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“Exactly. We’ve got a community in Satu Mare, that’s about twenty kilometres from here, and it’s in the direction you were heading anyway. So it’ll save you half a day’s walking. How’s that sound?”
Colin shook his head. “No.”
Byron started to speak, but the woman put his hand on his arm. “Leave it. All right, Colin. We tried.” She stepped to one side and pointed at the large backpack that had been behind her. “It’s yours. There’s enough food for a week, a new pair of hiking boots in your size, a couple of changes of clothes and a portable phone. I’ve put our numbers on it, just in case.”
Byron said, “I suppose it gets pretty lonely out there on the road, so we’ve also given you an MP3 player. It’s got a couple of thousand tracks on it. We weren’t sure what kind of music you like, but there’s bound to be something there that’ll suit you.”
Then Harriet reached into her jacket’s inside pocket and took out a thick envelope. “Five hundred Euro, five hundred US Dollars.” She handed it to Colin. “And there’s a Trutopian credit card in there too. In case of emergencies. It doesn’t have a very high limit, so don’t go trying to buy a Ferrari with it.”
Colin found that his mouth had gone dry. “You’re just giving me all this stuff?”
Byron nodded. “Yep.”
“Even though I said I wasn’t interested in talking to you?”
He nodded again. “That’s right. Look, Colin…This is how Mr Kinsella put it: you’re a superhuman. And more than that, you’re one of the good guys. That puts us all on the same side. If we make things easier for you to help people, that makes things easier for us.”
“It just seems…” Colin shrugged. “Like a bribe or something.”
Harriet said, “It’s not a bribe. It’s what we do, it’s what the whole organisation is about. We help people who are less fortunate. We’ve been following you long enough to know that you have no money, no change of clothes, no food, and you haven’t had a shower in over a month.”
“Actually,” Byron said, “we could tell that one even if we hadn’t been tracking you. But she’s right. Sure, the Trutopians want you on-board. But if you’re not interested, then what are we going to do? Force you to join? That’s not our style.” He reached down and picked up the bag. “So come on. We’ll give you a lift to Satu Mare, and there’s no strings attached.”
It could be OK, Colin said to himself. They’re not superhuman. If they tried to kidnap me or anything I could just smash open the car door and jump out. “All right,” he said.
“Great!” Byron said. “You don’t mind if we drive with the windows down, do you?”
“I’m right behind you, Ren,” Butler Redmond whispered.
Renata didn’t need to look over her shoulder to know that the older boy was telling the truth: she could almost feel his breath on the back of her neck.
Does he really think that I need protection? She wondered. I’m twice as strong as he is!
“Not too far now,” Butler whispered.
Through clenched teeth, Renata muttered. “Yes. I know.”
“So what we’ll do, right, is wait for Danny to give the signal and then we’ll rush through, smash into the guys guarding the door, then split up. You take the one on the left and I’ll take the one on the right.”
“Sure. Whatever.”
Butler paused. “Unless you want to take the one on the right?”
Renata stopped walked suddenly. Butler almost crashed into her. She turned to face him. “Butler?”
“What?”
“Back off. You’re invading my personal space again.”
“Right, right.” He grinned. “But you have to admit, we’re a good team. The way we took down those hijackers last month – that was class!”
Façade caught up with them. “What’s the delay?”
“Just working on the plan,” Butler replied.
“Leave the planning to Impervia,” Façade told him. “You two just do as you’re told.”
Butler raised his eyes. “Why are you even here, Façade? You’re just the pilot! You’re a chauffeur, not a soldier.”
“I’m here just in case you wet your pants again like you did when Dioxin’s men attacked Sakkara.” Without waiting for Butler to respond, Façade said, “Now get moving. And stay alert.”
Smiling to herself, Renata marched on. It’s Butler’s own fault that no one likes him. Before we got to Sakkara the only friends he had were Yvonne and Mina, and they only tolerated him because he was the first person they ever met who was close to their own age.
