Pegasus and the New Olympians (24 page)

‘Clones.’

‘Yes, clones,’ Jupiter repeated. ‘How many are there?’

Paelen shrugged. ‘I do not know for certain. But there is a Diana clone on the loose with a Nirad clone. They have killed many people. There is my clone as well and Tornado Warning was a clone of Pegasus. We believe there are many more, but only Alexis has been to Area 51 to see for herself. I have not seen her since the CRU attacked us outside of their facility.’

The leader of Olympus turned furious eyes on his daughter. ‘Diana, you knew of this and did not tell me?’

Diana dropped her head. ‘Forgive me, Father. But we only suspected. We had no proof of the clones. That Tornado Warning looked identical to Pegasus was not enough. Emily and Pegasus were determined to return to Earth to see for themselves. We sent Alexis with them for protection.’

‘Why did you not come to me?’ Jupiter demanded. He turned on Pluto. ‘And you, my own brother! You did not think to tell me?’

Pluto shook his head. ‘Not until we knew for certain. You have a temper, brother. Emily feared you would destroy her world if you knew they were creating New Olympians.’

Jupiter’s eyes went black with barely contained rage. ‘She was right to fear for her world,’ he shot. He advanced furiously on his brother. ‘Summon Neptune! Prepare for war. Once we have collected Emily we will turn the Solar Stream on Earth!’

For a blissful instant, Emily forgot what had happened. She awoke fully from the healing sleep and looked around but couldn’t see the stallion. ‘Pegs?’

Then it all crashed back on her. There was no Pegs. Pegasus, the magnificent stallion of Olympus had disappeared for ever. And it was all her fault.

Suddenly Emily couldn’t breathe. She sat up, gulping air as she tried desperately to deny the truth. ‘Pegs?’ she gasped.

She looked around as the full memories of the awful night returned. Pegasus was dead and she had been captured by the CRU. Tears rushed to her eyes. Emily was so used to having her green handkerchief with her, and automatically collecting the tears, that she was stunned to discover it was gone. Instead she used the crisp white sheets from her bed to collect her tears. And if they blew up because of the power they contained, she hoped she would blow up with them.

Emily curled into a tight ball. She sobbed openly for the loss of her beloved Pegasus. Alexis and little Frankie were gone also. But it was the death of the stallion that crippled her most.

‘Forgive me,’ she wept. ‘Pegs, please forgive me …’

Alexis had warned her about her powers. But in her fury at the CRU she hadn’t listened. Why hadn’t she listened? Why did she do it? It was all her fault! Pegasus and Alexis would be alive now if she had only listened to the Sphinx. Why didn’t she?

It seemed a lifetime ago that the gorgons had tried to get her to use her powers against Jupiter. But she wouldn’t do it. Pegasus had been there and given her strength to do the right thing. Now, it was those same powers that had destroyed him.

Emily didn’t hear the door in her room open. It was only when a voice called her name that she become aware of someone entering.

A man was standing at the side of her bed. Two large grey Nirad soldiers in uniform stood behind him.

‘Emily Jacobs,’ the man repeated, ‘I am Agent PS. I am here to speak with you.’

He appeared to be in his thirties with cropped reddish hair and eyes the colour of a peat bog. He had a neatly trimmed beard but his eyes looked tired and drawn, as though he hadn’t slept.

‘Go away,’ Emily wept.

‘No,’ the man said coldly. ‘You have a lot to answer for, young lady. Do you have any idea what you have done?’

Emily’s grief turned into anger. ‘Yes, I know what I’ve done. I’ve killed Pegasus!’

‘You’ve done a lot more than that,’ he said. ‘Shall I tell you?’

Emily felt the Flame inside her rumbling with anger. This CRU agent was doing his best to provoke her. ‘I’d go away if I was you,’ she warned. ‘You don’t know what I can do when I’m upset. Pegasus is gone and I am
very
upset!’

The agent didn’t seem the least bit concerned. ‘I know full well what you can do, Emily. I have made it my business to learn all about you and your amazing powers. I need to talk to you about them, to understand them. You were born in New York to two very human parents. You lived an ordinary life until last year. What changed? How do you have these powers? Where do they come from?’

‘You’re wrong if you think I’m going to tell you anything,’ Emily spat.

‘Why do you want to make this so difficult?’ Agent PS asked. ‘We are on the same side. Who knows, perhaps one day you will use those powers to work with us instead of against us.’

