Captured (The Prometheus Project Book 2) by Douglas E. Richards

something.”
    “Thanks,” said Ryan, rolling his eyes. “I appreciate the confidence,” he added miserably.
    They tried for several minutes to come up with a rescue plan, but failed to think of any that would give them even a slight chance of success. Finally, they decided to go back to the alien school to see if they could activate the Teacher the way they had the first time. The Teacher had been restricted from helping them, or even speakingwith them, but surely in this situation the Qwervy would be willing to make an exception.
    They made their way to the school building but were unable to activate the Teacher no matter what they tried. They were disappointed, but not entirely surprised.
    They were also keenly aware that the clock was ticking.
    They walked to a few solid cubes that were next to each other in the schoolroom and sat down. The instant they sat the cubes became liquid-like and surrounded their bodies in perfect comfort. They felt as if they were floating in warm water, only it was even more soothing, and they didn’t bob around or get wet.
    “Remember when you sat down on one of these cubes our first day in this city?” said Ryan. “And how surprised you were they turned out to be chairs?”
    “Yeah. How could I forget? It was right before we found the Teacher.”
    Ryan nodded and thought back to that day. Their mother had been near death, the team had vanished, and they thought they might be trapped in the city forever. It had been hopeless. Almost as hopeless as their current situation. But they had never stopped fighting, even for an instant. They had never stopped thinking. They had never given up.
    And they would not give up now, vowed Ryan. There had to be a way to rescue the captives. Think , heordered himself. He slapped the palm of his hand gently against his forehead several times in a futile effort to jump-start his brain. Think!
    He lowered his hand to a small table beside him in total frustration. He was getting nowhere.
    But just a few seconds after his hand touched the table his eyes brightened and a smile came over his face. The answer was so simple he was embarrassed he had not thought of it sooner. But then again, answers always seemed obvious once you had found them.
    “Regan,” he said, his voice more hopeful than it had been in some time now. “I have a plan. We just might be able to pull this off, after all.”

C HAPTER 12
Globe Attack
    R egan crouched on one side of the hole that Major Manning had shot in the bright-orange ceramic wall. Carefully, she brought the razor-sharp, nine-inch knife she had retrieved from a supply cabinet sideways to her mouth. She clamped down on its blade with her teeth, with the sharp edge pointing away from her. Ryan did the same with an identical knife on the other side of the gap. They felt a slight tingle brushing at their brains, a residual trace of Tezoc’s telepathic mental energy still in the building.
    “Ready?” broadcast Ryan.
    “Ready.”
    They each carefully removed two fragile glass globes from a bag they had taken from the supply cabinet, holding one in each hand like a pair of giant softballs.
    The glass globes had been on each of the tables inthe alien classroom. When Ryan had put his hand on the table he had spotted a globe and remembered the last time he had seen them. He had shattered one, causing the nanobots to swarm out from under the floor. At the time they had thought the tiny mechanics were alien insects intent on devouring them rather than a harmless repair crew.
    Tezoc’s mercenaries were war-hardened soldiers, but Ryan had seen Carl’s reaction to the swarm when he hadn’t known they were harmless, and he was certain that the swarm would terrify even the bravest of men. All five mercs were now in the room. They must have felt so secure after Dan’s capture they were no longer even guarding the door.
    “On three,” broadcast Ryan. He took a deep breath and gripped the globes a bit tighter. “One. Two.