The Gathering: Quantum Prophecy 2 (27 page)

“He never stopped talking about you,” Alia said.

Warren and Façade entered the room, then Josh called out, “Everyone! Come on now! Settle down and let’s get started!”

Stephanie sat next to Colin and put her hand on his.

“We lost a lot here today,” Josh said. “But we have some of our enemy’s men in custody, including Dioxin. The biggest threat against us is Yvonne. It seems that she has the same kind of mind-control ability that my brother Max used to have. She was using me to feed information to Victor Cross. I had no idea this was happening. Regardless, I feel that I should step down as leader of Sakkara.”

“You won’t find any objections here,” Danny muttered.

Josh ignored that. “Someone needs to take my place. Someone Yvonne can’t control…General Piers’s men have spent the day going over all the security footage from Sakkara. From what we can see, there were only three of us over whom Yvonne was never
able to exert any influence: Façade, Renata and Caroline. Renata is too young, so I’m hereby appointing Caroline Wagner to lead the new heroes.”

“I decline,” Caroline said.

“Then the only other option is for me to remain,” Josh said.

“That’s not acceptable,” Colin said. “Façade will lead us.”

Everyone glanced at Façade.

“No,” Josh said. “He has a criminal record. He spent eleven years pretending to be Quantum.”

“When Dioxin threw Solomon out of the helicopter, the StratoTruck was only meters above the ground when we caught him. If the StratoTruck had crashed, I would probably have survived. Façade wouldn’t have. He knew that, but he didn’t hesitate to go after Solomon. Façade gets my vote.”

“That might make a difference if this was a democracy,” Josh said. “But it’s not. We’re now part of the U.S. military.” He paused. “My own role is going to change somewhat. I have a lot of experience and it would be foolish to throw that away. I will stay on as an adviser.”

“I don’t like the way this is going,” Colin said.

“Sakkara’s security is being upgraded. We will be moving back there in a couple of weeks. General Piers is currently arranging for a team of specialists to join us. The details are classified right now, but I can tell you that the team will consist of weapons and security experts, and some former superhumans.”

“Anyone we know?” Warren asked.

Before Josh could reply, the door to the conference room burst open and a young soldier rushed in. “Got a priority-one message for someone called Power.”

“Who?” Josh said.

“That’s me,” Colin said. “That’s my new superhero name. But I haven’t really told anyone yet…”

The soldier handed Colin a cell phone. “This was delivered a few minutes ago. The package had the address of this base and your name on it.”

The phone rang in Colin’s hands. Puzzled, he hit the “answer” button and held the phone up to his ear. “Hello?”

A man’s voice said, “Colin Wagner, also known as Power?”

“That’s me.”

“My name is Victor Cross. Perhaps you remember me?”

Colin froze. “Where have you taken Solomon Cord?”

“First, I want you to know that this call cannot be traced, so don’t even bother trying. Second, I have to tell you how impressed I was with the way you defeated Dioxin and his men. It’s a hollow victory though. We got what we were looking for.”

“Where is he?”
Colin yelled.

“He’s right here beside me. Hold on…” A second later, Colin heard Cord’s voice, weak and obviously in pain. “Colin…I…I know I can trust you to do the right thing, you hear me, son? You do the
right
thing!”

“Sol! I don’t—”

Victor Cross’s voice came back on the line. “All right, Colin. We have Mr. Cord here and a number of civilians. Five people. The mother, father, brother, sister and two-year-old niece of your friend Renata Soliz. I also have a man here with a gun.”

Colin felt his blood turn cold. He swallowed. “Cross, what are you doing?”

“Two minutes from now, either Solomon Cord or the civilians will die.
You
choose who you want to save. Do not ask for anyone else’s help with this decision. If you do not choose, they will all die. The clock is ticking, Colin.”

Colin looked around the room. Alia and Vienna Cord were staring at him.

Beside him, Stephanie squeezed his hand.

I promised them I’d get their father back! I can’t…But Renata’s whole family! No, I’ve never met them. Sol’s my friend, I have to…

No! This isn’t right! This isn’t fair!

“Cross, you can’t make me do this!”

“Life’s full of hard choices, Colin.”

