I Am Phantom (27 page)

He
moved as though to put a reassuring hand on my shoulder, then apparently
thought against it and instead placed something small and black on the bedside
table.

“A
gift, from a Dr. Ragan. I’m afraid the good doctor is nowhere to be found. He
went into hiding after the lab exploded.”

I
grabbed the flash drive to make sure it was real. Here it was, the names of
others just like me, who had maybe struggled just like me, and who could have
answers. “At least they’re gone now.”

“They’re
not,” Ryans said.

“Excuse
me?”

“Carlyle
had one more lab. His biggest lab.” He stopped me before I could bombard him
with questions. “And no I don’t know where it is or what they were doing at it.
I wasn’t given that kind of information. Probably the same thing they were
doing at all the other labs. All I know is that it exists. But with that,” he
pointed to the flash drive, “maybe you’ll have a better chance of finding it, of
ending this. I’m sure the others like you would feel the same.”

Ryans
walked slowly to the door. His boots echoed loudly on the tile.

“So
no, I’m not going to arrest you, Sinclair. You instead have my gratitude. I
still have contacts that could be of use to someone with a mission like yours.”
 
He chuckled darkly. “And besides,
you’re too useful for me outside jail.”

That
didn’t sound good. “How’s that?”

“Let’s
just say you may be able to reach people we on the police force would have a
hard time getting to legally.”

“I’m
not your hit man!”
        

He
opened the door. I almost caught him smile again.

“No,
you’re not. But since you used our scanner I guess you kind of were all along.”

The
door clicked shut.

Chapter
Eighteen

Moving
On

Naturally,
I freaked my parents out. They still had no idea I was Phantom, but with all
that had been going on with Sykes and the new revelation that there was some
sort of shadow organization about, they were scared for me. The call they got
from the hospital telling them I had survived another supposed bombing about
did them in and I was told they were coming as fast as they could.

Melanie,
Matt and even Cody met me outside when they wheeled me out the hospital doors.

“Come
see us again soon,” the nurse said once I had gotten out of the wheelchair. I
didn’t know if that was supposed to be a sick joke or not.

Matt
had his hands stuffed in his pockets. “Where’s your dad?” I asked. Matt
shrugged.

“He
went back home once everything calmed down. I think he’s going to donate some
money for the repairs to the school. And to the Lab.”

“Finally
saw it your way after all.”

“I
think everyone saw what his machine did,” Cody said.

“Our
machine,” Matt said. “I input your name in the final report, too.”

Cody
shook his head. “Matt, even if you claim we worked on the same project, they’re
still going to want the costume back, regardless.”

“Circumstances
being what they are, I think they’ll extend the deadline a bit. That’ll give us
more time to modify it into something else.”

I
held the duffel bag with my costume in it a little closer. Despite all the pain
I’d suffered in it, and the pain it represented, it was still a part of me. A
part I didn’t know if I could give up.

“They’ve
set up the students without a dorm off campus,” Melanie said. “Matt can show
you, if you want.”

Cody
wheeled around to face Matt and Melanie. “You guys go show Drake where he’s
staying.”

“I’ll
stay here with you,” Melanie said.

“Thanks,
but you’ve been in the hospital almost as much as I have. My parents are going
to be bringing me lunch soon anyway so I won’t be alone too long.”

“We
weren’t worried about that,” Melanie said unconvincingly. Cody gently squeezed
her hand.

“Go
ahead.” He let go and signaled to one of the nurses who came and wheeled him
back inside.

All
of us stood there. A strange mixture of bittersweet victory came over me. Sykes
and most of Project Midnight was gone but we had lost so much in the process.

“Let’s
show Drake where he’s staying,” Matt said suddenly.

It
was a Saturday so there weren’t many students out on campus, especially after
all that had happened. I couldn’t imagine them trying to have finals now. That
was about as likely as Ryans publically calling me a hero and sending me a
thank you card covered in little hearts.

“Wait,”
I said. We had stopped at an intersection between where my dorm had been and
the gymnasium.

“Drake…”
Melanie started, but I was already walking towards the gym. I couldn’t go back
to my dorm. There was too much agony still there and I don’t think I would be
able to face that for a while. We arrived at the front of the gym. I can’t, for
the life of me, know what I was expecting. Most of the wreckage had been
cleared away. A crew was there, removing parts of the road that had been blown
apart. Thankfully, there wasn’t enough left from that day to bring back any
explicit memories.

“Drake!”
Melanie said firmly. “Stop mopping around and blaming yourself and listen to
me.”

I
turned, almost zombie-like, to her. “What?”

“I’m
not saying you shouldn’t be sorry for them, but it’s time to go on. We,” she
nodded at Matt, “and Cody and Liz wanted to tell you that we’ve started Project
Sunrise.”

“Project
Sunrise?”

