The Strike Trilogy (12 page)

There were also several Rytonian scientists in the room, who were standing near the robots and checking on the readings of several computer stations. The computers were attached to the robots by wires.

“What we are doing is savage, Rigel,” Vincent said. “Make no mistake about it. But we are doing what must be done. These kinds of problems require these kinds of solutions.”

Vincent placed a hand on one of the robots.

“It will be clean,” he said. “A new start.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

T
obin crouched behind the cold, stone pillar, clutching his bo-staff. On his body, he was wearing a midnight blue costume made out of a durable, stretchable cloth, and on his face he was wearing a mask of the same color—only his eyes and hair were visible above it. After moving to another pillar, he peeked out and scanned the room.

A robot was looking for him; it was a silver, six-foot-tall humanoid, with one glowing, blue eye, and a laser rifle in its hands. As it weaved around the pillars, its heavy footsteps were clanging on the floor.

When the robot was close enough, Tobin rapped his knuckles on the pillar and darted back behind it.

The robot marched toward the boy. It readied its laser rifle, but then Tobin suddenly leapt out and struck it with his staff. The machine stumbled backward, firing its rifle, but Tobin flipped around the room and avoided the searing laser beams. The boy had only been training for a week, but his speed and agility were amazing.

With green lasers zipping by his body, Tobin planted his feet on the ground and decided to try something. This part of his training had been difficult, but he thought he had it figured out, so he closed his eyes and concentrated.

Suddenly, a burst of blue electricity crackled from the bottom of Tobin’s boots and sent him flying upward.

Thrown fifteen feet into the air, the boy narrowed his eyes and reached for a ladder that was leading to a platform near the ceiling. But, his leap was not strong enough, and he was only able to grab onto the bottom rung with one hand. Struggling to bring his other hand up, he felt his shoulder twinge with pain as it was struck by a laser blast from the robot, which seared a hole through his shirt.

“Arrgh!” he grunted. Swinging his body to reach the next rung, he looked down and saw the robot coming toward him; it was smashing its fists into the wall and climbing upward.

The boy thought it over. The wound on his shoulder was killing him, and his entire body was heaving with exhaustion.

“Screw it,” he thought.

When the robot was halfway to the ladder, Tobin let go. As he fell toward the ground, he held out his bo-staff and ignited it with electricity. Thanks to the momentum from his fall, he was able to slice the robot right down its middle. In a hail of sparks and smoke, the robot fell, plummeting to the floor.

Tobin landed only a few seconds before the robot, which hit the ground with a metallic
CRASH!
Pushing its body upward, it got to its feet, still determined to take out its target. As it raised its laser rife, it aimed the scope at Tobin.

Gripping his bo-staff like a baseball bat, the boy swung it forward across his body and sent a blast of blue energy scorching out from it. The electricity thundered across the floor like a tsunami, barreled into the robot, and sent a shockwave through its body.

The robot stood still a moment, trying to recalibrate its failing internal systems, but then fell, cut into two pieces. When the halves of its body hit the floor, they burst into flames.

Exhausted, Tobin took off his mask and sighed.

“Whoa!” Scatterbolt said. “Holy crap, Tobin, that was awesome!”

Tobin turned to the doorway of the training room; Scatterbolt and Orion were there. Orion was carrying a blue duffle bag over his shoulder.

“How long have you been watching?” Tobin asked.

“Five minutes or so,” Orion replied. “You did very well.”

“I sucked.”

Tobin threw his mask to the ground and headed for the exit. Scatterbolt passed by him, running to the burning remains of the training robot and putting out its flames with a little fire extinguisher on his hand.

“It took me almost an hour to stop the stupid thing,” Tobin said, as he and Orion walked into the main hallway of the museum. “It almost got me like seven times.”

“That’s perfectly normal, Tobin. You’ve only been training for a week. These things take time.”

“I still can’t lightning jump. I tried to underneath that platform, but ended up smashing into the ladder like an idiot.”

