by A. G. Taylor
Sarah reddened – partly from embarrassment, partly from anger at Craig’s words.
“Why do you need us anyway?” she asked. “My brother is eleven years old. Can’t HIDRA fight its own battles?”
Craig wiped the blood from his nose. “I saw what Bright could do in Russia. And I saw what you kids can do as well. We can’t fight him with guns and hovercopters alone. We need you. And if you don’t get involved in the fight, the whole world is going to suffer.” He walked forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I know you want to protect Robert and the others, but if our enemies aren’t stopped, none of you will be safe. You have to lead your team, Sarah—”
“What about Alex,” she interrupted. “He was the one who wanted to join the action—”
“You’re the leader, Sarah,” Craig said emphatically. “It’s time you started acting like one – for all of us.”
As the commander’s words sank in, Sarah once again felt the terrible responsibility that had been put on her and her friends. They hadn’t asked for their powers, but now they had them it was time to decide once and for all how they were going to use them. And as much as she hated to admit it, Craig was right: she was the leader. Alex had never really wanted to go to England – all he’d wanted was to fight alongside her, but she’d driven him away, thinking that he was putting them in danger. Well, it seemed like danger had found them once again.
“I’ll think about it,” she said and turned swiftly. She made the end of the corridor, threw open the hatch and ran into the next, almost knocking down a red-suited technician as she went. Then she ran, down corridor after corridor, until she stopped, breathless, against a locked hatch. Craig’s words echoed in her mind.
You’re the leader. It’s time you started acting like one. For all of us.
Sarah took a deep breath. For some time she just stood, getting control again.
Robert, she thought, casting her mind towards his cabin, where she sensed him sitting on the bed with a book in his lap.
There was just a second before her brother responded. What do you want?
Get Louise and Wei, Sarah responded. We’ve got work to do.
12
Her name was May. Hack had learned that from what little information he’d been able to extract from his cellmate. She was an Australian, born of Chinese parents who had emigrated there before she was born. She’d been snatched by Major Bright’s men from the street right outside her house, but she wasn’t sure how long ago that had been. Weeks? Months? When Hack tried to press her for information she became quickly irritable and then confused, before falling into a kind of stupor that left her incapable of answering any more questions.
As she half-slept against the cell wall, Hack kneeled before the girl and assessed her physical condition with concern. In addition to her unwashed appearance, she seemed to be suffering from dehydration – no surprise given the heat in the cell. Hack wiped the perspiration from his forehead. Already he was beginning to feel weak from the loss of fluids. The guards had provided no water. Clearly this was what lay in store for him if he didn’t escape or get rescued.
Something caught his eye on May’s right arm and he carefully lifted the sleeve of her T-shirt. The skin above her elbow was bruised black and purple – rough circular patterns, as if something had been pressed into her flesh repeatedly and with force.
“Oww,” May said as he accidentally brushed her damaged skin. The pain seemed to bring her round a little, because her eyes focused and flashed with an intelligence that Hack hadn’t seen before.
“How did you get these bruises?”
She frowned, as if concentrating on every word. “Injection marks. They keep me drugged.” She looked into his eyes as if seeing him for the first time. “What’s your name?”
“Hack. Remember? I told you earlier.”
“Right.”
“Do you know why they’re holding us here?” Hack asked. “What do they want from us?”
May shook her head. “I’ve asked them again and again. But they never give an answer. Ask too much and…well, you’ll see.”
“What do you mean? Have they hurt you?”
She raised an eyebrow. “No, just locked me in a cell for a month and stuck about a million needles in me.”
“Right, sorry,” Hack said, feeling stupid for what he’d said.
May’s expression softened. “It’s okay. Being kidnapped makes me cranky.”
Hack laughed and wondered if he’d be cracking jokes after all she’d been through. “Well, we must have something they want,” he said.
