by Darrell Pitt
“I think we’re going to make it,” I said. “Once we get into the building –”
The sound of footsteps came from behind us. We turned to see two Tagaar warriors advancing with weapons ready.
Chad sighed. “Can’t it be easy for once?”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Dan watched Mr. Brown as he slept in the rocky enclave. Actually, he was unsure if the man was asleep or unconscious. His face looked pale and his eyes had been shut for several minutes. Dan could imagine how he felt. His left arm was in the makeshift sling, but it was hurting more all the time. Continuing with the others would have been a serious mistake. They needed able-bodied people. Not a short, dumpy kid with a broken arm.
He sighed. It wasn’t easy being the youngest of the group.
He stuck his head out of the enclave – and pulled it back in again.
“Hell,” he muttered.
A Tagaar warrior was making his way along the beach. There appeared to be only one of them, but one was enough. He was still some distance away. Dan looked around wildly. Axel and Chad had told him to look after Mr. Brown, but now he was uncertain as to exactly how he was supposed to do that.
Wait a minute, he thought. Mr. Brown has a gun.
Dan took it from him gently. It was small but would suffice. He had been trained in the use of several weapons during his time with The Agency. He knew how to fire the weapon, but he wasn’t sure how effective it would be against a Tagaar. Of course, he also had his powers. Unfortunately, he was only able to manipulate metal, and there wasn’t a whole lot of that around.
He peered out from the gap again. The warrior would be here within moments. It would probably be best to –
A heavy hand landed on his shoulder. He didn’t move at first. Then he slowly shifted his head to see a Tagaar soldier standing behind him. Dan gulped. The alien towered over him by about three feet.
Dan tried to keep his voice even. “Do you know you look like a fish?”
Dan pulled the trigger. The first bullet hit the alien in the stomach. As it raised its own weapon, Dan fired again and hit it mid-chest. The third bullet slammed into its throat. Green blood poured from the wounds. The alien made a final attempt to speak before collapsing to the ground.
Falling back against the rock, Dan realised his heart was thumping wildly in his chest. The firing of the gun had been like a series of explosions in the small enclave, but Mr. Brown hadn’t moved at all. He really was unconscious. Still gripping the weapon, Dan swung about and looked back down the beach.
Empty.
Damn, he thought. The other warrior must have heard the gun.
But where had he gone?
Dan stepped cautiously from the enclosure. He still had the weapon raised and he was ready to use it. The entire beach lay deserted. The waves continued to sweep up and down it, tumbling over the stones on the shoreline. He peered toward the hills. The warrior wouldn’t have had enough time to move out of sight.
So where was he?
He heard a single splash of water come from the ocean. Turning, he was ready with the weapon, but the Tagaar had made an incredible leap from the water. As well as looking like fish, Dan realised, they were able to behave like them as well. The warrior covered twenty feet in less than a second.
Dan fired until the weapon was empty, but the shots went wide as the Tagaar slammed into him. He hit the ground. Trying to scramble free, he felt the warrior grab his left arm – his broken arm – and lift him into the air.
Aaarrhhh.
The pain was unbelievable. It was so terrible that Dan felt like passing out. But he could not do that. If he did he would die. And so would Mr. Brown. And Axel and Chad were relying on him.
He needed metal. If he had metal, he could turn it into a weapon. Without it –
The warrior laughed. “You are tiny and weak,” he said. “Pathetic! We will take over your world and use you as food for our tables.” The warrior stabbed a finger into his chest. “We are Tagaar. We have –”
“Uniforms made of metal,” Dan suddenly realised, and focused on the armor. The warrior cried out as his uniform started to crush his body. He released Dan in disbelief. Dan hit the sand hard, but he remained focused on the alien. With every passing second the alien’s uniform closed around him more tightly until blood poured from a dozen places.
The alien fell to his knees, gave a final choking sound and fell forward on his face.
Dead.
Gasping, Dan settled his arm into the makeshift sling once more and crossed over to Mr. Brown’s side. The pain in his arm was terrible, but he was determined to stay conscious.
Mr. Brown opened his eyes slightly.
“Everything under control?” he said softly.
“Everything’s fine.”
Dan sat back on the rocks and waited.
Chapter Forty
As soon as Brodie and the others saw the alien fighter ship land, aliens started pouring out of the vessel toward them. Ebony formed a metal shield from the air. Brodie had already picked up a length of pipe to use as a weapon. Ferdy grabbed a boulder.
“Ferdy likes to play ball!” he yelled and threw the rock. It knocked over half a dozen warriors.
He grabbed Ebony’s shield and they started forward under a hail of weapons fire.
“They wouldn’t be so tough without their guns,” Brodie complained.
“I might be able to give us an edge,” Ebony said.
She touched the ground and focused. Brodie watched as it slowly disappeared. Within seconds, she had created a hole a hundred feet deep. Most of the warriors disappeared into it instantly. The remaining few leapt free at the last instant and began to navigate around both edges. Ferdy picked up another rock and took out one of them.
The two remaining warriors sprinted toward them. Brodie ran forward and flipped one over her shoulder. She slammed a series of punches into him. She had to be fast. Ebony would need her help. The warrior leapt back to his feet and launched a series of punches to her abdomen and face.
