The Gifted Read Online Free PDF Page B

room. He never did.
    We sat down in chairs around the table. “You
are now ready to hear about your mission,” he said. “You already
know why you were chosen. The four of you were kidnapped, or nearly
kidnapped, and the people responsible are still out there. They
know where you live, so your objective is to get information so we
can find out what all this is about and put a stop to it.”
    “Psst,” I said into thin air, “What's
objective mean?”
    The air said back, “It's the thing you're
trying to do.”
    “Got it,” I said. “Thanks, Guido.”
    “You are going to board a jet and be flown to
this location,” he said, and he pulled down a map and pointed to a
place in the middle of the ocean. “There is a small island here
named Nandu in the southern Pacific Ocean.” He pointed to nothing
you could see in the ocean. “The whole island is six square miles
in size, and is mostly uninhabited.
    “Psst,” I said, “What’s uninhabited?”
    “It means almost no one lives there.” Guido
again.
    “You will be dropped off here,” he said
pointing at some place in the ocean. “You have all been instructed
in scuba diving I hear. You will swim undetected through an
underground cavern where you will come up in an area with guards
just outside their facility.”
    Like a shot, I raised my hand like I was in
class. “Yes, Andy?” he said, looking annoyed.
    “What are we going to do about the guards?” I
asked.
    “I was going to come to that,” he said.
Turning to face no one in particular he said, “I hear Guido is in
the room. Am I right?”
    “That's right, General,” said Guido from
somewhere behind me again.
    “Guido, while the others stay hidden
underwater I want you to strip down to your skivvies and sneak past
them.”
    “My what?” asked Guido.
    “Your underwear,” said General Garcia. “Your
wet suit can keep you from getting stung or scraped, but once you
get out it will make it hard to walk undetected if you’re dripping
water. Since you will only be wearing underwear under the wetsuit,
you can keep those on if you dry off completely after getting out
of the water.”
    “You’re kidding,” said Guido. “Remember,
there’s a girl here!”
    The general continued, “After you take out
the guards. . .”
    “Take out the what?” said Guido. “How am I
supposed to do that?”
    “You have been trained in various forms of
combat, have you not?”
    “Yes, but I didn't know I was going to be
using them!”
    “Well then,” said the general, “this will be
good real-life practice for you—something to get you into the mood
of the thing. Doesn’t every boy dream of adventures like this?”
    “Sure,” said Guido. “But most of us want it
to stay in our dreams, where it’s safe!”
    The general continued as if he hadn’t heard
Guido. “Once you have disabled the guards, you can go back for
everyone else. Then you can change into the clothes you brought
with you and sneak into the facility together.”
    “You will all follow that corridor to the end
where there is a ladder. This may be some kind of an escape exit
they use in case of emergencies. You will go up the ladder and
through a trapdoor. Our knowledge ends there. We are not sure what
you will find after that, but your goal is to act like new
recruits. Our information tells us that they have quite a lot of
kids your age there, and not a lot of organization, so just blend
in the best that you can. Since you all have these gifts, they will
assume you belong there, and probably wouldn’t even mind if you
didn’t, as long as you have gifts. Just don’t do anything that will
draw attention to yourselves.”
    “You will have to use your wits and be
careful. Use the gifts you have been given when you need to. Guido
can go virtually unseen. Andy could walk up to his greatest enemy
and his enemy would buy him a cheeseburger and watch him eat it
with a smile on his face. Tracy, you have been working on a
diversionary tactic, I've