“You’re bluffing!”

“Want to bet?”

“I need more time!”
Maybe if I can stall him long enough, Danny could use his superspeed, track them down…

“Not a chance. Ticktock, ticktock.”

Oh God, I can’t do this! I can’t save one man and allow five innocent people to die!

But Sol is a superhero. If I save him, then he’ll probably save hundreds of lives in the years to come.

No, that’s wrong! That’s just selfish! Renata’s niece is only two years old! I can’t allow her to die!

“Ten seconds!” Cross said.

Colin looked toward his parents.
I can’t even ask them what I should do!

And then Solomon Cord’s words came back to him: “You do the
right
thing!”

Victor Cross said, “Time’s up. Who’s it going to be, Power? Cord or the civilians?”

Colin knew that he had no option: “Save the civilians.”

A single shot rang out, then Cross said, “Solomon Cord is dead.”

Colin dropped the phone and ran from the room.

C
OLIN STOOD OUTSIDE THE BASS
’
S SOUTH
entrance, waiting. Danny and Renata stood next to him.

Stephanie and Alia Cord, and their mother, waited nearby.

Stephanie had not spoken to Colin since the phone call.

In the distance, a small black dot appeared in the sky.

Vienna Cord walked up to Colin and put her arm around his shoulders. “My husband was very fond of you, Colin. He always said that no matter what happened, he could trust you to make the right choice.”

Colin nodded and the tears spilled down his cheeks. “I’m so sorry.”

“You did the only thing you could, Colin. No one blames you.”

Then Stephanie said softly, “
Almost
no one.”

Colin looked at her, but she kept her eyes focused on the approaching helicopter.

“Your father would have done the same thing, Stephanie,” Mrs. Cord said. “You can’t condemn five people just to save one. No matter
who
he is.”

“You promised us!” Stephanie suddenly yelled at Colin. “You promised us you’d get him back!”

“I’m sorry. I thought…”

“What? What did you think?”

“I thought I’d have more time. I didn’t think that Cross would do something like this.”

“I wish we’d never met you, Colin Wagner! I wish you’d…I
wish you’d never found your way to our house! Everything ended for us that day! You came to my dad for help and because of that, because of
you
, he’s dead!”

Her mother said, “That’s enough, Stephanie!” She pointed to the helicopter that was fast approaching. “That’s your father’s body in that helicopter.”

A few minutes later, the copter set down in front of the entrance. Warren Wagner jumped out and made his way toward Colin. Behind him, four soldiers lifted out a covered stretcher.

Warren put his hands on Colin’s shoulders. “Are you OK?”

“What do you think?” Colin pulled himself free and walked up to the men carrying the stretcher. “Stop!”

He pulled back the sheet.

Solomon Cord’s lifeless eyes stared back at him.

“Good-bye.”

Colin covered up his friend and watched as the body was carried into the base.

The following week, the new heroes and their families moved back into Sakkara. The building had been greatly transformed: the roof now housed a large radar dish and an automated rocket launcher on each corner. Uniformed guards were permanently stationed on each floor, and everyone—without exception—was carefully scanned and frisked as they entered the building.

Renata Soliz and Danny Cooper sat in darkness on the wall that skirted the edge of the roof, trying to ignore the large group of soldiers who were standing nearby.

“This place is even more like a prison than it was before,” Danny muttered.

“You’re telling me. My folks are freaking out. They really don’t want to be here. They want to go back to Cleveland.”

“Like the general said, it’s a matter of national security,” Danny said. “Nothing we can do about that.” He turned at the sound of footsteps and saw Razor approaching.

The older boy sat on the wall next to Renata. “He’s still in his room.”

“Has he eaten anything yet?” Renata asked.

“Not much. He said he doesn’t really
need
to eat anymore.”

“Stephanie’s still not talking to him then?” Danny asked.

Razor shook his head. “Alia’s tried to get her to make peace, but as far as Stephanie’s concerned, Colin is responsible for what happened to Sol.”

“He didn’t have any other choice.”

“That’s easy for
you
to say, Renata. You still have your family. Sol was the closest thing I ever had to a father.”

