STARSCAPE BOOKS(58)

“But how will I know what area to burn?” Torchie asked.

I looked over at Cheater. “Got any binoculars?”

“Nope. But you can buy them cheap all around here.”

“Great.” I knew from my own experiments that I could move stuff I saw in the distance. I wondered whether Torchie could use his power the same way. “Guess we’d better get two pair.”

“Let me get them,” Cheater said. “I know where the best prices are.”

I gave him some money and he dashed off again.

When Cheater returned with the binoculars, I took them and handed a pair to Torchie.

He headed toward the window, then raised the binoculars in the direction of the building with the fireworks.

“No!” I grabbed his wrist. “Not in here. Take them with you.”

“Yeah,” Martin said. “Go out and destroy.”

“But I’m trying not to start fires,” he said.

Cheater patted him on the back. “Just do it. I’ll explain Utilitarianism to you when you get back.”

“Well, that gives us one good reason not to come back,” Flinch said.

We headed out the door and down the steps. “Be careful,” I said to Torchie and Flinch as they walked off toward the corner. “People are looking for us.”

“You, too,” Flinch said.

“Yeah, us, too,” Martin said. “So, we’re going to go destroy a ship?”

“For starters.”





first blood


AROUND 9:00 PM, we caught a bus toward Columbus Boulevard, which runs along the piers. “You really think this will work?” Martin asked.

“It will definitely get some attention.”

“Speaking of attention, I think Livy likes me.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. She keeps coming over.”

“Maybe that’s because you keep knocking on her door.”

“But do you think she likes me?”

“Hard to tell. You could always use your talent to make her like you.”

“I sort of tried that. She doesn’t seem to care about compliments. Besides, it would be nice if she liked me for myself. What do you think?”

“I imagine it’s possible she could like you for yourself.”

“That’s what I was thinking.” He nodded and sat back. A moment later, he said, “I hope Lucky’s okay.”

“Me, too. I think he was in bad shape even before Bowdler grabbed him. It’s only going to get worse. Bowdler’s medicine cabinet contains all kinds of nasty stuff.”

“How can people do things like that?”

I shrugged. “Ever read a history book?”

“Not unless there was a gun at my head,” Martin said.

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, I guess I do. We’ve been killing each other ever since we figured out how to throw rocks.”

We changed buses and made our way to the piers. We couldn’t get too close to the ships, but I spotted the one that was on my list. It was a cargo ship. Bowdler was running an experiment that was supposed to try to detect any form of aggressive attack before it happened—I guess like an electronic version of Flinch. There were parts of the world where cargo ships were at the mercy of modern-day pirates. The first phase of the experiment involved using a bunch of different instruments to record measurements. It was total nonsense.

As we studied the ship, Martin laughed.

“What?”

“We’re about to attack something designed to detect attacks. Don’t you just love that?”

“Almost as much as pancakes.”

I spotted a metal box about the size of a small car at the front of the ship. The side of the box had Bowdler’s Psibertronix logo painted on it. There were a couple different types of antennas sticking out of the top.

“We have to damage the ship,” I told Martin, “and make it look like that instrument did it. Any ideas?”

“Fire would be good,” he said.

“It would. Too bad Torchie isn’t here.”

“You could rub two sticks together really fast.”

“I knew I could count on you for great suggestions.” I studied the box. Even without using the binoculars, I could see a couple thick power cables running to it. Reaching across the pier with my mind, I pulled one of the cables from the box. I jumped as sparks danced in the air.

“You okay?” Martin asked.

“Yeah. I just sort of expected a shock. Like when I grab something hot with my mind, I always expect to get burned.”

Another arc of sparks shot from the cable. I turned my attention back to the ship.

“Awesome,” Martin said. “This could work out.”

I nodded, but didn’t say anything. I was concentrating on pulling out the other cable. When I had them both under control, I touched one to the deck and the other to the railing. I could sense the power pulsing through them, like they were giant tentacles. Lights inside the ship dimmed, then flickered.