The Twisted Future (Teen Superheroes Book 4) Read online

  Brodie spoke up. ‘We need some fresh food. And a holiday.’

  She was right about that. While we weren’t at the top of the FBI’s most wanted list, we were on it, sandwiched between serial killers, armed robbers and terrorists. It wasn’t a good list to be on. The stress wasn’t easy to take.

  ‘There is an island approximately thirty nautical miles from our current position,’ Ferdy’s voice came over the loud speaker. ‘Rousseau island.’

  ‘Whassat?’ Chad said.

  Ferdy spelt the word. ‘Named after the French explorer who first discovered it in 1863, it was briefly occupied by a colony before being eventually abandoned.’

  ‘Why did they leave?’ I asked.

  ‘They deemed it to have no commercial value, and it is far off the shipping lanes.’

  ‘So no-one lives there?’ I said. ‘That could prove the ideal place for us to settle down.’

  ‘That’s right,’ Chad said. ‘Plant lawns. Raise a few kids. Drink beer on the porch while watching TV—’

  ‘I know what you mean,’ Brodie said, ignoring Chad. ‘Maybe we could set up a base of operations.’

  ‘And there would be fresh food,’ Ebony added.

  ‘Fresh food,’ Chad echoed, warming to the idea. ‘No more K’tresh.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ I said. ‘K’tresh sort of grows on you after a while.’

  ‘Yeah. Like mold.’

  I liked the idea of an island base. Liber8tor was a good ship, but built for a race of warriors, not for comfort. The ship was even capable of interplanetary flight, but that wasn’t on the agenda. Not yet.

  Returning to the bridge, I sat down at the environmental console while the others checked their controls. I could only make out a few words in Tagaar. As far as I could tell, Liber8tor was fully operational. Or I hoped it was, anyway.

  The clear waters of the Pacific slid past the screen.

  ‘We are one mile from Rousseau Island,’ Ferdy said.

  ‘Have we lost the Agency pursuit ships?’ Brodie asked.

  ‘They are beyond the scope of our senses.’

  ‘Good. Let’s see this island up close.’

  We broke the surface and swooped in low across a white beach. The island was a long, flat piece of land covered in palm trees and thick foliage with a lake in the middle, and a small mountain at the Northern end. A flock of white birds take off in alarm as we approached.

  ‘Looks like it’s time for chicks and guys to do what comes naturally,’ Chad said, grinning.

  ‘Uh, what’s that?’ Brodie asked.

  ‘You know...get down with nature...walk naked among the trees...’

  ‘You should do that.’

  ‘Uh...’ Chad went pink as a ghost of a smile creased Brodie’s lips. Months ago, she would have rolled her eyes. Now she was teasing him. This was something new. Something had changed between them while I was in jail.

  Or had anything happened between them?

  No-one had said anything, but maybe they wouldn’t if Brodie had cheated on me. They may have decided to keep it secret rather than hurt my feelings. I tried pushing the thought from my mind. It was ridiculous. Brodie was my girlfriend. Chad was my friend, maybe my best friend, considering everything we’d been through.

  Dan brought the ship down into a small clearing a hundred feet from the beach. We made our way down three levels and stepped out into warm sunshine and fresh air. It was like landing on another world after weeks inside the Tagaar ship.

  ‘I’d forgotten what the outside world smelt like,’ Ebony said. ‘I am so sick of that ship.’ She added, ‘No offense, Ferdy.’

  We all wore wrist communicators that allowed us to speak to each other. They even had a video screen so you could see the caller if you wanted.

  ‘No offense is taken, friend Ebony,’ Ferdy said. ‘The eighth element on the periodic table is oxygen.’

  ‘Is it?’ Ebony said. ‘That’s great.’

  Brodie’s eyes swept the jungle. ‘How fantastic to not be on the run anymore,’ she said. ‘To be free of the Agency.’

  ‘You didn’t have to be a criminal,’ I pointed out. ‘You could have left me in jail.’

  ‘No, we couldn’t.’ She drew close and kissed my cheek. ‘Where you go, we all go.’

  I watched a seagull arc towards the ocean. My month in jail wasn’t fun. I had expected to spend decades behind bars for kidnapping the Russian Premier. Instead, here I was a few weeks later on an island in the Pacific, the sun on my face and my girlfriend at my side.

