Lance followed him up to the roof, and they shook hands again. “Take care, Sol.”
“You too, kid. Want me to tell Abby you said hi?”
“No. I think it’s best to stick with the story.”
“She does miss you, you know. I mean, she’s happy for you because she thinks you’re married and you’ve settled down, but she hasn’t seen you in nearly a decade. You should come to the States, meet up with James and Roz. We’ll have a reunion. And we’ll make sure that Max isn’t around. They don’t see him so much these days—they’ve mostly gone their own way. You know they have their own team now? They’re working with Apex and Thalamus.”
“Apex and Thalamus on the same team? There’s a recipe for success. Nah, a reunion is a nice idea, but it wouldn’t be the same without Brawn. Besides, I’d have to explain to Abby what really happened to me, and I’m not ready for that. She’s happy, though?”
“I believe she is, yeah. She’s finally come to terms with everything. She’s stopped hiding.”
“That’s good. And James?”
“Oh, he’s still a closed book. Keeps himself to himself. You probably know more about his life than I do. Anyway . . .” Cord threw Lance a casual salute. “Be good, Lance.”
“Hey, why not? I’ll try anything once.”
• • •
“I’m in need of your services again, Hunter,” Max Dalton told Lance over the phone. “We’re making a move against Ragnarök.”
“I know. You’re baiting the trap with some imaginary high-tech computer chip. You want me to coordinate the ambush.”
Max sighed. “How do you always know these things? Yes, that’s what we’re doing. Duval’s working on something big and we want to stop him before he gets it off the ground, whatever his plan is.”
“Who do you have on board so far?”
“Titan, Quantum, and Energy. Titan’s the only one strong enough to take on Slaughter, and Energy should be able to deal with Dioxin.”
“They’re not going to be enough. Not even close. Duval’s evaded capture so far because he’s always looking out for a trap. If you’re serious about this, you have to think bigger. You’re trying to match his team’s strength, and that’s a mistake. What you need to do is keep adding forces until you get to the point where you’re sure it’s way more than you need. And then you add a few more. Contact your little buddy Apex, get the Footsoldiers. Paragon too. Get everyone. Well, almost everyone. Call in all the favors you can think of, and go beyond that. Max, get the army and the air force involved.”
“OK, now that is too much.”
“That sort of thinking is why you’ve always failed to catch him. If you throw everything you have at him, in one go, then you might have a chance. Even then—no guarantees. He’s bound to have something else up his sleeve. So that’s why we want payment up front this time. Twenty million, Max. As soon as it’s in our account, we’ll start planning.”
“Twenty million dollars? Not a chance. What do you even do with all the money?”
“About ten percent of what we get covers our running costs. We give the rest of it away. Most of it goes to charities, the rest goes to other organizations and environmental campaigns. Lately we’ve been supporting a group with some very good ideas about how the world should be run. You’d hate them—they believe in equality and peace above everything else. They’re still finding their feet, but with the right leadership they’re going to change the world one day.”
“Forget it, then. There’s no way I’m going to fund a bunch of deluded hippies trying to turn the planet into a giant commune.”
“You want to stop Ragnarök or not?”
“Ten million if we capture him, not before.”
“No, it’s still twenty. Because if you do get him, then there’s not going to be a lot of work left for my people. But I’ll compromise. Five in advance, and the rest of the twenty if we’re successful.”
“Agreed.”
Lance said, “Send me everything you have, and I’ll start planning the operation.”
• • •
Five weeks later, in his office in Salzburg, Lance felt the flesh on his arms begin to crawl as he stared at his computer monitor. “No . . .”
The phone almost slipped from his fingers. He grabbed it and put it back to his ear. “Max . . . What have you done?”
“Your plan, Hunter—not mine!” Max swore. “You caused this!”
Lance continued to stare. The screen showed soldiers walking slowly over a battlefield, their weapons holstered. As Lance watched, one of them bent down and picked up a fragment of metal. He tossed it to one of his colleagues, who dropped it into a large canvas sack. In the background, columns of smoke rose up to blacken the sky.
The scene cut to another angle, where a dozen superhumans were gathered close together, clustered around something on the ground.
Lance swallowed.
“You happy now?” Max’s voice said over the phone. “Your big plan. Send everyone to capture Ragnarök. I did, and look what’s happened. All of Duval’s people escaped, and Hesperus is dead.”
His teeth gritted, Lance said, “You’ve gone too far, Max. Too far. I told you not to send Abby. You assured me a dozen times that she wouldn’t be involved! This is not my fault—it’s yours. You’re just as responsible for her death as Slaughter is.”
“That’s not how we’re going to remember this, Hunter. She’s dead because your plan was flawed.”
“She died because you didn’t stick to the plan, so don’t shift the blame onto me, coward! You’re the one who told me about Quantum’s vision—you’ve known for years that Abby would die at Slaughter’s hand. And you still sent her in!”
“Yes. I knew. And I made a judgment call. This is war, and sometimes soldiers die. If she was fated to die anyway, then maybe some good would have come of it. The fact is, the plan had already failed before Slaughter attacked her. And that’s on you.”
