Teen Superheroes Box Set | Books 1-7

by Pitt, Darrell

  Great. Another history lesson I didn’t need.

  ‘I want proof that Brodie is still alive.’

  ‘You will have to take my word for that.’

  ‘Why should I trust you?’

  ‘Because you have no other choice.’ He tapped a patch on his wrist, and a holographic map appeared in the air before me. I recognized it immediately. It was a three-dimensional image of The Agency. How they’d gotten it was a mystery.

  ‘I’ll show you how to retrieve the Stonekiller,’ Graal said. ‘Once you’ve delivered it to me, I will talk to you about saving the woman you love.’

  Chapter Six

  ‘Boys?’ Ebony asked. ‘Have you seen Axel?’

  Dan and Chad glanced up from their positions in the games room. Chad was doing bench presses. Dan was in the middle of playing a computer game called Burning Swords.

  ‘No,’ Dan said, looking back at his game.

  ‘Uh-uh,’ Chad said, continuing to push the barbell up.

  ‘Fine.’ Ebony glared at them. ‘It’ll have to be you two then.’

  ‘Us two…what?’ Dan asked. He was at level seventy-two in the game. He’d been defeated by a three-headed, six-armed medieval warrior no fewer than fifteen times. If he were to use the Flaming Sword of Zarn—

  Ebony folded her arms. ‘We’re spending some time with Ferdy.’

  ‘We already spent some time with Ferdy.’ Chad continued to work out with the barbell. ‘We sent Mister Robot Man to jail and made the world a better place. Don’t you remember, sis?’

  ‘I remember,’ Ebony said, pursing her lips. ‘I also remember that you boys have hardly spent any time with Ferdy over the last week.’

  Chad rested the weight on the support bar and slipped on his shirt. ‘That’s not true,’ he said. ‘I’ve spent plenty of time with Ferdy.’

  ‘Really? When?’

  ‘Oh…’ He thought for a moment. ‘Oh, just lots of time.’

  ‘Ferdy needs us,’ Ebony said. ‘He needs human contact.’

  Dan sat down his computer game. The medieval warrior had defeated him for the sixteenth time. ‘Come on, Ebony,’ he said. ‘We give him lots of attention. He’s like a brother to us.’

  ‘You certainly don’t act like he’s a brother.’

  ‘Maybe a cousin.’

  ‘Whatever.’

  ‘He acts like we’re in the way,’ Chad said. ‘He seems to like the computer more than he likes me.’

  ‘A lot of people probably feel that way,’ Ebony said, but the sarcasm was lost on Chad. ‘Ferdy needs people. He needs us—whether he knows it or not.’

  ‘Sis…’ Chad made one last feeble attempt.

  ‘We’re a family,’ she said. ‘Come on.’

  Ebony waited until she knew the boys were following her, then started for Ferdy’s room. The Agency had given him his own apartment in the middle of one of the hotel’s floors. It had no windows, something that Ebony had opposed, but she could understand the logic.

  It wasn’t that The Agency considered Ferdy dangerous, but, as Agent Palmer had pointed out, Ferdy sometimes didn’t know his own strength. He could lift a car and hurl it fifty feet with little effort. What if he suddenly got it into his head to pick up a computer and toss it at a passing vehicle?

  Ebony was determined to make Ferdy feel wanted. It was the only way to bring him out of his shell. She knocked at his door.

  No answer.

  She knocked again.

  ‘Ferdy!’ she called. ‘Are you there?’

  ‘Ferdy is playing chess,’ his voice replied.

  ‘Can we come in?’

  ‘Chess originated in India in the sixth century!’

  ‘That’s great, Ferdy. Can we come in?’

  There was a long pause, and then the door inched open. Ferdy’s face appeared in the gap. ‘You are Ferdy’s friends,’ he said. ‘Ferdy is playing chess.’

  ‘Can we come in?’ Chad asked, peering over Ebony’s shoulder. ‘We thought we might hang out.’

  ‘Spend some time together,’ Dan added.

  ‘Time is relative,’ Ferdy said. ‘Technically, it is time/space.’

  The three exchanged glances before turning back to Ferdy. They tried to look friendly.

  ‘Come in,’ Ferdy said.

