I should’ve thought of that. Now that Adam’s jogged my memory, I realize that I saw this technology at work back at the West Virginia mountain base. When Setrákus Ra first arrived on Earth, his ship moved through the base’s force field like it wasn’t even there. When I tried to chase him down, the shield totally fried me.

“Would it be possible to strip that technology out of the Skimmers and put it into something else?” I ask Adam. “Like, for instance, a fighter jet?”

Adam considers this. “Possible, yes. But while it wouldn’t have to worry about the warship’s shields, it would still be targeted by the cannons.”

I remember what Ella showed me during our shared dream—the docking bay where she and Five tried to escape. Maybe we can use the Mogs’ own technology against them.

“We could get like ten people onto one of those Skimmers, right?” I ask next, considering a new plan of attack.

“Twelve, plus two pilots,” Adam answers quickly. “You’re considering a less obvious assault.”

“Yeah. If we could board one of those warships, how many people do you think we’d need to overtake it?”

There’s a bit of excitement in Adam’s voice now. “That would depend on how many of those people had Legacies. Have I mentioned, John, that when I was a child I dreamed about flying one of those warships?”

I smirk at that. “You might just get your chance, Adam. Thanks for the info. Can you put Six back on?”

Adam says good-bye and hands the phone back to Six.

“You think we should try boarding the Anubis?” Six asks me. “Sam was just encouraging me and the others to run as fast and as far from that thing as possible.”

“I’m not sure what we should do yet, but I want to know our options,” I reply. I look at Sam and can’t help frowning. He’s not going to like what I have to say next. “Stay put, Six. Help is on the way.”

A short time later, Sam and I walk along the pier, looking for Agent Walker. Wherever she went with those two army guys and their civilian, it’s taking longer than expected. Up ahead, there’s a large military presence on the concrete dock that juts into the East River. When we arrive, a small group of soldiers are hard at work pulling empty kayaks from the water and dumping them in a pile out of the way so that the military ships have a clear place to dock. This place wasn’t exactly designed for battleships. In the last twenty-four hours, it’s been turned into something of a staging area, with a bunch of navy destroyers floating ominously in the narrow waterway, their guns pointed at the smoking remains of downtown Manhattan.

“How’s Malcolm doing?” I ask Sam. He made a short call to his dad after we got off the phone with Six.

“Mostly relieved that we’re alive. And very excited about my new . . . thing,” Sam replies, glancing around to make sure no one’s listening. “He and the FBI agents Walker left behind got scooped up by the government during the evacuation of Washington. I guess he’s getting the VIP bunker treatment. They’ve got him in the same underground complex as the president.”

“Maybe he could put a good word in for us.”

“I told him,” Sam says. “Right now, he says they think he’s some crazy scientist that specializes in aliens with a lot of pets.”

“The Chimærae.”

“Dad thinks it’s best if they pass as normal animals for now. I know we’ve decided to trust Agent Walker’s little group of rebels, but there’s more than just her crew in Washington. Some of the scientists down there, well, Dad thinks they might be a little too curious about alien biology.”

I think about how Adam rescued the Chimærae from Mogadorian experimentation. Much as I want to trust that the U.S. government is better than that, I don’t. “That’s smart,” I reply. “Keep them from getting dissected or something until we need them. In the meantime, they can look after your dad.”

“Yeah . . .” Sam trails off. I can tell there’s something else he’d rather be talking about, mostly because he hasn’t let up since we got off the phone with Six. “John, I still can’t believe you told them to stay down there.”

I’m planning to call Six back once I figure out how much support I can drum up from Walker and the government. At least until then, they’re staying put at the Sanctuary. They’ve got some time until Setrákus Ra shows up. “You honestly think Six would’ve retreated if I told her to?” I reply. “I don’t like putting them in danger either, Sam, but . . .”

“John, come on. The Anubis almost killed us yesterday! We were like ants against that thing. Not even there. What chance do they have?”

“Ella told me Setrákus Ra wants what’s inside the Sanctuary, which I’m assuming is this Loric Entity Six told us about. We can’t just let him go there unopposed. Nothing good can come of him getting what he wants.”

“But how are they going to fight him off? What good is going to come of them staying down there?” Sam asks, raising his voice. “They can’t even hurt him. Not without—”

“I know what the situation is, Sam,” I snap, losing my cool. “We’re going to find a way to get down there and help them, all right? Ella showed me—she showed me the Sanctuary, she told me to warn Six and the others and she also told me that we can win. That she’s seen a way. It all starts there.”