Lance screamed as he threw the phone across the room.
IT WAS ANOTHER THREE YEARS before Lance spoke to Max Dalton again. In that time, the Deliverance organization continued to operate with success, though Lance gradually reduced his participation to that of an adviser. Cameron Sharkey took over most of the day-to-day running of the organization, where his gift of total recall enabled him to grow into a confident and skilled negotiator.
Instead, Lance devoted his time to what he liked to think were more positive tasks. He helped establish a foundation dedicated to providing aid to the victims of superhuman activity, from innocent bystanders injured by flying debris to people left homeless or unemployed after Slaughter or one of her colleagues leveled a factory or demolished a housing project.
Lance was twenty-seven years old when Solomon Cord came to Austria for a social visit. “Vienna and I have been talking about you, Lance,” Cord said as they walked through the streets of Salzburg. It was early evening in late winter, and few people were about.
“Nothing good, I hope.”
“We want you to come home. She thinks you should quit and get a job that doesn’t have any connection with superhumans. And I agree with her. It’s time for you to find yourself a life. At the very least take a vacation.”
“It’s not that simple, Sol. I’m responsible for—”
Cord raised his clenched fist. “If you tell me one more time that you’re to blame for what happened to Abby, I swear I’m going to knock you out. Trust me, I’m still a lot stronger than you are.”
“I know you are. And I wasn’t going to say that. I was going to say that I’m responsible for Max.”
“In what way?”
“I had the chance to ruin him. Back in Santa Barbara, before that whole mess with Casey Duval. As part of the ruse to draw Duval out of hiding, Thalamus got me access to all of Max’s computers. I had control of his life right there
at my fingertips. If I’d known what was coming up, I would have completely ruined him. I wish I had. But I didn’t, so now I watch him. Make sure he’s not straying too far.”
“I know. But he doesn’t want power for himself. He just wants to take it away from people like Ragnarök. That still puts him on our side.”
“Barely.”
“He’s responsible for his own actions. And only he is responsible. It’s not your job to be his nanny. And it’s not my job to come all the way here just to persuade you to start living your own life.”
“So why did you come?”
“Because I care, Lance. Aside from Vienna, you’re the closest friend I’ve ever had.”
“Me? Seriously? But we only see each other once every couple of years. And what about Titan and Energy? You guys have been working together a lot.”
“Sure, I work with them, but I don’t know them. I don’t even know their real names.”
“I do. Of course, I can’t tell you. But that’s my life now, Sol. Packed with other people’s secrets.” Lance laughed. “In a way, I guess I’m in the same situation as Max. I know more than I can ever tell. And, you know, I’m OK with that. My people do good work. I do good work. Sure, I’ll probably never have a family, and right now I don’t even have a girlfriend, but that’s a small price to pay.”
“Weren’t you going out with one of the Poder-Meninas for a while? What happened there?”
Lance stopped at the corner of the street, and looked to see whether there was any traffic coming. “It didn’t last,” he said as they crossed the street. “She found someone she liked better than me. I have had my share of girlfriends, Sol. Actually, sometimes I think I’ve had another guy’s share as well. But they never stick around long. I’m not blaming them.”
“You can’t be still hung up on Abby after all this time. I thought you were over that.”
“I was. I am. I got over it instantly, the second I realized what Max had done.” He smiled. “That was the night I left the carnival. I still dream about that place. Man, it was hard work, but we had fun. We laughed a lot.”
Cord stopped walking. “Lance.”
Lance looked back. “Yeah?”
“That’s it. That’s what’s missing. You don’t laugh anymore. As a kid you were funny and sarcastic—my mom would have said you were ‘cheeky’—and you said things that were inappropriate but still true and we’d all be thinking, ‘I’m glad someone said that.’ You were exciting and a little bit wild and when you cared about something, you really cared. Now you’re grown up. Lance McKendrick used to be fun, but Hunter Washington is all business. Seems to me that you don’t allow yourself to enjoy life. Vienna and I have our ups and downs but we do laugh together a lot. That’s what you’ve lost. You need to find it again.”
“Back then I didn’t know anything about the world, Sol. I was a kid.”
“But you were human.” Cord resumed walking. “I miss that kid. Don’t get me wrong—you’re still a good man, but you’ve lost that spark that made you Lance Aaron McKendrick.” Cord smiled. “Hey, you want to know something that I’ve never shared with anyone else?”
“Sure. Like I said, I’m all about the secrets.”
“When the twins were on the way, we thought they might be boys. I was going to call them Lancelot and Aaron.”
“Seriously? That’s great!”
“Yeah. I never mentioned it to Vienna, but I think she would have gone for it. She adores you, you know.”
“I’ve only met her about half a dozen times. If that.”
“I know. But you were good to Abby. You were the first one she ever confided in, and because you accepted her for who she was, that made things a lot easier for her. And you helped save the world, more than once. That kind of thing means a lot to some people. So why don’t you come back to the States, huh? Stay with us for a few months. We’ll make sure that you don’t come into contact with Max. You owe it to yourself to have a vacation. You don’t have to save the world every day.”
