Going Wild #3 Read online

  Dedication

  To the real Yolanda, and to Gigi and Lexi, who call her Abu

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter 1: The New Recruit

  Chapter 2: Deep Thoughts

  Chapter 3: A Break from Reality

  Chapter 4: Supernormal

  Chapter 5: Being a Kid Again

  Chapter 6: Shark Training

  Chapter 7: An Exciting Proposal

  Chapter 8: Decisions, Decisions

  Chapter 9: Making Progress

  Chapter 10: Easier Than It Looks

  Chapter 11: Charlie Chooses a Sixth

  Chapter 12: More Decisions

  Chapter 13: Maria Begins to Doubt

  Chapter 14: Some Unexpected News

  Chapter 15: Making Wings

  Chapter 16: On the Road

  Chapter 17: Detour Ahead

  Chapter 18: A Messy Getaway

  Chapter 19: On the Run

  Chapter 20: Close Calls

  Chapter 21: Cause for Alarm

  Chapter 22: Inching Closer

  Chapter 23: Loud and Clear

  Chapter 24: Doing Good in the Neighborhood

  Chapter 25: Like Old Times

  Chapter 26: A Change of Plans

  Chapter 27: Back to Reality

  Chapter 28: New Abilities

  Chapter 29: Unrest in the Ranks

  Chapter 30: Changing Gears

  Chapter 31: A Costly Mistake

  Chapter 32: Time to Make a Move

  Chapter 33: The Countdown Begins

  Chapter 34: Exploring Options

  Chapter 35: A Reason to Panic

  Chapter 36: A Race to Stop Dr. Gray

  Chapter 37: The Chase Is On

  Chapter 38: A Dangerous Turn

  Chapter 39: The Only Way to Win

  Chapter 40: In Over Her Head

  Chapter 41: Shark vs. Alligator

  Chapter 42: One More Chance

  Chapter 43: A Moment Too Late

  Chapter 44: Island of Chaos

  Chapter 45: Explosion

  Chapter 46: The State of Things

  Chapter 47: Back to … Normal?

  About the Author

  Books by Lisa McMann

  Back Ads

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  CHAPTER 1

  The New Recruit

  It was the middle of May and school was out in Navarro Junction, but that fact barely registered with Kelly Parker. She’d made a risky decision to leave her old life after the spring-break disaster and join Dr. Victor Gray and his soldiers. She sat in the backseat of the white van as they sped along the California freeway, thinking about how much her life had changed in the past few weeks and trying not to feel anxious about the important task she was about to attempt. Trying not to think about everything that had gone wrong yesterday on her first mission … at SeaWorld.

  Kelly wasn’t used to failing. But she hadn’t anticipated how many problems she’d have using two of her device’s animal abilities at once. Remembering what had happened messed with Kelly’s head a little as she prepared for today’s challenge, but she couldn’t seem to stop. She knew how much concentration it took to manipulate her camouflage power to create its hypnotic effect—she should have foreseen the issue. And she should have objected to that kind of mission until she believed without any doubt that she could succeed. She ought to have told Dr. Gray that for her first task, maybe it would be better to go after DNA that didn’t involve dangerous water animals, or require her to use her dolphin swimming ability while simultaneously trying to use her cuttlefish hypnosis ability.

  Kelly’s face flushed in frustration and embarrassment. She had never enjoyed swimming, but she liked it even less now. She glanced up at Miko and Dr. Gray, who were in the front seat having a quiet conversation. Kelly hoped it wasn’t about what a failure she’d been.

  “Stop it,” Kelly chided herself under her breath. An accomplished actor, soccer player, and student, she’d never gotten good at any of those things by being negative. This was a challenge, and her competitive nature kicked in as usual. Today was a new day, and despite a few unsettling doubts after the SeaWorld incident, Kelly was feeling reasonably confident about this task. Because today they were visiting Safari Park, part of the San Diego Zoo, and staying far away from water. It was Kelly’s time to shine and prove to Dr. Gray that she could handle her abilities. And hopefully help erase yesterday from his mind.

