Super (18 page)

“Four Shades,” said Daniel. “And the missing ring.”

Eric nodded. “Yeah. Well,
three
Shades now. Mollie said you let one of them have it.”

“I don’t know if it really matters. I watched one split itself into two; there could be more. Maybe it really is Herman behind all this. Maybe he’s still alive.”

“Eh, I’d still put my money on Plunkett
Junior
. He’s just clever enough to be involved but not show his hand. I’m telling you.”

Eric was right about one thing—whoever the villain was, he was devious. Herman had been crazy enough to believe that his relationship with Daniel was that of teacher and pupil, but the only lesson Daniel had learned from the old
man was that Herman Plunkett was the most twisted human being he’d ever known. No sort of trickery was beyond him. Even an army of shadow creatures to do his bidding.

“The one thing I know,” said Eric, “is we’ll never find out for sure if all we do is sit around and mope.”

Daniel allowed himself a small smile. “The League of Pouty-Pants?”

“The Society of Whiny-Whiners! Doesn’t that strike fear into the hearts of evildoers everywhere?”

Something rumbled in the distance, and Daniel looked to see a second convoy of trucks heading their way. That was odd. Noble’s Green was not exactly a boomtown; there were no new suburbs being built that he knew of. But here came more and more trucks loaded with machinery, hauling it up the mountain. This time as they passed, Daniel made a point of getting a better look at them, more specifically at the logo branded on the sides.

PCI: Plunkett Construction Industries
.

“Eric,” Daniel said, pointing to the passing vehicles.

“I see it. They’re headed up the mountain. To the Old Quarry road.…”

“Go get Mollie and Rohan,” said Daniel. “Tell them … I don’t know, tell them they can come after me with torches and pitchforks later, but we need them now. I’ll meet you all in the woods next to the quarry. Near the road.”

“Now you’re talking. What are you going to do in the meantime?”

“I’m going to get a head start on you all. It’s too risky for
you to try to fly me, so I need to run home and grab my bike. I’ll get there the old-fashioned way.”

Eric smiled and saluted before soaring off into the sky. “See you there!”

Daniel waved back. Things were moving fast, and Eric was right that they’d lost valuable time being angry and distrustful of each other. Something big was happening, and Daniel had one memory in his head that he couldn’t shake. The memory wasn’t Herman or even the Shades. It was of Theo Plunkett standing there at the edge of the quarry, watching him. The look on that boy’s face.

The new kid.

T
rucks continued to speed by Daniel as he pedaled his way up Route 20, yard by agonizingly slow yard. He wished he could simply hop on the back of a bulldozer and hitch a ride, but he didn’t think it would be a good idea to show up with the very people he was planning to spy on.

When he was about a quarter of a mile away, Daniel steered his bike off the road and cut through the trees on foot, unseen. As he approached the quarry, the rumble of machinery could be heard echoing through the forest, and the sweet smell of pine was tainted with the tang of motor oil and gasoline. This wasn’t Clay and Bud snooping around
anymore. These people were gearing up for a full excavation. But did they even know what they were looking for?

He searched the woods for a few minutes before he spotted the others. The steady roar of engines meant that Daniel didn’t have to worry about making noise as he tromped through the fallen twigs, but the leafless trees of late autumn provided poor cover, and he worried about being seen. Luckily, his friends had found a thick patch of evergreens on the edge of the quarry that made the perfect place for spying. Once he was inside the safety of the trees, Eric waved at him, Rohan nodded a curt hello, and Mollie didn’t say anything. But she also didn’t fly away or throw a rock at his head, which Daniel took as a good sign.

The four of them peered through the branches of their hiding spot and looked out over the quarry, which had transformed seemingly overnight. The trucks Daniel had seen back on the road were there, as were the usual vehicles you’d expect to see at a working quarry—dump trucks and a couple of excavators. But there was more going on here than digging for limestone. A number of large, semi-permanent tents had been erected on the outskirts. When the canvas doors were pulled back, Daniel could glimpse tables of men working at laptop computers or unpacking boxes of sophisticated equipment. This was a very high-tech operation.

“This is bad, right?” Eric asked.

Rohan nodded. “I think this is very bad.”

“Can you hear what those nerds in the tent are talking about?”

