Danny glanced at his watch. “It’s almost time.” Behind them, more people were approaching, filing up the stairs in twos and threes. He got to his feet. “This feels wrong. I’m going back in.”
“You sure?” Renata asked. “You want me to come with you?” She started to move, then groaned slightly and clutched her stomach.
“No, no…You stay here. I want to talk to him alone.”
Danny made his way back inside the building. Just inside the door, he met his mother and Façade, who was carrying Niall on his back.
“You’re not going to watch?” Façade asked.
“Nah. I’m not really in the mood for it.”
The corridors of Sakkara somehow seemed colder and even more empty than before. Danny stopped outside Colin’s room and knocked on the door. “You in there?”
There was no response.
“Come on, Col! You have to talk about this! I know you can hear me!”
The door opened and Danny stepped into the room.
Colin looked pale and drawn, his eyes red. “What?”
“Everyone’s up on the roof.”
“I know. I can hear them.” Colin hesitated for a moment. “I can hear everything, if I concentrate on it. I hear them talking about me. I hear Stephanie crying herself to sleep, blaming me for what happened to her father.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Col. It was Cross.”
“No, it was me. I made the decision.”
“Suppose you’d chosen to save Sol and sacrificed Renata’s family instead. Would you have been able to cope with that decision any easier?”
“Of course not,” Colin said.
“So…?”
“What?”
“So live with it!” Danny said. “You did the only thing you could do.”
“And what if he does it again? We have no idea where he is! What’s to stop him from picking up more people and forcing me to choose between them?”
“Col, this is why he did it! Cross knew he couldn’t beat you physically, so he wanted to break your spirit. And it’s working! You have got to get over this.”
“A good man died because of me!”
“You think I don’t know what that’s like?” Danny said. “I killed my own father!”
“That was different. That was an accident. Sol died because of a decision I made.” Colin turned away. “These powers aren’t a gift, Danny. They’re a curse! I’m really beginning to wish that we’d just let Max Dalton carry out his plans to strip our powers.”
“We would have died!”
“But Sol would still be alive. And so would all the people Dioxin murdered. But now look at us…We’re at the mercy of a madman and we don’t even know where to begin looking for him! We’re practically prisoners here. All it will take is one phone call from Yvonne to the U.S. president or some other world leader and we could be looking at a nuclear war. She can make people do anything she wants.”
“So how do we stop her?”
“I don’t know.” Colin cocked his head to one side, listening. “It’s started.”
Danny walked over to the window and looked out to the west, toward the elaborate fireworks display that was being held in Topeka. “Happy New Year.”
The following morning, Warren took Colin to the roof. Three helicopters were approaching from the east. “Here they come,” Warren said, shielding his eyes against the sunlight.
Colin said nothing.
General Piers came out and stood next to them.
The first helicopter touched down, and two soldiers helped an elderly woman down the ramp and lifted her into a wheelchair.
For the first time in hours, Colin spoke. “Who’s that?”
General Piers said, “One of our experts. That’s Mrs. Francine Duval, the mother of Casey Duval. We’re hoping she’ll be able to tell us more about her late son’s superhuman abilities.”
“Never heard of him,” Warren said. “Who was he?”
“Ragnarök.”
They watched in silence as the old woman was wheeled past, keeping her gaze fixed straight ahead.
“Does she know? About me, I mean?” Warren asked.
“Yes, she does,” the general replied. “She knows everything.”
“That’s not good.”
Colin glanced at his father, but could tell from his expression that this was not the right time to ask what he meant.
The second helicopter contained a trio of middle-aged men—“Weapons experts,” General Piers explained—and a tall, striking woman in her early forties. The woman stopped in front of Warren and smiled. “Titan. Good to see you again. You’ve aged well.”
Warren grinned. “Thanks. You too.”
“So this is your son? The man who finally put Dioxin behind bars?”
Warren placed his hand on Colin’s shoulder. “Yep. Colin, this is Amandine Paquette, formerly known as Impervia.”
“Call me Mandy,” the woman said, shaking hands with Colin. “Firm grip. You’re going to be a strong one all right.” She paused for a moment. “Colin, I’m sorry to hear about what happened to Paragon. I knew him pretty well. He would have done the same thing if he’d been in your shoes.”
“Thank you,” Colin said.
With a last smile, she followed the others into the building.
Warren watched her go, then—as the third helicopter landed—he said to Colin, “This…This is going to be a tough one for you, but I know you can do it, OK?”
“What do you mean?”
“We need an expert in mind-control if we’re ever going to stop Yvonne and Cross.”
Colin looked up to see a man with a cane being helped out of the copter. The man had a touch of silver in his hair, deep lines on his forehead and an unmistakable scar on his neck, just below his left ear.
“No!”
“It’s the only way,” his father said. “We need him.”
“For God’s sake, Dad! This is about the stupidest thing that we could do!”
Limping, leaning heavily on his cane, Max Dalton slowly approached Colin. “I know you’re not pleased to see me. I don’t blame you. Considering what happened…but they’re right, Colin. I’m the best man for the job.”