  They parked. All three got out of the van and started toward the entrance.

  Beneath her clothes, Kelly wore her new camo-friendly bodysuit, which worked with her cuttlefish camouflage and allowed her entire body to fully blend into the environment whenever she needed or wanted to. Luckily, while the Mark Four’s animal abilities altered her body slightly whenever she was using them, it never permanently changed her appearance, like the Mark One had done to Miko and the rest of Dr. Gray’s soldiers. Kelly looked like an average almost–seventh grader visiting the zoo. Above average, she thought to herself with a smile.

  Kelly’s long blond hair was slicked back and secured at her neck. She walked assuredly alongside Dr. Gray, who was dressed like a civilian in jeans and a T-shirt instead of his usual lab coat. Miko was wearing her black bodysuit as usual, but with a shirt thrown over it as a disguise. And for the first time in public, at Kelly’s urging, Miko had daringly left her mask off, though she kept it with her in a bag in case she needed it. Instead, she wore a floppy sun hat to cover the fur that had taken the place of her human hair. The hat brim conveniently cast shadows over her slightly altered facial structure. She kept her bodysuit zipped up tight to cover the fur on her chin and neck. As a chimpanzee-human hybrid, Miko didn’t have much facial fur to draw attention to her like the others, but she still seemed a little nervous to be without the mask she’d worn in public for years. Although she was clearly happy, too. She bounced around the other two and ducked behind them when zoo visitors approached. And with the oversize hat, no one really seemed to notice her. People at the zoo were looking at the animals in their habitats and cages, not at other people … or at hybrids who could pass as an ordinary person.

  Once inside the Safari Park gates, the three squinted at the tall sign with arrows indicating the different parts of the zoo. “Condor Ridge,” said Miko, pointing at an arrow. “That’s the place we need. This way.” She bounded in that direction and almost hopped up to grab a tree branch along the walking path but stopped herself before too many people noticed her extreme enthusiasm. She slowed down and waited, bouncing on the balls of her feet, for Kelly and Dr. Gray to catch up. Kelly could tell Miko was trying to subdue her excitement, but her antics were drawing a bit of unwanted attention. The chimp woman looked guiltily at Dr. Gray and pulled her hat down farther over her eyes.

  Dr. Gray frowned but didn’t reprimand her. He was eager for this visit, too. In the past, when working for Talos Global with the other biologists, he’d had a large variety of animal DNA available to him whenever he’d needed it, without having to step foot outside the lab. Now all he had were the samples he’d already used on his soldiers over the years. To expand the collection, he and his soldiers had to gather the DNA the old-fashioned way, directly from the animals themselves, and they weren’t always easy to get. Over the past few weeks all he’d successfully gotten was a porcupine quill, which he had been planning to use for Braun’s upgrade. Plus a few other bits of animal DNA that he wanted for his own mysterious purposes.

  But there had been some failed attempts at collecting the important samples … like yesterday. He was angry at himself for expecting too much of the girl—he should have known better than to have her go for the shark right off the
bat. But he’d let his excitement and Kelly’s self-assuredness get in the way of his better judgment. And, to be truthful, he was in a hurry. Without Zed to help him anymore, he needed every willing soldier he could find. Even the kid.

  Hopefully, today would be far easier for Kelly and she’d be able to procure new samples for Dr. Gray to use in his experiments. With any success, Miko would soon be a living, breathing chimera of sorts, having her DNA mixed with a second animal and bringing Dr. Gray one step closer to his ultimate goal. The three continued the lengthy walk up the path to the condor enclosure, all thinking about different aspects of the job before them.

  Miko spied a pair of the birds sitting a distance apart on a large rock inside the exhibit. She drew up against the enclosure and grimaced. “Their faces are so uuug-ly,” she muttered. “They’re even grosser in person. I really hope that part doesn’t transfer to me.”

  “I guess we’ll find out eventually if it does,” said Dr. Gray lightly.

