‘Who’s there?’ he said. The corridor was empty. ‘Ferdy?’
Ferdy’s voice came back immediately. ‘Yes, friend Dan.’
‘Is anyone else aboard Liber8tor?’
‘The only ones aboard Liber8tor are Ferdy and Dan.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Nothing is certain, Dan. An inter-dimensional singularity may have opened up, allowing an alien from another dimension to invade the ship.’
‘Uh, how likely is that?’
‘One chance in several hundred billion.’
‘I think we can rule that out.’
A sound came from the galley. Dan asked Ferdy to turn on all the lights both inside and outside Liber8tor. A metal pipe was in his bedroom. Retrieving it, he crept down the hall. Both an elevator and a metal ladder led up. Dan chose the ladder but used his mind to send the metal pipe up first. Nothing attacked it, so it carefully climbed to the top, peering about. He saw the table, storage compartments, freezer, ovens, and benches—but no one else.
‘Henry?’ he called. ‘Are you here?’
Silence.
Then Ferdy’s voice came from the loudspeaker system. ‘There is no one else onboard the ship, friend Dan.’
‘You also said there were no monsters on the island!’
‘The Liber8tor sensors—’
‘I don’t care what the Liber8tor sensors say!’ Dan snapped. The tension was really getting to him. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude.’
‘That’s all right, friend Dan. Fear is a difficult emotion.’
‘Do you...I mean, do you still feel fear now that you’re...’
‘Now that Ferdy’s consciousness is contained within the Liber8tor computers? Yes. It is an irrational feeling, but it doesn’t make it any less real.’
‘Uh...which means?’
‘Ferdy understands how you’re feeling.’
‘Thanks.’ Dan felt a little better. He poured himself a glass of water and sat it on the bench. From the freezer, he pulled out a selection of freeze-dried packets that all looked like they belonged in a lab.
‘We’ve got K’tresh and B’klah and Gar’kah,’ he said, reading the labels. ‘Ferdy, can’t we just order out for pizza?’
‘The nearest pizza shop is several thousand miles away.’
‘Really? There’s not one on the island?’
‘If Dan is making a joke—’
The room went dark: the lights, the computers, even the emergency signs above the doors. Dan found himself in pitch-black darkness. It was like being inside a cave, a deep cavern, miles beneath the ground, and without a light. Dan dropped the food packets. They made a clattering sound, and he almost jumped a mile. He had laid the pipe down when he first entered. Now he tried bringing it to him, but couldn’t do it without seeing it first.
His heart pounding, Dan slowly made his way around the bench. Where had he sat the pipe? It’s here somewhere. His hands slid over the cold tabletop. Where is it?
Clink.
Dan’s heart exploded in his chest. Something was on the other side of the table! Something alive! He could hear it breathing!
Where was the pipe? Where had he—?
The lights snapped back on, and Dan stared in absolute horror—at nothing. He was alone in the galley. No monster. All was exactly as it was before the lights went out.
‘—then it is a funny joke,’ Ferdy finished.
‘Ferdy,’ Dan said in a strangled voice, ‘what made the power fail?’
‘The power has not failed.’
‘Everything went off! You stopped speaking, and I was standing here in the dark!’
‘Ferdy has no recollection of those events. The third king of England was—’
‘I don’t care if he was the third king of Pluto!’ Dan yelled. ‘The power failed!’
‘There is no record of a power failure.’
‘Check the Libr8tor sensors! Double-check them. I was here alone, but then something else was in here too!’
‘If you are referencing the Schrodinger’s Cat hypothesis—’
‘Forget Shoddy Ring’s Cat! Just check the sensors!’ Dan tried to calm himself. ‘Has anything entered the ship in the last few minutes?’
‘There is no record of anything entering or leaving the ship,’ Ferdy said.
But Dan had stopped listening because he was staring at his glass of water on the table. Now he understood the sound in the darkness, the clink that had set his hair on end.
The glass had been turned upside down.
