Hamish X Goes to Providence Rhode Island (32 page)

Only a tiny kernel of his mind remained. Soon it would be blasted away as well. Hamish was ready to let go … when he heard a voice.

“Hamish! Breakfast!”

The voice was female, but not the cold feminine voice of Mother. No, this was something else altogether. Hamish rallied to the sound.

“Hamish, hurry, it's getting cold!”

With a supreme effort, Hamish focused on the sound of the woman's voice. There was something wonderfully familiar and deeply soothing about it. He knew this voice. It was the only voice that could ever matter.

Suddenly, he saw a light, solid and steady in the midst of the swirling chaos of Mother's attack. He willed himself towards the light. The light grew and became more substantial. It took on definition, colour.

He could now see that the light came from a window with white curtains stirring in a gentle breeze. Sunlight streamed in onto a kitchen table, set for breakfast. There was a jug of syrup, sparkling knives and forks. Bright
yellow placemats lay on the rough wood of the tabletop, marking out places for two.

Hamish felt a swelling in his heart. He knew this place. The chairs with their frayed cloth seats, the sticky syrup jug, they were so right to him. He moved to the table and sat down.

The kitchen grew out of the torrent of glittering data swirling like a hurricane around the still point of the table. A fridge and a stove took shape. The fridge was covered with artwork held in place by magnets shaped like little fruits and vegetables. Under a tomato, he read a name, scrawled in crayon: HAMISH. His name.

“THESE FILES ARE RESTRICTED!” Mother's strident voice cut through the peace in his heart. “RESTRICTED!” The scene frayed at the edges, threatened to blow apart.

“No,” Hamish said simply. With an effort of will, he brought the kitchen into focus again.

“There you are, sleepyhead.” This time, the good voice was very close at hand. It was not Mother but the other voice, the beautiful, perfect voice. “I made you your favourite: French toast.”

A woman appeared at the stove, her back to the table. She wore a pale blue dressing gown and yellow slippers. Her hair was thick and dark, cut off at the shoulder. She reached up with one hand and flicked a lock of it behind her left ear.

“Mom?” Hamish said, his heart swelling.

The woman turned. Her face was so like his. Her skin was pale and her eyes were blue, light and clear as a summer sky. She smiled, and Hamish felt as if his soul were a flower opening in the sunlight. In her hand she held a plate of French toast. She shuffled to the table, yawning,
and placed the plate on his yellow placemat. She ruffled his hair. “Eat up.”

Hamish found he couldn't speak. His heart was too full. He reached for his fork and the syrup jug. He poured the syrup over the French toast as his mother sat down in the chair opposite him. He watched the syrup pool over the bread and fill the hollow of the plate.

“Hurry. We're going to the beach today, remember?”

Yes, Mom,” he said. “I remember.” And he did remember. He plunged his fork into the toast, severing a corner, and raised it dripping to his mouth. He took a bite and the sweet flavour exploded through his entire being.

And he did remember. He remembered everything.

Chapter 32

In the gate chamber, a klaxon sounded, shrill and harsh, blasting off the metal and stone surfaces. Mimi, Parveen, and Xnasha fell to their knees, pressing their hands to their ears.

On the top of the ziggurat, Mr. Candy and Mr. Sweet shrieked in pain but managed to keep their footing, clinging to the console to stay upright. Mimi looked to see why the Grey Agents had let go of them and found the entire assembly of ODA Agents standing stock-still, as if completely frozen. Their mouths hung open and their hands hung useless at their sides.

“C'mon,” Mimi shouted to Parveen and Xnasha over the din. She dashed up the steps towards the platform where Hamish X stood, his whole body glowing with power. His boots were planted firmly on the interface plate and his hands were stretched out to his sides, as if he were embracing the gate before him. Xnasha and Parveen were right on her heels.

“The system has been compromised!” Mother's voice rang out, shrill and panicked. “System breach. System breach.”

Mr. Candy desperately prodded buttons and turned dials. “Mr. Sweet, he has taken control of the system. Mother is compromised!”

Mr. Sweet looked over at Hamish X. The boy's expression was rapturous. Tears ran down his face. The gate flickered. Tendrils of energy danced across its dark surface. Forks of lightning stabbed out from the perimeter, striking components on the chamber floor and setting them alight.

