Going Wild #3 Page 3

  “He’s probably forgotten about us by now,” said Maria, but she bit her lip anxiously anyway and glanced at her bare right wrist, where her Mark Two device used to be. She didn’t have possession of it at the moment—Dr. Nubia Jakande, also known as Zed to Dr. Gray’s team, was trying to fix it.

  In the time since Nubia had left Dr. Gray and joined their side, she’d already managed to change Maria back to normal. It was a huge relief for Maria because she no longer had to worry about turning into a weremonkey at inopportune times anymore. The task, though time-consuming, had seemed simple enough. All Nubia needed was some of Maria’s old, unaltered DNA—which they collected from a hairbrush—to concoct a formula that changed her back. But now Dr. Jakande had to reconfigure the Mark Two so that same problem didn’t happen again the next time Maria put it on, which was a great deal harder. At the same time, the scientists were designing a few other improvements to the bracelets to help protect the kids in case they ended up needing to fight Dr. Gray’s soldiers again.

  Not having the bracelet left Maria vulnerable and unable to train, and she felt a little lost without it. She looked out the back window again. “That dude makes me nervous.”

  Mac saw Maria’s worried expression. “I hear you,” he said, noting the right lanes had slowed to a crawl. “But they’re stuck way back there. And they’ll never find us, if they even saw us in the first place. Besides, Charlie and I have your back.” The silver Mark Three device shone on his arm—Dr. Goldstein had been planning to upgrade it too, but let Mac keep it while he did the prep work. And Charlie’s old Mark Five was back on her wrist while she waited for her father to put the finishing touches on the Mark Six—which would have her DNA tied to it instead of his.

  “I just don’t like being anywhere near those soldiers without my bracelet,” said Maria.

  “Don’t worry,” said Charlie. “Remember, Dr. Sharma told us that the bad guys have everything they need now, so they don’t have any reason to come after us. They’ve moved on and they’re not even thinking about us. We should be safe until we’re ready to go after them.”

  As Mrs. Barnes began crossing lanes again to get to their exit, Mr. Barnes half turned in the front passenger seat. “What are you kids playing?” he asked. “It sounds interesting.”

  Charlie froze. Maria looked sharply at Mac.

  “Um,” said Mac, clearly realizing that his dad had heard them talking and assumed they were playing some sort of game. “It’s a new one.” He lifted his iPad and waved it a little, making sure his dad didn’t see the screen. “Oh, what’s it called again, Charlie?”

  Charlie laughed nervously. “It’s, um …”

  “It’s a sci-fi adventure game,” Maria said smoothly. “An evil scientist wants to take over the world and turn everybody into … uh …” She hesitated and gave Mac a look.

  “Chimeras,” Mac blurted out, then cringed but kept going. “And … we’re trying to defeat him.”

  “That’s a cool concept,” said Mr. Barnes. “A chimera—that’s one of those mythical creatures, right? Some kind of combination of—”

  Mrs. Barnes put her hand on her husband’s arm, interrupting him as she took the exit and slowed for a red light. “Help me with the directions here, will you? We want SeaWorld car parking.”

  Mr. Barnes turned to face the front and pointed out the huge sign indicating SeaWorld Drive ahead. “Pretty sure we’ll find it eventually if we take this street,” he said. “We’ve only been here five times before.”

  “Don’t get cocky,” Mac’s mom warned, though there was laughter in her voice. “I’ve got too many other thoughts crowding my mind to keep directions to SeaWorld in there. You are free to drive if you don’t want to navigate.”

  Mr. Barnes grinned. “Sorry, honey.” He studied the GPS and pointed to a spot on the screen. “Yep, just keep going this way. Avoid the tour bus lane.”

  Crisis averted, the kids sat back and breathed again. Charlie sent a group text to the other two. “Great idea. Now we can use the game as an excuse if we get caught talking about this stuff again.”

  “Sorry I said chimera,” Mac replied. “It just came out. Oops.”

  “It’s fine,” Maria wrote back. “It’s not like anybody would ever expect this to be happening in real life.”

