The Puppy War, page 15
“Maybe I’m not letting you out of my sight,” Chance says.
“Just take care of each other,” I say.
“Will do,” Chance says. He throws me a thumbs-up, then he and Junebug take off down the hall.
I want to yelp and go after them, but I stop myself. The best thing I can do is find Dr. Pao first while we still have the element of surprise.
I sniff deep and listen closely, exploring the space by scent and hearing. The smell of fresh-baked pastries lingers in the air around me. The Puppios must be nearby, waiting to be transferred to their new owners.
I start down the largest hallway, moving in the opposite direction from the puppies’ scent. I’m trying to think like Dr. Pao. I’m guessing she’ll be somewhere up high watching from a vantage point where she’s safe and in control. I take the stairs away from the arena floor and head toward the VIP suites. I sniff my way down the hall, eventually picking up her scent at the top of the stairs. I track it down the hall, passing a series of A-level suites until I get to one at the very end.
The door is unguarded, which gives me pause, but I sniff at the crack under the door. Dr. Pao’s signature is unmistakable. I ready myself for anything, then I hop up and use my paw to open the door.
DR. PAO IS ALONE, LOOKING AT THE ARENA BELOW.
I’m in a beautifully decorated suite with plush leather seats and a wall of windows overlooking the arena stage. I can hear the crowd noise piped into the room through speakers.
Dr. Pao glances back as if she’s been expecting me. “Impressive turnout,” she says. “Just as I hoped, the Puppio puppies are irresistible.”
I glance at a set of video monitors above her head, different perspectives on the stage adorned with Puppio banners. Multiple cameras are set up to stream the event live to cable channels and news.
“Do you want to join me?” Dr. Pao asks.
“I can see just fine from here,” I say cautiously. I look at the crowd gathering below. Movie stars and their families are in the audience waiting to see the Puppio dogs in real life for the first time. I recognize the mayor and a California senator chatting with a group of dignitaries. I scan the VIPs and invited guests taking their places in the front row. Behind them, the news media is set up in a long line of cameras and microphones.
“Almost time to begin,” Dr. Pao says. She turns toward me and puts her hand on the table next to her.
There’s a zapper baton there, inches from her outstretched fingers.
“That’s a Maelstrom weapon,” I say, pointing at the zapper.
“Was a Maelstrom weapon. I own their equipment now.”
I growl, plotting the paths that will get me close enough to strike at her. I expect her to reach for the weapon, but instead she crosses her arms and smiles at me.
“I know you’re angry,” she says, “but it’s tough to take you seriously when you’re wearing a T-shirt with our company logo.”
I look down at the FUTURE PUPPIO OWNER T-shirt, and I tear at it with my teeth, ripping it from my body.
“That was unnecessary,” Dr. Pao says scoldingly.
I search the room, looking for hidden traps. It’s a small room, and I’m sure there’s nobody here but the two of us.
Why is Dr. Pao so calm?
“I was expecting you, Wild. I heard you escaped from the Animal Control facility earlier, and I knew you couldn’t stay away,” Dr. Pao says.
“I thought this state had no-kill shelters.”
“True. They only put down the most dangerous animals. The ones who can’t be rehabilitated.”
“Regardless, I’m not in the shelter anymore, am I?”
She smiles. “You getting out didn’t surprise me. The surprising part was how you got in. Evidently, the boy called the authorities. It sounds like he betrayed you.”
My face burns with shame. “It wasn’t a betrayal. He saw the video you released.”
“Killer dog on the loose. Very effective, wasn’t it? People love a good animal attack video. It instantly went viral.”
“It can’t be good for your dog adoption event.”
“Actually, it’s the opposite. It helped us today. Nobody wants to think about a big, scary dog grabbing their children, but everyone loves a puppy.” She looks down at the crowd waiting expectantly in the arena.
“I’m not going to let you release those puppies,” I say.
“You might want to glance at the monitor on the wall behind you before you make demands.”
