Pegasus and the Flame (19 page)

‘Go on, Pegasus, go!’ Joel roared. ‘Get out of here! Find the Flame and save both our worlds!’

Free of the harness, Pegasus turned and ran back to the carriage. He whinnied loudly at Emily, reached forward and tried to catch her by the shirt to lift her up.

‘No, Pegs, I can’t move,’ Emily cried as she weakly reached for the stallion. ‘Please, go. Take Diana and leave here. You can’t let them catch you.’ Tears sprang to her eyes as she weakly shoved the stallion’s head away. ‘Please … just go!’

‘Stop!’ Several soldiers had drawn near and raised their weapons. ‘Put your hands in the air and don’t make a move!’

‘Go, Pegs!’ Emily shouted with all her remaining strength.

The air filled with strange popping sounds. At first Emily thought the soldiers were shooting bullets at them. But then she saw countless feathered darts strike Pegasus. Within moments, his hind quarters looked like a pin-cushion filled with the colourful darts.

‘What is this insanity?’ Diana called in fury as she too was struck by the tranquilizer darts. She angrily pulled them from her arms and tossed them away.

Steve and Joel were both hit by the darts. Instantly they fell to the ground, unconscious.

Because of her position, Emily hadn’t been hit. But as more men descended on them, Pegasus opened his wing to cover her, taking the brunt of the darts meant for her.

‘Don’t worry about me, Pegs,’ Emily cried. ‘Please just go!’

But Pegasus refused to leave. He reared on his hind legs, threw back his head and shrieked in rage. His front legs cut through the air furiously and promised a violent death to any of the soldiers who tried to come closer. Diana joined in the battle cry, raising her spear and preparing to take on the soldiers.

Then Emily felt a sharp sting in her neck as a dart found its mark. She heard Pegasus’s enraged cry and saw him lunging forward to attack the soldiers just as everything went black.

Emily opened her eyes. She was lying in a hospital bed in a clean white room. There was an IV in her arm, and countless bags of liquid feeding down tubes. Beside the bed was a lot of equipment that had wires attached to her head and chest. They beeped to the steady beating of her heart.

Her wounded leg was suspended in the air, wrapped in a thick layer of bandages. Despite the care, it was still pounding painfully.

‘Good morning, Emily.’

A nurse rose from a chair beside the bed. ‘Please don’t try to move,’ she said. ‘I’ll go get the doctor.’

Emily struggled to remember the last thing that happened. Then it all came flooding back. The bridge. Pegasus screaming. Diana holding a spear and preparing to fight. She remembered the dart hitting her in the neck and blotting out the rest of the world. The final realization put a cold shiver down her spine. The CRU.

Emily tried to rise from the bed. But pain and the fact that her leg was suspended stopped her. Panting heavily, she lay back down. She was in no condition to fight.

The nurse returned with two men. One was dressed as a doctor, but the other wore a dark suit and had a stern expression on his face. Both were middle-aged.

‘Good morning, Emily,’ said the doctor in a friendly tone that didn’t match the coldness of his eyes. ‘How are we feeling this morning?’

The other man wasn’t even pretending to be nice. Suddenly Emily understood everything her father had ever told her about the secret Government agency. She was in a lot of trouble.

‘We?’ Emily repeated. ‘I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling awful.’ She looked at the other man. ‘Are you the CRU?’

‘I work for the Central Research Unit, yes,’ he said coldly. ‘You may call me Agent J. I have a lot of important questions for you.’ He looked at the doctor. ‘You may leave us now. Emily and I are going to have a chat.’

‘I really should check on my patient,’ the doctor said.

‘And you will, later,’ Agent J said.

His tone suggested there would be no discussion, no argument. His orders were to be obeyed. Without another word, the doctor left the room.

‘Where is my father?’ Emily nervously asked. ‘Please, may I see him?’

‘I’m afraid you aren’t well enough for visitors,’ Agent J said. ‘You’ve still got a very bad infection and have suffered a lot of muscle damage. Actually, you are quite fortunate the surgeons here were able to save your leg. Though I’m sorry to say you will have trouble walking from now on.’

Emily didn’t feel particularly fortunate. She felt dreadful. More than that, she was terrified. Where was she? What were they doing to her father and Joel? Were they hurting Pegasus? What about Diana?

‘Please tell me. Where is my father?’

‘He’s around.’ The agent moved closer to the bed. ‘Our first concern is taking care of you. Perhaps in time, if you cooperate, I will let him come in and see you.’