Orion laughed. “Yeah, and jumping fifteen feet into the air is some kind of huge failure, right? The lightning jump is the hardest ability of all, Tobin. It comes last.”

“Whatever. I still sucked.”

Orion changed the subject; he motioned to Tobin’s costume.

“How’s everything fit?”

“Great, actually.” Tobin looked down at his shirt. “But two pieces of it are missing.”

Orion reached into the duffle bag on his shoulder, pulling out a black cape and a dark blue vest. The vest had a white lightning bolt on it in the shape of an “S.”

“Here. This is what I got from Aykrada while we were in Gallymoora. They haven’t been used in a while, but they’re still in pretty good shape, I think.”

Tobin pulled the vest over his head, then tied the cape around his neck. The cape reached about halfway down his back, and its edges were cut into ragged triangles.

“Cool,” he said, inspecting the lightning bolt on his chest. “This is awesome.”

“And just in time, too.”

Orion pressed a button on the wall, causing two training robots to emerge from sliding doors inside the training area. Scatterbolt ran out into the hallway in a panic.

“Hey, what the heck are you trying to do?! Get me killed by one of my own kind?!”

Tobin laughed. “Tell Keplar I’m gonna beat his old record,” he told Orion. “Someone has to show him up sometime.”

With a grin, the boy ran back into the training area, in full costume for the first time.

Pleased with Tobin’s enthusiasm, Orion walked out of the museum and onto the brick sky-ship landing area outside the mountain’s entrance. Keplar was there, lying underneath the Sky-Blade and working on its underside with a wrench. His clothes and fur were smeared with grease.

“I was watching him earlier this morning,” the dog said. “He looks good, O. Damn good. I can’t believe how fast he’s learning everything.”

“I know,” Orion said, “but let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. We still have a lot of work to do, and it looks like we might not even have as much time as we originally thought.”

Keplar slid out from underneath the ship. “Uh-oh. You go to Earth today?”

“Yes. A group of Gores have gathered in the woods near Tobin’s friend’s house—the girl, Jennifer. There’s a small army of them, just waiting there.”

“Waiting for what? That’s way too obvious and risky, especially for Vincent.”

“I know—it’s a trap, nothing more. He’s only trying to get Tobin’s attention.”

“Well, that won’t work. The kid’s too smart for that.”

“I hope so, but let’s not mention it to him, just in case. Especially since it has to do with Jennifer.”

“Hey,” Tobin said.

Orion and Keplar spun around. They found Tobin standing near the Sky-Blade.

“Those last two robots were pathetic, Orion. I’ve seen tougher appliances in my kitchen.”

He shot Orion and Keplar a look.

“So...what has to do with Jennifer?”

“This is bull!” Tobin shouted. He looked across the Sky-Blade’s cabin toward Orion, who was standing with Keplar sitting next to him. “An army of creatures outside her house? And you weren’t even going to tell me about this?”

“No,” Orion said. “Because she’s not in any danger, Tobin. And I knew it would interfere with your training, just like it has.”

“I can’t believe this,” Tobin said, shaking his head. “I thought you told me if you went to Earth, you’d die? That’s the only reason I agreed to do this stupid thing, because you said you couldn’t! What else have you been lying to me about?”

“Hey!” Keplar shouted. “Take it easy, Tobin! That’s enough!”

“No, Keplar, I won’t! Why should I? No one seems to be telling me the truth around here!”

“We haven’t been lying to you about anything, Tobin,” Orion said, trying to not raise his voice. “I can travel to your world for very short periods of time, you know that. The only reason I’ve been doing it at all is to make sure your friends are safe.”

“Yeah, an army of demons around Jennifer’s house—sounds like you’re doing a great job to me.”

“All right!” Keplar said, standing up. “Tobin, you really need to shut the hell up before I—”

“No, it’s all right,” Orion said, putting a hand in front of Keplar. “He should be mad at us. We should have told him. That was my mistake.” He turned to Tobin. “I’m sorry, Tobin. I am. But they are completely safe, I promise you.”

