Lost World Circus

by Justin D'Ath

  ‘Don’t worry about your father,’ she said. ‘As soon as the truth comes out, Superintendent Katt will have to release him.’

  She didn’t know the DoRFE boss as well as Colt did.

  ‘I want to rescue him first,’ he said.

  ‘That isn’t possible,’ said Verity. ‘They’re holding him at DoRFE Headquarters. It’s a secure facility.’

  ‘How do you know he’s there?’ Colt asked.

  ‘I made a few calls after you phoned me,’ said the journalist.

  ‘Is it far from here?’

  ‘It’s over on the other side of town.’

  ‘Take me there.’

  They were stopped at a red traffic light. Verity kept her eyes straight ahead. ‘I’ll take you there after the press conference, Colt.’

  ‘No,’ he said firmly. ‘We go and find my father first. Or I’m not saying anything to anybody.’

  The lights had turned green, but the car didn’t move. Verity tapped the steering wheel. ‘You’re hardly in a position to make ultimatums, young man.’

  ‘I’m the biggest news story there is.’

  ‘RF2 is bigger.’

  They were in the middle of the capital city, yet there were very few cars in the streets. No one tooted at the blue BMW stopped at a green light. The footpaths were largely deserted, too. A few pedestrians scuttled back and forth, their eyes fearful above their white surgical masks. They made wide detours to avoid each other, as if every expelled breath contained the deadly RF2 virus.

  Things were just as tense in the car. Until Birdy broke the silence. ‘Colt’s dad knows how to cure rat flu. Isn’t that more important than anything, Ms Dingle?’

  ‘You’re right, Birdy. But I don’t see how we can gain access to DoRFE Headquarters.’

  ‘Superclown could get in,’ Birdy said.

  Verity twisted round to look at Colt. ‘Are you really him?’

  He nodded. ‘Do you want me to prove it?’

  She paused to think about it. ‘No,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘Not yet.’

  Verity performed an illegal U-turn (no one tooted) and they went flying back the way they’d come.

  ‘Where are we going?’ asked Birdy.

  ‘DoRFE HQ,’ said Verity. She activated the BMW’s voice-phone and asked for Jasper.

  A man’s voice answered: ‘Yes, Ms Dingle?’

  ‘Change of plans, Jasper. We’re going Live at DoRFE Headquarters in one hour. Can you mobilise everyone? I’ll need at least two crews, one on the ground and one in the air. And clear it with the boss for national coverage.’

  ‘Will do,’ said Jasper.

  Verity switched off the phone. She looked at Colt and Birdy in the rear vision mirror. ‘I hope you guys aren’t having me on, because I’m really sticking my neck out over this.’

  Birdy smiled at her. ‘You’ll help save billions of lives, Ms Dingle. You’ll probably win one of those big awards for Best Live News Coverage.’

  The famous HV journalist checked her hair in the mirror. Then she locked eyes with Colt. ‘Has your father really found a cure for rat flu?’

  He crossed his fingers. ‘Yes.’

  Verity swung the BMW into the car park outside a huge department store. There were only a handful of other cars and she chose a space well away from them. Turning to her two oddly dressed passengers, she asked, ‘What’s your clothing size?’

  ‘Six,’ said Birdy.

  ‘And you, Colt?’

  He didn’t know. His mother bought his clothes and he never bothered to read the labels. ‘Why?’ he asked.

  ‘Because you can’t save the world wearing pyjamas,’ Verity said. She wrinkled her nose. ‘And, quite frankly, they’re a bit pongy.’

  ‘Get him size fourteen,’ said Birdy.

  ‘How do you know my size?’ he asked.

  ‘I got your clown suit, didn’t I?’

  Next, Verity asked their shoe sizes. At least Colt knew that.

  ‘But we don’t have any money,’ he told her. He’d let the St Vinnie’s woman keep both $100 notes, even though he’d given back her cheapo phone.

  ‘Channel Twelve will cover it,’ said Verity, gathering her handbag as she slid out of the car. ‘Keep your heads down, guys. I won’t be long.’

  Fifteen minutes later she was back, hefting three bulging shopping bags. She pushed them through into the back seat. ‘I hope it all fits,’ she said. ‘Get dressed while I drive.’

