Time Makers
Thirteen-year-old Napoleon Augustus Smythe (Battle Boy 005) is now Battle Agent 005.
Along with BA004 (a super smart boy but a real smarty pants too), BA009 (a girl with attitude and no time for a smarty pants) and super soldier TEX, he is a member of the Omega Squad, an elite team of Time Troopers sent back into history for Operation Battle Book.
Time is running out for Omega Squad – literally! Operation Battle Book has been suspended and Professor Perdu is being watched closely by her superiors. Alpha Agent One has uncovered MANIC’s terrible plan – a plan that will endanger the whole planet. Can Omega Squad decipher the clues and thwart MANIC before it’s too late? It’s a race through time in the final book in this thrilling series.
Cover
About Omega Squad Time Makers
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Also by Charlie Carter
Copyright page
To Abraham Lincoln, who said:
‘The best way to predict your future is to create it.’
Omega Squad are continuing their quest, determined to discover who is behind the attacks on Professor Perdu’s Battle Books. But powerful forces within MANIC have been equally determined to stop the squad. And these forces know how to play dirty.
TEX’s Life Support Unit was mysteriously shut down, with almost fatal results for the super soldier. Five was nearly killed by a black van, while Four and Nine have been kept under close surveillance. Then the squad was suspended from Master Missions by Dr Vandakrol and the Minders. When that didn’t frighten off Omega Squad, Horace Horologe was sent to kill them, and Alpha One was left for dead in a back alley.
With TEX’s help, Five, Nine and Four thwarted Horologe’s attack, and Alpha One managed to drag himself to Professor Perdu.
But now MANIC’s terrifying plan is ready to be hatched, a plan that will endanger not only Futura but the entire planet. Can Omega Squad stop this evil strategy being implemented?
Three Black Dragon Rotor Jets thumped-thumped in the night sky over Futura, escorted by Stingray fighters. They touched down at the Hover Drome on the southern outskirts of the city. A fleet of black vans was waiting, supported by motorised guardroid units with weapon-equipped ATVs.
Once the Dragons had come to a standstill, their doors opened and scientists in lab coats, officials in suits and uniformed military figures spilled on to the tarmac. They climbed quickly into the vans and were driven away, each vehicle escorted by a pair of armoured ATVs. The whole operation took less than 15 minutes.
The convoy raced down the motorway towards the Time Store district of Futura.
The road was empty, except for one other vehicle – a limousine. It was travelling in the opposite direction to the convoy.
‘They’re heading somewhere in a hurry,’ said BA004, sitting in the front of the limo. ‘I wonder . . .?’
‘No, Four, please don’t,’ said BA009. She was stretched out in the back of the vehicle as Bernard drove them home. ‘I’ve had enough wondering for a while.’
‘I’m not surprised,’ said Five. ‘It’s 4.06 am. We’ve been on one humungous mission, and the day hasn’t even begun.’
‘It’s not because I’m tired,’ 009 replied. ‘I can handle that. It’s making sense of all that’s happened.’
‘Yeah,’ said 005. ‘Prof reckons we’re close to solving this puzzle, but I can’t see it.’
‘There are so many bits and pieces,’ Nine groaned. ‘But which pieces are important and which bits aren’t is so hard to decide. My head is spinning.’
‘Then we’d better stop it spinning,’ said Four.
‘Oh yeah, Mr Smarty? And how are we going to do that?’
Four tapped his head. ‘Good old grey matter. We need to stand back, collect our thoughts and make some rational judgements.’
‘Oh, is that all?’ Nine rolled her eyes. ‘Take it away, then.’
‘Very well, I will. As I see it, there are four main facts in this case. Fact Number One: Time and Energy packets are being stolen and stockpiled at Horace Horologe’s Time Stores. And it’s been going on for quite a while if Alpha One is right. Fact Number Two: historical figures are also being stolen and stockpiled at the Time Stores. And that’s been happening for a while as well.’
