10

by James Phelan

  ‘I’ve told you, there are rules here. You need to speak to the Director about going out with the teams.’

  ‘Yeah, well, I will,’ Alex said, standing up from the bench and tossing the bag in a nearby bin. He turned to face his mother. ‘How do you even know we can trust this Director guy anyway? From what I saw in Berlin, Stella isn’t playing by the rules. I know I heard Solaris talking to her, giving her orders. I don’t understand why we’re not in there,’ he pointed to the gleaming skyscraper behind him, ‘telling the big boss about it right now!’

  ‘You know why. He’s not here—he was called away for an urgent meeting and this is something we need to discuss with him in person. He’ll be back later. And I promise you we can trust him. I’ve worked with Jack for a long time, Alex,’ she said. ‘Some of his methods may seem a bit drastic, but he always operates with integrity.’

  ‘Well, I think he needs to know that Stella is working against him—against all of us. And with Solaris!’ Alex added. ‘I mean, who knows what she’ll do next?’

  ‘We will tell Jack, I promise,’ Phoebe said, standing up and putting an arm around her son, ‘the first chance we get. But we need to be sure we won’t be overheard.’

  ‘In case Stella realises I discovered her secret?’ he asked.

  ‘Exactly. We need to wait until the time is right so we can grab her and all her accomplices. And Alex?’

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘I just want to say again how proud I am that you helped save Sam. And that you were able to play along with Stella all the way back here. I always knew you were smart and brave.’

  Alex reddened and looked away, suddenly shy.

  ‘Another bag of doughnuts?’ Phoebe said, laughing to break the tension. ‘Come on, I know you want some more.’ Phoebe took his arm and Alex smiled as they headed across to the vendor. ‘And feel free to share this time, won’t you?’

  In a small office on the twentieth floor of the Enterprise building, Alex was scanning news footage from the gunfight at the Berlin Zoo. The current snippet showed a news reporter explaining that more details, including new unseen footage, would be available soon.

  I know Stella was there. I heard her open fire on Sam, but I need proof. I have to make Jack believe me.

  Phoebe sat next to Alex, squinting at the flickering screen.

  ‘That’s where I saw Sam,’ Alex said to his mother, pointing at the monitor. ‘Solaris too.’

  ‘I thought you said Solaris was with Stella?’

  ‘No, he was talking to her over a radio receiver. Giving orders. But then he came up above ground to find Sam. If I’d had one of those tasers or a dart gun, I could have taken him.’

  ‘I think you did amazingly well to fight him off as you did. All the more because you didn’t have a weapon,’ Phoebe said. ‘But don’t underestimate Solaris. He’s ruthless. We’re fortunate he decided to run instead of staying to fight.’

  ‘But he got whatever it was that Sam and Xavier must have been looking for. So it was all for nothing,’ Alex sighed.

  ‘Not for nothing. You all survived to fight another day and the battle is far from over. Solaris is driven by the desire to win the race, find whatever it is that is at the end,’ Phoebe said, sitting next to her son. ‘And he’ll do anything to make that happen.’

  Alex didn’t respond.

  ‘You, me, we don’t matter to him,’ she said. ‘He’d think nothing of swatting us out of the way, or destroying an airliner, a school, an entire city, if it got him closer to his objective.’

  ‘Then we have to stop him,’ Alex said. ‘Someone has to.’

  ‘It’s not that easy,’ Phoebe said. ‘No-one knows who he is, never mind where he is.’

  ‘Why don’t we find out more about him, find out who our enemy really is?’

  Phoebe shook her head. ‘We’ve tried,’ she said. ‘Many have tried, for decades, to predict who Solaris would be. All of this—the last 13 Dreamers, the evil of Solaris—has been prophesied for centuries.’

  ‘How can he just appear like this?’

  ‘The same way the 13 are appearing, because the time is right. Solaris is the shadow of all that is good. And all that the 13 represent, he’s the opposite of that.’

  ‘Do you think Solaris is a Dreamer like us?’

  ‘I don’t know. No-one knows.’

  The news clip in the background had run into a sports bulletin, the reporter animatedly discussing the latest scores. Alex tuned out as the report went on in the background.

  The world has no clue about the war raging around them, right now, right under their noses.

  ‘Well, someone out there knows more about Solaris than we do,’ Alex said. ‘Stella.’

