by Kate O'Hearn
As the Sphinx took a step closer to Emily, one of the human soldiers panicked. He raised his weapon and fired. His reaction caused the others to do the same. Nirad soldiers roared and charged forward. They dropped their rifles and opened their four arms. Their bead-black eyes were wide and their mouths hung open, showing rows of sharp, pointed teeth.
Pegasus shoved Emily forcefully in the back and knocked her to the ground. He reared up, spread his wings and whinnied angrily. He struck one of the Nirads in the chest with a golden hoof.
The Nirad soldier howled in pain and collapsed instantly to the ground as the gold of Pegasus’s hoof poisoned it. Suddenly more Nirad soldiers ran at them. The frightened human soldiers lost control and fired their weapons.
Emily reacted instantly. She rose to her feet and summoned the Flame. As it flowed down to her hands, she turned them on the soldiers. But before she could release it fully she felt her body exploding in pain as several bullets found their mark. Thrown backwards, she hit her head on the ground with an explosive impact.
Her thoughts flew at light speed. The soldiers were firing. Pegasus and Alexis were in danger. She had to save them! She sat up and raised her hands to release the Flame, but she was hit with more bullets and knocked backwards just as her powers let go. There was a blinding flash and tremendous peel of thunder.
And then they were gone.
Alexis and Pegasus had vanished!
It took Emily a moment to realize what had happened. Her hands must have been aimed towards Alexis and Pegasus when she released her powers.
‘Pegasus!’ she cried. ‘Pegasus, no!’
More bullets tore into her and Emily howled as she realized what she had done. Suddenly her body burst into flame. She glowed brilliantly and melted the bullets within her, healing the damage done by the soldiers.
Emily’s heart blazed in agony, but not from the flames.
Pegasus was gone !
Overwhelmed by unbearable grief, Emily welcomed the approaching darkness that always accompanied self-healing. She no longer cared what happened to her. She had destroyed the very best thing in her life. Now all she wanted, all she deserved was death. She prayed it would come with the darkness. The CRU could do whatever they wanted to her now.
Without Pegasus, there was nothing.
31
‘Come on, son, drink it all up.’
Paelen awoke in terrible pain, cradled in strong arms and with a cup being pressed to his lips. He tasted the blissful sweetness of nectar and started to gulp down the healing drink. He opened his eyes to see Steve Jacobs pulling the cup away. He was lying in his bed at Jupiter’s palace. Through the open windows he could smell the sweet, warm Olympian breeze.
He tried to focus on the figures standing around his bed. Diana and Apollo were standing at his left. Pluto was at the foot of the bed, his face a picture of anger. And then his eyes moved to his right and landed on Jupiter. Paelen’s heart started to pound in fear. The leader of Olympus’s eyes were like thunder and his mouth held in a thin, tight line.
Chrysaor was crouched on the ground beside Jupiter, looking downcast and defeated. The boar was terrified and wouldn’t meet his gaze.
Jupiter stepped closer. His expression was dark and threatening. ‘Chrysaor caught you as you fell from the window. He brought you back to Olympus. But by the time I am finished with you, you will wish he had not.’
Paelen dropped his eyes. ‘Forgive me, Jupiter. I deserve everything you will do to me. But before you do, I must go back to Earth. Joel is in jail and I fear that Emily, Pegasus and Alexis are about to take on the CRU by themselves.’
There was a sharp intake of breath from everyone in the room. As Paelen devoured ambrosia and drank several more goblets of nectar, he started to speak. He told them everything that happened, starting with the arrival on Earth to the moment his clone threw him out of the window of the tall black building.
‘So you do not know where Emily is?’ Jupiter demanded incredulously. ‘The Flame of Olympus is on Earth and facing down the CRU alone?’
Paelen felt the furious intensity of Jupiter’s stare. ‘She is not alone,’ he stammered. ‘Pegasus, Alexis and – I believe – Prince Tobin is with her!’
‘What?’ Jupiter cried. ‘Are you telling me the prince of the Nirad world has left the safety of his people to join this inane quest?’
