The Awakening (5 page)

7

D
ANNY
C
OOPER’S FATHER WAS IN THE
sitting room watching television when Danny arrived home. “You’re late.”

“Sorry,” Danny said. “The party went on longer than I expected.”

“All right. Good party, was it?”

“It was OK. Everyone kept asking me about what happened with Susie.”

“You didn’t tell any of your friends, did you?”

“No, of course not!” Danny lied.

Danny’s father hesitated for a second, then nodded. “Good, good. Actually, Dan, if you’re not too tired, I think you and I need to have a little talk. I need to show you something important.” He pushed his massive frame out of his armchair and stretched.

“At this hour?”

Mr. Cooper turned off the television set. “It won’t take long.” He led Danny out into the hall.

“Keep the noise down,” he whispered. “Your mother and Niall are asleep. Now, look at this…”

Danny watched as his father pulled the casing off the fuse box in the hall.

“There’s a switch…” Danny’s father groped around and there was a soft
click
.

He turned to the large photo of Danny’s grandfather that hung in the hall and lifted it off its hook. Danny saw that there was a panel behind it. Danny’s father pulled the panel open and removed a small black canvas bag.

“What’s that?”

“Just some stuff from the old days.” He closed the panel and re-hung the photo. He slung the bag over his shoulder and opened the front door.

“Aw, Dad! I don’t want to go back out into the rain
again
!”

“It won’t hurt you,” Danny’s father said.

They left the blocks of flats and walked in the direction of the main road. “What’s up?” Danny asked.

His father opened the bag and took out a small metal device, about the size of a personal stereo. He flipped a switch on the device and a small red light began blinking.

“What’s that for?” Danny asked.

“It’s a transponder,” his father explained. “I’m sure that these days they could make something like this about the size of your fingernail, but it was state of the art back then.”

“I thought that transponders were something to do with aircraft.”

“Not necessarily. It’s looking for a specific signal. When it gets it, it sends a countersignal back. Someone with the right equipment will be able to pick up our signal and find us. Doesn’t matter where we are on the planet, they’ll find us.”

“Who?”

“You’ll see soon enough.”

Danny considered this. “So…this is a mission, then?”

“Yeah, sort of.”

Danny grinned. “Cool! But what if someone recognizes me? Shouldn’t I have a mask?”

“It’s not really
that
kind of mission, Danny.”

“We should have left a note for Mum. I mean, just in case anything happens.”

“No, better if she doesn’t know. I didn’t tell her everything that I did when I was Quantum. Can’t have her worried all the time.”

“Do you still have your old costume?”

Mr. Cooper smiled. “It wouldn’t fit you. Not yet, anyway. You’ll need to fill out a bit.”

Danny realized that they were heading in the direction of Colin’s house and suddenly felt worried. He shouldn’t have told Colin about his powers.
What if we
are
going to Colin’s?
he wondered.
Suppose Colin says something, lets it slip that he knows?

For a second, Danny wondered if he could race ahead to Colin’s house, tell him not to say a word, then run back without his dad noticing that he’d gone.

No. That wouldn’t work. Anyway, we can’t be going to Colin’s house. Why would we?

Despite the fact that he hadn’t got out of bed until midday, Colin was exhausted. He felt dizzy, almost nauseated, as he removed his clothes and dropped them on the floor.

Danny’s a superhuman.

The thought jumped into his mind, as it seemed to do every couple of minutes.

He turned off the light, pulled back the blankets and awkwardly climbed into bed; the muscles in his arms and legs were sore, as though he’d been working out all day. This had been happening on and off for weeks now; growing pains, his mother called them.

Danny’s going to be off saving the world and having fantastic adventures, while the rest of us have ordinary, boring lives. It’s not fair. I want to have superpowers! I want to be able to move as fast as Quantum!

Colin knew that he’d never be able to sleep with these thoughts running around in his head.

He rolled over onto his side and tried to think of something—anything—to keep his mind off the fact that his best friend was going to be a superhero.

It wasn’t working.

Colin shifted around to his favorite position—on his back, with his hands tucked behind his head—and tried to focus on the gentle hum of the traffic on the motorway; this usually helped him drift off to sleep.

But this time, as he focused on the noise of the traffic, it seemed to him that the sounds were becoming sharper.

Outside, on the next street, a car beeped its horn twice.

Someone saying good-bye.
His own aunt had done the same thing earlier.
Why
do
people do that? Surely getting into the car and driving away is a pretty good indication that you’re leaving. You don’t have to beep your horn and wake the whole neighborhood up!

