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“I have thought of that, Laurie. I’m willing to take the chance.”
“We’ve already got superhumans. We have you and Yvonne. Why do we need him?”
“Because you just said it yourself: Colin is different. For one thing, he can see the blue lights. For another, he’s the child of two superhumans.”
The jet stopped, and Cross unbuckled his seatbelt. “OK. You know what you’ve got to do?”
Laurie nodded. “Go to Kiev, then catch the cargo flight to Omsk, and from there to Zaliv Kalinina. And don’t let Yvonne know where I really am.”
“Good. Keep me posted. I’ll send you the material as soon as I can.”
“This isn’t going to work, Victor.”
Victor Cross stood up. “Why the pessimism?”
Laurie began ticking off on his fingers. “You underestimated the kids and they destroyed your power-damper. Dioxin got caught. Renata Soliz turned down your offer to join the Trutopians…”
Victor laughed. “That’s true. But we always get the outcome we want. Look at what I’ve already achieved – I’m only twenty-one years old and I’m in charge of the largest and most powerful organisation the world has ever seen. I’ve got more money than I can spend. I’m very definitely the smartest man who ever lived. The only person on this planet who could possibly be a threat to me is Colin Wagner, and I’ll have him on my side in a matter of days.”
“If Colin realises that you’re the man who killed Solomon Cord, he’ll…Victor, he’s got a very strong sense of justice, but I’m not sure that would stop him from tearing your head off.”
“It’s his sense of justice that’s going to persuade him to come over to our way of thinking.”
“I still think it’d be easier to just have Yvonne control his mind.”
Victor removed his suitcase from the overhead compartment. “It would be easier, yes, but less satisfying.”
“You’re just doing this to pander to your own ego.”
Victor sighed. “I don’t know why I let you talk to me like that.”
“Maybe it’s because…” Laurie shrugged. “Actually, I’ve no idea either, but there must be some part of you that needs me. Otherwise you’d just have me killed, or get Yvonne to control my mind and make me only say what you want to hear.”
Cross flipped open his suitcase and checked the contents. “Could be…”
Then Laurie said, “Ah…I’ve just realised why you’re not letting Yvonne take control of Colin.”
“And why’s that?”
“Because her mind-control power makes her very dangerous. You’re doing this to prove to Yvonne that you don’t need her for everything. If she starts to think that she doesn’t need you…”
Victor nodded, and smiled. “Well done, Mr Laurie. And as a reward, you get to spend the next five years in the Arctic.”
“I really don’t want to go, Victor. I don’t like the cold.”
“I know that. But the work is important. Or it’s going to be important.”
“Victor, I was asleep!” Yvonne said. “Do you have any idea what time it is in Wyoming?”
Cross nodded to the guards at the gate and raised the limousine’s window. “Of course I do. I know everything. What’s your point?”
Their inspection complete, the guards waved the car through: Victor was pleased to see that even though they knew who he was, and they’d been expecting him, they still ran their scanners over the car and checked his and the driver’s DNA profiles against the database.
Yvonne said, “My point is that you can’t just phone people in the middle of the night and expect them to be waiting for your call!”
“Whine, whine, whine. How are things back home?”
“They’re fine.”
“No sign of Dioxin breaking through your memory block?”
“No. And even if he does manage it, it’s not like there’s anyone in Lieberstan who’ll be listening to him.”
“True. We’ve just arrived in Satu Mare. I’ll be heading back to the States in a couple of days, by which time Colin Wagner will be on our side.”
“You’re certain you can persuade him?”
“Absolutely. Now tell me what happened on the island.”
Yvonne paused. “What island?”
“Isla del Tonatiuh. Check your computer.” Victor heard Yvonne yawning, then tapping on her keyboard.
“I see it…” Yvonne said. “We had a huge cache of supplies there. Had being the operative word. The New Heroes destroyed it a couple of hours ago.”
“Good.”
“Good? Why is it good? Victor, this is the fifth time they’ve deliberately targeted the Trutopians!”
“I know. Who do you think is feeding them the information? You really should be keeping an eye on the larger picture, Yvonne. We trick the Sakkarans into going on these little missions, and they’re not going to be around to do normal superhero stuff.”
“And the point of that is…?”
“The ordinary people know that there are superhumans again, and they’re beginning to realise that these superhumans aren’t working for them: they’re working for the military. The public backlash will begin very soon.”
“Spurred on by you, of course.”
“Naturally…All right, we’re here.” Victor opened the car door and stepped out into the afternoon sunshine. “Time to meet Mr Wagner and start the conversion process.”
Yvonne said, “Victor, if he kills you, can I take over the organisation?”
Cross replied, “You may take over the organisation. Whether you actually can, well, that’s a different matter.”
“I’m thrilled you have so much faith in me.”
“Go back to sleep, kid. I’ll call you if I need you. Which I won’t.”
The first thing Colin Wagner did when he arrived at the hotel room was to fill the bath with hot, foamy water, strip off his clothes and lower himself in.
Now, two hours later, he was still in the bath, eyes closed, listening to Alphaville on his new MP3 player.
The last track on the album came to an end and Colin popped out the earphones and set the player down on the floor.
I could get used to this.
The phone beside the bath rang. Colin grabbed for it with a damp hand. “Hello?”
