Free Kingdom Keepers V (9781423153429) by Ridley Pearson

from place to place. We send in a strike team: no server. We’ve repeated this pattern, well…repeatedly. The only consistency in the pattern is that the IP address holds to coastal cities like Boca and Miami. That brings us to the more urgent topic at hand.” He surveyed the faces gazing up at him. So young, he thought, recalling his own youth and the heady days leading up to his career with Disney. “The upcoming cruise has been well publicized, as has your participation in it.”
    The Keepers had connected a comment Maleficent had recently made to one of Jess’s drawings of a uniformed officer. At the time, it had seemed as if Maleficent intended to steal the Magic ––a Disney cruise ship. Now, the reminder of the upcoming cruise made Finn wonder if they’d gotten the ship wrong. Was it the Dream ? Was it the cruise they were all about to take?
    Finn interrupted. “But you told me the cruise was no big deal!”
    â€œThings change, Finn.”
    Finn shuddered. Wayne had said it so condescendingly. Like he wanted to humiliate Finn in front of the others.
    â€œSecurity on the Dream , as with all our cruise ships, is the best in the business,” Wayne continued. “Better than any other line. But I put nothing past the Overtakers. Disappearance is the most convenient form of murder.”
    Amanda whispered to Jess, and they both looked over at Wayne.
    â€œI don’t love the sound of that,” Maybeck said.
    â€œA man overboard is a body never found,” Wayne said. “It has never happened on a Disney cruise ship, but it has on others.”
    â€œThat guy who threw his wife over the rail,” Jess said.
    â€œAmong several others,” Wayne said. “Yes. Should the Overtakers find a way to get aboard, or send their agents…”
    â€œOTKs,” Philby said.
    â€œIt would make for an easy way for them to do away with at least a few of you.”
    â€œLousy Luowski is not a murderer,” Finn said. “A tool, yes. But not a murderer.”
    â€œBut if under a spell?” Wayne asked. “Can we be so certain these kids are acting of their own accord when they are attempting such heinous acts as poisoning and Tasering?”
    â€œThey’re under spells?” Finn said.
    â€œDo you have a more suitable explanation?” Wayne asked. “Finn, you watched that silly recruitment video. You think that explains how Maleficent has been able to enlist so many students so quickly? By some counts they have dozens.”
    A unison gasp filled the room. This was new information to all, including the Keepers.
    â€œThen what?” Finn said.
    â€œI have no proof,” Wayne said.
    â€œBut you suspect something.”
    â€œI suspect it’s not a video, but a spell. I suspect she ‘owns’ them.”
    For a moment only the joyful sounds of the park could be heard.
    â€œI have no proof,” Wayne repeated quickly.
    â€œThe green eyes are proof,” Finn said. “They aren’t contact lenses. I got close enough to one of them to see.”
    Another group gasp.
    â€œWait a second! Are you saying any kid aboard the Dream could be a potential murderer?” Willa asked.
    â€œThe desire to reduce your numbers, your effectiveness, cannot be ignored,” Wayne said. “We are considering all options.”
    â€œDHIs,” Philby said. “Version 2.0. If they throw our DHIs overboard, all we have to do is return. No harm. No foul.”
    Looking squarely at Finn, as if warning him, Wayne spoke. “There’s always one in every crowd.” For years that “one” had been Finn; he’d nearly always been the first to understand a given situation. Was Wayne cautioning him that his standing as the leader of the Keepers was not to be taken for granted? Philby always had the jump on technical stuff. His jumping to such a conclusion was to be expected! Wasn’t it?
    â€œWith