Renata swallowed. God, poor Mina…
For a very brief time, there had been eight teenagers in Sakkara. Then Yvonne had turned out to be a traitor working for Victor Cross, and had used her mind-control ability to put her sister Mina into a coma. After Solomon Cord had been killed, his daughters Alia and Stephanie had left with their mother. Colin had run away.
Now there’s just three New Heroes left, Renata said to herself. And I’m not even sure that I want to be one of them.
Behind her, Butler crashed through the undergrowth. “Keep the noise down, Bubbles!” Renata whispered.
“Don’t call me Bubbles,” Butler said. “And it’s not my fault. It’s these new boots of mine.”
They’re still not as noisy as that big mouth of yours. Renata knew better than to say that out loud: Butler had a tendency to sulk for days. This is no kind of life. If it wasn’t for Danny…She didn’t allow her thoughts to go any further than that.
She knew that later, when they returned to Sakkara, she would lie awake in her sparse bedroom, staring at the blank walls, wishing that she didn’t have to stay in that horrible place.
I wonder which idiot thought it was a good idea that we should stay there after Dioxin attacked. General Piers, probably. Grumpy old fool. At least we don’t have much contact with him these days. No, we’re all part of the military now. Have to follow the blasted chain of command.
Renata couldn’t see a way out of her situation: she didn’t want to remain in Sakkara, and she didn’t want to go and live with her parents in their Trutopian community.
When Ragnarök’s power-stripping machine had been used, Renata had been in her crystalline form. She’d remained frozen for ten years, until an accident during a test-run of Max Dalton’s machine had somehow freed her. She’d woken into a world where her younger brother and sister were now adults and had left home, her parents had joined the Trutopian organisation, and everyone else she’d known had long since forgotten her.
Physically, Renata was still only fourteen years old, but she’d been born twenty-four years ago. That was the argument the Trutopians’ lawyer was using: from their point of view, Renata was still a minor. But General Piers wasn’t about to give up one of his three remaining superhumans, so the government’s lawyers were arguing that Renata’s chronological age was what mattered, not her physical age.
They’re fighting over me like hungry dogs over a scrap of meat. The Trutopians want me because it’ll be great publicity to have a superhuman in their ranks, but General Piers would probably have me shot before he handed me over to Reginald Kinsella and his people.
Impervia’s voice whispered through Renata’s headset. “Look alive. We’re on.”
There was a shout from somewhere directly ahead and Renata broke into a run, Butler close behind her.
She crashed out through the edge of the clearing and ran straight towards the startled guards.
One of them turned and ran – Butler racing after him – but the other whipped a small hand-gun from his holster and aimed it at Renata, shouting, “
Alto o disparo!”
Renata had grown up speaking Spanish as well as English, and knew what that meant: “Stop or I’ll shoot!”
“
Tire al suelo su arma!” she shouted. “Drop the gun! Now!” Oh hell, he’s going to fire!
Renata turned her hands and forearms solid and raised them in front of her face just as the man pulled the trigger. The bullet struck her crystalline arms and ricocheted into the jungle.
The man didn’t have time to get off a second shot: Renata was on him, swinging her fists. A powerful punch to the left temple and the guard crumpled to the ground.
The door directly in front of her burst open and four other guards rushed out, all armed with semi-automatic weapons. Renata turned her entire body solid and watched with interest as a hail of bullets rattled against her now-transparent uniform.
One day I’m going to have to learn how this power of mine works, she said to herself. How come I can turn myself solid, and my uniform, but not anything else?
At first Renata had only been able to solidify her whole body. Since then, she’d learned to control the power with greater precision. Now, she could pick individual parts and change them at will.
It wasn’t easy, and almost every time she did it she got a throbbing headache soon afterwards, but the trick had saved her life on more than on occasion.
Now, the four guards were staring at her in panic.
They clearly know who I am, so they should be able to guess that I’m not here alone.
