“It seems to be working,” she said. “It must be. Who could withstand that battering?”
The young policeman got up off the floor once again, reached for his gun and fired some kind of dart at Dylan, making him keel over instantly. He took aim to fire a dart at Scarlett.
“I don’t think so,” she yelled before telekinetically deflecting it and throwing it back at him. “It worked! It actually knocked him out.” She turned to look at Dylan, who was lying unconscious on the floor.
“We need to get out of here,” she thought as she eyed up the open doorway. She pulled the dart out of his leg, then telekinetically lifted him and started walking towards the exit while levitating him along beside her, but as she passed the policeman, he grabbed her ankle and tripped her up.
“I don’t think so,” he said with an evil smile, mimicking her own words back at her. He dashed towards the door, then pulled out a tiny machine that threw a flame at the floor and started a fire. The way out for Scarlett and Dylan was blocked.
She scrambled to her feet, lifted Dylan again and made her way to the window at the other side of the room. It was locked, but she had no trouble opening it telekinetically. However, jumping out wasn’t an option because they were three floors off the ground. If only Dylan was awake, he could fly them out of there.
Scarlett realised she could try to use her own powers. She could supposedly fly and she was learning excellent control of her telekinesis. She looked down. It was a long way. What if she couldn’t do it? What if she dropped Dylan? She looked at him and remembered how he’d tried to teach her to fly. But she was useless.
“I can’t do it,” she muttered to herself in a panic. “I can’t.”
Her face started to feel warm as the flames licked closer to them. She looked out of the window again and realised it was her only option. She had to give it a go. She had to try. She wrapped Dylan’s arms around her neck and concentrated.
“You can do it,” she told herself. “Imagine it’s as natural as breathing.” No luck. The flames roared as they got closer and closer. She had to act now to save Dylan.
“Come on,” she shouted at herself. “Stop being a wimp and fly damn it.” Suddenly, she floated up a foot or so.
“I’m doing it!” she screamed with relief. She couldn’t believe it. Scarlett hovered forwards to the window, somewhat unstably.
“Whoa, this is nowhere near as smooth or elegant as Dylan makes it look,” she grumbled. She continued through the window and out into the freezing cold.
“Don’t look down, don’t look down,” she repeated as she made her way completely outside. “Where now?” she thought. If she went to the ground, she’d have to find her way in and up here all over again in order to find her friends. She glanced to her right and spotted the windows to the next room along. “That’ll do,” she whispered as she gently hovered over to the window and used her mind to prise it open. She carefully flew through the opening and lowered Dylan to the ground. The room was almost pitch black, lit only by a glimmer from the floodlights outside.
“Mmmmm,” Dylan murmured. He was waking up. “What’s going on?” he asked groggily.
“You got knocked out,” she said.
“The policeman?” Scarlett nodded. “But where are we? How did we get here?” He rubbed his eyes in confusion.
“I had to fly us out of there and into another room because he set the one we were in on fire,” she explained in a modest whisper. “The door was blocked by flames.”
“You flew?” Dylan’s eyes opened wide with pride. “Excellent. Well, done Scarlett.” So what room is this?” he asked.
“I don’t know and I can’t see a thing with the lights off.”
“You find the lights, I’ll go back next door and put the fire out. We don’t want it spreading to this room or endangering anyone.”
“But Dylan...” He wasn’t listening. He flew out the room and was thankfully back in seconds.
“Thank goodness,” she said. “I thought you were going to get caught by that dreadful boy.”
“He was unstoppable, wasn’t he?”
Scarlett nodded. “Our combined best efforts didn’t put a dent in him. He was super strong and invulnerable.”
“Like Andrew,” Dylan remarked. “It was just as impossible as fighting him. Do you think he had powers?”
“Maybe. Is that possible?” she asked as she searched for the light switch.
“I guess so. We do think Goulden’s been carrying out experiments, so this guy could be a successful result.”
“That’s weird,” Scarlett said. “And scary. Aha, here’s the switch.” She flicked the lights on to see rows of metal shelves full of bottles and equipment. It looked very much like the storage room in her science class. “Oh my!” she exclaimed. “I think we’re in the lab equipment room. That means we’ve found our way into the Prime Power experiments area.”
“Nice work,” Dylan said. “You picked the right room when you brought us in here.” He pulled the map of the workhouse from his pocket. “Now, the room marked Super Soldiers should be adjacent to this one, with a door leading to it over here.” Scarlett followed him as he made his way through the shelving units to the other wall, where there was indeed a doorway. “Eureka! Things might finally be going our way. Scarlett, would you care to do the honours?”
“Of course.” She used her telekinesis to unlock the door and swing it open, then smiled at Dylan. “After you.” He walked tentatively through the doorway, closely followed by Scarlett.
“Oh my goodness,” she said. “What is this?”
The area was lined with what looked like suspended animation tanks, the kinds you saw in old science-fiction films, and each one had a person inside. The white, clinical room was eerily quiet and the only sound was the monotonous pounding noise coming from the tanks. It sounding like a loud yet muffled heartbeat.