“Whatever. I’m going to Earth with you tomorrow to check on them.”

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Why?!”

“Because it’s a trap, Tobin: it’s exactly what Vincent wants—for you to go to Earth when you aren’t ready, so he can take you out and be done with it. You’re wasting your time. All of this time we’ve been arguing, you could have been training. So let’s go.”

Orion held out Tobin’s bo-staff, but the boy didn’t take it.

“C’mon, Tobin. Let’s go and—”

The boy pushed past the old man and knocked the bo-staff to the ground, where it clattered loudly.

“You guys treat me like a damn baby. I’m outta here.”

Tobin walked out of the ship and down its ramp. Keplar and Orion followed him.

“I’m surprised, Tobin,” Orion said. “I thought you’d be smart enough to understand this.”

Tobin spun around. “Forget understanding it! I don’t wanna sit here, doing nothing, while my friends get killed! We need to go back
now
!”

“You aren’t ready,” Orion said. “You aren’t going.”

“I
am
ready! I could go back right now, by myself!”

“Then prove it.”

Orion pushed a button on a remote control in his hand; instantly, a door opened on a cliff jutting out from the side of the mountain, and three training robots emerged from it. Tobin ran to the edge of the landing platform, leapt into the air, and landed on the cliff, engaging the robots with his bare hands. Screaming with rage, he punched one of the robots right through its metal chest.

Orion and Keplar watched Tobin’s display.

“Doesn’t look good, Orion,” the husky said.

“He’ll be fine,” Orion replied. “The boy will be fine.”

Later that night, Tobin was sitting on the brick landing area of the museum and looking out over the forest. It had been a quiet night so far, and for that he was glad. He had felt so angry earlier, so betrayed, and he had wanted nothing more than to get away from Orion and the others and never see them again. Now, though, as a warm breeze swayed slowly through the trees, he had begun to feel better. He could think clearly again, and he knew what he had to do.

But he also knew he had acted foolishly toward the others. Even mean. As usual, enough time had passed since the outburst, and now Tobin simply felt embarrassed and guilty. It was a problem he had dealt with his entire life.

The doors of the museum opened behind him, so Tobin turned around and saw Orion. The old man walked to him and sat down next to him, but it was quiet a long time before anyone spoke.

“I was very impressed with the way you used your electricity to create that ball lightning, Tobin. That’s a very difficult but effective trick.”

“Yeah. I remembered how you said my dad used to do that against multiple targets, so I gave it a shot. It worked pretty good on those little bug-bot things.”

“Yes, it did. It was a very well done exercise all around.”

A silence.

“I’m sorry for how I acted before,” Tobin said. “I feel like an idiot.”

“It’s okay. I know what it’s like to feel like your friends are in danger, and what it’s like when you feel you can’t be there for them right away. But that’s one of the toughest things we have to learn, Tobin: people in our position have to make the right decision, even when it seems like the wrong one. We can’t think about ourselves, we have to think about others. And that’s very tough.”

Tobin nodded. “I’m just so frustrated. With everyone in so much danger with Vincent out there, and they don’t even know it. I just…when I do finally go after him as Strike, I hope it’s all worth it.”

Orion looked at him. “‘Strike,’ huh? So you’re gonna keep your father’s name?”

“Well, you did give me a shirt with a big lightning bolt ‘S’ on it.”

Orion laughed. “I guess you’re right.”

“But, no, I like it. It has a nice ring to it. ‘The Red Wolf’ on the other hand...”

They laughed.

“My costume was red,” Orion explained. “That’s the only reason I called myself that. It sounded much cooler when I was fourteen.” He reached into his pocket. “Here, Tobin. I want to show you something.”

The old man took out a pocket watch. It was hanging from a silver chain, and about the size of a small seashell.