Pegasus and the New Olympians (11 page)

‘I won’t tell you a thing,’ Rip said, ‘until you tell me how those horses can have wings.’

‘Wrong answer.’ Agent T slapped Rip across the face. ‘That is me playing nice. One more wrong answer and I will gladly introduce you to Alexis. She’s not so patient.’

‘Who’s Alexis?’ Rip demanded.

‘I am.’ The Sphinx opened her wings and flew the short distance to where the group was standing. She narrowed her green eyes and stalked up to the man. ‘I am Alexis. You will answer our questions or you will not live to see the sunrise.’

Fear rose on Rip’s face. ‘You’re a lion woman! And you got wings too!’

‘You do not miss much,’ Alexis said sarcastically. ‘But did you also notice these?’ She held up her paw to show her sharp claws.

Rip held up his hands and looked over to Agent T. ‘All right, all right, I’ll tell you anything. Just keep that thing away from me!’

‘
Thing?
’ Alexis roared.

Emily saw only the quickest flash of movement from the Sphinx. Moments later, Rip Russell was on the ground crying in pain and grasping his lower legs. His jeans were torn from Alexis’s claws and blood was rising to the surface.

‘You were lucky it was only your legs,’ Agent T warned. ‘One more remark like that and I won’t stop her.’ The ex-CRU agent knelt down beside him. ‘Now tell us. Where did you get Tornado Warning?’

‘My cousin,’ Rip gasped between gritted teeth. He was clutching his bleeding legs. ‘My cousin gave him to me.’

‘Where did he get him?’ Emily asked.

Rip cursed and sat up. ‘I just knew it! I knew this would come back to haunt me!’

‘Explain,’ Agent T ordered.

Still grasping his legs, Rip Russell started to speak. ‘Ten months ago, I was living on a broken-down farm in northern California. I had a couple of racehorses, but could never catch a break and win anything. One day outta nowhere, my cousin calls me. He says he’s got a sure thing. All I had to do was raise a foal and then race him. He said we would split the winnings.’

‘And you agreed?’ Agent T asked.

‘Wouldn’t you?’ Rip answered. ‘So a month later, he brings this tiny white foal to me. It had bandages all over it. But even with the bandages, I could see it was quality horse flesh. So I took it. I was given instructions to keep if fed on sugars and other sweet foods. I was also told to dye the foal grey for racing since no one races white horses.’

Agent T frowned. ‘How could you race him? He had no papers to prove his pedigree.’

‘That part was easy,’ Rip said. ‘All I had to do was find a registered grey horse that we could substitute for him. It took some time, but we found one that looked a lot like him with the same cowlicks and everything – he was called Tornado Warning. Then all I had to do was wait for the foal to grow up. Which he did super fast. So we switched him for the real Tornado Warning and by six months of age, he was winning every race we entered him in.’

‘What happened to the real Tornado Warning?’ Emily asked.

‘There couldn’t be two in case we were found out. So I had him destroyed.’

Emily’s hand went up to her mouth. ‘You killed him?’

Rip shrugged. ‘Hey, this is horse racing. I did what I had to do.’

Agent T sat back on his haunches. ‘That was a grave mistake. What did your cousin tell you about the foal?’

Rip shook his head. ‘Nothing. I was just told to race him and to keep him coloured grey. That I did. And he is one amazing racehorse. Tornado Warning is the fastest horse in the world.’

‘He’s the fastest because he isn’t really a horse. He’s a clone of Pegasus!’ Emily shot. ‘Didn’t you ever wonder about the bandages? Didn’t you care that they cut off his wings!’

Rip held up his hand. ‘Hey, I didn’t know nothing about that. I just thought he’d had shoulder surgery.’

‘Yes!’ Emily cried. ‘To cut off his wings!’

Her raised voice caused Tornado Warning to whinny and pound the ground furiously. His eyes went wild.

‘Keep that monster back!’ Rip cried.

Emily left Pegasus and stepped up to Tornado. ‘Easy boy. I’m sorry I raised my voice.’ At her touch, Tornado Warning calmed. He even let Pegasus move closer.

She looked back at Pegasus. ‘See, Pegs, you don’t have to fight him. He’s fine.’

Emily stood between the two stallions with one hand resting on each of their wings. Beneath her fingers, Tornado was calm. But she could feel Pegasus trembling. He wasn’t happy with the attention she was giving the clone.

‘Where did your cousin get the foal?’ Joel asked.

‘I swear I don’t know,’ Rip said. ‘He’s an agent with the Central Research Unit. I had no idea he was working with horses.’

