“But there’s only one seat,” Raven protested.
“It can carry us both.” According to Max, it was rated for up to five hundred pounds, but they’d only tested it with one rider so far.
She sat on the seat amid the propellers, which were shielded by safety covers. She cinched the seat belt and wrapped her arms around Juan’s waist.
“Wait a minute,” she said, “where are the controls?”
“There aren’t any,” Juan said. “Saves weight. Max, tell Gomez were ready.” Gomez, who was still in the Gator, was controlling the Hoverbike remotely as he did all of their other drones.
“Roger that. He says, hold on.”
Then three things happened simultaneously: the gyro-stabilized HOB lifted off, the guards who had been locked inside the prison facility—led by a large man who had to be Warden Yudin—emerged from the darkness of the shed with weapons ready, but a series of massive explosions began shattering the ground below them before they could fire.
“Get us up!” Juan yelled into his comm mic.
The Hoverbike shot up. Raven gripped Juan even tighter and pressed herself against him to keep from falling off.
As the HOB cleared the trees, the guards below them were running in every direction to get away from the blast zone, but it was too late. The shed blew apart, sending shards of shrapnel hurtling into the air. The HOB wobbled from the blast wave, but Gomez’s skill kept them aloft. A large chunk of the shed that might have reached the HOB was blocked by the trunk of the nearest palm tree. A few small pieces hit Juan and Raven, but nothing big enough to hurt them.
At the same time, the ground rose several feet as the blast heaved it up. Then it collapsed back down as the shed caved in and what remained of the structure tumbled into the crater left by the blast before being lost in the cloud of dust. Trees surrounding the clearing started to fall into the gaping maw opening beneath them.
“You okay?” Juan shouted to Raven.
She was still clutching Juan with a death grip. “Yes, but I’ll be happier when we’re off this thing.”
“But doesn’t this give us a chance to get to know each other a little better, don’t you think?”
“I’m not enjoying this!” she yelled in his ear. “You better not be, either.”
“Not at all.” It was probably good that she couldn’t see his smile.
“You guys okay?” Max asked. “We didn’t think to install a camera facing the rider.”
“We’re hanging in here,” Juan said. “What about the others? Everyone make it out okay?”
“It was close, but no casualties. We’re just about to start bringing the former prisoners onto the ship.”
“Some of them might be in bad shape. Make sure Doc Huxley is ready for them.”
“She’s already got her team prepped. You want Gomez to set you down somewhere near where you are?”
“Yes!” Raven shouted. “Get me off this.”
“No,” Juan countermanded. “There’s nothing left here. Besides, I don’t think there are any other clearings big enough to land. The previous one is now a hole in the ground. Bring us back to the Oregon.”
“We’re already next to the pier. We’ll have you on board in a minute.”
The Hoverbike turned smartly and accelerated toward the Oregon, which Juan could now see over the trees.
While they cruised above the jungle, Raven said, “Lyla and the others were lucky we came along when we did. They were going to die on this rock. But why? What were they doing here?”
“Good questions,” Juan said. “I can’t wait to hear the answers.”
TWENTY-EIGHT
LIMASSOL, CYPRUS
The closest airport to the southern coastal city of Limassol that could handle Xavier Carlton’s personal A380 was Larnaca International, nearly an hour’s drive to the east. He had no intention of spending that much time on a crowded highway, so he chartered a helicopter to shuttle him, Lionel Gupta, and Natalie Taylor to Limassol’s port, where the Colossus 5 was having its replacement satellite dish installed. They were now flying along the coastline where farmland met the azure sea.