Mighty Minotaur

by Anh Do

  First published by Allen & Unwin in 2020

  Text copyright © Anh Do, 2020

  Illustrations by Chris Wahl, 2020

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or ten per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency (Australia) under the Act.

  Allen & Unwin

  83 Alexander Street

  Crows Nest NSW 2065

  Australia

  Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100

  Email: info@allenandunwin.com

  Web: www.allenandunwin.com

  ISBN 978 1 76087 640 1

  eISBN 978 1 76087 741 7

  Cover design by Kristy Lund-White and Chris Wahl

  Text design by Jo Hunt

  Set by Jo Hunt

  Contents

  1 An Artist’s Temper

  2 Training

  3 Control

  4 A Show of Strength

  5 A Wise Plan

  6 Pages of the Mind

  7 The Orphanage

  8 Sister Anna

  9 The Armstrongs

  10 Another Cup of Tea

  11 Minh Sees Red

  12 Swift and Armstrong

  13 Boat Ride

  14 Sector Hub A

  15 Woman

  16 The Cell

  17 Tests of Strength

  18 Fine Dining

  19 Good Cause

  1

  An Artist’s Temper

  William James swept into the dungeon of Capital Castle. He knew the way well, having locked up his fair share of people over the years.

  Behind him marched his personal guards, although ‘personal’ was the wrong word. William hadn’t even bothered to learn their names – they were disposable personnel. In truth, he was far better equipped to protect himself than were any of the mortals in his employ. They, like so much of his life, were just there for show.

  He arrived at the cell which interested him today.

  ‘Hello, Ms Swift,’ he said, as he sank into the plush velvet chair facing its barred door. ‘I trust you’re enjoying your stay?’

  Hannah turned her eyes to the ground, and her hair fell over her face.

  William found her silence irritating. She had nothing else to do, and was all out of options, yet she still chose not to speak to him? He gave a flick of his hand, and she rose from the bed to float forward and press up against the bars.

  ‘That’s better,’ said William. ‘You are a beautiful woman, Ms Swift. Not spectacularly beautiful, and not normally worthy of being painted, but the good news is that I may have reason to immortalise you anyway.’

  He snapped his fingers, and a canvas materialised beside him. He held out his right hand towards it and his left towards Hannah.

  ‘Please,’ was all she said.

  William scowled. Was that really the best she could do? While not a fan of endless gibbering, he did like to get more than a single word from his victims.

  ‘This can be very easy,’ he said. ‘Answer my questions about your daughter, and I’ll allow you to remain three-dimensional.’

  ‘I already told you, I don’t know anything,’ said Hannah. ‘Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.’

  ‘And therein lies the problem,’ said William.

  He made a beckoning motion and felt the warm glow of Lucifer’s Ring on his middle finger. Hannah struggled, but she had no chance against his power.

  ‘Such graceful arms,’ said William.

  Hannah gasped as the colour lifted from her arm up into the air, and swirled towards William’s outstretched left hand. It began passing through his right hand onto the canvas. Hannah stared at her now-translucent arm in horror.

  ‘When did Kelly get her powers?’ said William.

  ‘I told you!’ said Hannah. ‘I don’t know about any powers! She got a lump on her head, so we went to the hospital. That was the last time I saw her.’

  William sighed, and moved his hand towards her other arm.

  ‘No! Don’t!’

  ‘Give me something I can work with, dear Hannah. Had she ever been in touch with a man called Stanley Solomon?’

  ‘I’ve never heard that name in my life!’

  More colour streamed through the air, and a second arm appeared on the canvas.

  ‘This can all be reversed,’ said William, ‘if you just cooperate.’

  ‘You’re a monster!’ screamed Hannah. ‘A pathetic monster, deluded in holding yourself above others—’

  ‘Silence!’ bellowed William, rising to his feet. ‘How dare you speak to me that way!’

  His hand movements quickened, and Hannah cried out as the brown of her hair, the blue of her jeans, her yellow shirt, her cherry lips, all curled away from her. Working furiously, William painted the bars around her too, as well as the cell itself, and all of it took shape again upon the canvas.

  His own throbbing heartbeat thundered in his ears, such was his anger. His hands wove ever faster … until he fell back into the chair, breathing hard.

  Curse my weak heart, he thought, as his vision reeled. He would need a sip or two from the Holy Grail after this ordeal.

  A breeze rustled his hair, and he surveyed the results of losing his temper. There was now a hole in his castle.

  ‘Oops… Summon the builders,’ William shouted at one of his guards, and the young man scurried off.

  William’s gaze came to rest on his new painting. Normally he rendered his subjects in happy poses, with bright smiles and sparkling eyes. This time he had gotten so worked up, he had neglected to do so.

  How had he allowed Hannah to get under his skin? What did he care what she thought? She was just a common woman, and he was a god among men. Still, she had tricked him, somehow, into creating an ugly object he couldn’t enjoy.

  No matter, he thought. It will still suit my purposes well enough.

  When Kelly Swift saw her mother in such a state, it would surely bring her running.

  And if there was one thing Kelly Swift could do, it was run.