Two of the guards were looking around and the other two had stopped to reload.
Renata turned herself back and grabbed hold of the nearest two, slamming them into their colleagues.
One of the men recovered quickly and started to scramble away. Renata was about to dart after him when he suddenly collapsed to the ground.
Danny Cooper materialised in front of the guard. “That’s it,” Danny said. “That’s all twelve. Bubbles is around the other side using his force-field to beat up two at the same time.”
They turned at a noise from the jungle to see Impervia and Façade approaching. “All done?” Façade asked.
Danny nodded. “Yep.” He looked at Impervia. “Though we should check inside to make sure there aren’t any others.”
“No need,” the older woman said. “The scanner says they’re all out here.” She hit the switch on her communicator. “Vaughan, you can tell the copter pilot to break cover and start coming this way now. I want them to take the hostiles to the nearest US military base for interrogation.”
“Acknowledged,” the man’s voice replied. “That’d be the USS Ronald Reagan, out of San Diego. She’s currently 300 kilometres due north of our position, en route for Costa Rica.”
“Perfect. Get it done. Butler? You there?”
“I’m here.”
“Good. Carry the hostages clear. Fifty metres at least. I’m about to set the charges.”
“Wilco,” Butler replied.
“You too, Renata.”
Renata nodded, crouched down and grabbed two of the unconscious men by the ankles, then started dragging them away from the building.
She was on the way back for a second run when she saw that Danny was trying to use his one arm to move one of the men.
“Leave him,” Renata said. “I’ll do it.”
“I can manage!”
“I know you can. That’s not what I’m saying.” Renata lowered her voice. “Any luck with that intangibility trick?”
Danny shook his head. “Nah. I don’t think that one’s ever coming back.”
Renata paused and glanced towards the building’s entrance. “When Impervia opens the door, you think you can get inside without her noticing?”
Danny frowned. “Yeah, probably…Why?”
“If this place is a weapons cache, how come not all of the guards were armed? Why were there only twelve of them? The place should have been much better defended.”
“What else do you think could be in there?”
“No idea. But I think we should find out.” Peering over Danny’s shoulder, Renata could see Impervia opening the door. “Go!”
There was a blur, then Danny was suddenly standing in a slightly different position, a worry-line creasing his forehead. “I knew there was something wrong here! You were right. There’s no weapons in there, unless they’re well hidden.”
“So what were they defending?”
“The place is filled with huge crates of dried fruits, flour, cereals, dried meats…All wrapped up in air-tight packages. They’re just like the emergency supplies we have in the basement of Sakkara…It’s food, Renata. We were sent here to destroy food.”
3 (#ulink_9c85b9b1-e4c8-5f03-bad8-72c22fa4ce30)
THE CUSTOMISED LEAR jet touched down on the runway with such precision that Evan Laurie almost didn’t notice they’d landed.
Laurie was thankful that Victor Cross employed such good pilots: he hated flying.
Sitting opposite him, Cross smiled and said, “We’re down. You can breathe again.”
Laurie felt the tension drain from his body. “Oh, thank God!”
“Why are you so scared of everything, Laurie?”
The nervous man shrugged. “Well, when I was a kid, I used to—”
Cross said, “Wait, wait. Don’t tell me.”
“You’ve already figured it out?”
“No, I just don’t care.” Cross leaned towards the window and peered out as the jet taxied to the small terminal building. “All right…Harriet says they’ve brought Colin to the Hotel Baldigara. He’s settled in and seems to be happy enough for the moment.”
“What if he recognises you, Victor? I mean, even with the beard and padding, you’re still you.”
“Colin’s never met me face-to-face, and the real Reginald Kinsella was such a recluse that even the people who worked closest with him haven’t been able tell I’ve taken his place.”
“But even among superhumans Colin is different. We’ve already seen his powers evolve once. Who’s to say that he hasn’t developed telepathy?”
