That’ll get rid of the Medusix and all the equipment.’
‘Foster and Jack are bound to have back-up stocks,’ Nico said.
Since I’d come up with my plan he hadn’t mentioned Ketty, but I could see the pain in his eyes and hear it in the reckless bitterness of his voice.
‘I don’t think they have stocks,’ I said. ‘And, before they can get everything they need to make the drug again, we’ll be able to get the police
involved.’
‘What about Dylan and Cal?’ Nico asked. ‘And Amy back in Australia? Don’t you think they’ll already have gone to the police?’ His voice cracked. ‘Man,
d’you think they’ll have called Ketty’s parents?’
‘I guess so.’ I took a deep breath, trying to keep my focus on the plan. ‘But even if the police know where we are, it’s still going to take time for them to reach us.
And Foster’s going to give Medusix to the new kids as soon as they’re here.’
Nico looked up. Misery was etched into his face. ‘Right,’ he said, his eyes hardening again. ‘So how do we get back to the lab?’
‘Easy, we go outside to give Bradley his psychic skills lesson – then you teleport me up to the lab and I set the oil barrels on fire.’
Nico stared at me. ‘How are you going to cause the explosion?’
I fished in my pocket for the lighter I’d stolen earlier. It was still there, tucked snugly beside the student’s wallet. ‘With this,’ I said. ‘And a bit of luck.
You’ll have to stay free from Medutox to teleport me out of the lab again afterwards.’
‘But there are bars on the lab window,’ Nico said. ‘I can’t get you past them.’
My heart sank. I hadn’t considered that. ‘Okay, then I’ll have to make my own way up there while you cause a distraction. I’ll find my own way out too.’
‘What’s happened to you, Ed, man?’ Nico said with a wondering shake of the head. For a second, he looked like his old self again. ‘You’ve gone all . . . all action
hero.’
‘No I haven’t,’ I said, feeling my cheeks reddening. ‘It’s just we have to stop Foster and Jack. It’ll be some kind of justice for Ketty.’
Nico’s face fell. I bit my lip, wishing I hadn’t mentioned her name.
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘A distraction will work. All we need is our powers back.’
In the end it was hours before Jack reappeared, though a guard stepped inside the room at regular intervals to feed us and spray us with Medutox. There was no sign of Dylan and
Cal – I had no idea what had happened to them and, without my Medusa powers, no way of finding out.
When Jack finally returned, we told him we were ready to give Bradley some lessons in telepathy and telekinesis. Jack looked cautiously pleased and – as the sun set over the lake –
he brought Foster and Bradley to our room. They were accompanied by two guards I didn’t recognise.
I glanced at the five of them, feeling suddenly anxious. It was going to be hard enough to get up to the lab without being seen – but completely impossible to get away from all these
people without someone raising an alarm.
‘This won’t work,’ Nico said. He sounded convincingly hard-headed. Over the past few hours I’d watched him bury his pain over Ketty too deep to surface easily. ‘We
can’t stay inside. I need more space to do telekinesis.’
‘And having all these people watching doesn’t help either,’ I added.
‘The guards and I are staying,’ Foster said firmly. ‘But we can go outside where there’s more room and Jack can go and check on plans for accessing our new
kids.’
I glanced at Nico again. So they were already targeting a new batch of guinea pigs to experiment on. We had to move quickly. I turned to Bradley, determined to show a convincing level of
interest in his abilities.
‘So . . . er, what does the Medusix taste like?’ I asked him.
He blinked, clearly surprised I’d spoken directly to him. ‘Like rotten vegetables,’ he said with a grimace. ‘It’s
‘Foster and Jack are bound to have back-up stocks,’ Nico said.
Since I’d come up with my plan he hadn’t mentioned Ketty, but I could see the pain in his eyes and hear it in the reckless bitterness of his voice.
‘I don’t think they have stocks,’ I said. ‘And, before they can get everything they need to make the drug again, we’ll be able to get the police
involved.’
‘What about Dylan and Cal?’ Nico asked. ‘And Amy back in Australia? Don’t you think they’ll already have gone to the police?’ His voice cracked. ‘Man,
d’you think they’ll have called Ketty’s parents?’
‘I guess so.’ I took a deep breath, trying to keep my focus on the plan. ‘But even if the police know where we are, it’s still going to take time for them to reach us.
And Foster’s going to give Medusix to the new kids as soon as they’re here.’
Nico looked up. Misery was etched into his face. ‘Right,’ he said, his eyes hardening again. ‘So how do we get back to the lab?’
‘Easy, we go outside to give Bradley his psychic skills lesson – then you teleport me up to the lab and I set the oil barrels on fire.’
Nico stared at me. ‘How are you going to cause the explosion?’
I fished in my pocket for the lighter I’d stolen earlier. It was still there, tucked snugly beside the student’s wallet. ‘With this,’ I said. ‘And a bit of luck.
You’ll have to stay free from Medutox to teleport me out of the lab again afterwards.’
‘But there are bars on the lab window,’ Nico said. ‘I can’t get you past them.’
My heart sank. I hadn’t considered that. ‘Okay, then I’ll have to make my own way up there while you cause a distraction. I’ll find my own way out too.’
‘What’s happened to you, Ed, man?’ Nico said with a wondering shake of the head. For a second, he looked like his old self again. ‘You’ve gone all . . . all action
hero.’
‘No I haven’t,’ I said, feeling my cheeks reddening. ‘It’s just we have to stop Foster and Jack. It’ll be some kind of justice for Ketty.’
Nico’s face fell. I bit my lip, wishing I hadn’t mentioned her name.
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘A distraction will work. All we need is our powers back.’
In the end it was hours before Jack reappeared, though a guard stepped inside the room at regular intervals to feed us and spray us with Medutox. There was no sign of Dylan and
Cal – I had no idea what had happened to them and, without my Medusa powers, no way of finding out.
When Jack finally returned, we told him we were ready to give Bradley some lessons in telepathy and telekinesis. Jack looked cautiously pleased and – as the sun set over the lake –
he brought Foster and Bradley to our room. They were accompanied by two guards I didn’t recognise.
I glanced at the five of them, feeling suddenly anxious. It was going to be hard enough to get up to the lab without being seen – but completely impossible to get away from all these
people without someone raising an alarm.
‘This won’t work,’ Nico said. He sounded convincingly hard-headed. Over the past few hours I’d watched him bury his pain over Ketty too deep to surface easily. ‘We
can’t stay inside. I need more space to do telekinesis.’
‘And having all these people watching doesn’t help either,’ I added.
‘The guards and I are staying,’ Foster said firmly. ‘But we can go outside where there’s more room and Jack can go and check on plans for accessing our new
kids.’
I glanced at Nico again. So they were already targeting a new batch of guinea pigs to experiment on. We had to move quickly. I turned to Bradley, determined to show a convincing level of
interest in his abilities.
‘So . . . er, what does the Medusix taste like?’ I asked him.
He blinked, clearly surprised I’d spoken directly to him. ‘Like rotten vegetables,’ he said with a grimace. ‘It’s
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