Absolute Power (The New Heroes, Book 3)

by Michael Carroll

  Landron said, “Mr Soliz, I understand your concerns, but the fact remains that—”

  “Screw your facts!”

  Landron began to gather up his papers. “Mr Shoell, if you cannot keep your clients under control, I’m going to call a halt to this meeting. We’ll go to court. And we will win. We have the law, the military and the government on our side. What do you have?”

  “The Trutopians,” Shoell replied. “Twenty million people throughout the world. You want to go to court? Fine. It’ll be at least a year before we can bring this case before a judge. By that time, we expect our numbers to have greatly increased. You really want that many people asking questions about the true nature of your work at Sakkara?”

  “Mack,” Landron sighed, “this case will cost the Trutopians a fortune. It’ll drag all your dirty secrets out into the open.”

  “But we don’t have any dirty secrets, Doug. I know your people can’t make the same claim. The illegal detention of minors – I’m not even counting Renata here, I’m talking about Yvonne and Mina – trespassing on Trutopian soil, destruction of property, illegal genetic experimentation…The list is endless. And the money aspect? Not going to be a problem, believe me.”

  Landron laughed. “You actually think you might win? Seriously?”

  “We will win,” Shoell said. “Sakkara will be disbanded. And rightly so – you’re a bunch of thugs using your strength to take what you want. Your people aren’t happy that the Trutopians are gaining so much power, so you destroy our supplies. What do you call that?”

  “An accident! We were misinformed. And there’s strong evidence to suggest that your people set us up. Why else would you have the compound on Isla del Tonatiuh so heavily monitored? You fed us the false information about the island, and then just sat back and watched us destroy the place. That’s entrapment.”

  “And I heard that your official word was that the New Heroes were not involved, and that the video footage was faked. Thanks for the admission of culpability.”

  Renata’s head was spinning, and she felt like she was going to throw up. A headache pounded behind her eyes, and was growing by the second.

  Her mother was crying quietly, being comforted by her father. This is harder on them than it is on me!

  “Get lost, Shoell!” Landron shouted. “You know you can’t use that as evidence – it’s hearsay at best. But you want to play dirty? Fine! By trying to take away Renata, by deliberately leading the New Heroes into an ambush on Isla del Tonatiuh, the Trutopians are acting against the interests of the American people.”

  Renata said, “Stop! For God’s sake! This is crazy!”

  Then Landron said, “This isn’t about you, Renata. It never was. It’s about not letting these people take over the world.”

  Shoell snorted. “Actually, it’s about not letting you continue to act as though you already have taken over the world!”

  Landron pulled out his cellphone. “One call from me and the Trutopians will be reclassified as a subversive organisation.”

  Shoell stood up so fast he knocked his chair over. He jabbed at Landron with his finger. “You try that and we will bury you! I’ll have Sakkara wiped off the face of the map! We’ve got enough political power to bring down your entire government.”

  “That was a threat,” Landron said, his voice cold with anger. “You have just made a direct threat against the US government.”

  “You lousy…!”

  Renata jumped to her feet and screamed, “Both of you, just shut up!”

  Renata’s headache pounded so hard it felt like something had exploded inside her skull. A surge of pain ran through her entire body, and she collapsed back into her seat.

  Then she heard her father’s voice saying, “Renata? What…What have you done?“

  Dizzy, nauseous, Renata looked up. “Dad? Sorry, I just…” She realised that he wasn’t looking at her. He was looking at Landron and Shoell.

  The two lawyers were still glaring at each other. They were unmoving. Transparent. Crystalline.

  12

  COLIN WOKE TO find that he was once again sleeping on the floor next to his bed. In the four months since he left Sakkara he’d grown so used to sleeping rough that the bed just seemed too soft.

  Yawning, he stumbled into the bathroom and showered, then stared at himself in the mirror for a few moments. A large red spot had appeared overnight, just under his left ear.

  Colin closed his eyes and concentrated. A ripple of heat and electrical energy ran over his neck and face, zapping the spot and any other bacteria that might be lurking under his skin. He opened his eyes again: already, the spot was beginning to fade.

  Colin had just finished getting dressed when Reginald Kinsella phoned. “Mr Kinsella. What’s up?”

  “We have a situation that I think you might be able to help with. Interested?”

  “What is it?”

  “I’d rather tell you in person. You’re not too busy, I hope?”

  “Not at all.”

  “Good. I’m already on my way.”

  Kinsella arrived ten minutes later, a worry-line creasing his forehead. He had a small folder in his hands.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “We…We found out something…Something disturbing. Have you ever heard of a country called Lieberstan?”

  “No, sorry. Should I have?”

  “It’s a pretty small place, used to be part of the Soviet Republic, then it was argued over by some of the newly-formed states…That whole area has got a convoluted history and I don’t really understand it myself. We’ve got a community there, but the government are putting pressure on us to disband it.” Kinsella walked to the window and looked out. “Lieberstan’s principal export is platinum. You know anything about platinum?”

  Colin shook his head.