Emily saw the coldness of his pale eyes. ‘Cooperate?’

‘Yes, cooperate,’ Agent J said as he sat down in the chair beside the bed. ‘I have a lot of questions that need answers. And you are just the young lady to give them to me.’

‘Me? But I don’t know anything,’ Emily said. ‘I just want to see my dad.’

‘First you will answer my questions. Then maybe we’ll see about your father.’

Agent J pulled a small recorder from his pocket. He flicked the switch to turn it on. ‘Now, I would like you to tell me what happened. Where did you find the flying horse? Where does it come from?’

‘His name is Pegasus,’ Emily corrected. ‘And he’s not a horse. He comes from Olympus. He was struck by lightning and crashed on my roof. That’s all I know.’

‘I’m sure you know a bit more than that,’ Agent J coaxed.

‘No I don’t,’ Emily insisted. ‘Where is Pegasus? Please, I must see him. He won’t understand what’s happening to him. He’s going to be so frightened of you.’

‘The stallion is fine,’ the man said. ‘He gave us a great deal of trouble in the beginning and killed several of my men on the bridge. But we’ve managed to calm him down since then.’

Emily was puzzled by his answer. But more than that, she was frightened for Pegasus. She remembered seeing the soldiers with their guns raised on the bridge. ‘You didn’t shoot him, did you?’

‘We had to,’ Agent J said. ‘He was killing my men.’

‘You shot Pegasus!’ Emily cried. ‘Why? All he was doing was protecting us. How is he? Is he alive?’

‘I told you, Emily, he is fine. His wounds have been treated and he is a lot calmer than he was.’

‘Why couldn’t you leave us alone?’ Tears rose in Emily’s eyes. ‘We weren’t hurting anyone. Pegasus just wants to go home.’

‘Where is his home?’ Agent J asked, looking alert.

‘I told you already,’ Emily said, sniffing. ‘Olympus.’

‘Yes, you told me. But where exactly is Olympus?’ the agent pressed. ‘How do you get there?’

‘I don’t know,’ Emily cried. ‘Please, can I see him?’

‘Not yet. You are still too ill to move.’

Emily hated to agree with him, but he was right. She really was feeling awful.

‘How long have we been here?’

‘Four days.’

‘What?’ she cried as she sucked in her breath.

‘I told you, Emily, you have been a very sick girl.’ Agent J went on, ‘You’ve got a raging infection. We actually thought we were going to lose you. But you’ve managed to come back from the brink of death. You’re a very determined young lady. So now, I’ll ask you again. What do you know of the flying horse? Why is he here?’

‘I told you he’s not a horse!’ Emily shot as she sat up angrily. But just as quickly she had to lie down again as the movement threatened to make her sick. ‘He is Pegasus,’ she said softly. ‘And he shouldn’t be here. You’ve got to let him and Diana go.’

‘Ah yes, Diana,’ Agent J said. ‘A very interesting woman indeed. Remarkably strong. She has managed to resist all our questions. Our scientists are still trying to figure out what she is.’

‘She’s the daughter of Jupiter,’ Emily said, growing angry. ‘That’s who she is. When he finds out what you’ve done to her and Pegasus, he’s going to be really mad!’

‘Jupiter, eh?’ Agent J said. ‘Well, if they really do come from Olympus as you claim, why hasn’t Jupiter come to see us already? What’s he waiting for? I would be more than happy to discuss his daughter with him.’

Emily stared into his cold, prying eyes. Something inside warned her to say nothing more. If after four days he still wanted questions answered, it meant her father and Joel hadn’t cooperated either. She quickly realized the more she said, the worse it would be for the others. She closed her eyes. ‘I don’t feel well. I’m so tired. Please, let me sleep.’

‘In a moment,’ Agent J said. ‘Just tell me why Pegasus and Diana are here.’

‘I don’t know,’ Emily insisted. ‘Why don’t you ask them yourself?’

Agent J shook his head angrily. ‘I did. Diana won’t speak to me and I would look like a fool if I tried talking to that horse.’

‘Pegasus isn’t a horse!’ Emily shouted. Her father had always taught her that violence wasn’t a solution. But at that moment, she really wanted to smack Agent J right in the mouth. ‘He’s an Olympian.’

‘Horse or not,’ Agent J said, ‘I want to know why they are here! You are going to tell me.’

‘I already told you, I don’t
know
why they are here. Just that you’ve got to let them go. They don’t belong in our world.’

‘What about Mercury?’ Agent J asked.

