Hit Squad Read online

  ‘This is Mr Ripley,’ Jack said. ‘He’s the one I want you to mind-read.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘The man I’m working for needs more money for his research into the Medusa drug. Mr Ripley is a potential backer.’

  ‘More money for research?’ Nico said.

  ‘Yes, so far we’ve only had limited results,’ Jack said smoothly.

  ‘By “limited results”, you mean making that boy unconscious?’ I said.

  Jack shrugged his shoulders. ‘Sadly, yes,’ he said. ‘No one wanted that to happen. But sometimes when you take risks there are unforeseen consequences.’

  I gritted my teeth. It was so typical of Jack Linden to make it sound like he wasn’t responsible for the boy’s state. ‘If you mess around with illegal, untested drugs then it’s not that surprising that people end up unconscious,’ I said.

  There was a tense silence.

  ‘Perhaps we should get on with this.’ Ripley raised his eyebrows. He spoke in clipped English, but I sensed it was not his first language. There was the trace of an accent underneath.

  ‘Go on, Ed,’ Jack said, a threatening note creeping into his voice. ‘Remember Ketty and the others are still back at the castle.’

  I hesitated, not wanting, now, to see if my powers had returned. This wasn’t the first time someone had tried to force me to mind-read another person. It suddenly struck me that as long as I could communicate telepathically, someone somewhere was always going to want to use my ability for their own ends. Which meant I would never be safe.

  And neither would the people I loved. No, for the rest of my life they were going to live with this risk . . . that someone might take them and use them to force me into action, as Jack was doing right now – with Ketty and Cal and Dylan.

  ‘Hurry up, Ed,’ Jack ordered.

  In that moment I wished, more than anything, that I couldn’t mind-read. I would have given anything to have been able to stop right then and there.

  But that wasn’t possible. As I looked into Ripley’s eyes, I felt my telepathic ability surge back, like a feeling of readiness in my mind. A second later I was inside the man’s mind. He was tense. I could feel the high level of anticipation of his thoughts: What will this feel like? How will I know what this boy can see?

  I can just see surface thoughts right now, I thought-spoke. Like you wondering how it will feel.

  The man gave a gasp. Inside his mind, I could feel the levels of shock and fear rising. This was a normal reaction in my experience. I guess it’s pretty weird, finding someone else inside your head. But this man was also hugely excited, as if he was finally seeing the proof of some long-awaited experiment.

  You’re speaking to me without talking, he thought-spoke.

  You’re a genius, I thought-spoke back, remembering what Jack had said to me in the car earlier and trying to get a Nico-style edge of sarcasm into my voice. What do you want me to do?

  Read my thoughts, he thought-spoke. See if you can see what I want you and your friend to do next.

  I could feel him brace himself. I sighed. Tracking the thoughts people are trying to hide is actually one of the easiest aspects of mind-reading. It’s obvious really. I mean, if you tell yourself not to think about something, you’re already thinking about it. It’s impossible to be aware of something and also not aware of it at the same time.

  I waited a few seconds, letting the man focus on repressing his thought. There. I could sense the command to stop thinking about something and caught hold of it – a sensation like catching the end of a piece of string.

  Now all I had to do was follow the ‘string’ and see what thought it led to.

  No problem. Seconds later I saw into the man’s mind.

  I couldn’t believe it.

  I broke the connection.

  ‘We can’t do that,’ I said. ‘People will die.’

  10: The Train

  The man I’d been mind-reading laughed. I turned from him to Jack.

  ‘We won’t do it,’ I said, feeling desperate. I had to warn someone . . . find some way to stop it from happening.

  As if reading my thoughts himself, Jack raised his hand and sprayed me and Nico with Medutox again. My mind-reading abilities were gone.

  ‘What is it, Ed?’ Nico asked.

  ‘They want us . . . you . . . to make a train crash using telekinesis,’ I stammered. I could, still, hardly believe it. ‘It’s a passenger train. Lots of people on board.’

  ‘What?’ Nico said.

  ‘Why?’ I turned to Jack. My heart was pounding. ‘Why do you want to smash up a train and kill loads of innocent people?’