“Colin? It’s Harriet. Mr Kinsella has just arrived, and he’d like to talk to you. When you’re ready.”
“Sure. I’ll be down in a couple of minutes.”
Colin hung up the phone and stepped out of the bath. He didn’t bother using a towel to dry himself; he just increased his body temperature until all the water evaporated from his skin.
In the bedroom, Colin looked through the spare clothes the two Trutopians had given him, and chose a plain black T-shirt and a pair of jeans.
So what do I tell this guy? I could string him along for a while, make him think that I might just change my mind. Then I get to stay here.
He dismissed this idea almost immediately. Better not. For one thing, it’d be wrong. For another, I’ve got things of my own to do.
He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled on one of his new pairs of socks. Should thank him for all the stuff at least.
Colin looked at the mobile phone that he’d left on the bedside table. I could phone my parents…No. They’d only try to persuade me to go back to Sakkara, and that’s something I’m not going to do as long as Max Dalton is still there.
Once he’d put on his new boots and tied the laces, Colin grabbed the room’s keycard and made his way down to the lobby.
The red-haired woman – Harriet – was waiting for him. “All clean and shiny?”
Colin nodded. “Yeah. Thanks. I’d nearly forgotten what it felt like to not be covered in dirt.”
“Mr Kinsella’s in the restaurant, if you’re ready to meet him.”
“I’m ready.”
Even though it was now lunchtime, the hotel’s restaurant was almost completely empty. At the only occupied table, Byron was talking to a tall, slightly overweight bearded man.
So that’s him, Reginald Kinsella, Colin said to himself. The leader of the Trutopians and one of the most famous men in the world and he came all the way here just to see me.
Harriet said, “Mr Kinsella? This is…”
Kinsella stood up, and offered his hand to Colin, a big cheesy grin on his face. “Oh, I know who it is! You two take a break…I want to talk to this young man alone.”
Byron and Harriet nodded and left the table.
“Sit,” Kinsella said to Colin. “You must be hungry.”
“I’m OK. I ate in the car. I don’t need to eat very much anyway.”
Kinsella dropped down into his own chair. “Is that one of your superhuman abilities?”
“I suppose so.”
Kinsella nodded. “I read something about you developing necessary powers from your mother. I’ll tell you, that caught everyone out. We all expected you to take after your father.”
“So did I.”
A waiter darted over and placed a menu in front of Colin. “The special today is—”
Kinsella interrupted him. “The special today is whatever this young man wants. Anything he wants. Do you understand me?”
Colin felt the blood rush to his cheeks. He glanced quickly at the menu. “The vegetable lasagne looks nice.”
The waiter nodded. “Certainly, sir.” He bowed and darted away.
Kinsella sighed. “I hate that. I hate it when people think I need special treatment just because of what I do, or that I’m going to fire them for dropping the bread rolls.” He glanced at Colin. “What about you? Is that why you left the New Heroes? Didn’t want the fame and fortune?”
“There’s fortune?” Colin shrugged. “No, I just…There were reasons.”
“Understood. You don’t want to talk about it.” Kinsella placed his elbows on the table and rubbed his temples with his fingers. “Colin…Let’s be blunt here. You and I are probably the two most influential people in the world. You do realise that, don’t you?”
“I don’t see myself like that.” Colin picked up a breadstick and began munching on it.
“No, you don’t. And that’s one of the things I like about you. You’ve got extraordinary abilities, but you’re still just an ordinary kid. My people compiled a very detailed report on Sakkara. Butler Redmond is an ass. Daniel Cooper…Between you and me, I think he’s dangerous.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because of his father. His real father, not Façade. If what I’ve heard is true, then Quantum had visions of the future. Visions that eventually drove him mad. And Danny’s inherited Quantum’s speed, so it stands to reason that he might also inherit his visions.” Kinsella paused. “That worries me.”
Colin didn’t know how to respond to that.
“And Renata Soliz…I met her, did you know that? I offered her a chance to join us, but she turned me down. So that leaves you.”
“I’m sorry, Mr Kinsella, but I’m not going to join the Trutopians.”
“Right. I don’t suppose you’ve been following the news over the past four months?”
“It’s not really been possible.”
“Dioxin’s reappearance scared the hell out of a lot of people. If you hadn’t stopped him in Topeka…” Kinsella shuddered. “I don’t even like to think about that. But a lot of people realised that they needed greater protection than the police or the military could provide. They joined the Trutopians. Now…We’re not perfect, and we’ve never claimed to be. But our people know that they can trust us, because we believe in one thing above all: the truth. There are no secrets among the Trutopians. If anyone wants to find out anything about me, all they have to do is ask. If there are no lies, there are no secrets. Without secrets, no one can deceive the people. The details of everything we do are available to the public.”
“Don’t you need to hide the truth sometimes?” Colin asked.
Kinsella shook his head. “No, you don’t.”
“What if my parents had told everyone that they were Energy and Titan? Their enemies would have known how to get to them! By keeping the secret they weren’t just protecting themselves, they were protecting me and everyone else they knew.”
“Right. But suppose the Trutopians are successful, and we do manage to – for want of a better way of putting it – take over the world. No superhero would need to keep a secret identity, because if everyone always told the truth, then no one would be able to hurt them. In an ideal world—”
“But we don’t live in an ideal world, Mr Kinsella.”
