Wow, eight months after I started posting this story I got my first review! They seemed to be hoping for a Tomorrow People US story but thanks anyway.
CHAPTER TWO
Michael and Michelle walked slowly away from Gal's tent. "So what do we do now?"Michelle asked.
"Exactly as he said,"Michael replied.
Michelle looked at him in astonishment. "You can't surely mean..?"
"Have you got your stun gun?"
"Yes. Yes, I have."
"Good." Michael produced his own weapon, which looked incongruous when he had a bomb in his other hand. "Let's go then."
As the pair teleported away, they didn't realise that Malik was watching them.
Michael and Michelle appeared on a balcony overlooking the guard outpost's courtyard. Some fifty men were below them, carrying out some sort of drill. Michael levelled his stun gun at them and after a moment's hesitation Michelle did the same. "Now,"he told her.
The pair fired and all the men in the courtyard dropped.
"Don't know why you're stunning them,"Michelle complained. "You're about to blow them all up anyway."
Michael looked at her, hurt. "Michelle…"
"I mean, whatever happened to us not killing or causing anyone to come to harm?"
"Do you really know me as little as that?"
"You said we were going to do what Gal told us to do."
"Yes, and Gal told us to blow us this outpost. He didn't say anything about blowing up the guards." He glanced down at the unconscious bodies. "It's a good job that they'll be out for hours, this might take some time, shifting all of them. About a mile should do, right?"
Michelle gave him a smile, understanding. "You're going to teleport them to safety first."
"Well, of course. Like you say, not going to kill anyone."
"You have already saved my life and for that I am grateful,"Asam was telling Paul and Lucy. "You will be offered the best lodgings in the city. I will go to you for advice and I will expect you to come to me if you have any further…insights."
"Oh, yeah, of course,"Paul agreed.
Lupido appeared in the doorway. "Mr Jackson to see you, sir."
"Very well, let him in,"Asam instructed.
Jackson stepped into the room behind Lupido and stopped when he saw Paul and Lucy there. "I had intended for this meeting to be private, General."
"Paul and Lucy have my trust, Mr Jackson. You may say anything you wish to say to me in front of them."
"Indeed? And how did they earn this trust?"
"They saved my life. Jedikiah managed to get into this very office. I suspect he used similar trickery to kill General Habib."
Jackson looked at Paul and Lucy and a curious look crossed his face. "Do I know you?"
"I don't see how,"Paul claimed.
"I know you,"Lucy realised. "Oliver Jackson, right? Managing director of Vatex?"
"Why, yes,"Jackson confirmed, seeming embarrassed.
"Mr Jackson has been one of our regime's strongest supporters,"Asam explained.
"Vatex likes to be on the winning side,"Jackson responded.
"You flatter us, Mr Jackson. But do you have anything else for us?"
"Everything else you asked for is being shipped over, General."
"Excellent work, Mr Jackson. With the new weapons you supply us with, the rebels won't stand a chance."
Michael teleported back into the guard post. "That's the last of them. Gosh, how many trips did I need to take?"
"Twenty-seven,"Michelle replied absentmindedly. She was in the middle of setting up the bomb in the ammunition store. "How long do you want me to set the timer for?"
"About thirty seconds should do it."
"All right." Michelle made a few adjustments then stood back. "Running."
"Then I guess we'd better get out of here,"Michael noted as they teleported…
…reappearing a mile or so away. In the distance, they saw the outpost explode. "Well,"Michael noted. "That should keep Gal happy."
"Asam still lives?"Gal demanded angrily.
Jedikiah stared bak at him defiantly. "Not for long, I assure you."
"You have already assured me, Jedikiah. You assured me that Asam would be dead already and he is not."
"I was interrupted…"
Michael and Michelle suddenly entered the tent, accompanied by Malik. Michael noticed Jedikiah's presence instantly, shooting Michelle a warning glance. "I am sorry, sir, we didn't realise you had company."
"Who are these?"Jedikiah demanded.
"More Europeans offering me their special skills,"Gal replied. "It remains to be seen whether their boasts are as hollow as yours. Malik?"
"The guard outpost has been destroyed,"Malik confirmed.
"Excellent!"
"But…"
"There is a 'but', Malik? Has the outpost been destroyed or hasn't it?"
"It has, sir."
"Then you have nothing more to say to me. Jedikiah, you were explaining to me why you failed in your task while these two succeeded."
"I failed because of the intervention of the Tomorrow People,"Jedikiah replied.
Gal looked at him, confused. "Who are the Tomorrow People?"
Jedikiah looked at Michael and Michelle. "No doubt you two are familiar with the name?"
