Michael Vey 3 ~ Battle of the Ampere Read Online Free PDF Page A

said. He turned to the tribesmen. “Feichang, sye sye.”
    They slightly bowed. “Bukechi,” they replied. They immediately paddled away from the shore until they were in the middle of the river and headed upstream.
    “Those guys are strong,” I said. “They didn’t even rest.”
    Jaime turned back to me. “They have not time to rest,” Jaime said. “Neither do we. Come. Vámonos!”
    We followed him through a path in the trees that quickly disappeared, overgrown with foliage and snarled tree roots that rose like snakes through the jungle’s dark soil. Even though it was morning, beneath the canopy it was dark enough that Tessa and I could see our glows.
    We had hiked more than an hour into the jungle when the foliagein front of us suddenly lightened into a small clearing, exposing an elaborate campsite built next to a stream.
    “We are home,” Jaime said.
    “It’s not my home,” Tessa said, looking around.
    I surveyed the camp with wonder. “How did you get all this stuff back here?”
    “With much work,” Jaime said. “This is our base to monitor the Elgen.”
    The camp consisted of two large nylon tents, a cooking spit, a generator next to at least a dozen plastic gas cans, and a metal communications tower that rose as high as the trees but no higher. About fifteen yards from the camp Jaime suddenly stopped, holding his hands out. “ Alto .”
    In spite of my B+ in Mrs. Waller’s eighth-grade Spanish, I didn’t recognize Jaime’s command to stop, and Tessa and I just kept walking.
    “I’m starving,” Tessa said. “I hope he’s got something to eat.”
    Jaime lunged at me, grabbing me by the arm. “ Párate! Stop! Do not walk any farther.”
    I hadn’t seen him coming for me and instinctively pulsed. Jaime screamed as he fell to the ground. I looked down at him. He was holding his arm and moaning. “ Ay caramba, caramba, caramba!”
    “I didn’t mean to do that,” I said. “It’s just habit.”
    “You are worse than the anguila ,” Jaime said, still grimacing with pain. “You must not walk any farther.” From the ground Jaime pointed toward a twitching pile of fur lying near the second tent. “See? It is a trap.”
    “Who would set a trap out here?” I asked.
    “I did. It is a safety.”
    “A safety?” Tessa replied. “I think you’re using that word wrong.”
    Jaime rose to his knees. He picked up a fallen branch on the ground and threw it into the clearing ten feet in front of us. There was an immediate eruption of gunfire and bullets that tore through the wood, shredding it into slivers.
    “Whoa,” I said.
    “That totally could have been us,” Tessa said. “Swiss cheese.”
    “That is my safety to make sure no one enters my camp when I am gone. Before we go in I must deactivate the sensor.”
    “I’m for that,” Tessa said.
    Jaime took a small, black cylindrical object out of his pocket. It was about the shape and size of a lipstick tube, with a single red button on top. He pushed it. “It is safe now.”
    Looking at the quivering animal near the edge of the clearing, I wasn’t about to step into the firing zone. “Are you sure it’s off?”
    “Yes. Look.” He lifted another piece of wood and threw it into the clearing. This time nothing happened. “It is turned off.” He pointed toward the gun. “There is no light on the turret.” He climbed back to his feet and stepped forward, still rubbing his shocked arm. “We are safe. I will go first.”
    He walked into the clearing, with Tessa and me close behind.
    “That was pretty cool,” I said. “How does it work?”
    “It is simple, amigo. There are two guns.” He led me to one of the machines. The turret was run by electric motors mounted onto steel pipes that Jaime had wrapped up in leaves. The contraption looked simple enough, and my first thought was that Ostin could probably build one of these from spare parts he had in his bedroom. The thought of that made me miss him.
    “It is a robotic sentry