The Awakening (16 page)

30

D
ANNY DROPPED THE GUN
. H
E TURNED
and ran from the room.

One of the guards outside made a grab for him, but even as Danny watched, the guard slowed down, became almost frozen.

He raced through the tunnels, dodging around soldiers and technicians, and came to the huge main doors.

They were closed—locked—and there was no other way out.

I’ve got to get out of here!
Danny said to himself.

Danny pushed and thumped uselessly against one of the doors.
Damn it! Open, open, open!

It was an accident. He can’t be dead. It wasn’t my fault. I’m trapped and I didn’t mean to do it and he might be OK he might just be knocked out and…

Danny slumped against the door, collapsing to his knees, and fell forward onto his hands. His stomach lurched and he dryretched; he wanted to throw up but his stomach was empty.

Oh God, please don’t let this be happening!

A voice behind him called, “There he is!”

Danny turned his head to see Davison and four other soldiers rushing toward him, their weapons raised.

“Cooper! Do not move!” Davison called. “Lie flat on the ground, facedown, hands spread out!”

Danny got to his feet.

“Last warning!” Davison shouted. “Down on the ground!
Now!
”

“No,” Danny said. “No. You do not order me around!”

He heard Davison mutter “Kneecaps” to his men.

The soldiers aimed their rifles and fired.

Danny gasped.

He saw the brief flashes of the rifles’ muzzles, instinctively closed his eyes and jumped back against the door.

A sudden, brief wave of heat and pain passed through him, replaced almost instantly by a warm breeze and the smell of dusty air.

Danny opened his eyes, but instead of Davison and his men in the darkened cavern, all he could see was a bright gray and orange blur.

He blinked, refocused his eyes and realized that he was looking at the other side of the thick, rust-streaked metal door.

He was outside. Somehow he had passed
through
the door.

Danny didn’t waste time wondering how he’d done it. He turned and ran.

Danny ran lightly across the uneven ground, the sun beating down on his bare back. He was moving at about sixty kilometers per hour; it was much slower than he
could
run, but he still wasn’t sure that he was going in the right direction.

The desert was littered with car-sized boulders and drifts of pulverized rock. Ragged, parched-looking plants clung to the undulating, eroded hills and mesas.

The relief he’d felt at escaping was overwhelmed by the sense of guilt. Less than a minute after his escape, his powers had faded again. He’d collapsed to the ground, not even breathing hard. He’d turned about and headed back, and it was only then that he realized he had no idea where he was. For all he knew, he could have run halfway across the country.

And then a small black flying craft passed overhead. Somehow, Danny knew that it was heading for the mine. It disappeared over the horizon in seconds, but at least he had some idea of which way to go.

After what felt like hours of walking, his enhanced speed finally returned.

Now he was still lost, but at least he was moving fast.

Oh God help me, I killed him!

I didn’t mean to do it.

I killed a man, and then I ran.

He should have told me! He was the one who could see into the future! He should have told me how he was going to die!

I left Colin’s parents behind.

I killed my own father!

No, he betrayed me! He condemned me on the day I was born!

I shouldn’t have hit him. If I hadn’t hit him, he’d still be alive.

Then I wouldn’t be a murderer.

No, it wasn’t murder. It was an accident!

The sun baked down on the rocks, causing a heat-haze in front of him. The ground seemed to shift and shimmer, as though there were pools of water ahead.

He knew I was going to do it. He should have stopped me.

It wasn’t his fault. They were drugging him.

Before that, they were controlling his mind.

Façade caused this. He pretended to be my father for eleven years!

No. I did it. It was me.

I killed a man and now I have to go back and rescue my friends.

And when I’ve done that, I’ll turn myself in to the police. I’ll explain everything.

They won’t believe me. The others will lie. No, Façade won’t lie. He’ll try to help me. He’s my dad.

He’s not my dad. My real dad is Joseph. Was Joseph.

Danny slowed down and stopped. There was something about the shimmering air that was unsettling. Everything looked unreal, as though the world around him was slightly out of focus.

He blinked and shook his head vigorously. Through the haze, he could almost see something on the horizon ahead, something large and dark, but indistinct. As he concentrated, the dark object broke up into many smaller objects and Danny realized that they were people, dozens of them, mostly teenagers, dressed in black.

In seconds, they were all around him, rushing past, taking no notice of him. They cast no shadows and were translucent and silent.

Then one of the figures stopped right in front of him and Danny saw that it was himself, a little older, it seemed. Certainly more world-weary. His right arm had been replaced by something complex and mechanical.

His older self turned and looked around and Danny saw more figures approaching from the horizon. They marched together: an army.

The older Danny waited until the approaching army caught up with him. They had weapons: large, powerful-looking guns. One of them gave a signal, and as one, the soldiers aimed their weapons and fired.

Danny watched as his older self raised his mechanical arm and the hail of bullets bounced harmlessly off an invisible shield.

Then the vision was gone. Danny was once again alone on the deserted plain.

Was that it?
he wondered.
Was
that
the future that my father saw?

