Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7 The headache came first, and it was awful— a pounding behind his right eye that would not quit. The whole room seemed to thrum in rhythm with his pain— or, wait! Maybe it was his pain thrumming with the room. What was that noise? And why was his bed moving? He sat up with a start and very nearly toppled off the conveyor belt to the factory floor forty feet below. What the— It all came back to him— being kidnapped, interrogated, and chloroformed by the Kabras. They must have dumped him here— in one of the factories that made China the industrial engine of the entire world! He took stock of the situation. Behind him and in front of him on the belt were large sheets of

multicolored plastic. About ten yards ahead, the pieces were being dropped into a hopper that fed a gigantic stamping machine beneath it. The closer he got, the louder the noise, until it threatened to jar loose his molars. All remaining grogginess disappeared in a heartbeat. I'm going to get stamped into the door-crasher special at Walmart! The only way off the conveyor belt was a four-story drop. And there was no point in yelling for help. No one could possibly hear him over the general din. He had to find a way to stop this belt! He jumped up and ran against the direction of the conveyor. Every time he came to a sheet of plastic, he crammed it under the belt, hoping to disrupt its operation. There was no result at first, but he refused to despair. This giant machine was never going to run out of plastic. And he was never going to run out of energy to use it to jam the conveyor. Not unless I want a one-way trip through the guts of that machine!

When he felt the first wobble, he was so encouraged that he found the strength to speed up his efforts. The burning rubber smell came next, and soon he had to watch his footing on the pitching belt. Smoke began to surround him, and the automatic sprinkler system came on. A moment later, the conveyor ground to a halt, and the stamping machine fell silent. A hooray died in Dan's throat as dozens of factory workers began scaling a system of catwalks toward his position. Now that the belt had stopped, he could see that the only other way down was on the stamping machine itself. A system of grips and ladders for maintenance workers traced a route up its steel flank. He ran to the end of the belt and swung himself down to a metal ring. From there, it was like the rock wall at the community center back in Massachusetts— a simple matter of finding the right handholds and footholds. As he jumped to the floor, he nearly tripped over a pallet piled high with the factory's finished product— a mechanical lollipop holder with a figure as its base. All this equipment, all these

workers, this giant manufacturing complex, for lollipops. Sheesh. He picked one up and almost swallowed his tongue. The figure was none other than his Cahill cousin Jonah Wizard, reality TV star, hip-hop mogul, and rival in the Clue hunt. Jonah's smirking face routinely appeared on posters, magazines, action figures, Pez dispensers, lunch boxes, and now motorized lollipop holders. There was no escaping the guy. He pressed a small button on the base. The candy twirled, and Jonah's tinny voice announced, "What's happening, yo?" Those recorded words turned out to be Dan's undoing. A very agitated foreman grabbed him by the arm. In a few seconds, he was surrounded by a small army of irate factory workers, all yelling at him in Chinese. He took a lick of the lollipop and tried to look like a passing tourist. "Mmm— grape. My favorite." The foreman switched to heavily accented English. "What you do, boy? You break

everything!" "Check out the conveyor up top," Dan advised. "The belt got a little jammed. Happens a lot, right?" "Never happens!" thundered the foreman. "You spoil perfect record on day of very important visitor!" "What's happening, yo?" came Jonah Wizard's voice again. Dan stared at the lollipop holder in his hand. He hadn't pressed the button…. The angry crowd melted away and went to surround the newcomer. Dan goggled. It was the real Jonah Wizard, live and in person, touring the factory where his lollipops were made. No wonder the Kabras had dumped Dan here. It was a message not just to Dan, but to Jonah, too. He recalled Natalie's words: We're everywhere…. The hip-hop star's eyes widened when he spotted Dan. A half step behind him, his ever-present father began composing an e-mail on his BlackBerry.

"Mr. Wizard!" the foreman exclaimed. "Thousand apologies! Worthless boy break machine—" "Chill, man." Jonah somehow managed to imbue his street lingo with an easygoing, almost folksy simplicity. The world's first down-home hip-hop star. "The kid's my cousin. I told him to meet me here. My fault." Dan's eyes narrowed even as he sighed with relief. The last time he and Amy had seen Jonah, the creep had marooned them on a crocodile- infested island in the middle of the Nile. "Where's your sis and the nanny?" Jonah asked. "Au pair," Dan corrected. "We got— separated." Jonah shrugged. "It's all good. Chinese TV gave us a limo to use while we're in town. I'll have the driver give you a ride back to your hotel." He noted the anxious flush on Dan's cheeks. "I get it. You're lost, and you don't know where to find them." "I can take care of myself," Dan said. "Word," Jonah agreed. "But why should you