  ‘Let’s explore,’ Dan suggested.

  ‘Is it safe?’ Ebony said.

  ‘What can possibly go wrong?’ Chad asked.

  I peered through the jungle curtain, making out three distinct layers of foliage. Traipsing through that wouldn’t be easy. Visibility was only a few feet. Having superpowers meant we could handle most situations, but it didn’t make us indestructible. A wild animal could kill us as easily as anyone else.

  ‘What’s that?’ Dan asked.

  We turned to see him staring at the sky. A tiny black cut had appeared in the clear blue expanse. For a second I thought it might have been an aircraft, but then it grew larger as a low pulse filled the air.

  ‘Beats me,’ Brodie said. ‘But I think something’s inside it.’

  The cut in the sky grew larger until it was as large as the clearing. Within it was a distant glint of silver. A spaceship.

  I tapped the communicator on my wrist. ‘Ferdy, what are we looking at?’

  ‘A temporal distortion has formed above us,’ Ferdy said calmly. ‘Within it is a vessel.’

  ‘Ferdy,’ Chad groaned. ‘What does that mean?’

  ‘Ferdy is not sure he can explain. Suffice to say, a hole has formed in the time/space continuum and a vessel is entering our universe.’

  ‘Let’s get back into the ship,’ Ebony suggested. ‘It would be safer—’

  The alien vessel suddenly grew larger and flew from the gap. The black cut disappeared as the ship zoomed low over the jungle. Without a sound, the ship completed a slow turn around the mountain before heading towards us. Decelerating as braking thrusters fired, it landed next to Liber8tor.

  No-one spoke. We were so amazed by this sudden turn of events that we couldn’t think of anything to say. Now I stared more closely at the vessel and realized that, although it had wings and rear thrusters that enabled flight, there were no visible windows. A squat ship, it was as if someone had taken a jumbo jet, cut out the middle and stuck both ends together. The vessel’s tiny wings were too small to actually fly it, but somehow they worked.

  Sheets of ice broke away as a hatch cracked open, slowly swinging upwards. The interior was dark, but then a man stepped out.

  Brodie turned to me. ‘That man,’ she gasped. ‘He looks...’

  I stared at him in amazement. He was tall and thin with brown hair and eyes. Millions of people fitted that description, but there was no mistaking the similarity. Chad also did a double-take. ‘He looks like you,’ he said.

  ‘I’m sorry to take you all by surprise,’ the man said in a familiar voice.

  I knew that voice!

  He continued. ‘It’s a miracle I’m here at all.’

  ‘Are we related?’ I asked. ‘We look the same.’

  ‘We are the same,’ the man said. ‘I’m you—from forty years in the future.’

  Chapter Four

  It wasn’t often that we were struck dumb, but this was one of those times. We stared in amazement at the stranger.

  ‘Did you hear me?’ he asked. ‘I said that I’m you from the future. I’m here because we need to change history and you’re the only people who can do it.’

  ‘You’re...me.’ I struggled to come to terms with what he was saying. This old guy was me. The future version of me. ‘You’ve come from the future...and...’

  He shook his head in annoyance. ‘I don’t remember ever being this dense,’ he said. ‘It’s a lot to take it, but I need you
to all wake up and listen to me.’

  ‘We’re awake,’ Chad said, ‘but it doesn’t mean we’re about to start changing our plans for the day.’

  ‘You haven’t changed a bit, Chad. Still the same pain in the—’

  ‘How do I know you’re me?’ I interrupted. ‘That you’re not a...robot or something?’

  ‘Those are good questions,’ the man said. ‘Why don’t we ask Ferdy?’

  That he even knew about Ferdy was a point in his favor, but it wasn’t enough to convince me.

  ‘Ferdy,’ Ebony said. ‘Who is this guy? Is he really Axel? From the future?’

  Ferdy’s voice came over the communicators. ‘It is impossible to ascertain whether this individual is actually Axel. A DNA test would confirm his identity, but Ferdy can confirm his vessel is capable of time travel.’

  ‘Couldn’t this guy just be an alien?’ Brodie asked. ‘An imposter?’

  ‘The Liber8tor’s sensors indicate he is human.’

