‘Just doing my job.’
Whoever was behind this had decided to cut their losses and run, leaving no evidence by blowing us to pieces. If I’d been an instant slower...
Well, I didn’t want to think about that.
We went back inside. By now, Mister Okada had deactivated the machines and withdrawn the IV leads and oxygen. Leaning over Brodie, I watched her face as the color returned. She blinked slowly, looking into my eyes.
‘Is this real?’ she asked.
‘Or is it all just a dream within a dream?’ I asked her. ‘It’s real, all right.’
Groaning, she sat up. The others were stirring now too.
‘Is that you?’ Chad asked me. ‘I mean, really you?’
‘No,’ I said. ‘I’m just a figment of your imagination.’
‘After what we’ve been through,’ he said, ‘that’s not funny.’
He and the others quickly told me about their time within the Terminal Fear program before bringing them up to date on what I’d been through. Brodie frowned at Quinn and her father.
‘Are you sure we can trust you?’ she asked.
‘We mean you no harm,’ Mister Okada said. ‘In fact, we want to help.’
‘I’m not sure you can,’ Ebony said. ‘We don’t even know what Doctor Ravana intended.’
‘It sounds like he intended to sell your synthesized adrenalin to E-Group. I suggest we return there first.’
‘Thanks for the suggestion, bud,’ Chad said, ‘but we don’t need your help.’
I could understand his reluctance. Quinn and her father had been partly responsible for everything we’d endured.
‘But I hope you’ll accept our assistance, anyway,’ Mister Okada said, staring at us. ‘I believe E-Group aims to hit a big target, resulting in the deaths of many innocents. Do you want their blood on your hands?’
Dan spoke up. ‘It can’t hurt to have these two along,’ he said. ‘We’ll need all the help we can get.’
Grudgingly, Chad nodded. We returned to Liber8tor to find the ship fully repowered.
‘Ferdy?’ I ventured.
‘Hello, Axel and friends. It is good to have the team back together.’
I explained everything that had happened. ‘E-Group talked about hitting a central economic target,’ I said. ‘Do you have any idea what that could be.’
‘Ferdy has a list of possible targets,’ he said. ‘There are some 9,344,231 possible—’
‘Uh,’ Dan cut in. ‘Could we trim that down a little?’
‘Based on what criteria?’
‘E-Group is planning to attack soon. Maybe in the next forty-eight hours.’
‘Then the list can be shortened to 1,587,231 possible targets.’
This wasn’t getting us anywhere.
‘It looks like we may have to take the fight to them.’
I gave him the address for Wilson Electrics. Within seconds Dan had us in the air, and we were zooming away from Targo.
Chad drew me to one side. ‘Hey, buddy,’ he said.
‘How’re you doing?’ I said.
‘Fine. Except for these new friends of yours. Are you sure we can trust them?’
I peered past him. Quinn and Mister Okada were speaking to Brodie and Ebony. They burst into laughter at some joke.
‘I think so,’ I said. ‘Mister Okada saved my life.’
‘Still...’
I shrugged. ‘We’ve got to be cautious,’ I said. ‘But aren’t we always?’
Chad nodded. It only took a few minutes to reach Wilson Electrics. If we were expecting a fight, we didn’t get one. It immediately became apparent that E-Group had packed up and left. Probably our rescue of Mister Okada had pre-empted them. We spent a couple of hours searching the complex, but it had been cleared out. Even the antenna I had wrecked on our departure had been removed.
‘They must have had an escape plan worked out in case things went south,’ Brodie said. ‘Where to now?’
‘There’s always the family home,’ Quinn suggested, raising an eyebrow.
I sighed. ‘Let’s go.’
But we had no success there either. My ‘family’ had obviously received their marching orders and were gone too. We searched the house but found nothing to indicate their plans.
Back on Liber8tor, I had an idea. ‘Ferdy,’ I said. ‘You remember those flex ships that were able to follow Liber8tor’s heat signature?’
‘Ferdy remembers that incident exactly,’ Ferdy said. ‘The real name of Blackbeard the Pirate was Edward Teach.’
