Actually picked up another follow and favourite so thank you to that person!
CHAPTER NINE
John was woken by Doug storming into his room. "Time to get up, soldier! We move out in ten."
John got to his feet on instinct and pulled on his uniform jacket. "Where are we going?"
"We're being deployed. Got a new assignment."
"Where? What?"
"Need to know, Corporal. You'll find out when we get there."
John waited until Doug had left, then spoke telepathically. "Russell? Irene? You guys hear me?"
"John, what's going on?"came Russell's voice back.
"Are Stephen and Cara there?"
"Not yet but they're about finished."
"We're moving out. I don't know where. I'll speak to you when I know."
Stephen and Cara were packing their bags in their suite. "So, mission accomplished then,"Stephen remarked conversationally.
Cara nodded. "Another Ultra mission concluded, another new break-out on his way to rehabilitation. Guess we can just teleport home."
"After we've checked out and paid,"Stephen pointed out.
"Of course,"Cara agreed, as if she'd never thought of doing anything else.
Stephen stopped and looked around. "Well, guess this is the last we've seen of this."
Cara came to stand by his side. "Didn't even get to try out the bed."
Stephen turned slowly and looked at her. Cara continued to look straight ahead for a moment, then turned and met his gaze. There was a nervousness in her eyes. Stephen kissed her and after a pause she responded, cautiously at first and then passionately. The kiss broke and she grinned, jumping into his arms and wrapping her legs around him. Kissing her again, Stephen carried her into the bedroom.
One thing Luca was not expecting to find in the Refuge's rec area was his mother. She did, after all, normally give the place a wide berth. He pondered for a moment the possibility of turning round and getting out of there but eventually decided to approach her. "What are you doing here?"
Marla gave an amused smile. "Believe it or not, dropping off a new break-out."
Luca smiled back. "We'll make a Tomorrow Person of you yet."
Marla laughed, but as soon as it had appeared the smile faded again. "I haven't seen you at home lately."
Luca hesitated. "I've been busy here."
"Busy with Sophie?"
It wasn't a subject that Luca often discussed with his mother. His first instinct was to nod or maybe give a long-suffering eye roll. But the need to talk to someone won out. "Actually, I haven't seen that much of her the last few days. I think she's been avoiding me."
"Have you spoken to her about it?"
"No. She's been avoiding me."
"You like her, don't you?"
Luca nodded.
"Well, then, maybe you need to find out if there's a reason why she's not talking to you."
Stephen and Cara were lying in bed together, cuddling up. "So does this mean we've sorted through our issues?"Stephen asked.
Cara sighed. "You're a very hard person to stay mad at, you know that?"
"I didn't know that, but it's nice to know."
"Especially when I'm stuck alone with you for four days. Nice plan, by the way."
"Thanks."
Cara paused, collecting her thoughts. "You know I love you. Have done pretty much since I met you. As frustrating as it can be at times."
"I love you too,"Stephen confirmed. "So is everything okay?"
Cara gave a small laugh. "Well, you and me are okay. Not so sure about the Doomsday Men."
Colonel Ron Carter looked at the piece of paper McLelland had given him with some consternation. "This isn't exactly protocol, sir."
"But you do acknowledge that I'm your superior officer and you do have orders to turn this base over to me and withdraw?"
"That is what this says,"Carter agreed,"but you're not exactly my direct superior. I should get confirmation of this from the Pentagon." He reached for the phone.
"I was afraid you'd say that." McLelland drew his pistol and aimed it at Carter, who immediately froze. "I don't want any unnecessary casualties but I've fought in every war for the last forty years and I'm not afraid to kill anyone who makes himself my enemy. Any signal from me and my men will move in and shoot anyone who tries to resist. How about you make it easy on them?"
Carter pressed a button on his desk to activate the intercom. "Attention, all base personnel. We are surrendering control of this base to General McLelland's command. Surrender your weapons to them, you are confined to barracks until further notice."
McLelland smiled. "Smart move, Colonel. And, er, your weapon?" Carter produced a pistol and handed it over. McLelland nodded to a soldier by the door."Make sure he finds his way to his sleeping quarters and stays there."
The vehicle John was in pulled up outside the base. The sign outside confirmed John's suspicions about their destination. Stamford. But why? Was this it, when the Doomsday Men took over? Or was this just a test, a dry run?
While John was ruminating on this, a lieutenant approached the vehicle. "Young? The General wants to see you."
John fell into step and was led to the base commander's office. "Sir?"
"Ah, Young. You know, I liked you from the moment I saw you. Thought you had character. Guts. Determination. But it turns out I may have been wrong about a few things. Langford!"
John wasn't sure what he was expecting but it wasn't what happened. Langford dragged Astrid into the room. He had a gun pushed up under her chin, ready to put a bullet in her head. "What is this?"
"Now from what I gather, you can just teleport out of here,"McLelland remarked conversationally. "But if you do that, Langford blows her head off. You might think you can teleport over there and stop him, but one sparkle from you and she's dead. I spoke to some friends at the base you supposedly served at. No-one there's heard of you."
John decided his best option was to play dumb about the thing McLelland hadn't confirmed. "Teleport?"
"Yeah. You're one of the Tomorrow People, aren't you? You two join us and then they get a tip about our next move?"
"Tomorrow People, who are they?"Astrid attempted.
McLelland took a device out of a bag. It resembled a perspex pyramid over a base. He twisted a control and John cried out in pain, clutching his head. "Little invention of Doctor Jedikiah Price,"McLelland explained as he turned the control back. "Sends out a signal that only telepaths can pick up on. I gather you knew him. So you probably also know what this is." He produced an inhibitor band. John took a step back and McLelland nodded over to where Langford was holding Astrid. "I wouldn't object if I were you."
John stood still as McLelland clamped the band around his wrist.