Hell, this guy was faster than she expected.
Suddenly a spear flew through his body, impaling and killing him instantly. Brodie swung around to see Ebony standing coolly at her elbow. She had already killed the other warrior.
“Thanks,” Brodie said.
“Any time.”
They rounded the massive hole in the ground and caught sight of two more figures moving toward them. Brodie was ready for another attack, but then she recognised them.
“Axel!” she said. “Chad!”
Axel threw his arms around her. “We met some resistance along the way.”
“So did we,” Ebony said. “Where’s Dan?”
Axel explained about the boy’s broken arm. At that moment the pulse emanating from the Solar Accelerator brightened perceptibly. They shielded their eyes from the light.
“It’s getting brighter,” Chad said.
“It is,” Ferdy agreed. “Yellow is a primary colour.”
No one felt there was enough time to query why this was important, so they crossed the last few feet to the installation. Two ships were now parked near the building: a larger warship, and the smaller fighter craft. Both now appeared silent and still. They hurried around the side of the structure until they found a doorway. Brodie stuck her head through the gap. She was expecting to see a high-tech scientific laboratory. Instead, they seemed to have arrived at the entry to the kitchen. They hurried inside, pulling the door shut behind them. The electricity in the air was enormous. Brodie felt the hair standing up on her arms.
They crossed to the next door. This time she peered through the gap and saw a huge chamber with banks of computer equipment and electrical devices around the edges. In the middle sat a concrete bunker. Yellow light was pouring from the interior. It seemed to be growing brighter with every passing second.
The room was empty.
“Ferdy,” Chad said. “You should start to power down that thing.”
Fer
dy nodded. He started to examine the controls. A low laugh came from the other side of the equipment. They turned to see a beautiful woman with green eyes slowly approaching them.
“So now they’re attacking me with children,” Morgan Le Fay said. “What a waste.”
Chapter Forty-One
I could not move.
As soon as the woman looked at me, I found myself frozen to the floor. Only my eyes could move. Glancing toward Brodie and the others, I could see they were similarly affected. Ferdy’s hand hovered over the control panel. Chad remained in mid-step. Brodie and Ebony were frozen in place.
Brodie’s eyes moved about desperately in their sockets. They met mine. I could see pure, naked fear in them.
“Super powered teenagers,” she said. “Is this the best that humankind can throw at me?”
She shook her head as she slowly crossed to us. “I’ve heard of your group. The teenagers from The Agency. I know all about you and your impressive array of powers.” The woman touched Brodie’s hair and wrapped it around her fingers. “You must be Brodie. That’s lovely hair, my dear. I believe I will turn it into a teapot warmer.” She smiled. “When you’re dead.”
I wanted to scream at her. I struggled with all my might to move, but nothing would happen.
The woman stopped again. “Ebony! You look like a quiet little thing. But what power you have! The ability to transmute objects! My brother Merlin wanted that power all his life, but failed to attain it.” She shook her head. “Poor Merlin. I had advantages he did not enjoy. My whole life changed when I saw an alien ship fall from the sky one night. When I investigated I found a dying alien in the wreckage. His name was K’charn and he offered me unfathomable power if I would help him live.”
She laughed. “What did I have to lose? I was a poor, helpless girl who would have ended up marrying some oaf of a farmer if I had refused. So I assisted him, and my life has never been the same since.”
The woman stopped before Chad. I could see him struggling against the woman’s power. I saw a rage I had never before seen in him. He wanted to kill this woman and he would have – except he was as helpless as the rest of us.
One muscle, I thought. Just one muscle.
I used all my might to move one of my fingers, but it would not move. I tried to use my ability to control air. Nothing would happen. It was as if my power had been switched off. This woman could do anything – and everything – to us and there was nothing we could do about it.
“Chad. The boy of fire and ice,” she continued. “A beautiful combination. Fire and ice. I travelled to the arctic once with Doctor Frankenstein.” She swept her eyes across us. “Oh yes. He was real. A brilliant – but sadly deluded – scientist. I went there with him and his pathetic creature. I thought I could learn a new technology that would give me even more power, but it was not to be. I spent three years alone on the ice waiting for rescue.”
She laughed. “I’ve led a long and interesting life, but that is nothing as compared to what the future holds for me.” She stood before me. “Human civilisation will collapse once the detonation occurs, and then I will murder and torture to my heart’s content. And then I will move on to the stars.”
The woman gently touched my face. “And young Axel. A child of air. Impressive. I believe I will make you suffocate your companions. That should be fun. And then you will suffocate yourself. Do you like that idea?”
I wanted to spit in her face. Instead, I had to watch helplessly as she moved toward Ferdy.
“But now I am disappointed,” she said. “Here it is. Ferdy. The mental defective of the group. People such as he should be put down. Destroyed. They have no place in this world.” She drew close to his face. “Can you hear me? You pathetic oaf! You dummy! You will never –”
Ferdy’s hand snaked out and grabbed the top of the woman’s head.
“Ferdy has friends,” he said. “Which is more than can be said for you.”