  ‘There’s someone on board Mr Ripley wants rid of,’ Jack explained, adjusting his sunglasses with a finger. ‘If the train crashes, it will look like an accident. It will also be a wonderful demonstration of Nico’s telekinetic powers for Mr Ripley here.’

  ‘I’m not using my telekinesis to make a train crash,’ Nico spluttered.

  ‘There will be consequences if you don’t,’ Jack said softly. ‘Fatal consequences.’

  I closed my eyes and thought of Ketty and Dylan and Cal, still trapped back at the castle with Tania.

  ‘You’re saying that if we don’t help you, you’ll kill the others . . . my brother, my cousin and my girlfriend?’ Nico said.

  Jack smiled. ‘You see how well we understand each other?’ He paused. ‘Although I’m surprised Ketty is still your girlfriend. I saw the way she and Cal looked at each other earlier. I think you’ve got competition there, mate.’

  Nico curled his lip. For a second, I thought he was about to leap forward and headbutt Jack.

  ‘Over here,’ Jack ordered, pointing to the corner of the field closest to the trees. Knife Man held Nico and me by the arms as we walked over. As we neared the trees, the railway track I’d noticed before came into clearer view. It ran across the distant fields, curving in a bend across a flat stretch of ground. About five hundred metres on, the mountain range started and the track ran parallel with it for a while, before veering off again, into the distance.

  ‘In another thirty minutes the train will be here. I timed your most recent doses of Medutox to wear off just before it arrives. At that point you, Nico, will use your telekinesis skills to force the train into the side of the mountain. Ed has already demonstrated his considerable powers. Now it’s your turn.’

  Nico said something extremely rude to Jack. Knife Man cuffed him round the head.

  I stared across the low, flat fields, my eyes straining into the distance. There was no sign of the train yet. At least we still had thirty minutes to work out how to avoid making this train crash happen. I stared at the track. It ran on into the distance, as far as the eye could see. Jack pointed to a branch line that led off from the main track and ran downhill towards the mountains just a few hundred metres beyond.

  ‘You have to turn the train onto that track, Nico,’ he said. ‘Smash it into the side of the mountain.’

  My heart sank as I stared at the track. Our situation was hopeless. If Nico crashed the train, all the passengers would end up dead or maimed. If he refused, Ketty and the others would be the ones to die.

  I looked sideways at Nico. His face was pale under the blindfold. I was sure he was running over the same options as I was.

  ‘We’ll work this out,’ I said.

  Nico’s head jerked up. ‘Yes,’ he said, looking straight at me. ‘Somehow we will.’

  ‘You’ll both do what you’re told,’ Jack snapped.

  Time passed slowly. No one spoke. Every few seconds I tried remote telepathy, but it was no good. The Medutox was totally effective. Trust Jack. His great strength had always been that he fully understood just how powerful – and how limited – our abilities were. He was still wearing those sunglasses, his way of protecting himself from my mind-reading.

  Not that I could mind-read right now. Surely my powers would return any moment. I had to reach Ketty. Warn her about what was happening. I took a
deep breath and let it out slowly. The calmer I was, the easier it was for me to perform remote telepathy. I tried again. Still nothing.

  ‘It’s time.’ Jack looked into the distance. I followed his gaze. A train was speeding across the track. It was just a hundred metres or so from the turn onto the branch line. ‘Nico, your powers must be back by now?’ Jack looked at him expectantly.

  Nico pressed his lips together, refusing to answer.

  ‘Nico?’

  ‘Fine, they’re back.’ Nico turned to me, his expression desperate. ‘Anything, Ed?’ he said.

  I knew he was asking about my Medusa power. ‘Any second,’ I said shortly.

  Jack pointed at the train. ‘Okay, Nico, get ready to turn that train down the hill.’

  ‘And then crash it into the mountain?’ Nico asked. On the surface he sounded angry, but I could hear the fear underneath his bravado.

  ‘If you don’t, Cal and Dylan and Ketty will die,’ Jack said.

  Nico glanced at me. ‘This totally sucks,’ he said.