He wondered who it was and listened carefully. He faintly heard a woman calling, “Bye!” as the car pulled away. Colin recognized her voice: Mrs. Healy from number 23. He heard her close her front door, then go into her kitchen and fill the kettle.

I’m dreaming,
Colin thought.
There’s no way I can hear Mrs. Healy filling her kettle!

He imagined that he could hear his parents downstairs in the sitting room. The television was on, but they weren’t paying attention to it. His father was about to fall asleep; Colin could hear his breathing slowing, becoming more regular. His mother was humming quietly to herself and…yes, she was reading; Colin could hear the pages turning.

Colin sat up. A thin film of cold sweat had broken out on the back of his neck and he felt dizzy, light-headed.

“This is real,” he said aloud. “This isn’t a dream!”

I should
not
be able to hear these things!

He wondered what else he could hear, and strained to listen.

Cars. Rain. Faint music coming from a neighbor’s house. A lot of voices, a lot of snoring. A baby crying. Footsteps slashing through the puddles. An almost silent
whip-whip-whip
sound that he couldn’t place.

Then he heard Danny Cooper saying, “So we
are
going to Colin’s house? He’s probably in bed, Dad. I bet his parents are too. Can’t this wait until morning?”

“No,” Mr. Cooper said. “Trust me, this is important.”

“Well, couldn’t we have just phoned them?”

“This has to be done in person.”

Colin got out of bed and looked out of the window. He could still hear Danny and his father talking, but couldn’t yet see them.

He quickly dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, grabbed his sneakers from under the bed and went downstairs. His father woke with a start as Colin opened the door. “Dad, Mum? Something’s wrong. Danny and his father are on the way over.”

His father frowned. “What? I didn’t hear the phone ring.”

“They didn’t phone. I can hear them talking.” Colin sat down on the sofa to put his sneakers on.

“I don’t understand. Why are they coming here?”

“Danny’s father won’t tell him.”

“Are you sure you weren’t dreaming, honey?” Colin’s mother asked.

“Unless I’m
still
dreaming—and I don’t think I am, am I?—I can hear them. I don’t know how, but I can.”

Caroline carefully put her book aside, got to her feet and stood in front of her son. “What
else
can you hear?”

Colin listened. “Everything. I can hear cats fighting, dogs barking…televisions, radios, car tires hissing on the wet roads…Mr. Johnston down at number 41 is complaining to his wife because there’s not enough bread. He wants to make a cheese sandwich. She’s just said that there’s some bread in the freezer…He doesn’t want to go to all that trouble…Now she’s just said that
she’ll
do it.” Colin opened his eyes and saw that his parents were staring at him. “I’m not making this up!” He tilted his head to one side and listened. “I can hear so
much.
It’s like being in a huge room packed with people who are all talking at once. And driving their cars and playing their radios.”

“Concentrate,” his mother said. “Focus on one specific sound and try to block out the others.”

“OK. I can hear Danny and his dad talking. Danny’s just asked his dad what they’re going to do if we’re all in bed. They’re almost here. And there’s something else in the background. It sounds kind of like a helicopter, only much quieter. Hold on.” He concentrated again. “I think it’s a couple of kilometers away, but it’s getting closer. The pilot’s just said something about tracking a transponder. Whatever
that
is.”

Colin’s father started to speak, but Colin interrupted him. “The men in the helicopter…I think they’re
following
Danny’s father! They’re talking about…” He frowned. “We’ve got to get out of here! Dad! They’re coming for
us
! They’re talking about making a clean capture!”

Colin’s parents looked at each other and hesitated for a split second. Then Warren jumped to his feet. “Colin, go out and unlock the car. Get in and put your seat belt on!”

“What?”

“Move!
Now!
”

“Dad, we’ll never outrun a helicopter!”

“We’re bloody well going to try!”

8

D
ANNY JUMPED BACK AS THE CAR ROARED
out of the driveway of Colin’s house. “Where are
they
going?”

His father swore and pulled another device out of his canvas bag. He spoke into it. “Green Montego, heading north from my position! Stop it!”

“Dad? What’ s—?” Danny stopped. The wind had suddenly picked up, gusting from behind, whipping the rain almost horizontally ahead of them. A low, fast thumping sound came from overhead. He turned to see an enormous black helicopter pass a hundred meters above, pursuing Colin’s parents’ car.

Danny stared at his father. “What’s going on?”

Without looking at him, Mr. Cooper said, “Be quiet.”