‘Thanks. So, what if one of those ships were damaged and trailing some kind of exhaust. Would we be able to follow it?’
‘That is possible.’
I directed us back to the factory. The complex looked unchanged.
‘I’m deploying senses,’ Brodie said. ‘Hmm, there’s the usual range of pollutants in the air, but there’s something more too.’
‘What is it?’ Chad asked.
‘A very faint trace of radiation.’
‘Ferdy,’ Ebony said. ‘Is it possible to follow it?’
‘It is, indeed.’
‘Dan?’ I said.
‘I’m on it.’ Seconds later, we were zooming across the landscape. I leaned back in my seat as Quinn sat down at an unused astronavigation station. As Ebony explained her console to Mister Okada, I thought back to the farm I thought would be my home.
‘The photos back at the house,’ I said, turning to Quinn. ‘They were...’
‘Made with some graphic design software,’ she said. ‘They made you look younger. Other people were inserted into the pictures.’
‘And Adam Baker and his parents?’
Quinn sighed. ‘The safest way to tell a lie is to stick mainly to the truth,’ she said. ‘Mary and Tom Baker were killed in an accident when they tried to drive through a swollen river. Their son’s body was never found.’
‘But what if I’d returned to my old town?’
‘How could you? You were already a wanted fugitive. The Agency would have come down on you like a ton of bricks.’
‘So all of it was a lie,’ I said. ‘Louise and Henry were pretending to be my aunt and uncle. You were pretending to be my girlfriend.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Quinn said. ‘But I needed to save my father.’
‘Speaking of...’ I glanced over at Mister Okada. ‘There’s that little issue of him returning from the dead.’
‘Oh. That.’
‘Yes. Unless he’s a zombie, in which case it’d make complete sense.’
She shook her head. ‘He’s no zombie.’
‘Then—’
‘Not yet.’
It seemed I couldn’t have all my answers at once.
Chapter Thirty-Five
‘We are nearing a property in upstate New York,’ Ferdy said.
‘It looks like it’s a private home,’ Dan said. ‘Big and surrounded by miles of parkland.’
‘If it’s E-Group,’ I said, ‘they must have friends in high places. Real estate around here costs millions.’
‘So much for being anti-economy,’ Brodie said.
Before I could reply, there was a blast as Liber8tor was thrown to one side. The engines whined, and lighting flickered as we were tossed to the floor. Only Dan remained in his seat as he struggled to keep us under control.
‘We’ve taken a direct hit!’ he yelled. ‘One of the port thrusters is wrecked!’
‘Ferdy!’ I said. ‘Weren’t we cloaked?’
‘Liber8tor was cloaked,’ Ferdy confirmed. ‘They may have been able to target the ship’s heat signature.’
We’ve got to do something about that, I thought. Providing we don’t get blown up in the next sixty seconds.
‘Another missile is approaching,’ Ferdy announced. ‘Twenty seconds till impact.’
‘Raise the barriers!’ I yelled.
‘The barriers are offline.’
‘Chad! Target that missile!’
Chad dragged himself
to the weapon’s console. The seconds ticked by. Finally, I heard the sound of a missile leaving Liber8tor.
Ka-blam!
Our missile collided with the enemy’s and exploded.
‘I got it!’ Chad yelled.
‘A second missile has been launched,’ Ferdy announced.
‘Where’re they coming from?’ I asked.
‘There’s a launch pad on the property,’ Brodie said. ‘Now they’ve fired a third time.’
‘Chad,’ I said. ‘Target the launch pad. Then take out those two missiles.’
The next few seconds were tense as Chad fired weapons. Then he yelled. ‘The missiles are out of action! And the launch pad is in pieces!’
‘We’ll be in pieces too if we’re not careful,’ Dan said. ‘The remaining thrusters are overheating.’
‘Put us down.’
The ship lurched towards the ground. I couldn’t help but be in admiration of Dan’s piloting ability. Here he was, a fourteen-year-old kid, flying like an ace. We came down heavily but in one piece.