‘The CRU.’ Agent T nodded and looked back at Emily and the others. ‘That explains everything. If his cousin was working on the clone project, he’d know just how powerful Pegasus was and how powerful the clone could be. If he has a high rank, it wouldn’t be impossible to smuggle a very young foal out of a facility. A clone like that could make a fortune.’

‘He has,’ Rip said. ‘We’ve made millions from Tornado. Especially after the Triple Crown win. When he goes out to stud, there is no telling what we could make.’

Pegasus’s ears went back and he whinnied angrily. He pawed the ground furiously, causing Tornado to shy back and open his wings menacingly.

‘Easy, Tornado,’ Emily calmed. ‘Pegs, please. We get you’re angry. But you can’t upset Tornado. There’s no telling what he’ll do.’

‘Can he understand us?’ Rip asked as his wide eyes watched Pegasus.

‘Yes,’ Joel said. ‘And he’s furious that you were putting his clone out to stud.’

‘I didn’t know he was a clone!’ Rip insisted. ‘I just thought he was a horse!’

Agent T reached out and squeezed the man’s wounded legs. ‘Where can we find your cousin?’

‘I – I – I don’t know how to reach him. He works at Area 51!’

‘Oh God, this gets worse by the moment.’ Agent T started to pace and combed his fingers through his long hair.

‘Isn’t Area 51 where they develop all the new military aircraft?’ Joel asked.

Agent T nodded. ‘Yes, it’s an air force base. But it also holds the country’s largest CRU facility. That’s where we have been keeping all the debris from the Roswell alien crash. That facility has the highest security of all the US locations because it’s got the most developed laboratories. Governors Island was an open theme park and the facility at Tuxedo was a children’s playground compared to it.’

‘Where is it?’ Emily asked.

‘The Nevada desert,’ Agent T said. ‘At a dried-up lakebed, Groom Lake. It’s a good hundred miles from Vegas. I’ve only been there once and that was more than enough. I couldn’t wait to leave it. For as bad as we were at Governors, they are much worse there.’

‘So could they be the ones creating the clones?’ Emily asked.

Agent T nodded. ‘Most likely. I should have thought of that first. The laboratories at Area 51 would be the best equipped to create and manage the clones.’

‘They aren’t managing them that well if the clones keep escaping,’ Joel said.

‘I’ve got to get in there and see just how many clones they’ve created,’ Agent T mused. ‘Maybe I can stop this before it goes too far.’

‘You mean
we’ve
got to get in there,’ Emily corrected.

Agent T shook his head. ‘Not the Olympians here and especially not you. You have powers far too dangerous for them to get hold of. This all started when the CRU captured Olympians. What might they achieve if they caught hold of you?’

Alexis shook her head. ‘No one is going there, especially the Flame of Olympus. We did not come here to enter a CRU facility. Our mission was to see Tornado Warning and then return. We have done that. Here is Tornado Warning. We now know he has been created from Pegasus by the CRU. Our mission is complete. We must now return to Olympus and report our findings to Jupiter.’

‘No!’ Emily cried. ‘If we do that, Jupiter will destroy the Earth.’

‘This world’s fate is already sealed,’ Alexis said darkly. ‘The CRU decided it the moment they created Tornado Warning.’

‘There must be another way!’ Agent T insisted. ‘It can’t end like this. Please, Alexis, let me try to get in there and save my world.’

Emily was stunned to see Agent T begging the Sphinx. He was always so tough and hard, even around her. Now there was genuine fear and desperation in his eyes. ‘I was with the CRU for almost twenty years. Look how I have changed. We all can. Please, you must let me try.’

‘I am truly sorry for you, Tom,’ Alexis said. ‘But nothing can save this world. The CRU have committed an unforgivable crime. It is my duty to return to Olympus and tell Jupiter the truth.’

A hush fell over the stables. Emily looked at the shocked faces around her. She continued to stroke both winged stallions as she collected her thoughts.

Tornado remained oblivious to the danger he was facing, but Pegasus knew. He nickered softly and pressed his face to Emily. Chrysaor’s head was bowed and he was pawing the ground.

Finally she spoke. ‘I won’t go back.’

Everyone turned to her.

This was it, the moment of choice. For days, Emily had wrestled with the dilemma. What would she do if it came down to a choice between Olympus and Earth? Faced with the terrible decision, Emily made her choice. She would choose her world over Olympus.

‘You can’t change my mind,’ she continued. ‘If Jupiter decides to destroy this world, he’s going to have to destroy me with it.’