I turn to see what she’s looking at. The screen behind me doesn’t show a view of the arena like the other screens.
It’s a live video feed of Chance and Junebug.
They’re tied to chairs in the middle of an empty room with cement walls. Chance’s expression is determined, but I can sense his fear from the way he holds his shoulders tight. Junebug is next to him, scowling at the camera.
“They didn’t get far before we caught them,” the doctor says. “I’m holding them somewhere under the arena. Let me tell you, it’s quite a maze down there. I got lost three or four times today, and I had a map.”
I look at the video feed of the kids, memorizing every detail of the room where they’re being kept. I sniff the air in the VIP suite, trying to detect a trace that might lead me to him.
“You’re trying to smell him, but it’s not going to work. I asked my people to lay false scent trails through the arena. They’re walking the halls right now rubbing his jacket on various corners. I imagine it would take you hours to follow all of the false trails and find the boy.”
A shadow crosses Chance’s face in the monitor, and a man and woman step into the frame next to him. Puppio soldiers in blue uniforms.
Chance sneers at the soldiers. His courage makes my heart swell, but he’s still just a boy, and he looks small next to the adult soldiers.
“They can see us just as we see them,” Dr. Pao says. She nods to a small camera mounted in the corner ceiling.
“Chance!” I shout, but he doesn’t look up.
“No sound,” she says.
Which means there’s no way for me to communicate with him or Junebug.
“What do you want with them?” I ask.
“It’s not them. It’s you, Wild.”
Before she can say any more, an image of a Puppio puppy appears on every screen in the arena. Massive eyes, long eyelashes, shortened snout that curls up on the sides to give the puppy an appearance of smiling.
The audience explodes with expressions of “Awwww” and shouts of “They’re so cute!”
“They can’t resist the Puppios,” Dr. Pao says, delighted with herself. “Even Chance fell in love with a puppy. His bond with that dog was so strong, he forgot all about you.”
“He didn’t forget. The smell on those dogs is like a drug.”
“That’s a part of it. You’re right. The dogs bond chemically, emotionally, and psychologically with their humans. People will fall in love and stay in love. That’s my gift to the world—a dog who never gets taken for granted, never gets forgotten, and never becomes a burden. Normal dogs can’t compete. They’ll be out on the street in no time. Just like you were.”
I back up, tail between my legs.
“Tough to hear the truth, isn’t it?”
“The plan is to bring designer puppies into the world?”
Dr. Pao pulls on her suit jacket and fixes her hair.
“Once the world sees my dogs in real life, they won’t be able to resist. I already have a waiting list with five thousand names on it, families desperate to pay a hundred thousand dollars for a puppy. I can’t breed dogs fast enough to keep up with demand.”
“What do Scarlett and Sebastian have to do with it?”
“The puppies behave independently unless their chips are activated. Then Scarlett and Sebastian have direct control over them. You saw for yourself. I can make thousands of dogs sit at the same time. Isn’t that cool?”
I shake my head. “It sounds like a power trip.”
“You still don’t get it, do you? The dogs control the children, and I control the dogs.”
My mind races as I sort the repercussions of what she’s saying. “That’s why you need Sebastian and Scarlett.”
“Exactly.”
A Puppio dog in every home in the city, each of them controlled by Sebastian and Scarlett. Dr. Pao will be a modern-day Pied Piper with access to every family, their secrets and vulnerabilities, and their children.
“What would you give to the woman who controlled your children?” Dr. Pao asks.
“You’d give her whatever she wanted,” I say quietly.
She smiles wide and spreads her arms to indicate the crowd below. “Money. Power. Respect. Everything General Rupani stole from me.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I want you back, Wild.”
“After everything that’s happened?”
“I can’t afford to hold grudges. Sebastian and Scarlett need you. If you come back, you have my word that Chance will go free.”
I look at the stage in the arena. I see Sebastian and Scarlett standing off to the side, watching as the arrangements are completed before the event begins.