He squeezed hard and pulled upward. As he did so, the top of Morgan’s head lifted up – leaving her body behind. Ferdy had a firm grip on her hair. Beneath it squirmed a creature the size of a man’s hand. It fought against his grip.
“You must be K’charn,” Ferdy said. “Goodbye.”
He dropped the creature to the floor. Then he stepped on it. It made a bursting sound like an enormous cockroach crushed underfoot.
I immediately felt my free will return. I gasped. The others cried out in relief as we felt the control return to our bodies. I summonsed up my power to attack Morgan, but it seemed that retribution was not to be our responsibility. Her beautiful black hair began to turn grey. Her skin wrinkled. Her body sagged.
“No!” she cried. “No. I am Morgan Le Fay. I am –”
She collapsed to her ground as the aging process overtook over. A thousand years of aging caught up with her in seconds. Giving a final, pathetic cry, we watched in horror as her hair turned white and fell out. Her cheeks grew hollow. Her skin dissipated to nothing. Within seconds she was reduced to bone and dust.
And then only dust.
Chapter Forty-Two
“She was a bad woman,” Ferdy said.
“Weren’t you affected by her powers?” I asked. “The rest of us were unable to move.”
“Really?” Ferdy looked surprised. “Ferdy thought you were waiting for her to finish speaking.”
“No, we –” I got no further. The building shook beneath our feet and we looked at each other in dismay.
“We need to turn that thing off,” Chad said.
The light in the concrete chamber continued to grow brighter by the second. Ferdy crossed to the console and examined the display as a sound came from outside the building. Ebony and Brodie raced outside while Ferdy manipulated the controls. They returned a moment later.
“That Tagaar warship has just taken off,” Brodie said. “I think they’re running. And it looks like the dome has fallen. Ships and helicopters are approaching the island.”
The entire building shuddered again. Objects fell off benches and clattered onto the floor.
“They should not land,” Ferdy said. “We need to evacuate.”
“The island?” I asked.
“No,” he said. “The planet.”
“What?”
Ferdy pointed at the display on the computer screen. “Morgan Le Fay has miscalculated the power generated by the Solar Accelerator. Her configuration will do more than create a massive EMP. It will ignite the atmosphere.” He examined the controls. “It will take Ferdy a number of minutes to stop it. There are ships about to land on the island. You must tell them to move away.”
I turned to the others. “Get everyone away from the island.”
Brodie grabbed my arm. “But you –”
“I’ll be fine,” I said.
The building shuddered again and the intensity of the beam increased. The energy felt like it was burrowing through my skull. Brodie gave me a last despairing look before she hurried from the room.
Ferdy continued to stab at the controls. Finally he turned to me with fear in his eyes. “The controls are frozen. Morgan must have built in a failsafe device.”
“Can’t it be stopped?”
“Not from here.” He crossed the chamber to the bunker. “The titanium rods must be manually disengaged from the bowl, but the radiation will kill anyone who enters.”
“We don’t need to enter,” I said.
The light from the interior of the chamber was almost blinding, but I could just make out the rods. I focused on bending them away from the bowl. Nothing happened. I looked down at my shirt and realised the entire front of my shirt was drenched with blood from my nose.
No. No. No.
I focused on the metal rods with all my might.
Nothing happened.
Oh no.
Not now.
Please. Not now.
“My powers,” I moaned. “They’re not working.”
“Then someone must enter the chamber.”
“I’ll do in.”
Ferdy looked at me sadly. “You should not die. You are Ferdy’s friend.”
“No one’s dying today,” I told him. “We’re all getting out of here together.”
“Unfortunately that won’t be possible.”
And that’s when he hit me. When I awoke I found myself flat on the floor. It felt like only a few seconds had passed, but the building was shuddering worse than ever. A huge crack had formed in the ceiling. Through it I could see the sky. It had turned a sickly yellow colour. I felt the ground shake violently beneath me. An earthquake. Struggling to my feet, I heard glass breaking, and another section of the ceiling collapsed.
Where was Ferdy?
I scrambled across to the bunker. Light poured from the window facing into the chamber. It was more intense than ever, but in the midst of it I could see Ferdy.
“Ferdy!” I screamed.
I fought to open the door. It had been locked from the inside. Again I attempted to use my powers, but nothing happened. I returned to the window, banging on it in desperation. I could see Ferdy pushing against the rods with all his might.
“Ferdy!” I screamed. “Open the door!”
Through the blinding light, I could just make out Ferdy’s figure. He had been horribly burnt by the heat in the chamber. His clothes were smouldering. Most of his hair was gone. He looked up at me.
“Ferdy was able to remotely program the Tagaar fighter ship to intersect with the beam!” he yelled. “Simultaneously blocking the beam and disrupting the power load may stop the detonation.”
I slammed my fists against the glass.
“The beam is building to ignition,” he said. “It must be stopped now or the Earth will be destroyed.”
The light built again in intensity and I shielded my eyes.
“Ferdy,” I moaned. “Get out of there.”
“You told me how you die has got to be at least as important as how you live.”
Tears were streaming down my face. “Ferdy...no…no...”
“Ferdy is lucky to –” He stopped. “I am lucky to have had such friends.”