  “It’s one of the rarest elements on the planet, which makes it expensive. What makes it even more expensive is that to get a single ounce of platinum you have to mine and process about ten tonnes of ore.” Kinsella turned around to face Colin. “There is a platinum mine in Lieberstan that’s said to be one of the deepest and most dangerous in the world.” He removed a photograph from the folder and handed it to Colin. “Satellite image, taken about a week ago.”

  Colin turned the photo around in his hands. “Which way up…? Ah, got it. What exactly am I looking at?”

  Kinsella tapped a large, rectangular area, in the middle of which was a dome surrounded by a series of small squares. “This is the mine, shielded by this dome. To give you an idea of the scale, these little squares are buildings, each about the size of the average house. We need to get someone in there.”

  “Why?”

  “I can’t tell you, unless you agree to do it.”

  “What was all that talk about the Trutopians not having secrets?”

  Kinsella smiled. “This one isn’t our secret. It’s theirs.”

  “You’re asking a lot, Mr Kinsella. How much time do I have to think about it?”

  “I told him he had a couple of days,” Victor Cross told Yvonne over the phone. He leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the desk, then scratched at his fake beard.

  “Will he go for it?”

  “Who can say? Right now, he’s checking out Lieberstan on the Internet. All he’ll find is the usual tourist stuff about how beautiful the country is.”

  Cross could hear Yvonne drumming her fingers on the table.

  “We need him to go,” she said. “This is the whole point of finding Colin in the first place.”

  “I do know the plan, Yvonne.”

  “Let me talk to him. That’s all you have to do. I’ll make him want to go. He won’t even have to remember that he spoke to me.”

  “No. It’s too much of a risk.”

  Yvonne said, “Then just tell him the truth about the platinum mine!”

  “Not yet. Colin needs to think that he’s outside the loop. That keeps him off-balance.”

  “Bu
t that wouldn’t matter if I was controlling him!”

  “And what if your control doesn’t work? What then?”

  “It’ll work. I’m sure of it.”

  Cross shook his head. “No. We wait for Colin to make up his own mind.”

  “This is as much my plan as it is yours, Victor! I’m the one who thought of you taking over the Trutopians. I’m the one who arranged for you to replace the real Reginald Kinsella.”

  “I know that. And I’ve never taken credit away from you. But these things have to happen at their own pace. Suppose you do manage to control Colin’s mind, but later the Sakkarans find a way to break through that? Then he’s our enemy for certain. But if we persuade him correctly, there’s nothing they can do to turn him against us. So we play this my way.”

  “And what do I do? Just sit here and wait for you to come back? This is worse than when I was in Sakkara! What’s the point of having someone like me on your side when you won’t even let me use my abilities?”

  “You have to wait until the time is right.”

  “When will that be? When you’ve done all the work? We’re supposed to be a team.”

  Victor sighed. “I know what you’re going through. But you have to be patient, OK? Just trust me. It’ll all work out fine.”

  He said goodbye and hung up the phone.

  Cross’s superhuman brain allowed him to think about many different things at the same time: even as he was arguing with Yvonne, he had been considering the best way of dealing with her, how to best steer Colin’s opinions, the many different ways Evan Laurie might mess up in Zaliv Kalinina, and the nature of the situation in Lieberstan.

  She’s too dangerous. She’s nowhere near as smart as I am, but her mind-control means that if she wanted to she could turn everyone against me.

  Maybe it’s time to step back. Hand over control of the Trutopians to her. Laurie pretty much has everything set up for the future, and Yvonne’s definitely the one to take over here anyway.

  Cross stood up and walked to the window. He stared out at the clouds.

  But she can’t go public just yet. Not until the situation with Sakkara is resolved.

  And we can’t solve the Sakkara problem until we get Colin to Lieberstan.

  As long as Yvonne doesn’t go completely power-mad, it could work.

  He reached for his phone again and dialled a number. After a couple of minutes, the call was answered.

  “Hello?”

  “It’s me, Laurie. How are you doing?”

  “Freezing my butt off in this place, Victor!” Laurie answered.

  “I should have phrased that differently. What are you doing?”

  “I just told you!”

  “You know, I was kind of thinking about the work. Remember the work? The whole point of you being there?”

  “We’re all set-up, ready for you to send us the material.”

  “Change of plans. I’ll be bringing it in person.”

  “When?”

  “Today. Colin will be on his way to Lieberstan within the hour.”

  “And Yvonne?”

  “She’s planning to betray me, but that’s irrelevant now. I’ll leave her to battle it out with the New Heroes.”

  “What if she wins?”

  “Just keep watching the news, Laurie. On the unlikely chance that you ever get married, you’ll want to be able to tell your kids what it was like during the last few days before the war.”

  “I’ll do it. I’ll go to Lieberstan,” Colin said to Reginald Kinsella as they stood on the balcony of Colin’s hotel suite. “But I can’t promise that I’ll get involved in whatever is happening there.”

  “You’re certain you want to do this?” Kinsella asked.

  Colin nodded. “You need someone with superhuman abilities, right? Who else are you going to find?”

  Kinsella smiled, and looked down over the balcony, resting his forearms on the railing. “There are rumours of a superhuman in Kenya. A seventeen-year-old girl who can transform into some sort of giant cat.”

  “You think that’s true?”

