by Darrell Pitt
Chad and Brodie were sitting in a home a block away from the doctor’s house. They had been relocated here after Brodie’s rapid recovery. Chad was still amazed she had healed so quickly, but he knew there were many amazing things about her.
Like she was a good kisser.
Until she pushed him away.
‘I’m going out with Axel,’ she said. ‘You can’t do things like that.’
Chad had mumbled an apology, flushed with embarrassment and they had not spoken about the incident since.
Still, Chad could not forget the taste of Brodie’s lips against his mouth. Despite everything she’d been through, her illness and not washing for days, despite all that, she still tasted of spring.
Glorious spring.
‘There’s some people who wants to meet you,’ Marcus continued. ‘Some governors.’
‘Governors? What are they?’
‘Resistance leaders. You don’t know them, but they know you.’
‘Great,’ Chad said. ‘Some unknown hotshots want to meet us. What do they want? An autograph?’
‘I’d appreciate some respect,’ Marcus said, his eyes narrowing. ‘We’re risking our lives just to help you.’
Chad apologized. ‘We appreciate everything you’ve done for us,’ he said, ‘but we need to find our friends.’
‘That’ll happen. Eventually. But you need to understand that a lot of people want you dead. We need to keep you safe.’
‘We know we’re not popular with the Agency.’
‘It’s not just the Agency,’ Marcus said. ‘People have heard you want to change history. Not everyone’s happy about that.’
‘Why not?’ Brodie asked in surprise.
‘People have families. Wives. Children. Have you thought about how this will change history? Anyway, we’re taking you to the rendezvous point to meet the governors.’
Chad sighed. It seemed like a long way round to find Axel and Ebony. Marcus took them to an underground subway tunnel where a makeshift vehicle, a cross between an automobile and a railway handcar, sat on the tracks. Two seats from a sedan faced each other on the handcar, with a petrol engine underneath, and driver’s chairs and control columns at both ends.
‘That’s innovative,’ Brodie said.
‘The height of human technology,’ Marcus said grimly. ‘I won’t be joining you for this part of the journey. But I wish you luck, whatever happens.’
A man, appearing from the shadows, was introduced as Sketch. He was tall, thin and unshaven. His hair looked like it had not been washed in months and most of his teeth were missing.
Brodie greeted him cordially, but he merely grunted in reply. When she asked how long the journey would take, he told them six hours. That was the end of the conversation. Marcus bade them farewell and they climbed aboard the odd looking device. The man started the engine. It coughed a few times before roaring into life. Brodie and Chad sat next to each other, but Brodie was careful not to sit too close. She didn’t want a repeat of the previous day.
The vehicle started slowly, but picked up speed. Within minutes it was roaring down the pitch black tunnel at top speed. The wind tore at Brodie’s face and she closed her eyes. She wished there were lights. It was horrible moving through the dark without any reference to up or down.
Brodie allowed her mind to wander. Chad had saved her life; of that she had no doubt. She could dimly remember the immense pain in her body, the delirium and her flight across the city. She would be forever grateful he risked his life to save her.
She could also not forget the feel of Chad’s mouth upon her own. It was not...unpleasant.
But she was Axel’s girlfriend. Not that he always acted like it. He seemed so much in his own head that he sometimes went for days without showing her any real affection. An uncomfortable thought had been lurking in the back of her mind for weeks. He said he loved her, but he didn’t always show it. In fact, he hardly ever showed it.
Maybe they weren’t meant to be together.
She had never acknowledged the idea before, and now it carved a deep emptiness inside her. Everything had happened so fast over the last few months; they had woken without their memories, become superheroes overnight and just as quickly become criminals on the run from the Agency.
Maybe she was never meant to be Axel’s girlfriend.
But that didn’t mean she was supposed to be with Chad.
Did it?
Squeezing her eyes tightly, she bowed her head as the vehicle moved through the darkness into a night that seemed to have no end.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The monster was gone.
