[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
My first reaction was relief. Visser Three had ordered someone executed in that meeting. It had
not been Tom.
"How, um . . . how did they look together? Visser Three and Tom?"
Tom was acting sort of careful around Visser Three. But he looked like he was pretty cocky
around the guards. It's hard to say, Jake. But if I had to guess, I'd say Tom and Visser Three are
tight.>
"Yeah," I said. "I have a feeling maybe Tom is kind of responsible for a big part of this hospital
plan." I shut up and thought for a second.
"What will Visser Three do to Tom if this great plan is destroyed?"
Tobias said nothing. He knew the answer.
Those who fail Visser Three die.
37
Chapter 9
I saw the lane open up between Juan and Terry. A clear lane to the basket.
Thonk. Thonk. Thonk. My right hand dribbled the ball. I stuck my left arm out, ready to ward off
Juan if he came after me. I powered ahead.
Sneakers squeaked on the polished wood floor of the gym. One of the guys on my team yelled,
"Go, Jake!"
Juan saw my move and came after me. But I was just a little too fast. Thonk! Thonk! Thonk!
Stop. Pivot my back to Juan. Lock on to the basket, focus, focus . . .
I jumped and arced the ball toward the hoop.
It hit the backboard. It hit the rim. It bounced away. No score.
I fell back against Juan and Terry - the three of us ended up in a tangle on the gym floor, arms
and legs everywhere. The ball rolled out of bounds.
"No wonder you never made the team," Terry said, laughing as he helped pull me to my feet.
I had tried out for the team, but I didn't make the cut. At the time it had bothered me. Mostly
because Tom had been the big basketball hero when he was at our school. I wanted to live up to
that.
Now, I realized I didn't have time for after- school sports anyway. And playing during gym class
was enough basketball.
"Yeah? Well, I beat Juan with some of my excellent moves, and he is on the team," I said. I
reached back to help pull Juan up. "Although I can't figure out why they would want some guy
who looks like he's made out of straws."
"I'm just saving my best stuff for the finals," Juan said. "I don't want to waste my secret, killer
moves on you, Jake. And now you practically crushed my legs, you big ox. Man, you ought to be
playing football."
"Good idea." I grinned at Juan. He's about five-eleven and weighs like ten pounds. "Let me
practice my tackling on you."
Just then the coach whistled, which was the signal to hit the showers.
"Saved by the whistle, Juan," I said.
"You should have inherited some of Tom's moves," Terry said. "That brother of yours has a
jump shot."
38
"Man, Tom could have been in college ball easy. At a good school, too. If he would have stuck
with it," Juan chimed in. "That boy has the gift."
They were right. Tom did have the gift. But he had dropped out of basketball. The Yeerk who
controlled him had other plans, I guess.
I showered and got dressed for my next class. Marco was waiting out in the hallway. He had
gym next period.
"B-ball today?" he asked. "Cool. I thought it was going to be more wrestling. I hate wrestling.
Getting up close and personal with sweaty guys? Not my idea of a good time."
"The ancient Greeks used to wrestle with no clothes," I pointed out. "Just be glad this isn't
Greece."
"And no deodorant," Marco agreed. "It's going to be next Tuesday."
"What's going to be next Tuesday?"
Marco looked over my shoulder and then, very casually, around the hallway to make sure no one
was close enough to overhear. "The governor. That's when he's going in the hospital. I'll bet you
a hundred bucks it's for hemorrhoids." He grinned. "That's why it's kind of secret. No one is
supposed to know."
"So, how do you know?"
"Well, we know from the meeting the other night that he's going, right? So all I had to do is find
out what his schedule is going to be. Turns out it's no problem. I told them I was a reporter and
they faxed me a copy."
Marco pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and opened it for me to see.
"See? Saturday he gives a speech. Sunday he goes on a TV interview show. Monday he gives
another speech. Tuesday . . . oops! Suddenly on Tuesday he begins a five-day vacation, and they
don't say where he's going."
"Why would he keep it a secret, I wonder?"
"Oh, puh-leeze. If it is hemorrhoids? A politician getting his hemorrhoids operated on? The
jokes are just too easy. Letterman would be talking about it in his monologue."
I smiled. "Yeah, okay. Good work."
"Tomorrow's Saturday," Marco said. "Should we do it then?"
I guess the expression on my face showed how I felt. Marco cocked his head and looked
sideways at me. "You okay, man? You had a close call last night. I've been there, so I know it
isn't easy to just get past it."
39
"No, I'm cool," I said. I gave him a push. "Besides, since when are you all psyched to go?"
Marco had always been the most reluctant member of the group.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]