Hamish X and the Hollow Mountain (20 page)

Hamish X bent over with his hands on his knees. He was breathing heavily and his body was covered in sweat. He
hated to admit it, but he'd never felt so hard-pressed to beat any opponent. He'd been pushed to his limits, but he also felt so alive and happy, all things but the game forgotten. “I think we should see who wins. Unless you need to rest.”

The King grinned again. “Not today!”

Liam pounded down the court, bouncing the ball as he came. Hamish X stood, watching him approach. He waited until the King was about to run him over then reached out and slapped the ball out of his hands, sending it bouncing towards the King's basket. Laughing, Hamish X immediately sped after the ball.

He grabbed the ball and dribbled it twice. He heard the King's footsteps thudding behind him. Revelling in his speed and strength, he called up a burst of power from his boots and leapt for the basket, holding the ball over his head. He felt pure exhilaration as he hammered it into the metal hoop with a tremendous force that drove the ball down to the ground and shattered the floorboards under the basket. Landing easily, he roared his triumph. He turned, arms raised, to celebrate his victory.

The King was lying face down on the floor. His limbs thrashed weakly. Hamish X rushed to his side and turned him over. Liam's face in the frame of his helmet was flushed and sweaty.

“Are you all right?” Hamish X asked, levering the prone boy into a seated position.

“Oh, I'm fine,” he said weakly. “Just ran out of battery power, that's all. This thing becomes a dead weight if it has no power.”

The George raccoon scurried over and pushed a button on the side of the suit. With a hiss, the entire device cracked open down the front, unfolding like a flower. The King, his green tunic and trousers soaked to the skin,
pushed himself up out of the suit and took a deep breath. Hamish X grasped him by the arm and supported him as they walked carefully to a bench at the side of the gymnasium. Liam eased himself down and Hamish X sat beside him.

“So, you won the game. Well done.”

“It was hardly fair. I mean … you're …”

“Sickly? Feeble? Oh, don't look so uncomfortable. I'm used to it,” the King laughed. “Just don't feel sorry for me. It's the worst feeling when you see that look in someone's eyes. ‘Poor little Liam.' That makes me feel truly sick.”

“Sorry,” Hamish X said. “I don't mean … Did you really bring me up here just to play a game of basketball?”

“I understand your impatience, Hamish X. I just want you to answer me one question.” The King picked up a chilled bottle of water, popped the cap, and drank a long swallow while Hamish X waited in frustration. Finally, Liam lowered the bottle and wiped his mouth. “Nothing tastes sweeter than water. Now, my question: Did you enjoy our game?”

Hamish X snorted. “What's that got to do with anything?”

“It has everything to do with everything. Did you enjoy it?”

“Yes. It was fun.”

“Good. You looked like you were having a very good time out there. I want you to realize how wonderful that is. These boots of yours have been a curse to you. They've ruled your life in a way, and while you were wearing them you were a pawn in whatever plan the ODA might have for you. But now you are free. You can do anything you want. And you still have these amazing boots. I envy you.”

Hamish X sat for a moment thinking about what the King had said. He realized it was true. He looked down at the boots. With a flicker of a thought, he caused them to burn bright blue. With another flicker of a thought, he extinguished them again. He scanned his newly recovered memories, looking back on all the amazing things the boots had done. Now he truly controlled them. He looked at the King and smiled. “It
is
kind of cool, isn't it?”

“Cool. Yes, very cool. You are free to come and go as you please. The Grey Agents can't track you any more. Remember the bug you coughed up in that crazy dream?” Hamish X nodded. “That was our software turning off the tracking device.”

“That dream …”

“It wasn't a dream, really. It was a virtual world created by a program we shunted into your brain. Fun, wasn't it? I was able to walk and run, released from this afflicted body.” He looked wistfully at the inert suit of armour. “I would give anything to be free of this slow, wasting sickness. I devise any number of ways to circumvent it, the armour being only the latest. Alas, it's all a waste of time. It will destroy me in the not so distant future.”

