The Gathering: Quantum Prophecy 2 (22 page)

“Extinguisher and flame-retardant blankets.”

“Get them.”

“And the first-aid kit,” Danny said.

As Façade returned to the copter, Renata said to Danny, “Do you think…?”

“That he could still be alive? I don’t know. He’s not as strong as you are, or as fast as I am. But he’s tough and brave.”

She smiled. “Colin’s afraid of heights, did you know that?”

“No.”

“He wouldn’t admit it though. He always got nervous when we were on a high building.”

“I didn’t know that. I thought the only thing he was afraid of was homework. And when we were little kids he used to be terrified of Mr. Blobby.”

Renata laughed for a moment, then covered her mouth with her hand. “We shouldn’t talk about him in the past tense.”

Façade came up behind them. “Flameproof blankets, first-aid kit, fire extinguisher…but they won’t do any good.”

Then a large burning tree at the edge of the forest was suddenly torn apart, showering them with sparks.

Smiling, Colin pushed his way through the flaming debris and marched toward his friends.

Renata’s mouth dropped open in shock.

Danny said, “
Colin?
I don’t believe it!”

Colin ran his hands over his scalp. “Oh great. I just
knew
you were going to give me a hard time over this! My hair
will
grow back, you know.”

“We were told you were dead,” Façade said. “Mina said your aura disappeared; she couldn’t sense you anymore. Colin, your mother and father think you’re dead.”

Colin swallowed. “We have to tell them!”

“Wait,” Renata said. “This is a terrible thing to do to your parents, Col, but if no one knows you’re alive then that gives us an advantage. We know that someone in Sakkara is a traitor. If they think you’re dead, we’ll have a better chance of flushing them out.”

Colin thought about this for a moment. “All right. All right, that’s what we’ll do. Let’s go.”

They ran back toward the copter and jumped in. “How
did
you survive?” Danny asked.

“Turns out I’m fireproof. I get that from my mother’s side of the family.” He looked past Danny’s shoulder. “Look, there’s another one!”

Danny turned around. “Another what?”

“You can’t see it? It’s sort of a pale blue light. It’s right in front of you!”

“I can’t see anything,” Danny said. “Renata?”

“Nope. Sure you’re not imagining it, Colin?”

“No, it’s definitely there. Danny, put your hand out, see if you can feel anything.”

Danny raised his hand, then shrugged.

“It’s gone,” Colin said. “Disappeared when you pushed your hand through it.”

“All right,” Renata said. “We need to get you back to Sakkara. Get you checked out.” She reached out and ran her fingers over Colin’s head. “Perfectly smooth! So your skin is fireproof but your hair isn’t.”

“You’re just lucky it wasn’t the other way around,” Danny said.

“You sure you don’t want us to tell your folks that you’re still alive?” Façade asked as the copter ascended once more.

“Positive,” Colin said. “If there is a traitor, this is the best way to find him. And Façade…I
really
won’t be happy if I find out that it’s you. Understand me?”

Façade smiled. “Perfectly.”

“Set a course for Sakkara, fast as you can.”

Dioxin flew straight up to the copter’s open hatch and shut off his jets as he touched down. Inside, his team of mercenaries was running a weapons check.

“You still tracking the new heroes’ craft?” Dioxin asked the pilot.

The man nodded. “They’re heading right back to Topeka.”

“Can we overtake them?”

“Not a chance. That thing has got five times our speed. At least.”

“Got to get me one of those too.” Dioxin turned to the nearest man. “What’s the status?”

“All locked and loaded, sir.”

“You all know what you have to do?”

“Cross briefed us. With Titan’s kid dead and Diamond out looking for his body, the only one we have to worry about is Redmond, and according to the reports he’s far from being ready to fight.”

“What about the girl who can detect superhumans? Cross said something about her occasionally showing incredible strength.”

“She’ll be taken out of the picture before we get there.”

“Good. The building’s defenses?”

“In theory they can seal the whole place tighter than a duck’s ass, but our inside man will have disabled the doors. There are no human guards. We should be able to get in and out without any real resistance.”

“And the target?”

“Everything’s arranged. Check the map…” The man passed Dioxin a handheld computer. “There’s a small storeroom off the machine room. Only one door, no windows. That’s the rendezvous point.”