  “I wish I knew. We have a few communities there, but none of our people have reported any sightings. I’ve sent Harriet and Byron to investigate, but I’m not holding out much hope.”

  Colin was silent for a moment, then said, “Tell me what I need to know about the platinum mine in Lieberstan.”

  Kinsella straightened up. “We’re going to have to send you in alone, understood? We won’t even be able to provide much radio support, so you’ll be on your own for most of the time. I know I can trust you to do the right thing, whatever you find there.”

  “How will I get out?”

  “The United Nations will send in troops. They’ll pick you up.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because when the rest of the world finds out what’s been going on there, they’re not going to have any choice.”

  13

  DANNY COOPER AND Renata Soliz stood on the roof of Sakkara, sheltering from the heavy rain under an umbrella.

  “You’re sure you’re all right?” Danny asked.

  Renata nodded, and squeezed a little closer to Danny as the rain whipped around them. “It’s just an ordinary headache now. Barely there at all.”

  “So Josh was right about you being able to use your power on other objects…I wish I’d been there to see it!”

  “I’m just glad that I was able to change them back. What if I couldn’t?”

  “You’re sure there were no side-effects?”

  “Apart from me getting a splitting headache and them getting the fright of their lives, none that I could see.”

  “What was the final outcome of the meeting? Any closer to a resolution?”

  Renata shook her head.

  Danny said, “Look, I know this probably isn’t the best time, but there’s something I’ve been wanting to, y’know, talk to you about…”

  Renata stepped back a little and tilted her head so that her face was only centimetres away from Danny’s. “Go on…”

  Danny swallowed. “I keep telling myself that you’ve got enough to worry about and the last thing you need is me making your life even more, well, complicated.”

  “I can cope with complicated,” Renata said, smiling.

  Danny returned the smile. “Colin and Brian used to think that this was so easy for me.” He paused. “I like you.”

  “I like you, too.”

  “I mean, I like you a lot. More than just—”

  Danny heard footsteps splish-splashing across the roof, and turned to see his eight-year-old brother approaching.

  He sighed, and muttered, “Perfect timing.” He turned to face Niall. “What’s up, big guy?”

  “Dinner.” Niall stepped up to the edge of the roof and peered over the low wall.

  He was about to climb up on to the wall when Danny reached out and grabbed the back of Niall’s sweatshirt. “No you don’t!” Danny said. “You can fall off the wall when someone else is watching you, not me.”

  “I wasn’t going to fall!”

  Renata said, “That’s true. You probably wouldn’t fall, exactly. You’d just skid down the side of the building.”

  Niall nodded. “Right!”

  “And land in those bushes. Where the giant rats live.”

  Niall leaned over the wall again, grinning. “Rats? Cool!”

  Danny hauled him back, and pushed him towards the stairs. “Go on. We’ll be right behind you.”

  Renata said, “You know, he looks just like you when he grins like that. It’ll be interesting to see how he turns out. You’ve got different fathers, but Façade was a shapeshifter, so does that mean that Niall will grow up to look like Façade or Quantum?”

  “I’m more worried about which of them he acts like.”

  Dawn was breaking in Romania as a small, sleek-looking unmanned aircraft touched down on the hotel’s roof.

  “This is a prototype Apache Arbalest,” Kinsella s
aid as he and Colin approached it. “It’s the only one of its kind, and it is the fastest aircraft ever built. It’s almost completely invisible to radar and any other tracking device.”

  “But there’s only one seat…I don’t know how to fly something like this!”

  “You don’t need to. You just sit in and enjoy the trip. We’ll control it remotely. Like I said, it’s a prototype – it wasn’t designed to ever carry a passenger, because no ordinary human could survive the acceleration. It’s about four thousand kilometres to Lieberstan, but this little beauty has got scramjet technology. It’ll take you from here to Lieberstan in about eighty-four minutes.”

  “You have got to be kidding me! It’s definitely safe, right?”

  “For you, yes. Not for anyone else.”

  “When do I leave?”

  “Right now. The Arbalest will drop you off three miles due west of the mine, then it’ll depart – we can’t leave it waiting around to pick you back up. The mine is huge: just follow the sounds of the machinery and you can’t miss it.” He handed Colin a small head-set communicator. “This will keep us in touch when you’re on the ground, but you won’t be able to initiate a call: you’ll have to wait until you hear from us. We want to keep radio chatter to a minimum.”

  Colin nodded and put the communicator in place, tucking the earphone into his right ear. Hesitantly, he climbed into the cramped cockpit.

  “Mr Kinsella, if what you told me about the platinum mine is true…”

  “It is. I wish to God that it wasn’t.” Kinsella reached out his hand, and Colin shook it. “Good luck. And be careful.” He took a few steps back.

  A moment later, the Arbalest’s engines whined into action and Colin felt a sudden, sickening lurch in his stomach as the roof of the hotel began to fall away.

  Then the scramjet engines kicked in, and Colin felt as though something hard and heavy slammed into his chest as the aircraft raced towards the rising sun.

  14

  IN MOATE, INDIANA, Stephanie Cord opened the front door of her house to see Grant Paramjeet standing there, smiling at her.