  The clothes weren’t exactly the style Colt was used to, but they fitted okay and the red fleecy top had a hood to conceal his silver-blond hair. It had pockets, too. He shoved in his father’s wallet, with the photo inside of him aged sixteen-months. What was the rat all about? he wondered. And how could his hair have ever been so black.

  ‘Almost there,’ said Verity.

  She pulled over to the side of the road and made a phone call. ‘I’m one block from DoRFE HQ. Where are you, Jasper?’

  ‘In one of the vans,’ said the man on the phone. ‘I’ve got your position on Phone Tracker. Are you mobile?’

  ‘I’ve pulled over. I’ll wait till you get here.’

  ‘We should be with you in two minutes,’ Jasper said.

  ‘What about a helicopter?’ asked Verity.

  ‘It’s already in place.’

  Colt peered out the side window. A Channel 12 helicopter hung in the sky about half a kilometre away. Below it, emblazoned across the top of a massive, steel-and-glass skyscraper, were five huge holographic letters:

  DoRFE.

  Verity watched the helicopter, too, as she talked on the phone. ‘Are we okay to go national?’

  ‘Whenever you say the word, Ms Dingle,’ said Jasper.

  ‘Nice work,’ she said.

  ‘So what’s the plan?’ he asked.

  ‘I think we’ll send the boy in and run it live-to-air.’

  ‘Isn’t that playing right into DoRFE’s hands?’ Jasper said. ‘They’re already combing the city for him.’

  ‘He claims he’s that Superclown character.’ Verity caught Colt’s eye and winked. ‘It’ll make great holovision, Jasper, however it pans out. Can you get the techies to wire him up?’

  ‘With you in thirty seconds,’ said Jasper.

  Exactly twenty-two seconds later, a hulking Channel 12 van pulled up behind Verity’s car. It took three more seconds for a bald man wearing a dark suit and a white surgical mask to jump out, and a further four seconds for him to pad quickly along the footpath to the BMW. Verity pushed a button and its rear passenger door swung open. (One more second.)

  ‘Right on time,’ she said. ‘Jasper, I’d like you to meet Colt Lawless, aka Superclown. And the young lady is Birdy Flynn, otherwise known as Clowngirl. Kids, this is Jasper, who more or less runs my show for me.’

  Everyone said hi.

  ‘Colt, would you mind coming back to the van for a minute?’ asked the super-efficient Jasper. ‘We’ve got some hardware to put on you.’

  Birdy stayed with Verity in the BMW while Colt accompanied Jasper back to the van. Inside, it was like a miniature NASA control centre. There were dials and lights and buttons and HV monitors. And two technicians in white overalls, named Leon and Levi. With their almost-identical short brown hair and white masks, it was impossible to tell them apart.

  One of them asked Colt to remove his new red hoodie, then fitted him with a lightweight vest that had a transmitter, battery and wires cunningly sewn into its fabric. When Colt put the hoodie back on, the other technician gave him a pair of silver-framed glasses. ‘Put these on, buddy, and look at that monitor.’

  Colt looked at the HV screen and saw himself (wearing the silver glasses) looking back. When he moved his head, his holographic avatar moved too. The glasses were transmitting what he was seeing.

  ‘Is there a GoPro in the frames?’ he asked.

  ‘It’s a bit more sophisticated than that,’ Leon-or-Levi said. He made an adjustment to the glasses so they fitted more snugly. ‘There’s an invisibl
e layer of photocells inside the lenses that passes what you’re seeing to the transmitter in your vest.’

  ‘And you’ll go live-to-air with this?’ Colt asked nervously. ‘People at home will be watching what I’m seeing?’

  ‘And hearing what you hear,’ said Levi-or-Leon, clipping a tiny microphone inside the collar of his hoodie.

  Colt’s face turned pink on the little HV screen. He lowered his voice. ‘They’re not watching now, are they?’

  One of the technicians placed a reassuring hand on Colt’s shoulder. ‘Don’t worry, bud – we won’t go live till Ms Dingle gives the word.’

  ★★★

  Verity parked between two other cars about 100 metres down the street from DoRFE HQ. Jasper’s van continued past them and performed a U-turn. It stopped right outside DoRFE, but on the opposite side of the street. Colt saw Jasper, Leon and Levi setting up tripods, holocams and recording equipment on the footpath.

  ‘Won’t that make the rat cops suspicious?’ he asked.

