The Reckoning: Quantum Prophecy Book 3 (25 page)

The problem was that Colin couldn’t tell where Danny was, only where he had been.

Colin paused. He knew what he had to do to draw Danny out.

He darted away, skimmed over the roof of a small shopping mall and touched down in the large triangular area known as Pythagoras Square.

Colin walked to the edge of the impact crater and looked down at the StratoTruck.

He drifted down into the crater and hovered in front of the vehicle. Through the canopy, he could see Renata’s crystalline form.

Then something plowed into his side, knocking him away from the StratoTruck, out of the crater.

As Colin skidded on his back, ripping a channel through the broken paving slabs, Danny materialized in front of him. “You stay the hell away from her!”

Feeling disgusted with himself, Colin rose into the air and flew straight toward the StratoTruck.

Danny raced forward, his artificial arm outstretched toward the back of Colin’s neck.

Faster! Go to get to him before he…

Colin reached the StratoTruck and smashed through the canopy.

Danny saw a small octagonal device attached to the dashboard turn red, then white, and slowly begin to blossom. A similar device on the hatch did the same, then a dozen more scattered throughout the vehicle.

Mines!

Danny reversed direction, and ran for cover as the mines bloomed into white balls of fire.

Slowly, almost gracefully, the StratoTruck was ripped apart by the huge explosion.

Danny felt the ground shake and ripple under his feet. The buildings around him began to shudder, their remaining windows fracturing, the glass splintering inward.

He jumped aside as a head-sized chunk of the StratoTruck’s fuselage passed by, shot straight through an abandoned car and buried itself in the wall of an apartment block.

Renata…I hope she can survive this.

Metal, concrete and glass shrapnel rained down on Pythagoras Square as Danny raced forward.

The StratoTruck was gone, the impact crater it had made upon landing now double in size.

Danny shifted back into normal-time. The sound of the explosion was still echoing through the town.

In the center of the crater, Renata’s solidified body was perfectly intact.

Danny almost cried with relief.
Thank God! But where’s Colin?

Something heavy thumped to the ground nearby, and Danny scrambled up the side of the crater to see what it was.

Colin Wagner lay unmoving on the ground.

Danny walked up to him and nudged him with the mechanical arm. “Col?”

Colin groaned once.

Danny stepped back and activated his radio. “Razor? It’s me. Colin’s down. At least, he is for the moment, but—”

“Danny!” Razor’s voice said. “Get back to Sakkara as fast as you can. We’re under siege here. The Trutopians are breaking through the perimeter and…Mina’s awake!”

“How?”

“Never mind how—just get here! Butler’s trying to hold her back but she’s…God, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

If Razor said anything further, Danny didn’t hear it: He was already in slow-time, racing toward the town’s southern gate.

Sakkara’s a thousand kilometers away
, Danny thought as he dodged around a scared-looking platoon of young U.S. soldiers.
But that’s only in a straight line…. The roads don’t go in straight lines.

He darted back to the marines, pulled a map from the hands
of one of the soldiers and resumed running.
Right. Got to find Interstate 90, go east until…
The wind shredded the map, leaving a trail of paper confetti behind him.
Just perfect…

Stephanie Cord had never felt so alone—or so scared—in her life. She’d been unable to reestablish contact with Razor, and several times she’d had to resist the urge to simply fly away from the Trutopian base.

Now, she was crouching on the balcony of an apartment building, using the telescopic mode built into her helmet to watch a squadron of soldiers who were pinned down by a Trutopian armed with a rocket launcher.

She was thankful that so few Trutopian troops were on the streets.
They’ve put too much faith in their automated weapons,
she thought.
And they definitely underestimated the U.S. military
.

There was a sudden
whoosh
as another rocket streaked toward the soldiers’ position. It exploded against the thick wall they were using for cover.

Stephanie grabbed the balcony’s railing and pulled herself over, only activating her jetpack a few meters above the ground.

She followed the rocket’s dissipating smoke trail back to its source—a hundred-meter-high radio mast situated in the west side of the town.

Her infrared visor showed a strong heat source at the top of the mast. She could make out two human figures.