  2

  Training

  ‘Let’s try again,’ said Stanley Solomon. ‘The force field you projected in the Memorial Garden could prove extremely useful. You turned aside a fireball from the Collector! I’ve never seen anyone withstand his magic like that.’

  Kelly nodded. ‘What do you want me to do?’

  ‘Concentrate on how you felt when it happened.’

  Concentrating was the last thing Kelly felt like doing. What she wanted to do was hunt down the Collector and rescue her mum. Nevertheless, she forced herself to listen to Stanley as he paced around.

  ‘Feel the power build inside,’ he said. ‘Feel it pool and accumulate.’

  Kelly didn’t think Stanley really knew how her power worked. It did not ‘pool and accumulate’, whatever that meant. It was more like an energy which raced around inside her until she used it or exploded.

  ‘How am I supposed to think about this,’ she said, ‘when my mum is in danger?’

  ‘Because,’ said Stanley, as if ready for the question, ‘if you cannot master your powers, you’ll have no chance of getting her back.’

  It had been two days since they had fled from the Collector into the sewers. On the first night they’d holed up in a workers’ cupboard, which had at least kept them clear of the rats and the smell.

  The next day, after
spending a long time winding through dark tunnels, they had located a manhole cover which led up to the edge of the Industrial Zone, where they’d found this abandoned warehouse.

  Stanley had wasted no time starting Kelly’s ‘training’, as he called it. She found it a bit annoying, as she didn’t think they knew each other well enough for him to appoint himself some kind of guru – but she knew he meant well, so she didn’t object.

  Her horn tingled as his thoughts arrived in her head.

  If you can’t master your emotions, we may all be doomed.

  ‘Did you mean for me to hear that?’ she said.

  Stanley’s curly eyebrows twitched. ‘Perhaps.’

  ‘Well, just talk to me like a normal person.’

  ‘Dear girl, you are anything but normal,’ said Stanley. ‘You’re our one hope of defeating the Soul Collector.’

  ‘What if he hurts her?’ said Kelly. ‘What if he paints her?’

  ‘We already know you have the ability to reverse that.’

  ‘With flowers,’ said Kelly. ‘With vines and dandelions and a park bench. We’re talking about a human being here – my mother. And I’m sorry to say it, but you don’t have much experience training unicorn girls, do you?’ She felt bad about being so blunt, but there was little point in denying the truth. ‘You’re just making it up as you go along.’

  Stanley’s shoulders sagged, and Kelly realised he had been making an effort to hold them up. He was tired, she sensed, but had been trying to be strong.

  ‘I have to hope,’ he said, ‘that you can bring back people too. Please try to work with me, Kelly. This isn’t a game.’

  Kelly prickled at his words. As if she didn’t know how serious this was!

  ‘You think I’m treating this like a game?’ she snapped. ‘Aren’t games supposed to be fun?’

  Stanley softened. ‘My apologies, Kelly. I chose my words poorly. I didn’t sleep very well on the warehouse floor last night, not to mention … well, everything else.’

  Kelly immediately felt awful. These ugly feelings just weren’t her. She hadn’t meant to belittle an old man who was only trying to help. She decided she would also try to choose her words more carefully.

  ‘I’m sorry too,’ she said. ‘I’m just really worried. It’s a lot of pressure to be responsible for – you know – the future of everything.’

  ‘The Collector has one of my loved ones too,’ said Stanley.

  ‘What?’

  ‘My wife,’ said Stanley. ‘He painted her as punishment because I dared to question him. I’m in this with you for the long haul, Kelly. Whatever it takes. Do or die. You’ll not be alone in this.’

  Kelly realised there were tears in his eyes, and felt her own well up in answer.

  ‘I used to think there was no hope of getting her back,’ said Stanley, ‘but now, with your powers …’

  ‘We’ll get them back,’ Kelly promised. ‘Both of them. And anyone else William James has imprisoned.’

  Stanley nodded gratefully, and Kelly ached to take away his pain. How long, she wondered, had he lived with this grief?

  ‘I’m not claiming to have all the answers,’ said Stanley. ‘And you’re right, I don’t know exactly how to train you. But maybe we can work it out together, eh? Two heads are better than one.’

  ‘Usually I’d agree,’ said Kelly, with a weak smile, ‘but these days I can hear everything that goes on inside both heads.’

  Stanley thought about this for a moment.

  ‘If that’s what’s bothering you,’ he said, ‘then that’s what we should work on first.’

  3

  Control

  They moved along alleys between factories, keeping an eye out for security cameras. This part of the Industrial Zone was so run-down, the odd cam they spied was rusted or broken.

  ‘Do we really have to do this out here?’ said Kelly. It seemed like an unnecessary risk.

  ‘We can’t train you to block the thoughts of others if there are no others around to have the thoughts,’ said Stanley.

  ‘We could wait until night, at least.’

  ‘Workers go home at night,’ said Stanley.

  They passed a window through which they could hear workers calling to each other, over the clanking of tools and machinery. Kelly hadn’t been this close to people for a couple of days, and unbidden thoughts quickly began to arrive in her head.