  “Good point,” said Charlie. “May as well keep the story close to the truth—then we can talk about it without worrying about messing up. Should we come up with a name for this game in case Mac’s dad asks again?”

  “Yeah,” said Mac. “If I know my dad, he’ll definitely ask again.”

  They dropped their phones in their laps and thought about it, trying to come up with a good name as Mrs. Barnes pulled in to the correct SeaWorld lot and followed the flag-waving parking attendant’s directions. Soon the kids were straining to catch a glimpse of the attractions out the window, forgetting about names. The top of a water ride was visible from the car.

  “Look!” cried Charlie, who’d never been to California before, much less this park. “This is so freaking exciting! I can’t believe we get to do something new every day this week.”

  Finally Mrs. Barnes parked the vehicle and everybody piled out, anxious to get moving.

  As the kids ran ahead of Mr. and Mrs. Barnes toward the entrance, Mac grabbed the other two. “Hey, Maria, Charlie, I’ve got it,” he said excitedly. “A name for our fake game. We can call it Clash of Beasts. It sounds just like a game I’d play online.”

  Maria and Charlie quickly agreed to it.

  By the time they reached the attractions, the white van had vanished from their minds. They never expected it to pull into the SeaWorld parking lot fifteen minutes behind them.

  CHAPTER 4

  Supernormal

  Mac’s parents let the kids go off on their own, which was an exciting development for them in a theme park. Mac took the lead. “Can we go to Ocean Explorer first, then Orca Encounter?” he asked. “They’re both pretty new and I haven’t done them yet.”

  “Mac goes to SeaWorld almost every year,” Maria explained to Charlie. “He knows his way around this place like it’s his neighborhood.”

  “I figured that out already,” said Charlie. She and Maria almost had to jog to keep up with him.

  The Ocean Explorer realm was right near the park entrance, so they hopped in line for the Submarine Quest ride. While they waited, they talked quietly about how Dr. Jakande was coming along with Maria’s bracelet. They were hoping the biologist would be done fixing the problem by the time they got home from this trip.

  “My dad said they’re planning to add tracking and communication capabilities to our devices,” said Charlie. “They’re going to test everything out on Maria’s device this week, and maybe the Mark Six if all goes well.”

  “When will they work on mine?” asked Mac.

  “Soon I guess,” said Charlie with a shrug. “Same with the Five.” She flashed her wrist. “My parents wanted me to hold on to this for now, just in case I needed it for anything.”

  “Getting some extra safety features is cool,” said Maria. The line moved, and she glanced around uneasily.

  “What are you looking for?” asked Mac.

  “I’m not sure,” she said. “Nothing, I guess. I’m just feeling weird after seeing the van.”

  “I’m sure it’s long gone by now.” Mac shrugged and turned back to Charlie. “The scientists are still going to give us new abilities like you’re getting with the Mark Six, right? Have they decided on the animals for them yet?”

  “They’ve been talking about it a lot,” said Charlie. “I’ve been dying to tell you, actually, but wanted to wait until we had some privacy away from your parents.”

  “Tell us what?” asked Mac.

  Charlie leaned in. “Last night I hung out with the adults as they were discussing options. And my dad turned and asked me if we had any ideas for animal abilities! So I played it cool and said I’d ask you.”

  “Seriously?” asked Maria, g
ripping Charlie’s arm.

  Charlie nodded. “I don’t know if they were just being nice or if they really meant it. And maybe they’ll have decided by the time we get home. But it wouldn’t hurt to do some research in case they ask again.”

  “That’s so cool!” said Mac, whipping out his cell phone to start the search immediately.

  The line continued to move surprisingly swiftly. As they chatted about animals, Maria and Charlie turned the research into a game, trying to guess which animals they each would add to their devices if they could. But they hadn’t narrowed down the options at all before they were next in line.

  Once they climbed into a mini submarine, the conversation became all about the sea life around them. The ride took them underwater through ocean habitats. They saw crabs, which reminded them of Morph—she was one of Dr. Gray’s hybrid soldiers they’d fought who had a supersonic crab-claw punch. She had a second ability, a chameleon’s, to camouflage herself as well.