‘Yeah, we know that,’ said Five. ‘But we don’t know why the T&E packets and the historical figures are being stolen. And what are they being used for?’
‘Ah, but that’s where I think you’re wrong. The answer lies in the other two facts. Fact Number Three centres on what Horace Horologe said about the real purpose of those incubation cylinders – the ones that nearly killed us. According to him, what’s really going is the extraction of Time and Energy.’
‘Sorry,’ said 009. ‘But I’m still lost.’
‘Enter Fact Number Four: the processing plant Prof reckons is operating somewhere in the Time Store area. She said it was like a reactor, and my guess is that it lies at the bottom of all this.’
‘Are you suggesting that the reactor thing is processing Time and Energy?’ said Five.
Four shrugged. ‘Do you have a better idea?’
‘No. But what’s it processing the Time and Energy into? What’s it making?’
‘I don’t know, to be honest. But I do know that we must’ve come close to discovering the answer; close enough for someone to want us terminated.’
‘And I bet Alpha One has got even closer,’ said Nine.
‘Yes. I think he might know what’s going on.’
BA009 shuddered. ‘Which is why we haven’t heard from him.’
‘Not yet, Nine,’ said 005.
‘Not yet is not good. We should have heard from him by now. I’m really worried that something very bad has happened to Alpha One.’
The Battle Agents sat in silence for a moment, weighed down by the fear that Nine could be right.
BA005 was weighed by another matter – the bearded man, none other than Abraham Lincoln, an American president. The mysterious historical figure was lodged in Five’s head like a tune that wouldn’t go away. Lincoln’s talk of rights and freedom had affected ordinary people in the streets of Futura. It had deeply moved Alpha One as well, and Five even felt as if the president had actually reached out to him for some reason. But what did that have to do with Time Stores and reactors and packets of Time and Energy?
In the end Five decided it would only complicate things if he mentioned Abraham Lincoln. There was already more than enough to think about.
‘I know how you feel, Nine,’ he said after a while. ‘My head is spinning, too.’
Suddenly all their Battle Watches beeped at once, and the same message from Professor Perdu flashed across their dials:
Return immediately. Alpha Agent 001 has arrived.
* * *
‘Oh my god!’
BA009 gasped in horror. Five and Four gaped, too stunned to speak.
Alpha Agent 001 was lying on a narrow bed in Professor Perdu’s office, a sheet pulled up to his neck. His eyes were closed, his breathing shallow, his face pale and gaunt. The swelling around his lips and left eye had subsided a little, but the bruising had become more pronounced.
‘He looks a thousand times better than when he came in,’ said the professor. ‘He was covered in blood and dirt. His attackers must’ve left him lying in a muddy ditch somewhere.’
‘He was, but I pumped him full of painkillers. He’s been through hell, that’s for sure.’ The professor pulled back the sheet a little; Alpha One’s chest, shoulders and arms were a mass of black and blue welts. ‘His heart was racing wildly when he came in; another few minutes without treatment and we could’ve lost him. But he’s stabilised now, and out of the high danger zone. His nose and teeth will need work, but his jaw is not broken. And he’s okay internally, although his kidneys have had a nasty pounding.’
‘What about his head?’
‘Concussion, of course, but the brain scans are good. Nothing to worry about there.’
Alpha One’s body was seized by spasmodic twitching and his eyes flickered beneath their lids as though seeing things they didn’t want to. ‘No,’ he muttered several times, then groaned long and low before slipping out of consciousness again.
‘Who did this to him?’ said Nine.
‘It’s not who did this that matters. There are plenty of sadistic creatures ready to do their masters’ bidding. It’s who authorised it that matters most. They’re the real monsters.’
‘Shouldn’t he be in hospital?’
‘Right now he needs calm and quiet more than anything. And we have everything he requires for treatment. When it’s safe to move him, perhaps we will. But I don’t know who to trust any more. Whatever we do, at least one of us must stay with him at all times.’
‘I will,’ said 009, edging closer to Alpha One’s side. She rested her hand near his.
‘Did he say anything when he arrived?’ BA004 asked.
