, and we step directly into an apartment. I look up at the huge crystal chandelier hanging above two couches in the living room. Everything seems to be bright white with gold trim.

‘This is your apartment? You can’t be serious,’ I say.

‘Yup, we’ve got our own private entrance,’ he says in response to my amazed look.

I thought only people on TV lived like this. It’s completely boggling my mind that this place belongs to a Garde member.

I see a camera in the upper right-hand corner of the room, pointed our way, and instantly shield my face. But Nine explains it’s a closed-circuit camera that can be monitored only from inside the apartment.

‘After you,’ he says, bowing low and sweeping his arm in welcome with an exaggerated flourish.

‘I can’t believe you guys have the whole floor,’ I say, looking around with my mouth agape.

I hear Nine’s hand slide along the wall as he says, ‘Two whole floors, as a matter of fact.’ Nine hits another switch and dozens of dark shades rise to reveal floor-to-ceiling windows. The room is bathed in sunlight. Bernie Kosar leaps out of my jacket and turns into a beagle. I walk over to the window and look out at the view. It’s incredible. The whole city of Chicago is spread out below. Lake Michigan is a sheet of bright blue on the left. I set my Chest on a plush recliner and place my forehead against the window. As I look down on the roofs of other buildings, I hear something start to whir in the apartment behind me, then feel a whoosh of fresh air from the vents near my feet.

‘Hey, you hungry?’ Nine asks.

‘Sure,’ I say. It’s weird, but from this height, everything looks fake: the cars, the boats on the water, the trains snaking around on the elevated tracks. To my surprise, I do feel safe; I mean, really safe. I actually feel as if nothing can touch me, get me, up here. It’s been a long time since I felt this way. It’s almost strange.

I hear the door to a refrigerator open. ‘I am so psyched to finally relax,’ Nine calls from the kitchen. ‘Hey, make yourself at home; take a shower, eat some frozen pizza. We even have time to chill, sleep, before it’s time to call those girls. When was the last time you could say any of that? Man, it is good to be home.’

It’s hard to turn away from the view; it’s kind of mesmerizing. I want to just stand here, right here in this spot, and enjoy feeling safe. The only thing better would be if Henri and Sarah and Sam and Six were here with me.

Something soft and crinkly hits the back of my head. An energy bar.

‘Let me show you around.’ Nine’s giddy, like he’s psyched to show off his toys.

I munch on the bar as we walk through a living room filled with plush couches and leather recliners. A giant flat-screen television hangs above a marble fireplace, and on the glass coffee table stands a vase of fake orchids. There is a layer of dust on every surface. Nine says he’ll get a cleaning service up to deal with it as he runs a finger over one particularly well-coated table. In the hallway, he opens the first door on the right.

My jaw drops. Standing there are two huge Mogadorian soldiers with alabaster skin and long black hair, wearing black trench coats. They stand just inside, guns poised and ready to shoot. The weeks of training with Six and Sam surge through my brain and I rush the closest one and duck under his cannon, then I deliver an uppercut to his chin and follow that with a thrust kick to his abdomen. The Mog is stunned and falls straight backwards. I look around for something to stab him with, but all I see are free weights and punching gloves. That’s when Nine runs in and playfully kicks the other Mogadorian in the groin before flicking its nose. His Mog wobbles on its heels before tipping sideways. It takes one more second before I realize these are just dummies. Nine doubles over and when he finally catches his breath, he slaps my back.

‘My, my, those are some fine reflexes!’ he howls.

My cheeks are blazing hot. ‘You could have warned me.’

‘Are you kidding? I’ve been thinking about doing that to you since we got on the el. Man, that was great!’

Bernie Kosar enters the room and sniffs at the rubber feet of the Mogadorian I leveled. He looks up at me.

‘They’re for training, BK,’ Nine says, chest puffed proudly, sweeping an arm out wide. ‘We call it the Lecture Hall.’

I take my first real look around. It’s a huge, empty room. On the far end, there’s a control panel, like a cockpit. Nine walks over and sits at the console and starts flicking switches and typing in commands. From the walls, the ceiling and the floor, combat situations and weapons. He spins the chair around to face me, eager to see how impressed I am. I’m immediately jealous of the time he must have spent here. And it shows.

‘This is …’ I raise my eyes to the ceiling. I can’t even find the words. It makes me embarrassed about what I’ve been doing all this time. My so-called training space was the snow in my backyard, or with Six and Sam at the pool. Suddenly, I’m resentful about Henri moving us around so often, not giving me the kind of training I clearly needed to do my part. If we had made a place like this, then maybe I would be as confident and strong as Nine. Maybe Sandor really was the better Cêpan.

‘You haven’t seen the best part yet,’ Nine says.

We move through the training room and he spins opens a vaultlike door in the back. There are shelves and shelves of weapons: guns, swords, knives, explosives and more. There’s a whole wall just for ammunition.

Nine pulls a large automatic rifle topped with a scope off a shelf and aims it at me. ‘You’d be surprised how easy it was to buy all this stuff. Gotta love the Internet.’

He walks towards me with the gun and pushes a button over my shoulder. The far end of the room separates to uncover a firing range longer than a bowling alley. Nine grabs a box of bullets and loads the rifle. Then I watch as he blows to bits a paper target ninety feet away. ‘Don’t worry. These rooms are pretty well sound-proofed, but we’re so high up that no one could hear us anyway.’

A door down the hall leads to a surveillance room. He walks up to a light switch near the front door and flicks the switch while leaning down and placing his face close to it. A faint blue light scrolls over his eyes and the computers come to life. Retinal scan. Cool, very cool. Clearly, Sandor was able to set up a high-tech security system. There are a dozen computers and even more monitors. We’re tapped into every camera in the John Hancock Center, all one hundred floors of it, plus what seems to be every camera around the city that’s controlled by the Chicago Police Department. Nine touches something on a keyboard and the largest screen in the room comes to life, showing a photo of a muscular man in a black Italian suit, its beautiful cloth and perfect cut apparent even in the grainy picture. He has black hair and a thick beard, and he’s holding two laptops. I look at Nine, wondering why he’s showing me this.

‘That’s Sandor,’ Nine says after a minute. His voice is different. I hear less bravado. He turns to me. I hear vulnerability. ‘Come on. You have a decision to make, an important one.’ He pauses for dramatic effect. ‘Which room will you choose to stay in? There are a few of them to check out. Take your time. The pizzas won’t take long.’