‘Mercury?’ Emily repeated, puzzled. ‘The planet?’

Agent J shook his head. ‘No, not the planet,’ he said irritably. ‘Mercury, the messenger of Olympus. He’s here as well. If their story is true, that makes at least three Olympians in my city. That doesn’t even take into consideration those creatures, whatever they are called.’

‘Nirads,’ Emily answered without thinking.

She realized her mistake at once. Agent J had tricked her into telling him more than she wanted.

‘Nirads,’ he repeated. ‘Why are
they
here?’

Emily didn’t want to answer any more of his questions. She was feeling too ill and making too many mistakes. Instead, she closed her eyes and lay back.

‘I want to see my father.’

‘Answer my question,’ Agent J pressed.

Emily said nothing. With her eyes still closed, Emily could hear his breathing. He was getting angry. Suddenly she felt a searing pain in her wounded leg. Howling in agony, she opened her eyes. A cruel smile hovered on Agent J’s lips as his hand pressed down on her raised leg. He was squeezing her wounds in a brutal grip.

‘Why are they here?’ he demanded. ‘Tell me!’

The pain was blinding. Emily had never known such agony. It stole the scream from her throat and drove the wind from her lungs. Stars appeared before her eyes as the sound of water rushed in her ears. A moment later she passed out.

Paelen kept his hand over his mouth as he peered through the vent above the girl’s bed. He knew the agent could be ruthless by his own interrogations. But he would never have imagined that Agent J could do that to a child.

As he travelled back through the vent, he was grateful that she had passed out. He doubted even he could have withstood that kind of pressure on a new wound. When this was over, Paelen promised himself that Agent J would discover that hurting the girl had been a grave mistake.

Since the others had arrived at the facility, Agents J and O seemed to have lost interest in him. They were spending less and less time trying to get him to talk. He could go a full day without seeing anyone. This gave him the time to slip out of his room to go searching for Diana and Pegasus.

But as Paelen made his way through the long maze of ventilation ducts, he still had no clue where they were keeping the others from Olympus. He only managed to find Emily’s room because it was just down the hall from his own and he’d heard the doctors speaking about her though the air vent.

In the tunnel leading to his own room, Paelen saw Mercury’s sandals lying just ahead of him. He pushed them aside to get past and muttered, ‘Diana, where are you? I have to find you.’

Paelen was still touching the sandals as he spoke. The tiny wings burst to life and started to flutter and move. Paelen jumped and nearly screamed in the tight confines of the air vent as they beat against his hand. He instinctively threw them away. The wings stopped moving at once and returned to their normal quiet state. Paelen reached forward and cautiously poked the nearest one. Nothing happened. He gave it a second poke. Still nothing happened. He reached forward and picked it up. The wings remained still. He then picked up the second sandal. Again, the wings remained quiet.

‘Find Diana,’ he said softly.

The wings started flapping wildly again as the sandals sprang to life. Paelen clutched them tightly. But he was unprepared for the sudden twisting and bending in the tight area. If he hadn’t had the talent for stretching out his body, the power of the sandals would have broken his every bone as they turned him around in the tight duct area and lunged forward to obey his command.

Biting back his cries of pain and shock, Paelen was wrenched forward. Barely able to see, he was dragged noisily and uncontrollably through the long maze of ductwork in the facility. He held on for dear life. One moment they were going left. Then at another junction, they darted right. A moment later, the sandals dragged him to the edge of a long, deep drop.

‘No, please wait!’ Paelen cried when he saw what Mercury’s sandals were intending. ‘Nooooo …’

Without pause, the sandals drew him over the edge and plunged downward. Paelen screamed and heard the echo of his terror flooding throughout the endless tunnels. But still they would not stop. Banging his elbows, his shoulder and knees on the walls of the ductwork, they were falling.

The sandals weren’t obeying his command to find Diana. They were trying to kill him!

But long before they hit bottom, the sandals changed direction again. They dashed into a new series of ducts that led away from the long drop. Finally they turned down another long tunnel that ended abruptly in an exit air vent.

‘Stop, please!’ Paelen begged just before they smashed into the vent cover.

They immediately obeyed his command and stopped. The sandals folded their tiny wings and became still. Paelen lay unmoving as he tried to catch his breath. That had been the worst ride of his life. Worse even than the time he’d stolen the sandals from Mercury and had tried to use them. The evil winged monsters had flown him straight into a pillar and knocked him senseless. When he finally awoke, Mercury was looming above him and furious.