The Reckoning: Quantum Prophecy Book 3 (20 page)

As he approached the U.S. coast, moving westward but facing the opposite direction, Colin Wagner witnessed something that very few people have seen: the sun setting in the east.

He stretched his arms out and spotted the dried blood on his knuckles. The sight of it made him feel a little queasy, but at first he wasn’t exactly sure why.

I could have killed them. I beat the hell out of them and only stopped when they couldn’t fight on. God, what have I done?

No! They deserved it. They were part of the whole conspiracy to keep those people in slavery. Every stupid country in the world was part of it. That’s why Kinsella was right: There shouldn’t
be
separate countries. That only leads to war.

The Trutopian way is the only way. Peace above all. That’s one of their mottoes. Peace above all.

But…Surely not peace at any cost?

On the StratoTruck, Renata Soliz felt like she was going to collapse from exhaustion, but she forced herself to stay awake. With Warren Wagner injured, she was the only one who could pilot the craft.
We should have brought Façade with us,
she thought.

Razor climbed into the copilot’s seat. “Danny and Butler are asleep. You holding up OK?”

“Not really. That place…God, have you ever
seen
anything like that?”

Razor said, “Yeah. I have. But this isn’t the time to talk about it.”

“How’s Mr. Wagner?”

“Stop worrying about other people,” Razor said. “You need to get some sleep.”

“Just tell me.”

“He’s on one of the copters. His right leg is broken pretty badly. His left radius and ulna are fractured, as are a lot of the little bones in his hand. He told me the names of them but I can’t remember. He’s got serious burns on his chest and stomach. But he’ll live. He kept telling the army medics that they were doing everything wrong, so he can’t be that bad.” Razor looked out of the cockpit window. “Hold on…. Which way are we going?”

“North. Up over the pole and then down through Canada and into the States. It’s the shortest route.”

“The UN copters can’t go this way.”

“I know. And they don’t have the range. We’ll get to Sakkara long before them.”

“I still don’t think it’s a good idea bringing the prisoners there. Especially not Dioxin.”

“Yeah? Well when you’re in charge, Razor, you can make the decisions.”

“Look, I know you’re upset, but you don’t have to take it out on me.”

Renata sighed. “Sorry. It’s just…that little girl. Estelle. How could anybody treat another human being like that?”

“They don’t see them as human beings, that’s how.” Razor was silent for a few seconds. “I did a lot of bad things. I never killed anyone, or anything like that, but…I stole cars, robbed from stores, burgled a couple of houses. I even mugged someone once. I was able to justify it to myself because I was living on the streets. I was telling myself that I was only doing what I had to do to survive.”

Renata glanced at him. “You mugged someone.”

“Yeah. I was fifteen, desperate for money. I saw this guy coming out of his office late one night, and I just walked up to him and told him to give me his wallet. He looked rich. Well-fed. I hadn’t eaten in two days.”

“And he just handed his wallet over to you?”

Razor shook his head. “He tried to run. But like I said, he was well-fed. Overweight. There was no way he could outrun me.”

“Did you hurt him?”

Razor paused. “Yes.”

“God…You beat up a man just for a couple of dollars.”

“Actually, he had nearly four hundred bucks on him. That’s a lot of money to someone living on the streets. I could have fed myself for two months on that.”

“But that poor man! That could have been his wages. He might have
looked
rich, but that could have been all the money he had in the world.”

“I know. But I didn’t care. I was only looking out for myself, just like the guy who mugged
me
two minutes later was only looking out for
him
self.”

“There you go. That’s poetic justice.”

“It didn’t feel very poetic when he was beating the crap out of me. But you know what happened after that? The guy—the one I mugged in the first place—saw me lying on the ground and he came back.”

“Even after what you did to him, he helped you?”

“No, he spat in my face and kicked me in the nuts.”

Renata burst out laughing. “Sorry, but
that’s
poetic justice!”