"I remember there was a lot of fuss a few months back,"Michelle admitted. "They hijacked every TV station in the world, called themselves the future of humanity."
"They barely qualify as human at all. They are soft, weak."
"Yet they defeated you, Jedikiah?"Gal asked.
"The Tomorrow People's biggest weakness is that they will protect anyone, whether it is in their best interests or not. So they could not allow me to harm Asam. But don't worry, Gal, I have had experience fighting Tomorrow People. Their presence here is something of a bonus to me."
"Do you think Jackson really recognised us?"Lucy asked. She and Paul had been given a set of rooms to refresh themselves in.
"Well, Michael did get our faces plastered all over the TV screens,"Paul reminded her.
"Asam didn't know who we were."
"Guess he doesn't watch a lot of TV."
"Paul? Lucy?"came Michael's voice in their minds.
Paul and Lucy stood up instantly. "Where are you, Michael?"Paul asked.
"We're at Gal's camp."
"We hear you had a run-in with Jedikiah,"Michelle added.
"He got into Asam's office,"Lucy explained. "Nearly killed him."
"Well, good work stopping him,"Michael noted. "You've hurt his standing with Gal and helped ours."
"What else have you found?"asked Michelle.
"There's someone helping Asam,"Lucy recalled. "Not someone with special skills like us. Someone with money. Oliver Jackson."
"We thinks he's been supplying the government with arms,"Paul added. "And it sounds as though now he's moving on to something bigger."
"Try and find out what,"Michael told them. "We'll keep in touch."
Michael and Michelle had only just finished their telepathic conference when Malik suddenly appeared at the flap of their tent. "Who were you talking to?"he demanded.
"Ah, no-one,"Michael replied.
"I heard you!"
"You can see that no-one's here now."
"Maybe they disappeared, like you did."
"What do you mean, disappeared like we did?"Michelle asked.
"I saw you! When Gal sent you out, you left the camp and then you vanished in a flash of light."
"You must have been mistaken,"Michael told him. "You know people can't vanish in a flash of light."
"I saw you,"Malik insisted. "I don't know who you are but you're not on our side." He pushed his way out of the tent.
"We need to get out of here,"Michelle decided.
"Why?"Michael asked. "If he goes running to Gal and says he saw us disappear into thin air, do you think he'll believe him?"
"No, but Jedikiah might."
Michael paused, taking this in. "Maybe we should be ready to leave, just in case."
Michelle seemed to have something else on her mind. "Michael…we were both talking telepathically, right? Not out loud."
"I think so."
"And Paul and Lucy definitely weren't here, they're in the city so…how could Malik hear us?"
For the second time, Michael seemed dumbfounded. "There's only one explanation really, isn't there?"
"He's one of us?"
"Yes. I'm not sure if that little detail helps or hinders us."
Malik was rushing towards Gal's tent when Jedikiah stepped in front of him. "May I help you?"
Malik nodded. "I must speak to Master Gal!"
"Master Gal is busy at the moment. Perhaps I can be of assistance?"
Malik gulped hard. "It's the newcomers, they…they can do things! I saw them disappear!"
"Just now?"
"No, no, before. When they went to destroy the guard post."
"Did they now? Well, perhaps I should look into this…"
"We're still no closer to a solution,"Michelle complained. "We've got Gal onside and the others have got Asam onside but how's that going to help bring about peace? And what about Jedikiah? And Jackson?"
"Michelle, trying to bring about world peace isn't something you do overnight,"Michael sighed. "And at the moment we're only just hanging onto this situation by our fingertips."
"Perhaps not even that,"Jedikiah commented as he stepped into the tent, Malik by his side.
"Jedikiah?"Michael asked. "What are you doing?"
"Do not play the innocent with me. I know that you are both Tomorrow People. I should have recognised your faces before. I saw your little broadcast."
"And Gal didn't?"Michelle asked.
"It would seem not. As you saw, he had no idea who the Tomorrow People were when I mentioned them to him."
"So much for the Great Emergence,"Michelle sighed.
"Malik, listen to me,"Michael pleaded. "We are not your enemy. This man is."
"Jedikiah?"Malik asked. "You're wrong, he helped us."
"It was I who disposed of General Habib,"Jedikiah reminded them.
"For your own purposes, no doubt,"Michael retorted.
"Malik, listen to me,"Michelle insisted telepathically. "Can you hear my thoughts?"
"Well, before you have any ambitious thoughts about teleporting,"Jedikiah continued, oblivious…before shooting them both down.
"Have you killed them?"Malik asked.
"No,"Jedikiah replied. "Merely stunned. As you are aware, they have certain special skills. Skills that I will be more than happy to deprive them of."
