The opposite side of the lobby was covered with floor-to-ceiling windows. James approached it and nearly gasped at the view.
The airport lay on top of a hill, and the city of Kathmandu sprawled in the valley below. It seemed to stretch on for miles, with thousands of squat, square buildings of various colors, so tightly packed together it was a wonder there were streets between them. It was a massive urban sprawl unlike anything James had ever seen. There were no skyscrapers, only those short, colorful buildings. It was a beautiful mess of colors and shapes. Far on the horizon, James could see the peaks of mountains, imposing but breathtaking as they towered over the city.
“Pretty cool, huh?” Agent Banks stepped up next to them. Rocky and James glanced at each other, eyebrows raised, and didn’t reply.
Agent Banks took them to the third floor and down a hallway lined with numbered doors. He stopped at the last door and unlocked it.
“Here we are,” Banks said. James and Rocky followed him into the room. “This is where you’ll be staying while you’re here.”
It was less of a room and more of a suite, with two bedrooms, a living room, and a small kitchen. Rocky whistled as he opened the fully stocked fridge.
“Why is this so nice?” James demanded.
“If you’re going to be working, we want you to be comfortable,” Agent Banks said affably. “This place is nicer than my own.”
The man seemed earnest, but James remained suspicious. Was this some sort of ploy?
“Well, I’ll leave you two to get settled. I’m sure the jet lag is going to hit hard. If you need to speak with me directly, dial 434 on the phone there.” He nodded to a small, wired phone on the counter. “Otherwise, the front desk can give you any info you need.”
“Right,” James said.
“Good luck.” Agent Banks backed his way out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
James waited for several seconds to be sure he was gone, then turned to Rocky, who was ripping into a package of peanuts from the pantry.
“Why was he so friendly?” James said.
Rocky shrugged. “They can’t all be cold bastards like Roche.”
“It’s just... odd. This whole thing. We’re prisoners, but we’re given a super-nice room and we’re basically free to roam?”
“I bet they’ll have an eye on us the whole time.” Rocky stopped suddenly, his eyes wide. Silently, he tapped his ear with a finger.
James nodded. “Well,” he said, keeping his voice casual. “Might as well take a look around.”
They split up, examining the suite. If it was bugged, it could be anywhere. James checked under the couch, then under the cushions. There was a painting on the wall, which he took off, revealing nothing but paint behind it. Next, he went into his room. It wasn’t much more than a queen-sized bed and a closet, but he still tore it apart, searching under the mattress, in every corner of the closet, behind the curtains. He even glanced in the small vent in the wall. He couldn’t see anything through the slits, but he still snapped it shut for good measure.
Twenty minutes later, they reconvened in the living room.
“Anything?” James said.
Rocky shook his head. “Only place I couldn’t get to is behind the bathroom mirror. Let’s keep the door shut just in case.”
James spotted the phone on the counter. He reached over and unplugged it, then brought it into the bathroom. He wrapped it in a towel for good measure, then shut the door behind him.
“Still doesn’t feel safe,” James said, eyeing the corners of the room. “Let’s just keep it quiet while we’re here.”
“Agreed.” Rocky yawned and plopped down on the couch. “So what are we actually going to do?”
James had been considering that. The first goal was to escape the SIA, but then what? They were still in Nepal, with no idea where to go next.
“I think we should try to figure out why we’re here. Why Nepal, of all places?”
“It is strange,” Rocky said. “Maybe ’cause it’s such a secluded place. Last place anybody would look for a bunch of Supers.”
“Maybe,” James said slowly. “I just feel like there’s something more, something we’re missing. Would Derek send us halfway across the world just to find them? Then, what, they return with us and everything’s okay?”
Rocky tapped his lips with his finger. “You’re right. What’s the end goal? Even if we find them, they’re still wanted men. Hell, so are we.”
The phrase In the abode by the foot of the mountain, wish for wisdom and receive great power kept running through James’s head. They had solved the first part, and it led them to Nepal. What about the second part? Wish for wisdom and receive great power. That had to be the key, but what did it mean?
For not the first time in the past twenty-four hours, James wondered if they should have just gone with Katie. Maybe she was right. They were in over their heads, trying to put together a puzzle that was missing most of its pieces.
“I guess we can use this time to explore,” James said. “Maybe learn more about Nepal, try to find the connection. Then when we see the opportunity to escape, we take it.”
Rocky nodded. “No reason to escape if we don’t know where we’re going.”
James suddenly felt exhausted. It was late morning in Nepal, but his body thought it was evening, and the long plane ride had worn him down, even though he had done nothing but sit and sleep. He and Rocky agreed to reconvene in two hours, and they went into their separate bedrooms to pass out.
James collapsed into the bed.