There was a sudden bright flare as another rocket was launched, this one heading straight toward her.

Stephanie dodged to the left, and could feel the heat of the missile as it missed her by less than a meter.

These guys are good.

Two more missiles were simultaneously launched at her.
Oh fantastic! They’ve
both
got rocket launchers!
She dropped down to street level and darted to the left, then right. The missiles blew large craters in the asphalt, showering Stephanie with fist-sized chunks.

Directly ahead, she could see the base of the radio mast. It was at least five meters across, a complex network of reinforced steel girders set into a heavy concrete base.
Or maybe there’s another way…

Stephanie ramped the jetpack up to full power, zooming toward the radio mast’s base.

She passed through a gap between two girders, immediately pulled back on the controls, then angled her flight upward, aiming straight toward the top of the mast.

They’d have to be incredibly stupid to use their rocket launchers now,
Stephanie thought as she dodged and weaved between the girders,
so I should be able to—

The two Trutopian soldiers fired. The first missile struck one of the girders above her, shaking the whole mast. The second missile streaked toward Stephanie.

She shifted aside and the missile shot past her and exploded against the base, shattering the concrete.

The radio mast creaked and shuddered. One of the soldiers lost his balance and fell.

Stephanie darted out from among the girders and grabbed hold of the terrified man’s right arm. “Hold tight!” she yelled. “I’m going to get your friend!” She angled back toward the top
of the mast, her arm straining, the jetpack slowing under the extra weight.

But the other soldier wasn’t willing to be captured so easily: He pulled out a handgun and began firing at Stephanie.

A bullet clipped Stephanie’s leg, another ricocheted off her helmet. To the man she was carrying, she shouted, “I can’t grab him. Need one hand to control the jetpack. You’ll have to do it.”

The man didn’t respond. Stephanie glanced down to see that he was hanging limp, barely conscious. One of his colleague’s bullets had struck him in the chest.

Then the radio mast buckled. A hundred tons of steel girders toppled to the ground, completely crushing a small hotel and the office buildings around it.

Shaking, Stephanie flew toward the U.S. soldiers’ location, and lowered the wounded Trutopian fighter to the ground, carefully placing him on his back. She pressed her hands over the bullet wound and looked up as a U.S. soldier with sergeant’s stripes on his shoulder ran toward her.

“The other one!” Stephanie said. “He could still be alive.”

“My men will check on him. How’s this one?”

“There’s a lot of blood.”

The sergeant placed his hand on Stephanie’s arm. “OK, miss. You did good. Now step back and leave it to us. We’ll take care of him from here.” He crouched over the Trutopian soldier and examined the wound. “Doesn’t look too bad. I think he’ll make it. Good thing his friend hit him, though.”

“
What?
These men aren’t evil, sergeant. They’re being controlled!”

“So I’ve heard,” the sergeant said. “But look at this …” He pointed.

The unconscious Trutopian soldier was holding a pistol in his left hand.

“A couple of seconds later and he’d have blown your head off.” The sergeant stood up. “So. The big question: Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“My name is Stephanie Cord, I’m—”

“One of Paragon’s daughters.” He smiled. “All right, Ms. Cord. Thanks for the assist. Now this war is over for you. Get yourself out of this town and back behind the line.”

“No.” She activated the jetpack and rose slowly into the air. “My friends are still here. They need my help.”

The sergeant said, “Just like your old man. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it? All right, Stephanie.” He pulled the Trutopian soldier’s gun from his hand, and passed it to Stephanie. “You’ll need this.”

“I don’t use guns. My father never did.”

“Your father had weapons built into his armor.”

Hesitantly, Stephanie dropped back down and took hold of the gun. “All right,” she said. “Just in case.”

Back at Sakkara, Razor and Max Dalton struggled to carry the unconscious Warren Wagner up the stairs and onto the roof.

“She just woke up, like nothing had happened,” Max said, almost shouting over the noise of the battle. “Didn’t say a word. She got out of bed, pulled on her uniform and then…I don’t know. I can’t remember.”

Something exploded against the side of the pyramidal building, trembling the roof. Razor stumbled, almost lost his grip on Warren. Ahead, Façade was helping Mrs. Cooper into a helicopter.

