Michael Carroll - The Quantum Prophecy

“It would have been a great court case, too,” Caroline said, “if Façade hadn’t escaped from custody on the way to the trial.”

“What about Paragon, though? If he arrived so quickly, doesn’t that suggest that he lived nearby? I mean, from what I’ve read about him he wasn’t able to fly very fast.”

“Maybe he just happened to be close by for some other reason,” Caroline said.

“Yeah, but… I suppose the police had the TV studio surrounded, right? That means that Paragon would have had to get past them in order to get into the studio. So you know what I’m thinking?”

“What’s that?” his father asked.

“Maybe Paragon was a cop. In his real life, I mean. Maybe they knew all about him.”

“I doubt it, Colin. Even if he was, he wouldn’t have let anyone know that he was Paragon. The only heroes whose real names we knew were the Daltons. And that was only because they were already rich enough to protect themselves. All the others probably had ordinary lives.” Warren looked up at the television set. “Speaking of which… Only a few minutes to go before Max Dalton’s interview. Right, Colin – put the kettle on.”

“It’s not my turn!”

“It is if you want to stay up and find out what Dalton has to say for himself.”

As Colin carried the mugs of tea into the sitting room, the specially-extended edition of the ten o’clock news was coming to an end. It had already reported that Times Square in Manhattan was blocked with people. The news report had showed a sea of banners and flags, cheering people dressed up as their favourite heroes and mounted policemen attempting to keep the crowds under control.

The TV cut back to the female newsreader. “And after tonight’s exclusive interview with Max Dalton, we’ll be opening tomorrow’s poll: ‘If you had to be a superhuman, which one would you be?’ You can choose between Titan, Apex, Paragon or Max Dalton. We’ll have the results this time tomorrow night, with updates throughout the day.”

The male newsreader chuckled. “Thanks, Diana. No Ragnarök on the list, then?”

“Oh, I don’t think he’d get too many votes, Tom, do you?”

“Guess not! You can vote by pressing the red button on your remote, through the website, or by phone. Calls cost—”

Colin’s father hit the mute button, then said, “So who would you choose, Colin?”

“I don’t know,” Colin said. “Sometimes I’d like to be Thalamus, because he was the smartest man on the planet. But I kind of like Joshua Dalton, too.”

Colin’s mother asked, “Because he was rich and he’s had a string of supermodel girlfriends?”

“Mostly because he has his own helicopter. I’d love to have a go in a helicopter.” Colin turned around to look at his father. “So why do you think that only The High Command survived?”

“Maybe they all survived, Colin. Did you ever think of that? Maybe they all survived and decided that it was time to retire.”

Colin laughed. “Oh yeah, sure. If you had the sort of power that Titan had, you’d never be able to just sit around when some disaster happened. You’d have to try and help. That’s what Titan was like.”

“You don’t think that he could have just decided that he’d done enough?”

“No. I mean, I wouldn’t. Titan was the most powerful man ever. He had a responsibility to use his powers to help everyone else.”

All this talk about superheroes reminded Colin of his earlier conversation with Brian.

“Dad… Remember what I was saying about how Danny saved Susie’s life?”

“Yes…” His father said, cautiously.

“Well, me and Brian were thinking about it. Danny was really, really fast. Maybe he’s a superhuman.”

“How? How could he be? Apart from the Daltons, there aren’t any superhumans left any more.”

“But the way Danny moved…” Colin shook his head. “I saw it myself and I still can’t believe it.”

“The mind can play tricks on you, Colin,” said his mother. “Especially under a stressful situation. It might just have seemed a lot faster than it was.”

“I suppose… But, you see, I was thinking about this, right? Most of the superheroes got their powers when they were teenagers and Danny’s about the right age.”

Warren grinned. “Are you seriously suggesting that your friend Danny Cooper has hidden powers?”

“Well, it seems like it.”

“Then let us know if he learns how to fly. That could come in handy.”

Colin’s mother said, “It’s starting!”

Colin pulled one of the cushions off the sofa and stretched out on the floor, facing the television set.

The screen showed lots of old footage of the superheroes in action – most of it very shaky and out-of-focus – then cut to a black-and-white photograph of a handsome grey-haired man in his mid-forties.

“Maxwell Edwin Dalton,” the presenter’s voice said. “Billionaire CEO of MaxEdDal Pharmaceuticals, first came to public notice when…”

Colin twisted around to face his mother. “What’s CEO mean?”

“Chief Executive Officer,” she replied. “The boss, in other words.”

Colin turned back to see that the screen was now showing the outside of the MaxEdDal headquarters in Manhattan. “At the age of fifteen,” the voice continued, “young Max Dalton discovered that he had the ability to know what other people were thinking, and to some degree influence their thoughts to make them do what he wanted. Yet, unlike most other superhumans, he chose to go public with his abilities. With his younger brother and sister, Roz and Joshua, he formed The High Command.” The screen showed photos of the Daltons as teenagers.

“Is that the best they can do?” Colin asked. “Isn’t there any film of Max in action? You know, actually doing something?”

It was another fifteen minutes before the presenter finally said, “Tonight, Maxwell Dalton will give his first interview since the events of the original Mystery Day. That’s next, coming right up after this!”

The television cut to a commercial. Colin yawned.

“I heard that the TV stations are charging a fortune for these ads,” Caroline said. “Twice as much as they charge for ads during the Superbowl.”

When the programme finally returned the interviewer was sitting behind a desk. To his right, on a long leather sofa, sat Max Dalton. He was dressed in a sports jacket, white shirt open at the collar, and faded jeans.

“He looks, well, kind of ordinary,” Colin said. “I thought he’d be bigger.”

“Shhh!”

“Thank you for joining us, Mr Dalton,” the interviewer said.

“It’s my pleasure, Garth,” Dalton said, smiling. His teeth were the whitest Colin had ever seen.

“Now, first, I guess the most obvious question – and one that I’m sure most people want to know – is why now? Why, after all these years, have you decided to finally break your silence?”

Max paused for a second. “Tomorrow’s the tenth anniversary. I think ten years is long enough to wait.”

“Tell me this, Max… Can you read my mind right now?”

Smiling, Max said, “Garth, I don’t do that sort of thing any more. Those days are gone.”

“Tell us about those days, if you will.”

“Much of what has been written about my life as a superhero is apocryphal at best.”

“Apocryphal?” Colin asked.

“Made-up,” his mother said.

Max continued. “Yes, we fought crime, helped people, tried to make the world a better place. If you’ve been given a gift – like I was – you’re honour-bound to use it for the greater good.”

“And can you tell us what happened ten years ago?”

“Despite what a lot of people have been saying, I wasn’t there. So your guess is as good as mine, Garth. All I know is that Ragnarök had built some enormous machine and was driving it straight for Manhattan. Then… well, who can say? There was a big explosion and that was it. No more superhumans.”