“I’m going to find Kili and talk to her about this,” Henry said before rushing off to find his mate.
“What was that about?” Kai asked.
“Nikolas was explaining some of what’s been going on, and I might have mentioned Hirini is not only a genius but also well versed in all things to do with computers,” Isa said.
“Malakai, how would you feel about your nephew moving to New Atlanta?” Nik asked.
Kai stared after Henry, as Hirini preferred to be called, smiling. “I would love it. Is he considering it?”
“Yes. He’s been itching to get off the island for a while now, and I’d feel much better about it if he went somewhere there was family.” Isa grimaced. “I know he’s seventy-four, but to me, he’s still my baby. He along with some of the other younger Clan are restless and looking to find jobs elsewhere. See what the world has to offer.”
Josie giggled. “It’s going to take me a while to get used to the fact that you all look around the same age. That I’m going to look like I do the rest of my life.”
“For us, here on the island, it’s no problem. I can’t imagine living among so many humans and having to worry about it.”
“We have a workaround for that.” Sophia explained the prosthetics Jonas had designed. “They’re so realistic. We can become anyone else when we need to.”
Nikolas laughed. “Yes, Beatrice, you can.”
Sophia grinned. “I was in Egypt looking for my parents. I was wearing a disguise I called Beatrice. She was an older woman, and by older, I mean late sixties. I may or may not have kissed Nikolas in front of the gods and everyone on an Egyptian sidewalk dressed as a grandmother.”
Tessa joined them, and as she and Sophia talked about some of their disguises, Kai’s family gathered around to listen. Connor and Amelia were playing with the younger kids, and Kai almost forgot the reason they were there. That is, until Sefina cursed a blue streak.
“What’s going on?” Henry asked.
“Pono is in distress,” Sefina growled, looking ready to kill someone.
“Do you think the same person is trying to hijack his plane?” Henry asked Kai.
“Honestly? Yes. That was the reason Pono flew the decoy.”
“Come with me,” Henry said before he took off running. “Nikolas, you come too,” Henry called over his shoulder.
“I’ll be right back,” Kai told Josie.
He and Nikolas caught up to Henry as he entered his home. What Kai saw brought him up short. “What the hell?” he muttered.
“Holy shit. You have as much stuff as Julian.”
Henry waved them off. “I need some information. Like where was Pono headed. When did he leave?”
Nikolas told him what he asked for, and Henry typed madly at a flat keyboard. There was no sound of skin against plastic. There was only the muted tapping as Henry’s fingers made contact with what looked like a rubber mat.
“Oh, this fucker’s good. Too bad I’m better.”
Kai and Nikolas looked at each other then back to Henry. Kai had no idea his nephew was computer savvy much less capable of going head-to-head with a computer genius like Lachlan. If it was Lachlan.
“That’s one,” Henry muttered. Sefina and Kili ran into the room.
“Kili, I need your help.”
Henry’s mate pulled out the spare chair and sat next to Henry. “Sefina, tell Pono to change frequencies to forty-seven megahertz. Kili, I need you to watch the algorithm I’m sending you and make sure it doesn’t glitch. If it does, restart it.”
“Hirini?” Pono’s voice came through a surround-sound speaker. It was like he was in the room with them.
“Pono, I’m here. I’ve locked onto the bastard trying to take you down. The engines are going to stop and restart alternatively, but it’ll be enough for you to land.”
“I’m forty kilometers from the coast—”
“I’m charting your trajectory. There’s an airport in New North Bend, Oregon. Get on the horn and issue your PAN-PAN.”
“You mean MAYDAY. Henry, I’m too far away.”
“I’ve got you, Pono. Trust me. You won’t need a MAYDAY.”
“What’s the difference?” Kai asked.
“Simply stated, PAN-PAN means he’s alerting them to a problem and needs to make an emergency landing. He would issue a MAYDAY if he were going to crash,” Sefina explained. To her mate, she said, “Do it, Pono. We’ve got your back.”
“Yes, my Teuila.”
Everyone stayed quiet so Henry could concentrate. Kai had no idea how Henry could manipulate the engines from his computer. It didn’t give him the warm-and-fuzzies about flying if anyone could hack in and take down a plane.
“I’ve never seen anything like this. Not even from Julian,” Nik whispered.
“There’s someone else in the system, but it looks like they’re working with us,” Kili said. “Henry, the other system went offline. I can’t see it.”
“Yeah, they stopped fucking with the engines. Do you think Julian is helping?” Henry asked Nikolas.
“I’d bet on it.”
After waiting twenty minutes to make sure the engines weren’t going to malfunction again, Pono checked in. “Hirini? Thank you. Thank all of you. Sefina, I’ll be home as soon as I can.”
“I’ll be waiting,” Sefina returned.
Nikolas clapped Henry on the shoulder. “Nice work.”
Henry stood and stretched. “Thanks, but I had help.”
“You and Kili make a good team.”
“I was talking about Julian, but yeah.” Henry grabbed his mate’s hand. “Yeah, we do. And we would be honored to move to New Atlanta if you’re serious about the job.”
“I was definitely serious, and after seeing what you’re capable of? I’d probably kidnap you and take you anyway if you turned my offer down.” Nikolas clapped
