The Return of the Titans (34 page)

“You saw us come in,”
Justin said calmly.

“Of course,” the colonel
answered.

“But we didn't see any
cameras!” Aaron said in confusion.

The colonel chuckled. “Naturally,” he said.
“The cameras you saw in Justin's apartment were crude props.
Miniature cameras today can't even be seen by the naked eye. I've
been watching you ever since you left the apartment.” He shook his
head and sighed. “There was no need for such a dramatic exit, boys.
I mean you no harm.”

“Yeah, right!” Justin
scoffed. “You attacked my home, kidnapped my friend, hunted others
like us and now you've taken my mother. You mean us a lot of harm,
Colonel.”

The officer grimaced. “You are speaking of
the past, Justin.” He waved toward the chairs in front of the desk.
“Please, have a seat and let me explain.”

Justin glanced at Aaron who shrugged
nervously. They both walked forward and sat down.

The man sighed and stared at them with those
electric blue eyes. “I need to tell you a little story, gentlemen.
Please be patient. It won't take long.”

He sat back and pulled his left arm tightly
under the keyboard using his right hand. Justin realized that the
man could only use the one hand. He felt a twinge of pity but
pushed it down forcefully.

“You're right, Justin. My
people did attack your home and the homes of others like you.
However, that was under orders from my predecessor. The general was
a little too enthusiastic in doing her job and took things too far.
Which is why I am now in charge of this...operation.”

“How was she too
enthusiastic?” Justin asked sceptically.

“Let me start at the
beginning.” The man rested his chin on his fist and looked at the
far wall. “Ten years or so ago, a government official, it doesn't
matter which government at this point, was approached by a man who
told him about the birth of some extraordinary children. Children
who were genetically superior to humans, who might be the next step
up in the evolutionary ladder.” He glanced at the two friends. “He
was, of course, talking about you.” The colonel went back to
staring across the room. “Naturally this official was skeptical at
first, but the man offered proof. Blood samples from several of the
children that could be genetically tested. And naturally the tests
showed that the man was correct.” The colonel looked back at
Justin. “I'm sure you can imagine the reaction from this rather
highly placed official.”

Justin thought about it for a moment. “I'm
guessing he thought how useful we could be? Maybe as soldiers or
something?”

The colonel smiled. “Got it in one, Justin.
Yes, that's exactly what his reaction was. And his superiors were
just as excited. But the man who had brought them the information
had told them that these special children had been born in various
countries around the world and so these officials, reluctantly,
decided to share this secret with several other governments. They
got together and formed the organization that I am currently in
charge of.”

The colonel stopped speaking and just
watched Justin and Aaron.

The two boys didn't speak for a moment then
Aaron said, “But what about this general that you mentioned? You
said she was too enthusiastic in her job.”

“Yes. Yes, she was,” the
man answered with a frown. “It turned out that she was rather
frightened by the prospect of a new, improved type of human.
Apparently she was convinced that this new human would supplant
mankind, take over.” He shook his head. “Completely irrational, of
course. But for a long time she kept her views to herself. She
quietly gathered others who shared her opinion, put them in
positions of power within the organization. And when you youngsters
began exhibiting some abilities, she was ready,” The colonel
shifted in his seat. He hesitated for a moment. “I want you to know
that none of what happened was sanctioned by the governments
involved. All we were tasked to do was to observe, not interfere.
But the General saw your developing abilities as a threat and
ordered that those of you who had been identified be rounded up and
detained.”

“How many?” Justin asked.
“How many of us were...detained?”

The colonel shook his head. “I'm not
entirely sure. The general covered her tracks quite well. Dozens at
least. Possibly as many as a hundred.”

Both Justin and Aaron stared at the man in
shock. A hundred?

“So what happened to them?
The prisoners?” Aaron asked.

Again the colonel hesitated. Then he said
softly, “Not many survived. Samples were taken, blood and tissue.
Tests were performed and then the General ordered the survivors
disposed of.”

The boys were in shock. “They were killed?”
Justin was suddenly furious. “She had them used like lab rats and
then murdered?”

The man nodded then spoke up quickly. “Not
all, Justin. Some of her men got cold feet and reported what was
happening. I was ordered to stop the procedures and my people and I
managed to save some.” He sighed. “A few.”

“Where are they now?”
Aaron spoke up.

The colonel waved his hand to indicate the
building around them. “Here. We've been caring for them as best we
can. The library basement was converted to a base of operations
about a year ago and we set up a medical bay to help them.” Then he
leaned forward and stared intently at Justin. “But we can only do
so much. Their physiology is still something of a mystery to our
medics. We have managed to heal their wounds, but they are unhappy
and not developing as they should. They would be better off among
their own people.”

Justin sat back, his fury fading to be
replaced with concern for his fellow Titans, the victims of these
insane military people. He took a deep breath to collect his
thoughts then looked at Colonel Green. “So what do you want with
us?” he asked quietly.

“I want you to save them,
Justin.” Justin's mouth dropped open but the colonel continued. “I
don't know where you and the others have been for the last several
months but I'm betting that whoever is caring for you can, perhaps,
care the youngsters we have in custody as well.”

Justin was trying to work through what was
happening. “Okay, so you're telling me that Wilson was taken and my
mother was kidnapped just so I would show up and take these kids
off your hands and save their lives?”

The man smiled slightly. “That about sums it
up, lad.”

“I don't believe a word of
it,” Justin said with a shake of his head. Aaron turned to looked
at him.

“What do you mean, Just?
Don't you want to help the others?”

“Of course I do, Aaron.
But think about it. What are the odds that I would even learn about
Wilson, or my mom? And if I did, that I would head back home? Or
that I would decide to come to the library? The explanation is full
of holes.”