They both walked closer to the tanks and stared at the people trapped inside. None of them were moving. “They look our age,” she said. “And they’ve all got their eyes closed. Are they sleeping or... dead?”
“I think they must be sleeping,” Dylan replied. “Why else would they be suspended here like this otherwise?”
“It’s sick,” Scarlett said. “Goulden must have done this to them, but why?”
“Help me,” a female voice whispered. They both looked around the room but saw nothing. “Please,” the voice begged.
“I think it came from behind those cupboards,” Scarlett said as she tiptoed in the direction of the sound. Sure enough, there she found a teenage girl heavily strapped to a wooden chair and trapped behind a sheet of glass.
“Are you OK?”
She shook her head.
“Who did this to you? Was it the Prime Minister?”
She nodded.
“Don’t worry, we’re here to help. What’s your name?”
“Katy.”
“Hi Katy, I’m Scarlett and this is Dylan. Do you know why you’re imprisoned?”
“He’s placed the others in a kind of coma-type thing,” she said.
“We’ve seen,” Dylan said. “Why?”
“He carried out experiments that made us special, but he says we’re not ready yet, so he’s holding us captive here. He needs me awake to use my powers though.”
“Why?”
“I’m a telepath and I automatically block other psychics who come near me. Mr Goulden warned us that some bad people might come to hurt us. He said they were special like us and one had the power to read minds, so he wants me to stop them finding us.”
“We are those people,” Dylan said, “and we’re the good guys. As Scarlett said, we’re here to release you and your friends. We really need to contact our telepath. Can you switch your power off?”
Katy shook her head again.
“OK. Well, let’s see if we can get you out of there.” Scarlett looked around for something to break the glass with. The only heavy item she could see was a fire extinguisher.
“Stand back,” she urged as she telekinetically lifted the canister and threw it at the glass. Nothing happened.
“I’ve tried breaking it many times,” Katy confessed, “I think it’s super-strong, bomb-proof, military glass or something.”
“Then how do we get you out?”
“I think there’s a switch in the lab next door. I’ve heard him mention it and that should release me and them too.” She tipped her head in the direction of the others.
“The lab, is that through here?” Dylan asked, pointing at a doorway.
“Yes, or at least it was the last time I went through there. I’ve been in here for five weeks.”
Scarlett winced. The poor girl. “We’ll have you out of there this morning. I promise. We’ll go next door and find the switch, wherever it may be. We won’t be long.”
“Thank you,” Katy whispered. It was clear that she was very weak. “Good luck.”
“Don’t worry about us,” Scarlett smiled. “We’ll be fine.”
“The door is locked,” Dylan said. “Your job again I’m afraid.”
“I’m getting used to this,” she laughed as she effortlessly swung the door open and stepped through it. However, the second she did so, she wished they’d stayed safely in the other room.
“Ah, Scarlett and Dylan,” a man’s voice boomed with a sneering laugh. “How good of you to join us all.”
And there, in the middle of the room was Goulden, stood proudly with four of his uniformed policemen. Kneeling in front of him on the floor were Neelam, Jay, Alex, Sasha, Toshiko, Ethan and Andrew and all seven of them were bound and gagged.
“We’ve been expecting you.”
Chapter 25
“Don’t be shy,” Goulden said to Scarlett and Dylan. “Come in, come in – join your little friends.”
Scarlett glanced over at Neelam and Jay, who both looked furious, frustrated and scared as they knelt on the floor gagged and with their hands and feet bound. She tried desperately to untie them telekinetically, but the knots were far too tight.
“What are you doing here,” Dylan said angrily. “Is this another trap?”
“A trap? Oh no, no, Dylan. I wish I could take the credit for this, but you meddling kids got yourself into this mess all by yourselves. Trust both of my little power packs to decide to invade this workhouse on the one night I’m here.”
“Why are you here?” Scarlett asked.
“Why am I here? Why do you think I’m here?”
“I don’t know exactly, but I think it has something to do with the innocent people you have been experimenting on to give them special powers.”
“Give Miss Shortt a gold star,” he laughed jubilantly. “Well, I suppose I’d be a fool to lie to you about my plans seeing as you’re all here in my lab. Yes, yes, I have been conducting experiments. Seeing as you lot won’t become my super soldiers, I decided to create my own. The project wasn’t going so well for a long time, but in the last month or so, we have had some excellent successes and last night I came to meet the first one of my team – my super-strong man, Harvey.” He looked to his left as the burly policeman Scarlett and Dylan had tussled with earlier stepped forward. “I believe you two have already met him.”
“Yes, I can’t say it was a pleasure,” Dylan snapped.
“Oh, don’t get defensive now. I’m sorry that he tried to bash your brains out, but he’s programmed to protect and obey me at all costs, you see, and he knows you’re the enemy.”
“Programmed... is he a robot?” Scarlett was confused. She thought he was making super-powered soldiers, not androids.
“A robot?” Goulden laughed loudly and menacingly. “No dear, he’s not a robot, he’s someone very special just like you – or very much like your old teammate Andrew over here. I tried to recreate his powers, but Harvey is simply super strong instead of absorbing kinetic energy like Andy boy does. It’s a shame, but I’m working on that for a future soldier.”
