The Prince's Trap Read online

  Landon swallowed the crackers in one laborious gulp, and quickly realized he needed some water. Dry crumbs were clinging to the inside of his mouth, making him feel like he might gag at any moment. While fighting to maneuver the last bits of cracker down his throat, he restated, “I need you to add another search to our side project. Have you ever heard of Susano-o Industries?”

  “The pharma-tech company?” Katie Leigh studied her ceiling as she thought. “Not really. I saw them in the news a few times back when I was living with my parents. Why?”

  “I think they’re somehow involved in all of this. That was our mission.” Landon relayed the events of his exchange operation with Brock and Fujimaki in New York City with as much detail as seemed necessary. Katie Leigh stayed quiet, listening intently and holding back any questions or commentary until he’d finished.

  “You’re absolutely positive this Aaron Hopkins works for Metis Labs?” Katie Leigh asked. “And I think you’re going to have to look out for Brock from now on. He might suspect you’re the mole.”

  “Well, I told him I remembered Aaron from our Metis Labs mission back in May, and I think he bought it.” Landon was still trying to convince himself of that. “But why do you say that?”

  “If Brock knows there’s a mole in the Pantheon, which I’m sure he does, he’ll be looking at everyone on his team through a magnifying glass. He’s second-in-command, so you have to imagine a part of him is distrusting everyone. Imagine how you’d feel if a traitor operated under your command and you failed to see it. Can you imagine the embarrassment? I know if I were him, I’d be checking everything. Even if you had a convincing cover story, that whole situation would’ve sent up a big, questionable red flag. So just be careful.”

  “Oh,” was all Landon could manage to eke out. Katie Leigh had pulverized his belief that he’d dispelled Brock’s suspicions.

  “And I still don’t understand why you think Susano-o is involved. Involved in what?” Katie Leigh probed.

  “I’m not sure exactly. I can’t help but think they’re somehow linked to all this stuff with Project Herakles and the Prince.”

  “Well, there’s got to be a reason. We don’t want to be wasting our time.”

  “I just don’t trust them,” Landon explained. “He’s always withholding the truth when he briefs us on these missions, and Washington mentioned that they were bad news. And there was this paper that said—”

  “Wait a minute,” Katie Leigh interrupted. “You spoke to Washington? As in Washington Sykes, the Sentry? When did this happen?”

  “I haven’t gotten to that part yet. Washington interrogated me right after I got back from New York.”

  Katie Leigh’s mouth dropped as her eyes widened. “He did?” she exclaimed. “What happened?”

  Landon found himself a bit frustrated that Katie Leigh wasn’t letting him finish. Their relationship was starting to feel more and more like the one he had with Celia before her hospitalization. “I’m getting there. I said we needed to talk, didn’t I?”

  Katie Leigh crossed her arms as she leaned back in her chair, noticeably aggravated that Landon wasn’t telling her what she wanted to know at that moment. “Go on,” she said tersely.

  “Anyways, I need you to dig up anything you can about Susano-o Industries, any dealings or business they’ve done with the Pallas Corporation, and figure out what this ‘Stabilizer’ formula might be for.”

  “Stabilizer?” Katie Leigh asked, intrigued and confused.

  “If you hadn’t interrupted me, you would have heard that part.” Katie Leigh glared at him. “When Brock was flying us back, I looked at the stuff in the case. Most of it was in Japanese, but there was one page that had this big drawing, like the ones you have to draw in Chemistry, and the word ‘Stabilizer’ was written under it. I think it does something important and might give us a clue about what they’re doing with Project Herakles. It’s all connected—I know it.” He could feel his blood surging through his veins as his convictions took hold. Settling down, Landon paused for a moment. “By the way, have you found anything yet? On Project Herakles and the Prince, I mean.”

  “I know what you meant, Landon.” Katie Leigh’s mood was changing rapidly in a direction that wasn’t going to help Landon much. He’d have to figure out a way to get back in her good graces before continuing. He’d forgotten how sensitive she was when it came to her reputation, and how uptight she was when challenged or reprimanded. “And no. Nothing has come through A.R.G.O.S., at least.”

  “Okay,” Landon answered calmly, trying not to sound disappointed with their progress. “I wonder if the project is so top-secret that people aren’t allowed to mention it. And maybe the Prince doesn’t want to be found.”

  “It is a possibility,” Katie Leigh said, leaning forward in her chair as curiosity consumed her thoughts. All she needed was a little nudge. “I’ll try and adjust the parameters a bit and see if something pings soon. And I’ll see what I can dig up on Susano-o and this stabilizer you mentioned.”

  “Great,” Landon replied, still trying to sound enthused by their failing quest in order to appease Katie Leigh’s ego. “And keep close watch. If I’m right and our mission is connected to Project Herakles, I think the next few days are our best chance to catch someone slipping up and saying something.”

  “Good point,” Katie Leigh added before goading Landon to move on to the topic she was much more interested in learning about. “Now, can you please tell me what happened in your session with Washington? I’m assuming that since you’re here, he didn’t find anything?”