‘We’re down,’ he said, swallowing. ‘Just.’
‘Come on!’ I yelled. ‘Let’s go!’
We were outside in seconds. The building dominating the property was an old fashioned antebellum home with six marble columns lining the front of the portico. Behind them sat a long, flat building with a dozen windows. A team of black-clad men with guns came streaming out the front door.
I sighed. It seemed a shame to wreck the house, but it couldn’t be helped. As the men opened fire, I retaliated with a volley of air cannonballs. At the same time, Chad leaped onto his fireboard and shot enormous balls of ice at the house, demolishing the left side of the building. I threw up a barrier to protect us from gunfire as Ebony made a metal column in midair. Dan propelled it towards the approaching guards.
They were down in seconds. I was surprised we had made such short work of them. Then I realized these guys were just a diversion as a ship lifted off from the rear of the property. Black, and shaped like a ladybird, the vessel fired a scattering of bombs.
I formed a barrier, protecting us. The bombs exploded, but only succeeding in killing or injuring their own people. As the black vessel disappeared into the distance, I dropped the barrier, and we hurried over to the injured.
‘I doubt they care who they kill,’ Mister Okada said grimly, as he worked on one of the men. ‘They’ve got bigger fish to fry.’
‘They’ve got to be stopped,’ I said. ‘But where do they intend to attack?’
‘I’ve been thinking about that. Wasn’t there a major meeting scheduled at the United Nations building today?’
The meeting had been in the news for weeks. ‘Most of the world leaders are meeting to discuss the global economy,’ I said. ‘It’s the ideal target for E-Group.’
I leaped into the air. Below me, the beautiful old building had caught fire, my friends were giving first aid to the injured E-Group men, and Liber8tor was damaged. Our ship wouldn’t be flying any time soon. By then, the whole United Nations building could be in ruins, and most of the world leaders dead.
I flew away from the scene. The black vessel had already soared away, out of sight. For several minutes, I flew without seeing it, then realized I didn’t need to do this alone.
Hitting my comm bracelet, I said, ‘Ferdy? Are you there?’
‘Ferdy is here, friend Axel,’ his voice came back.
I quickly explained my mission.
‘The vessel is moving away from you on a North-Easterly trajectory at Mach Two.’
Mach Two. That was twice the speed of sound. Thanking Ferdy, I disconnected and put on an extra burst of speed. Within minutes, I spotted a black speck in the sky—the E-Group ship. As I drew near, the rear hatch opened, and a teenager in black clothing appeared. Before I could react, my vision blurred, and everything around me was cold. Deathly cold.
What’s happening—
As I plummeted towards the ground, I understood what had happened. I was surrounded by ice on all sides. The kid who had attacked me had Chad’s powers. I focused on expanding the tiny gap between me and the ice, but it was hard to concentrate.
Everything was spinning around me. I would slam into the ground in seconds. Focusing on the tiny space before my eyes, I expanded it, and the ice on my face blasted away. Now for the rest!
Kra-ack!
It flew off me like a shell, and not a second too soon. By now, I was only a hundred feet above the ground. My eyes desperately searched for the ship, but it was already gone. I was over New York City; the UN building was only minutes away.
Then I spotted a dot on the horizon. Increasing speed, I had almost caught up with it when a vast metal boulder formed off the stern of the vessel and flew towards me as if propelled from a cannon.
Ebony and Dan did this all the time, but these kids didn’t have their experience. The boulder went flying past me.
Which was fine—except I wasn’t their target. The boulder was only a diversion. It fell at a terrifying speech towards a housing block below. If it struck, it would kill hundreds of people. I raced after it.
Faster, I thought. Faster!
At the last instant, I was able to grab the air around it and divert the rock towards a nearby park.
I needed to disable the vessel and end this once and for all. Zooming under the ship, I fired a cannonball of air at it. One of its engines exploded, and it rocked wildly. Good. Now I just needed to drag it downwards and force it to land.
