mybest: we’re almost there.

He studied the wires ahead of him. The purple wires turned right just inside the doors of the institute.

The virtual blueprint spread out before him and Wayne. As they neared the entrance, the plan shifted from two to three dimensions. He and Wayne moved inside the guest entrance. Philby stayed alert for any other ways to get in.

Wayne’s avatar stopped at the edge of the doorway.

Philby typed a message to Wayne.

philitup: what’s wrong?

[ ]: i sense a trap.

philitup: why?

[ ]: we should have met more resistance, i am familiar with their tactics, this is unlike them.

philitup: maybe they’ve changed.

[ ]: not likely, the overtakers never rest, they are cunning and clever and they possess many spells.

i would suggest we look for another access point.

philitup: there’s no time, besides, the cables are right here.

[ ]: have you considered the cables themselves may be part of a trap?

Philby had not given it any thought. The data flow had convinced him he was following the right cables. If it was a trap, then Maybeck and Willa were also walking right into it.

[ ]: please…another door, it’s safer for all of us.

Philby hesitated, incredibly tempted to follow the cables. But Wayne had gotten him this far. He had to trust him. He backed his avatar out of the entrance, took his hands off the controls, and texted a message to Maybeck’s DS

philitup: if u can get backstage @ dino institute, u r looking 4 a rack of servers, there will b thick blue or gray ethernet cables clipped into the back of each server, there may be a hub—a box with flashing lights.

As his avatar stepped out of the structure, the schematics returned to two dimensions. He studied the full schematics. The biggest backstage areas were to the right.

philitup: workshops are @ end of ride, must destroy server.

He waited to make sure Maybeck had received the messages.

mybest: got it. . i hope.

58

THE APES AND MONKEYS ENCIRCLED FINN, closing around him like a net. How simple to cross over briefly into his DHI and just walk right through that hairy line, but it was not to be: he was terrified. He wasn’t going to cross over on his own.

He spun, looking for the weak link in the circle. He considered charging some of the smaller monkeys, breaking the line there and running for it. But they all were ferociously fast on their feet and, at the moment, baring their teeth in a display of aggression and anger.

He caught sight of Jez as she reached Charlene. Excitedly, the two girls worked it out to where Charlene was leaning her back against the wall, and the nimble Jez now climbed up the stilts—using them as a ladder—toward Charlene’s waiting hand. Finn looked away as the fingers of the two met, confident that Charlene would get Jez up and over to the other side.

“Over here!” a high-pitched voice called out.

Finn heard guests shout: “Check it out!” “Look at this!” “There are kids in with the tigers!”

Where had she come from? Finn wondered. It was Amanda. She was inside the tiger yard, the huge, prowling cat to her left, the circle of monkeys directly in front of her.

Disney Security would be on them in minutes. They had to get Jez—and themselves—out before they were either eaten by the tigers or caught by Security.

The other two cats arrived at the same time. They, too, began to circle, along with the tiger that escaped the hatch—a wider circle than the monkeys, one that included Amanda.

The escaped tiger still confused Finn: how had it gotten into the tunnel in the first place? Was the lower yard hatch open? If so, who had opened it?

Only the prowling tigress that had emerged from the shadows remained on her own, majestically moving with long, confident strides, restlessly back and forth. She seemed to be agitated, studying the commotion in her yard, calculating a strike.

Several of the monkeys spun around, distracted by Amanda, and broke their chain. Finn took advantage of the distraction and shot for the opening.

The two charging tigers turned at the last minute, now aiming for Amanda.

Finn took two steps toward her, intending to defend her, but then witnessed her leaving the ground. She levitated, floating higher and higher. The monkeys, carried by their own momentum, ran right through the space she had occupied. The two charging tigers leaped into the air, reaching their claws toward her. One caught the leg of her jeans, but there was no sound of tearing fabric. No scream.

The leaping tiger flew through the air and landed with a roll.

The slinking tigress sat back on her haunches and sprang for the charging tiger. It looked as if the tigress were trying to defend Amanda. The two tigers growled at the tigress and the three cats began to circle each other.

Ignored, Amanda lowered herself to the grass.

“The wall!” Finn called out to Amanda as he raised his stick toward the remaining two monkeys.

Amanda sprinted toward Charlene.

Finn turned his back in their direction, battling most of the monkeys, who darted about him trying to sink their teeth into his legs. He knocked them back with his stick, but apparently they barely felt it.

Looking over the heads of the monkeys, Finn saw the tigress swiping her huge claws at the other two grand cats. It looked as if the cats made contact, but none of them reeled with pain—they held their ground.

Charlene let out a squeal as Amanda climbed up her stilts; her hand had become caught between a stilt and the wall.

With that squeal, all three cats turned. One minute fighting each other; the next, acting like curious cats. They clearly saw the monkeys, then Finn, and finally the girl in the distance clambering up a wall.

They charged.

Finn had his hands full with the monkeys. He had not an ounce of strength nor a second of time to deal with three enormous cats barreling down toward him.

This is it, he thought. It was too late to turn and run. Too late to escape.

The cats were lightning fast. They seemed to pull the earth, and Finn with it, dragging him toward them. Without looking, the monkeys knew. They darted to their left, removing themselves from the tigers’ line of sight.

Finn readied his pathetic stick; it was all the defense he had. He was going to be eaten alive.

The two smaller tigers leaped into the air when just five yards away, perfectly calculating the distance. They would land on Finn, crushing him, then snap his neck with their powerful jaws and start the feast.

Finn braced for the end.

59

PHILBY’S AND WAYNE’S AVATARS HAD, only five minutes earlier, moved around the right wall of the Dino Institute, as it appeared on the virtual schematics.

philitup: if you helped create the place, how about a little hint of how to reach that room?

Near the south wall of the institute, the purple cables terminated. The blueprint showed a series of walls around them, but no door. So was the server in a closet? A workspace? The ceiling? The hiding place in the floor?

[ ]: computers came way after my time. I have no idea where that is.

philitup: none? are you sure? they don’t need much space, but it has to be a cool room, and they require a lot of cabling, so they would be over a tunnel or sewer, or—

[ ]: storm sewers.

Wayne’s avatar lifted its arm to point.

[ ]: I remember a meeting, years ago, where routing data lines over the storm sewer pipes was discussed, storm sewers carry the rainwater out of the park, the sewer lines are in maintenance conduits throughout the park.

philitup: but this is a server they want to hide, that they don’t want anyone to find.