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CHAPTER FIVE

Stephen and Cara walked down the corridor of the Refuge's detention area. Various Tomorrow People were locking doors on their new "guests", the D-chips in the cell making sure they wouldn't be able to teleport or interfere with the lock. Russell gestured towards the cells. "What are we going to do with them?"

"Giving them all the cure seems like a good idea at the moment,"Cara noted.

"I guess we have to give them a chance to be rehabilitated,"Stephen sighed.

"Why not just let them all out and give them free rein of the place?"Russell asked, sarcastically.

"Well, we have to prove we're better than Ultra somehow,"Stephen argued. He looked at Cara. "Do you think you could do a read on them? Work out if they're going to betray us or not?"

Cara grimaced. "As unappealing as the idea is, yes."

"Okay. We'll give them a day or so to think things over, then give them a choice." Stephen noticed another figure approaching. "Irene! You had a look at Kyle?"

Irene looked extremely uncomfortable. "Can I just have it put on the record that autopsies is really not my thing? I am not a pathologist and I don't do it for kicks."

"Noted,"Cara agreed. "What have you found?"

"Much as we expected. Someone shot him. And I'd say they knew just where to do it."

Astrid had come over during the conversation. "Well, it couldn't have been one of us, right? None of you can kill and, Guide's honour, I did not touch a gun."

"Any other suspects?"Russell wondered.

"Natalie?"Cara suggested.

Stephen considered it. "The Founder gave her that stuff from Anax, so I guess she could do it."

"But why kill one of her own people?"Astrid asked.

"Maybe he got in the way, was going to slow her down,"Cara proposed. "It'd suit her style."

Russell sighed. "Man, I really wish we knew where she was now."

Natalie was being strapped down to a table by a group of Jedikiah's troops, struggling furiously. "Get off me, you… How dare you?"

Jedikiah stepped into view, John just behind him. "Hello again."

Natalie stared at him venomously. "Jedikiah. Still jealous of your betters?"

"I'm learning of a way for all of us to work together. With me one of the ones in charge, of course."

"Yeah, that sounds like you." Natalie glared at John. "And you're back working for him, are you?"

"He's shown me the best way,"John replied.

"My brother tried to show you a better way,"Jedikiah recalled. "But instead you betrayed him to a madman. You rejected his way, now I'm going to teach you mine." He nodded to his troops. They placed a metal cowl over Natalie's head. She continued to struggle furiously for a few moments, then she was still.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to have her here?"John asked, as he and Jedikiah walked away.

"She could be useful to us. If the treatment works, she'll come round to our way of thinking. But I must admit, a part of me hopes she doesn't." Jedikiah patted John on the shoulder. "Don't worry about her for now. We've just been picking up scraps so far. It's time for the main event."

Stephen and Cara re-entered the office. "You really think Natalie's gang will want to rejoin us?"Cara asked.

"Some of Ultra did,"Stephen pointed out. "We've got to give them a chance."

Cara smiled. "You really are into this 'better human' thing, aren't you?"

"Well…it's something we should be aiming for."

"Or maybe it's just who you are." Cara paused by the door and pulled a cord, drawing the blinds between the office and the rec area. "Tim?"

Tim's voice piped up from the corner of the room. "Yes, Cara?"

"Can you close down for…say half an hour?"

"As you wish." The lights on Tim went out.

Cara walked slowly over to Stephen and then kissed him. At first it was tentative but then their passion grew. She manoeuvred him over to the desk and swept its contents onto the floor. She lay down on it, drawing him down on top of her, fiddling with his shirt and with his belt.

Then he pulled back. "Wait…we're going to do it on the desk?"

Cara leaned up slightly, resting her elbows on the desk, and raised an eyebrow. "Not adventurous enough for you?"

"No, it's just…it feels a bit…"

"We can find a hotel room if you want?"

Stephen lowered his gaze slightly. "I seem to remember we did that once before."

Cara bristled with barely concealed fury. "I just thought you might want to. Sorry if I was wrong." She swung herself off the desk and went to the door, pulling it open to leave.

Stephen slammed the door shut telekinetically. "Cara, can you wait?" She turned to face him and he went over to her. "I want you, okay? I want you badly. But we just…did it once before and you went straight back to John. I want this to be real."

"Well, I'm sorry if I'm not…"

"Have dinner with me."

Cara stared at him in confusion. "What?"

"I'm sure Mum won't mind."

Cara looked at him as if he'd just suggested they fly to the moon. "Are you inviting me home to meet your mother?"

"Yeah. That's the right thing to do, isn't it?"

"I…don't know. I've never done that sort of thing before."

They were interrupted by Irene's voice in their heads. "Cara? Stephen? Can you come down to the lab, please?"

By the time they got there, Russell, Astrid and Mike had already joined Irene. "What's this about?" Stephen asked.

Irene looked like she was about to give a lecture. "Okay. You know that we, meaning the Tomorrow People, can teleport wherever we want. And if someone's holding on to us at the time, an ordinary human, we can take them with us."

"We're with you so far,"Cara confirmed.

Irene held up a belt. "Ta-da! I give you the matter transporter."

Russell looked at it curiously. "What does it do?"

"Transports matter." Irene held it out to Astrid. "Here, try it on for size."

Astrid took the belt from her and clipped it around her waist. "So now what?" Irene pressed a control on her bench and Astrid teleported, appearing at the other side of the room. She shook her head. "Never going to get used to that."

"How did that happen?"Stephen asked.

"The belts are laced with a tiny amount of Tomorrow People DNA,"Irene explained. "A signal can activate that DNA and send the person wearing the belt to…wherever."

"So I can teleport now?"Astrid asked. "How do I send out the signal? Or choose where to go?"

"Er, well, you can't. But Tim can." Irene handed Astrid a small, pyramid-shaped device. "And this communicator will let you call Tim and get him to send you wherever you want."

"But apart from helping our token sap save shoe leather, what use is it?"Mike asked.

Irene looked slightly affronted. "We could be in a situation where we've got a lot of humans to evacuate and not enough of us to take them one at a time. And I'm working on another application of the same technology so the rest of us can use them as boosters, go anywhere in the world."

Stephen glanced at Cara. Both of them appeared suitably impressed. "Carry on."

John sat opposite Jedikiah in his office, leafing through a file containing pictures. "Cara Coburn."

"One of the greatest telepaths I've ever met,"Jedikiah confirmed. "If we want to find someone, she's the best way of doing it."

"Russell Kwan."

"Fair to middling in terms of powers but he's been with the Tomorrow People a long time. He's one of the inner circle."

"Astrid Finch."

"Normal human. She seems to be friends with all of them, you're bound to encounter her."

"Irene Quinn."

"Her powers are nothing to write home about but she's a science genius. It'd be worth bringing her onboard just for that."

"Stephen Jameson."

Jedikiah hesitated slightly. "My nephew. He seems to have become their leader. A synergist, child of two Tomorrow People, which means his power rating is basically off the scale. Watch out for him."

John closed the file. "And these are the people that lured me away from you?"

"Yes. Now remember, they don't know you've come back to my side. They think you still consider them your friends. So play on that. Infiltrate them and gain their trust. And then…we'll put them to good use."