Dan stood at the entrance to the cave, his heart pounding, another pipe hovering in the air, but nothing attacked. He could not even hear the creature anymore. Dust swam about in the shaft of sunlight illuminating the interior. Beyond, there was nothing to see, as if the creature had disappeared into thin air.
Hot and disoriented, he stumbled backwards down the hill. He called Henry’s name, but had no response. The boy had escaped into the jungle. He searched for him for another hour without success before heading back to Liber8tor.
‘Ferdy,’ he said, arriving back on Liber8tor’s bridge. ‘I need information.’
‘Certainly, friend Dan. The numerical value of pi is three point one four one five nine—’
It sounded like Ferdy could go on forever. ‘Thanks, Ferdy. Not that sort of information. I need to know what you found out about those pages.’
‘Ferdy discovered some very interesting information.’
Silence.
‘Do you want to share it?’ Dan asked.
‘Certainly,’ Ferdy continued. ‘The island was occupied by the Japanese during the war. A research laboratory was established, housing some of their most important biological scientists.’
‘What were they researching?’
‘The documents do not go into any details, but it is interesting that one scientist was Doctor Hiroto Satou. Prior to the start of World War Two, he was dismissed from two universities for his work in hybrid plant/animal research.’
‘What does that mean? Exactly?’
‘It seems he was trying to combine both plants and animals into a single organism.’
‘Great,’ Dan groaned. ‘I’m fighting a plant...person...thing.’
‘Dan?’
Dan explained his battle with the creature in the cave.
‘Dan is risking his life unnecessarily,’ Ferdy said. ‘You should wait until our friends return from their mission.’
‘I’m old enough to deal with this myself.’
‘It is not a reflection on your age. It is a well known adage that there is safety in numbers. Numerical superiority has long been a determining factor in winning battles.’
‘I can’t just hide here in the ship,’ Dan said. ‘Henry is out there alone.’
‘Ferdy and Dan can search for your friend together. Liberator can carry out a grid search of the island.’
‘I thought you were worried we might be picked up by Agency aircraft.’
‘A low level sweep should be undetectable by Agency sensors.’
Dan nodded thoughtfully. He had wanted to handle this situation himself, showing he was as capable as everyone else. Just because he was small didn’t mean he should be treated like a baby.
But the most important thing was keeping Henry safe. He had no idea how Henry had survived this long. Maybe the creature had been largely dormant until Liber8tor arrived on the island. Their arrival may have stirred it into action.
‘Let’s do it,’ Dan said.
He took the helm and did the pre-check of their systems. Everything was normal. Firing up the engines, he brought them to full power, feeling the gentle surge of the engines as the ship lifted from the ground. He felt instantly better. He had have only been flying Liber8tor for a month, but it already felt like another appendage.
‘How high can we fly?’
‘A maximum of one hundred feet s
hould be safe.’
Dan applied more acceleration. A whine radiated from the ship.
‘Ferdy? What’s that sound?’
‘Thrust is being applied to the engines, but Liber8tor is not ascending.’
‘Is there something wrong with the engines?’
‘They are operating within normal parameters.’
‘So what’s wrong?’
‘The ship appears to be tethered to the island.’
‘By what?’
‘Ferdy is unsure.’
Keeping his eye on the altimeter, Dan increased power. The ship was ten feet off the ground and rising. The whine in the engines increased as the ship started shuddering.
‘What’s happening, Ferdy?’
‘Something is holding us back,’ Ferdy said. ‘It is trying to stop us from leaving.’
The something could only be one thing. The creature. Dan increased power to the thrusters again. He activated the exterior cameras and saw sand and plants flying away from the ship as the thrusters blasted the ground beneath them. Whatever was tying them to the island was nowhere to be seen. The ship rocked ominously from side to side.
‘Heat is building in the engine manifold,’ Ferdy said.
‘What does that mean?’
‘The close proximity of the firing thrusters to the ground is creating a buildup of heat around the engines.’