May placed her hand against the brickwork and pulled herself to her feet. She wobbled a little and looked ready to fall right back down again, so Hack reached out and grabbed her arm in support.
“Jesus!” May exclaimed as his fingers closed around her tender upper arm.
“Sorry!” Hack said, removing his hand.
She gave him a withering look, but then smiled. “Nothing broken.” May looked around the cell and blinked up at the high window. The sun was descending in the west.
“It’s the afternoon,” she said. “They haven’t been yet. Late again.”
Hack looked at her in confusion. “Late? For what?”
She ignored his question, jerking her head round to look at him. “What’s special about you? I mean, what could Bright want with you?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I can do stuff with computers, electronics. Y’know, control them with my mind.”
“Then you’re one of us. A superhuman.”
Hack had heard the word used before to describe kids with fall virus powers. “I guess so. Uh, what’s your power?”
“Let me show you.” May placed the palm of her free hand against the wall and splayed her fingers. “If I get us out of this cell, think you can get us off this island, Hack? Or at least do something useful?”
He considered for a second. “If we can get to a computer, I’ll be able to let the whole planet know we’re here. Good enough?”
“Good enough.”
May closed her eyes and Hack knew from his own power that she was channelling her ability, whatever that was. With surprise, he thought he saw a ripple pass through the bricks of the wall. He blinked, wondering if it was just an effect of the heat. Was he hallucinating? No. The wall rippled again – spreading out from the point where May’s hand was touching it. It was as if the solid bricks had become no more substantial than the surface of a pond.
“Cool,” Hack whispered.
May opened her eyes and gave him a quick glance. “This is what I do.”
She concentrated again and the wall became a raging river – undulating under her control. Hack’s eyes widened as he saw gaps starting to form through which he could see the jungle beyond—
The cell door slammed open and rebounded off the wall. They’d been so focused upon the liquefied wall that they hadn’t heard the approach of the guards. A merc grabbed Hack’s shoulders and pushed him down on the floor. He struggled to get up, but the soldier placed a heavy boot on his chest and pinned him.
Concentration broken, May staggered away from the wall, which had once again become solid brick.
“Please, no,” she said as the other merc approached her. Kotler, the merc leader, appeared in the doorway to the cell.
“Getting a resistance to the inhibitor drugs, are we?” he said to May, a grimace-like smile on his lips. It made his skeletal features even less appealing. “Guess we’d better up that dose again.”
The merc standing before May removed a metal cylinder from his belt and held it in his fist. The girl stood helplessly before him. Her eyes showed she wanted to fight, but her body made no move – as if conditioned that resistance was pointless.
“What are you doing to her?” Hack shouted, straining to get from under the boot holding him down. The merc pressed down harder and Hack gasped for breath.
Kotler nodded to the merc with the cylinder, who stepped forward and jabbed it agai
nst May’s arm with no effort at finesse. She cried out in pain. There was a faint hiss as a dose of some drug was administered from a hidden needle.
“Give the brat a second shot,” Kotler ordered. “I don’t want to be watching her all evening.”
The merc obeyed without question, jabbing the cylinder at the same spot. May gave a more muffled cry and then slid down the wall into a sitting position. The merc turned to his commander.
“What about the boy, sir? Should I inject him with the inhibitor as well?”
Kotler walked into the room and stood over Hack, who lay helpless on the floor.
“Why waste the drugs?” Kotler said with a sneer. “This one’s no risk. Not like the girl.”
With that, Kotler strode out, closely followed by the two mercs. As the door slammed shut and the bolts shot, Hack pulled himself up.
“We need water!” he yelled, slamming a fist against the metal door. No response. The mercs either didn’t hear or didn’t care.
Deciding it was pointless to waste his energy shouting after them, Hack turned his attention to May. Her head lolled forward onto her chest now. He went over and crouched beside her. Carefully, he placed a hand under her chin and lifted her head.
“May? Are you all right?”