‘Oh yes. He had a great deal to say. Not that I could make much sense of any of it.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, he was quite delirious. He stumbled into the room yelling something about a DataBlok. He shouted it several times. Get . . . DataBlok!’
‘DataBlok? Those tiny data chips that are personal records of our missions?’
‘Exactly. Anyhow, I asked him which DataBlok I had to get, from which mission, and that really upset him. He became most agitated, raving and ranting, muttering all sorts of strange things. And then he passed out.’
‘So do we have any more to go on?’ asked Five.
‘You decide for yourselves.’ Professor Perdu moved to her control panel. ‘Luckily I recorded most of our conversation. I’ve already replayed it twice but I can’t get anything from it. See what you think.’
Professor Perdu flicked a switch and Alpha One’s voice filled the room.
He sounded frantic, his voice high-pitched, his words punctuated by coughing and gasping while Professor Perdu struggled to calm him.
‘Right . . . I . . . I . . . right.’
‘Of course, you were right, Alpha One. But you must not stress yourself any more. There’ll be time to tell . . .’
‘No! No time! Must . . . cro, cro . . . cro . . . No!’
‘I’m listening, Alpha One. But you must lie down. Your heart is . . .’
‘No future . . . taking us . . . taking us . . . no fu . . . no . . . stone.’
‘Please lie down, Alpha One. I’m giving you an injection. Do you understand? You need to be stabilised at once. I have to lower your pulse.’
‘No rights . . . no freedom . . . no. No! Cro, cro . . . cro . . . no . . . No!’
‘The injection acted quickly,’ the professor said, interrupting the recording. ‘He quietened down, and his words became more slurred. But he kept fighting to stay conscious. Listen.’
‘No future . . . past, the past is . . . rights, no rights . . . no . . . time . . . no . . . sto . . .’
‘He drifted off at that point,’ said Professor Perdu, hitting the pause button. ‘I immediately began running a few crucial tests – brain scan, internal injury probes etcetera. But a minute had barely passed when he suddenly opened his eyes, grabbed my arm and shouted at me.’ The professor pressed the Play button.
‘DataBlok! Get . . . get . . . DataBlok! Link . . . find link . . . get, get . . . s, s, s . . . b, b, b . . . data . . . get . . .’
‘He squeezed my arm tight and shook it hard, staring at me with desperate eyes. He was frantically trying to make me understand. And then he completely lost consciousness. I called you all at once and began cleaning his wounds.’
Professor Perdu sat back.
‘Well?’ she said, looking at them. ‘Any comments?’
‘Can you convert A1’s words to text?’ said BA004. ‘Then we might be able to make more sense of it all.’
‘Good idea,’ the professor replied. ‘And I’ll delete my input so we can just focus on his words.’
Professor Perdu tapped a few keys and everything Alpha One had said appeared as text on a large screen before them.
Right . . . I . . . I . . . right.
No! No time! Must . . . cro, cro . . . cro . . . No!
No future . . . taking us . . . taking us . . . no fu . . . no . . . stone.
No rights . . . no freedom . . . no. No! Cro, cro . . . cro . . . no . . . No stone!
No future . . . past, the past is . . . rights, no rights . . . no . . . time . . . no . . . sto . . .
DataBlok! Get . . . get . . . DataBlok! Link . . . find link . . . get, get . . . s, s, s . . . b, b, b . . . data . . . get . . .
They all stared at the text, trying to make sense of it. BA009 was the first to speak.
‘You know the rights and the freedom stuff?’ she said. ‘A1 spoke to me about that just before he left on this mission. He was really tense. When I asked him to explain he got even more worked up. ‘It’s about freedom, he shouted, our freedom and our rights.’ Nine thought for a moment. ‘He said some other stuff too: Our future is at stake. The right to choose our future is in real danger.’
As Nine spoke, Alpha One’s hand edged ever so slowly towards her and a couple of fingers pressed weakly against her hand. He might have been in a coma, but in a way he was still with them.