When Paelen nodded, Jupiter was furious. He walked over to the window and released a lightning bolt and peal of thunder that shook Olympus to its core. ‘Deliver me!’ he howled as he released more lightning and thunder.
With his fury spent, Jupiter returned to the bed. ‘How many of these creatures, these …’ He looked to Emily’s father for the word.
‘Clones.’
‘Yes, clones,’ Jupiter repeated. ‘How many are there?’
Paelen shrugged. ‘I do not know for certain. But there is a Diana clone on the loose with a Nirad clone. They have killed many people. There is my clone as well and Tornado Warning was a clone of Pegasus. We believe there are many more, but only Alexis has been to Area 51 to see for herself. I have not seen her since the CRU attacked us outside of their facility.’
The leader of Olympus turned furious eyes on his daughter. ‘Diana, you knew of this and did not tell me?’
Diana dropped her head. ‘Forgive me, Father. But we only suspected. We had no proof of the clones. That Tornado Warning looked identical to Pegasus was not enough. Emily and Pegasus were determined to return to Earth to see for themselves. We sent Alexis with them for protection.’
‘Why did you not come to me?’ Jupiter demanded. He turned on Pluto. ‘And you, my own brother! You did not think to tell me?’
Pluto shook his head. ‘Not until we knew for certain. You have a temper, brother. Emily feared you would destroy her world if you knew they were creating New Olympians.’
Jupiter’s eyes went black with barely contained rage. ‘She was right to fear for her world,’ he shot. He advanced furiously on his brother. ‘Summon Neptune! Prepare for war. Once we have collected Emily we will turn the Solar Stream on Earth!’
32
For a blissful instant, Emily forgot what had happened. She awoke fully from the healing sleep and looked around but couldn’t see the stallion. ‘Pegs?’
Then it all crashed back on her. There was no Pegs. Pegasus, the magnificent stallion of Olympus had disappeared for ever. And it was all her fault.
Suddenly Emily couldn’t breathe. She sat up, gulping air as she tried desperately to deny the truth. ‘Pegs?’ she gasped.
She looked around as the full memories of the awful night returned. Pegasus was dead and she had been captured by the CRU. Tears rushed to her eyes. Emily was so used to having her green handkerchief with her, and automatically collecting the tears, that she was stunned to discover it was gone. Instead she used the crisp white sheets from her bed to collect her tears. And if they blew up because of the power they contained, she hoped she would blow up with them.
Emily curled into a tight ball. She sobbed openly for the loss of her beloved Pegasus. Alexis and little Frankie were gone also. But it was the death of the stallion that crippled her most.
‘Forgive me,’ she wept. ‘Pegs, please forgive me …’
Alexis had warned her about her powers. But in her fury at the CRU she hadn’t listened. Why hadn’t she listened? Why did she do it? It was all her fault! Pegasus and Alexis would be alive now if she had only listened to the Sphinx. Why didn’t she?
It seemed a lifetime ago that the gorgons had tried to get her to use her powers against Jupiter. But she wouldn’t do it. Pegasus had been there and given her strength to do the right thing. Now, it was those same powers that had destroyed him.
Emily didn’t hear the door in her room open. It was only when a voice called her name that she become aware of someone entering.
A man was standing at the side of her bed. Two large grey Nirad soldiers in uniform stood behind him.
‘Emily Jacobs,’
the man repeated, ‘I am Agent PS. I am here to speak with you.’
He appeared to be in his thirties with cropped reddish hair and eyes the colour of a peat bog. He had a neatly trimmed beard but his eyes looked tired and drawn, as though he hadn’t slept.
‘Go away,’ Emily wept.
‘No,’ the man said coldly. ‘You have a lot to answer for, young lady. Do you have any idea what you have done?’
Emily’s grief turned into anger. ‘Yes, I know what I’ve done. I’ve killed Pegasus!’
‘You’ve done a lot more than that,’ he said. ‘Shall I tell you?’
Emily felt the Flame inside her rumbling with anger. This CRU agent was doing his best to provoke her. ‘I’d go away if I was you,’ she warned. ‘You don’t know what I can do when I’m upset. Pegasus is gone and I am very upset!’
