“This should lead us outside.”

No sooner are we army-crawling through the shaft than a massive explosion rocks us. We stop moving as the metal duct creaks and whines, both of us braced for the whole thing to collapse, but it holds.

We can hear screaming and sirens through the walls of the base. The fighting that I heard before has only intensified.

“Sounds like a war out there,” my dad says, crawling forward again.

“Did you bring the Garde?” I ask him, hopefully.

“No, Sam, it was just Adam and me.”

“Pretty amazing timing, Dad. You and the Garde all manage to show up at the exact same time?”

“I think this family was due for some good luck,” my dad replies. “Let’s just be thankful for the distraction and get the hell out of here.”

“It’s them fighting out there. I know it. They’re the only ones bold enough to attack a Mogadorian base.” I pause, forgetting about the danger for a moment, a giddy smile exploding onto my face as I realize my father just broke into a Mog base. “Dad,” I say, “I’m so glad to see you and everything, but you have so much explaining to do.”

CHAPTER THREE

AN ACRID CLOUD OF BLACK SMOKE BILLOWS OUT from the base. Sirens blare above the crackling of fire. I can hear footsteps beating across the pavement nearby, humans and Mogadorians shouting emergency orders. It’s chaos. And from the sound of explosions off in the distance, I could tell it wasn’t just confined to our section of the base either. Something big was going down around here—and that could only mean one thing.

That’s perfect. They’re too distracted to search for us right now.

“Where the hell are we?” I whisper.

“Dulce Base,” my dad answers. “Top-secret government base in New Mexico, co-opted by the Mogadorians.”

“How did you find me?”

“It’s a long story, Sam. I’ll tell you when we’re clear of this place.”

Slowly we inch our way along a back wall, trying to stay away from the commotion. We stick to the shadows, just in case any guards should peel away from the madness inside. My dad leads the way, clutching the bent steel grate from the ventilation shaft we climbed out of. It’s not much as far as weapons go, but it could do some damage. Still, it’s better if we avoid a fight. I’m not sure how much energy I have left after what we just went through.

My dad points into the darkness, beyond the collapsed wreckage of what used to be a watchtower, into the desert.

“Our ride is parked out there,” he says.

“Who knocked down that watchtower?”

“We did,” my dad answers. “Well, Adam did.”

“How—how is that possible? They aren’t supposed to have powers like that.”