“We’ll make sure Chance has money for private school, then college. When he’s old enough, we’ll arrange for him to get a great job. We’ll take as much pressure as we can off him and his mom. They’ve struggled enough, don’t you agree?”
I look at Chance and Junebug on the monitors, the soldiers looming over them.
I think about what Dr. Pao is offering. A sacrifice.
My life for Chance’s life.
“You said Chance would go free. What about Junebug?” I ask.
Dr. Pao’s face goes dark. “That’s another matter. You know where the girl comes from.”
“She hasn’t seen her father in over a year. General Rupani is gone, and Maelstrom along with him. You said so yourself.”
“I can’t have her free and out in the world. It’s too dangerous to us.”
“Then what’s going to happen to her?”
“Why are you worrying about her?” Dr. Pao asks. “After what her father did to you?”
“What he did. She tried to help me.”
“She’s her father’s daughter,” Dr. Pao says with a scowl. “She’s not your concern. It’s the boy, right? It’s always been about the boy for you.”
Chance and Junebug squirm in their seats on the screen.
I stare at Dr. Pao. “You’d sacrifice a girl to launch Puppio?”
“For Puppio? I’d sacrifice a girl, a boy—even a dog.”
Applause starts in the arena below, rising to a thunderous chant. “Pup-pi-o! Pup-pi-o!”
A grin spreads across Dr. Pao’s face. “It’s time for me to go. And it’s time for you to make a decision.”
She motions toward the door, and a half dozen Puppio soldiers come into the room, blocking my exit.
“You say you hate General Rupani, but you’ve become just like him.”
The screen on the arena floor lights up, and the crowd goes quiet.
Puppio. The Future Begins Now.
“I’m better than he ever was,” Dr. Pao says. “Now, are you coming with me or not?”
“I’m coming with you,” I say.
She nods and her shoulders visibly relax. “You’re a smart dog, Wild. You’re going to make a great member of the team.”
“I’m coming with you,” I say, “but I’m not part of the team.”
“What are you talking about?” she asks, but before she can get the rest of the words out, I leap at her from across the room, smashing against her chest and sending the two of us sprawling backward.
We hit the plate glass window with a loud crack. It gives way, and suddenly we’re hurtling through the air, falling together toward the arena stage below.
THE CROWD SCREAMS AS WE TUMBLE TO THE FLOOR.
Broken glass cascades down like rain. We hit a pile of boxes, Puppio shirts and hoodies flying into the area around us as Puppio dogs scurry out of the way. The employees onstage duck and cover, avoiding the glass shattering on the floor around them.
The audience screams, first because they’re stunned by a woman and a dog falling out of the sky, but then because they recognize me.
“It’s the dog from the TV!” a woman shouts.
Dr. Pao moans and rolls over, struggling to her feet. “Stay calm, everyone,” she says. “I have this under control.”
The Puppio officials quickly clear the stage, leading people to safety.
Dr. Pao turns to me, rubbing her head. “What have you done?”
I growl and ready my leap. But before I can take action, the Puppio dogs surge forward, four dozen of them at the same time, filling the gap between the doctor and me. They crouch in a protective stance and a low rumble vibrates in their throats. Their cuteness is menacing when multiplied several dozen times over.
I notice Sebastian standing to the side, his body rigid, his face tight with concentration. The green glow on his collar matches the green on the puppies’ necks.
Sebastian is controlling the Puppios.
Dr. Pao looks at the panicked crowd being ushered out of the arena and the Puppio employees rushing around chaotically.
“You ruined the launch event,” she says accusingly.
“You expected me to do nothing while you try to take over the city?”
“I expected you to choose the boy over yourself.”
My stomach clenches and a howl catches in my throat as I think of Chance and Junebug alone against Puppio soldiers.
“It’s too late for the kids now,” Dr. Pao says. “It’s too late for you, too. No more deals, no more opportunities. I want you out of my life.”