  05

  SAM

  When Sam walked into the Academy’s dining hall for lunch, the assembled students erupted into cheers, calling out to congratulate him and welcome him back. The sound was deafening for a moment as everyone’s attention turned to Sam.

  Don’t they know I lost the Gear?

  Sam felt himself go red, and he gave an awkward wave and sat down at his usual table. Eva was there, along with a handful of other students. Finally, the noise dropped to a hum of talking and laughter.

  ‘Hey, Sam,’ Pi said, sitting forward and looking eager.

  ‘Hey Pi,’ Sam said, then turned to Eva and asked, ‘Have you seen Gabriella?’

  ‘Me? Why, because we’re roomies now?’ Eva asked with an arched eyebrow. ‘Look, if you must know, she’s over there.’ She pointed across the room to where Gabriella was surrounded by starstruck students. ‘Hanging out with her adoring fans.’

  ‘Oh yeah,’ Sam said, watching Gabriella hold court.

  Eva rolled her eyes and continued eating.

  ‘We haven’t had that many pop stars here,’ Pi said. ‘Personally, I don’t know what the fuss is about,’ he added with a shy smile at Eva. Sam noticed Pi blush as he turned to him and said, ‘So Sam, we heard about Berlin—Italy too. Sounds like you’re doing awesome.’

  ‘Thanks, Pi,’ Sam said to his first-year friend.

  ‘I mean, you beat Solaris,’ Pi gushed, fidgeting with the bright red glasses on the bridge of his nose. ‘Do you realise how amazing that is?’

  ‘I got lucky,’ Sam said. ‘Once. The second time—not so much.’ Sam pointed to the gauze on his forehead and the spray-on bandage on his grazed forearm.

  ‘Battle scars,’ Pi said, smiling and taking a photo with his phone. ‘So epic! I’m going to update the school newsletter with these. Everyone’s keen to hear all about you.’

  ‘Newsletter?’

  ‘Yeah! I can see the headline now—“Hero defeats villain, but then gets beaten. The score is one-all, but Sam is ready to fight another day!” Cool, right?’

  ‘Yeah, well, it doesn’t feel very cool,’ Sam said. ‘And, really, do we need an update about me for the school’s newsletter?’

  ‘Absolutely,’ Pi nodded, his fingers already tapping at his smartphone screen.

  He turned the screen to show Sam. ‘It’ll be very flattering, don’t worry!’

  Sam’s face fell.

  Oh man, now I’m some kind of poster boy for Dreamers?

  ‘You should eat something,’ Eva said to Sam, changing the subject. ‘I’m getting some more lunch, want some?’

  ‘Um, yeah sure …’ Sam said.

  ‘Hi, Sam,’ singsong voices called out behind him.

  He turned to find twin girls from his year standing there, carrying a plate of cakes on a tray.

  ‘Red velvet cupcakes,’ one said.

  ‘We made them,’ said the other.

  ‘For you.’ They both slapped Pi’s hand as he tried reaching for a cake.

  ‘Just for you, Sam.’

  Both girls smiled at Sam, expectant looks on their faces.

  Sam flushed a deeper shade of red at all this unwanted attention.

  ‘Ah, thanks,’ he said, taking a cake decorated with an image of him and he took a bite. ‘Wow,
delicious. Eva, you should try one.’

  ‘No thanks,’ Eva said, her look greasing off the girls.

  ‘I’ll have one,’ Pi said, reaching out only to have his hand slapped away again. ‘Well, that’s just rude!’ he muttered.

  ‘Ah, well, thanks,’ Sam said, taking the plate from the girls, who ran away giggling.

  ‘Why is it that all schools are the same? Even this one?’ Eva said to Sam while she looked at the cakes on the plate in front of them.

  ‘C’mon, Eva, it’s not that bad,’ Sam said, passing one to Pi. ‘They’re just trying to be nice.’

  ‘Fine,’ Eva said, sighing. She took a cake and bit into it. ‘OK, these are pretty amazing,’ she mumbled through a mouthful of icing.

  Sam’s phone bleeped with a message from Lora.

  The Professor is ready to see you in his office.

  ‘Gotta go,’ Sam said, standing. ‘You coming, Eva?’

  ‘You’re sure?’ she said.