And it was still filled with water.
Chapter Twenty-Five
A strange calm overcame Chad as he fell. Imminent death forced him to focus his mind; he had to instantly form another raft of heat beneath him and he had to do it now. He created the raft—a massive surge of heat exploded under him—and then he built the cold platform over it.
Their descent slowed but did not stop. They fell past a skyscraper. Chad knew they were lucky; they would have slammed into it if they had been directly over the building. He focused on making the raft of air hotter. And hotter.
They slowed to a halt. Chad looked across at another building. Many of the windows were broken, but on this level, he saw a rough-looking woman staring out at him in amazement. He forced a smile and focused on ascending.
Reaching the top of the building, Chad angled them towards the roof. He still couldn’t work out how to land, so he shielded Brodie’s body with his own as they plowed into the roof where he lay, shaking uncontrollably. Chad felt like he couldn’t go on. He was shaking so hard he couldn’t even stand.
Someone muttered his name.
‘Chad...Chad...where are you?’
‘Brodie?’
She was half draped over him. He gently laid her on the roof. ‘How are you feeling?’ he asked.
‘Not well.’
He examined her shoulder. It was charcoal-colored, and looked terrible with dark green pus flowing from the wound.
‘I feel so weak,’ Brodie said, her eyes unfocused. ‘I can’t move...’
‘You’re going to be okay,’ he said. ‘We’re both going to be okay.’
Chad lifted her up again with a renewed determination. He had stopped shaking now. Brodie wouldn’t last much longer. He’d get her to a doctor or die trying.
He created another raft, lifted Brodie, and he leaped onto it. This time it was easier, and he felt a sense of renewed confidence.
‘Let’s go,’ he said.
The raft carried him away from the building. Chad concentrated on pouring on the speed, and this time he zoomed across the city with the wind tearing at his hair. He glanced around to see if another missile had been fired, but the sky was clear.
He was lower than he had been on his first flight. Maybe the missiles are only activated when they detect movement at a certain height. He hoped he was right. Increasing speed again, he passed New Jersey and Plainfield.
Looking behind him, he saw a clear blue sky—except for three tiny dots on the horizon.
Not again!
Chad went faster, glancing back occasionally. The dots were larger now, and they looked different from the missile. He spotted a building among others that was still in one piece.
Now for the hard part, he thought. Landing.
Slowing, he came in over the roof, decreasing the heat of the raft beneath him.
Slowly, slowly, slowly...
Touchdown.
Chad was so thrilled he wanted to burst into song. He checked Brodie. She was breathing but unconscious. A distant sound cut the air. The three shapes weren’t missiles; they were those rotor ships he and Brodie had encountered at Times Square.
Following stairs down, he stopped at a floor and peered through a wall of glass blocks to the outside. Through them, he was able to make out the rotorcraft, flying tight circles over the area.
Someone cleared their throat. A teenage boy peered up the stairs at him.
‘Are you the flying person?’ he a
sked.
‘Uh, yes.’
‘Come with me.’
The boy started down. Chad followed him. This kid might know where to find Doctor Bryce.
‘We know about you,’ the boy said. ‘My name’s Joshua. The Manhattan faction was able to get a message through.’
Bless you, Robin, Chad thought. She must have sent news of his mission.
Chad followed the boy to the front door. The droning of the rotorcraft continued for a few more minutes before they disappeared behind distant buildings. Joshua led Chad to a residential house a few blocks away. Entering through the rear, Chad found himself in a neat kitchen.
A man appeared. He had a long white beard, but his hair was thinning on top. His clear blue eyes examined Chad.
‘You’re the time-traveling boy,’ he said.
‘We need your help,’ Chad said. Brodie was getting heavier by the moment. ‘She was bitten by—’
‘I know. Bring her through.’
Minutes later, Brodie was on a hospital gurney in a makeshift surgery. Modern medical equipment had been installed in the art deco home, looking strangely out of place. The doctor gripped his shoulder.
