The Pyramid Chronicles: Fortuna Guard (#2) [MOVING JUNE 30]

Chapter Thirty-One: Fortune Favors

Three choppers. Twenty-two kids. One bomb.

Eric stood outside the door to the lab, hand trembling as he found Mom in his phone contacts list. Next to him, Adam looked around the hallway, the ceiling, the door they'd be walking through in a few minutes to discuss the plan to attack Scorpion.

Tonight.

Eric sucked in a deep breath and started the call.

"Eric!" Mom exclaimed. "Is Adam with you?" The excitement in her voice put an ache in Eric's chest.

"Yeah," Eric said, reminding himself that if all went according to plan, they'd be able to see her again soon.

"Hey Mom," Adam added.

"How are you two doing? How are classes?"

"Uh, classes are good," Eric said. "I'm almost done with everything. I just have a history project and a math test left to worry about."

"I'm pretty much done, too," Adam chimed in.

"Have you picked a school, Adam? You don't have much longer to decide."

"Uh, yeah. I think I'm going to go to Davis."

"Will you be able to get on their football team?" Mom asked.

"I don't know about the football thing." Adam's arms folded. "We'll see. But I'll definitely try to get involved with one of their sports clubs."

"Okay. Just don't take on more than you can handle, all right? I don't want you two to stress yourselves out."

"Sure." Adam exchanged a look with Eric and raised an eyebrow. Eric pressed his lips into a thin line. Yeah. If I could take Scorpion off my plate that easily, I would.

Mom wasn't done asking questions. "Are you guys coming to meet me at Sarah's once you're done with schoolwork?"

"That's the plan," Eric replied. "Hopefully sometime in early May."

"Where will your ship be docked? I can come pick you up—"

"Don't worry, we already have transportation," Eric told her. "At least, we can get into town ourselves." Probably best not to land a chopper on their aunt's lawn without warning.

"Okay. Let me know when you're coming as soon as you can!"

"Sure thing," Adam said with a nod.

"How are things up there?" Eric asked. "How's Sarah?"

"We're doing pretty well. Sarah's kids are juggling a lot with school and sports. Definitely looking forward to summer break."

"Yeah. Us too." Eric glanced at Adam.

"Well, we're going to go try to get some more homework done," Adam said. "We'll call again as soon as we can."

"Okay. Love you!"

"Love you too," Eric and Adam said in unison. After a long moment, Eric tapped the end call button. The black screen that followed reflected his apprehension back at him.

The distant sound of voices and footsteps increased in volume. The other altered were coming.

As he and Adam entered the lab, Eric reminded himself that they'd fared well against Scorpion so far. They'd trained to the point that they could take soldiers down in seconds. And they almost matched them in number of altered. Even if it didn't all go according to plan, the Fortuna Guard could at least do some serious damage.

Charles and Beth were already in the lab, talking quietly in the corner while altered poured in. It only took a few minutes for the last kid to enter, pulling the door shut behind them.