Her eyes were open but they were glazed, unseeing. The girl he had spoken to a few minutes before had retreated again, forced deep down by the drugs. Hack glanced at the wall she had turned to liquid and understood that, unchecked, no prison would hold her. Placing a hand on her good arm, he gently eased her down into a foetal position on the floor, pulled off his T-shirt and rolled it up to form a kind of pillow for her head.
“It’s okay, May,” he whispered, running a finger over the mark on his own arm where Robert had injected the tracking device. “People are coming for us. Just hold on.”
13
The stealth jet sat, sleek and black, in the centre of Bay 3, which was directly under the flight deck of the Ulysses. The machine looked like a cross between a stealth bomber and a private jet, its shape roughly triangular, with two large afterburners at the back. Lines of little blue lights set into the floor were the only illumination inside the bay, leading Sarah, Robert, Louise and Wei towards the waiting jet as they slipped inside the hangar. Each of them carried a backpack with a dart-gun and basic supplies.
“Is it ready to fly?” Wei asked.
“They keep it ready for me,” Sarah replied.
“The difficult bit will be getting it out of here,” Louise said, pointing to the darkened ceiling. The roof could open to allow access to the deck, but at present it was locked shut.
“Don’t worry,” Sarah said, running under the wing. She pressed a button on the fuselage and the entry hatch slid down. “The tower will do exactly as I tell them—”
The hangar lights flicked on full.
Sarah and her friends spun round as doors slammed open and armed soldiers poured into the hangar. They formed a semicircle around the jet, dart rifles trained on the children. With the troops in position, lighter footsteps clicked across the floor: David Wisher, closely followed by Lesley the psychologist.
Teleport on board and start flight prep, Sarah said to Robert. He disappeared. Louise and Wei took positions on either side of her.
Want us to take care of them? Louise asked, looking around the circle of soldiers.
Long time since I’ve started a decent fire, Wei added, cracking his knuckles.
Sarah shook her head. No. We don’t want to hurt anyone. They’re just following orders.
Wisher stopped a few metres from the jet, as if afraid to get nearer despite the twenty or so dart rifles backing him up. At his side, Lesley smiled triumphantly.
“Just like I anticipated, sir,” she said. “They were bound to try something after your altercation this afternoon.” She looked at Sarah. “It seems you’re not the only one who can read minds around here.”
“Very clever,” Sarah said, then turned her attention to Wisher. “All we want is the jet. I have a deal with Colonel Andersen that I can take it whenever I want.”
He gave a sniggering little laugh and clasped his hands behind his back. “Really? You’re not old enough to drive a car. Do you really think you’re going to fly that jet out of here?”
“Just watch me.”
“I don’t think so. I’m confining you and your friends to quarters for the duration of this emergency. Then we’ll reassess your status as HIDRA operatives. Colonel Andersen has clearly allowed things to get seriously out of control on this boat.”
“It’s a ship,” Wei corrected.
Wisher gave him a withering children should be seen and not heard look.
Lesley shook her head. “You see what we’ve come to, Sarah? If only you’d opened up to me a little more.”
Sarah regarded the psychologist coolly. “I feel the chicken dance coming on again, don’t you?”
Lesley placed a warning hand on Wisher’s arm and whispered in his ear. “She’s a powerful mind controller, sir. I suggest we don’t take any risks here.”
Wisher glanced back at the soldiers. “Everyone target Ms. Williams.” He turned to Sarah. “I don’t think even you can control the minds of twenty soldiers at once. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Your choice.”
Louise nudged Sarah’s arm. Please let us do it the hard way.
Commander Craig appeared, pushing his way through the line of soldiers. “What’s going on here?”
Wisher waved a hand at the jet. “As you can see, team superhuman has stepped completely over the line. It’s one thing to have them listening in on strategy meetings, another entirely to let them play with classified military equipment.”
“No, Mr. Wisher,” Craig said, “I meant, why have you requisitioned twenty of my men? I don’t remember giving the order.”