“Watch it—you’re talking about my people,” said Rohan. “But let me try.” He closed his eyes and concentrated. “There’s … there’s too much background noise. I can’t make out much. But they sound excited about something. The word
awesome
is being tossed about way too much, I can tell you that. And someone keeps talking about caves.”

“What are they doing here?” asked Mollie. “Why now?”

“I think I can answer that,” said Daniel. “I was up here a few weeks ago, and I found Clay and Bud digging around in the rocks.”

“More secrets?” said Mollie.

“Go on, Daniel,” said Rohan.

“It was after we learned about Louisa’s … condition. I was just kind of wandering around and I found myself up here. Clay and Bud were searching for meteor rocks.”

“And you were alone?” asked Rohan.

“I wasn’t scared of them,” said Daniel. “I thought my … powers would protect me.”

“And how’d that work out for you?” asked Mollie.

“Not so good. Clay tried to pound me and I ended up with Bud’s stink powers.”

There were a few moments of silence as Daniel’s friends seemed to be digesting this. Nothing but the sounds of trucks rumbling in the distance as they looked at him. Judged him.

Mollie was the first to go. She snorted once. Then again.
Then exploded into a full belly laugh. Within moments Daniel’s friends were holding their sides as they practically cried with laughter.

“Oh, man! What I would’ve given to see that!” said Mollie.

“Not me,” said Rohan, wiping tears from his eyes. “I don’t need the real thing.”

“Okay, okay,” said Daniel. “It’s not
that
funny.”

Daniel acted embarrassed, but in truth he was relieved. Listening to his friends laugh again, even if it was at him, was a wonderful feeling. It was like he’d been holding his breath for days and just now let it out.

“So your super-stink won out over Clay’s strength?” asked Eric.

“Well, it bought me enough time to get away, I guess,” said Daniel. “But as hilarious as this all is, my stink power is not the point of the story. I saw Theo Plunkett up here, and he saw me. He saw everything.”

“Well, that settles it then,” said Eric. “We know who’s behind this. Theo asked his super-rich daddy to dig up the quarry!”

“But why?” asked Mollie. “It still doesn’t explain why! What’s there worth digging for?”

“He’s after the same thing Clay and Bud were—the meteorite,” said Eric. “He stole the black ring—he must’ve snuck in while you were at school—and now he’s helping his old uncle out and looking for the rest of the meteorite so they can continue the family business of being total jerks.”

“I agree that it doesn’t look good,” said Daniel. “But we still don’t know for sure.”

“Why don’t we just ask him?” said Rohan.

“It’s not that easy,” said Daniel. “I tried calling, I tried going by his house, but he’s avoiding me.”

“No, I don’t mean you should call or stop by,” said Rohan. “I mean ask him. Now.”

Rohan pointed through the trees, and they all watched as one of the tents opened and out walked Theo Plunkett. He was with his father and another man they’d never seen before.

“There’s your proof,” said Eric.

“Maybe,” said Daniel. “Rohan’s right, though. Only one way to know for sure.”

He stepped out of the trees and into the open.

“What are you doing?” whispered Eric.

“I’m listening to my friends for once,” Daniel whispered back. “I’m going to ask Theo what’s going on. You guys stay here and watch my back.”

“We’re on it,” said Rohan, nodding.

“You’re nuts,” said Mollie, but she nodded as well.

It felt good to know they were there with him. He’d been trying to do this all by himself, and look where it had gotten them. He’d forgotten what it felt like to be part of a team.

Because of all the trucks coming and going, Theo didn’t even hear Daniel approach. It was Theo’s father who spotted him first. Mr. Plunkett tapped his son on the shoulder and pointed. When Theo saw Daniel, there was a moment
of obvious shock, even alarm, on his face. But he quickly recovered and stowed his surprise away behind his usual cool smile.

“I saw the trucks,” Daniel said.

Theo nodded. “I’m glad. It’s good to see you.”

“Daniel,” said Mr. Plunkett, “this is Dr. Lewis. He’s from the university archaeological department.”

The other man, one of Eric’s nerds, shook Daniel’s hand.

“Technically, this is a closed site,” said Dr. Lewis, peering down at Daniel over the rim of his glasses. “But if you’re a friend of the Plunketts’, then I guess we can make an exception.”

