Dangerous Minds (Knight and Moon #2)(64)

“Just a little thing called France. It’s the bonus I’ve been promised once Director Young conquers the world.”

“A friend of mine recently told me that greed leads to suffering,” Riley said.

“I guess I’d rather suffer as a rich empress than be a happy, dead scientist like Spiro,” Berta said. “You and your friends picked the wrong fight.”

Riley jiggled her chains and glared at Berta. “Funny, I was just about to say the same to you.”





TWENTY-SEVEN




THE UNMISTAKABLE WUP, WUP, WUP OF A hovering helicopter filtered through the windows of Mysterioso Ranch.

“Ride’s here,” Emerson said, springing out of his chair, gathering up his backpack, and going to the door.

Vernon, Alani, and Wayan Bagus joined him on the front lanai. A six-seat Airbus Eco-Star helicopter was landing in the pasture behind the house, stirring up the grasses in the process.

Vernon looked at the chopper and groaned. “Tell me you didn’t,” he said to Emerson. “There must be a thousand helicopter pilots in Hawaii and you chose Mr. Yakomura, Alani’s dad, didn’t you?”

“It was the only helicopter I could find at short notice, and who would fly us around at night, no questions asked.”

Yakomura hopped out of the Eco-Star and walked over to them. He gave Alani a hug, then saw Vernon and shook his head.

“Good evening, Mr. Yakomura,” Vernon said. “I reckon it’s been a while.”

“Dad, you remember Vernon,” Alani said.

Yakomura frowned. “How could I forget? Are you still a degenerate?”

Vernon looked around for help. “No, Mr. Yakomura.” He reached out to Wayan Bagus. “In fact, this here’s my personal spiritual adviser. He’s teaching me the ways of the Sage and such.”

Mr. Yakomura looked skeptically at Vernon. “Really. What ways would those be?”

“Oh, you know. Showing my elders respect and not objectifying women’s racks and things like that. Isn’t that so, Little Buddy?”

“No,” Wayan Bagus said politely.

“This is my father, Steven Yakomura,” Alani said to Wayan Bagus.

Wayan Bagus steepled his fingers and bowed ever so slightly in greeting.

Half an hour later, they were airborne and flying over the interior of the island. The sun had just set and they had a full-on view of Kilauea. Glowing red rivers of lava flowed down the dark mountain and into the sea. Huge plumes of smoke and steam obscured the entry points. Even from a distance it was impressive.

The helicopter banked to the left, and the dark lava fields were replaced with lush rain forests.

“That’s Ola’a,” Alani said.

Everyone looked down. A thick blanket of trees covered the area completely. Emerson reached into his backpack, pulled out a large telescopic camera, and aimed it at Ola’a Forest.

“What’s that?” Alani asked.

“It’s a long-range infrared camera I appropriated from the security system of the main house at Mysterioso Ranch. It basically picks up any heat signature and takes a picture using temperature differences the same way a regular camera uses light.”

Vernon, Alani, and Wayan Bagus looked at the camera’s viewing screen as Emerson scanned the forest through the thick canopy. Except for the occasional pig or goat displayed in a rainbow of yellows, reds, and greens, initially there was nothing but complete darkness.

“The detail is amazing,” Alani said. “We have an infrared telescope at Mauna Kea, but I had no idea the image quality for terrestrial cameras was so good.”

“It used to be strictly a military technology,” Emerson said. “It provides an accurate image up to a distance of two miles.”

Emerson aimed the camera at the center of Ola’a. A good-sized red and yellow blob of an unknown heat source filled the screen.

Emerson pointed at the area. “It looks like we may have found Riley.”

“I don’t know,” Alani said. “It’s just a blob of heat. It could be anybody down there.”

Emerson shook his head. “It’s not a campfire. We’d see the light from the air. I think it’s an exhaust, just like the one we saw on Mauna Kea. And it’s coming from the center of an unspoiled wilderness that just happens to be owned by the National Park Service.”

The helicopter circled over Ola’a and the little town of Volcano. The town of Puna was ahead, and beyond that the Pacific Ocean.

“Where do you want to set down?” Yakomura asked.

Emerson looked at his map. “There’s an entrance to the Kazumura Cave on the outskirts of Ola’a Forest called Wild Pig Drop Falls.” Emerson pointed to a fifty-acre pasture at the outskirts of the forest. “Can you land there? The falls are somewhere at the edge of the field, and there’s supposed to be an ATV trail used by the local guides that leads to it.”

“Why don’t we just land in Ola’a near the heat source?” Vernon asked.

Emerson shook his head. “The jungle is so thick, there’s no place to land. And even if we did find some clearing, Ola’a is not a lava desert like the summit of Mauna Kea. It would be nearly impossible to find an exhaust pipe in the dense vegetation. Most importantly, if by some miracle we did find the compound, it’s certain to be heavily guarded. If we have any chance of rescuing Riley, we need to take Tin Man completely by surprise. Our best chance is to sneak up on them through the lava tubes.”