The agent didn’t seem the least bit concerned. ‘I know full well what you can do, Emily. I have made it my business to learn all about you and your amazing powers. I need to talk to you about them, to understand them. You were born in New York to two very human parents. You lived an ordinary life until last year. What changed? How do you have these powers? Where do they come from?’
‘You’re wrong if you think I’m going to tell you anything,’ Emily spat.
‘Why do you want to make this so difficult?’ Agent PS asked. ‘We are on the same side. Who knows, perhaps one day you will use those powers to work with us instead of against us.’
‘Work with the CRU?’ Emily said incredulously. She turned over and sat up, facing the man. ‘Are you crazy? Do you have any idea what you have done by creating clones? We came here to warn you! Jupiter is going to destroy this world if you don’t stop.’
The man sighed. ‘I know all the myths, Emily. Never has it been suggested that Zeus – or Jupiter as you prefer – has the power to destroy the world.’
‘You’re wrong,’ Emily said. ‘He does. And he doesn’t even have to come here to do it. All he has to do is turn the Solar Stream on Earth and it will be destroyed in an instant.’
The comment made Agent PS pause. But only for a moment. ‘He wouldn’t do that with you here,’ he smiled slyly. ‘We have seen your powers, Emily. We know how valuable you are to him.’
‘I am nothing without Pegasus,’ she said softly. ‘I don’t care what Jupiter does now. If he destroys the Earth, I hope he destroys me too.’
‘What about the other Pegasi we have here? Surely you could find another Pegasus amongst them? I know you have spent a lot of time with Tornado Warning. He is here waiting for you along with all the others.’
Emily sniffed. ‘Pegasi? What are you talking about?’
‘Pegasus may have been the original, but we have all his clones here. Collectively we call them the Pegasi.’
Hearing the pluralized name made Emily explode. ‘There was only one Pegasus and he’s dead! All you’ve got are flying horses. There is no such thing as Pegasi. Don’t you dare call them that! What do you call your Diana clones? Diani?’
The agent nodded. ‘Exactly.’
‘You’re sick!’ she shot as her temper flared even more. The bed started to rumble and shake. Behind the agent, the two grey Nirads stepped closer.
‘Call them back,’ Emily threatened. She raised her hand and it burst into flame, snapping and crackling the air around her. ‘Not a lot can kill a Nirad, but I can!’
Emily was stunned to see the two Nirads step back by themselves. Their eyes were clearly focused on her and seemed to have intelligence. ‘Can you understand me?’
‘Of course they can understand you,’ the agent said. ‘What did you think they are? Mindless monsters?’
‘But they’re clones of the grey Nirads,’ Emily insisted. ‘They’re not the smart ones. I don’t understand. Tornado Warning was wild. So was the Paelen clone. Why aren’t these?’
The agent smiled smugly as he patted one of the clone’s arms. ‘Nirad DNA works much better when mixed with Olympian. These two were our first success, but there have been many more. However, it’s taken us much longer to perfect Olympians.’
‘They’re not Olympians!’ Emily shot.
‘Of course they are,’ the agent said. ‘Would you care to meet some of them?’
‘No, I don’t want to meet them. Just go away and leave me alone to die.’
The agent chuckled. ‘Well, we both know that’s not going to happen, is it? You can’t die.’
‘Yes, I can,’ Emily shot. ‘When Jupiter turns the Solar Stream on Earth, we’ll all burn up.’
‘All right,’ he agreed, almost teasingly. ‘Don’t you want to see Joel before you die?’
‘Joel?’
‘Yes, he’s here too. He is recovering. His surgery went well.’
Was Agent PS baiting her? But if they had done anything to Joel, she had to know. ‘What surgery?’
‘You’ll have to come with me if you want to find out,’ the agent said. At that moment, another man entered the room.
‘Agent PS, the boy is waking.’
‘Perfect timing,’ Agent PS said. He turned back to Emily. ‘If you want to see Joel before we start our interrogation, you’d better say so.’
A desperate need to see Joel rose within her. She needed him more than ever. And if the CRU really had him, he needed her too. Should she call their bluff ?
‘Joel isn’t here. He’s in Las Vegas,’ she tested.
