Emily opened her eyes. She was lying in a hospital bed in a clean white room. There was an IV in her arm, and countless bags of liquid feeding down tubes. Beside the bed was a lot of equipment that had wires attached to her head and chest. They beeped to the steady beating of her heart.
Her wounded leg was suspended in the air, wrapped in a thick layer of bandages. Despite the care, it was still pounding painfully.
‘Good morning, Emily.’
A nurse rose from a chair beside the bed. ‘Please don’t try to move,’ she said. ‘I’ll go get the doctor.’
Emily struggled to remember the last thing that happened. Then it all came flooding back. The bridge. Pegasus screaming. Diana holding a spear and preparing to fight. She remembered the dart hitting her in the neck and blotting out the rest of the world. The final realization put a cold shiver down her spine. The CRU.
Emily tried to rise from the bed. But pain and the fact that her leg was suspended stopped her. Panting heavily, she lay back down. She was in no condition to fight.
The nurse returned with two men. One was dressed as a doctor, but the other wore a dark suit and had a stern expression on his face. Both were middle-aged.
‘Good morning, Emily,’ said the doctor in a friendly tone that didn’t match the coldness of his eyes. ‘How are we feeling this morning?’
The other man wasn’t even pretending to be nice. Suddenly Emily understood everything her father had ever told her about the secret Government agency. She was in a lot of trouble.
‘We?’ Emily repeated. ‘I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling awful.’ She looked at the other man. ‘Are you the CRU?’
‘I work for the Central Research Unit, yes,’ he said coldly. ‘You may call me Agent J. I have a lot of important questions for you.’ He looked at the doctor. ‘You may leave us now. Emily and I are going to have a chat.’
‘I really should check on my patient,’ the doctor said.
‘And you will, later,’ Agent J said.
His tone suggested there would be no discussion, no argument. His orders were to be obeyed. Without another word, the doctor left the room.
‘Where is my father?’ Emily nervously asked. ‘Please, may I see him?’
‘I’m afraid you aren’t well enough for visitors,’ Agent J said. ‘You’ve still got a very bad infection and have suffered a lot of muscle damage. Actually, you are quite fortunate the surgeons here were able to save your leg. Though I’m sorry to say you will have trouble walking from now on.’
Emily didn’t feel particularly fortunate. She felt dreadful. More than that, she was terrified. Where was she? What were they doing to her father and Joel? Were they hurting Pegasus? What about Diana?
‘Please tell me. Where is my father?’
‘He’s around.’ The agent moved closer to the bed. ‘Our first concern is taking care of you. Perhaps in time, if you cooperate, I will let him come in and see you.’
Emily saw the coldness of his pale eyes. ‘Cooperate?’
‘Yes, cooperate,’ Agent J said as he sat down in the chair beside the bed. ‘I have a lot of questions that need answers. And you are just the young lady to give them to me.’
‘Me? But I don’t know anything,’ Emily said. ‘I just want to see my dad.’
‘First you will answer my questions. Then maybe we’ll see about your father.’
Agent J pulled a small recorder from his pocket. He flicked the switch to turn it on. ‘Now, I would like you to tell me what happened. Where did you find the flying horse? Where does it come from?’
‘His name is Pegasus,’ Emily corrected. ‘And he’s not a horse. He comes from Olympus. He was struck by lightning and crashed on my roof. That’s all I know.’
‘I’m sure you know a bit more than that,’ Agent J coaxed.
‘No I don’t,’ Emily insisted. ‘Where is Pegasus? Please, I must see him. He won’t understand what’s happening to him. He’s going to be so frightened of you.’
‘The stallion is fine,’ the man said. ‘He gave us a great deal of trouble in the beginning and killed several of my men on the bridge. But we’ve managed to calm him down since then.’
Emily was puzzled by his answer. But more than that, she was frightened for Pegasus. She remembered seeing the soldiers with their guns raised on the bridge. ‘You didn’t shoot him, did you?’
‘We had to,’ Agent J said. ‘He was killing my men.’
‘You shot Pegasus!’ Emily cried. ‘Why? All he was doing was protecting us. How is he? Is he alive?’
‘I told you, Emily, he is fine. His wounds have been treated and he is a lot calmer than he was.’
‘Why couldn’t you leave us alone?’ Tears rose in Emily’s eyes. ‘We weren’t hurting anyone. Pegasus just wants to go home.’
‘Where is his home?’ Agent J asked, looking alert.
‘I told you already,’ Emily said, sniffing. ‘Olympus.’