AMBUSHED

“You have the handcuffs, right?” Ernie asked as they stumbled through the half-lit darkness.

Todd nodded.

The hallway led to a foyer where errant strands of light streamed through broken windows. The floor was covered with plaster, along with the shattered remains of a crystal chandelier. There were overturned furniture and piles of charred paper, but no slavers.

Hale was standing with her team in the middle of the mess. “They’re not here,” she said.

“What about upstairs?” Ernie asked. He didn’t bother whispering.

“Unless they can fly, I don’t see how they’d get up there. Look.” Hale pointed to a curved staircase that rose over the front desk. At one time it must have been an impressive sight, but it looked like a bomb had taken out half the steps.

“The elevator doesn’t work, either,” Tejan said. He was standing by the open doors looking down the shaft.

“So where are they?” Ernie asked.

“Are you looking for me, then?” asked a man standing on the balcony. He had a distinctly British accent, along with a robotic left arm that reminded Ernie of Doc Trimble’s. The man was also holding a rifle with a grenade launcher attached under the barrel.

The changelings looked to Ernie, waiting for orders. Ernie, however, didn’t say anything. His breath grew shallow as his chest constricted. He licked his dry lips once, then twice.

“What’s wrong?” the man asked. “Cat got your tongue?”

“Maybe you didn’t notice,” Ernie finally said, hoping he didn’t sound nervous, “but you’re kind of outnumbered.”

“Ah, you must be the famous Agent Thunderbolt,” the man said, lowering his weapon before he leaned casually on the rail. “The name is Barnabas Glover, though I believe you know my brother, Tom. After all, he’s in prison thanks to you.”

“How does he like his cell?” Ernie asked. It was an attempt to match Glover’s relaxed tone, but nervous sweat trickled down his cheek, betraying him.

“Oh, I don’t think he plans on staying too terribly long,” Glover said. “Now which one of you is the shape-shifter?” His eyes roved over the changelings like a hog buyer at the county fair.

“It doesn’t matter, because you’re going to join your brother tonight,” Ernie said.

Glover laughed. “Is that so?”

Ernie gritted his teeth.

“Do you know how much money I could get for the lot of you?” Glover asked. “I could make enough money that my great-grandchildren would never have to work.”

“Come and get us, then,” Yi said. Flames erupted in his hands.

“Actually, I’m willing to make you a deal,” Glover said before removing his hat. Then he wiped the sweat from his brow before replacing it. “All you have to do is hand over the shape-shifter, and I’ll let the rest of you walk away. It’s as simple as that.”

“We don’t make deals with slavers,” Ernie said.

“This is your last chance,” Glover said. “I’d hate for things to get ugly.”

Ernie crossed his arms over his chest.

“Don’t say I didn’t offer,” Glover said. He reached into a pocket inside his duster jacket and pulled out a small device. After he entered a code, a red light started to flash. Then sheets of metal rolled down to cover the windows and doors, blotting out the light.

The changelings were trapped.

Yi hurled a fireball at Glover. It struck the railing and exploded, sending the slaver ducking for cover. Yi’s next shot burst across the ceiling, drowning it in fire.

“That’ll cost you,” Glover said as he rolled to his knees. He took aim with his rifle. When he pulled the trigger, a canister exploded from his grenade launcher. The lid opened up, releasing a net.

In a blur of motion, Ernie darted across the room to grab a lamp. He threw it like a spear so the net wrapped around the lamp instead of Yi.

“Thanks,” Yi said.

“More slavers!” someone shouted.

Ernie spun around to see dark figures running through the shadows. One snuck up behind Nadya, who was preoccupied with shooting ice at any movement in front of her.

“Look out!” Ernie shouted. He stripped his backpack from his shoulders and pulled out a length of rope. Within a second, he leaped over a couch, ran around a pillar, and reached Nadya, just as the slaver was about to inject some kind of tranquilizing serum into her neck. Ernie wrapped the rope around the man’s shoulders again and again until the slaver couldn’t move his arms.

Ernie was moving so fast that the man didn’t realize what was happening until he was tied up. “Don’t move,” Ernie said after kicking him to the ground.

Nadya turned on the slaver. “You look a little hot,” she said. “Let me help you cool off.” She inhaled before a stream of liquid ice spat from her mouth to encase the man up to his neck. “One down,” she said.

Across the room, another slaver was pointing a dart gun at Geppetto, but the changeling just smiled. “What’s so funny?” the slaver asked.

“I don’t think you want to shoot me with that,” Geppetto said.

“You don’t?”

“Nah, I think you’re going to shoot yourself instead.”

The slaver’s eyes shot wide when his hand started to shake. As the barrel of the gun moved from Geppetto to his own neck, the slaver started to whimper. “Get out of my head! What are you doing to me?”

Geppetto narrowed his eyes. “Bang!” he shouted.

The slaver pulled the trigger, and the dart shot into his skin. He crumpled to the floor.

At the same time, Glover fired one of his nets at Hale, but she morphed into a hummingbird before darting out of the way.

“It looks like we found our shape-shifter!” Glover said.

“Heads up!” Yi shouted through the pandemonium. “They brought clocks!”

Ernie could see the burning eyes of a clockwork moving through the darkness. Fire burned inside its chest as steam poured out of two pipes lodged into its back. Denton was closest. He took three steps before launching himself at the clockwork. The momentum sent them rolling until they crashed into the front desk.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Glover aimed at the hummingbird. He fired a series of errant darts that disappeared into the shadows, skittering across the floor or sinking into the wall. Glover reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a canister that he loaded into the grenade launcher.

The clockwork threw Denton into a burning couch. The machine rose to its feet, ready to finish Denton off, but Hale had turned from a hummingbird into a grizzly bear. She was standing on her hind legs, roaring as her massive paws stretched wide. The clockwork hesitated as a dart caught Hale in the shoulder. Then a second hit her stomach. She staggered before morphing back to her natural form.

“That’s it, boys,” Glover called out as Hale collapsed. “Let’s wrap it up.” With that, he fired a net that fell over the changeling. Energy surged over the surface, sending her into convulsions.

“No!” Yi shouted. His body was wrapped in flames, and the air around him bent under the heat.

The clockwork picked Hale up and tossed her over its shoulder. Nadya tried to hit the machine with a blast of ice, but it didn’t work. The heat from Yi’s fire was eating up the moisture. Without it, her changeling ability was useless.

“We have to get out of here!” Todd screamed as the inferno spread. He was hiding behind a broken sofa with his brother. “This place is going to blow!”

“Everybody fall back!” Ernie said.

“Where?” Nadya asked. Her eyes were wild. “There’s no way out!”

The sound of cracking wood echoed through the foyer. Ernie looked up as a beam snapped in two before it fell. The ground shook as burning debris whipped through the air. One of the slavers brought the leg of a chair down on Denton’s back. Nadya was hit in the neck by a dart. Then Tejan fell.

Ernie didn’t see Glover’s net as it spun toward him. It wrapped around his body, causing him to lose his footing. Ernie fought to break free, but somehow his power was gone. The net had stolen his speed. He stopped struggling long enough to watch the clockwork that was carrying Hale disappear down a trapdoor and out of reach.