But then a fiery blast emitted from the rear. We were close to Liberty International Airport where numerous planes were taking off or landing. The blast struck the tail of a passing A380 plane. Hundreds of feet up, the tail exploded into pieces, sending the plane into a dive towards the earth. I flew rapidly towards the plane, grabbing the fuselage, and tried to keep it level. It wasn’t easy. Damage at the back was making it rock wildly, and it tore from my grasp. I made a grab for a wing but only succeeded in making it break loose.
Now the plane was in freefall. I caught a glimpse of a window where a woman was peering out. The expression on her face was of utter terror. The wing flew past me, crashing onto an empty tarmac as the plane dropped like a rock. Creating a protective bubble around the aircraft, I stabilized it. It was only a hundred feet from the ground. I needed to land this thing—and now!
I was over the northern end of the airport. Breaking hard to slow the aircraft’s forward momentum, I gently brought the aircraft down onto the nearest runway. The remaining wing sheared off, but finally, it was motionless on the ground.
Touchdown.
Looking back up, I was just in time to see a plume of smoke rising from the east side of Manhattan.
I was too late.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Crossing the city in seconds, I spotted the E-Group airship on the forecourt of the UN building. A dozen security guards had already been attacked, their bodies bloody and unmoving.
This was going to be a massacre. Flying straight through the windows of the main foyer, I immediately saw another injured security guard on the ground. The foyer spread out ahead—a vast multilayered design with several mezzanine sections.
The E-Group teenagers were dashing across the foyer. They would reach the main assembly hall within seconds.
Zooming low, I created a mini-tornado above them. A few tried using their powers against me, but I was too fast. Within seconds I had scooped them up in a vast, whirling column of air. Crushing them into a jumble of arms and legs, I heaped them in the forecourt and sucked the air away, creating a vacuum.
People don’t do well when they can’t breathe.
It took two minutes for them to all fall unconscious. By then, dozens of police officers were storming the area. The pilot of the black vessel was placed under arrest. A few officers looked like they wanted to arrest me too, but it’s not easy arresting someone fifty feet over your head.
Glancing out onto the road, I saw a figure in a grey suit. The man’s fac
e was scarred, but his expression was one of intense loathing. Under other circumstances, I wouldn’t have recognized him, but I remembered what the others had told me.
Doctor Ravana.
He turned and disappeared down an alley. Zooming through the air, I spotted him heading towards a black van. The only thing going through my mind was revenge. The first time we met, he’d tortured me for information. This time, he’d captured my friends intending to hold them hostage for the rest of their lives. I was more than happy to see him rot in jail forever.
All this was going through my mind—which was unfortunate because it meant I didn’t see the equipment in the van. I was still ten feet above the ground when the zeno emitter hit me, killing my powers. Hitting the ground hard, I felt something twist in my left foot as I landed, and my head slammed into the pavement.
Within seconds, a mass of arms and legs were on me, dragging me into the van.
‘No,’ I moaned.
History was repeating itself. When I had first gained my powers, I had been kidnapped by Ravana. He had unsuccessfully tried to extract information from me. This couldn’t be happening to me again. Not again.
But it was.
Dragged into the van, a needle was injected into my arm. The last thing I saw before passing out was Ravana’s laughing face.
Opening my eyes next, I found my hands and feet handcuffed to a chair, a zeno emitter directly above. My left foot was aching badly. It wasn’t broken, so I wouldn’t be running marathons any time soon. Struggling against my metal bonds, I quickly realized there was no way out of this.
My heart was beating furiously. When Ravana returned, he would want to take revenge on me for foiling his plan. Not only had he lost Brodie and the others, but he had lost his opportunity for making us pay for destroying his appearance.
Well, now he would get his chance.
The door eased open, and Doctor Ravana and a guard entered. The image went through my mind of him in flames when he had tried to kill us. Would he listen to a mercy plea? I doubted it.
‘Ah,’ he said. ‘We have come full circle. The air boy has come back to me. The last time we met, I asked you questions, but you could not give me answers.’
Teen Superheroes Box Set | Books 1-7 Page 78
