Star Blaze (42 page)

“Yes, General,” said Johnny's double as Nymac strode out of the crystal garden and away. As the impostor watched Nymac walking around the outside of the lake, Johnny took the chance
to rub the ropes some more against the crystal. He was very close.

The clone turned to Johnny. “I'd love to stay and chat,” he said, pointing the blaster at Johnny's chest, “but I've got a sister to get to know.” He squeezed the trigger.

Johnny watched as the bolt of energy left the end of the gun. It was strange that it hadn't reached him yet. No longer caring if the clone could see him, he rubbed his wrists frantically against the post behind him. His double didn't move a muscle but the lake, which had been almost still, was now covered with ripples, some of them quite large. From nowhere, roaring waves broke across its surface—they reminded Johnny of the ocean crashing over Atlantis. That day it had looked as though he, Clara, Bram and the Diaquant would all be swept away, yet somehow Johnny's mum had stopped time so they could escape.

The energy bolt was halfway toward him. Johnny's wrists felt as if they'd been sliced to shreds by rubbing against the crystal, while his head ached like never before from the memory transfer, but he summoned the energy for one last effort. The final cord snapped and he rolled out of the firing line.

The spell was broken. The beam of energy smashed into the pillar to which Johnny had been tied a moment earlier. It shattered in a dazzling explosion, covering the ground in hundreds of slivers of crystal. He grabbed one and was able to slice straight through the ropes binding his ankles. Getting up, he turned to charge the impostor, but another bolt of energy blew a hole in the ground right in front of Johnny's feet.

“How did you do that?” asked the clone. “Tell me and you might live a little longer.”

Johnny hadn't the slightest idea if he'd just caused time to slow and, if so, how he'd done it. If it had been him, he was certain he couldn't do it again—his head hurt so much it felt as if it might shatter like the crystal pillar.

“Tell me now,” said the impostor.

“I'll show you,” said Johnny. “Put the blaster down and I'll teach you how it's done.”

“You must think I'm stupid,” said the clone, who fired again.

The ground in front of Johnny's feet disintegrated and he jumped backward to avoid falling into the hole that opened up, landing close to the edge of the lake.

The clone laughed. “I want to see you dance,” he said, firing several more shots around Johnny's feet.

Johnny jumped high as shrapnel from the explosions flew around his legs. He was teetering right on the boundary of the golden liquid. The blaster fire hit the ground between his feet and he fell forward, but the clone stopped shooting.

“You're good at skipping—like a girl,” said the clone. “Is that why you're in the football team?”

“You run like a girl,” Johnny replied, getting to his feet but not taking his eyes off his double. “Is that why you're not?” It looked as if he'd struck a nerve.

The clone lifted the blaster from Johnny's feet, instead pointing it at his chest. “I'm bored of you now,” he said. “Time to die.” He fired.

Johnny leapt backward out of the way. As he twisted in midair, the beam of charged particles, like a lightning bolt, just missed him, but he saw he was heading into the lake with no way to stop himself. Then, just above the surface, he landed on something solid which he couldn't see. By the confused look on the clone's face, he couldn't see it either. Johnny guessed it was the walkway Bram had stepped onto when they'd been here the last time. He stood up, seemingly supported by nothing at all and laughed. He knew it would annoy the clone and must look as if he was defying gravity.

“Stop it,” said the other Johnny. “It's not funny—you know I'll kill you in the end.”

“You'll have to catch me first,” Johnny replied, risking a few steps further along the invisible walkway toward the center of the lake. “Or are you too scared to come after me?”

The clone fired a couple more blasts but, further away now, his aim was poor. Very tentatively, he put his feet over the boundary of the lake, searching for something solid to step onto. Much to Johnny's disappointment, he found it, but the impostor looked very unsure as he edged along the invisible bridge.

Johnny took a few confident steps further away. Behind him, columns of chronons, liquid time, shot into the air. He couldn't go any further without stepping under them.

“What's that?” said the clone. He was looking nervously beyond Johnny while inching along the walkway toward him.

“Wouldn't you like to know?” said Johnny. Despite the blood dripping from his wrists, nose and scalp, he was feeling a little more confident now.

Then the clone's eyes turned from green to silver. The space between Johnny and his double collapsed as Johnny found himself being folded forward toward the impostor. Like Clara, the double could fold space, but for the very first time Johnny was able to understand how it was done. Everything began to straighten out just a meter in front of the clone, who was preparing to fire.

Instinctively, Johnny grabbed hold of a piece of space itself, just behind the impostor, and pulled as hard as he could. The blaster released its energy bolt into thin air as Johnny found himself in normal space, back to back with his double. He turned first, rugby-tackled the impostor and knocked the blaster out of the other boy's hands. It slid along the walkway closer to the fountain. Johnny dived for it with the clone jumping on top of him—the weapon remained out of reach. Johnny twisted his body so he lay on his back, grabbed the
clone's wrists which were still grasping for the gun, and placed a foot in the impostor's stomach. He threw the double over his head, closer to the roaring fountain. Quickly Johnny turned to pick up the weapon and point it at the clone now standing before him.

“Can you really kill yourself?” asked the clone, raising an eyebrow as he spoke. Not far behind him, the golden aurora hung high in the sky, while a solid sheet of liquid chronons began raining down into the lake.

“You might have my genes, but you're not me,” Johnny replied. “I don't want to kill you, but I will if I have to. I'm taking you back to the
Spirit of London
while I work out what to do.”

Despite Johnny's words, a look of pure terror spread across the impostor's face. “Clara—help me,” he shouted. “He's gonna shoot.”