‘Work with the CRU?’ Emily said incredulously. She turned over and sat up, facing the man. ‘Are you crazy? Do you have any idea what you have done by creating clones? We came here to warn you! Jupiter is going to destroy this world if you don’t stop.’

The man sighed. ‘I know all the myths, Emily. Never has it been suggested that Zeus – or Jupiter as you prefer – has the power to destroy the world.’

‘You’re wrong,’ Emily said. ‘He does. And he doesn’t even have to come here to do it. All he has to do is turn the Solar Stream on Earth and it will be destroyed in an instant.’

The comment made Agent PS pause. But only for a moment. ‘He wouldn’t do that with you here,’ he smiled slyly. ‘We have seen your powers, Emily. We know how valuable you are to him.’

‘I am nothing without Pegasus,’ she said softly. ‘I don’t care what Jupiter does now. If he destroys the Earth, I hope he destroys me too.’

‘What about the other Pegasi we have here? Surely you could find another Pegasus amongst them? I know you have spent a lot of time with Tornado Warning. He is here waiting for you along with all the others.’

Emily sniffed. ‘Pegasi? What are you talking about?’

‘Pegasus may have been the original, but we have all his clones here. Collectively we call them the Pegasi.’

Hearing the pluralized name made Emily explode. ‘There was only one Pegasus and he’s dead! All you’ve got are flying horses. There is no such thing as Pegasi. Don’t you dare call them that! What do you call your Diana clones? Diani?’

The agent nodded. ‘Exactly.’

‘You’re sick!’ she shot as her temper flared even more. The bed started to rumble and shake. Behind the agent, the two grey Nirads stepped closer.

‘Call them back,’ Emily threatened. She raised her hand and it burst into flame, snapping and crackling the air around her. ‘Not a lot can kill a Nirad, but I can!’

Emily was stunned to see the two Nirads step back by themselves. Their eyes were clearly focused on her and seemed to have intelligence. ‘Can you understand me?’

‘Of course they can understand you,’ the agent said. ‘What did you think they are? Mindless monsters?’

‘But they’re clones of the grey Nirads,’ Emily insisted. ‘They’re not the smart ones. I don’t understand. Tornado Warning was wild. So was the Paelen clone. Why aren’t these?’

The agent smiled smugly as he patted one of the clone’s arms. ‘Nirad DNA works much better when mixed with Olympian. These two were our first success, but there have been many more. However, it’s taken us much longer to perfect Olympians.’

‘They’re not Olympians!’ Emily shot.

‘Of course they are,’ the agent said. ‘Would you care to meet some of them?’

‘No, I don’t want to meet them. Just go away and leave me alone to die.’

The agent chuckled. ‘Well, we both know that’s not going to happen, is it? You can’t die.’

‘Yes, I can,’ Emily shot. ‘When Jupiter turns the Solar Stream on Earth, we’ll all burn up.’

‘All right,’ he agreed, almost teasingly. ‘Don’t you want to see Joel before you die?’

‘Joel?’

‘Yes, he’s here too. He is recovering. His surgery went well.’

Was Agent PS baiting her? But if they
had
done anything to Joel, she had to know. ‘What surgery?’

‘You’ll have to come with me if you want to find out,’ the agent said. At that moment, another man entered the room.

‘Agent PS, the boy is waking.’

‘Perfect timing,’ Agent PS said. He turned back to Emily. ‘If you want to see Joel before we start our interrogation, you’d better say so.’

A desperate need to see Joel rose within her. She needed him more than ever. And if the CRU really had him, he needed her too. Should she call their bluff ?

‘Joel isn’t here. He’s in Las Vegas,’ she tested.

‘Not any more.’

‘You’re not going to touch him,’ she threatened.

‘Who’s going to stop us?’

Emily sat up and slid her legs over the side. She was wearing a hospital gown, but her silver leg brace was gone. ‘I am,’ she challenged. ‘Where’s my brace?’

‘In the lab being analysed,’ Agent PS said. ‘You can use these instead.’ He collected a pair of crutches and handed them to Emily, ‘Or,’ he indicated the Nirad soldiers, ‘one of these big fellows can carry you. It’s your choice.’

Was this a trick? She looked around the small white room. It was similar to her room at Governors Island, but there was no lock on the door and it was kept open. Emily reached for the crutches and followed them to the door. She paused. ‘No locks?’

The agent stopped. ‘Could any locked door ever contain you? We all know you could leave here anytime you wanted and we couldn’t stop you. But it is my hope that when you see what we’ve accomplished here, you won’t want to go.’

‘Don’t bet on it,’ Emily said furiously. ‘Just take me to Joel.’