  ‘It’ll provide a nice distraction,’ said Verity. ‘They’ll be watching me and the HV crews, they won’t be watching you.’

  ‘But if my glasses are transmitting what I’m seeing,’ Colt said, ‘won’t they know anyway?’

  ‘We won’t send your transmissions live till you’re inside the building,’ Verity reassured him.

  ‘How will I get inside?’ he asked.

  It had been Colt’s idea to come to DoRFE HQ, but he had no plan other than to rescue his father.

  Verity smiled. ‘That’s up to you, Superclown. Just try not to hurt anybody.’

  Birdy hadn’t said anything for a while. ‘I’ve got an idea,’ she said suddenly.

  ‘Spit it out,’ said Colt.

  ‘Hayley might be in there. She might let you in if you ask.’

  ‘Who’s Hayley?’ asked Verity.

  ‘One of their doctors,’ Birdy said. ‘She’s nice.’

  ‘Nice?’ Colt laughed. ‘She put drugs in my orange juice!’

  ‘Only because Officer Katt made her.’

  Colt thought about it for a moment. Maybe Birdy’s idea wasn’t so silly after all. Hayley had seemed quite nice. Maybe she would be feeling a bit guilty now about what she’d done. Especially after Officer Katt (Superintendent Katt now, he reminded himself) had lied – or made Hayley lie – about the blood tests.

  ‘Okay, I’ll give it a try,’ he said.

  If Birdy’s idea didn’t work, he could always use his superpowers to get in – smash down a door or break in through a window or something. It would make great holovision. Verity would be pleased. But once Colt got inside the huge building, how was he going to find his father? He had no idea. All he knew was this: one way or another, he wasn’t going to leave DoRFE Headquarters without him.

  Pulling his hood up, Colt slid out of the car.

  ‘Wish me luck,’ he said.

  Birdy stayed in the BMW with Verity. Getting into DoRFE HQ was a one-person job. Colt knew his disguise was pretty good – even his own mother probably wouldn’t recognise him in the hoodie, mask and glasses – but he still looked like a kid, and the whole city was on the lookout for a pair of kids. A kid on his own, though, might not attract so much attention.

  It might even grant him access to the DoRFE strong- hold without having to use his superpowers, provided Hayley played along. But would she play along? It was a huge gamble.

  Colt was careful not to look across the street at the Channel 12 film crew as he approached DoRFE HQ. The front of the building was all black glass. He couldn’t see in. There was only one door. It was black glass, too. It had no door handle or button to press. There wasn’t even a sign. Colt walked up to it and the door slid silently open. Too easy! he thought, walking boldly inside.

  The door closed silently behind him and Colt found himself in a small foyer, all shiny orange tiles, stainless steel and glass. There was an orange reception counter with a blank-eyed man behind it. He wore a smart orange jacket with the DoRFE rat logo on the left breast pocket and a crisp orange surgical mask covered the lower half of his face. Over to the right were two lifts.

  ‘Can I help you, sir?’ the receptionist said.

  Relieved that he hadn’t been recognised, Colt walked over to the counter and casually leaned against it, like someone who had every right to be there. Like someone who wasn’t so nervous his palms were sweaty, and whose pulse wasn’t beating at about 200 beats per second. Like someone who didn’t have a $10,000 reward on his head. He cleared his throat. ‘Would it be possible to see my aunty?’ he asked. ‘She works here.’

  ‘What’s her name?’

  Colt had forgotten her last name. How stupid! ‘Hayley,’ he said nervously.

  The receptionist looked down at a screen in front of him. Colt held his breath. This was the moment of truth. If the man asked for Hayley’s full name, he was sunk.

  ‘Would that be Doctor Hayley Samson, sir?’

  Colt nodded. Breathed out. ‘Yes. I need to see her.’

  The receptionist lifted a handset and pressed some buttons. He waited for a moment. ‘Doctor Samson, your nephew is down at Reception.’

  This was another moment of truth. How would Hayley respond to that? Did she even have a nephew? Colt leaned back and flexed his hands.

  The receptionist put down the handset and nodded at Colt. ‘Your aunt will be down in a moment.’