“I dunno . . .”
“What’s keeping you here?”
After a long pause, Lance said, “Guilt. And fear.”
“Nothing you can’t handle, then.”
• • •
Six months later, when Lance’s flight landed in Atlanta at two in the afternoon, it was the first time he had been on American soil in five years.
As the aircraft stopped at the gate, Lance fished around in his pocket for his cell phone and was about to turn it back on when one of the flight attendants approached him. “Mr. Washington? Can you come with me, please?”
“Everything all right?”
“As far as I know, sir, yes. But there’s a VIP who’s asked to greet you in person.”
Lance felt a knot tighten in his stomach. Please, no. Not after all this time.
The flight attendant led Lance back through the aircraft—deftly excusing his way through the passengers pulling their baggage from the overhead bins—and to the rear door.
The other passengers watched with curiosity as the flight attendant pushed open the door and gestured for Lance to descend the stairs.
Standing on the ground with his arms folded, and looking up at Lance, was Max Dalton. “It’s been too long, Hunter.”
“That’s a viewpoint not everyone involved is happy to adopt, Max.” There’s nothing I can do, Lance said to himself as he descended the steps. If he’s going to wipe my memories I can’t run fast enough.
“Relax,” Max said. “You can keep your memories. That’s not why I’m here.”
“How are you here? You’re supposed to be in China. That’s the only reason I agreed to come back to the States.”
“I heard about your travel plans and canceled my meetings. I figured that when you were in the air with your cell phone turned off, your friend Adrianne wouldn’t be able to let you know I was on the way.”
“You traveled to Atlanta from Tianjin faster than I made it here from London? How?”
“My techs have designed a new jet. It’s fast.” Max nodded toward a black stretch limousine parked nearby. “I’ll give you a lift to wherever you’re going. Don’t worry about your bags—I’ll have my driver come back for them.”
“No thanks. Just say what you have to say.”
“All right. I’m sorry.”
Lance stared at him.
“I’m sorry. I exploited your skills, just like I exploit everyone else. I blamed you for Hesperus’s death and that was wrong. In my defense, all I can say is that I was hurt. Not just because she died, but because I knew it was my fault and I couldn’t take that. We don’t have to be rivals, Lance. Our organizations work well together and I’ve a lot of respect for what you’ve achieved.” He held up his left hand with his thumb and index finger less than half an inch apart. “Right now, we are this close to finally nailing Duval’s carcass to the wall. But to push those nails in, I need your help. And then we’re done, if that’s how you want it. You’ll never have to see me again. If you’re on board with this, I’ll tell you everything. I know I’ve promised that before, but this time I’m not lying.” He paused. “I should warn you that you might not want to know everything. It’s not pleasant.”
“Read my mind, Max. I don’t think you’re evil. Maybe I thought that once, but now I understand you better. You’re trying to do good, but you’re also selfish and misguided.”
“I promise, you won’t be saying that when you learn what it is that’s guiding me.”
“You’re scared of the future, I know that. You believe that everything Quantum saw in his visions will come true.”
“So far he’s not been wrong. Not once. So, yes, I’m scared. Terrified. I know what lies in wait if we can’t change our course. It’s not all of his predictions that scare me. Only one. But it’s a big one.”
“Tell me, then.�
�
Max took a step back toward his car. “It involves so many of us. Me, Casey Duval, Quantum himself. Paragon. So many others . . .” He opened the rear door and picked up a folder from the backseat. “This concerns the future of the human race. More specifically, whether the human race is going to have a future.” He passed the folder to Lance. “This is for your eyes only. You have to read it right now, and then I’ll destroy it.”
“It’s that important?” Lance asked. “Because if this is another one of your—”
“No tricks. Just read it, Lance. You’ll see.”
Lance turned the folder over in his hands, and looked at the cover. Printed on the front in large black letters were three words: The Quantum Prophecy.
LANCE WAS WAITING AT THE AIRPORT’S pickup area when Solomon Cord arrived driving a very old open-topped U.S. Army jeep. “This is your car?” Lance asked.
“One of them, yeah. I bought this for a hundred bucks. It had no seats, no wheels, and no engine. Took a year’s worth of weekends to get it to this condition.”
“I’m sure it’ll be nice when it’s finished.”
“Very funny. Throw your bags in the back and jump in.”
As they drove off, Cord asked, “Thought I’d have to wait for you. Flight came in early?”
“No. But someone was here to meet me. He has a lot of pull. Got me a VIP pass through security and baggage.”
Cord thumped the steering wheel. “Max was here? You met him?”
“Met him and talked to him.”
“Did he . . . ?” Cord tapped a finger against his forehead.
“No. At least, I don’t think so. We talked a bit. Settled some differences. I think we’re going to be OK from now on.”
“If you say so. We’ve fixed up the spare room at the house. Vienna says you’re welcome to stay as long as you like.”
“Great, thanks.”
“Just for no reason whatsoever, how long do you think that’s likely to be?”
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