  Entering his room, Ebony glanced about and saw his quarters had changed little since they’d arrived at The Agency. He didn’t have much in the way of possessions—none of them did—but his room looked more Spartan than their own. The few possessions he’d acquired were neatly placed on shelves. Other than these, a dozen computers sat on desks around the room. A chess set sat on the table in the middle.

  ‘You’re very tidy,’ Dan said. ‘You can come and tidy my room if you like.’

  ‘Ferdy cannot do the impossible,’ Ferdy said.

  ‘Oh,’ Dan said. ‘Look, I was—’

  ‘Ferdy is joking,’ he said. ‘Ferdy was making a funny joke with his friends.’

  Chad’s eyes settled on the chess set. ‘Who were you playing against?’

  ‘The computer,’ Ferdy said. ‘Ferdy is playing one hundred and seven games.’

  Ebony thought she’d misheard him. ‘You mean you’ve played a hundred and seven games against the computer?’

  ‘No. Ferdy has played nine thousand, seven hundred and forty-one games since coming to live at the Las Vegas branch of The Agency.’ He crossed to a control panel, and a dozen monitors sprang to life. They showed a multitude of chess games in various stages of play. ‘Ferdy is concurrently playing one hundred and seven games against The Agency computer.’

  ‘Concurrently?’ Dan said.

  ‘At the same time?’ Chad said.

  ‘That is the meaning of concurrent,’ Ferdy confirmed. ‘Ferdy likes to play chess.’

  ‘Are you winning many?’ Chad asked.

  He looked at Chad as if he’d said something strange. ‘Ferdy always wins,’ he said.

  ‘Always?’ Dan laughed.

  ‘Always is a period of time without barriers,’ Ferdy explained. ‘But it is traditionally understood to continue into the future. There have also been more than twelve musical albums entitled Always as well as over thirty individual songs with the same name. Additionally—’

  ‘Uh, we get the idea,’ Ebony said. ‘We were thinking about going up to the roof to play ball.’

  ‘Ball?’

  ‘Yeah, you know, Ferdy,’ Chad said. ‘A spherical object typically made of—’

  ‘Chad!’ Ebony snapped.

  ‘We’re going to throw a ball around,’ Chad said.

  ‘Around what?’

  ‘To each other,’ Ebony explained. ‘We’ll throw it to each other. You know, for fun.’

  ‘Ferdy finds this difficult to understand,’ he said. ‘If each of us wants a ball, then we should just all go and purchase our own balls.’

  Dan shook his head. ‘You could destroy the world of football with that kind of thinking,’ he said.

  Ebony ignored him. ‘Let’s go.’

  They went to the roof, stepping out into the light of a bright afternoon. The Agency owned the entire building, but most of it was off-limits to Ebony and the others. Fortunately, the roof had been left to them, probably because a high wall ran around the exterior, shielding them from the outside world.

  Ebony took a tennis ball from her pocket. ‘I’m going to throw the ball to Chad,’ she said. ‘Then he’ll throw it to Dan, and he’ll throw it to you.’

  She threw the ball, and each person passed it to the next. When it reached Ferdy, he caught it and stood looking at it. Ebony realized she’d left out an important detail.

  ‘Now you throw it to Chad,’ she explained.

  Ferdy threw it. Chad caught it, and the game continued. After the ball had done the rounds a few more times, Dan went to catch it, but he winced in sudden pain.

  The others hurried over to him.

  ‘What is it, buddy?’ Chad asked.

  ‘It’s my head,’ he explaine
d. ‘I’m getting images. It’s Brodie…’

  ‘What is it?’ Ebony asked. ‘Is she okay?’

  ‘No. I can sense desperation…pain…’

  ‘Has she been in an accident?’ Chad asked.

  ‘No…I don’t know…I’m not sure…’

  Chad produced his cell phone. ‘I’ll ring her,’ he said. After a minute, he shook his head. ‘No answer.’

  ‘She’s been gone all afternoon,’ Ebony said.

  ‘I thought it was weird when she didn’t pick up earlier,’ Chad said. ‘Maybe she’s in trouble.’

  ‘I think we should speak to Agent Palmer,’ Ebony said.

  Ferdy picked up the ball. ‘Ferdy throw the ball.’

  ‘Okay, Ferdy,’ Ebony said absently. ‘But we’ve got to go inside.’

  Ferdy drew his arm back and threw it hard into the air. They watched as it soared over the wall, across rooftops and past buildings. It finally disappeared into the distance, a tiny black dot racing towards the far horizon.