Dioxin manipulated the computer’s controls. The three-dimensional image rotated, showing him a complete plan of Sakkara. He smiled. “Then we’re ready.” He reached around and unclipped the jetpack from his back, then refueled it from the spare tank. He loaded a fresh cartridge of missiles into the launcher on his wrist and attached another two cartridges to his belt. “All right, men…Don’t go thinking that this will be a walk in the park. There are still four ex-superheroes in that place. They
might not have their powers anymore, but they’re going to fight like wildcats to defend it. Expect strong resistance. Assume that everyone you meet but our target will be hostile and treat them accordingly. I do not want
any
of them walking out of that place, you got me?”

As one, the men nodded.

“I promised Solomon Cord that in exchange for him stealing my future, I would steal something he valued just as much. And I’ve done that: I’ve taken his reputation. No matter how this turns out, no one will remember Paragon as a hero. Now…now we’re going to go a step further. We’re going to steal
his
future.”

On the roof of Sakkara, Solomon Cord stood beside Caroline Wagner as they watched the StratoTruck approaching.

Behind them, Razor, Butler and Yvonne were waiting in silence.

Joshua Dalton said, “We shouldn’t be out here. We’re too exposed.”

“Shut up,” Cord said, without looking at him.

The StratoTruck touched down and Caroline ran toward it. Then the hatch opened and her husband was standing there, his face pale and drawn.

“What happened?” Caroline asked, sobbing. “How did he die?”

Warren walked down the ramp, brushed the tears from his eyes and wrapped his arms around her. “He was incredible…He just jumped out, straight down through the trees. Absolutely fearless. You would have been so proud of him. And then…
and then there was a huge explosion. Dioxin set the entire forest on fire. We couldn’t get close enough. We waited, but he…he didn’t get out. Mina said his aura disappeared.”

As the Wagners walked toward the stairway, Josh approached them, but was stopped by Razor, who pulled him aside.

“Don’t you say a word, Dalton!” Razor hissed. “You say one thing about how you told them not to go and I swear to
God
I will put you in the ground!”

“I would never do something like that,” Josh said. “Colin was…He was a good kid. He deserved a better fate than that.”

His face pale and grim, Razor went over to Mina. They stared at each other for a few seconds, then Mina turned and walked away.

Yvonne said, “Mina?”

“Leave me alone.”

“But…” Yvonne stopped when Butler put his hand on her arm.

“She needs time,” Butler said. “She’ll be OK.”

Solomon Cord waited until Caroline and Warren were gone, then said, “Everyone, prepare for an attack! Mina, I know you’re in shock, but we need you to stay alert—you’re our only early-warning system. Razor, get on to the chopper; I want Renata back here ASAP. And I want all of our defenses online. Now
move
, people! We’re going to lock this place down.”

As everyone rushed back inside to prepare, Solomon walked to the edge of the roof and looked out over the city.

“Colin…,” he said aloud. “You were a great kid. I’m going to miss you. I don’t know how I’m going to tell Stephanie. I know
she always gave you a hard time, but that was just her way. She would never admit it, of course, but I think she was a little bit in love with you.” He looked down at his hands: they were shaking. “Good-bye, my friend. Now…now I’m going to kill the man who betrayed us.”

J
OSHUA
D
ALTON SAT IN HIS OFFICE
speaking into the phone. “Colin Wagner is dead.” He listened for a moment. “Mina wasn’t able to pick up any trace of him…Daniel Cooper and Renata Soliz haven’t returned yet.” He listened again. “The remainder of my funds will be transferred to your account first thing in the morning…Yes. I will.” He hung up the phone and began typing furiously on his computer.

Josh gasped and jumped to his feet when something cold and metal pressed into the back of his neck.

“Before I kill you,” Solomon Cord said, “I want you to tell me who you were talking to. If you won’t talk, I’ll kill you and find out the hard way. Now turn around slowly and keep your hands where I can see them.”

Josh raised his hands and turned around. “What are you doing, Sol?”

“Who were you just talking to?”

“When?”

“Just now! On the phone!”

Josh frowned. “You’re losing it, Sol. I wasn’t on the phone.”

“I saw you. I heard you.” He pressed the muzzle of the gun against Josh’s forehead. “You have three seconds.”

