Day of Doom (2 page)

The door was closed and locked. Dan and

Amy, and Jake and Atticus Rosenbloom,sat around on the floor, discussing theirplan and scarfing room service. Dan wasdevouring a loaded cheeseburger withfries, while Atticus was spooning soupinto his mouth. Jake was finishing hispizza. Amy had gotten a salad, but hadeaten half of Dan’s fries. Grease wasapparently wonderful fuel for plotting

against evil.

Their dilemma was an obvious one

for Amy and Dan. They had been engaged in it for a very long time. That came with being part of the Cahill family, which was the most powerful family in the world. Over the centuries their members had

included some of the most famous people of  all   time:   politicians,   scientists, explorers, athletes, soldiers, and the list went on and on. There was not one

category of human history that had not in some way been touched by a Cahill.

Facing off against the Cahills was a group of nearly equal potency but with tons of evil thrown in.

The Vespers.

They were a centuries-long chain ofpeople committed to bending the world

and all those who lived there to their will. The Vespers naturally saw the Cahills as their   sworn  enemies   and  the  epic confrontations between the two clans had

been going on for a very long time. The Vespers had recently gained the upper hand, forcing Amy and others to do their bidding by kidnapping a number of their friends and family members. If the Vespers were not given the items they demanded, many of which had required Amy and her friends to break into important institutions and steal various items —  including priceless works of art

—  then the hostages would be killed.

Now that all the items had been

delivered to the Vespers, not a single one of the hostages had been released. Indeed, the Cahills had just figured out that the

Vespers were planning to use the stolenitems to construct some sort of Doomsdaymachine. That’s what they were trying toprevent. And they also needed to find andrescue the hostages before the Vesperskilled them. None of it would be easy. Some of it might be impossible.

But Cahills never gave up, regardlessof the odds against them.

Amy put down her fork and said, “Okay, let’s just get everything straight. The Vespers have all the elements theyneed to build the Doomsday device. Therecan be no doubt of that.”

Jake added, “Right. The last pieceswere the ring-slash-gear thing and the Siffright documents.”

Amy found herself gazing longinglyat Jake and felt her heart beating faster. He

was so hot! And smart! And hot! But there was still Evan Tolliver. The fact was that

Amy cared for them both. And she thoughtthey both cared for her. She understoodthat at some point she would have to makea decision. She just wasn’t prepared to doit now.

She peeked once more at Jake. Butwhen she felt Dan’s annoyed gaze on hershe quickly got back her groove.

“Subduction zones,” she announced. “That’s the key. The Doomsday devicewill trigger some tectonic plate overloadand the result will be Armageddon withthousands, maybe millions of people dead. Does   everyone   agree   with   thatassessment?”

“Yes, even if it’s nuts,” said Jake. “The Vespers are seriously sick people.”

“Tell us something we don’t know,” snapped Dan. He was obviously still feeling a bit ticked off because Amy had pulled the serum out from under him. “The Vespers
 
specialize
 
in grossly evil stuff. It should be their motto. ‘Grossly Evil for Hire. World Destruction at Good Rates.’”

“Look, there’s no reason to get upset with each other,” said Amy, looking at Dan with a guarded expression. “We have to work
 
together
 
to get this done.”

“No argument there,” said Jake, who now gazed longingly at Amy. He was clearly as smitten with her as she was with him.

Dan caught this look and seemed ready to throw up. “Okay,” he said. “We know what
 
they
 
have. We know what
 
they
 
want to do. We know that
 
they
 
are not

going to release the hostages even though we did what they asked us to, because they’re slimy, stinking, lying Vespers. Now the question is: What do
 
we
 
do to stop them?”

The next comment came from Atticus. Eleven-year-old   Atticus   Rosenbloom didn’t much look like the last person left on earth whose task was to save the world

from destruction. He was small and sort of puny, but his brain was big and muscular and operating on about a 200 IQ. And he’d recently found out that he was the world’s last remaining Guardian, one of a group dedicated to keeping the Doomsday machine out of the wrong hands, meaning the Vespers’ hands.

Atticus said, “I just remembered something my mother told me. I’ve been

racking my brains for a long time now, trying to think of anything she said that might help us.”

His mother, Astrid Rosenbloom, a renowned scholar, had recently died. That was the awful bond that he and Dan shared —  losing their mothers. Dan and Amy’s parents had died in a fire set by Isabel   Kabra,   who   seemed   to   be competing neck-and-neck with Vesper One for the title of “Most Evil Person Alive.”

“What?” asked Dan. “What did she say?”

“It was when she was so ill and delirious. She kept gripping my hands and mentioning the name ‘Lewis’ and the name ‘Clark.’ She did it over and over. At first I

thought they were doctors who were

treating her when she was so sick. But then it just occurred to me that when you put their names together —”

Amy broke in. “Lewis and Clark, the explorers!”

“Right,” said Atticus.

“Okay,” said Jake. “But how do Lewis and Clark help us? They’ve been dead a long time. What could they possibly have to do with the Vespers and the Doomsday device?”

Atticus said, “But their work lives on. All the things they discovered. They’re in displays at museums all over the country, probably.”