Pegasus nickered and looked at her in shock.

‘I’m sorry, Pegs. You know how much I love Olympus, and you know I would do anything to protect it. But I love this world too. I came from here. I can’t let Jupiter destroy it just because a few people have done something really stupid.’

Joel and Paelen stood beside Emily. Chrysaor took up a position next to Pegasus. They crossed their arms and stood defiantly before the Sphinx.

Alexis glared at the group. ‘You are all being unreasonable. We told Diana, Pluto and Steve that we would be right back. We have been here too long already and our presence in Olympus will be missed. We must return and report our findings.’

‘Go back if you must, Alexis,’ Emily said. ‘But I won’t let Jupiter destroy this world without a fight.’

Alexis huffed and her tail swished the air. ‘Would you please speak with her?’ she told Pegasus. ‘Tell her this must happen. These humans must be punished for what they have done.’

Emily looked at Pegasus. The time had come for him to make his choice as well. Would he stay with her? Or would he side with Olympus? She knew how tough this must be for him. But as she watched his eyes closely, she saw no hesitation. Pegasus moved closer to Emily and stood beside her. He nickered at Alexis.

‘You also, Pegasus?’ the Sphinx said in disbelief. ‘You would betray your own people for this world? They have sinned against you most! Tornado Warning was created from your stolen blood. Do you not want vengeance for that crime?’

Emily’s heart flushed with emotion for the stallion. Pegasus was going to stand with her, no matter what. She pressed herself to his side and faced the Sphinx.

‘Please, Alexis, help us,’ she continued. ‘This doesn’t have to turn into a battle. I have the power to destroy Area 51 if I must.’ Emily looked at her friends. ‘We all do. But maybe it won’t come to that. Maybe we can stop everything and save this world.’

Alexis looked at the group standing with Emily, ready to fight for the world. Her eyes found Pegasus. ‘Is it really true, Pegasus and Chrysaor, sons of Neptune? You will turn your back on your people for this place?’

Several long nickers and squeals confirmed their decision. ‘They both agree they are not turning their back on Olympus,’ Paelen whispered to Emily and Joel. ‘Pegasus believes we can stop this before it goes too far.’

‘Is that your final decision?’ Alexis asked.

Pegasus nodded his head and pounded the ground.

The Sphinx started to pace before the group. Her wings were fluttering and her tail swished back and forth. ‘This is bad,’ she said softly to herself. She kept looking at Emily. ‘Very, very bad indeed.’

She sighed heavily and sat down.

‘So be it.’

Emily’s heart was in her throat. ‘Are you going back to Olympus to tell Jupiter?’

The Sphinx sighed again. ‘I should. But I promised Diana I would be your guardian. I would fail in that duty if I were to abandon you here to face Jupiter’s wrath alone. Like it or not, I must remain to keep you safe.’

‘Thank you!’ Emily cried as she ran forward and hugged the Sphinx tightly.

‘Do not thank me, Emily,’ Alexis said gruffly. ‘I have sided with you against my better judgement. I have a feeling I will live to regret it.’

The sun was up fully before they were ready to leave. As more and more workers arrived on the ranch, they were marched into the stallion barn. All the workers including Rip Russell were now locked into two large horse stalls. Alexis kept watch and warned the workers what would happen if they made a move against them.

Outside the stallion barn, Earl and Agent T hooked up a large four-horse trailer to a brand-new white pick-up truck. Agent T was still insisting that the safest thing for everyone would be for Emily to use her powers to destroy the racehorse.

Emily refused. They would take Tornado Warning with them to keep him from being turned out to stud. After feeding him a breakfast of sugary foods and heavy tranquillizers, the winged racehorse was bridled and Emily led him into the first box in the trailer.

‘Now, what are we going to do with all the men? They’re going to tell the police as soon as we leave,’ Joel said as he closed and secured the back door to the horse trailer.

‘Maybe I can convince them not to,’ Emily suggested. ‘Especially if we explain what’s at stake.’ She walked towards the barn.

‘It would be more effective to kill them,’ Alexis purred. ‘But we can try your way first if you insist.’ She followed Emily back into the stallion barn to see to the workers who had been locked in the stalls.

With Pegasus and Alexis standing outside the stall, Emily entered the one holding Rip Russell and several of his men. She tried to reason with him, explaining that if the police were called and they were captured, the leader of Olympus would destroy the world. But she could see in his face that after all he had seen and heard, he didn’t care. All Rip could see was them taking away his only means of making money. That and his brand-new truck and trailer.