  Miko’s eyes bugged out. She turned to Dr. Gray, hoping he was teasing, but it was hard to tell. The soldiers hadn’t seen him in a good mood in a while. Not since before the other scientists—the real bad guys, according to Dr. Gray—had come along and started ruining things. Gray continued to feel uneasy about the other Project Chimera scientists, so things had remained tense.

  Kelly wasn’t paying attention to Miko and Dr. Gray’s discussion. She had other things on her mind, like clearing her thoughts to focus. Not messing up. And most important, trying to find the way into the habitat. As she took in the details of the enclosure, she spied some sort of horned goatlike animal inside. She also saw a sign for an ocelot. She wasn’t quite sure what an ocelot was, though from its picture, it looked like a cat-type creature. She hoped it wouldn’t attack her while she was busy with the condor. Kelly’s hands began to sweat, and she wiped them on her clothes and then ditched those for her suit. “You didn’t mention there were other animals in this section,” she muttered to Miko.

  “I didn’t know,” said Miko. “Sorry. But they seem … friendly.”

  “The sign says ocelots are carnivores,” Kelly said, “and I am made of meat.” She was annoyed but there was nothing she could do about it. She searched the area for a zoo worker. Finally, she spied one carrying a bucket and walking toward what looked like the entrance to the habitat. “You two stay here,” Kelly said in a low voice to Dr. Gray and Miko. “Let me do all the talking.”

  Dr. Gray put a hand on Kelly’s shoulder, like Coach Candy, Kelly’s soccer coach, used to do sometimes during a pep talk. “Just remain calm and don’t panic,” he told her. “You only have to use one ability this time. You shouldn’t have any problems.”

  Kelly grimaced. “I’m fine. Please … can you stop talking about … that? I’ll show you I can do this better than anyone.” She was one of the few people who didn’t seem to walk on eggshells around the doctor, and so far she’d been able to get away with telling him what she thought, at least when it came to her abilities. Maybe it was because her device had been made by a different scientist. Or perhaps it was because Kelly could do something unique that would really help Dr. Gray collect DNA faster—because things had been going agonizingly slowly until recently. They’d had to move the lab for the umpteenth time. Then Dr. Gray had struggled for weeks trying to repair the machine that he’d forced the other scientists to make, which had been smashed to pieces when Charlie and her friends broke in and rescued them.

  Whatever the reason, the man didn’t argue with Kelly and stayed back with Miko.

  Walking down to where the zoo worker was, Kelly clicked her bracelet to activate the cuttlefish camouflage. With each step her body slowly changed to green and brown, blending into the wood wall structure and foliage that lined the path to the enclosure. Nimbly she hopped over the chained-off area near the entrance to the habitat and concentrated for a moment until she could feel heat rise to her face and her skin begin to pulse. Then she beckoned to the zoo worker. “Excuse me,” Kelly called out.

  The woman looked up and almost didn’t see her at first. Then she frowned and started toward her. “You can’t be in here.”

  Soft waves of blue and white light rippled over Kelly’s face, moving in a steady, mesmerizing pattern and growing stronger with each wave as the woman approached.

  “This area is off-limits to park visitors,” the worker said, looking startled at Kelly’s strange appearance. “I’m sorry, miss. Are you …” The woman’s face slackened, and she fell silent for a moment. “Are you lost?” She didn’t move or look away.

  “No, I’m not lost.” Kelly smiled disarmingly as the woman stared at her. “I need to see the condors. I’m sure you understand.”

  The woman blinked a few times. The handle she was holding slipped from her fingers and the bucket clattered to the ground, unnoticed. She seemed to try to form words to object to Kelly’s request, but was having trouble. “No, I … ,” she said softly, “I can’t… .”

  “Yes, you can,” said Kelly in a soothing voice. “I need to see the condors now.” The light show on her face continued. “Just unlock the door and take me inside.”

  The woman hesitated, but Kelly stood confidently. A moment later the worker was fumbling for her keys, looking bewildered, but doing what was asked. Finally she opened the door.