He couldn’t understand what the vision meant.
Who were the people he’d been running with? Why had they been running? Who was chasing them?

Disturbed, he decided to press onward. He had to get back to the mine.

I’ll get Colin’s parents out. They’ll know what to do next. And the girl that Victor mentioned. Whoever she is, I’ll get her out too. And then I’ll go to the police and tell them that I murdered my own father. I couldn’t help it. My powers had faded. I didn’t know they’d come back at the wrong moment!

Maybe they were right. I’ve already killed one man, even though I didn’t mean to. Maybe that means that—somehow—I
will
be responsible for starting a war.

A war that will destroy the world.

31

C
OLIN’S ENHANCED HEARING RETURNED
shortly before the StratoTruck touched down near the mine shaft’s main entrance. “There’re a lot of orders being shouted about,” he told Solomon Cord.

“Can you make out what they’re saying?”

“It sounds like Façade. He’s saying something about going after Danny—that they need to find him.” Colin grinned. “He must have escaped.”

“Good. That’s one less to worry about. Anything about your parents?”

“No, nothing.”

At the controls, Max Dalton removed his helmet and ran his fingers through his thinning gray hair. He climbed out of the seat and went back to inspect his team. “All right, men. By the numbers. No heroics. No noise. And no weapons-fire unless absolutely unavoidable. Single file. Keep low until we’re inside, then stick to the shadows. Solomon? You’re rear, I’m point. Colin, you stick right behind me. Any questions?”

“Colin should stay here. And someone should stay with him,” Solomon said.

“No. We can’t spare anyone. He comes with us. It’ll be safer for him that way.”

Colin sat up suddenly. “Whoa!”

“What is it?” Solomon asked.

“Someone’s dead…A man. The girl is arguing with someone called Victor about what to do with the body.”

Max said to Colin, “Did you get his name?”

“No, they haven’t mentioned it…Now the girl’s just told Victor that she wants to speak to him privately…something about those nights they spent together. Oh.” Colin blushed. “I probably shouldn’t have listened to that.”

Max said, “All right, we’ve heard enough…Let’s move.”

He led them from the craft. The men were all wearing full combat gear, which made Colin feel very conspicuous in his jeans and jumper.

The ground was uneven, but didn’t provide much cover as they crawled toward the mine shaft’s entrance. Max shuffled forward, then raised his binoculars. “Strange…no one on guard. The door’s open. Whatever the hell happened, the whole operation is coming apart.” He stood up. “We’re not going to find much resistance.”

Cautiously, they walked up to the entrance. “Hear anything, Colin?” Max whispered.

Colin shook his head. “There’s no one on this level. There’s a lot of arguing going on…Wait, I can hear my parents! My dad’s been trying to force a door open…They must be locked up.”

“Can you tell where they are?”

“No. Too many echoes. I can hear a lot of the soldiers talking to each other. I think they’re getting ready to go AWOL.”

“All right,” Max said. “We’re in the clear. Let’s get this thing over with.”

They moved swiftly and efficiently through the tunnels, checking each small cavern, until they encountered one unarmed soldier who was clearly making a run for it.

Solomon grabbed the man and pushed him face-first against the rough wall. “Name?”

“I don’t have to tell you anything!”

Solomon took hold of the man’s arm and pushed it up behind his back.
“Name?”

“Aargh! Carmack!”

“Who’s in charge here, Carmack?”

“Victor Cross! But he’s taking orders from someone else. I don’t know who!”

“Who else?”

“A girl called Rachel. And there’s a guy. Façade, they call him.”

“Why are you running? What happened here?”

“There’s a…a ghost.”

Solomon laughed. “A ghost.”

“I swear! I was on guard one second, nothing around me, and suddenly I was on the ground and my weapon was gone. It’s been happening all over. And the foreign kid, the one they brought in—one of the guys saw him jump backward through the main door without opening it! He just sort of melted through it. Then when we heard that Joseph was killed, everything just fell apart!”

“Joseph who?”

“I don’t know. I think it’s just a code name. They never told us his real name.”

“Cross, Façade and the woman. Where are they?”

“Two levels down. There’s a wide corridor off the main cavern.”

Cord threw the soldier to the ground and signaled to two of the men. “Cuff him, gag him and take him with us. What do you think, Max?”

“I say we go right in. It doesn’t sound like anyone’s going to be putting up much of a fight.” He checked that Carmack’s cuffs and the makeshift gag on his mouth were secure, then hauled him to his feet. “You’re going to show us the way, Carmack.” To his own men, he said, “OK, people. Single file. Everyone stay in sight of the man in front. Weapons at the ready. Safeties on, until I say otherwise. We want to get through this with no casualties. Colin, you stick with Cord.”

On the next level down, Colin grabbed Solomon’s arm and pointed to a heavy steel door. “In there!” he whispered. “That’s where my parents are!”

“You sure?”

“Positive,” Colin said. “Can you pick the lock or something?”

Max came back to them. “No, wait. Colin, is there anyone else with them?”

“No, there’s just the two of them.”

“Then we leave them there for now. If this does turn into a bloodbath, they’ll be safer there.”