Paul had just wanted a quick nap, to recharge his energy. But all thoughts of relaxation were brought to an end when Lucy started shaking him. "Paul, wake up!"
Paul blinked at her for a few seconds, as though trying to work out where he had seen her before and how he could make sure he never saw her again. "Lucy, what are you doing?"
"Asam and Jackson! They're on the move!"
Paul hauled himself out of bed and joined her at the window. Sure enough, he could see the pair walking across the courtyard, heading towards some sort of storage warehouse.
"What do you reckon's in there?"Lucy asked.
Paul shrugged. "Well, there's only one way to find out."
The pair teleported into the warehouse, quickly taking cover behind some crates. They could see Asam and Jackson standing by a group of missiles. "They're all armed and ready for firing?"asked Asam.
"Whenever you wish it,"Jackson replied. "And your side of the deal?"
"Your monopoly on our country's oil resources will remain in place. Provided your gift does what you say it will and removes all trace of the rebels from my country."
"Do you realise what that is?"Paul whispered.
"Missiles,"Lucy replied, feeling the answer was obvious.
"Surface to surface nuclear warheads."
Lucy gaped in astonishment. "How did Jackson get hold of those?"
"Well, I don't think he went through the official channels."
"If Asam fires one of those at the rebel camp…"
"…no-one there will stand a chance." Paul sent out a telepathic message. "Michael, Michelle." He waited for an answer…and to his astonishment, none came. "Michael, Michelle!"
Lucy tried as well. "Michael. Michelle." She looked at Paul anxiously. "Something must have happened to them."
Paul nodded. "Yeah, that was my guess as well."
"What do we do?"
"Nothing,"he decided. "We need to stay here and keep an eye on these two."
Michael and Michelle were still in the tent when they recovered and found themselves tied up. "Welcome back,"Jedikiah remarked sardonically.
Michelle struggled helplessly against her bonds. "Michael…I can't use my powers!"
"Neither can I,"Michael confirmed. "It's these things on our heads. They prevent any psychic abilities being used. An invention of Jedikiah here."
"You seem remarkably well-informed about me,"Jedikiah noted.
"I've done my research."
"Yes, I probably should have done the same. I didn't pay much attention to your Great Emergence. I was aware there were Tomorrow People still on Earth, of course, it tied in with what I saw of your future but I wasn't really expecting to cross paths with you again."
"How did you get your powers back?"Michael asked. "Last time I checked the Federation had made you human, exiled you here to live out the rest of your life as an ordinary man."
"The Federation share the same problems you have. An inability to face up to the facts of life. They left me alive and over time my powers returned."
"So what are you doing here?"Michelle asked. "You can't really be interested in helping the Kebirian rebels."
"No, that doesn't really seem like your style,"Michael agreed.
"If the government in this country falls, there will be a vacuum,"Jedikiah explained. "The rebels believe that they will be able to fill it but I have other plans."
"You're going to take over this country? Last time the Tomorrow People encountered you, you tried to take over the entire world."
"It will be a start."
"So why have you kept us alive?"Michelle asked.
"You might be useful to me."
"There's more to it than that,"Michael suspected.
"Malik said he heard you communicating with someone. That means there are more Tomorrow People active in this area. If they try and intervene, having you as hostages will make their defeat all the easier."
Paul and Lucy had followed Asam and Jackson as they left the warehouse. Keeping under cover, they watched as Lupido approached. "Is everything to your satisfaction, General?"Lupido asked.
"It is, Major,"Asam confirmed. "You can prepare for launch."
"Yes, sir. When shall we set the countdown for?"
Asam glanced at Jackson. "Do you have any recommendations?"
"Dawn perhaps?"
Asam nodded in agreement. "Prepare to fire the rockets at dawn."
"We need to warn Michael and Michelle,"Lucy whispered.
"And how are we going to do that?"Paul fired back.
"Teleport to Gal's camp."
Paul shook his head. "That could just result in us ending up in whatever they've ended up in. We need to put those missiles out of action."
"And how are we going to do that?"
"Improvise."
"The two newcomers are traitors?"Gal asked.
Jedikiah nodded. "I am certain of it."
"What proof do you have?"
"They are Tomorrow People. They have been in contact with the two who exposed my attempt to dispose of General Asam."
"You believe they are working with Asam?"
Jedikiah had his own ideas about the Tomorrow People's intentions but he knew which one would be most likely to turn Gal against them. "It is possible."
"Then have them executed immediately."
"I would advise against it."
"And why is that?"
"Another of the Tomorrow People's greatest weaknesses is an unshakable loyalty to their own kind. Their friends will come to rescue them sooner or later…and then we will get them all."
