I nodded. We were pretty dang pampered. I mean, compared with our usual glamorous life of sleeping in subway tunnels and eating out of trash cans.
“But it seems weird to be up in the air and not...outside, you know? And I miss—” She stopped, biting her lip.
“Me too,” I said quietly. “But I’m sure they’re fine. And I’m sure we’ll see them again soon.” Because I was going to track them down like dogs after my mission was over. I was gonna rag on Fang about this for the rest of his life. He couldn’t get rid of me that easily.
“I hope nothing goes wrong with this plane,” Nudge whispered. “It seems kind of...unnatural for a machine to be, like, up in the air. I don’t get how it’s staying up.”
“It’s got honking big engines on it,” I said, decisively clarifying the situation for her in my leaderly way. “But I tell you what—if something happens to this plane, the four of us will be the ones who make it.”
Nudge’s face cleared. “Oh, yeah. I didn’t think of that.”
“Now, rest up before our British invasion.”
69
Cushy seven-hour respite aside, it was time
to get down to business once we landed at London’s Heathrow Airport. We had gone the whole flight without anyone turning into an Eraser and attacking us, and the plane hadn’t dropped out of the sky like a lead weight, so it was an excellent start.
For a few moments after we got off, I paused, hoping that maybe the Voice would cut me a break and give clear and followable instructions.
But no. The Voice was MIA, and we were on our own.
Which was fine. I’d gotten us all this far. The Voice was a recent phenomenon, and as far as I was concerned, it could stay gone.
“Okay,” I said, clapping my hands. My miniflock gathered around me. “The first thing we should do is find an Internet café, get on the Web, and Google Itex in England. Even if we don’t find them by name, we’ll probably see other links that can help us.”
“Whoa, whoa, hold the phone,” said Total. “We’re in London. Are you telling me we’re not going to go see the Crown Jewels?”
“And the Tower of London?” Angel added.
“Ooh, look—Madame Tussauds!” Nudge said, pointing at a poster on a kiosk. “We’ve got to go there!”
Once again I was nonplussed by my flock’s ability to completely put aside the fact that we were fighting for our lives. For the lives of the entire world.
Frowning, I pressed on. “Itex probably has its main offices in the suburbs, not right in the city.”
“Buckingham Palace,” Ari startled me by saying. “With the guys in the funny fur hats.”
“Yeah, yeah, Buckingham Palace!” Nudge agreed without looking at him.
I drew in a breath, ready to start issuing commands.
You know, when you’re right, that’s all you get to be, said the Voice.
“What the heck does that mean?” I asked, irritated.
“Buckingham Palace,” Nudge explained. “Where the queen lives. And Mr. Queen.”
“No, no, not you,” I muttered. I leaned against a wall and closed my eyes for a second. You wanna explain that? I thought. Or is that one of those kung fu koans I’m supposed to meditate on at the top of a mountain? Ommm.
“Max?” Angel asked. “Do you have a headache?” She sounded worried.
“No, I’m okay,” I said. “Gimme a minute. And keep an eye out.”
My flock waited patiently, unlike me. I was ready to rake my fingernails down the wall.
Yes, you should pursue your mission, said the Voice, miraculously answering me. But you haven’t learned how to balance your leadership. You have to lead, but you must also listen.