“Sol, I
wasn’t
using the phone!”

“Three.”

“Are you crazy? I just came in here because…because…”

“Two.”

Joshua Dalton looked around wildly. “What
am
I doing in here?”

“Don’t try to play that game with me, Dalton! One!”

“No! Don’t! I swear to
God
, Sol! I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Solomon Cord frowned. “Look at your monitor.”

“Why?”

“Just look.”

Josh glanced at the computer screen. “What the hell is this?”

“That’s what you were doing when I stopped you.”

“These are the instructions to erase a phone call from the system log! Sol, I don’t even remember coming in here!”

“Have the instructions been executed yet?”

“No, not yet.”

“Good. Find the last number called from that phone. And don’t try anything stupid.”

Josh tapped away at the keyboard. “It’s a cell phone.”

“Call it.”

Josh dialed the number, then Solomon pulled the phone away from him. The phone rang once, then was answered. “Victor Cross. Talk to me.”

Solomon paused for a second then slammed the phone down.

“This is impossible,” Joshua Dalton said. “I don’t have any memory of this! Who
was
that?”

“Victor Cross.”

Josh frowned. “I know that name from somewhere…”

“He was one of your brother’s top scientists,” Solomon Cord said.

“Yes…,” Josh said, nodding. “Yes, Victor Cross. He disappeared.
We couldn’t find him. Then we stopped looking.” Again, he frowned. “Why did we stop? We forgot all about him! How is that even
possible
?”

Then Josh went pale and collapsed back into his chair. “Oh God. Cord, I don’t think this was the first time. I thought I was just overworked—I mean, I haven’t slept properly in
weeks.
I keep finding these gaps in my memory. Usually it happens only every couple of months, but lately it’s been more and more often.”

“How long has this been going on?”

“When I was a kid, it used to happen all the time, but that was Max, using his mind-control powers to make me do things and not remember.”

“When did the lapses start again?”

“I’m not sure. That’s the thing about memory; you can’t remember what you can’t remember. I started noticing it a couple of years ago, shortly after I came here.”

“Either you’re lying to me or someone has been controlling your mind.”

“Mind-control…” Josh shook his head. “Impossible. Max was the only superhuman we ever heard of who could do that…What if
he’s
doing this? What if my brother never lost his powers? No, no. That can’t be it. If he could still control people then he’d never have allowed himself to be arrested. It has to be someone else. One of the kids. Butler. We don’t know all of his abilities yet. It has to be him.”

“No,” Cord said. “He’s been here only a few months. It has to be either Mina or Yvonne.”

“Well, it’s not Yvonne. It must be Mina.”

“Why not Yvonne?”

“Because it’s not.”

“Why are you so sure it’s not her?”

“Because it isn’t.”

Solomon Cord swore. “If she can control minds, how the hell are we going to stop her?”

“She
can’t
control people’s minds!”

Cord said, “Josh…Listen to me, OK? Yvonne has used her mind-control power to convince you that she hasn’t
got
mind-control power! She’s the traitor!”

“She can’t be the traitor. She told me she wasn’t.”

“Damn it! Josh, stay right here! I don’t have time to deal with you right now. I’ve got to find her. Touch nothing! Do you understand me?”

He ran from the room.

“Mina? Are you there?”

Mina was lying on her bed. She glanced up to see Yvonne standing in the doorway. “Go away!”

“I just want to know that you’re all right.” Yvonne walked into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. She reached out and stroked her sister’s hair. “Everything will be OK.”

Mina sobbed. “Colin…He was younger than us and he’s
dead
! And I didn’t do anything! I should have been able to help him!”

“You’re certain that he’s dead?”

She nodded. “His aura vanished when everything exploded. It was like…closing your eyes. All of a sudden it was gone.” She shuddered as she remembered the sensation. One second she was reading Colin’s aura—bright and strong, burning with anger
and determination—and Dioxin’s aura, which was also bright, but sharp, flecked with evil. Then the forest erupted and there was nothing. Not even Dioxin’s aura.
Dioxin’s aura vanished too
, she realized.
And Mr. Wagner’s. Even my own! The heat from the explosion! It must have been masking their auras! Colin could still be alive!
She sat up suddenly. “I have to tell them!”