Dan, who had gotten on his laptop and furiously clicked keys, looked up triumphantly. “And the largest collection of items gathered from the Lewis and

Clark expedition is housed at the National Museum of American History.”

Amy caught a breath. “And that’s in DC.”

“Where Isabel Kabra is heading rightnow,” added Dan gleefully.

“Which means that’s where we’re

headed, too,” replied Amy. “And if we’re lucky, we can nail Isabel in the process. If we do that, then maybe the entire Vesper plan collapses.”

“Do you really think so?” asked Jake doubtfully. “I mean, there are lots of other places Isabel could be traveling to in DC.”

Amy gazed at him, not longingly this time, but sternly. “Yeah, I really do.” She looked at everyone. “Start packing. We’re outta here.”

Everybody scattered to get ready forthe trip. When he was alone, Dan gotdown on his knees and reached under thecouch. He pulled out a silver flask. Insideit was a second dose of the serum. He had

made two as a precaution. Not because he thought Amy would sabotage what he had done, but because it was always good to have a Plan B. The serum had a very odd smell, which he disguised by adding a handful of red M&Ms. It wouldn’t do anything to adversely affect the serum, but it might make it taste better. He put the flask away in his knapsack.

As   he  finished  packing,   Dan’s intentions were clear. If it came to it, he would still take the serum. If there was no other way for the Cahills to stop the Vespers, he would die trying. It was just

how he was built. Sacrifice for the greater good was part of who he was, and who his sister was, too.

And next time, Dan would make sure that neither Amy nor anyone else would be able to stop him. He was going to beat the Vespers, even if it killed him.

He grabbed his bags, joined Amy and the others, and off they trudged to the train station to catch a ride to DC. And a possible confrontation with one of the deadliest, and meanest, people Dan had ever met.

You’re going down this time, Isabel

Kabra,
 
thought Dan as he got in the cab.

The breaths still came hard and fast for

some. And the tears were still falling. Alistair Oh had been dead only a short time and the grief still lay heavy and hurtful over all the remaining hostages. Understanding death was always hard. Premature death in close proximity was harder still to comprehend.

Nellie Gomez rubbed her healing but still painful shoulder and brushed her

filthy hair out of her face. It felt like years had passed since she had been snatched off the streets of Paris. She wasn’t sure exactly how much time had elapsed, but she had a sinking feeling that the odds of their ending up as Alistair had were growing by the minute.

She looked around at the other hostages.

Reagan Holt, normally the Energizer Bunny of the Tomas clan, was sitting on her haunches staring at her dirty sneakers. It looked like her batteries had finally run out.

Natalie Kabra, the fashion queen ofthe Lucian branch, sat looking equallymoody and depressed.

Nellie sort of blamed Natalie for her

wound. After all, it had appeared the

Vespers were going to shoot Natalie first,but a voice ordered them not to. So theyhad shot Nellie instead.

Thanks a lot,
 
Nellie thought as shegazed with unfriendly eyes at Natalie. Butthen again, Isabel had also shot Natalie inthe foot when they were all after the 39 Clues. And Natalie
 
had
 
managed to get thebullet out of Nellie’s shoulder when

Phoenix had failed to do so. Okay, she hadbeen able to do it because she was a greateyebrow-plucker   and   could   wieldtweezers like nobody’s business. And hereyes had been closed the entire time she’dsearched for the bullet because she’d beentotally grossed out by the gunshot wound. But still, she
 
had
 
gotten the bullet out.

And she’s probably missing herbrother, Ian,
  
thought Nellie.
 
But I’m

missing a lot of people, too.

Nellie’s gaze moved to the spot that Phoenix Wizard normally would have occupied.   Phoenix   had   died   while attempting to escape. At least he was free from the Vespers, but Nellie missed him a lot.

She next looked at Ted Starling. Theteenager gazed at nothing, literally. Badlyinjured during an explosion when lookingfor the 39 Clues, Ted could see only lightand dark, nothing else. But he was pluckyand had held up as well as any of thehostages.

The only other adult hostage Nellieworried about was Fiske Cahill. He and

Nellie were the guardians of Amy and Dan, and Fiske was the de facto head ofthe Madrigal branch and nearly seventy.

Long known as the Man in Black, and atough, tenacious dude, he looked, to Nellie, defeated.

I suppose I look beaten to everyone

else,
 
she thought.

Nellie was about to say something to Fiske when they heard the footsteps approach. Like wounded animals, each of the hostages instinctively hunkered down and slid as deeply into the shadows as they could. None of them ever took it as a good sign when that door opened.

All of them probably had the same thoughts running through their minds:
 
Is this it? Is today the day we die?

The door swung open. A voice called out, “We’re moving you. Get up!”

The hostages all slowly rose together as though tethered by rope.

Fiske Cahill said, “Where are wegoing?”

The voice said condescendingly, “What does it matter to you, old man?”

“Come close enough and I’ll showyou how well an old man can kick yourbutt.”

Nellie smiled. Now
 
that
 
was the Fiske Cahill she hoped still existed.

The voice said, “But before weleave, you have one more thing to do.”

“What?” blurted out Natalie.

“You get to say good-bye to yourlittle friends, Amy and Dan Cahill.”