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But a leader can't dwell on stuff like that. A leader has to lead.
"Okay, guys," I said, channeling confidence and authority. "First, let's get—"
The chamber door opened, and Total peeped in, the flashing red emergency lights highlighting his fur every couple seconds
"Yo," he said. "Sub's in trouble. Climb out here—we're doing an emergency surface."
"An emergency surface?" Quickly we scrambled up the slanted floor to the open doorway. Fang was standing behind Total, followed by Nudge and Iggy. My flock was together, and they'd come to find us.
"Yeah," said Fang, giving Gazzy a hand up. "There's all sorts of backup systems. Apparently. We're dumping ballast and pumping in air and should be at the surface in about half an hour."
Well. Let's hear it for those thoughtful sub designers, eh?
We ended up feeling our way to the front of the sub and were among the first off when it finally reached the surface. They popped the hatch and deployed inflatable life rafts. I've never been so thankful to breathe fresh air.
We bobbed around in the ocean in six-foot waves until navy choppers came. They lowered a long rope ladder, and some Navy SEALs jumped down into the water to help. It was all very controlled and orderly, which is, I gather, how the navy likes it.
"Children first!" shouted a SEAL, holding the ladder. "Let's go!"
There were eighteen sailors with us in our raft, all waiting for us to go first.
"Can we just meet you guys somewhere?" I asked John Abate. "We don't need to take up space in a chopper." Plus I'm dying to stretch my wings and get up in the fresh air, where I feel normal.
John nodded and quickly gave me directions to a marine research station about thirty miles away, where we'd meet.
I clapped once to get the flock's attention. "Okay, guys," I said. "Ready to do an up and away?"
They cheered and stood up.
"Please get on the ladder!" the SEAL barked.
"We're not getting on the ladder," I said firmly. "Thanks anyway. I really think you're being all you can be. But we're out of here."
It was hard to jump up into the air from an inflatable raft, but we managed, though we sank about a foot into the water before we were aloft. But finally there we were: moving our wings strongly, feeling the air blowing against our faces, our hair streaming back. It was heaven.
Below us, stunned sailors and crewmen stared up at what they'd heard about but had never expected to see. John and Brigid waved, and maybe I'm imagining things, but I thought Brigid looked envious. Maybe she wanted wings too.
"Thank God!" I said, climbing high above the ocean. We soared until the rafts were tiny dots on the dark, gray blue water.
Angel was peering downward. "I'm trying to see that big thing," she said. "The big sea-monster thing."
We looked, and though we could make out whales and rays and sharks, nothing we saw looked anything like the moving mountain that had almost capsized our sub.
"Our new mission: figure out what that was," I said, as we turned in a lazy, thirty-degree arc back toward the big island of Hawaii. "I just know it has something to do with my mom—and Mr. Chu."
As we headed toward land and the marine research station where we'd meet up with the others, I had another, more disturbing thought: What exactly had Angel told the M-Geeks under water? Why hadn't they attacked her? They were machines, and I didn't think she could influence machines the way she could humans.
Did Angel know something about Mr. Chu I didn't?
59
THE MARINE research station was kind of like the research station in Antarctica, but with no snow, carnivorous man-killing leopard seals, or Angel falling into deadly icy crevasses. Part of it was built out over the water, and there was a section of glass floor where you could look down and see fish and manta rays and sharks swimming beneath you.
The flock and I were lying flat on the glass to watch the fish, thankful that we were back on dry land again and not on a freaking sub.
An intern came to get us. "Will you join us in the conference room?"
I got to my feet. "Sure. I love conference rooms. Some of the best times in my life have been in conference rooms. Can't get enough of 'em."