The King looked Hamish X in the eye, suddenly serious. “I have to admit something to you, Hamish X. I didn't bring you here just to set you free and thwart the ODA. I confess that I was hoping I might glean something in the analysis of your amazing physiology that would give me a clue as to how to save myself from the disease. After all, it was the ODA who made me this way.”

Hamish X was aghast. “What are you talking about?”

Liam held up a shaking hand. “I was once a prisoner of the ODA. They did experiments on me, trying to alter the functions of my body, my muscles and nervous
system. I was a guinea pig in the project that eventually produced you.”

“You were their prisoner?”

“Yes. Fortunately, I was rescued in a raid by King Juan's Guards. He was my predecessor. I was rescued and brought here. My body was damaged beyond repair. As a result, I was forced to develop my mind. When Juan left, he made me King.” Liam smiled. “I've enjoyed my reign. I've tried to do good, but I must admit, I'd hoped we could find out some way of fixing the damage wrought by the ODA through careful study of you. Selfish, wasn't it?”

“That's not selfish,” Hamish X said. “It's human.”

King Liam smiled. “The ODA have altered you in many ways, but they neglected to tamper with the one thing that will bring them the most grief: you have a kind heart, Hamish X.”

The King clapped his hands. The George raccoon scurried over with a manila envelope. It handed the envelope to Liam.

“Thank you, George,” the King said, holding the envelope against his chest. He turned back to Hamish X. “I haven't spoken to you sooner for two reasons. I wanted you to have some time to adjust to the boots and grow to understand that you are free. The second reason is that I have been sending my agents out searching for information on you. I wanted to help you figure out who you really are. I have compiled everything we could find that is pertinent to your identity. Here it is.”

He handed over the envelope. Hamish X took it and tore open the top with greedy fingers. He tipped the envelope over and his heart sank when all that came out was a single black and white photograph, a scrap of paper, and a small key.

Hamish X couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. An exhaustive search and this was the result? He held up the picture. Staring back at him was the face of the Professor, bringing back the terrible memories of the Grey Agents and the procedure that had grafted his boots onto him. The eyes were fearful and the man seemed older, his face drawn and haggard. He was photographed from a distance and was obviously unaware of being observed. In his hand he carried a small suitcase and he was stepping down from a small plane onto the tarmac of an airport. The photographer had caught him in the act of looking over his shoulder. The eyes were watery and wide behind thick bifocals.

“It's the man from my memories! He was there in the operating room when the Grey Agents put the boots on me.”

“His name is Professor Magnus Ballantyne-Stewart.”

Hamish X's eyes went wide. “The man who wrote my book!”

“Exactly. He was a brilliant genetic engineer and neurologist before he was contracted by the Grey Agents. Supposedly he died in a car crash, but we believe he staged his death to escape the ODA. He is now in Central Africa under an assumed name, providing medical care for remote villages.”

“I have to find him. He might know something about who I am.”

“I agree.”

Hamish X fell silent. He held up his hand, turning it back and forth, examining it.

“What's the matter?” King Liam asked.

“It's funny. I don't know how to feel about all this. At first, the only question I had was ‘Who am I?' Now, it's ‘What am I?' Am I even human?”

“Hamish X, have you ever heard the story of Pinocchio?”

“No.”

“Pinocchio is a wooden boy who wants to be a real boy. He goes into the world and has many adventures, but in the end he returns home and discovers that it's love that has transformed him into a real child. You are going through something similar, I think, but in reverse. You thought you were a real boy but you've discovered that you are not. I think the lesson you have to learn is that it isn't the parts and pieces, the muscle and tissue, the blood and bone that makes you human. No,” the King smiled. “It's what's in the heart that makes us real people. And you, my friend, are as real as can be.”

They sat in silence for a minute or two. At last, Hamish X held up the slip of paper. There was a four-digit number written on it. “What's this?”