  “Okay, okay,” Landon agreed, trying to placate her. “But this one might take a while so I’m going to need you to let me tell it without interrupting. I know it’ll be hard for you, Katie, but I’m going to ask that you let me finish before you drown me in questions.”

  She shot him a look he thought was reserved for Riley. He really had to work on how he phrased things with her, but she seemed willing to oblige his request, sitting back in her chair and gesturing for him to continue. If disdain could be conveyed in a wave of the hand, Katie Leigh had done it.

  But Katie Leigh’s sour attitude was short-lived. As Landon told her about his terrifying but enlightening experience with Washington Sykes, she looked alternately horrified, inquisitive, dumbfounded and anxious. Landon was proud of her, though. On multiple occasions, she mustered all of her energy to hold her tongue, biting back her questions and comments to wait and see what transpired in the end. It was difficult for Landon, however, to find the words that explained the pain of having his mind invaded by the Sentry and also in finding the correct way to describe his brief, but mysterious, tactometric awareness experience. As he concluded his story, Landon felt the same unprecedented strength building in him again; it excited him, almost making his fingers tingle in anticipation. For himself, anyway, the experience had given him a sense of purpose, a direction he didn’t have before. It was clear to him by the time he walked away from the interrogation room that his developing plan was the natural, and correct, course moving forward.

  “So my number-one priority is figuring out how to wake Celia so she can win the Qualifiers and get on the Pantheon with me. With you handling intelligence on the technology side, and her with me on the inside, we should be able to figure out what’s going on here in no time. We can finally get to the bottom of it all,” Landon finished with an air of satisfaction.

  “Landon, I have two things to say,” Katie Leigh started, after a considerable lull in the conversation signaled the end of Landon’s story. Her tone was soft and smooth, oddly calm considering the situation. “First, are you crazy?”

  A ping of anxiety registered in Landon’s mind; his ear rang slightly from the shift in mood. This was not the response he was expecting from Katie Leigh. He thought she’d riddle him with questions about the Sentry’s tactic
s, perhaps tell him how proud she was for his courage under fire, maybe even go straight into theorizing what Landon had experienced in those final moments of his interrogation—but not this. What did she mean? Was she upset?

  But with her next words, Katie Leigh no longer sounded calm. Instead, she employed a voice seeping with disappointment and frustration. “You went and goaded a Sentry into continuing to investigate you? Do you know how absolutely stupid that was? How inconceivably, unequivocally, irrevocably stupid?”

  Panic rose up in Landon as he tried to understand the rationale behind her fuming tirade. The Sentry had let him go. He’d said Landon was innocent. He had managed somehow to keep everyone safe for the time being. What, really, was the problem?

  “And did he find out about me?” Katie Leigh asked after a pause. “Well, Landon, did he? Does Washington know I’m a technopath?”

  “I don’t think so,” Landon replied with waning confidence. “I don’t think he got that far.”

  “You don’t know? Goodness, this arrangement gets worse every second,” she said to herself, before turning to Landon and addressing him directly. “They cannot know what I can do, Landon. Do you understand me?” She was speaking slowly, to the brink of condescension, ensuring that Landon heard every word. “If they find out what I can do, they are going to make me help them. I will have no choice but to be their puppet. They will use me.”

  “But I use you, don’t I?” Landon asked, intentionally using those words while trying to understand her point of view. Her patronizing tone had turned him off a bit. “I mean, you’re helping me, right?”

  “Yes, but I choose to help you,” Katie Leigh replied pointedly. “If I wasn’t as curious about what’s really going on here as you are, trust me, I would not be involved.”

  For her age, Katie Leigh was surprisingly assertive. She had a way with words and an intelligence that far surpassed that of the majority of people, and the conviction of her words and strength of her will made her authority far exceed her physical stature. She was a force to be reckoned with, and Landon hated that she could, with just a few words, make him feel as tiny and insignificant as an insect. Wasn’t he the one in charge? Sometimes he wasn’t sure.

  Landon’s growing guilt could obviously be seen on his face. It made Katie Leigh pause for a moment and suppress her disappointment enough to quit dwelling on what had already been done, and instead focus on a solution. As Landon stared off at the wall, looking more fretful with every passing second, Katie Leigh spun around in her chair, donning a renewed attitude of rational logic and strategic thinking.

  “We’ll have to stay away from each other for a while,” she said decisively, without a hint of sarcasm or discontent. “At least until the Qualifiers begin. I imagine Washington will start having you followed, so we cannot have any interactions outside the norm that might implicate us or give them any reason to suspect what we’re working on. I would say anything outside of friendly conversation in the halls and training is off-limits for now.”

  Landon nodded in agreement. “But what about Riley?” he asked, suddenly realizing this new course of action was sure to have an effect on his friend. He already felt guilty for shutting him out.

  Landon waited for the day he could tell Riley everything. He really considered him his best friend in the Gymnasium, but it seemed with every day there was something else he needed to keep from him. It had put a considerable strain on their relationship. Landon told himself it was for the best—to protect Riley. The less Riley knew, the easier it was for him to stay out of the crosshairs and remain an innocent bystander. Simply by learning about the Pantheon from Katie Leigh, Riley could find himself unintentionally involved in matters far worse than he’d ever believe.