Razor grinned. “Yeah, it probably is. But that’s how my world worked. I had to be the biggest and the toughest, otherwise people would walk all over me. And then Colin Wagner arrived in the shelter one day and changed everything. He was stronger than me, smarter and a better person. I owe him and Solomon Cord my life.”

“And now Colin’s back, and he’s the enemy. Why do you think he’s like that now?”

“You know the old saying: power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

“You think that’s what it is? That Colin’s turned evil?”

“No, that’s not in his nature. I think someone is controlling
him. There’s only one person we know who has that ability: Yvonne.”

Danny Cooper walked down the StratoTruck’s ramp and stepped on to the roof of Sakkara.

A short, gray-haired, bespectacled woman in a business suit was waiting for him. “Mr. Cooper?”

“That’s me.”

She glanced past him toward Renata and Butler. “I need to speak to you. Alone.”

“And you are?”

“My name is not important. Come with me, please.”

The woman walked away toward the far edge of the roof.

“Better see what she wants,” Renata said.

Danny walked over to the woman. “What can I do for you?”

“Your actions have had serious consequences, Mr. Cooper. Do you understand that?”

“I helped free a lot of people who were wrongly imprisoned, if that’s what you mean.”

“The president is…upset with the events of the past two days.”

“So am I. Did he know about the labor camp?”

“No, he did not. If he
had
known, he would never have allowed that place to continue to exist. He has ordered a full investigation into the matter. General Scott Piers has been placed under arrest. He will be interrogated to determine which of his superiors—if any—knew of the situation.”

“So what do you want me for?”

“The president has asked me to convey his personal thanks to
you for your help, but…he feels that your approach was flawed. By threatening the leaders of the United Nations you have put us in a very difficult position. By broadcasting that footage of the prisoners you have exacerbated the situation. We have no doubt that your intentions were noble, but the outcome is very serious. This could topple the government.”

Danny shrugged. “So? Your government changes every four years when you have an election, right? What’s the difference if it happens a little early?”

The woman sighed. “Mr. Cooper…Politics is not about elections, or about power. It’s about trust. The people need to feel that they can trust their leaders. Your actions have given them reason to doubt that trust.”

Danny stepped back. “
My
actions? I’m not the one who put those people there and left them to rot!”

“We are on the brink of a third world war, Mr. Cooper. Did you know that?”

“Are you serious?”

“The Trutopians have been systematically undermining every country on the planet. They are united, they are trained and they are armed. Is it true that Colin Wagner has joined their ranks?”

“That’s what it looks like.”

“And you New Heroes were unable to defeat him.”

Danny bit his lip. “What’s your point?”

“My point is that you have shown the Trutopians that they are stronger than we are. If they should conclude that the world’s powers have been weakened sufficiently, they will attack.”

“No, they won’t. Reginald Kinsella only talks about peace, not war.”

“But Kinsella died yesterday. Even now the Trutopians are beginning to redeploy their troops. Our experts are certain that unless we can change the tide of events, the war will begin in a matter of days.”

“So what do you want us to do?”

“We want you to make a public statement. You will appear on public television and you will tell the world that the labor camp was organized by the Trutopians.”

“But that’s totally not true!”

“Nevertheless, that
is
what you will say.”

“I will not!”

“If we have to, we will do it without you. It won’t be as effective, but we don’t have any other option.”

“No. When I contacted the United Nations I told them that I would tell the truth about the labor camp. That’s what I’m going to do.”

“Then you have condemned us to war.”

A
S THEY WATCHED THE TROOP CARRIERS
set down on the grounds around Sakkara, the New Heroes argued over what their next move should be.

Butler said, “These people need us.”

Razor nodded. “Much as I hate to agree, Butler’s right. We can’t just take off.”

“I’m not staying here a minute longer than I have to,” Danny said.

Renata pointed down toward one of the copters. “Hey…”

Far below, a dozen of the freed prisoners—all teenagers and children—were standing in a line on the grass while a corporal handed them black one-piece uniforms.

“At least they’re getting a change of clothes,” Razor said.

Renata pointed, “No, not them. Over
there
!”

