Time Catcher

by Cheree Peters

  ‘Wow, the truth for once? Yes, please, Father.’

  ‘Your father gave me this scar! You think I was a terrible father? Remember your real father, Althea!’

  ‘I will remember. I’ll remember to thank him for scarring you when I see him.’

  I see his anger through his wolfish grin. ‘The only place you will see Vaughn Reid is in your dreams! You will remain here for the rest of your life.’

  ‘You tried killing my father and so he gave you that scar?’

  ‘No! I was trying to reason with him about his treaty with the North and he used his Manipulator Ability like a coward, not a man.’

  ‘My father is not a coward.’

  ‘No? Then where is he? Surely by now he must know where you are, and yet, I do not see him.’

  I know he is trying to goad me. I push my anger down.

  He finally notices Bennet. ‘You were one of my scientists, were you not?’

  Bennet steps up. ‘Ah, yes, sire, Mr King, sire.’

  ‘Tell me, boy, how did you remain hidden in the kingdom?’

  Bennet looks at me with worry and I smile reassuringly. ‘I, ah, didn’t know about my Ability.’

  ‘And what is your Ability?’

  At a cry of delight from Corbin we all look toward the Chamber door. Dr Veldt holds a steel box full of syringes for his inspection. The two enter, along with the young sentinel, Scar-face and Dr Kelvin. It’s a scene that is all too familiar to me now. As they approach, I see the needles. The liquid inside makes my neck curl. It’s the same viscous, reddish-black fluid they injected into me. Duncan’s magical, ‘kingdom-saving’ serum.

  ‘It’s your turn to be tested, son.’ Corbin delicately removes a syringe from the box. The needle is bigger than I remember and I shudder.

  Jay squares his shoulders but I see his weariness. He’s been drugged, shot, and had his Ability stolen and returned, only to be taken again.

  ‘Test me again.’ Everybody looks at me. I stare challengingly at Corbin. ‘Jay’s still recovering; he won’t be able to handle the serum. Test me again.’

  ‘You admit you’re feeling perfectly fine with two Abilities?’

  I have to protect Jay. ‘Yes, I’m fine. Woo, go my magical Descendant blood. Now test me.’ I curse my stupid Ability for not being able to freeze Corbin. I could get us out of here if he wasn’t a Variant.

  ‘I will test you again, Thea Reid. It will be interesting to see how you react with a third Ability.’ He looks at Bennet. ‘What is your Ability, young man?’

  For once in his life, Bennet knows when to stay quiet.

  ‘I asked you what your Ability is. Tell me!’ He takes a step towards Bennet. ‘Tell me!’

  I step in front of Bennet. ‘Maybe he doesn’t know. Kind of like me.’

  ‘Don’t you try and play that card, Thea Reid. I will find out your Ability.’

  Beyond the glass wall I see the basement lights flicking on and off. The screens on the long metal desk start to flicker. ‘Oh, don’t worry, Corbin, I’m sure you’ll see my Ability soon.’ I try my best Jay smirk. It must work because Corbin’s eyes narrow.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You’ll see.’

  The lights in the Chamber start flickering.

  Bennet speaks up. ‘This is it.’

  Corbin becomes frantic. ‘What are you talking about, boy?’

  Beyond the Chamber, Harries steps closer to Duncan. I don’t know myself what is really happening. Scar-face and the young sentinel aim their maserlocks at us.

  Abruptly, Corbin leans forward and seizes my arm. ‘What’s going on, Thea?’

  As the lights flicker, I look into his maddened eyes, black as night.

  I glance at Bennet. His eyes are closed in concentration. The lights flicker one final time and the basement is in darkness.

  I reach for Corbin’s hand, groping for the syringe. I struggle with him, trying to rip the needle from his grip. Somewhere to my right I hear people fighting – I assume Jay and the sentinels. He needs his Ability back. The emergency lights pop on, casting a dim, off-yellow glow over the basement.

  I duck under Corbin’s arm, twisting it until he drops the needle. I pick it up, shoving it into his neck, plunging the thick point as far as it will go. I squeeze down on the plunger and, through semi-darkness, watch the liquid stream into his veins. I push away from Corbin and he drops to the ground. I wonder if there will be side effects from the serum mixing with his innate Hyper Absorption Ability.