‘Not any more.’
‘You’re not going to touch him,’ she threatened.
‘Who’s going to stop us?’
Emily sat up and slid her legs over the side. She was wearing a hospital gown, but her silver leg brace was gone. ‘I am,’ she challenged. ‘Where’s my brace?’
‘In the lab being analysed,’ Agent PS said. ‘You can use these instead.’ He collected a pair of crutches and handed them to Emily, ‘Or,’ he indicated the Nirad soldiers, ‘one of these big fellows can carry you. It’s your choice.’
Was this a trick? She looked around the small white room. It was similar to her room at Governors Island, but there was no lock on the door and it was kept open. Emily reached for the crutches and followed them to the door. She paused. ‘No locks?’
The agent stopped. ‘Could any locked door ever contain you? We all know you could leave here anytime you wanted and we couldn’t stop you. But it is my hope that when you see what we’ve accomplished here, you won’t want to go.’
‘Don’t bet on it,’ Emily said furiously. ‘Just take me to Joel.’
The agent chuckled as Emily followed him out of the room. The corridor was bright and spacious and filled with people in lab coats. There were other uniformed Nirad soldiers walking down the hall beside humans. As she walked past, the Nirads paused to watch at her.
She turned and looked back at her Nirad escort. They were both staring at her intently. There was something in their eyes.
‘This way,’ Agent PS said as he turned down a second corridor. He approached a set of double doors. ‘We have a couple of patients in here. I think you know them both.’
The two Nirads held the door open for Emily and Agent PS. As she walked past the Nirad on the left, she felt the huge clone pat her gently on the shoulder. When she looked up at him, she was convinced he was trying to tell her something.
But then Emily got the shock of her life. There were two curtained-off areas in the room. One had the curtain drawn round it, but in the other open area was a bed with an occupant hooked up to a breathing machine and lots of tubes.
‘Agent T!’ Emily cried as she hopped over to the side of the bed.
The ex-CRU agent was awake and looking at her. The breathing tube in his mouth meant he couldn’t speak. But as she leaned over him, tears formed in the corners of his blue eyes and trailed silently down his cheeks.
‘You’re alive!’
‘If you call that living,’ Agent PS said casually. ‘He was shot when he and that winged cat woman attacked us. One of the bullets severed his spine. He can�
�t move, eat or even breathe on his own. But in time he may be able to speak. We do have a lot of questions for this traitor.’
‘He’s not a traitor,’ Emily shot angrily. ‘He worked with us to try to warn you about Jupiter to save this world. He’s a hero.’
‘Not to us.’
Emily stroked Agent T’s cheek. She wiped away his tears. A part of her had hoped that her powers would heal him. But he was human and had never eaten ambrosia. It wouldn’t work.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Emily said, brushing back his hair from his face. ‘I failed all of us.’
Agent T blinked his eyes slowly. He looked so weak and vulnerable lying in the bed, hooked up to all the machines. Emily leaned forward and kissed him gently on the forehead.
‘Em?’ a weak voice called.
‘Joel?’
Emily struggled over to the long curtain that separated each treatment area. When she pushed back the curtain, she was met with an awful sight.
The crutches fell from her arms as she hopped over to the bed. ‘What have they done to you?’ She trembled as she looked at Joel. His silver arm was gone and his side and shoulder were covered in thick bandages. He was deathly pale.
The roller-coaster ride of emotions took another dip as fury rose to the surface. She turned on Agent PS and pointed an accusing finger at him. ‘You did this!’
Suddenly the CRU agent was thrown violently across the room. He crashed against the back wall and crumpled to the ground unconscious. Orderlies looked at Emily fearfully, but ran over to the agent. They lifted him up and carried him from the room.
But Emily could only concentrate on Joel. She stroked his pale forehead and felt her powers working. His time in Olympus and all the ambrosia and nectar he’d consumed meant Joel was now more Olympian than human and her powers could heal his wounds.
She watched in relief as the colour in Joel’s face returned and he was fully awake. ‘Those bastards took my arm!’ He sat up angrily. ‘Vulcan is going to be furious!’ Then he looked at the pained expression on Emily’s face.