“She’s fast,” Max said. “Not as fast as Danny, but athletic. Bouncing off the walls, spinning…”

“Dalton!” Razor said. “Focus on what you’re doing! Forget about Mina—Butler can take care of her.”

“He doesn’t stand a chance.”

Running toward them, Façade shouted, “Move! The Trutopians got through the fence—they’re swarming into the compound! Razor, I’ll take over. You go see who’s left.”

Razor stepped away from Warren, then took the stairs three at a time and rushed into the corridor, where he saw Caroline Wagner and Niall Cooper running toward him.

Caroline looked pale, exhausted and out of breath.

“Go!” Caroline said, panting. “We’re the last! Butler’s down.” She sagged forward.

Razor caught her. “Niall, get out onto the roof and into the copter!”

“But…Mrs. Wagner!”

“We’ll be right behind you. Run! Don’t stop for anything!”

Niall darted away.

A man screamed on the floor below.

“Razor…Go,” Caroline said. “Leave me.”

“As Colin might say, not bloody likely.” He scooped Caroline up in his arms and began to run toward the entrance. “You’ve got the baby to think about.”

He charged up the stairs, out onto the roof.

Façade stood in the copter’s hatchway, Niall standing next to him. “Give her to me.”

Razor passed Caroline up to Façade’s waiting arms, then grabbed the handhold next to the hatchway and began to pull himself up.

Something slammed into his back, sending him sprawling.

He lifted his head to look around just as Mina’s foot caught him in the throat.

He tried to make a grab for her but she somersaulted backward out of reach, dropped to the ground and spun on her hands, again clipping him in the face with her feet.

Razor spat out a mouthful of blood and tried to roll underneath the helicopter; a powerful hand grabbed his ankle and dragged him out, his fingernails splintering painfully on the concrete as he desperately tried to find a handhold.

“Get out of here, Façade!” Razor yelled, his voice cracked and wheezing. “Now!”

“No! We’re not leaving you!”

“Just go!”

They locked eyes for a second, then Façade nodded, and saluted. He stepped back and the hatch began to close.

As the helicopter soared into the air, Mina lifted Razor up with her left hand and stared at him.

Through his bloodshot eyes, Razor stared back. “Stop! Please!”

She pulled back her right fist and punched.

The blow sent Razor sliding across the roof.

That should have killed me…
Then he spotted Butler Redmond—his face covered in cuts and bruises—slowly making his way up the stairs.
He used his force-field to cushion the punch.

As he watched, Mina was knocked backward as though hit by a sudden wall of invisible water. She tumbled once, landing on her feet, but the force-field hit her again and again. Then she was picked up, lifted into the air as though gripped by a giant unseen hand.

Then she disappeared.

Butler staggered backward. “What? How did she…?”

Razor screamed, “Behind you!”

Butler whirled around to see that Mina was lunging at him. She collided with the invisible force-field and dropped to the ground, landing on her hands and feet, crouched, ready to pounce.

As Razor watched, Butler concentrated on the force-field, strengthening it, so that it became almost solid, visible only by the light it refracted.

Razor looked around to see that he too was now safe inside the force-field.

“How did she
do
that?” Butler asked.

“She must be a short-range teleporter,” Razor said, his voice still croaking. “Watch her…. She could—”

Mina vanished.

And reappeared inside the force-field, directly behind Butler. She locked her hands around his throat, and began to squeeze.

Butler struggled to break free and dropped to his knees, his force-field disappearing.

Razor shouted, “Mina! No! You’ll kill him!”

There was a blur and a burst of wind, and suddenly Mina was gone and Butler crashed facedown on the roof.

Ignoring the pain in his back and arms, Razor staggered over. “Butler! Talk to me! You OK?”

He checked Butler’s pulse—it was racing, but strong. He moved Butler into the recovery position, then painfully stood up.
That wasn’t the same as before…. She didn’t teleport away. Where
is
she? What just happened?

D
ANNY
C
OOPER CARRIED
M
INA DOWN THE
stairs and through the doorway to the top floor of Sakkara as he looked for somewhere to lock her up.