  ‘I know.’ I met his gaze. It’s kind of weird . . . Nico and I have never exactly been the best of friends but in that moment I’d never felt closer to anyone. Though I wasn’t reading his mind, I knew exactly how he was feeling: that combination of frustration, fury and fear that takes you over when somebody is forcing you to do one bad thing to stop another bad thing from happening.

  The train got nearer the bend in the track.

  ‘I won’t do it,’ Nico said defiantly.

  Jack signalled to Knife Man who brought his weapon up and pressed it against my neck. I gasped.

  Nico’s eyes widened.

  ‘Don’t make me give the order to have Ed killed in front of you,’ Jack said.

  I held my breath. Nico blinked rapidly. He turned away and focused on the train. As he did so, I realised that my telepathic powers were back.

  I zoomed into Nico’s mind. Do what he tells you, I thought-spoke. Not for me, for the others.

  I want to, but how can I crash that train? It’s totally wrong.

  Please, Nico. We’ll think of something before it hits the mountain.

  Nico gave no sign that we’d just been communicating through telepathy but all of a sudden the train slowed down.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Jack barked.

  Ripley stared on, his mouth open in wonder.

  ‘I have to slow the train to make it turn properly,’ Nico said through gritted teeth.

  I smiled to myself, sure Nico was just trying to buy some time.

  We all watched as Nico turned the train telekinetically. It curved round onto the grassy hill, still moving slowly. But, as it straightened out, it picked up speed. Why was Nico letting it move so fast? The mountain was now directly ahead of it – just a few hundred metres in the distance. The collision was surely just a few minutes away.

  Slow it down, I thought-spoke. At that moment, Jack’s radio buzzed. I broke the connection with Nico in order to concentrate on what Jack was being told.

  The voice on the other end – one of the guards – spoke in broken English and with lots of static on the line. I could only just make out what he said.

  ‘They’ve got out of the cell. All four kids.’

  Yes. Dylan, Cal, Ketty and Tania were escaping!

  Jack and Ripley exchanged looks. Ripley swore.

  ‘Deal with it,’ Jack barked into the radio. Then he switched off the call.

  I stood for a second, taking in what I’d heard. If the others were making a run for it, maybe Nico didn’t have to crash the train. I glanced over. The train was careering down the hill. If anything, it was going even faster than before.

  I dived back into Nico’s mind. Nico, did you hear that? You can stop the train. The others are escaping.

  I can’t stop it, Nico thought-spoke back, his voice full of anxiety. It’s going too fast downhill – and it’s too far away.

  What about the driver?

  He must have panicked. I just saw him jump out of the driver’s cab, Nico thought-spoke. You have to stop the train. Stop it then get away.

  What? Me stop it? What was he talking about? How?

  Like this.

  Without warning, my legs lifted off the ground. I opened my mouth to scream as I soared into the air. The scream died in my mouth as I rose up into the sky. Nico was doing this. He was moving me using telekinesis. Jack and Ripley and Knife Man were all yelling at him. Their shouts faded as I zoomed away . . . as Nico teleported me across the field. With a terrible jolt, I realised I was heading for the speeding train. It was getting closer.

  I flew through the air. ‘Aaagh!’ I yelled. I’d totally lost the connection with Nico. What was he thinking? I couldn’t process it. I was too shocked. I mean, I’d been teleported by Nico before but never without warning – or at such high speed.

  I tried to focus. To get back inside Nico’s head.

  What are you doing? I yelled in thought-speech.

  I’m putting you on the train, Nico thought-spoke.

  I looked down. The train was, indeed, looming up beneath me.

  Suddenly Nico plunged me downwards. Get ready to land, he urged.

  No, I can’t.

  You have to. Land and stop it crashing. Then get away. Get help.

  But it’s moving, I shrieked.

  The train zoomed up. It was right there, just two metres below me.

  One metre.

  Stop the crash, Nico thought-spoke. Get to safety. Get help.

  I braced myself. Wham! I landed with a thud on the top of the train. I lay spread-eagled for a long, terrifying second, and then I felt Nico release me, the force of the wind take me and – no – my body slid across the roof. Down I slipped. Down.

