The Guard Read Free Page B

to the floor.
    “He gave you this?” I ask.
    “Pittacus did, yes,” Malcolm says. “Though I’m afraid he didn’t give me any instructions other than to keep it safe. He was wounded and . . . do you know what it is?”
    I pull my laptop out of my bag and find a connector cable from one of the old Loric data pads. It slides into a port at the bottom of the white tablet, connecting it to my computer. Within seconds I’ve got a map of Earth pulled up on the device.
    “How did you . . .” He trails off.
    “I’m good with computers,” I murmur. “And I used these once or twice back on Lorien.”
    There are blue blips pulsing across the planet. Blue blips that represent people. Ten in all. Could this be the nine Garde plus one more? Maybe Ella? Given her parents’ powers, I wouldn’t be surprised if she developed gifts early on.
    Or is there another that I’m not accounting for?
    And there are two triangles too. One triangle is in Egypt—my crashed rocket. The second lies in the southwestern United States.
    The other ship.
    My pulse quickens until I can feel it throbbing at my temples.
    “Do you know this area?” I ask.
    Malcolm leans over my shoulder. “Let’s see. That looks like it would be . . . Oh.” He snorts a little. “Yes. I believe that’s where the Dulce Base is supposed to be located. A secret government operation. Most people are more familiar with Area 51, but this is no tourist trap like Roswell.”
    “Dulce,” I say to myself. That makes sense. If the American government stumbled across Janus’s ship, they’d likely want to keep it hidden. At least that means it’s not in Mog hands.
    “What’s in Dulce?” Malcolm asks.
    “This is perfect,” I say, ignoring him. “I’ll get the ship back. With this tablet I could easily collect the Garde too.”
    “You can’t,” Malcolm says, shaking his head rapidly. “They have to stay separated.”
    “They won’t stand a chance against the Mogs if they’re found alone,” I say.
    Something flashes on Malcolm’s face. He shakes his head a little.
    “You don’t know about the protection that’s been placed on them, do you?” he asks.
    I narrow my eyes. “I think we need to have a very long talk, Malcolm Goode.”

CHAPTER THREE
    I KNEW THE ELDERS MUST HAVE BEEN UP TO something when they’d sent Garde to this planet. I’d even assumed that they’d in some way endanger the young Loric in the name of the greater good—the sort of thing I expected from Lorien’s rulers. Never did I imagine that they would give these nine children the order in which they would die and call it “protection.” In terms of survival, maybe it makes sense. But all I can do is think of the poor, unlucky kid who was picked to be Number One. What kind of burden is that to carry around with you?
    These nine Garde—somehow they’re to be the saviors of our people. That helps explain why the Mogadorians have come to Earth: if the escaped Garde will one day bring Lorien back to power, it’s not a stretch to assume that they might do so by somehow toppling those who destroyed our planet to begin with. Of course the Mogswant to eradicate them.
    It’s obvious now why they separated. The reason they’ve scattered so far, these tiny blips on my screen located across this planet. I’d been wary of reuniting them, but now I see for certain that this would be dangerous for everyone. The Mogs could take them out in a single attack that way, destroying all the children at once. Better that they stay separate. At least for now. At least until they’re older and stronger, with Legacies to fight with. I hope their Cêpans are skilled—that they’ve been given the strongest, most capable Mentors from our planet.
    I have to let them be. As much as I hate to do it, I have to rely on the wisdom of the Elders and the capabilities of the Cêpans. Even seeking the Garde out individually would mean I was running the risk of leading the Mogs right to them, no matter how