The Quantum Prophecy. Michael Carroll

said. “The party went on longer than I expected.”

      “All right. Good party, was it?”

      “It was OK. Everyone kept asking me about what happened with Susie.”

      “You didn’t tell any of your friends, did you?”

      “No, of course not!” Danny lied.

      Danny’s father hesitated for a second, then nodded. “Good, good. Actually, Dan, if you’re not too tired, I think you and me need to have a little talk. I need to show you something important.” He pushed his massive frame out of his armchair and stretched.

      “At this hour?”

      Mr Cooper turned off the television set. “It won’t take long.” He led Danny out into the hall.

      “Keep the noise down,” he whispered. “Your mother and Niall are asleep. Now, Look at this…”

      Danny watched as his father pulled the casing off the fuse box.

      “There’s a switch…” Danny’s father groped around and there was a soft click.

      He turned to the large photo of Danny’s grandfather that hung in the hall and lifted it off its hook. Danny saw that there was a panel behind it. His father pulled the panel open and removed a small black canvas bag.

      “What’s that?”

      “Just some stuff from the old days.” He closed the panel and re-hung the photo. He slung the bag over his shoulder and opened the front door.

      “Aw, Dad! I don’t want to go back out into the rain again!”

      “It won’t hurt you,” Danny’s father said.

      They left the blocks of flats and walked in the direction of the main road. “What’s up?” Danny asked.

      His father opened the bag and took out a small metal device, about the size of a personal stereo. He flipped a switch on the device and a small red light began blinking.

      “What’s that for?” Danny asked.

      “It’s a transponder,” his father explained. “I’m sure that these days they could make something like this about the size of your fingernail, but it was state of the art back then.”

      “I thought that transponders were something to do with aircraft?”

      “Not necessarily. It’s looking for a specific signal. When it gets it, it sends a counter-signal back. Someone with the right equipment will be able to pick up our signal and find us. Doesn’t matter where we are on the planet, they’ll find us.”

      “Who?”

      “You’ll see soon enough.”

      Danny considered this. “So… this is a mission, then?”

      “Yeah, sort of.”

      Danny grinned. “Cool! But what if someone recognises me? Shouldn’t I have a mask?”

      “It’s not really that kind of mission, Danny.”

      “We should have left a note for Mum. I mean, just in case anything happens.”

      “No, better if she doesn’t know. I didn’t tell her everything that I did when I was Quantum. Can’t have her worried all the time.”

      “Do you still have your old costume?”

      Mr Cooper smiled. “It wouldn’t fit you. Not yet, anyway. You’ll need to fill out a bit.”

      Danny realised that they were heading in the direction of Colin’s house and suddenly felt worried. He shouldn’t have told Colin about his powers. What if we are going to Colin’s? he wondered. Suppose Colin says something, lets it slip that he knows?

      For a second, Danny wondered if he could race ahead to Colin’s house, tell him not to say a word, then run back without his dad noticing that he’d gone.

       No. That wouldn’t work. Anyway, we can’t be going to Colin’s house. Why would we?

      Despite the fact that he hadn’t got out of bed until midday, Colin was exhausted. He felt dizzy, almost nauseous, as he removed his clothes and dropped them on the floor.

       Danny’s a superhuman.

      The thought jumped into his mind, as it seemed to do every couple of minutes.

      He turned off the light, pulled back the blankets and awkwardly climbed into bed; the muscles in his arms and legs were sore, as though he’d been working out all day. This had been happening on and off for weeks now; growing pains, his mother called them.

      Danny’s going to be off saving the world and having fantastic adventures, while the rest of us have ordinary, boring lives. It’s not fair; I want to have super-powers! I want to be able to move as fast as Quantum!

      Colin knew that he’d never be able to sleep with these thoughts running around in his head.

      He rolled over on to his side and tried to think of something – anything – to keep his mind off the fact that his best friend was going to be a superhero.

      It wasn’t working.

      Colin shifted around to his favourite position – on his back, with his hands tucked behind his head – and tried to focus on the gentle hum of the traffic on the motorway; this usually helped him to drift off to sleep.

      But this time, as he focussed on the noise of the traffic, it seemed to him that the sounds were becoming sharper.

      Outside, on the next street, a car beeped its horn twice.

      Someone saying goodbye. His own aunt had done the same thing earlier. Why do people do that? Surely getting into the car and driving away is a pretty good indication that you’re leaving. You don’t have to beep your horn and wake the whole neighbourhood up!

      He wondered who it was and listened carefully. He faintly heard a woman calling, “Bye!” as the car pulled away. Colin recognised her voice: Mrs Healy from number twenty-three. He heard her close her front door, then go into her kitchen and fill the kettle.

      I’m dreaming, Colin thought. There’s no way I can hear Mrs Healy filling her kettle!

      He imagined that he could hear his parents downstairs in the sitting room. The television was on, but they weren’t paying attention to it. His father was about to fall asleep; Colin could hear his breathing slowing, becoming more regular. His mother was humming quietly to herself and… yes, she was reading; Colin could hear the pages turning.