“You’re an archaeologist?” asked Daniel. “I thought this was just an old limestone quarry.”

“Well, it was,” said Dr. Lewis. “But before that it was a site of significant importance. The university has been trying to get access to it for a very long time. There’ve been some very interesting finds in the surrounding areas—some of which date back hundreds, if not thousands, of years. But all this land is private property and, well …”

“Granduncle Herman didn’t care much for archaeology,” said Theo. “But now that we own this land, things have changed.”

“Theo’s being modest,” said his dad. “He found out that the university had an interest here, and so he pestered me to let them dig. I had my people verify that there really wasn’t any money to be made in limestone and then gave my okay. Looks like Theo’s the Plunkett family philanthropist!”

“It’s a very generous donation,” said Dr. Lewis. “We’re already very excited about the site.”

“Dr. Lewis said that the original people here on Mount Noble were cave dwellers,” said Theo. “But no one’s been able to find their actual caves.”

“This would actually predate even the Native American tribes that lived here,” said Dr. Lewis. “We are talking about true prehistoric people. The first humans who migrated here from Asia, across what is now the Bering Strait—the very first human beings to settle this area. We’ve gathered enough evidence over the years to get an idea of what happened to them. I believe some catastrophic event—an earthquake or perhaps even a meteor strike—covered their caves. But there still might be some remaining tunnels under there somewhere. And if we find the tunnels … well, who knows what they might have left behind?”

Daniel nodded as Dr. Lewis lectured him, feigning interest and even surprise. But Daniel already knew what was in those caves—he’d seen them. And they were wrong about Herman’s interests. He
was
obsessed with the archaeological finds here and around Mount Noble. The difference was that he’d been determined to keep those secrets for himself. He’d shared them with Daniel and no one else. He’d allowed Daniel to see the cave paintings those prehistoric people had created, and he’d told him the truth of what had happened here. There had indeed been a catastrophe brought about by a meteor strike. But it wasn’t the impact of the strike itself that had destroyed those people. What had destroyed
that tribe was the very first generation of Supers ever, thousands of years before the meteor strike that burned down the St. Alban’s orphange. That group of prehistoric young people used their powers to fight among themselves until they’d destroyed their entire tribe. And it was all painted on the walls of those caves still hidden beneath the mountain, just waiting to be discovered.

And what of Herman’s meteorite pendant? Was that still down there as well? Were there still fragments of the original buried deep beneath the earth? Herman had spent a fortune excavating enough to forge the black ring, but what if they dug deeper? What might they find?

None of this made sense. If Theo was in league with his uncle, he wouldn’t have involved the university or its team of scientists. Herman had worked too hard to keep those caves secret; he was too paranoid to share his discovery with anyone else. There was no way Herman Plunkett would let any of this happen.

No. In that instant Daniel made a judgment call about the youngest Plunkett. Theo was spoiled and reckless and he’d very nearly killed himself on that first day in Noble’s Green. But he’d also saved Eric’s life. He hadn’t hesitated, and because of that Daniel had been betting that deep down at his core, Theo Plunkett was a better person than Herman. Maybe even a truly good person. What Daniel did know was that Theo was a new kid looking for answers, and Daniel could relate to that.

It was now or never.

“This all sounds very cool,” said Daniel. Dr. Lewis visibly flinched at Daniel’s choice of words to describe what the professor considered a historic discovery. Little did he know that his own team of scientists was probably inside the research tent high-fiving each other and shouting “awesome” even now.

“Theo, are you going to be here for a while?” asked Daniel. “I thought you might want to hang out.” Although Daniel kept his voice casual, he gave Theo a look that he hoped the older boy would understand. They needed to talk.

“Well, I don’t think Dr. Lewis really needs Theo here, do you?” asked Mr. Plunkett.

“Oh, no. Of course not,” said Dr. Lewis.

“Just the Plunkett checkbook,” added Mr. Plunkett with a wink.

Dr. Lewis blushed and smiled awkwardly.

“Do you two want a ride back?” asked Mr. Plunkett.

“Well, I’ve got my bike a ways down the road,” said Daniel, “if Theo doesn’t mind walking me back. It’s not too cold.”