“My
idea,” Matt piqued. “A clever mirror to Project Midnight, if I don’t say so
myself.”

I
turned away from the wreckage and faced them both. “Okay…and what is it?”

“We’re
going to find the names on that flash drive,” Melanie said. “As well as the
last Project Midnight lab. Think of it as countering Project Midnight.”

“Project
Midnight’s presence is now known throughout the underworking’s of defense
organizations, even if the general populace remains oblivious,” Matt said. “We
can use their information.”

“Or
we can ask for their help,” Melanie added, shooting Matt and disapproving
glance.

Matt
straightened his bow tie. “Yes, or help. We can find them. Both of them. You’re
welcome.”

I
laughed. I couldn’t help it.

“Sounds
like a plan. I can’t sit around to much and have people think Phantom’s gone
and died or something. I guess that means I’d better get my suitcase packed.”

Melanie
smiled. “Sounds like it.”

“Drake!”

Liz
was across the street, crossing over to me.

“We’ll
see you later, Drake,” Melanie said. I nodded thanks and ran to meet her.

                                                           
#

“I
give you two weeks before you can’t stand each other,” Matt said.

I
picked up another one of his boxes and carried it to the door of their room in
the Lab. “Come on, Matt, it’s just the summer. I’m grateful Cody’s parents are
letting me stay. That’s a lot of money to go home for just a few months.”

Matt
picked up his box.

“So
you’re not doing this next year?” I asked.

“I’ve
been given automatic acceptance to the science and applied research program for
all four years. I get a permanent room with the older students upstairs.”

I
whistled. “Good first impression.”

The
elevator doors closed and we began to rise. Matt pulled a wad of papers from
his pocket.

“And
Cody’s getting in too. He doesn’t know it yet. I think he thought I was kidding
when I put his name on the final project.” Matt uncrumpled the papers. “He drew
these in the hospital.”

I
took them. It was graph paper with smudged drawings of mechanical arms and
legs. Right arms and right legs.

“Prosthetics,”
I said.

“His
next project,” Matt agreed. I handed him back the drawings, happy that Cody was
planning ahead enough for that, even when in the hospital. Melanie was right,
he was amazing like that.

The
rooms upstairs were much bigger, with more intricate looking inventions beyond
the glass. There was a distinct lack of the chaos found downstairs. Though some
of the inventions that weren’t covered by tarps still looked weird, there seemed
more focus to them.

 
We found Matt’s room at the very end.
When we had finished un packing the boxes I noticed a familiar telescope
looking thing was missing.

“Hey,
where’s the—”

“Confiscated,”
Matt said bitterly. “After we used it on the rooftop and Ryans brought us down
I went back up to get it. Some other men were already there. They said I
couldn’t have it back but they said they were going to contact me later.”

“I’m
sorry. I know how much that meant to you.”

Matt
tacked another poster on the wall. They would have a lot more space to fill in
this room. “It was just a machine, and it served its purpose. I’d rather have you
than have it.”

The
next night was the ceremony for the people and students killed. A podium and
hundreds of chairs were set up on the lawn just before dusk, and I think the
entire school attended. My parents were visibly upset, obviously. The first
time they come to visit their son’s school is because a whole bunch of kids
died. I wonder what they would think if they knew I was part of the reason why.

While
the president of the university stood and talked about the tremendous loss, I
caught Cody’s mom shoot furtive glances at Cody’s casts and wheelchair, and
break into a fresh wave of tears. Cody didn’t stop staring, impassive, towards
the front, his remaining hand clenched in a tight fist.

I
was so enveloped in my personal mourning, I didn’t notice Ryans get up to speak
until his voice cut across the lawn. I jumped. I couldn’t help it.

“I
can’t say much more than what’s already been said.” It was hard to see his face
in the fading light. “I can’t say that I did well enough to prevent this, and I
can’t say I understand what anybody with a loss is going through. I can’t and
won’t. But I am there with you, to grieve with you.”

It
was the first time, other than the hospital room, that Ryans sounded human, not
a machine hell-bent on his task, like a father lamenting for each and every one
of those who had died.

“There
are many here who want me to say something about Phantom, what he did, whether
he’s alive or dead.” There was a general shift of anticipation in the crowd.

“I’m
not going to. Who Phantom was or is doesn’t matter. What he did, we are
grateful for. But Phantom is just a symbol of the resilience of this city. Of
our ability to survive and keep going forward.”

Through
the darkness, his eyes seemed to find and pierce me. “And so we will do just
that. We thank him, and move on.” He stepped down from the podium. Someone lit
a candle and it began to be passed around. For a moment I swore I saw Sykes
face in the crowd, lit up by the candles as it looked during the final moments
in the lab. I hated to believe it, but he looked at peace. Then his face
dissolved into nothing as the candlelight grew and the lawn swelled with pinpricks
of light, like stars covering the surface of the earth.

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