The suit didn’t blink an eye. “Don’t pull the rank card with me, mister. I’ll have you busted down to private and assigned to HIDRA Alaska by the end of the day.” He glanced round at Sarah with a sneer of contempt. “Now, put a leash on these freaks or I’ll find someone who will.”
Craig looked at Sarah and shrugged, as if to say what can I do? Lesley placed her hands against the side of her skull and screamed.
“Help me! She’s targeting my brain! I can feel it!”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “For goodness’ sake! I’m not doing anything.”
Lesley pointed an accusing finger at her and spoke hysterically. “You stole my mind!” It was a convincing playact. Her little revenge.
“First I’d have to find something to steal,” Sarah shot back. “She’s making it up.”
Wisher rounded on Commander Craig. “Take that girl down now!”
“Fine,” Craig replied, reaching for the dart pistol on his belt. He aimed and pulled the trigger.
The dart embedded itself in Lesley’s neck.
The psychologist let out a little yelp and hit the floor, unconscious. Commander Craig pointed the pistol at Wisher and shot him also.
“You’re finished—” Wisher managed, outraged eyes bulging, before he fell backwards over Lesley’s prone body.
Nobody moved in the hangar. Sarah and Commander Craig looked at one another and then round at the twenty HIDRA soldiers in a line. Finally, Craig broke the silence, addressing a group of four at the end.
“Take these two to sickbay. Everyone else clear out.”
Still nobody moved. For a terrible moment, Sarah was convinced the soldiers would turn their weapons on the commander.
“That’s an order!” Craig shouted. “NOW!”
The soldiers snapped into action, as if they’d awoken from a daze. Four ran to collect Wisher and Lesley while the rest ran for the exits. Craig gave an audible sigh of relief and holstered his pistol.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Sarah said as the unconscious Wisher and Lesley were carried away.
“I didn’t,” Commander Craig said matter-of-factly. “You made me do it. Cont
rolled my mind. That’s what I’m going to say at the court martial, anyway. I’d be grateful if you’d back me up on that when the time comes.”
Sarah grinned and ran for the ramp after Louise and Wei. On the threshold of the jet, she turned back as Craig began to follow.
“I’m coming with you,” he said. “That’s non-negotiable. You won’t get out of this hangar without me on board. Promise.”
She considered arguing, but could see it was no use. Craig was one of the few people at HIDRA she didn’t want to mess with.
She said, “You can come along for the ride. But this is my plane and I’m flying it. Right?”
Craig held up his hands. “Your plane. Your rules.”
“Okay.”
They hurried through the cabin area of the jet. The plane had once been the private jet of Nikolai Makarov, a Russian billionaire in league with the Entity, and had all the trimmings: plush carpets, antique tables and chairs and a giant LCD TV. The military technology of the jet was cutting edge as well, using a stealth device decades ahead of anything the US military had. Over the last six months, HIDRA technicians had been busy trying to discover the secrets behind the jet’s most incredible features: its amazingly short take-off and landing distances, the on-board computer systems that approached artificial intelligence, and the stealth drive itself. Many times they’d begged Rachel Andersen to be allowed to dismantle the machine, but she had stayed good to her word to Sarah and kept the jet operational.
“Prepped and ready to go,” Robert said as Sarah and Craig entered the cockpit.
Strap yourselves in back there, Sarah sent to Louise and Wei as she took the pilot’s seat. This could be a bumpy ride.
She ran her hands over the main control panel. It had been over half a year since she’d flown the jet, but she’d made a point of refamiliarizing herself with the controls once a month. The knowledge of how to control it came back like riding a bike. Part of this knowledge (the basic skills of piloting a jet aircraft) had been culled from Commander Craig’s mind as he lay injured during their escape from Russia. However, the alien technology of the Entity that had been put into the jet required a different type of intelligence – something she had picked up during her meeting with that alien force under the Russian ice.