  Jay takes my hand and tugs me towards the back wall, away from the Chamber door. Harries is hustling Duncan to the stairwell when the three people jump through the entrance, carrying maserlocks. Harries pulls Duncan back to the metal desk while the invaders move towards the Chamber. Out of the three people, only one is expected: Eli. I can’t believe the other two are here.

  Heart-of-gold Francis is defying his king for me. I feel a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. The young sentinel meets him at the door. Francis fires and the sentinel drops.

  Outside the Chamber, the third man looks at me with confused joy. I don’t know whether to smile or cry. I can’t believe he’s here. My real father.

  Eli fires a pulsar into the lock and the Chamber is suddenly very crowded. Jay, Bennet and I stand at the back of the room. In the middle of the Chamber, the two doctors and Scar-face huddle around Corbin, still writhing on the floor.

  I watch the three newcomers with disbelief and happiness.

  Francis ushers the sentinels and scientists to the left side of the Chamber, while Eli stands over Corbin. Dr Kelvin’s upheld arms shake.

  ‘Father?’

  His smile is just like Eli’s. I run across the room and leap into his arms. For years I’ve been lost, trapped in a world not my own with a fake father, and now I have my real one back.

  ‘Thea, it really is you!’ He steps back to look at me, and I look at him. Seeing him, flashes of our lives together appear in my mind. He’s aged considerably in the five years I’ve been gone; more creases in his forehead, his hair grey rather than blond, frown lines around a mouth that used to have only smile lines.

  I know I look different, but I hope he can still see me, his daughter Thea, somewhere inside.

  Jay interrupts the family reunion. ‘We have to go.’

  ‘Not so fast, son.’ I flick my head around to see Corbin has recovered enough to stand. Eli keeps him covered. ‘Vaughn, how nice to see you again.’

  ‘Corbin, it’s been a while.’

  ‘Ah, yes, when was it? That’s right, the night I took your Ability.’

  ‘And my wife and daughter,’ my father says calmly, his eyes blazing.

  There’s a banging on the glass wall. I look around to see Duncan. ‘Do something, Corbin!’ He glares at my father.

  ‘If it isn’t the almighty Duncan Cardiff. Tell me, how’s the hand?’

  I smile. Clearly I didn’t pick up all of my sarcasm and wit from Tahan. For a moment I’m caught in thoughts of my best friend, my traitor, but I shake them off.

  ‘Just wait until I get my hands on you. And you!’ He points at Francis and I fear for my protector and his family. ‘You betrayed me! I should never have trusted you with her! You are not fit to guard my kingdom!’

  Francis smiles his warm, easy smile. ‘Luckily, Your Majesty, I don’t wish to guard your kingdom anymore.’

  Duncan splutters. Over his shoulder I see Harries has a hint of a smile.

  ‘Enough!’ Corbin holds his head slightly to the left, to the side where I jabbed the needle in. ‘You think you will escape the Chamber? Ha!’

  My father steps towards him. Corbin towers above him. ‘I think you’ve done enough, Corbin. I see holding my Ability has driven you even more insane than you naturally were. A pity Air Warping couldn’t change you for the better.’ Corbin glowers. ‘Get her out of here, Eli,’ my father says.

  ‘How sweet, always trying to protect your daughter. Maybe for once you can.’

  Va
ughn charges towards Corbin as more sentinels swarm into the basement, trying to unlock the Chamber door. Vaughn elbows Corbin in the face and Corbin stumbles before regaining his balance, throwing a blow at Vaughn’s chin. He wraps Vaughn in a choke-hold and keeps him steady.

  Through the choking, my father gurgles, ‘Eli, now!’

  I turn just as Eli reaches for me. He grips my arm but I pull my hand up. ‘No!’ Blue light erupts from my hand, jolting Eli back a few metres.

  He looks at me with shock. ‘Thea? What happened?’

  Corbin’s cackle brings my attention back to him. ‘See what I’ve done to your daughter, Vaughn? Let’s hope she doesn’t go – how did you put it? – insane like me.’

  ‘What did you do to her?’

  ‘Don’t worry, Father, I’m fine.’ Sentinels bang on the glass-and-steel door but cannot break through. Duncan watches impotently.

  I smell the familiar smoky smell and shout, ‘Benny, quickly, the gas!’ I point to the ceiling and Bennet raises his hand. Sparks fly from the ceiling, disabling the vents. I turn to Eli, feeling mildly hazy from the gas. ‘Take Jay first, he’s hurt.’