Andrew growled and tried to speak, but found it impossible because of his gag.
“Then why did you say he was programmed?” Scarlett asked.
“Ah, well, we’ve taken away what you hippies would call free will. All he knows is to follow my commands, he has no thoughts of his own.”
“You’ve drugged him?”
“You might call it that, but I like to think of him as enhanced. It’ll be much better for me if my soldiers are obedient – unlike you wretched lot.”
“And what about the thousands of people you have working here as slaves,” Dylan said angrily. “Are they drugged to stop them escaping?”
“Oh, I think slaves is too harsh a word. I’ve given them jobs, food, a roof over their heads and a whole new life. They do rewarding work in return for their benefits and shelter, which is much better than the miserable, meaningless lives they led before. They’re lucky! They are all very happy here.”
“Well, they don’t look it,” Dylan said. “They look oppressed and miserable. You know what you’re doing is wrong, that’s why you’re keeping it a dirty little secret.”
“On the contrary Dylan, we’ll be announcing a national roll-out of the workhouse programme over the coming days. This one alone generates enough cheap green power to provide electricity to 10 per cent of the nation’s homes. Do you really think the public will be against that? Especially when I tell them the workhouse scheme has helped thousands of people find jobs. There’s no need to keep this hush hush – the man on the street will love it and you know it.”
“Only because you’re twisting the truth and spinning people a load of lies.”
“Oh Dylan, that’s what politicians do.”
“Not like this. You’re evil.”
“There you go again with the compliments.”
Dylan scowled and glared at Goulden. “So, back to this super army you’re creating. What do you plan to do with them?”
“Oh everything. Use them as police, riot control, security… and send them to war, of course. They’ll come in useful any time I need to show my power and keep a crowd in check too. They’ll make me unstoppable.” He laughed again. “Of course, they’ll be handy for fighting you people too.”
“They’re no match for us,” Scarlett said dismissively. “I beat him pretty much single handedly earlier.”
“Really? And here was me thinking he kicked your behind and left you both to die in a fire.”
“Which we escaped. If he was such a hot shot, he wouldn’t have had to run away like a little girl.” Scarlett was aware she was shooting her mouth off now, but she hated Goulden so much that she wanted to bring him down a peg or two.
He took two steps closer to her, leaned forward and eyed her carefully. “You’re even feistier than I remember. I like that, it’s such a shame we have to be enemies. Listen to me, Harvey is the first one and this was his first battle, but he was more than a match for the two of you. My team will take you down.”
“Yeah well, they’re not ready yet, are they?” Scarlett suddenly remembered the switch Katy had mentioned and surreptitiously glanced around the room for it. If she could free the unconscious teenagers before they became Goulden’s puppets, maybe they would join their side and his plan would spectacularly backfire.
“No they’re not, you’re right about that. However, this lot are very much ready and waiting to fight you all right now.”
Goulden spun around and held a remote control aloft. With the press of a button, a large screen at the far wall started sliding up to reveal another room behind it. As it slid higher, a group of strange, mutated people were revealed to be stood there, lurching around and looking menacingly at them.
“Who are they?” she asked as she stared at them in horror. At the front, she could see a girl with four arms, another girl of around 18 was slithering along on the floor with a strange, peeling mermaid’s tail with scales and a boy to her right looked like he was halfway through turning into a werewolf.
“These,” Goulden said with a grin, “are my
rejects. The ugly product of my failed genetic experiments. I was going to order their extermination tomorrow, but I figured I’d might as well put them to some good use seeing as you’re here.
“Throw them all into the Holding Pens,” he said to his men. “And let them fight each other to the death.”
The uniformed men all followed their orders, each grabbing Scarlett, Dylan and their friends and forcing them beyond the barrier. As the metal screen continued to work its way up, a thick glass one quickly slid down, leaving them trapped inside with the rejects while Goulden and his men looked on from the other side.
“Is he going to watch us fight?” Scarlett thought. “He’s sick.”
She clung to Dylan in horror as a boy covered in gross-looking purple spots limped towards them, hotly followed by a small green being with bug-like eyes, insect wings and green warts.
Neelam, Toshiko, Sasha, Alex, Jay, Ethan and Andrew were all bound and gagged on their knees. Scarlett desperately wanted to free them, but three rejects were standing in her way and the rest were making their way over too – there must have been around 20 of them in total.
“I don’t fancy our chances,” she whispered.
“Always fancy our chances, Scarlett,” Dylan said. “Even when we’re massively outnumbered. It’s the only way to survive.”
Chapter 26
“We need to free the others somehow,” Scarlett said as she telekinetically batted off a laser beam shot by one of the rejects.
“I know, but how?”
“Can you freeze them?”
“Freeze them? No, well maybe, but I wouldn’t like to try. What if they shatter? I know they’re attacking us, but it’s not their fault they’re under Goulden’s influence. We must not hurt them.”
“Fair point,” she shrugged. “What about holding them back with an ice wall?”
“Create a whole wall made of ice literally from just thin air? I’ve never done that before.”
Out Of Time Page 19