  A huge octopus came up to the glass, which made Charlie grateful that Gray hadn’t tried to make a hybrid with that animal yet—she wasn’t sure how dangerous octopuses were, but they looked … sneaky. And like they had really big brains. Not to mention all those arms.

  Next they went through a segment of the ride that had tons of clear jellyfish with brightly colored insides. There were hundreds of them, in all sizes, some almost too small to notice.

  Soon the ride was over. When they exited their submarine, thinking about standing in line for it again, a flash of black caught Charlie’s eye. She turned in the crowded merchandise area and thought she saw someone in a black bodysuit moving through the far end, near the jellyfish tank. Charlie gasped and grabbed Maria’s sleeve. “Look,” she said in a low voice. “Is that Cyke?”

  He was far away. Maria squinted. “I don’t see him.”

  “I could have sworn it was him,” said Charlie, though she doubted herself. “Then again, I think I see soldiers everywhere.” She laughed uneasily. “Am I losing it?”

  “Probably,” said Mac with a grin. “I know we saw their van, but what would they be doing here? Maybe their new lab is around here somewhere.” His grin faded. “Oh, wait. Between the zoo and SeaWorld, San Diego has all sorts of animals.”

  Charlie’s eyes widened. “And my dad said that Dr. Gray probably doesn’t have access to animal DNA from a lab like we do, so …”

  “So it sorta makes sense that they’d have to … collect it,” said Mac. “Themselves.”

  “Yes,” said Maria thoughtfully, “I’ll bet you’re right. How else is Dr. Gray going to make his ultimate chimera?”

  “Exactly,” said Charlie, edging for the door. “Come on. Let’s figure out where Cyke went.” Charlie started jogging in the direction of where she’d seen the soldier, and the other two followed. As they moved through the crowds, Charlie spoke over her shoulder in a low voice. “The scientists said Dr. Gray is probably going to be doing more experiments on his soldiers, trying out different variations like he’s already started doing with Morph and Fang. They think he’ll be doing that until he figures out what the perfect combination is.” She slid through the crowd, with Maria and Mac right behind.

  They sneaked around the back side of the attraction and could see into an area enclosed by a chain-link fence. On the door was a sign that read Employees Only. Through the links they spotted a line of doors on the building with signs on them that apparently led to the control rooms for the various sea-life habitats within.

  At first the friends didn’t see anyone wandering around inside the fenced-in area except a landscaping crew laying fresh mulch along a sidewalk. But then Mac pointed at one of the doors on the building a few hundred feet away. It stood ajar.

  Maria glanced at the fence door with the Employees Only sign on it and saw that it was unlocked, probably so that the landscapers could get in and out. “Come on,” she said. She looked over her shoulder, then opened the door, and the three of them went inside.

  Someone on the landscaping crew looked up and saw the kids. He started toward them, saying something in Spanish and trying to get them to leave the area. Maria had a conversation with him, though. After a minute, the man shrugged and went back to what he was doing.

  Maria turned to Charlie and Mac. “Come on,” she said, and beckoned them toward the ajar door. When they were out of earshot of the landscapers, she explained, “I asked if anyone else had come back here wearing black bodysuits. He said yes. He thinks they’re divers or animal trainers. I told him we are at a kids’ summer camp, and we’re supposed to shadow them.”

  “That was quick thinking,” Charlie said.

  “Come on,” said Maria. “They’re back here in the jellyfish section.”

  They went up to the open door. Charlie shielded her eyes from the sun and peered into the crack. When her sight had adjusted well enough to see inside the room, she spotted a uniformed zoo employee lying on the floor, unconscious. She covered her mouth and held back a gasp, then spied a built-in ladder and looked up. Cyke and Prowl were standing on it, way at the top of the aquarium. Cyke was reaching into the water with a net. Charlie’s bracelet grew warm on her wrist.

  Quickly she stepped away and told Maria and Mac what she’d just seen. “Do you think we should go after them?”

