‘All right, you’re on the team,’ I said. Something occurred to me at that moment. ‘But after you get lost, don’t try to come back here. Go to Grandpa Smedry instead. I want you to deliver a message for me.’
‘Sure thing,’ Kaz said.
‘Tell him that we really, really need him here by midnight. If he doesn’t arrive by then, we’re doomed.’
‘Midnight?’ Kaz said. ‘That’s only a few minutes away.’
‘Just do it.’
Kaz shrugged. ‘Okay.’
We reached an intersection between two rows of pastoral homes and hesitated. Which way to go? Only Bastille knew. A second later, she raced by, leading the way to the right. We followed her; it certainly hadn’t taken her long to get down from the stilts and catch up.
At the end of a row of houses, she slowed and raised a hand. We bunched up behind her, and Kaz quietly informed the youngest – and most nervous-looking – of the Mokian runners that he’d been booted from the strike team. The youth looked very relieved.
‘There,’ Bastille hissed, pointing at a section of ground several houses down. We peeked around the corner, watching as some shovels broke up out of the ground. The grass lowered, and a few moments later, a few Librarians’ heads peeked out.
‘Go get Aluki and his soldiers,’ I whispered to the young runner that Kaz had relieved. ‘Warn him about these infiltrators; he’ll need to take care of them once the strike team has sneaked into the tunnel.’
The runner nodded, dashing off. I peeked back around the corner. The Librarians were timidly glancing about, as if surprised to find no resistance. Several of them climbed out of the hole, slinking to the wall of the nearest hutlike house. They waved for the others, and soon the entire group had exited the hole. They ran off down a side street, carrying their rifles and looking for mayhem. In a lot of ways, these Librarian infiltration groups were suicide missions, just like my strike team. The difference being that the Librarians anticipated taking the city very soon, and finding the Mokian coma antidote.
‘All right,’ I said, waving. ‘Go!’
Kaz and the five runners charged around the side of the building, running toward the hole. I waited anxiously. Were the Librarians far enough away? Would they notice what we were doing?
Bastille waited beside me, though I could tell she itched to leap forward and join the strike team. Fortunately, her primary duty was to protect me, so she restrained herself.
The strike team reached the hole and Kaz waved the runners to jump in. Suddenly, something flashed in the hole.
‘Rifle fire!’ Bastille said.
She was moving a moment later, bolting down the hole. One of our runners collapsed backward, twitching. The others leaped for the ground, taking cover, and two Librarians peeked out of the hole, holding rifles.
Kaz whipped out a pistol and shot one in the face – it let out a blast of light, knocking the Librarian unconscious. Bastille – running inhumanly fast – arrived and kicked the other Librarian in the face.
I blinked. Things happened so quickly in battle. By the time I thought to jog out, the two Librarian guards had been disabled. Unfortunately, one of our runners was down.
‘Woodpeckers!’ Kaz cursed. ‘We should have known they’d be smart enough to leave a rear guard.’ He checked on the runner who’d been shot. He was unconscious. We’d need the antidote to awaken him.
‘There will probably be guards at the end of the tunnel as well,’ one of the Mokians said. ‘And while we’re fast, we’re not the best soldiers in the army.’
Kaz nodded. ‘If you fight and make a disturbance, the Librarians will cut off our exit out of the tunnel. Sparrows!’
‘Kaz, where did you pick up all that fowl language?’ Bastille asked.
‘Sorry. Spent two weeks trapped in an ornithologist’s convention during my last time lost.’
And that is a story all unto itself.
‘Well,’ I said, ‘we’ll just have to hope that . . .’ I trailed off as I noticed Bastille and Kaz sharing a look. Then, shockingly, Bastille pulled the bear-containing backpack off of the unconscious runner. She slung it over her shoulder, then looked at me.
‘Stay here,’ she said.
‘Bastille, no! You can’t go.’
‘I have the best chance at knocking out guards at the exit of the tunnel quietly. My speed and strength will let me get to those robots faster than the others. I need to go.’
‘But you’re supposed to protect me!’