“It is the number for a locker in the Athens train station. The key opens the locker. There you will find some money and the documentation you need to make your way to Central Africa and seek him out.”

Hamish X looked up from the photograph into Liam's eyes. “I don't know how to thank you.”

The King shook his head. “You don't need to thank me. Just find out what you need to know. Hopefully, with that knowledge, you can stand against the ODA and bring us one step closer to defeating them.”

“When should I go?” Hamish X asked.

“I wouldn't waste any time. Whatever the ODA have planned it must be happening soon or they wouldn't be so desperate to get you back. I think you should go tonight after the wedding.”

“But the others … Mimi and Parveen … If I tell them
I'm going, they'll want to come along. I won't be able to stop them.” Hamish X frowned. “They seem so happy here. They've found a home. I wouldn't want them to give that up.”

“Slip out secretly during the reception. George will show you the way. I'll explain everything to Mimi and Parveen once you are well gone. Now hurry! Shower and get ready for the wedding. You don't have much time.”

Hamish X stood up and slid the picture carefully into the envelope. He began to walk away but stopped, turning slowly to face the King. “Why do you trust me not to tell anyone where you are? The ODA could capture me and find out the location of the Hollow Mountain.”

“If they capture you, Hamish X,” King Liam smiled sadly, “it won't matter any more.”

Hamish X thought about that for a moment, then turned and went through the door to the locker room.

“Well, George,” the King said softly to the raccoon standing quietly to one side. “I've done what I can. It's up to him now.”

“Indeed, Majesty. Shall I ready your dress tunic?”

“Yes, please, George.”

Mr. Candy and Mr. Sweet

Mr. Candy and Mr. Sweet stood in the rain, water dripping from their grey fedoras. They had been very busy in the two weeks since they lost Hamish X's trail in the Swiss Alps. After exhausting every search method they could muster, from satellite photography to deep sonar to orbital heat scans, they had concluded that the King of Switzerland's hidden refuge could not be located by any practical means at their disposal. They had decided to attack the problem in a different way. When confronted with a puzzle, they always looked for the weakest link in the chain. And to the ODA, it was the human element that invariably represented the weakest link in any chain.

The problem they faced was that the Kings and Queens of Switzerland commanded incredible loyalty from their subjects. No former resident of the Hollow Mountain would willingly betray the haven's secret location. All the orphans helped by the King earned his undying gratitude. They were trained and educated, and given a nest egg that could start them in their new life. A history was fabricated for them that covered their tracks and kept the King's involvement in their lives hidden.

Loyalty alone was a strong motivator, but the Kings and Queens of Switzerland had learned that loyalty was no match for a determined interrogator. Besides, even the
most loyal person can let a stray fact slip by accident, and with disastrous consequences. To defend against these dangers, the Kings and Queens had engaged in extensive experiments involving memory suppression through hypnosis and subconscious sleep teaching. When orphans left the Hollow Mountain they underwent a week of deep hypnosis to suppress their memories of their time there and to implant their false history. Over the centuries the process had become quite effective. No one had ever betrayed the location of the Hollow Mountain.

The Grey Agents knew that the refuge was called the Hollow Mountain by listening to the whispering of the orphans they had traded in down through the years. They had never managed to glean its precise location. Mr. Candy and Mr. Sweet knew they had to find and break one of the King's former subjects, and so they had instructed Mother to search all the online databases it could hack into and find an orphan whose background might not add up. The resulting candidates were compiled into a long list and weeded out, until at last the Grey Agents focused on one person in particular. The search had eaten up quite a chunk of their precious time, but finally they were ready. They had their weak link.

That is why they stood on a cobbled
 
⁵¹
street in the Swiss city of Bern. The sky was heavy, with roiling black clouds
spilling their contents on the city with a vengeance. The shop fronts were time-worn and respectable. They were in the oldest part of the city, near the cathedral, or Munster,
⁵²
as the locals called it. Its steeple rose over the red-tiled roofs of the ancient buildings, silent and tall like a stone finger.