‘Sit down, son,’ he said. ‘Get some rest.’
Chad didn’t argue. He felt exhausted. The doctor gave him some tinned meat, and he devoured this, but he had not slept properly for days. His legs were so shaky he was ready to collapse. By the time Chad finished eating, his eyes were closing. He lay back on a lounge.
The sun was low in the sky when he woke. It was almost dark. Joshua was gone, and the rest of the house was silent. A chill went through him. Was Brodie safe? Maybe this whole thing was a setup. Maybe he’d walked into an Agency trap.
Footsteps approached, the door from the hallway eased open, and a head peered through the gap.
‘Brodie!’ he yelled.
‘Hey, Chad.’ She peered at him shyly.
Chad ran to her. He gave her a hug and pulled back to stare at her. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were puffy, and she looked pale and drawn. But she had never looked more beautiful.
So he kissed her.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The next morning, Dan asked Ferdy to run a complete check of the ship’s sensors while he checked the Liber8tor’s external doors. They were firmly locked from the inside. Nothing could have entered the ship—and yet it did.
‘The ship’s sensors show nothing out of the ordinary—’ Ferdy reported.
‘Great.’
‘—but Ferdy has been able to find evidence of a power loss to the ship.’
‘So I didn’t imagine it,’ Dan said.
‘Correct.’
I knew I wasn’t crazy, Dan thought. Something was on board the ship, and the same something turned the glass over without spilling a drop.
‘Ferdy,’ he said. ‘I’m going back to where I found Henry. I think he may have hidden there overnight.’
‘Do you think that’s wise? What if there really is a creature roaming about on the island?’
‘There is a creature,’ Dan told him. ‘And we need to keep Henry safe from it.’
He packed a bag with food and water. He also put in some metal bars from a Liber8tor storage locker. They might be valuable weapons if he encountered the monster, assuming he was able to fight a creature that was able to move through locked doors.
After traipsing through the jungle, Dan found the buildings he had discovered the previous day. Climbing down to the lab, he picked up some papers from a bench and stuffed them into the backpack. They were in Japanese, but Ferdy could translate them. Then he cautiously started back to the cell, passing the moldy growth on the wall. The smell was so bad it was almost gut-churning. How could Henry stand to be down here?
‘Henry?’ he called. ‘Are you there?’
The cell was empty.
Hmm, he thought. This would be more difficult than he expected.
He called out the boy’s name again as he scrambled up the incline to the jungle above. Once again, he was greeted by silence. Navigating through the dense jungle, he reached the boat he had explored the previous day. He even searched for footprints but found none.
Where has he gone?
Dan continued along the beach, angling inland towards Liber8tor. He asked Ferdy if there were any other buildings on the island. Ferdy told him no. ‘However,’ he continued, ‘Ferdy has been able to identify some caves near the mountain. They could be used as a shelter.’
Dan thought. Caves weren’t so different from the underground cell where he’d first found Henry. Maybe he used them for shelter too.
‘I’ll check them out,’ Dan said. ‘In the meantime, can you examine these documents and see what you can find on the net?’
Dan took pictures of them so Ferdy could scan them into the ship’s computer, and left for the cave. It took some time to find. The entrance was a thin crevice caused by rockfall, nestled between some trees on the mountain’s east side. Dan peered in the opening.
‘Hello!’ he called. ‘Henry! Are you in there?’
His voice rebounded about the interior of the cave. Then a voice came back. ‘Dan? Is that you?’
‘Henry!’
Snapping on the flashlight, Dan entered the dry and dusty cave. Three separate tunnels led away into the mountain. Dan checked for footprints in the fine dust but could see none.
‘Dan?’
The voice came from the middle tunnel. Dan followed it downhill. After a minute, the ground flattened out, and he found himself faced with a choice of two passages. He called Henry’s name again and received an answering cry from his left.
Henry, Dan thought. What are you doing down here?