The ship dipped wildly to one side and Dan was almost thrown to the floor. Clinging on for dear life, he tried to keep the ship level, but now it was tilting in the other direction. Something slammed into the ship. ‘Ferdy! What was that?’
‘Ferdy does not know.’
It hit the ship again.
‘Is it the engines?’
‘It is not the engines.’
The ship was almost sideways again. Dan had never flown the ship at this angle before. He wasn’t sure what to do. The monster might tear the vessel apart if he landed, but he might tear it apart if he tried to take off.
‘The engines are at sixty percent,’ Ferdy reported. ‘Seventy percent. Eighty percent -.’
‘Load the aft torpedoes!’
‘Loaded. But Ferdy must warn you that you may destroy the ship if you fire them.’
‘What?’
‘The resulting explosion would be too close to the engine housing. An explosion of that magnitude might cause it to rupture, resulting in the ignition of the fuel cells and the destruction of Liber8tor.’
Dan swore. What was he going to do?
‘Hold on!’ he yelled, although he doubted Ferdy actually had anything to hold on to. ‘I’m going to try something.’
He decelerated, watching their altitude drop. For all the energy he had poured into the engines, he had reached a height of only twenty feet. Now they dropped to fifteen. And ten.
‘How are the engine manifold...things?’ Dan asked.
‘They are at thirty percent. Twenty percent.’
‘Good. Get ready.’
‘For what?’
Dan didn’t answer. Swallowing hard, he waited a few more seconds, continuing to descend as if he was about to land—and then he pushed the engines to full power. He was thrown back in his seat as the Libr8tor shot upwards. As if on a rope, it stopped and he was almost thrown from his seat. A technologically advanced civilization, Dan thought, and they couldn’t invent seat belts! An ear piercing shriek came from the engines. Dan tried adjusting their direction and the ship tipped over.
Then they were free. Whatever had held them here released its grip as if the rope had broken. The ship surged forward. Yes! Dan shifted the control column. Now he just needed to bring the ship around.
But he was too late. The ship slammed sideways into the jungle. He decelerated as he fought to pull Liber8tor into a vertical position, but there was no time. The vessel rolled and suddenly Dan was thrown from his seat. He was on the ceiling. Then on a wall. He heard the sound of smashing as everything not secured below decks—personal belongings, kitchen utensils, tools, weaponry—was thrown upside down.
A command console exploded. The ship rolled one more time before it tumbled to a stop. The lights flickered on and off as Dan found himself lying on the floor. He had hit his head in the crash and blood oozed down one side of his face.
‘Ferdy,’ he groaned. ‘What’s the condition of the ship?’ No answer. ‘Ferdy?’
A hopeless sob burst from Dan as he understood the enormity of what he had done. He had destroyed the ship. He may have even killed Ferdy...
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The journey on the petrol driven handcar seemed to take forever. Finally Brodie became aware of it slowing. Opening her eyes, she saw a dim light in the distance that became an old subway platform, manned by people with guns. They did not move as Chad and Brodie, stiff and sore from their journey, gingerly disembarked.
The leader of the group introduced himself as Lightfoot. ‘We’ll be taking you to see the governors.’
‘Just so long as we don’t have to travel in the dark,’ Chad said.
A man produced two black hoods and pairs of handcuffs.
‘You’ve got to be kidding,’ Brodie said.
‘This is how we stay alive,’ Lightfoot explained. ‘If you get captured and tortured by the Agency, you can’t reveal the location of HQ.’
‘We’re mods,’ Chad told him. ‘We could break through those cuffs in an instant.’
‘Good for you.’
‘We could just fight our way out of here if we wanted—’
‘Chad,’ Brodie said quietly.
Lightfoot glared at him. ‘I’m just as happy if you turn around and walk back to New York,’ he said. ‘It makes no difference to me.’
‘We’ve come this far,’ Brodie said, shutting Chad down with a glance. ‘We’ll do as you say.’