Danny glanced at his watch. “It’s almost time.” Behind them, more people were approaching, filing up the stairs in twos and threes. He got to his feet. “This feels wrong. I’m going back in.”

“You sure?” Renata asked. “You want me to come with you?” She started to move, then groaned slightly and clutched her stomach.

“No, no…You stay here. I want to talk to him alone.”

Danny made his way back inside the building. Just inside the door, he met his mother and Façade, who was carrying Niall on his back.

“You’re not going to watch?” Façade asked.

“Nah. I’m not really in the mood for it.”

The corridors of Sakkara somehow seemed colder and even
more empty than before. Danny stopped outside Colin’s room and knocked on the door. “You in there?”

There was no response.

“Come on, Col! You have to talk about this! I know you can hear me!”

The door opened and Danny stepped into the room.

Colin looked pale and drawn, his eyes red. “What?”

“Everyone’s up on the roof.”

“I know. I can hear them.” Colin hesitated for a moment. “I can hear everything, if I concentrate on it. I hear them talking about me. I hear Stephanie crying herself to sleep, blaming me for what happened to her father.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Col. It was Cross.”

“No, it was me. I made the decision.”

“Suppose you’d chosen to save Sol and sacrificed Renata’s family instead. Would you have been able to cope with that decision any easier?”

“Of course not,” Colin said.

“So…?”

“What?”

“So live with it!” Danny said. “You did the only thing you could do.”

“And what if he does it again? We have no idea where he is! What’s to stop him from picking up more people and forcing me to choose between them?”

“Col, this is why he did it! Cross knew he couldn’t beat you physically, so he wanted to break your spirit. And it’s working! You have got to get over this.”

“A good man died because of me!”

“You think I don’t know what that’s like?” Danny said. “I killed my own father!”

“That was different. That was an accident. Sol died because of a decision I made.” Colin turned away. “These powers aren’t a gift, Danny. They’re a curse! I’m really beginning to wish that we’d just let Max Dalton carry out his plans to strip our powers.”

“We would have died!”

“But Sol would still be alive. And so would all the people Dioxin murdered. But now look at us…We’re at the mercy of a madman and we don’t even know where to begin looking for him! We’re practically prisoners here. All it will take is one phone call from Yvonne to the U.S. president or some other world leader and we could be looking at a nuclear war. She can make people do anything she wants.”

“So how do we stop her?”

“I don’t know.” Colin cocked his head to one side, listening. “It’s started.”

Danny walked over to the window and looked out to the west, toward the elaborate fireworks display that was being held in Topeka. “Happy New Year.”

The following morning, Warren took Colin to the roof. Three helicopters were approaching from the east. “Here they come,” Warren said, shielding his eyes against the sunlight.

Colin said nothing.

General Piers came out and stood next to them.

The first helicopter touched down, and two soldiers helped an elderly woman down the ramp and lifted her into a wheelchair.

For the first time in hours, Colin spoke. “Who’s that?”

General Piers said, “One of our experts. That’s Mrs. Francine Duval, the mother of Casey Duval. We’re hoping she’ll be able to tell us more about her late son’s superhuman abilities.”

“Never heard of him,” Warren said. “Who was he?”

“Ragnarök.”

They watched in silence as the old woman was wheeled past, keeping her gaze fixed straight ahead.

“Does she know? About me, I mean?” Warren asked.

“Yes, she does,” the general replied. “She knows everything.”

“That’s not good.”

Colin glanced at his father, but could tell from his expression that this was not the right time to ask what he meant.

The second helicopter contained a trio of middle-aged men—“Weapons experts,” General Piers explained—and a tall, striking woman in her early forties. The woman stopped in front of Warren and smiled. “Titan. Good to see you again. You’ve aged well.”

Warren grinned. “Thanks. You too.”

“So this is your son? The man who finally put Dioxin behind bars?”

Warren placed his hand on Colin’s shoulder. “Yep. Colin, this is Amandine Paquette, formerly known as Impervia.”

“Call me Mandy,” the woman said, shaking hands with Colin. “Firm grip. You’re going to be a strong one all right.” She paused for a moment. “Colin, I’m sorry to hear about what happened to Paragon. I knew him pretty well. He would have done the same thing if he’d been in your shoes.”