“But…”

Mr. Cooper reached out and locked his hand around Danny’s arm. “I said, be quiet!” He glared at Danny.

Danny nodded.

“Danny, you always were a lousy liar. I
told
you not to tell anyone about your powers!”

Colin clung to the back of his mother’s seat as the car roared around another corner. “Dad…!”

“We can do it!”

“The pilot’s just been ordered to activate an infrared scanner.”

Caroline Wagner shook her head. “We can’t hide from that, Warren. Just pull over before you kill us all!”

Colin didn’t know whether to be more shocked that they were being chased by a helicopter, or that his father was driving through the estate at four times the speed limit.

“They’re going to try to corner us, Warren!” Colin’s mother said. “Take the next left, through the Penrose estate!”

“We’ll head into the underpass,” Colin’s father replied. “They can’t follow us there.”

“They’ll just wait for us to come out the other side!” Colin said.

“I know…Colin, we’re going to have to abandon the car, OK? We’ll jump out and let it keep running. That’ll give us a few minutes.”

“Are you
crazy
? Mum! Tell him!”

“He’s right, Colin.” She was already undoing her seat belt.

“We’ll be killed!”

Warren said, “Hold on! Roundabout!”

The car went straight over the roundabout, plowing through the flower beds that had been planted for Mystery Day—they were in the shape of the
T
on Titan’s chest—and narrowly missed an oncoming motorbike.

Warren shouted, “We’re nearly there! Colin, take off your seat belt and unlock the door!”

Colin did as he was instructed. Ahead, the entrance to the motorway’s underpass was rapidly approaching.

As soon as the car was inside the tunnel, Warren hit the brakes. “Get out, both of you! And
run
!”

Colin and his mother jumped from the car, slamming the doors behind them. Then his father got out, pulled the small fire extinguisher from under the seat and wedged down the accelerator with it.

Still in neutral, the car’s engine roared, but remained in place.

“Keep back!” Warren said. He leaned into the car, pressed down the clutch and forced the gearstick into third.

He released the hand brake and leaped back just as the car surged forward.

As Colin watched, the car shot out of the far end of the tunnel and kept going.

“Come on!” Warren shouted. They began to run back the way they had come. “I wedged the accelerator down, but it won’t fool them for long.”

Just before the entrance to the tunnel, they stopped at a steel door set into the wall. “Maintenance shaft,” his father explained. “Access for the motorway’s lights and the speed cameras. This comes out about two hundred meters away. Their infrared sensors won’t be able to pick up our heat signatures in there.” He pushed against the door. “Locked! Colin?”

“What?”

“Open this door!”

“If
you
can’t open it, how am I supposed to?”

“Just try!”

Colin reached out, twisted the door handle and pushed. “I can’t.”

His father roared at him.
“Push!”

Colin took a deep breath and threw his shoulder against the door. There was a loud
crack
as the lock snapped and the door flew open. Colin tumbled through, landing heavily on his back.

Warren grabbed Colin’s hand and hauled him to his feet. “Well done. Now, keep going!”

Colin stared at the ruined lock. “I don’t believe I just did that!” He looked down at his trembling hands. He’d felt the resistance of the lock, but had somehow known that he was capable of exerting much more force than the lock could take. “How did I—?”

“Worry about it later, Colin,” his mother said, pushing the door closed.

“There are no lights,” Warren said. “We’ll have to do this the hard way. I’ll take the lead.”

“There’s light coming from
somewhere,
” Colin said, and he started to move forward. “I can see well enough.”

He felt his father’s hand grip his shoulder. “Lead the way, then.”

“How did you know about this place, Dad?”

“The ambulance center got a call a couple of years ago. One of the maintenance workers collapsed down here. Colin, slow down a little.
We
can’t see where we’re going, but you seem to have enhanced night vision.”

“How far are we along, Colin?” Caroline asked.

“About a quarter of the way, I think.”

“Can you hear anything?”

“Well, I heard the car crashing, but that’s all. Look, what’s going on here? My hearing, my vision…and the door! How did I do that?”

“There’s no time to explain, Colin!” his father said, nudging him in the shoulder. “Just keep moving!”

Colin stood his ground. “No! We’re being chased by a bunch of guys in a helicopter and it’s got something to do with Danny and his dad, and you know what’s going on!”

He paused, suddenly realizing. “This is because of who Mr. Cooper used to be, isn’t it?”

His father said, “So you know about Quantum?”

“Danny told me everything.” Colin frowned. “But how do
you
know about that? Did Mr. Cooper tell you?”