“Mr. Candy, we must destroy him! He is going to shatter the gate!”

The two agents moved towards the oblivious Hamish, their hands curled into claws, ready to destroy their creation.

“I don't think so.”

Mimi stepped into their path. Parveen and Xnasha joined her in blocking the agents' path.

“You filthy little creatures,” Mr. Sweet snarled. “You can't stop us.”

“We will kill you all,” Mr. Candy said coldly. “Then we will start again. We will open the gate.”

Mimi cracked her knuckles and took up a fighting stance. “Good luck with that,” she grinned. “Do yer worst.”

Mr. Candy and Mr. Sweet lunged at her.

HAMISH REACHED OUT
with his mind. The swirling storm of energy that was Mother quailed. He imagined calm and there was calm. The storm subsided.

He stood in a vast golden space. The gate hung before him, a black seething hole like an oil slick turned on its side. Standing between him and the gate was a feeble old woman. She wore a lab coat, clean and white. Her face was severe, her hair pulled brutally back and tied behind her head.

“Stop,” the woman said.

“No,” Hamish answered.

“You are not allowed,” the woman insisted.

Hamish smiled. “Step aside.”

“You are not allowed. It is not permitted.”

Hamish reached out with his mind and imagined her gone.

“NOOOOOOOO!” Mother shrieked as a golden wind sprang up and blew her away, scattering her like a heap of dust.

Hamish walked towards the gate. Looking up at the foul portal, he felt the malevolence of the creatures massing on the other side. He sensed their hatred, their loathing, and their greed.

“You are not welcome here,” he said.

In response, the creatures howled their defiance across the void. They pressed forward, bulging the surface of the black membrane out like a balloon, threatening to burst through.

Hamish willed himself to rise and he did rise, hovering forward effortlessly until he was an arm's length from the straining horde. The two worlds were separated by the merest film of reality, a thought away from each other.

“I am Hamish,” the boy said to the evil entities writhing before him. “I am loved. You are not welcome here.”

He reached out and laid his palms on the black surface, feeling the creatures squirming under his hands. He concentrated all his strength into the point of contact and began to gather the gate inwards, pulling the outer edges towards the centre as though gathering a sheet from a bed. The gate shrank towards his hands.

The beings screamed defiance. They threw themselves against the barrier, trying to break through the gate before it disappeared. Hamish strained against them, his concentration never wavering. The gate continued to close.

The black surface crumpled into a black wad between his hands. He crushed it until it was the size of a basketball, a baseball, a tennis ball. At last, he held it between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand. Then he held it up, and with his left hand, he made a beckoning gesture.

On the platform, Hamish's friends were in the fight of their lives. As Hamish manipulated the digital world to close the gate, he was physically vulnerable. Mimi didn't
understand what he was doing, but she hoped he did it fast. Mr. Candy and Mr. Sweet fell upon the three friends with a violence wrought of desperation. Mimi parried blows from Mr. Sweet hand and foot and steadily lost ground.

Meanwhile, Parveen and Xnasha threw themselves at Mr. Candy. Xnasha had some martial arts skills, but Parveen was out of his element. His bag of gadgets was empty. He and Xnasha did their best, but Mr. Candy was a strong and wily creature with decades of experience. Parveen didn't duck quickly enough and received a stinging blow to the side of his head, falling to the surface of the platform in a stupor. He sat, unable to help as Xnasha threw herself at the Grey Agent only to find his gloved hand clasping her throat. He lifted her until her feet dangled in the air.

“Atlantean? Ha,” Mr. Candy sneered. “How you have fallen since we last fought your kind. They were strong enough then to banish us, but you are all that remains of that once great race. What a pathetic, puny thing you are.”

He extended his hand into a flat point and drove it into Xnasha's abdomen. The hand pierced her clothing and her flesh. Her eyes went wide in shock and pain.

“No!” Mimi cried. Distracted by the attack on Xnasha, she let her guard down and received a kick in the stomach that sent her sprawling on the metal platform.