It was here that he found a shape huddled alone in the darkness. Henry had pushed himself into a recess in the wall, the book still firmly clenched in his hand. He leaped out, throwing his arms around Dan.
‘I come here sometimes to hide from the monster,’ he explained, dry tears on his cheeks. ‘This time, I got lost and couldn’t find my way out.’
‘It’s daylight,’ Dan said. ‘The monster is gone.’
‘I heard the monster.’
‘What?’
‘It’s here in the tunnels.’
‘When did you hear it?’
A low growl came from the tunnel behind. Dan spun about, waving the torch, sending the shadows dancing and weaving in the recesses of the walls.
Then Dan saw it. A figure darted across the tunnel. Dan tipped the metal bars onto the ground, his heart in his throat. He was scared but not so scared that he couldn’t fight. He grabbed Henry, pushing the small boy behind him.
‘Is there another way out of here?’ he asked.
‘I’m not sure,’ the boy sobbed. ‘I got lost—’
Dan felt a breeze across the back of his neck. ‘There’s a way out behind us,’ he said. ‘Hold my hand.’
He gave the small boy’s hand a reassuring squeeze and led him along the tunnel. The ground ahead of them was rough underfoot and led upwards. He used his powers to levitate a metal bar behind them as another growl reverberated around the tunnel.
His torch illuminated a dark shape fifty feet behind. Focusing on the bar, he fired it with all his might down the middle of the tunnel. It slammed into the shadowy form, and the figure screamed and staggered. The shape was double Dan’s height and humanoid-shaped. He could make out little more.
At least it’s not indestructible.
Keeping Henry behind him, Dan continued to slowly retreat up the tunnel. The monster came after them, and Dan launched another bar at it.
The monster screamed again as if impaled and collapsed against the wall. Holding Henry’s hand, Dan turned and dragged the boy down the tunnel until he spotted a faint glow. It came from the first chamber Dan had entered, where the three tunnels branched from.
We’re out, he thought. We’ve made it.
Then the shape appeared in the doorway of the middle tunnel.
‘Run, Henry!’ Dan scre
amed. ‘Run!’
The boy raced away as Dan produced another pipe from his backpack. A smell hit him, a strange stench of decay. Then the dark shape leaped towards him, and he fired the metal bar into its chest. The monster cried out again and flung out an arm, knocking Dan backward. He hit the wall, fell, and blindly staggered into warm sunlight.
He turned to face the creature.
Alone.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
‘I’m Marcus, the leader of the South-Eastern resistance,’ the man explained. ‘It’s my job to keep you alive.’
Chad and Brodie were sitting in a home a block away from the doctor’s house. They had been relocated here after Brodie’s rapid recovery. Chad was still amazed she had healed so quickly, but he knew there were many amazing things about her.
Like she was a good kisser.
Until she pushed him away.
‘I’m dating Axel,’ she said. ‘You can’t do things like that.’
Chad had mumbled an apology, flushed with embarrassment, and they had not spoken about the incident since.
Still, Chad could not forget the taste of Brodie’s lips against his mouth. Despite everything she’d been through, her illness, and not washing for days, she still tasted of spring.
Glorious spring.
‘There are some people who want to meet you,’ Marcus continued. ‘Some governors.’
‘Governors? What are they?’
‘Resistance leaders. You don’t know them, but they know you.’
‘Great,’ Chad said. ‘Some unknown hotshots want to meet us. What do they want? An autograph?’
‘I’d appreciate some respect,’ Marcus said, his eyes narrowing. ‘We’re risking our lives just to help you.’
Chad apologized. ‘We appreciate everything you’ve done for us,’ he said, ‘but we need to find our friends.’
‘That’ll happen. Eventually. But you need to understand that a lot of people want you dead. We need to keep you safe.’
‘We know we’re not popular with The Agency.’
‘It’s not just The Agency,’ Marcus said. ‘People have heard you want to change history. Not everyone’s happy about that.’
Teen Superheroes Box Set | Books 1-7 Page 57