“Is it, Justin?” the
colonel asked. “Would you like me to explain how I got you here?
How I knew you would come?”

Justin folded his arms and stared at the
man. “Go ahead.” he said. “This should be good.”

The colonel chuckled. “I hope so,” he said.
“You obviously don't know that I tried to get whomever is
sheltering you to take the captives off my hands.”

“You what?” Aaron
exclaimed and the colonel nodded. “But how?”

“We put notices in every
major newspaper in the world. They were worded in such a way that
only the people we wanted to contact would understand them. And we
did the same thing on major sites online, on international radio
and television stations. Every day for several weeks. There was no
response.” He glanced up at the screens then back to the two
friends. “So we tried a different tact. We know of several people
around the world who are, we suspect, Guardians.”

“You know of the
Guardians?” Justin asked in surprise.

“Oh yes, we know. And
since we had no word from your people, Justin, we decided to drop
some hints that a Guardian had survived the initial assault when
the general had her forces abduct the youngsters. Your Guardian,
Justin. These rumors were obviously passed on to higher authority
and then to you.” The man glanced down at some papers spread out on
the desk in front of him. “I have a rather well documented profile
of you, lad. I know how you think and I believed that you would do
everything in your power to save your old friend. And your mother's
disappearance and finding her apparent note in your secret spot got
you to come to exactly where I wanted you to be. Here.”

Justin thought about what the colonel had
said. He didn't trust him at all and he was determined to poke
holes in his so-called explanation.

“Where did you get a
profile on me?” he asked abruptly.

The colonel smiled. “All of us are profiled
throughout our lives, Justin. I have your school records, school
councilor's reports, medical records, lists of your interests and
so on and so on. And I had all of it analyzed by specialists in
psychological profiling. I know you very well and the proof is that
you are sitting here now.”

“Look, this is all very
interesting, but we want to know where Justin's mom is,” Aaron
interrupted.

Justin was startled. For a moment, he had
forgotten the main reason that they were there. He looked keenly at
the colonel. “Yeah,” he said. “Where's my mother?”

The man tapped several keys on
his keyboard. One of the monitors behind him flickered and suddenly
Justin was looking into what appeared to be a small sitting room,
with a couch, coffee table, even several plants.
H
is mother was lying on
the couch watching television. The camera was looking over her
shoulder but Justin recognized the way she was leaning on her arm
while her fingers were entwined in her hair. The scene was so
normal, so home-like that Justin felt tears welling up in his eyes
and looked away from the screen for a minute and cleared his throat
several times.

“As you can see, Justin,
your mother is fine. You can see her at any time.”

“I want to see her now,”
Justin said as he stood up. Aaron stood as well and they both
waited for the man to move.

The colonel looked momentarily startled but
then he touched the controls of his chair and wheeled around to the
front of the desk. “Very well, gentlemen; follow me please.”

As the man approached the door, Justin
suddenly heard footsteps. Someone was running toward the room. The
doors burst open and a soldier stood there. He came to a halt just
a few feet from the colonel and, after a surprised look briefly
crossed his face, stood at attention and saluted. The colonel
looked irritated and returned the salute with a quick flick of his
hand..

“Yes, private? What's your
hurry?,” he asked shortly.

“Sir, I'm sorry to bother
you, but we are under attack.”

The colonel's face paled slightly and he
glanced quickly at the boys before turning back to the soldier.

“Who and where?” he
snapped.

“Front and back, sir.
Several at each entrance. We don't know who, sir.”

“Very well. Return to your
post. Split our forces between each entrance. I will coordinate
from here.”

“Yes sir!” The private
saluted again and hurried out of the room.

The colonel turned his chair and looked at
Justin and Aaron. “Well, it seems that your enemies know you're
here, gentlemen.”

“Our enemies?” Aaron
sounded bewildered. “What makes you think these are our
enemies?”

“Call it a hunch.” The
colonel smiled slightly. “We've been here for months and suddenly
we are attacked as soon as you arrive? I'd say the chances of that
being a coincidence are slight.” The man rolled back to his desk
and put the keyboard back on his lap. He tapped a few keys and
suddenly the screens behind the desk changed. Half of the screens
showed different angled shots of the back entrance where Justin and
Aaron had entered and the others showed shots of what Justin
assumed was the front entrance.

At first glance, Justin could not see any
movement. Several uniformed soldiers were standing or kneeling in
the hallways leading in from the entrances but the cameras showed
no movement outside either door. Then he jumped slightly and he
heard Aaron gasp as some figures, moving almost too fast to see,
suddenly slammed into each door.

The attackers were wearing all black and
they were hooded, so that Justin couldn't tell if they were men or
women or see their features. They seemed to be trying to break down
the doors but were having a hard time getting through. The colonel
chuckled in a grim sort of way and Justin tore his eyes away from
the screens and looked at the man.

“The doors are reinforced
and have been sealed,” the colonel said as Justin caught his eye.
“It will take them a bit of time to get through.” The man glanced
at both of the boys. “Use the time wisely, gentlemen. Justin, your
mother's room is out the door to the left at the end of the
corridor. Aaron, while Justin gets to his mother, there is a second
door to the right of her room. The captured teens are being held in
there.” The man reached into a pocket and pulled out a keyring.
There were only two keys on it. He tossed it to Justin. “One fits
your mother's room, one fits the other.” He glanced at the screens
for a moment. “You should hurry. It looks like they are setting
explosives to get through the doors.”

Justin looked at the screens and saw the
dark figures huddled around the outside of the door. He cursed as
he saw them sticking small blocks of putty-like material around the
edges. Then he looked back at the colonel.