  ‘Sure as you just smashed that cake in like five seconds flat.’

  ‘Can I come too?’ Pi asked.

  ‘Sorry dude, next time,’ Sam said.

  ‘That’s what you always say!’ Pi said, putting down his cupcake and adding more text to his phone. ‘I’m adding that to your list of catchphrases.’

  ‘What catchphrases? I have a list of catchphrases?’

  ‘Yup,’ Pi said. ‘Such as, “drive it like you stole it”, “let’s roll”, “it’s time to save the world again” …’

  ‘I don’t think I’ve ever said any of those things,’ Sam said.

  ‘His favourite catchphrase is “what catchphrases?”,’ Pi dictated to himself as he typed. ‘Update done.’ He looked up at Sam and smiled.

  ‘Well,’ Sam said, giving Pi a friendly bump on the shoulder, ‘I’m sure there’ll be plenty of time for you to step up to the plate—so be ready.’

  Sam and Eva walked out, and Pi called after them, ‘Let’s roll!’

  06

  ‘Great to see you up and about,’ the Professor said to Sam.

  Sam and Eva entered the office to find the Professor waiting for them. Tall and lean with wispy grey hair, he was leaning on his desk, watching a huge wall-mounted screen. Lora and Jedi stood with a tablet computer between them, bringing up details that Sam recognised immediately.

  ‘Hey Sam, as you were kind enough to have your “last 13” dream here at the Academy this time, we were able to record it and I’ve even ID’d the next Dreamer,’ Jedi said, bringing up an image on the monitor.

  ‘Ta-da! This is Zara, aged sixteen, living in Paris.’

  ‘That’s her,’ Sam said. He walked up to the screen and looked at the image close up. ‘Wow—she’s in high school and working at the Louvre museum?’ He looked round at Jedi. ‘How did you find her so fast?’

  ‘Because I’m a genius,’ Jedi grinned. ‘That, plus we had her first name and we could assume she worked at the Louvre. It was simply a matter of zipping into their database, ahem, and running the names until we had a match. There aren’t many teenagers called Zara working there.’

  ‘I’m still impressed, Jedi. Really.’

  Jedi beamed as the Professor clapped him on the back.

  ‘And that’s not all we found out,’ Lora continued flicking through Zara’s personal details. ‘Thanks to our friend at the Enterprise, we know that her parents are both Agents with cover jobs in the arts,’ Lora said.

  Jedi brought up images of the two people who’d raised Zara, along with their Enterprise employment history.

  Good old Shiva.

  ‘Her father, Mr Armand, is a lecturer at the Sorbonne,’ Lora continued.

  ‘That’s the famous university in Paris, right?’ Sam asked.

  ‘Yes,’ Lora said. ‘He’s a specialist in da Vinci. And her mother … let’s see. Her mother works as an art conservationist at the Louvre. Which would explain Zara working there.’

  ‘Anything else useful come out from my dream?’ Sam asked.

  ‘Not so far, but I’ll keep working on it—I’m currently researching a way to tap into the parts of the dream that get skipped or passed over,’ Jedi said. ‘So watch this space.’

  ‘So, what’s our next step?’ Lora said to the Professor.

  ‘We will go straight to Paris and meet with Zara,’ the Professor said. ‘We’ll see if she’s had her dream and hope that she already knows where to go to find her Gear.’

  ‘You don’t think it’s getting too dangerous for Sam?’ Lora said. ‘We could have local Guardians bring her here.’

  ‘I’m afraid there’s no time for that,’ the Professor said, looking to Sam. ‘Sam should be there to meet each of the 13—he has parts of the same dream, he may need to help them remember it. And it could even be that we’ll be closer to where we need to be, as with Gabriella in Rome. Then we can act swiftly and try to stay ahead in the race.’

  Lora nodded, knowing it made sense, then said, ‘But Sam’s injuries from Berlin …’

  ‘I’m fine,’ Sam said.

  The Professor looked from those in the room to the window, lost for a moment in the view.

  ‘Professor?’ Sam said.

  ‘We’ll go to Paris—just Sam and I, and have the local French Guardians meet us there,’ he said, turning back to face everyone. ‘That’ll give me an opportunity to meet with the Council of Dreamers, and find out what we can do about shutting down Hans and the German Guardians. This race is getting more dangerous every day and we must be more proactive in the fight.’