Colin held up his right hand. A powerful bolt of lightning arced around it. “After what you tried to do to us, Dalton, give me one good reason why I shouldn’t burn you to a cinder right here and now!”
Max Dalton smiled weakly. “Because you know that would be wrong. You were trained by Solomon Cord. He taught you to always do the right thing. If you want to honor his memory, you will let me live.”
Colin looked away and the spark between his fingers faded and died.
• • •
Later, when everyone else had gone inside, Danny and Renata came out on to the roof and walked over to Colin. “You OK?” Renata asked.
“I will not work alongside that psychopath! We don’t need him. We don’t need any of them! Let’s get out of here. The three of us will find Cross on our own.”
Then Renata said, “No. Danny and I talked about it all last night. We’re staying.”
“Are you crazy? A couple of months ago Max Dalton was going to kill us!”
“I know. Look, he’ll be watched at all times. Max is still a prisoner. It’s just that we need him here.”
“No! I won’t have any part in this!” Colin said.
Renata said, “I’m sorry, Colin. You just don’t have a choice.”
“You know something? I’m getting pretty tired of people telling me that I don’t have any choice. Well, I do. I do have a choice.” Colin stepped on to the low wall at the edge of the roof and jumped.
Danny and Renata watched as Colin landed heavily on the ground far below and began to run.
“I’d better go after him.”
“No, Dan…let him go. He needs to do this. When the time is right, he’ll come back.” Renata reached out and took hold of Danny’s hand. “He’ll come back.”
THREE MONTHS LAT
ER…
Victor Cross sat in his office, watching footage taken from a CCTV camera. Beside him, Yvonne sat with her feet up on the desk. Evan Laurie pointed the remote control at the screen, pausing it. “That’s him…”
“Where and when was this taken?” Yvonne asked.
“Hungary, just east of Budapest. Four days ago.”
“At least his hair is finally growing back. Where is he now?”
“We’re not sure, but we’re getting closer. We’ve met a lot of people who’ve spoken to him since he left the new heroes.”
Cross said, “When you do find him, I want him tracked at all times, but tell the men to keep their distance. Wagner can hear someone coming from miles away. When the time is right, we’ll pick him up. It won’t be hard to convince him to side with the Trutopians.”
“I can do that easily enough,” Yvonne said.
“No. The only thing I want you to do is make sure that he doesn’t remember you. I definitely don’t want him to be fully under your mind-control. I want him to believe that the Trutopians are the only way forward.”
“You’re playing a dangerous game,” Laurie said. “After what we did to Solomon Cord, I don’t think we can expect any mercy from him. If he discovers…”
“I’m a lot smarter than he is, Laurie. He’ll never figure out who we really are.”
“But suppose he does? Neither of you have any physical superhuman power that comes close to his. If he finds us out, if he can somehow find a way past Yvonne’s control, Colin Wagner will tear us apart. We don’t have anyone even nearly powerful enough to stop him.”
Cross sat back in his chair, staring at the grainy image of Colin on the screen. “Mr. Laurie, you have never been more wrong.”
Turn the page for a preview of
QUANTUM PROPHECY:
THE
RECKONING
TEN YEARS EARLIER…
Her eyes streaming from the smoke that billowed from the burning battle-tank, Energy limped across the shrapnel-strewn battlefield to where Titan was sitting propped up against an overturned jeep. The hero was tearing his blue cape into strips—he’d already used several to bind a stick to his broken right leg.
He looked up as Energy approached. “Hey…You okay?”
“I’ll live.” Holding on to the jeep to steady herself, Energy carefully sat down next to him. “Just so you know, the medics are bringing their own bandages.”
Titan forced a smile. “Had to keep busy. Didn’t want to pass out.”
“So, did we win or lose today?”
Titan dropped the shredded cape and took hold of her hand. “I don’t think that’s something we’re going to know for a long time.”
Energy nodded, then paused. “Diamond didn’t make it. She was in her crystalline form when it happened. Without her powers, she wasn’t able to change back.”
“God…what was her name? Her real name?”
“She never told me. Max said he didn’t know either.”
“How are we going to find her family, tell them what happened?”
Energy didn’t answer.
Titan leaned his head back against the jeep. “She was just a kid.”
“I know.”
A voice called, “So how are you guys doing?”
They looked up to see Paragon striding toward them.
“We’re alive,” Energy said. “Thanks to you.”
“That’s all part of the job description.” Paragon unclipped his jetpack and checked a tiny readout on the back. “Damn. Left thruster’s just about blown. Not that it’s worth repairing now. If it’s true that you superhumans have all lost your powers, then I’m going to quit the business too.”
Titan began, “No, you should—”
Paragon raised his hand to his helmet. “Hold it. Go ahead, Max. Got it. I’m on the way.” Slinging his jetpack back into place, he said to Energy and Titan, “He thinks they’ve just found Ragnarök’s base.”
He soared into the sky.
Energy activated her communicator. “Paragon, you’re crazy! You can’t go after him without your armor!”
His voice came back. “Dioxin destroyed most of it. But maybe he did me a favor; the armor slows me down. Without it, I can get there a lot faster.”