  ‘What’s happened?’

  ‘Never mind that,’ Jay says gruffly. ‘Take her!’

  Blue light radiates from my palm. ‘I can’t control it.’ Bennet leans against the wall, weary from disrupting the basement’s electricity. ‘If Jay won’t go, take Bennet, he’s low on verve.’

  ‘Ergh, fine! But learn to control it, you’re next!’

  Jay clutches his arm. ‘Will you be able to Vault us all?’

  Eli leans in, whispering in his ear. Jay nods and Eli walks over to Bennet. ‘You ready, Benny?’

  ‘Ready for wh–’

  They are gone, a slight breeze the only sign they were here.

  Francis still has his maserlock trained on the two doctors and Scar-face where they warily watch the proceedings by the wall. ‘Francis, are you sure about this? You’ll have to leave with us.’

  ‘Yes, Your Highness, my family is safely away. Don’t worry about me.’

  Vaughn slips out of Corbin’s hold and tackles him to the ground. I hurry over to Jay, taking a few capped syringes of serum from the box on the ground as I pass. Jay grabs the needles from me, stuffing them into his pocket.

  ‘Like I trust you with those, damsel.’

  ‘I need to give you your Ability back.’

  ‘How are you going to do that?’

  ‘The same way Corbin did. Send it to you.’

  Jay looks at me doubtfully. I remember what Corbin told me: ‘You must control the Air Warp light . . . You must make a connection with my son’.

  That’s it! I have to make the Ability connect with Jay.

  I take a step back so we are a metre apart. ‘Raise your hand.’

  Jay reluctantly does so. I raise my own and concentrate, hoping the Ability-switching serum is still active within me.

  Anger seems to trigger Air Warping and I allow the anger I feel at Corbin, at Duncan, at Tahan to power me. Warmth courses through my arm. The blue light appears. I concentrate, forcing the light toward Jay. Slowly, jerkily, it moves between us. I use the sounds of Corbin and Vaughn fighting to spur it forward.

  The light is halfway to Jay’s hand when Corbin sees what’s happening. ‘No!’ He pushes off Vaughn and launches at me, knocking me down. The connection breaks.

  Jay tries to wrench me from Corbin’s grip on my warm left forearm but a moment later, the whirling sensation takes over. I fight, my palm shooting blue light. I need to get back to Jay and the others. I need to get back to the Chamber.

  The spiralling sensation stops and I open my eyes. We are still in the Chamber.

  Corbin looks down at his forearm and then yells at me, ‘How did you do that?’

  I slap him across the face. His head snaps back and smiles at me, licking blood from his lip. I punch him in the jaw and he stumbles back.

  Jay’s arms wrap around my waist, dragging me to the back of the Chamber next to the bed. Vaughn stands on the opposite side of the Chamber, blood pouring from his nose. Duncan is behind him, on the other side of the glass, glaring at him.

  ‘Get it open!’ he roars at the sentinels positioning metal cylindrical objects on the steel frame.

  Eli reappears in the Chamber by the door. My forearm burns, Jay’s Token making its way to the surface.

  ‘Save Vaughn, Eli, I’ll be fine. I still have my Ability.’

  Corbin ignores Eli, looking at me hungrily, scratching his forearm and swaying on his feet. ‘Yes! Your Ability! Tell me, what is it?’

  It seems the serum is affecting him more than it did me. Jay holds me closer to him.

  Eli steps sideways towards Vaughn and as he reaches him, Corbin yelps, ‘No!’

  Duncan bangs against the glass. ‘Corbin, do something!’

  Scar-face takes a step away from the doctors and the frightened young sentinel and Francis fires, sending a pulsar into his shoulder, dropping him to the ground.

  Eli and Vaughn disappear just as a loud bang reverberates around the basement. I crouch into a ball as the Chamber door cracks, bursting open. Two sentinels rush in, Duncan behind them, followed by Harries and another sentinel. Francis turns, switching his maserlock between Dr Kelvin’s group and Duncan’s entourage.

  ‘You want to see my Ability, Corbin?’

  His mad eyes light up.

  Jay holds my arm. ‘Thea, no!’

  I raise my hand. In an instant Duncan is frozen, along with his sentinels, the two doctors and the young sentinel.

