The Twisted Future (Teen Superheroes Book 4) Read Free Page A

Ferdy.’
    We all wore wrist communicators that allowed us to speak to each other. They even had a video screen so you could see the caller if you wanted.
    ‘No offense is taken, friend Ebony,’ Ferdy said. ‘The eighth element on the periodic table is oxygen.’
    ‘Is it?’ Ebony said. ‘That’s great.’
    Brodie’s eyes swept the jungle. ‘How fantastic to not be on the run anymore,’ she said. ‘To be free of the Agency.’
    ‘You didn’t have to be a criminal,’ I pointed out. ‘You could have left me in jail.’
    ‘No, we couldn’t.’ She drew close and kissed my cheek. ‘Where you go, we all go.’
    I watched a seagull arc towards the ocean. My month in jail wasn’t fun. I had expected to spend decades behind bars for kidnapping the Russian Premier. Instead, here I was a few weeks later on an island in the Pacific, the sun on my face and my girlfriend at my side.
    ‘Let’s explore,’ Dan suggested.
    ‘Is it safe?’ Ebony said.
    ‘What can possibly go wrong?’ Chad asked.
    I peered through the jungle curtain, making out three distinct layers of foliage. Traipsing through that wouldn’t be easy. Visibility was only a few feet. Having superpowers meant we could handle most situations, but it didn’t make us indestructible. A wild animal could kill us as easily as anyone else.
    ‘What’s that?’ Dan asked.
    We turned to see him staring at the sky. A tiny black cut had appeared in the clear blue expanse. For a second I thought it might have been an aircraft, but then it grew larger as a low pulse filled the air.
    ‘Beats me,’ Brodie said. ‘But I think something’s inside it.’
    The cut in the sky grew larger until it was as large as the clearing. Within it was a distant glint of silver. A spaceship.
    I tapped the communicator on my wrist. ‘Ferdy, what are we looking at?’
    ‘A temporal distortion has formed above us,’ Ferdy said calmly. ‘Within it is a vessel.’
    ‘Ferdy,’ Chad groaned. ‘What does that mean?’
    ‘Ferdy is not sure he can explain. Suffice to say, a hole has formed in the time/space continuum and a vessel is entering our universe.’
    ‘Let’s get back into the ship,’ Ebony suggested. ‘It would be safer—’
    The alien vessel suddenly grew larger and flew from the gap. The black cut disappeared as the ship zoomed low over the jungle. Without a sound, the ship completed a slow turn around the mountain before heading towards us. Decelerating as braking thrusters fired, it landed next to Liber8tor .
    No-one spoke. We were so amazed by this sudden turn of events that we couldn’t think of anything to say. Now I stared more closely at the vessel and realized that, although it had wings and rear thrusters that enabled flight, there were no visible windows. A squat ship, it was as if someone had taken a jumbo jet, cut out the middle and stuck both ends together. The vessel’s tiny wings were too small to actually fly it, but somehow they worked.
    Sheets of ice broke away as a hatch cracked open, slowly swinging upwards. The interior was dark, but then a man stepped out.
    Brodie turned to me. ‘That man,’ she gasped. ‘He looks...’
    I stared at him in amazement. He was tall and thin with brown hair and eyes. Millions of people fitted that description, but there was no mistaking the similarity. Chad also did a double-take. ‘He looks like you,’ he said.
    ‘I’m sorry to take you all by surprise,’ the man said in a familiar voice.
    I knew that voice !
    He continued. ‘It’s a miracle I’m here at all.’
    ‘Are we related?’ I asked. ‘We look the same.’
    ‘We are the same,’ the man said. ‘I’m you—from forty years in the future.’
     

Chapter Four
     
    It wasn’t often that we were struck dumb, but this was one of those times. We stared in amazement at the stranger.
    ‘Did you hear me?’ he asked. ‘I said that I’m you from the future. I’m here because we need to change history and you’re the only people who can do