  ‘But he could be a clone. Couldn’t he? Even with a DNA test.’

  ‘That is true.’

  ‘Prove it.’ This time it was Dan who spoke. ‘Tell us something that only Axel would know.’

  ‘Something not embarrassing,’ I said. ‘I don’t want to look stupid.’

  ‘I have no desire to make myself look foolish. Either my younger or older self.’ The man thought for a long moment. ‘All right. You were in jail a few weeks ago for the kidnapping of the Russian Premier. You wrote in your diary every single day.’

  ‘That doesn’t mean anything,’ I said. ‘Anyone from the jail might know that.’

  ‘Fine. How about this? You were captured by Typhoid after first acquiring your powers. A psycho by the name of Doctor Ravana tortured you for information. You thought you were going to die, but Brodie helped you escape.’

  That was true. Horrible, but true.

  ‘That’s no secret,’ Dan said. ‘A lot of people could know that.’

  ‘Not really,’ Ebony said, frowning. ‘People in the Agency would know. People within Typhoid.’ She stared at the stranger. ‘But just not anyone.’

  ‘We went to the roof,’ the man continued, his eyes locked on mine. ‘I wouldn’t jump between the buildings. But I eventually did.’

  It all seemed a long time ago now, but it had only been a few months. I was captured by Typhoid. Brodie helped me escape. We went to the roof. I eventually jumped, but I ended up falling through a window on the top floor of the building opposite. Then—

  ‘You were attacked by an old lady with a broom,’ the man said. ‘And you’ve never told anyone. No-one has known. Not until now.’

  I thought hard. He was right. The memory had almost faded from my mind. The old lady living in the apartment had hit me with a broom after I demolished her window. It was a minor detail, something so unimportant I had never shared it with anyone. How could he know? How could he know unless he was me?

  He spent the next five minutes sharing other memories, other events I had not told the others. The time I was ill from Ebony’s cooking, but had not informed anyone because I didn’t want to offend her. Another time I had gone out looking at the stars and fallen into a ditch. By the time he finished talking I found myself staring at him open-mouthed.

  ‘Does that sound right?’ Chad asked me. ‘Is it all true?’

  ‘It’s true,’ I said, nodding. ‘I don’t recall ever telling anyone that stuff.’

  ‘Good.’ Old Axel looked satisfied. ‘So now we can move on.’

  ‘Move onto what?’ Brodie asked.

  ‘I need your help.’

  ‘You’ve already said that, but I don’t know why. You’re the one with the time machine, and all.’

  ‘A time machine doesn’t make you God,’ he said. ‘I’ll tell you what I can, but I can’t tell you about your futures. It would contaminate the time line, causing irreparable damage to the space/time continuum.’

  ‘Sounds messy,’ Chad sighed. ‘We wouldn’t want to do that. Would we?’

  Old Axel’s eyes narrowed. He doesn’t like Chad, I thought. No. It was more than that. He hated Chad.

  My older self continued. ‘The world is a different place in forty years. It’s—’

  ‘It’s like Disneyland?’ Chad suggested.

  ‘—it’s like your worst nightmare,’ Old Axel said. ‘The atmosphere is failing. The natural resources are gone. Humanity is facing extinction.’

  Chapter Five

  ‘Extinction?’ Ebony repeated the word, ashen-faced.

  ‘I can’t tell you the details,’ Old Axel continued, ‘but I can tell you this: the man responsible is James Price.’

  ‘Who’s he?’ I asked.

  ‘In this era, a scientist. In the future, a dictator. A monster. He has to be stopped.’

  Brodie frowned. ‘And how do we stop him?’

  ‘He has to be killed.’

  ‘We don’t kill people,’ I said, having already been down this rabbit hole. ‘I once thought I could, but I felt—’

  ‘I know.’ Old Axel interrupted me. ‘The Russian Premier. I was there, but this is different.’

  ‘We’re not killing anyone,’ I said flatly.

  Chad interrupted. ‘If you’re so keen to see this James Price dead, why don’t you do it yourself?’

  ‘I would if I could.’

  ‘And why can’t you?’

  ‘This time machine is experimental. I was lucky to arrive here at this time and place.’

  ‘So why not use your powers?’ I asked.