  “Let me handle Riley,” Katie Leigh said as she placed her hand on her computer and initiated her technopathic link to the network. From Landon’s vantage point, he could see she was entering the A.R.G.O.S. system.

  “What are you doing?” Landon asked her.

  “Seeing if I can find Washington through the video logs in the tower,” she replied. “He may have talked to someone after you left him. If I can find a file of it, I might hear something that could help us. And we can see what damage you’ve done.”

  Landon dropped his head in shame.

  “Sorry,” Katie Leigh apologized, realizing the callousness of her words.

  “It’s okay,” Landon said. “But I don’t think you’re going to find anything. Washington’s looking at everyone in the Pantheon. He can’t risk talking to any—”

  “Landon,” Katie Leigh interrupted, sounding surprised, “I think you need to come over here.”

  “Seriously?” Landon got off the bed and came up behind Katie Leigh. Holding onto the back of her chair with one hand and planting the other on the desk to steady himself, Landon had a full view of the monitor.

  A window had opened on the computer screen showing Washington Sykes sitting casually in a leather armchair. His body was slouched down, leaving only the top of his head visible; his elbow rested on the arm of the chair and his hand was angled in the air. He made slow but deliberate motions with his hand, sometimes balling his fist and other times running his thumb around the edges of his fingers. Dr. Wells sat across from him, looking nervously at his guest from behind his large oak desk. Papers and folders were strewn everywhere, covering the tabletop in a haphazard heap of notes and research.

  The video was in black and white, typical for surveillance cameras. It dulled the room. The detail in Dr. Wells’ stained Oriental rug was barely discernible; the bookshelves, which were lined with volumes of research and binders, were hidden in deep grey shadow. Landon couldn’t even see Washington’s face, as the camera was stationed in the top corner of the room behind his chair. Judging by the motion of Washington’s hands and the subtle bobbing of his head, he seemed to be talking, but there was no audio.

  “When was this? What’s he saying?”

  “I don’t know,” Katie Leigh answered, without taking her eyes off the screen. “It’s not a backlogged video. It’s live, I think . . . it’s happening now.”

  “Well, can we hear what he’s saying?” Landon asked quickly.

  A second later, audio switched on and began to play out of the small speakers in Katie Leigh’s laptop.

  “Don’t get excited. I’m only obliging your request for updates on this investigation because I’ve already vetted you, and you have proven your loyalty. Do not forget, I don’t work for you anymore.” The words rolled off Washington’s tongue in a smooth but terrifying manner. The casualness of his speech sent a chill down Landon’s spine. He knew all too well what Dr. Wells must have been feeling as he talked. “Nevertheless, it’s been the express order of my superiors that if anything should arise which may prove useful to your work, I am to share it.”

  “Has something happened?” Dr. Wells asked from behind his desk. His usual joyous expression was overshadowed by a tepidness Landon had never seen from him. Sudden developments like Washington seemed to be about to say would generally fill Dr. Wells’ eyes with eager anticipation, but he leaned back in his chair awkwardly, clutching the scrolled ends of the armrests of his leather chair. It looked to Landon like he was cowering from Washington, who clearly made him uncomfortable.

  “Why else would I be here?” Washington asked, sounding completely uninterested in the conversation.

  “Well, is he our mole?” Dr. Wells was keeping his curiosity in check, perhaps in an attempt to maintain as professional a demeanor as possible to convince Washington of his position of power at the Gymnasium.

  “Inasmuch as I can tell, no,” Washington replied. “But Landon Wicker is much more than you led me to believe. He managed to push me out.”

  “He pushed you out? Is that possible?”

  “If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here.” W
ashington sounded annoyed. “You have only tested his telekinetic competencies, is that correct?”

  “Yes, and they’ve proven to be far beyond anything we’ve ever seen. We have yet to find his limit.”

  “I would suggest, for the sake of your little project, to invest some time in examining his psychic strength. You sent me in completely unprepared. I don’t even know if Hammond could have cracked him.”

  “Really?” Dr. Wells sounded intrigued by this notion, his eyes widening. Landon imagined that his mind was running through various potential tests Dr. Wells could subject Landon to following the conclusion of his and Washington’s meeting. He wasn’t sure who Hammond was, but judging by Dr. Wells’ reaction, even the notion of being a match for him was impressive.

  “Yes, and we’ll have to start watching—”

  The window closed unexpectedly.

  “No,” Landon exclaimed, reaching his hand forward as if to stop the video screen from disappearing—an instinctive but fruitless gesture. “What happened? What was Washington about to say?” Landon was in a mild panic.

  “I had to sever the connection,” Katie Leigh explained. “Someone else was there.”

  “What? I didn’t see anyone else.”

  “I don’t know why I didn’t notice it before . . .” Katie Leigh said to herself. “The feed . . . we weren’t the only ones watching that conversation. Someone else had accessed it, too.”

  “So what? Why would you disconnect us right before Washington finished? Now we have no idea what he’s planning.”

  “Landon, in the chance he didn’t realize we were there, I couldn’t risk giving him the additional time to figure out we were watching.”

  “You know who it was then?”

  Katie Leigh looked up at Landon with fear in her eyes.