  Can’t wait for this shift to end.

  No one will notice if I slack off for a bit.

  Hope Bill isn’t cooking beans again tonight. I’m so sick of beans.

  Stanley glanced around. Nearby was a discarded crate.

  ‘Perfect,’ he said. ‘Let’s hide in there so we’re undisturbed while we try this.’

  Kelly watched as a roach crawled out of the crate.

  ‘You have a weird definition of perfect.’

  ‘All right, sensei,’ said Kelly. ‘What do you think I should do?’

  ‘When the KG were after you in the supermarket,’ said Stanley, ‘you told me you were able to use their thoughts to track them.’

  Kelly nodded.

  ‘So, in those moments, your telepathy must have been directed,’ said Stanley. ‘You sent your perceptions after the Hornets. Right?’

  Kelly frowned – she hadn’t really thought of it that way before.

  ‘Can you hear the workers now?’ asked Stanley.

  Day after day of this. Day after day after day …

  My hands are sore …

  I hate beans …

  ‘Yes,’ said Kelly.

  ‘Very well. In that case, don’t resist them, but instead try to focus on just one person. See if you can reach out to them.’

  Kelly closed her eyes.

  Her horn tingled and, not for the first time, she had a sense it was the conduit through which these thoughts arrived. At the moment it was functioning like an antenna, receiving signals from all directions on the mental plane. What if she could narrow the beam, as Stanley had suggested? She visualised doing so, concentrating on the woman who was so tired of beans.

  Horrible, gluggy mess. I know beans are cheap, and money is tight …

  Kelly zeroed in on the spot the woman’s psychic echoes pulsed from. As she did, they grew louder, and others seemed to fade into the background.

  Here I am, slaving away all day in this hot-box …

  Kelly could now make out the shape of her, could tell where she was located in the building. To her surprise, the bean-hating woman was not even the closest person to her. She was up on the second floor, on the other side of the warehouse.

  … beans make me want to fart all day.

  Kelly chuckled in surprise.

  A questioning murmur from Stanley brought her back to herself, and she lost the connection. She opened her eyes.

  ‘I could hear just one person,’ she said excitedly. ‘A woman whose husband keeps cooking her meals she doesn’t like.’

  ‘Interesting,’ said Stanley. ‘What happened to the other thoughts?’

  ‘They sort of … went away.’

  ‘What about now?’

  Thoughts were creeping back, growing louder again – from the bean woman, from the other workers, and from Stanley.

  ‘They’re coming back.’

  ‘Try …’ began Stanley, but Kelly waved him to silence. She felt more in tune with her horn than ever before. Being aware of what it was doing had allowed her to control it – so maybe she could exercise that control in other ways too?

  She imagined the area she was picking up thoughts from to be closer and closer around her, almost like a bubble growing smaller … and just like that, all the other thoughts faded away again!

  She could still hear Stanley, because he was right there …

  Is she working it out? This could be a momentous advance!

  ‘Don’t get ahead of yourself, Stanley,’ Kelly said, with a little laugh.

  She brought the bubble even closer, until it was no bigger than her own he
ad – and then she could no longer hear Stanley either.

  ‘Stanley,’ she said, ‘I’m in control!’

  4

  A Show of Strength

  That night, on the upper floor of the empty warehouse, Kelly and Stanley found an area that looked liked it had once been used by squatters.

  With some relief they discovered that the electricity was still connected, and that the taps still worked. Stanley went looking through cupboards and, beside a mound of mould that was once bread, he found a couple of dusty tins. When he presented them to Kelly, she chuckled, and he shot her a questioning look.

  ‘Never mind,’ said Kelly, as she took a can of beans.

  As they ate old beans, Stanley tinkered with the buttons of a small television abandoned in a corner. To their surprise, it flickered on and the screen filled with the Kingdom National News.

  Stanley turned the knob for the volume control. ‘It’d be good to know what’s happening out there,’ he said.

  ‘William James has announced today that he will increase numbers of Kingdom Guards stationed along our borders,’ said the presenter. ‘He will spare no cost in keeping his people safe from the outside world.’

  ‘Stop them from escaping, you mean,’ muttered Stanley.

  ‘If you are interested in joining the Kingdom Guard,’ continued the presenter, ‘see your local recruitment centre. In other news, security cameras have captured remarkable footage of an unknown Citizen performing a heroic act…’

  The footage showed a car accident – a little boy was stuck underneath a car. Suddenly, a hooded guy ran in from somewhere off screen. He put his hands under the boot and then lifted the car from the ground.

  The child rolled clear, into his mother’s arms. The figure glanced around, then the car thumped back to the ground as he took off without a word and disappeared into a stairwell.

  Kelly and Stanley – and probably everyone else watching – stared at the screen with amazement.

  ‘The unnamed hero has the Kingdom’s gratitude,’ said the presenter. ‘We ask, if this is you, to please make yourself known to your local KG for a large reward. Your contribution to society should not go unrecognised. There is also a reward for anyone who contributes information leading to the identification of this brave soul. Next up, sports…’