“No, but then he didn’t need to. Until ten years ago, your mother used to be Energy.”

Colin stared at his mother in the half-light. “Is that
true
?”

She nodded.

Then Warren Wagner said, “And
I
…I used to be Titan.”

Colin stared at his parents. “No
way
!”

“You’re almost thirteen,” his mother said. “That’s the age when the superhuman abilities usually start to appear.”

Colin’s mouth had suddenly gone dry and he could hear his heart thumping like crazy. “So…I’m a superhuman? Really?”

“The powers aren’t always inherited, so we weren’t sure that it would happen to you,” his father said. “Especially not after what happened on Mystery Day. Now look…Just keep going, Colin! I promise that we’ll explain everything the first chance we get!”

Colin nodded, then realized that in the weak light his parents probably weren’t able to see the movement. “OK…”

He turned and continued along the tunnel.

This can’t be happening,
he thought.
Maybe I
am
still dreaming!

“Be careful,” his father said. “The powers come and go at first. You won’t be able to rely on them for a while.”

Caroline said, “Colin…We wanted to tell you for a long time, but…we weren’t sure. Sometimes the powers are passed on to the next generation, but usually they’re not. Do you understand what I’m saying? The age of superhumans didn’t end ten years ago at Mystery Day. It just…took a vacation.”

“Watch it. There’s a step down,” Colin said. “So what happened?”

“Ragnarök had a machine. It was his last weapon, designed to strip our powers, to turn all superhumans back to normal. Ragnarök thought that he was shielded against it. He wanted to be the only one with any powers, but your dad had managed to break through the force field protecting Ragnarök. Your dad almost destroyed the machine but he was too late; Ragnarök activated it at the last second.”

“Since then,” Colin’s father said, “there have been no superhumans, heroes
or
villains.”

“What happened to the villains?”

“Most of them were caught and arrested,” his mother said. “Some just faded back into normal life. Max Dalton told us that he didn’t know whether Ragnarök’s power-damper would also affect people who hadn’t developed their powers yet.”

His father said, “Colin…There are still a lot of people out there who would love to find out the real identities of the heroes. And none of the heroes have their powers now. There’s no way for them to protect their families if anyone learns the truth. No matter what happens tonight, you can’t let them know that you have powers too. Got that? If you mention
any
of this, you’ll be putting a lot of people in danger.”

“You can trust me,” he said. “I doubt that anyone would believe me, anyway. It’s really true, though?”

“It is.”

“We’re almost there,” Colin said. “Duck your head, Dad. There’s a bunch of pipes going across.”

“Can you hear anything?”

“No…well, just traffic on the road above. Where do we go when we get out of here?”

“We’ll have to get another car from somewhere. Something fast. After that, I don’t know.”

Colin stopped suddenly. “Wait…Damn it! They’re waiting for us to come out! They’ve got both ends of the tunnel staked out!” He turned around to face his parents. “We’re trapped.”

The doors at each end of the maintenance tunnel burst open and Colin could see silhouetted figures rushing in.

Speaking softly and quickly, his father said, “Remember what I said, son! They can
not
find out that you’re a superhuman!”

Colin swallowed, then nodded. Colin’s mother just put her arms around him and hugged him close. She was shaking.

As the soldiers’ flashlights approached, Colin felt his father’s hand on his shoulder. “It’ll be OK, Colin. Trust me. We have an advantage.”

Then they were facing four large, heavily armed men in army uniforms.

“Stand apart from each other! Hands on your heads!” one of the soldiers shouted, his handgun raised and aimed at Caroline’s head. “Any resistance and the woman dies!”

They were handcuffed and searched, then marched out of the tunnel.

The black helicopter had landed, its rotors still spinning silently.

They were forced into the copter, where Colin saw that Danny was unconscious, strapped into a seat. In front of him stood Mr. Cooper, a large semiautomatic weapon in his hands.

The man said nothing until the ramp had been pulled back into the copter and they were in the air. “Just…sit still, do as you’re told, and all this will be over soon enough.”

Warren swore at Mr. Cooper. “What the
hell
is going on, P.J.?”

“I was under orders to watch Danny and make sure that nothing happened to him.” He turned back to Warren. “
You
probably would have been left alone, but Danny told Colin about his abilities.”

Colin looked toward his mother. He’d never seen her with that expression before: pure rage. “You are
not
Paul Cooper! And you’re certainly not Quantum. There’s only ever been one superhuman with shape-shifting powers. You’re Façade.”

The man nodded. “Correct.”