The boy whimpered, his wide eyes darting between them. Slowly, Blake knelt in front of him, palms still raised.
‘Please, we mean you no harm. We just want to know what happened here.’
Tears brimmed in the lad’s eyes as he clutched his knees even closer to his thin chest. He glanced down at the gun Blake had holstered back in his belt.
‘No, these aren’t working. Look, I’ll get rid of it.’
Blake unclipped the gun and pushed it away across the tiled floor.
‘There, it’s gone.’
The boy’s eyes darted to Avon’s firearm. Avon sighed and followed Blake’s lead, as did Cally from behind.
‘Okay, we’re unarmed. Do you see? My name’s Blake, Roj Blake. This is Kerr Avon and Cally. What’s your name?’
The terrified youth didn’t answer. Instead, he turned his attention to Cally. He cocked his head to the side, peering curiously into her eyes, and Blake noticed that Cally mirrored the movement. The boy’s head twitched the other way, and Cally did the same. Did she even realise she was doing it?
‘Cally?’
The Auronite jumped at Blake’s voice. She shook her head, as if trying to clear it, before looking at Blake.
‘I’m sorry, I…’ Her voice trailed off. Tentatively she reached out a hand towards the boy. One of his long, bony hands unfurled from around his knee and returned the gesture, trembling fingers stretching out towards her.
Blake shot Avon a worried glance, but didn’t intervene. A minute later he regretted it. As soon as their fingertips brushed against each other, Cally was thrown back, as if 1,000 volts had just jolted through her body. Likewise the boy slammed back against the metal cupboard doors with a heavy clang, gasping for air.
‘What have you done to her?’ Blake snapped angrily, darting to where Cally lay, hyperventilating wildly as she stared up at the flickering ceiling lights. ‘Cally, can you hear me?’
‘Oh no you don’t,’ said Avon as the boy sprang forward, scampering over Blake’s legs and making for the open door. He made a grab at the lad’s tattered clothes, but the boy was too fast and had cleared the room in a second. Avon leapt to his feet, covering the room in a few long strides. His booted footsteps faded away as Blake tried to slip an arm under Cally’s shoulders to ease her up. She was like a board; her muscles rigid as a vein pulsed in her forehead. Was she having some kind of seizure?
‘Cally, you need to breathe normally. Cally, do you hear me?’
Finally, her body relaxed, her breathing slowing to something resembling normality.
‘I’m all right.’
‘What did he do to you?’
‘Nothing.’
‘That’s not what it looked like to me.’
Cally sat up and rubbed some of the tension from her neck.
‘Really, he didn’t mean any harm,’ she insisted. ‘He just wanted to tell me his name.’
‘His name?’
‘It’s Mikel. Blake, he’s telepathic.’
Before Blake could ask another question, there was a cry from down the corridor, followed by a dull thud. Cally was back on her feet in a flash.
‘Blake, was that…’
‘Avon.’ Blake made for the door and threw himself around the corner. ‘Come on.’
*
They found them in a storage bay, lit only by the light in the corridor. Blake skidded to a halt in the doorway. Mikel had flattened himself against a large corrugated container, rheumy eyes wider than ever, staring down in horror at Avon’s body, sprawled at his feet.
‘What have you done to him?’ Blake bellowed as he ran forward and dropped to Avon’s side. He felt for a pulse and felt something warm, something wet. His fingers came back slick with blood.
Blind with fury, Blake made a lunge for the boy, grabbing him by the shoulders and slamming him against the container.
‘What happened?’ he demanded, ignoring the pathetic whimper. ‘What did you do?’
‘Blake, leave him alone.’ Cally had knelt by Avon and was examining his injury. ‘He can’t speak.’
Blake released the boy and took a step back, wiping a shaking hand across his mouth.
‘He can’t speak?’
Mikel slid down the corridor, sobbing, his arms covering his face as if to ward off any further blows.
‘No, he’s never been able to.’
‘How do you know?’
‘He showed me.’ Cally wiped Avon’s blood from her hands onto her trouser legs. ‘This looks bad, Blake. We need to get Avon into the light, but I’m not sure we should—’
Something whistled through the air and hit Cally on the side of her head. She cried out in shock, slumping forward. Stunned, she moaned where she lay, an ugly red welt already forming on her temple.
Blake crouched and snatched up the missile from where it had rebounded at his feet. It was a heavy metal bolt. Something thudded painfully into his shoulder. He gasped and toppled back, instinctively tumbling out of the way as another bolt whipped through the air and clanged against the floor just missing his head. As he rolled back to his feet, Blake’s hand went to his belt. He cursed beneath his breath. His gun was still lying on the floor of the lab where they had found Mikel, not that it would have done him any good.
‘Okay,’ he shouted into the gloom. ‘I surrender.’ Slowly, arms raised, he got to his feet. ‘Whoever you are, I’m not armed. I’m sorry I threatened the boy, but my friend here is badly hurt. If we could just—’
Blake never finished the sentence. There was a soft rustle from behind him and something hard smashed against the back of his head. He was unconscious before he hit the floor.