United as One (Lorien Legacies #7)(63)

“Aw, hell with that nobility shit,” Nine says. “This is our war too. I’m going to beat his ass when he comes back.”

“You realize what he’s left us with is a pretty big deal, too, right?” I ask, looking around at the others. I don’t want to spend any more time talking about John. “Delivering these cloaking devices is going to save a lot of lives potentially. It’s the key to humanity being able to win the war.”

Nine scoffs and walks away. Marina sighs and folds her arms across her chest, half turning to gaze out over the river. Ella just stands there, still holding on to the satellite phone that John gave her. I glance down at my own phone, the one that Sam gave me that’s hopefully emulating the cloaking device’s frequency.

Seventeen percent battery life. When that runs out, according to Sam, this crappy old cell phone will forget the instructions he gave it. We better hurry up with this test.

No sooner do I start to worry that we’re running out of time than I hear the rumble of an engine. A jeep drives into view, bouncing over the rough terrain of the clearing, Lexa at the wheel.

Lexa pulls up in front of me and gets out, the engine idling.

“Good timing,” I tell her.

“The Canadians said they’d prefer if we didn’t crash it,” Lexa says with a shrug. “They were real polite about it.”

“All goes well, their car will be just fine,” I reply.

I notice Adam appear at the top of the warship’s ramp. Rex stands behind him—more like hides behind him—looking as timid as a mouse. I take a few steps towards the warship and wave to them. Meanwhile, Nine jogs over to my side.

“Is it ready?” I yell, cupping my hands around my mouth.

“Yeah!” Adam shouts back. “The force field is fully functional!”

I squint at the warship. I can’t actually see the force field from this distance. Like before, when we were flying towards it, you can’t really see the dull blue energy until you’re nearly right on top of it. I edge closer to the ship. Nine puts a protective hand on my upper arm.

“The hell are you doing?” he asks.

I glance down at his hand. “Same question.”

“You don’t want to get too close to that shit,” Nine says. “I had to nurse Johnny back to health after he took a header into one of those force fields.”

“I know what I’m doing,” I reply, and shrug Nine off.

I edge as close to the warship as I dare, right up until the force field becomes visible. Then, using my heel, I dig out a line in the grass.

“That’s our target,” I say as I jog back to the others. “We push the jeep past that with Sam’s cloaking device attached, we know it works.”

“Why bother with the car? Why not just float Sam’s device through the field with our telekinesis?” Marina asks.

“We know the Mogs’ cloaking devices cover an entire vehicle,” Lexa says. “We don’t know that Sam’s has the same range.”

“Assuming it works at all,” Nine adds.

I take the flip phone and set it on the jeep’s dashboard. Then I back up and look around.

“That’s all you need to do?” Marina asks with a raised eyebrow.

“I guess,” I reply. “Sam said it’s just constantly sending out the cloaking frequency or the data packet or whatever the hell.”

“Data packet.” Nine groans. “This is boring. You know, I’m actually hoping the jeep blows up so we can see some action.”

“Real nice, Nine,” Marina says.

I wave him off. “Ready to push this thing?”

Lexa puts her hands on the back of the jeep, which continues to idle in neutral. “Ready,” she says.

We all stare at her. Finally, Nine laughs.

“Aw, lady, we don’t push like that,” he says.

Lexa stands back and the four of us—me, Nine, Marina and Ella—all concentrate on the jeep. We shove it forward with our telekinesis. It kicks up dirt and grass, the wheels spinning, moving fast.

“Easy,” I warn the others. “We don’t want it to explode if it hits the force field.”

“A real vote of confidence for your boyfriend’s work,” Nine mutters.

I frown. It’s going to work and—even if it doesn’t—at least Sam is trying, not just complaining about not getting to kill things like Nine is. I open my mouth to respond sharply, but Marina gets there first.

“Do you think it is just coincidence, Nine, that one of our closest allies should manifest exactly the Legacy we need to fight off the Mogadorian invasion?” Marina shakes her head passionately. “It is the will of Lorien itself that we received this gift.”

With that I feel Marina increase her telekinetic push on the jeep, speeding it along at a breakneck pace towards the force field. Nine shuts up and watches with the rest of us. Hidden from the others, I cross my fingers.

The jeep crosses the line I made in the dirt.

Its front end heaves upwards like it just hit a tremendous bump. The windshield and all its windows shatter inwards. There’s a resounding magnetic hum from the force field that I can feel in my teeth.

But it goes through. Mostly intact.

Marina and Ella let out simultaneous cries of triumph. I turn to Nine and grin. He shrugs at me. “Props to Sam,” he says.