Page 52 of The Fall of Five (Lorien Legacies 4)

Malcolm takes the papers, frowning. “I spent time in captivity, but I never learned their language. ”

“Pretty sure there’s some translating software on Sandor’s computer,” offers Nine. “Doubt it has Mogadorian, though. ”

Malcolm runs a hand over his beard, still looking over the papers. “There are patterns here, like with all languages. This can be cracked. If you show me that software, I may be able to use it. ”

Everyone around the table looks nervous. It’s the first whiff of the Mogadorians we’ve had since battling them in Arkansas.

“This doesn’t change anything,” I say. “Whatever is in those documents, I’m sure it’s something the Mogadorians don’t want us to know. It’s something we can use to our advantage. But, until we know for sure, we press on with the plan we’ve already made. Get some rest, everyone; we leave for Florida in the morning. ”

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

I STAND OVER MY FATHER’S SHOULDER AS HE scans the Mogadorian documents into Sandor’s computer system. Once the documents are scanned, my dad loads up some translating software along with some kind of hacker program that’s supposed to be able to crack through firewalls and crap like that.

“Do you think you’ll be able to translate it?” I ask.

“The first step was figuring out which program to use. ”

“And did you?” I notice that my dad’s opened and minimized a copy of iTunes. I tap the screen. “Were you going to listen to some music?”

“I—they didn’t have iTunes when I was taken. I thought it might . . . ” My dad shrugs self-deprecatingly. “I’ll admit to some trial and error, okay?”

“So now what?”

“I’m approaching it from every angle. All languages—even alien ones—share some commonalities. It’s just a matter of isolating one and using it to decode the rest of the writing. ” He looks over his shoulder at me. “This is pretty boring stuff, Sam. You don’t need to keep me company. ”

“No, it’s cool,” I say. “I want to. ”

“Really?” he asks, looking me over. “It looks to me like you had other plans. ”

Observant as always. I’m dressed in what passes as my best outfit considering I’ve only got like three options. It’s just a boring gray sweater and my least grungy pair of jeans. I’d been psyching myself up to do like John said, to try to have a conversation with Six about my feelings, carpe diem and all that. This latest crisis, even if it just involves paperwork, is a pretty good excuse to put that off.

“They can wait,” I say lamely, making a show of studying the computer

screen as various language samples scroll by.

“Hmm. ” My dad smiles gently, looking back to the screen himself. “You know, they’re off to Florida tomorrow. After that, there will surely be another mission. And who knows what intel we might glean from these documents. A lot happening. ”

“What’s your point?”

“It might be awhile before we have another quiet night like this one,” he says. “Don’t put it off, Sam. ”

I find Six on the penthouse roof, which is apparently the hot spot for Garde who want to be alone. It’s night and the wind is stronger up here than normal, probably on account of Six messing with the weather. Both her hands are raised and as she moves them back and forth the sky responds; it reminds me of art class, the way paint would swirl together when we mixed watercolors. Six is doing that to the clouds. If there are any weathermen watching the skies tonight, they’re probably pretty freaked out.

I don’t say anything at first, not wanting to interrupt. I stand next to Six and watch her, the wind whipping her black hair across her face, bathed in the blinking red lights that line the roof. There’s a small smile creeping up on the corners of her mouth. If I didn’t know her better, I’d say Six was actually feeling content.

Slowly, almost like she regrets stopping, Six lowers her hands and looks at me. The wind dies down immediately, the clouds resuming their normal lazy course across the night sky. I feel like I’m interrupting something.

“Hey. You didn’t have to stop. ”

“It’s cool. What’s up?” she says. “Did your dad figure out those documents already?”

“Um, no, nothing’s up. I just wanted to talk to you. ”

“Oh,” Six replies, looking back up at the sky. “Sure. ”

“It’s no big deal,” I say hurriedly, feeling stupid. “You can go back to practicing or whatever. I’ll leave you alone. ”

“No, stay,” she says suddenly. “Being cooped up in that penthouse all the time is hard for me. Ever since I developed this Legacy, I’ve felt connected to the weather. I like to keep in touch with it, if that makes sense. ”

“Yeah, totally,” I reply, as if I understand the first thing about being connected to the weather. “You did really great in training today. I’m sorry I screwed up. ”

“Come on, Sam,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Enough apologizing already. Is that really what you came up here to talk about?”

“No,” I reply, sighing. Screw it. I decide to just take John’s advice and go for it. “I was wondering if you’d like to—uh, I don’t know—hang out sometime?”

So, maybe not my smoothest attempt at asking someone out. Six playfully arches an eyebrow. “Hang out? We practically live on top of each other in there. We hang out all the time. ”

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