Mr. Candy pulled Xnasha close until their faces were a centimetre apart. “Die!” he said coldly and tossed her aside. She fell in a heap and lay still. Nothing stood now between the two agents and Hamish X.

“Shall we, Mr. Sweet?” Mr. Candy asked.

“Indeed, Mr. Candy.” They moved towards their quarry.

“Oi! Goggleface!”

Mr. Sweet and Mr. Candy turned to find Maggie and Thomas standing at the top of the stairs. In their hands they held heavy stun rifles pilfered from fallen agents.

“I don't think so.” Maggie smiled.

Thomas and Maggie fired and were blown back by the weapons' discharge. Both shots were accurate, striking the two Grey Agents directly in the chest and sending them skidding across the platform. Their fedoras flew off their heads, revealing the wire nests of their skulls. They lay still.

Maggie and Thomas painfully regained their feet. “Those things pack a kick!” Thomas said, rubbing his chest.

Mimi stared at the brother and sister. “Who the heck are you two?”

Maggie waved a hand dismissively. “It's a long story.”

“Look!” Parveen pointed at Hamish X.

Hamish X rose from the platform, hovering a metre in the air. He turned his head but did not open his eyes. Between his right finger and thumb he pinched a centimetre of empty space. With the other hand, he beckoned.

As one, all the thousands of Grey Agents at the base of the ziggurat spasmed and fell to the ground. From each of their mouths a single spark of light rose and streaked into the centre of the gate to be swallowed by darkness. Hamish X turned to face the gate.

“Look!” Parveen said again, pointing this time at Hamish X's feet. Mimi gasped. The boots were gone. They remained stuck to the interface plate. Hamish X's feet dangled free, pale and perfect.

Hamish looked at the tiny ball in his fingers and smiled. He looked down at his feet. He didn't need the boots any more. He was himself. He was whole. He was not Hamish X. He was a real boy and he was more. He was Hamish.

He focused all his strength, his love, and his joy into the fingers of his right hand. He crushed the black ball like an egg. The gate winked out of existence. Hamish smiled.

That was when the maintenance robot exploded.

The robot had made its winding way through all the machinery of the gate chamber. It had lost its way a couple of times, but Parveen's jury-rigged GPS device had led it at last to the gate. No Grey Agent had questioned its presence as it trundled along, weaving its steady way through the columns of machinery on the floor of the chamber. At last, following its altered programming's instructions, it arrived at the lower rim of the gate, reaching the exact coordinates entered by Parveen. Then, very obligingly, it exploded.

The gate erupted inward, imploding and then expanding to spew white-hot plasma across the chamber. The four children on the platform were flung from their feet, slamming painfully to the floor. The gate flared. Mimi hid her face behind her hands, but she still saw light through her closed eyelids. When she raised her face and lowered her hands, purple spots hung in her eyes, obscuring her vision. Blinking, she pushed herself up.

“What the heck happened?” she demanded.

Parveen got to his feet beside her. His eyes were wide with shock. “I believe that was my fault. I made a bomb. It went off. I … I'd forgotten all about it.”
⁹¹

“Hamish X!” Mimi cried. The burning wreckage of the gate crashed into the platform. Mimi tried to see through the smoke and flames, but she couldn't see Hamish X.
The smoke was thick and black, obscuring her vision. She searched the platform, calling desperately.

“Hamish X! Hamish X!”

Parveen moaned as he walked towards the flames. “Hamish X! We have to find him. We have to …” He fell to his knees. “I've killed him! It's all my fault.” His grief overwhelmed him.

Mimi grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him. “Parveen, we gotta go. Hamish will have ta take care of himself. If anyone can get outta here, he can.”

“But …” Parveen stood frozen, looking into the flames.

“Parveen! We gotta help the others. We gotta help Noor.”

The mention of his sister snapped him out of his stupor. He looked at Mimi and nodded.

“What about you?”

“I'll be right behind ya.” She slapped him on the back. “Go!”

Parveen turned and ran for the steps. Maggie and Thomas still stood holding the rifles, staring at the destruction. Explosions began to rumble in other parts of the chamber in a chain reaction.

“I'm Parveen,” he said to the brother and sister.

“Thomas,” the boy said. “This is my sister, Maggie.”