  I flailed for a handhold. But the roof was hot, smooth metal.

  I was on the edge of the roof. About to fall.

  Falling.

  11: The Crash

  Hands flailing, I grabbed at the ridge that ran along the edge of the train roof. My legs were off the roof completely, dangling in mid-air. The train was running downhill – steep and fast. My eyes watered as the air rushed into my face.

  Nico! My thought-speech was a scream.

  Got you.

  As Nico’s words registered in my head, I felt a force against my body, pushing me back onto the roof of the train. I lifted one hand from the roof ridge and placed it on the smoother metal beyond. With a grunt, I brought my legs round so they were on the roof too. I could feel Nico’s telekinesis, trying to hold me in position. I crawled a little further, until I was in the centre of the train roof. I lay panting, my cheek against the hot metal.

  I was sweating and shivering all over.

  Get up, Ed. Hurry!

  What was Nico shrieking about now? For a second, I felt a flicker of annoyance. I’d almost been flung off a train to my death; the least I needed was a moment to recover.

  And then I remembered where the train was heading.

  I looked up. The mountain loomed ahead, a massive expanse of thick grey rock – huge and lethal. The train full of people was careering towards it at top speed and Nico was unable to do anything to stop the crash. It was up to me.

  I inched forward on the roof. I was right at the end of the carriage. There was just one more before the driver’s cab at the very front. Nico was still holding me on the train, using telekinesis. I could feel the force of his energy, pushing me down, counteracting the force of the wind which was pushing me up and back. I reached out and grabbed the raised iron bars in front of me. I peered over the end of the carriage. The iron bars were actually the top of a set of metal steps that led down the back of the carriage. Clinging onto the bars, I eased myself around and found the steps with my feet. As I crept down the steps into the shelter of the carriage in front, the wind dropped. For the first time since I’d been flung into the air, I took a breath.

  Nico? I thought-spoke, desperate to reach him. Are you sure you can’t stop this thing?

  Yes, I�
�m sure. Nico’s thought-speech was a yell. The driver’s cab is open, though. You need to get into it and put the brakes on.

  What? He surely couldn’t be serious?

  I’ve done what I can. You’re the only person who can stop the train now, Nico thought-spoke. They’re about to spray me with Med—

  The telepathic connection between us disappeared – I could only remote mind-read others with full Medusa powers and Nico’s telekinesis had clearly been taken away from him. This meant I was no longer being ‘held’ against the train. If I’d still been on the roof, the shock might have toppled me right off it but – as it was – I was clinging to the steps that led down the back of the carriage. I tightened my grip. The train was still hurtling downhill towards the mountain. I looked across the coupling to the carriage that lay between me and the driver’s cab. A set of steps led up to the roof, just like the ones I’d just climbed down to get to the driver’s cab. I was going to have to cross the coupling, climb up onto the roof of the next carriage and down the other end.

  What’s more, I had to do it right now.

  Trembling all over, I balanced on the bottom step. I took one hand off the rungs behind me. The hill the train was speeding down was a blur on either side of me. I focused on the carriage in front. Sweat beaded on the back of my neck.

  With a yell, I threw myself across the divide between the two carriages. I lunged for the steps on the other side. There. I gripped the rungs. The metal felt clammy under my sweating hands. My heart pounded in my ears. No time.

  I reached up to the rung above, finding a foothold on the bottom step as I did so. Up I climbed, hand over hand. Seconds later I was at the top. I inched onto the roof of the train. Nico was, of course, no longer holding me in place but I was used to the train’s motion now. It took an effort, but slowly I crawled forward along the roof. The mountain was looming ever closer. How far away was it? Less than two hundred metres I was guessing. Which gave me just a few minutes to reach the front of the train and apply the brakes. As I made my way, commando-style, across the roof, I could hear screams from the passengers inside. I speeded up.

  Come on. A few moments later I reached the end of the carriage. I swung myself round. Down the steps. The driver’s cab was opposite the coupling. The door at the back swung open, banging against the side of the cab. Inside it was empty.