The agent chuckled as Emily followed him out of the room. The corridor was bright and spacious and filled with people in lab coats. There were other uniformed Nirad soldiers walking down the hall beside humans. As she walked past, the Nirads paused to watch at her.

She turned and looked back at her Nirad escort. They were both staring at her intently. There was something in their eyes.

‘This way,’ Agent PS said as he turned down a second corridor. He approached a set of double doors. ‘We have a couple of patients in here. I think you know them both.’

The two Nirads held the door open for Emily and Agent PS. As she walked past the Nirad on the left, she felt the huge clone pat her gently on the shoulder. When she looked up at him, she was convinced he was trying to tell her something.

But then Emily got the shock of her life. There were two curtained-off areas in the room. One had the curtain drawn round it, but in the other open area was a bed with an occupant hooked up to a breathing machine and lots of tubes.

‘Agent T!’ Emily cried as she hopped over to the side of the bed.

The ex-CRU agent was awake and looking at her. The breathing tube in his mouth meant he couldn’t speak. But as she leaned over him, tears formed in the corners of his blue eyes and trailed silently down his cheeks.

‘You’re alive!’

‘If you call that living,’ Agent PS said casually. ‘He was shot when he and that winged cat woman attacked us. One of the bullets severed his spine. He can’t move, eat or even breathe on his own. But in time he may be able to speak. We do have a lot of questions for this traitor.’

‘He’s not a traitor,’ Emily shot angrily. ‘He worked with us to try to warn you about Jupiter to save this world. He’s a hero.’

‘Not to us.’

Emily stroked Agent T’s cheek. She wiped away his tears. A part of her had hoped that her powers would heal him. But he was human and had never eaten ambrosia. It wouldn’t work.

‘I’m so sorry,’ Emily said, brushing back his hair from his face. ‘I failed all of us.’

Agent T blinked his eyes slowly. He looked so weak and vulnerable lying in the bed, hooked up to all the machines. Emily leaned forward and kissed him gently on the forehead.

‘Em?’ a weak voice called.

‘Joel?’

Emily struggled over to the long curtain that separated each treatment area. When she pushed back the curtain, she was met with an awful sight.

The crutches fell from her arms as she hopped over to the bed. ‘What have they done to you?’ She trembled as she looked at Joel. His silver arm was gone and his side and shoulder were covered in thick bandages. He was deathly pale.

The roller-coaster ride of emotions took another dip as fury rose to the surface. She turned on Agent PS and pointed an accusing finger at him. ‘You did this!’

Suddenly the CRU agent was thrown violently across the room. He crashed against the back wall and crumpled to the ground unconscious. Orderlies looked at Emily fearfully, but ran over to the agent. They lifted him up and carried him from the room.

But Emily could only concentrate on Joel. She stroked his pale forehead and felt her powers working. His time in Olympus and all the ambrosia and nectar he’d consumed meant Joel was now more Olympian than human and her powers could heal his wounds.

She watched in relief as the colour in Joel’s face returned and he was fully awake. ‘Those bastards took my arm!’ He sat up angrily. ‘Vulcan is going to be furious!’ Then he looked at the pained expression on Emily’s face.

‘What’s happened? How did they catch you? Where are Pegasus and Alexis? Are they here too?’ Then his eyes fell on the other bed. ‘Agent T!’

Joel sprang up from his bed to get closer to Agent T. ‘Em, can’t you heal him?’

Seeing Joel without his arm and Agent T lying destroyed in the bed, Emily felt herself breaking. ‘No. All I can do is kill.’

She looked at Joel. He was going to hate her for what she had done, but she had to tell him. ‘I killed Pegasus. Alexis and Frankie too.’

‘What?’ Joel cried.

‘My powers got away from me. Now they’re dead – and it’s my fault,’ she whispered as tears rimmed her eyes.

Joel pulled Emily into a tight embrace and clung to her with his one arm. ‘Where’s your handkerchief ?’ he asked softly as tears streamed down her cheeks and landed on her hospital gown.

‘They took it,’ she wept. ‘But I don’t care any more. I hope my tears blow me up!’

Joel held her tighter. ‘If they blow us up, there’s no one I’d rather go to pieces for.’

Emily turned tearful eyes up to him and saw he was smiling gently.

‘It’s not funny, Joel.’

Joel kissed the top of her head. ‘I know it’s not.’ Then his voice because serious. ‘But you listen to me, Emily Jacobs. You did not kill Pegasus. It was an accident. I know for sure Pegasus would not want you blaming yourself.’