‘He knew how dangerous this mission was,’ Nine added. ‘He said there was a chance he might not return, and made me promise that we wouldn’t give up the fight.’
‘Don’t worry, 009,’ said Professor Perdu. ‘There’s no way we’re giving up the fight. We’re in this to the end.’
‘I know where his talk of freedom and rights came from,’ said BA005. ‘I wanted to mention this before, but it all seemed so strange and didn’t seem to fit anywhere.’
Five told the others of the first time he saw the bearded man in the city square.
‘Alpha One was there too, and he was so engrossed in the man that he almost got zapped by the Eyes.’ He paused. ‘And I saw him again. Yesterday.’
They all stared at him.
‘He seemed almost ghostlike this time,’ said Five, ‘and I now know why. He wasn’t a real person at all. He was the historical figure who had escaped from the incubation cylinders.’
‘That’s right,’ said 004. ‘Horace Horologe mentioned him. They caught him again.’
‘Yes, and returned him to his cylinder,’ Five replied. ‘He was the very last figure I converted back to digital energy.’
‘And did you see who this man was?’ asked Professor Perdu.
Five nodded. ‘It was Abraham Lincoln.’
‘Good heavens!’ the professor exclaimed. ‘Lincoln was US President during the American Civil War. He’s famous for the Gettysburg Address – one of the greatest speeches on human rights and freedom. He gave it a few months after the Battle of Gettysburg.’
The professor checked through her files, bringing up a list of Alpha One’s missions.
‘Aha, as I thought. Alpha One went on a mission to the Battle of Gettysburg a few months back. Excellent, 005. We’re starting to get somewhere. At last.’
‘You bet we are,’ shouted 004, pointing at the screen. ‘It’s there in Alpha One’s unfinished words. Look at the last line of text.’ He highlighted the line:
get, get . .
. s, s, s . . . b, b, b . . . data . . . get . . .
‘In his delirious state, Alpha One couldn’t say the words fully. He’s not saying: Get DataBlok. He’s saying: Gettysburg DataBlok. That’s what we’re after, the Gettysburg DataBlok.’
‘Brilliant deduction, 004,’ said Professor Perdu, punching a few keys. ‘All we have to do is extract his DataBlok from that mission and . . .’ She stopped and stared at the screen. ‘How strange. It says there is no DataBlok for that mission.’
‘But we always do a DataBlok,’ said 005. ‘It’s part of debriefing. And Alpha One was very particular about that.’
‘You’re right,’ the professor said. ‘Let me just check something.’ She entered a few more commands and soon nodded. ‘Yes. It appears Alpha One did make a DataBlok for this mission. But for some reason he didn’t file it in the system. Most unusual. He must have kept it.’
‘Kept it?’ said Nine. ‘Does that mean he has it with him now, on his body or in his clothes?’
‘No,’ the professor replied. ‘I carried out a routine gadget and digi-gear scan when I treated his wounds. Those scans don’t miss a thing. If that device had been there it would have triggered alarms.’
‘So where is it?’
‘Yes!’ 005 shouted. ‘Of course. I know where it is.’
‘You do?’ the others said, staring at him in amazement. ‘Where?’
‘Abraham Lincoln has it.’
‘But how can he have it?’ asked the professor.
‘It’s in the line before.’ Five highlighted Alpha One’s words on the screen:
Link . . . find link . . .
‘He’s not telling us to find a link. The k should be a c. He’s trying to tell us to find Lincoln. We have to find Abraham Lincoln because he has the DataBlok.’
‘That’s a big leap in logic,’ said Professor Perdu. ‘I agree on the link bit. But the DataBlok could be anywhere. Alpha One could have dropped it somewhere, lost it, hidden it even. How can you be so sure Lincoln has it?’
‘Because he tried to give it to me. Twice, in fact – in the city square, and later as he was fading away in the incubation cylinder. Both times I didn’t know what he was doing. It looked like he was reaching out to me. But now I realise he was trying to give me something – it has to be the DataBlok.’