  ‘Ferdy has friends,’ the boy said. ‘And he knows how to throw the ball.’

  ‘Right both times,’ Chad said.

  Chapter Seven

  Brodie awoke to find herself being dragged behind something that looked like it had escaped from a horror film. It wasn’t one of the creatures that she’d fought on the flight deck of the spaceship. It was larger, covered in shaggy hair, and made a strange grunting sound as it moved.

  She lifted her head slightly.

  ‘Hey you,’ she called.

  The creature stopped and turned its head. Its face was a cross between a gorilla and a bear. Saliva dripped from its open mouth onto its hairy chest.

  ‘I was right,’ Brodie said. ‘You are ugly.’

  With her free leg, Brodie kicked the thing in the back of the leg as hard as possible. Through luck more than skill, she must have hit a pressure point because the creature immediately released her and fell backward.

  Brodie rolled out of the way before it landed on her. As it hit the deck, she leaped up and directed a kick at the creature’s throat. It let out an inarticulate gasp of pain. Running down the corridor as fast as she could, she’d almost reached the end when she heard the burst of weapon fire behind her. A shock like a bolt of electricity ran through her body, and darkness swallowed her again.

  When she next awoke, she was in another cell. The difference this time was that she was sharing it with other beings. She sat up and looked at them blearily. Brodie had been stunned three times now and was beginning to feel like she’d been run over by a tractor.

  ‘Who are you people?’ she groaned. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘We are many,’ the nearest said cryptically. ‘My name is Zena. I’m from Corrida. They are from other worlds.’ Zena was a woman with a catlike face; a fine coating of red hair covered it. She pointed to the other two occupants of the cell; a lizard woman and a short gray-faced man who lay asleep on the floor. ‘That is Bax, a woman from Frakaal. The sleeping man is Sadara from Forbus Nine.’

  Now Brodie understood the girl’s meaning. ‘You are many,’ she said. ‘You mean you’re from many worlds. What are you doing here?’

  ‘We’re here to fight,’ Bax said. ‘To fight and to die.’

  What a bright and cheerful place, Brodie thought.

  ‘Fight?’ she said. ‘Do you mean each other or—’

  ‘The Tagaar,’ Zena said. ‘They are the aliens who kidnapped you. They are a warrior species that loves to fight and kill.’

  Brodie frowned. ‘They’ve come a long way to fight and kill me.’

  ‘Their goal is larger than you,’ Bax said. ‘It is your planet.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘The Tagaar are excluded from the Union of Planets because of their warlike ways,’ she said. ‘They work to keep planets from joining the Union by promoting war and disharmony. After causing global conflicts, they present themselves to one of the sides as a savior and offer to supply weapons and technology.’

  Zena continued. ‘After a time they install troops and military bases under the guise of co-operation and friendship.’ She snorted. ‘Then the killings begin. The assassinations. The terrorist attacks. By the time the species realize what’s happening, it’s too late. The Tagaar have become the masters of their planet.’

  ‘How do you know all this?’ Brodie asked.

  ‘Because it happened to our worlds,’ Zena said. ‘Corrida was once a beautiful place, but our people did not treat our world with respect. We were in a state of constant war. Then the Tagaar appeared and sided with one of the superpower nations. Within months a world war had broken out. By the time it was all over, the Tagaar were the only ones standing.’

  Bax nodded. ‘It was a similar story on my world.’

  ‘So what are you doing here?’ Brodie asked.

  ‘The Tagaar like to fight,’ Zena said. ‘They pick the best warriors from a world and fight against them.’ The woman looked at Brodie. ‘You must be a great fighter, otherwise you wouldn’t be here.’

  Wonderful. If only I were a housewife in Sydney…

  ‘I’m a modified human,’ Brodie said. She went on to explain modifications and how the Earth had changed over the last few months.

  ‘Your planet must be growing close to joining the Union,’ Zena said.

  ‘I suppose so,’ Brodie said, thoughtfully.

  ‘You will prove a worthy adversary for the Tagaar,’ Bax said. ‘That’s good. It’ll keep you alive for longer.’

  Brodie didn’t reply. She was thinking about the Earth and how little respect people had for it. The Tagaar must have rubbed their hands together with glee when they saw the Earth and realized how much disunity already existed: war, religious conflict, terrorism, overpopulation, global warming. The list went on. It was incredible that humanity hadn’t wiped itself out already.