  “They’re obviously doing something sneaky,” said Maria, “and they already hurt one of the workers in there. But I don’t have a bracelet right now, so I wouldn’t be able to help you much.”

  “Yeah,” said Mac, looking anxious. “Do we really want to get involved? They’re not doing anything to us. I think we should get out of here and tell someone in charge at the park. And then hide. The soldiers don’t need to know we’re the narcs—they probably don’t even suspect we’re here. Who knows how many of them are around? Cyke and Prowl could call for backup with their little walkie-talkie buttons on their suits. And without Maria being able to change into a weremonkey, we’d have a tough time trying to take them all on.”

  Charlie stared at him, confused. It seemed so unlike Mac to want to run away.

  Mac saw her look, then said with a cringe, “And just imagine explaining this to my parents.”

  “Oh no,” said Maria, impassioned. “You’re right. We can’t let your parents find out. It’ll ruin everything.”

  “Good point,” said Charlie, a bit reluctantly. She didn’t want Mr. and Mrs. Barnes to find out anything about what they were doing—it could wreck their plans to stop Dr. Gray. She took one more look as Cyke scooped awkwardly at some jellyfish, then turned away. “Okay. Let’s go get them in trouble.”

  They went back the way they came, past the landscapers and out the gate. They rounded the building and exited the ride area, and went to the nearby park entrance. Two male and one female security officers were standing there chatting.

  “Excuse me,” said Maria. Charlie and Mac stood behind.

  “What’s up?” said one of the men.

  “There are some strange men in black bodysuits trying to catch jellyfish. They went around the back of that building.” Maria pointed to the Ocean Explorer ride. “Two of them. One is really big and the other one is smaller and … slinkier.”

  “Hmm. Bodysuits?” said the officer.

  The female guard looked concerned. “Like yesterday with the sharks?” she said to the first guy.

  “What?” He seemed confused. “I was off yesterday.”

  “We had an incident in the shark habitat with some perps wearing bodysuits,” she explained, annoyed. “Read your updates. Something weird is going on. Let’s go check it out.”

  The man frowned. “Right. Thanks for reporting it, kids.” He and the woman set off, leaving the second man still standing there.

  Maria, Charlie, and Mac glanced at one another, the same question on their faces. Charlie looked at the remaining guard. “What happened yesterday with the sharks?” she asked.

  “Hmm?” He scrutinized the kids, then shrugged. “Oh, some girl managed to get ar
ound the blockades to the edge of the shark pool. When the workers went up to her to get her out of the restricted area, she jumped into the tank. She started swimming around, chasing a shark. It was nuts.”

  “A girl?” asked Maria.

  “Yeah. Some girl about your height wearing a bodysuit, probably trying to look like a trainer. We hauled her outta the pool. Kicked her butt to the curb. People are stupid.” The guard turned away, keeping watch over the attraction entrance and now and then glancing in the direction of where his coworkers had gone.

  Charlie, Mac, and Maria exchanged glances. They retreated, making a beeline toward a shaded area where they could hide and talk quietly behind some palm trees and a souvenir cart but still see the entrance to Ocean Explorer.

  “Do you think that girl in the shark tank was Kelly?” Mac asked the other two once they had their stakeout under way.

  “Could be,” said Maria. “Or one of the soldiers.”

  “I’ll bet it was Kelly,” said Charlie. “She’s the only one who has water abilities.”

  “As far as we know,” Mac reminded her.

  They waited. Charlie’s device remained warm, and she checked it quickly, seeing the cheetah lit up. Now that she’d gotten the device out of defense mode, where it had been stuck for weeks, Charlie could click the buttons to manually turn on her abilities. She switched on strength and climbing, just in case something went down.

  A few minutes later the three kids heard a shout from the area behind the building. They stood alert. The third security guard turned too, his radio crackling. He pulled it out and started talking into it. Seconds later Cyke and Prowl came tearing around the corner, dodging people and knocking snacks and souvenirs out of their hands. A cry rose up from the bumped individuals. Prowl and Cyke kept running. People dived out of their way.