  Old Axel glared at me. ‘Because I don’t have any powers. I haven’t had them in years.’

  I was struck dumb.

  ‘I can’t say any more than that,’ Old Axel said.

  I felt the others looking at me. They all knew my powers had worked intermittently; sometimes they failed at the worst times. But to learn I would lose them completely...

  ‘There’s only one way to prove what you’re saying is true,’ Brodie said, her eyes fixed on the time machine. ‘You’re taking us to the future.’

  ‘That’s not possible,’ Old Axel said.

  ‘But it’s happening,’ Ebony said. ‘Either we go to the future to confirm what you’re saying or you go back by yourself.’ She was a quiet girl, but sometimes she seemed to draw on some inner resolve, as if there were another person lurking inside. ‘But Axel—our Axel—is right. We’re not killing anyone based on a five minute conversation with a stranger.’

  Old Axel looked like he wanted to argue—or just scream at us—but finally he gave a long, single nod. His eyes swept back to me. ‘It’s risky,’ he said. ‘I can’t fit you all inside the machine.’

  Chad turned to Dan. ‘You should stay here,’ he said. ‘Seeing as how you’re the youngest.’

  Dan protested. Of course. I watched Old Axel as they argued the point. The longer I studied him, the more I felt like I was watching someone on the verge of exhaustion. Someone who had lived on the edge for too long. ‘We need to get moving,’ he interrupted. ‘The sooner I prove this to you, the sooner we change history.’

  ‘And I thought we had all the time in the world,’ Chad said.

  Old Axel did not smile. ‘Dan, you’re staying here,’ he said. ‘The rest of you into the ship. This should only take a few minutes.’

  Dan looked rebellious as we boarded the time ship. He didn’t appreciate being left behind. The interior was similar to an Agency flex craft, but smaller. The dashboard looked unfinished with wires and gauges everywhere. A dial in the center displayed today’s date and geographical coordinates.

  Old Axel pulled a component, covered in blue and silver circuitry, from the console. It looked melted.

  ‘This is the temporal resonator.’ He produced another from a carry bag and slotted it into place. ‘They burn out after only one journey.’

  There was only one seat and he took it as we crammed behind. Pushing a button, I saw Dan give a small wave as the hatch sealed shut. It was like being lo
cked inside a tomb.

  ‘Say goodbye to today,’ Old Axel said. ‘The next stop is the future.’

  Chapter Six

  Dan watched as the time ship lifted off the ground. It shuddered in mid-air as a black slit appeared over the clearing. The slit increased in size until it was as big as a small house.

  When the time ship had first appeared, Dan had thought the hole it passed through was black. Now he saw it looked like oil on water, with rainbows curving about the interior. Ozone filled the air. A breeze pulled at his hair as the time ship eased itself into the hole. The juncture in time and space shrank to a slit, before collapsing at both ends into a dot, and finally nothing.

  The jungle closed in around Dan. It had all happened so fast he had not had time to consider the consequences of everyone leaving. Now the others were gone he felt completely alone. He was one small boy on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean.

  Dan shook off the fear. He wasn’t going to hide. Not when he had an island to explore. He was a modern day Robinson Crusoe, which meant his man Friday was...

  ‘Ferdy. Are you there?’

  ‘Ferdy reads you loud and clear, Dan. Egypt is the world’s thirtieth largest country—’

  ‘Great. I’m going—’

  ‘—and the most populated in the Middle East.’

  ‘That’s wonderful, Ferdy. I just wanted to let you know that I’m going explore the island.’

  ‘That sounds exciting, Dan.’

  ‘It should be fun.’

  ‘Watch out for tigers.’

  Dan stared into the dark jungle. ‘There are tigers here?’ he asked.

  ‘Ferdy is making a joke.’

  ‘Ha ha,’ Dan forced a laugh. ‘That’s very funny.’

  Ferdy paused. ‘There is some new information that Dan should know. Liber8tor’s sensors are picking up possible structures near the center of the island.’

  ‘Structures?’

  ‘From the Latin word, structura, meaning—’

  ‘That’s okay, Ferdy. What direction?’

  ‘Approximately three miles east of our current location.’

  ‘Are there people?’

  ‘The Liber8tor senses are not picking up any life forms.’