  There’s always hope, Brodie thought. We still have friendship. Love. Co-operation. We’re not all bad.

  A sound came from the corridor outside the chamber. They all looked up. Brodie caught a glimpse of fear in Zena and Bax’s eyes. Even the man who had been asleep—Sadara—sat up and stared at the door.

  It opened, and three Tagaar appeared. One was obviously their leader. He wore a fur around his shoulders with epaulets. His eyes settled on Brodie.

  ‘Ah, here is the troublesome human,’ he said.

  Brodie said nothing.

  ‘I’m Breel,’ he said. ‘I’m the commander of this vessel. I congratulate you on the way you fought on the bridge. You killed two of my men, including my chief navigator.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Brodie said. ‘I don’t like to kill anyone.’

  ‘He was a terrible navigator. I have already replaced him.’

  ‘Why am I here? I demand you release me at once.’

  Breel smirked. ‘I like that,’ he said. ‘Courage is a good trait to have. Perhaps your species is not as worthless as I was led to believe.’

  Brodie clenched her fists. ‘We will fight you!’ she said. ‘We will defeat you!’

  ‘You may fight us, but you will not win,’ Breel said, regarding her thoughtfully. ‘You’re here because we want you to fight. But also to force your mate to do our bidding.’

  It took Brodie a moment to digest this information. ‘Axel?’ she said. ‘Do your bidding?’

  ‘If that is his name,’ Breel said. ‘One of our men is using him to seed disharmony on your world.’

  ‘He won’t follow your orders.’

  ‘He already is. It is surprising what a man will do for a woman he loves.’

  Brodie was stuck for an answer. ‘When will I be released?’

  ‘When we’re finished with you.’ The alien turned his gaze to the other prisoners. ‘You. It is your time to fight again.’

  He was looking directly at Sadara, who slowly stood and looked to the others. ‘I may die,’ he said. ‘Then I’ll go to the afterlife, to S’billa, where my wife and children await me.’

  Brodie st
ared at him in horror. One of his arms hung loosely by his side. ‘You’re injured—’

  Sadara nodded. ‘Broken in the last fight,’ he explained. ‘I have nothing to fear. I’m ready to go to the land of my ancestors.’

  ‘No!’ Brodie leaped to her feet. ‘This is wrong! It’s inhuman! You can’t expect this man to fight. He’s injured!’

  ‘It is inhuman,’ Breel said. ‘But we’re not human. We are Tagaar.’

  ‘No!’ Brodie yelled.

  The two guards held her back as Sadara walked from the room. Just before he left, the grey-faced alien looked back at Brodie.

  ‘Save your strength, little one,’ he said. ‘You’ll need it for later.’

  The guards threw Brodie to the floor. She lay there, filled with horror as the door closed shut.

  ‘Sadara was right,’ Bax said. ‘Save your strength. You’ll soon be fighting for your life.’

  Chapter Eight

  ‘Axel!’

  I was halfway across The Hub when the voice came from behind me.

  Oh no. It was Chad and the others. They hurried over.

  ‘Something’s wrong with Brodie,’ Chad said.

  ‘What?’ I looked at them in confusion. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Dan’s getting one of those weird head things,’ Ebony said. ‘You know, like when he picks up people’s thoughts.’

  ‘So she’s alive,’ I said.

  ‘Of course, she’s alive.’ Chad looked at me strangely. ‘But she must be in trouble. We’re going to see Agent Palmer.’

  ‘Okay,’ I said. ‘I’ll see you there.’

  ‘Where are you going?’ Ebony asked.

  ‘I have to wash up.’

  Chad frowned. ‘Wash up?’ he said. ‘But Brodie’s in trouble!’

  ‘Yeah.’ I wasn’t handling this very well. I wanted to tell them the truth, but that would just get Brodie killed. ‘I need to go to the bathroom.’

  ‘Whatever,’ Ebony said, looking annoyed. ‘We’ll see you at Palmer’s office.’

  ‘Sure.’

  I watched them go. Chad cast a long last look over his shoulder at me. He looked furious, and I didn’t blame him. Waiting till they were out of sight, I crossed to elevators on the far side of the concourse. I’d never used them before; I’d never had any reason to. Punching a button, I waited a few seconds before one arrived and stepped inside.