Colin said, “Max, what if something happens to us? We should let them out now.”

“I take your point, Colin, but let’s do this my way, OK?”

Colin paused. “No.”

“You agreed to follow my orders.”

“This one doesn’t make any sense.”

“Don’t argue with me, boy!” Max barked. “I’ve been doing this since long before you were born.”

He continued down the corridor, followed by his men.

Colin followed them, but was moving slowly enough for Solomon to catch up with him. “I think there’s something going on here,” he said quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“Max Dalton almost
never
appears in public, but now he’s suddenly charging around like he’s a superhero again. It doesn’t make sense that he came here with such a small team, especially when he couldn’t have known how many people he’d be up against. And so far we’ve met only one of them. He could be leading us into a trap!”

Solomon frowned.

Colin stopped walking and Solomon almost crashed into him. “Solomon, help me free my parents!”

“Colin—”

“I’m a fool! Façade wanted to capture me and Danny, but I got away. Now here I am walking right back to him! And Max didn’t want me to wait in the StratoTruck!”

Solomon thought for a moment.

“OK…We go along with him for now. If his agenda really is to capture you, then they’ll come after us, and there’s no way we’d get the StratoTruck started before they caught us. If they don’t know that
we
know, that’s our edge.”

Colin considered this and whispered, “It’s not a very
sharp
edge.”

“We’ve no other option right now.”

Colin froze. “He’s coming back.”

Max ran silently up to them. “What’s the problem?”

“Colin’s just a little nervous,” Solomon said.

“Sorry,” said Colin.

“We can’t leave you here, Colin. The only way out of this is through.”

Colin swallowed. “All right.”

Solomon and Colin followed Max back down through the tunnel, to the large cavern where the other men were waiting.

Max said, “Colin? Can you hear Façade’s voice?”

“Yeah…” He pointed. “Down that corridor.”

As they approached the door to the examination room, Façade came out, arguing with Rachel.

“I want out,” Façade said. “Rachel, I’m not kidding. This has gone too far. Cross is mad. Did you know that he has his own people working on something that none of the others knew about?”

“That’s bull, Façade! Victor would
never
betray us! He’ s—” She stopped when she saw Colin and the others.

Façade stared at them.

Solomon Cord raised his gun, aiming it directly at Façade’s head. “Do something. Try and take my gun off me. Run. Grab a hostage. Do
something,
Façade. Please. Do something that’ll give me an excuse to blow your head off right
now
!”

Façade ignored him, looking straight at Colin instead. “Well done, Colin,” he said. “Not yet thirteen years old and you made it all the way across America.”

He looked at Max Dalton. “Hello, Max.”

Colin turned around.

Max Dalton had drawn his pistol and had the barrel pressed against Solomon’s neck.

Solomon drew his second gun and was aiming it at Max’s chest.

Max pulled out his own second pistol and aimed it at Colin.

“Not the kid,” Façade said.

Max looked at him with contempt, then looked back at Solomon Cord.

“Drop your weapons, Cord,” Max said.

“
You
drop yours,” Solomon said.

“You’re not Paragon anymore, Cord. You can’t dodge a bullet. Especially not at this range.”

“This is true. But then,
your
guns are empty. I removed the clips when you were on the StratoTruck.”

Max considered this. “I’ll give you eight out of ten for that one. You almost made me check.”

“Worth a try.”

“Drop your weapons or I’ll kill the boy.”

“He’s a superhuman, Max. You willing to take the chance that
he
can’t dodge a bullet?”

“I have the upper hand here, Solomon.”

“How so?”

“There is a house on the outskirts of Richmond, Virginia. Your wife and daughters are there. They’re being guarded by my people.”

“You—” Solomon raised his gun to strike Max across the face, then thought better of it. He looked at Colin. “I’m sorry.”

He lowered his weapons.

Max said, “Rachel, take the boy into the examination room. Check him over. So far, he’s only shown signs of enhanced hearing and strength, but that’s enough for what we need.”

As the girl led Colin into the room, he heard Max say to Façade, “What’s the situation here?”

“Joseph’s dead. It was an accident. Danny freaked out, lost control.”

“The boy’s powers?”

“He’s fast.
Extremely
fast.”

“And now he’s gone?”

Colin realized that the girl was talking to him and focused his attention on her. “What?”

“Please take off your sweater.”

Colin shook his head. “No.”

“I don’t want to have to force you.”

“First, tell me what’s going on here.”

The girl sighed. “Colin, please do as I ask.”

“No.”

“Very well.” She reached out and pressed something against his arm. Colin jumped as a powerful electric shock coursed through his body. “You want another one?”

Reluctantly, Colin pulled off his sweater. “Who was Joseph?”

“Danny Cooper’s real father. Lie down on the table, please.”

Colin hesitated, then she showed him the shocker. “OK, OK!” He climbed onto the table and lay down. “Did
Danny
kill him?”

“He did.”

“Oh God…How did it happen?”

“No more questions.”

“Just one thing…Are
my
parents OK?”

“They’re unharmed. And as long as you cooperate, they’ll
remain
unharmed.”