I glance behind me and see that most of the crowd is gone, but the news media is transfixed, cameras pointed toward the stage.
“Protect!” Dr. Pao shouts to Sebastian and Scarlett.
The Puppio dogs surge toward me in a wave, barking in unison. I crouch, not wanting to hurt the dogs, but afraid I won’t have a choice.
“What about the cameras?” I tell Dr. Pao. “If the puppies attack, everyone will see what they can do.”
“You mean that they’re capable of protecting a human against a predator? I want everyone to see that.”
For some reason the dogs stop in place, and I sense confusion down the line. The puppies start up again, take three steps toward me, and stop.
I look over and see Scarlett concentrating hard, her collar glowing red.
Scarlett is giving them different commands than her brother.
“Cut it out!” Sebastian shouts at her. He nips at her hindquarters, and she yelps and backs away, her concentration broken.
The puppies surge forward again, their necks glowing green, but then they turn red and stop.
It’s a power struggle between Sebastian and Scarlett, the two of them fighting over whether they want the puppies to attack or retreat.
“Stop blocking me!” Sebastian tells her.
“It’s not a fair fight,” Scarlett says. “There’s only one of her and there are so many of us.”
“I’m not here to fight,” I tell them.
“Why are you here?” Scarlett asks.
“To save Chance and Junebug. And to take you away from Puppio.”
“Don’t listen to her,” Dr. Pao says. “You saw what she did. She tried to kill me.”
“We’re a family,” I tell my dogs.
Sebastian shakes his head. “Puppio is our family.”
The Puppio dogs jerk forward, reconnected to Sebastian’s command. I crouch and growl, ready to defend myself.
Dr. Pao rushes into the center of the puppies. “STOP!” she demands. “Sebastian and Scarlett! Take the puppies away with you.”
“What about Wild?” Sebastian says.
“I’ll take care of her.”
Sebastian starts to retreat, but Scarlett stops him.
“We can’t leave Wild alone,” she says. “She’s our mother.”
Sebastian hesitates, looking from me to Dr. Pao. Then he takes a step toward the doctor.
“You have free will,” I tell them. “You can make your own decision.”
“There’s no free will,” Sebastian says. “There’s only loyalty.”
Scarlett looks at him, confused.
“We’re soldiers,” he tells her forcefully. “We take orders, remember?”
“I remember,” she says sadly. She glances back at me, her expression pained.
The Puppio dogs rush from the stage all at once, racing in every direction to get away from me.
“Don’t go,” I say.
Scarlett gives me one final look, then she turns and follows her brother offstage.
I have no choice but to watch them go, my lips tight, shoulders hunched in grief.
Dr. Pao smiles thinly. “It looks like you lost everything you care about,” she says. “That’s what happens when you make bad choices. You end up alone.”
“Maybe so,” I say. “But now we’re both alone.”
I roar and start toward her, readying my attack. A flicker of worry causes me to hesitate.
Why would Dr. Pao risk standing alone against me when she knows how strong I am?
She quickly grabs a baton from the table and flicks it open. The baton extends outward and electricity crackles from the end.
A zapper.
She wields the Maelstrom weapon like an expert. The high-pitched tone sounds as the zapper charges. I howl in pain and rear back on my hind legs.
“There are witnesses everywhere,” I say.
“That’s the whole point,” Dr. Pao says quietly. “As far as they know, the violent dog from the TV just pushed me through a window, and now she’s loose onstage. When I destroy her, I’ll be a hero.”
She raises the zapper, preparing to fire.
I think about the scene from the media’s perspective, and I realize she’s right. It will look like she saved the puppies by taking on the dog everyone is afraid of.
I howl in pain and frustration and charge toward her. Dr. Pao brings up the zapper, sparks flying from its tip. There’s little chance I can get to her before the lightning bolt hits me, but if I can dodge at the right time, I might be able to avoid it.