“I’m on the way, Max,” Paragon said. “Tell me everything.”
“Ragnarök’s battle-tank was built a hundred and fifty kilometers west of here, big warehouse outside Westmoreland. My people have been checking the satellite images and traffic records. Their analysis shows a large SUV making regular trips between the warehouse and Sherman’s Bay, Chautauqua Lake. Same SUV
came back today, arrived in the warehouse an hour before the battle-tank emerged.”
Paragon said, “Max, that doesn’t mean it was Ragnarök!”
“They also detected a vapor trail from Ragnarök’s escape craft going in the same direction. They were able to pick it up by analyzing—”
“Skip the details,” Paragon interrupted. “Just give me the exact location.”
“I’m sending you the coordinates now.”
Paragon glanced at the map that was projected on to the inside of his visor. “I see it.”
“Checking it against the city’s ordnance database. It’s…good Lord…. It’s an apartment block. We’ve been searching for this maniac for years and he’s been living in an ordinary apartment block!”
The army ambulance raced over the rough ground, hit a furrow and bounced. Inside, lying on the stretcher, Titan gasped as the pain in his right leg flared up again.
“Take it easy up there!” Energy called to the driver. She turned back to Titan and checked the temporary splint on his leg. “You okay?”
Titan gritted his teeth. “Not really.”
The truck bounced again and Energy grabbed a handrail to steady herself. “You’re going to be off your feet for the next few months.”
“I know.” He nodded. “Look, if our powers never come back—”
“We’ll survive.”
“Yeah, but—”
The ambulance swerved sharply to the left.
“Hey!” Energy shouted. “Watch where you’re going!”
“That wasn’t me!” the driver called back. “Something hit—”
Titan was thrown from the stretcher as an explosion ripped through the side of the ambulance.
“Paragon, this is General Piers. Backup is about ten minutes behind you.”
“I’m not waiting,” Paragon said. The visor’s readouts showed that the jetpack’s shuddering was caused by the left thruster. Just hope I can get there before this thing shuts down completely.
He dropped down to fifty meters—high enough to avoid the powerlines, but not as low as he’d have preferred to fly with a malfunctioning jetpack. He knew that even if he’d still had his armor, hitting the ground from this height would be fatal.
Okay. There it is. The visor’s map showed the apartment block less than a kilometer ahead.
The homes and gardens of Sherman’s Bay streamed by below him as Paragon steered himself toward the building.
“General, I can’t see the craft…. Either he’s already gone or—” Paragon’s jetpack suddenly sputtered, lurching him to the left. “Hell. Jetpack’s on the way out!”
“Pull out, Paragon!”
“No, it can run on only two thrusters…” The apartment block loomed up ahead. “Just not very well.” Paragon angled upward, slowing as he neared the roof, and switched his helmet to
infrared. “I’m getting two heat patterns in there. Neither of them big enough to be Ragnarök. Could be pets. General, better get your people to widen the search radius. Ragnarök’s long gone.” He touched down on the building’s flat roof. “What’s the intel on this place?”
“He’s been living in the penthouse apartment for six years,” Piers replied. “Seems that the building manager thought he was a European rock star living in tax exile. Paid him a lot of money to leave him alone.”
; Paragon stopped in front of the door to the stairway and pulled a small device from a pouch on his belt. “Scanning…I’m picking up a lot of sensors on the door. Could be booby-trapped. I’ll check the windows.” He walked to the edge of the roof and stepped off, activating his jetpack at the same time.
He hovered in front of one of the large windows. “Sensors on the window, too…The infrared shows—”
The general’s voice interrupted, “Paragon. We’ve just heard that the ambulance carrying Titan and Energy has been hit. It must be Ragnarök!”
“All right, I’ll…oh my God…. That can’t be right!”
“What is it?”
Paragon didn’t reply. He aimed his armor’s grappling gun and fired it directly at the window. The small but heavy hook plowed through the thick glass, showering the room inside with crystal fragments.
He kicked out at the window, widening the hole, then pulled himself through.
Ahead of him, six large glass canisters were mounted on a
workbench. Cables ran from the canisters to a small monitoring computer.
Paragon swallowed. “General…better get your people in here. Right now.”
“Talk to me, Paragon! What is it?”
“I…I don’t…four of them are empty. But the other two…”
“For God’s sake, man! Just tell me!”
“They look like they’re about three years old. They’re suspended in some sort of fluid…. There’s…” Paragon walked around the canisters, staring at them. How could he have done something like this?
Floating inside the nearest canister, the black-haired baby girl reached out and placed her hand against the glass.
Paragon stared at her.
She stared back.
And smiled.
A ripple of pain tore through Titan’s body, bringing him back to consciousness. He opened his blood-caked eyes to see a shadowy figure standing over him.
“You’re awake. Good.” Ragnarök leaned close, baring his teeth. “I didn’t want you to die without knowing who’d killed you.”
Titan looked around wildly. The ambulance was more than twenty meters away, burning. “Energy…”
The Gathering Page 22