  But they don’t stay frozen. They move forward in slow-motion. There are too many people to Catch. With two Abilities, I’m unable to control either fully.

  ‘Fascinating!’ Corbin takes small steps towards the minutely moving sentinels, examining them with interest. Duncan’s large group are completely blocking the doorway – I’ve cut off our exit!

  I look back at Jay, panicking. ‘Jay, I can’t control both Abilities.’ I can’t hold them. I can feel the warmth in my arm, trying to escape.

  ‘Thea, you can do this. Concentrate. Eli will be back soon.’

  ‘I can’t.’

  The group unfreezes. Eli won’t make it back in time.

  Duncan lurches to a stop in front of me, his band of sentinels all raising their maserlocks. He swipes Harries’ maserlock from his hand and takes a step forward. ‘You thought you could get away from me so easily, Althea?’

  Terrified, I am still defiant. ‘My name is Thea!’

  ‘We shall see about that once I have your memory altered again.’ He raises the maserlock at me and it is my turn to freeze.

  From behind the group of sentinels, Francis yells, ‘No!’ and the six sentinels spin to face him.

  ‘Francis, no!’ I scream.

  Two sentinels drop from Francis’ pulsars, but at least three fire, hitting Francis in his chest. He falls to the floor, blood pouring from the pulsar wounds.

  Tears stream down my cheeks. ‘Francis!’ I go to move to him, but Jay holds me back.

  ‘He’s gone, Thea.’

  ‘Francis!’

  Duncan is smiling triumphantly.

  Corbin takes his rightful place besides Duncan. ‘I’ve heard about Time Suspension but I’ve never seen it before. I cannot wait to help you grow your Ability, Thea.’

  That’s it. I need my Ability. And only my Ability.

  I can’t give Jay’s Ability back if I’m using my own. My hand can’t release two Abilities at once. Think, Thea, think. I need to find another way to make a connection with Jay.

  Something in my mind clicks. If I can control the movement externally, maybe I can control it internally. It’s the only thing I can think of. I need to concentrate. Concentrate hard on two things. I raise my hand again, concentrating on time.

  ‘Stop her!’ Duncan yells.

  It works. Sort of. The sentinels’ movements slow.

  I just hope Corbin is still so fascinated by my Ability that he
doesn’t react to what I do next. I turn towards Jay, keeping my hand raised. I take a deep breath. Concentrate, Thea.

  I grab his jacket collar with my right hand and pull him towards me. Before he can react, I kiss him.

  I hold Jay close so he can’t pull away. He kisses me back and I forget what I’m meant to be doing. He wraps his arms around me, pulling me against his body. The sudden motion reminds me of what I have to do.

  Concentrating on controlling time, now is the difficult part. I try moving the warmth in my arm up to my shoulder. At first I think it’s not working, but then I feel the warmth gradually rolling through my shoulder and into my neck. The heat of Jay’s Ability reaches my lips, combining with the heat of the kiss.

  Once I can’t feel the warmth of his Ability anymore, I step away and look up at Jay. His hands rest at my waist and we stare at each other.

  His standard smirk appears and I know it’s worked. We both look down at his arm. His Token is back and I almost shout in excitement. Jay’s eyes flicker to the side and I see the sentinels are moving naturally. I lost concentration during the kiss.

  Corbin rages forward. ‘What did you do?’

  As he is about to reach us, Jay unleashes a burst of blue light, sending Corbin into Duncan.

  Duncan throws him off. ‘Enough. Sentinels, aim for their extremities and fire!’

  As the sentinels pull their triggers, I raise my hand. A trail of pulsars hangs in the air. Duncan’s mouth hangs open, frozen in his rage.

  ‘You can freeze time altogether?’ Corbin says. ‘I must have it!’ He raises his own hand at me but again Jay Air Warps him backwards.

  ‘Son! Stop it!’ Corbin commands, staggering to his feet.

  ‘Never, Father. And my name’s John, not son.’ He blasts Corbin again, sending him sliding back past the frozen sentinels and Duncan. Corbin hits the Chamber wall and lies still.

  My verve is waning from the effort of holding the sentinels and Duncan in time. There are too many people to Catch.

  Jay puts a comforting arm around me, trying to guide me away from the frozen pulsars’ trajectory. ‘Hold on, Thea, just a little longer.’

  ‘No! Don’t – move – me! I need to concentrate!’