Free Island of the Sun by Matthew J. Kirby Page B

introduced the man, a tall, gangly guy with curly hair, as Flaco, and the woman as Gabriela. She wore a battered leather jacket that could not possibly have looked as cool on anyone else as it did on her, and had her long, thick hair up in a chaotic knot. Flaco carried a couple of duffel bags with him, one in each hand.
    â€œIs the G.E.T. after you?” Gabriela asked.
    â€œWhat makes you say that?” Luke asked.
    Eleanor didn’t remember them saying anything about the G.E.T. to Arturo.
    â€œThey’re outside the airport,” Gabriela said. “Lots of them, just sitting in their cars like they’re waiting for something.”
    â€œWaiting for clearance from the government,” Eleanor’s mom said.
    Eleanor wondered what would happen if they decided not to wait. Not to mention the fact that Dr. Powers and Finn and Julian were still out there in the city.
    â€œWe need to hurry,” Luke said.
    Within minutes, Gabriela and Flaco were scurrying around and under and over the plane, wielding the different sensors and equipment they’d brought with them. It didn’t take long for them to find the tracking device, or rather devices, since it turned out the G.E.T. had placed two of them in different parts of the plane. They resembled little metallic turtles.
    â€œThey really want to find you,” Gabriela said.
    â€œAnd now,” Luke said, “thanks to you, they can’t.”
    â€œI wouldn’t say that,” she said, and held up one of the tracking devices. “But they won’t find you with these. We’ll leave them running and plant them on another plane about to take off. Throw them off your scent and buy you some time.”
    â€œMuch obliged,” Luke said, and then Eleanor and the others each thanked them in turn. After Flaco and Gabriela left, Arturo and Luke stepped off to the side for a private conversation that lasted a couple of minutes. They concluded it with a quick embrace, and then Arturo left as well. “Let’s get on board,” Luke said. “Time to go.”
    â€œBut Finn and Julian aren’t back with Dr. Powers,” Eleanor said.
    â€œWhat?” Luke stopped and drilled his fingers through his shaggy hair, which had started to go lank.Eleanor was sure she looked no better. They all needed baths. “I hadn’t even noticed,” Luke said. “Been so wrapped up in cleaning
Consuelo
.”
    â€œI’m sure they’ll be back any moment,” Eleanor’s mom said.
    â€œThey should have been back by now,” Luke said.
    â€œWhat do we do?” Betty asked.
    â€œDoc seemed to know what he was doing,” Luke said. “Guess we wait.”
    T he sun had been down for a couple of hours, and the city had changed its clothes and become its nighttime alter ego. Eleanor could hear the sounds of music, and see the lights, from where she stood in the hangar doorway, watching and waiting. Luke had gone aboard
Consuelo
to take the opportunity for some sleep. Eleanor’s mom and Betty sat in the folding chairs, talking sparingly. Still, neither of them seemed to be as worried as Eleanor was.
    She paced back and forth, rubbing her folded arms as the night air grew chilly. Still nowhere near as frigid as the Arctic, or even Phoenix, but cold enough that she felt goose bumps rising.
    â€œCome sit down, sweetie,” her mom called to her.
    â€œThe G.E.T. is out there!” Eleanor rooted herself. “Aren’t you worried?”
    â€œI am,” her mom said. “But there’s not much we can do right now. Worry about the things you can change. Dr. Powers is—”
    â€œSo he’s back to being Dr. Powers?” Eleanor asked, feeling her anxiety denature into anger.
    â€œYou can keep reading into what I call him all you want,” her mom said. “It’s not going to change anything.”
    Betty had gone still next to Eleanor’s mom, hands in her