  Lora did not look pleased at the thought of staying behind.

  ‘I’ll need you here, Lora,’ the Professor said. ‘There are troubling times ahead, and I need you to make sure the students remain safe. And Xavier is due to arrive at the Academy tomorrow, you should be here to welcome him.’

  Lora nodded. ‘And what about Stella and her Enterprise team who were at the zoo?’ she asked. ‘The Council must take action against the Enterprise to shut them down.’

  ‘And they were in New York too,’ Sam added, ‘When Stella pretended to be Solaris.’

  ‘Yes,’ the Professor said, packing his briefcase. ‘I’ll see what kind of pressure the Council can bring to bear on these rogue elements. Unfortunately, I think we will find that the race will bring with it new enemies that we are powerless to stop with sanctions and regulations.’

  ‘You’re packing your things now?’ Sam asked. ‘I mean—we’re leaving straightaway?’

  The Professor smiled. ‘You’re not ready?’

  ‘Sure, of course I am,’ Sam asserted.

  ‘Good,’ the Professor said. ‘We leave in an hour.’

  ‘Let’s roll!’ Sam said.

  Eva leaned over and whispered to him, ‘Pi was right. You really do say that a lot.’

  07

  ‘I think I should go with you,’ Eva said as she left the Professor’s office with Sam, headed for the dorm wing. ‘No, too many people make it hard to get around unnoticed,’ Sam said. ‘You might end up getting in the way.’

  Eva stopped mid-stride, staring at him with burning eyes.

  ‘Hang on, not you …’ Sam added hastily but Eva had already turned on her heel and walked away without another word.

  ‘Eva, you know I don’t mean …’ Sam called out to her, but it was too late.

  Man, that’s really not what I meant to say.

  ‘Sam?’

  ‘Yeah?’ Sam said, turning around to face Jedi. ‘Zup?’

  ‘Can I show you something?’ he said.

  ‘I’ve got to get ready,’ Sam said, his eyes downcast. ‘You heard the Professor.’

  ‘Five minutes?’ Jedi said, hopeful. ‘I mean, you’ll be wearing your Stealth Suit, so what’s to pack—a toothbrush?’

  Sam laughed and said, ‘OK, sure, lead the way.’

  Down in the rock-hewn computer lair, carved deep into the mountain, lights flashed on ahead of them as they walked. In Jedi’s glass-walled office jutting out over the supercom
puter floor, Sam saw two things laid out on a table—a Stealth Suit and a smartphone.

  ‘Ta-da!’ Jedi said with a wave of his hands. ‘You like?’

  ‘Ah, I already have these,’ Sam said.

  ‘Not like this, you don’t,’ Jedi said with a huge grin.

  Sam looked at the items again. ‘They’re … different somehow?’

  ‘Newer models,’ Jedi said. ‘This is a Third Gen Suit, specially formulated to work in sync with your neuro—ah, the technical aspects don’t matter. It fits like a glove and adapts at will, all that usual stuff, plus a bit more. I’ve already uploaded your neural pathways as mapped by the dream machine, so it’ll work straightaway. No more glitching or trying to work out how to make the changes. Just think it and it’ll do it.’

  ‘Awesome!’ Sam said. The Stealth Suits, crafted out of a memory-technology fabric and worn by Academy field staff, changed appearances and textures at the will of the user. The thing was, it could take up to a year to figure out how to control them precisely and Sam didn’t have the luxury of that kind of training time.

  Although Eva got the hang of these things real quick.

  Eva … huh.

  ‘And what’s with the phone?’ Sam refocused on the table in front of him.

  ‘This,’ Jedi said, picking up what looked just like a typical phone, ‘I call my “add-on” package.’ He flicked through some apps. ‘I’ve uploaded a few of my own design, as well as some that I “borrowed” from the US military—like this one, for example.’

  He flicked off the lights in the room, showing Sam how the app turned the phone’s camera lens into a night vision device.

  ‘Bit more powerful and functional than your typical app,’ Jedi said.

  ‘That’s ten kinds of awesome!’ Sam said, looking at the screen which showed the world around them lit up like twilight. It was able to zoom in to span a considerable distance and pick up details across the vast computer room next door.

  ‘And this,’ he said, flicking through to another function, ‘is thermal imaging.’