They looked to see an entire platoon of soldiers quickly moving into formation around a Boeing Chinook helicopter, then the copter’s ramp opened and Brawn crawled out.

“I actually kinda like him,” Danny said. “I know he’s one of the bad guys, but some of the other prisoners said that he looked out for them.”

Butler said, “But he’s not actually a superhuman anymore, right?”

“No, just big. When they all lost their powers the ones who had a physical change stayed that way. He’s only as strong as any ordinary thirteen-foot-tall man would be.”

“And there’s Dioxin,” Butler said. “They’re not taking any chances with him. I wonder who else they’ve got. Terrain, maybe. What about Slaughter? They did catch her after Ragnarök’s last battle, didn’t they?”

“I think so,” Razor said. “So what are we going to do?”

“Find Colin,” Danny replied.

“But where do we even begin looking for him?”

Butler said, “The Trutopians. They—”

Façade’s voice came over Danny’s radio. “You kids better get down here to Ops—”

Danny shifted into slow-time and ran, leaving the others behind. He darted down the stairs and zipped past a soldier who had just opened the main door, then along the corridors and into Ops.

Façade was saying, “—because there’s a message coming through that we’re probably not going to like.” He jumped when he saw that Danny was already standing next to him. “God, it creeps me out when you do that.”

“What’s happening?”

Façade pointed to the monitor. “See for yourself.”

The screen showed the flag of the Trutopians, with the words
STAND BY
. After a few seconds, the flag dissolved into footage of a small, burned-out jet.

A woman’s voice said, “Yesterday, an aircraft carrying the Trutopian leader Reginald Kinsella was shot down over Poland. All six people on board were killed. DNA analysis of the bodies has confirmed that Reginald Kinsella is among the dead. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but we cannot deny the rumors that the attack was orchestrated by the New Heroes.
They have long been opposed to the Trutopian ideals, and assassinating our leader is not beyond their capabilities.”

The screen cut to aerial footage of the platinum mine. “Less than one hour ago, officials from the United Nations uncovered a mass grave next to the Lieberstanian labor camp. It is estimated that almost a hundred bodies are within, many of them children. The English philosopher Edmund Burke once said that the only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing. We Trutopians strive to be good people. Therefore, we will
not
do nothing.”

Razor, Butler and Renata appeared at the doorway, just as the screen changed to show a burned-out high school. “We closed our doors once before, when our communities were being attacked by the former supervillain Dioxin, using the armor he stole from Paragon. Since then, we have attempted to foster stronger relations with our host nations. We cannot in all conscience continue to do so. We cannot exist alongside the same governments who have knowingly enslaved innocent people in Lieberstan, and therefore we will no longer support them.

“All Trutopians who are currently outside their communities are urged to return home as soon as possible. The people who assassinated Reginald Kinsella undoubtedly did so in an attempt to break the Trutopians. But they are about to learn that we do not break so easily. From this moment on, the Trutopian communities are one unified state. We do not belong to any other nation. Any attempt to breach our borders, or to in any way subjugate our people, will be considered to be an act of war and will be met with appropriate force.”

The screen went blank. Danny collapsed into a chair. “Just great.”

“We’ll find a way to sort this out, Danny,” Façade said.

“How? They’ve got Colin on their side. He’s stronger than any of us!” He looked at Renata. “You might be able to stop him, if you use your power to solidify him.”

“I don’t know…. I nearly collapsed from the pain when I turned you. If I lost consciousness, then he might turn back.”

“Well,
I
can’t do it,” Danny said. “He’s almost as fast as I am, and way stronger.”

Butler said, “He tore my force-field apart.”

“Then you’ll have to start acting as a team,” Façade said. “Hit him together.”

Renata said, “Even if we do manage to stop him, how can we contain him?”

“There’s also the matter of how to catch him in the first place,” Butler said. “He can fly now.”

Then Razor said, “I don’t know how you’re going to catch him. But if you
can
get him on the ground, I have an idea. But you’re really not going to like it.”