Hunt for Jade Dragon by Richard Paul Evans Read Free Book Online

down alongside Joel and my mom. Everyone else sat down as well.
    â€œWelcome to the Timepiece Ranch,” Simon said. “We have many questions for you, and I’m certain you have many for us as well. So please, if there’s anything you would like to ask first, go right ahead.”
    I looked around the room, then said, “Where did you all come from?”
    Simon smiled at my forthrightness. “That’s a good question,” he said. “The great physicist Newton said, ‘To each action there is an equal and opposite reaction.’ Simply put, we are the reaction to the rise of the Elgen.”
    â€œBut who started this ?”
    Simon hesitated, then leaned toward me. “Your father was the founder.”
    I glanced at my mother, who nodded. “My father?”
    â€œHe was the first to realize what the Elgen had done. Back in those days, the Elgen’s goals were different than what they are today.They were all financial. Our group started when your father realized that everyone who was involved with the Elgen’s initial MEI tests was in danger and he began gathering us to protect one another. I was one of the original members of that group as well. Almost everyone at this table was somehow involved with those tests. The Elgen brought us together by giving us something in common—they threatened our lives.”
    My head spun a little. “I can’t believe this is all because of my father.”
    â€œI understand,” Simon said. “What other questions do you have?”
    â€œWhy is everything such a secret?”
    â€œAnonymity has always been our greatest weapon. Up until a few weeks ago, the Elgen didn’t even know that we existed. Now they do. If they knew where we are right now, they would hunt us down and, if possible, destroy us.
    â€œWe keep things secret for your safety as well as ours. As you well know, the Elgen are not above torturing for information. That’s why we don’t know the whereabouts of the voice. But we communicate what we know to the voice and he guides us. This way, if something were to happen to us, the resistance would continue. It must continue. Failure is not an option. Does that answer your question?”
    â€œYes, sir.”
    â€œIf we fail, the world will fall into a state of captivity it has never before experienced—not in its thousands of years of recorded history. It would be Orwellian.”
    â€œSo what is it that you do?”
    â€œWhatever we need to do to hinder the Elgen,” he replied. “We began purely as a means of self-defense. We tracked the Elgen’s movements. As they grew, we began to infiltrate their organization. Of course I can’t tell you where or who our informants are, but when the Ampere exploded, one of our people was killed.”
    I began ticking. “We . . . we killed one of the good guys?”
    Simon shook his head. “It couldn’t be helped.”
    â€œBut if we knew they were there . . .”
    â€œYou didn’t,” Simon said. “As it was, you barely escaped withyour lives. There was no way we could have alerted you. He died in the explosion, but whether the Ampere was destroyed or not, he would have died. Hatch had discovered who he was. He would have tortured and killed him. In that way, you did him a favor. He died instantly.”
    I was still ticking. Simon leaned forward. “Son, this is not your concern. Our agent knew the risk he was taking and he was willing to accept it. Just as you and your friends have risked your lives. Just as Wade gave his life. This is war. Lives have been lost. And unfortunately, more will be lost before it is all over.”
    Simon looked around the table at the other council members, then said, “Michael, we asked you here this morning so we could explain where we are in our struggle. Throughout history there have been men who have launched movements that have changed the