  Kelly kept the waves of light pulsing over her skin as she went in after the woman. She looked around cautiously for the nearest condor, wanting to stay as close as possible to the exit in case anything unexpected happened. She located the ones they’d seen resting on the rocks nearby, and approached one of the huge birds. As she drew near, the zoo worker followed. Kelly gazed in awe at the condor’s size. The bird turned its ugly pink head and stared at her, but stayed where it was. Kelly, still pulsing, glanced around her. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed one of the horned sheepy-goat things about thirty yards away. She didn’t focus on it, knowing she needed to keep her concentration. She turned back to the condor, which seemed to be entranced by her now, too. “Hi, bird,” she said. “This will only hurt for a few seconds.” Slowly she reached out, cringed, then gripped a couple of feathers. They were bigger and coarser than she’d imagined. Quickly she yanked them from the condor’s wing and backed up a few steps.

  The condor hissed and rose, spreading its dark wings wide and showing a stripe of white underneath. Each wing was longer than she was tall—the span was enormous. Kelly felt her heart pounding. She reminded herself that her research said condors don’t attack prey. Then she saw the sheepy-goat coming closer. She had a moment of panic and clicked her device to deploy her platypus spikes on her heels, just in case it charged. Thankfully the condor settled again, and the horned creature got distracted by something in the dirt and stopped to eat it.

  Kelly blew out a deep breath. She slipped the feathers into a clear plastic pouch and put it in her waist pack. Slowly she turned away, checking to see how many of the zoo visitors had noticed her. She might have to do some mind control on the way out, too. Miko was still standing by the cage but not looking straight at Kelly for fear of being hypnotized. The chimp woman’s fingers curled around the railing, as if it was all she could do not to climb up the cage and start swinging on the enclosure netting.

  Kelly kept the pulsing going. She reached the door with the zoo worker walking complacently alongside her. “Thank you,” Kelly said as she went out. “You’ll forget about me in a minute. Okay?”

  The woman looked troubled, but nodded. “Okay,” she said.

  Kelly smiled, then began walking toward the crowds. She broke her concentration and let the hypnotic pulses fade. Her body returned to its nearly invisible camouflage state as she blended into the rocky background. She clicked off her platypus spikes. Then she clicked off the cuttlefish ability. Kelly appeared to emerge from the wall looking quite normal again. A few people close by watched her with puzzled looks, but they didn’t do or say anything—they’d been close enough to have fallen under the mesmerizin
g spell too. Kelly rejoined her companions and handed the plastic pouch to Dr. Gray, who swiftly slid it into his pocket.

  “Well done,” the scientist quietly praised, though he was glancing around carefully and turning to leave. “That went smoothly.”

  “I told you I could do it.”

  “Yes, you did. I’m thrilled. A definite success.”

  “That was great, Kelly,” said Miko. “You were such a pro.”

  “Thanks,” said Kelly, puffing up from the praise as they moved swiftly away from the attraction. “I’ve gotten really good at hypnotizing,” she said, impassioned. Now that she’d succeeded, she felt a sudden need to explain what had gone wrong yesterday. “You see, I just hadn’t ever had a chance to practice swimming and hypnotizing at once. I guess … I thought I could do it.”

  “This mission was a much better one to start with,” said Dr. Gray.

  “Yeah,” said Kelly. “At least it wasn’t in a shark-infested pool this time, right?” She fell in step with Dr. Gray, feeling a fresh surge of confidence now that she’d managed this task without a hitch.

  “The setting today was much improved,” agreed Dr. Gray, and Miko nodded behind them.

  Relieved, Kelly glanced at Dr. Gray a bit sheepishly. “Look,” she said, “I’m sorry we got kicked out of SeaWorld before we could go in search of that jellyfish you’re looking for. Hopefully Cyke and Prowl are having better luck finding it today.” Cyke, a horse hybrid, and Prowl, a leopard hybrid, were two of Dr. Gray’s other prized soldiers. “This job was a cinch compared to the shark incident.”