Johnny wasn't about to be fooled by the clone's acting and kept the blaster trained on his double—until he heard footsteps hurrying from behind. In the instant he turned and saw Clara running out across the lake, the clone's head caught him full in the stomach, winding him and knocking him to the ground. The impostor snatched the blaster and sat on Johnny's chest, pinning him to the walkway with the cold point of the weapon thrust underneath his chin. He had no breath to speak.

“He's a clone,” said the clone, matter of factly. “Nymac did it—cloned me. This … this thing's been going to school in my place. It wasn't Erin—
he
tried to destroy the
Spirit of London
. I have to kill him—you understand, don't you?” the clone asked, looking at Johnny's sister.

“I understand,” said Clara, nodding and placing her hand on the double's shoulder.

Johnny gasped for air, but found none. This couldn't be happening. He felt the full pressure of the blaster on his
windpipe as the impostor's fingers squeezed the trigger. Johnny closed his eyes.

The blast sounded distant. Johnny heard his own scream, even though he'd no breath to make it. The weight on his chest was gone and he dared to open his eyes. There was only his sister beside him, staring horrified at something further along the walkway. Johnny followed her eyes to where she'd folded his clone, now standing right beneath the Fountain of Time.

The clothes the impostor was wearing looked far too big. His hair was retracting into his skull, becoming finer, as his face became less recognizably Johnny's. As chronons from the fountain washed over him, he shrunk to become a toddler—and still he grew younger. Clara stirred as though she was going to rescue it, but Johnny reached up and held her back.

A wrinkled baby crawled out from beneath Johnny's white tunic and black trousers, with only the gold and crystal locket swinging from its neck. It looked questioningly at Johnny and Clara, before reaching the edge of the invisible walkway, its tiny, stubby pink arms grasping at empty space. Then it made a last gurgling noise and toppled, head first, into the lake of liquid time, disappearing under the surface.

Johnny was on his feet, making sure his sister stayed where she was. He only let go once her body sagged and he knew she wasn't about to run under the fountain and try to save the clone.

“It's over,” he said softly.

Tears were falling from eyes that, only a moment before, had burned silvery bright. As Johnny watched, they quickly faded to the pale blue of their mother's.

“Look at us,” she said, snuffling. “We make a right pair.”

Through the walkway, Johnny caught sight of his reflection in the surface of the golden liquid. A ring of blood encircled his head, his nose looked nearly as bad as the last time while more blood trickled from his wrists. He began to feel faint.

“Come on, you,” said Clara, shepherding him toward the end of the walkway. “It's your turn for sickbay.”

Once he reached solid ground, scarred and pitted from the clone's blaster, Johnny sank to his knees. Everything was swimming before his eyes. “The
Astricida
,” he said, fighting to stay conscious so he could warn Clara of the danger.

“It left,” she said.

“There's something else,” he said, holding onto her sleeve for support.

“Shhhhh—it can wait.”

“Not this,” said Johnny. “It's waited too long already.” He looked up at her tear-stained face as she came into focus. “Nymac …” he went on.

“I told you—he's left,” said Clara.

Johnny shook his head. Blood from his broken nose spattered the ground, but he didn't care. “It's not that. He's … he's Nicky. He's our brother.”

For a moment Clara looked at him, uncomprehending. Then she grabbed hold of his top and dragged him through the open fold and onto the nearest bed. Immediately, a big ball of gray and white fur bounded across the sickbay floor, barking happily. Bentley reached Johnny, stood on his hind legs and rolled a long wet tongue across Johnny's face. It stung like crazy.

“Bentley thinks I picked the right one,” said Clara. Her voice sounded strained and she wasn't looking at Johnny.

“How'd you know it was me?” he asked.

“I saw you from the edge of the lake,” she said. “You had a chance to kill him, but didn't want to. He had the chance to kill you and tried to take it. Lucky I know you're such a softie.” Clara looked upward. Her eyes were watering, but she was refusing to let herself cry again. Her breathing was irregular and heavy. “I didn't mean him to die, either—I just folded him away to protect you. What happened after … it was horrid.”

“I know you didn't mean that,” said Johnny. “It wasn't your fault.”

“What you said … about Nymac,” said Clara. “I don't understand—I thought Nicky was dead.”

Before Johnny could even think how to respond, Alf burst into sickbay, flapping. “Oh my goodness, Master Johnny. Whatever happened to your face?”

“It doesn't matter,” Johnny replied, still looking at his sister,
pleading for forgiveness. Slowly he turned from her and added, “The Sun—we've got to stop Nymac.”

“Enough is enough,” shrieked the android, throwing his hands in the air and looking every bit as determined as when threatening the Regent. “Twice you have not listened to me and both times you have nearly ended up being killed. I cannot allow that again. This is a medical emergency—you need rest and it is up to me to see you get it. You are hereby relieved of command.”

Johnny couldn't believe his ears. He had to stop this happening and raised his blood-soaked hands in front of his face, but the android was too quick. The next moment came a hiss of air as the pneumatic syringe was pressed against his neck. It was like sinking beneath the surface of a great ocean. While sunlight danced above, he couldn't reach it and descended slowly into oblivion.

Dangling his legs over the edge of the clear platform in orbit above the Earth, Johnny was watching events unfold. During the past few hours he had witnessed the Sun swell, becoming bloated and red. There would be panic beneath his feet. No one had foreseen this—the biggest threat to life had seemed a runaway greenhouse effect, meaning the more ice that melted, the faster global warming took hold. Now that particular feedback loop was forgotten as scientists scrambled to explain how the impossible was happening to Earth's supposedly stable star.