Dreams of the Golden Age (Golden Age 2)

“I’m perversely encouraged,” Arthur said at one point. “This wouldn’t be so difficult if we weren’t close.”

“We’re going to get up there and be totally exhausted and no good for a fight,” Paulson muttered.

“Plenty of time to worry about that when we get there,” the telepath replied.

“Holy crap, what happened?” Teddy said, his bodiless words echoing ahead of him before he flashed to visibility and pitched up against the railing on the thirtieth floor. He stared down at the dripping walls and the sopping wet mess of them.

“Geez, kid, you have got to stop doing that,” Paulson said, holstering the gun he’d drawn from his belt.

“Sorry,” Teddy said. “But what happened?”

They all looked at Analise, who shook her head. “I’m a really bad plumber, it turns out.”

Teddy looked blank, but Teia giggled.

“Ghost, you’ve been to the thirtieth floor? What did you find?” Mentis ordered.

Wide-eyed, he nodded quickly. “There’s five of ’em. The two who tried to snatch Anna are guarding the doorway. Two more guys in skin suits are watching Ms. West. And a guy in a suit, he looks like he’s in charge. Ms. West is there, she’s tied to a chair.”

“You’ve seen her, she’s okay?” Anna gasped. He’d seen Mom, she was okay, she was close, and they would find her. These last few minutes of waiting before they could rescue her were going to be impossible.

Teddy nodded. “She looks really pissed off.” That sounded like Mom.

Arthur said, “What’s she bound with, cuffs or straps?”

“Straps. Knots, I think.”

“Right. I need you to go back and loosen them—don’t untie them entirely, we don’t want to show our hand. But enough so she can slip out when the time is right. Then get out of the way and wait for us.”

“Got it,” he said, entirely too e

agerly. Must be nice, being able to turn invisible to avoid danger.

“Can you unlock the door for us?” Sam said.

“No, it’s got a code lock on it or something.”

“Then can I please blast it?” Sam called over his shoulder.

“Give Ghost a few minutes to get out of the way and get to Celia. Then yes, you can blast it,” Mentis said.

Once he blew up the door, a battle would start. After that, there’d be little enough Anna could do, compared to her friends who could do so much. But that didn’t matter, because they were all here for the same reason: find Mom, get her out safe. That was Anna’s task.

Teddy vanished through the door again.

TWENTY-THREE

THE minions returned and huddled in conference with Majors—out of Celia’s hearing, of course. Alas. Not that she would have been able to do anything with any information she gleaned. She kept glancing at the mentalist, Mindwall, wishing she could interrogate him on the extent of his power. Wishing she could knock him unconscious by sheer force of will. But no, that was Arthur’s ability.

Arthur. She relied on him for so much. She’d taken him entirely for granted, and now she had plenty of time to review in painstaking detail all the mistakes she’d made in her adult life. Little mistakes, inconsequential. A missed birthday here. A failure to listen to her children sufficiently well. An obsession with details she might have been better off letting go. Celia had given herself a pass because those mistakes all paled when compared to the drama of her childhood. Except for the latest mistakes: She really should have told everyone about the leukemia. And when she told Arthur that he was right, assuming she got out of this in one piece, he wouldn’t even say I told you so.

Maybe Majors was right, and she should have let the company go a long time ago. Let the big picture fend for itself while she focused on what was important: Arthur and the girls.

No. Those thoughts were a trap, because while she didn’t have powers of her own, she was still her parents’ daughter. She had the power to make Commerce City better and an obligation to use it. Dr. Mentis of the Olympiad understood. So did Anna, or she wouldn’t have spent all these weeks sneaking out on her adventures.

An explosion sounded, the whump of a fireball in a distant corridor, the hiss of gas and burning, and a group of people shouting in panic that seemed to echo through the building’s foundations and floor. No …

Majors turned back to her, his face drawn into a very serious, very pitying frown. “Remember, you could have stopped this.”