  So far so good. Colt walked over to the windows and looked out. Verity had joined the film crew. She stood at the edge of the footpath, with her back turned to DoRFE HQ, facing Leon-or-Levi’s holocam. Her hands waved about as if she was talking, and the other technician (Levi-or-Leon) dangled a big, fluffy microphone half a metre above her head. Colt wondered if they were broadcasting live.

  ‘What’s going on out there?’ he asked casually.

  ‘Who knows,’ said the orange-coated receptionist. ‘They’re probably doing a story on the RF2 epidemic.’

  Only then did Colt realise that the black glass made him invisible to those outside. Channel 12’s holocams wouldn’t be able to see him. He wondered when they would start using the transmissions from his glasses and microphone. Please don’t do it yet, Leon-or-Levi! he thought. Someone here in the building was sure to be watching the live broadcast. It would blow Colt’s cover before he was properly inside the DoRFE stronghold.

  He turned back to the receptionist. ‘Is RF2 as bad as they’re saying it is?’

  ‘I think it’s worse,’ the man said. ‘They’re all pretty nervous upstairs.’

  A chiming sound came from the lifts. One of the doors slid open and Hayley walked out. She saw him and stopped in her tracks.

  Colt didn’t give her a chance to speak. ‘Hi, Aunty Hayley!’ he said brightly. ‘Sorry to bother you at work, but I really need to see you.’

  Moment of Truth number 3. Was Birdy right about Hayley? Was she a basically nice person? Or was she as mean as her new boss?

  At the moment, Hayley just seemed confused. ‘Um . . .?’ she said, giving him a strange look.

  Colt realised she didn’t recognise him in the hoodie, mask and glasses. He couldn’t take them off in front of the receptionist. He said, ‘I just wanted to tell you there are no hard feelings about the orange juice.’

  Hayley’s eyes opened very wide. Now she knew who he was. ‘O-h-h-h-h!’ she said slowly, making it sound like the longest word in the dictionary. ‘Sorry, that mask put me off. I thought you were my other nephew. Why don’t you come up to my office?’

  Colt followed her into the lift. This was another moment of truth. Which floor would she take him to? They might go straight up to Officer Katt’s office and then Hayley could claim the $10,000 reward. Or attempt to claim it – Superclown might make that a bit difficult. The orange juice drug had totally worn off now and Colt flexed his steely muscles as the doors slid closed.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ Hayley whispered, pressing button 56. ‘Don’t you realise how dangerous this is?’


  ‘I don’t have rat flu,’ he said as the lift started upwards. ‘Nor does Birdy. Officer Katt lied about it in the VN.’

  Hayley nodded. ‘I know that. I’m sorry for what happened. I was just obeying orders. Is Birdy okay?’

  ‘She’s fine,’ Colt said. ‘And Doctor Samson? I really should tell you something. These glasses are holocams and there’s a microphone, too. This might be going live.’

  ‘What do you mean, live?’

  ‘Live-to-air. You might be on Channel Twelve right now. There’s a transmitter under my clothes.’

  Hayley’s eyes went big again. Her face and ears turned pink. ‘What are you playing at, Colt?’ she whispered, suddenly angry. ‘Is this a set-up?’

  Colt shook his head. ‘It’s a rescue, Doctor Samson. I’m trying to save the world.’

  Nobody was about when the lift doors opened. Hayley checked both ways, then led Colt along a corridor and hurried him into a tiny kitchen. There was barely room for two people.

  ‘Why are we in here?’ Colt asked, helping himself to a packet of biscuits from a little shelf above the microwave.

  Hayley was leaning against the closed door, white-faced now, looking frightened. ‘Because it’s private.’

  It was private. Before they left the lift – on Floor 51, not 56 – Colt had removed the holocam glasses and slipped them into his pocket. He’d removed the little microphone, too, and put it in another pocket (along with his surgical mask, which he figured he didn’t need anymore). Verity Dingle and her crew weren’t going to be very happy with him, but Colt was already in DoRFE HQ and he didn’t want the rat cops tracking his every move on live HV.

  He munched on a biscuit. He had a feeling his superpowers would soon be called into play, and food was fuel. ‘Where are they holding my father?’

  He’d told Hayley about James while they travelled up in the lift (after he’d removed his glasses and microphone), but there hadn’t been time to say much.

  ‘They’re holding him on this floor,’ Hayley whispered. ‘Just through that wall behind you, as a matter of fact.’

  ‘This wall?’ Colt turned to examine it.