The hoods were placed over their heads and Brodie again found herself in darkness. They climbed a set of stairs and a few minutes later were loaded into a van. The engine roared to life.
Brodie closed her eyes, but she had already slept on the railcar. She tried making conversation, but her captors gave her monosyllabic responses so she stayed quiet after that. The vehicle pulled onto a different kind of road, a dirt track. She lurched against Chad and once again felt an uncomfortable sensation in her stomach.
The van stopped. She heard men speaking. Some time later, the back opened and she was helped out. Her legs felt shaky as she tried to walk.
‘Can you take the hoods off?’ she heard Chad ask. ‘And handcuffs?’
‘Not yet,’ a girl replied. ‘In a minute.’
Brodie was led along a dirt path, up a few timber steps and into a building. She was put into a chair, and the hood and handcuffs were removed. Blinking, she wiped her eyes. They were in an old cabin. Through the window she saw distant trees and hills. It was late in the day. Chad looked fine. Then she turned to the girl who, presumably, had led them inside. She was slim with straight, red hair, and a pretty face, though with a scar across her chin.
The girl looked surprised. ‘Who the hell are you?’ she asked.
‘We might ask you the same question,’ Chad said. ‘I’m really sick of all this cloak and dagger crap.’
‘What are your names?’
Brodie told her.
The girl paled. ‘Wait here,’ she said. ‘Don’t move.’ After she left, Brodie and Chad exchanged glances.
‘This gets weirder and weirder,’ Chad said.
‘I know what you mean. That girl looked freaked when she saw us.’
‘There’s something else too. We need to talk.’
‘About what?’
‘You know.’
The kiss.
‘I’m sorry I did that,’ Chad said. ‘But I’m not sorry it happened.’
‘You have to put it out of your mind,’ Brodie said, her heart beating faster. ‘Axel’s my boyfriend. I’m in love with him.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes, I’m sure,’ she said, although she
wasn’t. ‘I’m your friend. That’s all.’
‘I would never want to break you guys up.’ Chad swore. ‘Axel’s like a brother to me. I’d lay down my life for him, but that doesn’t change how I feel.’
‘I can’t help how you feel.’
‘So you’re saying your feelings could never change?’
‘Never.’ She said the words firmly, but she knew she was being stupid. Never was a long time. As long as forever. ‘I’m your friend and that’s all I’ll ever be.’
There was the scrape of feet on the floorboards outside. The door opened and the red-headed girl appeared.
‘Here they are,’ she said. ‘Just like I told you.’
Two people entered after her. One was a woman with long red hair that had started to turn gray. The man was tall and strong, blonde and grim looking. Still, they recognized them immediately.
Brodie felt faint. ‘You’re us,’ she said. ‘Our older selves.’
She felt as if an electric current were running through her body. Now she knew how Axel felt when his older self had turned up. She stared into a face she knew well, but made older by the trials of time and life. But her eyes were the same. It was like looking through a telescope at herself.
‘I don’t know what this is about,’ Old Brodie said, ‘but it isn’t going to work.’
‘This is no scam,’ Brodie said. ‘We’re from the past. And you’re...’ Her voice trailed off as she looked at Chad’s older self. He had grown into a strong, powerful man, his boyish looks replaced by a rugged countenance. But she felt he had more than aged. He had become himself, into the man he was always supposed to be.
Chad was saying something. ‘...as much a surprise for us as it is for you,’ he said. ‘But this isn’t some plot hatched up by the Agency. We’re us, uh, you, but from the past.’
‘Prove it,’ Old Chad said.
It took almost half an hour for Chad and Brodie to explain how they had ended up there. It took just as long to convince Old Brodie they were telling the truth, but the older version of Chad wouldn’t give in.
‘It all sounds like an Agency plot to me,’ he said.
‘Are you always this much of a jerk?’ Chad asked. ‘I grow up to become some sort of douche bag?’
