Konnect has a brand new cover, just in time for Christmas! A set of adventures by teenaged superhero, Taylor Springer, Konnect is the first (hopefully of many) book about this electrokinetic.
It was a cold day but Taylor Springer didn’t care. She had never minded the cold. She was used to it given how temperamental the heating in her flat was. And the day had been too good to let a cold snap worry her.
She was walking through a charming residential neighbourhood with her oldest friend, Bethan Pettit. The two were heavily laden with shopping bags, most full of Christmas presents but one was crammed with snacks for their festive film marathon at Bethan’s house that night. They had been planning the event for several weeks and the day had been perfect, just cold enough to put them in a festive mood, enough icy patches that they could chuckle when the other slid slightly. But neither were too bad for it to be unpleasant. They would have a cosy night taking over the Pettit lounge before retreating up to Bethan’s room for a sleepover.
Emily Rook hoped this would be the incident that would cause Oscar to see sense but she wasn’t going to hold her breath. Nor was she particularly happy about the way things were playing out.
Despite her ordering (and often pleading for) him not to go to the industrial ring her little brother hung out there almost every day. The ring of warehouses and abandoned factory lots wasn’t exactly old. Most had been built in the 90s during the technological and industrial boom that had decided which companies got to rule the Copperby skyline. But it was still dangerous. There were all sorts of chemicals in the soils and some of the under-maintained buildings had collapsed. And the space was a haven for criminals – particularly with the main streets of Copperby regularly patrolled by a superhero.
It had started out as a request. Their old boss had asked Rick to walk Taylor home because the neighbourhood she lived in wasn’t the safest. Then it had become tradition. He’d enjoyed their walks where they talked about school and work and their hobbies.
Eventually, it had become an inside joke because of the absurdity of Taylor, the city’s superhero, needing to be walked home. They’d talk about the crimes they had stopped, about the homework they needed to find time to do and joke that Taylor should be walking Rick home instead.
It was raining that night and Taylor didn’t have an umbrella – hers had broken during a particularly nasty storm and she’d not gotten round to replacing it – so the two walked close together, sheltering under Rick’s.
Taylor Springer winced as she heard a computer in the back room of the shop begin to bleep urgently. She had been helping Rick set up the laptop of an elderly customer who relied on their computer repair shop for all technological advice and sent her friend a look of alarm as she began to slip away. They had been nervously awaiting the inevitable call into action.
Taylor was almost out of the room when their elderly client noticed the noise.
“What is that?” he asked. “Nothing bad I hope.”
Rick sent Taylor a knowing look. It was something bad. The sort of something bad that would require immediate attention. Still, he scrambled to reassure the man, a Mr Hendriks, that it was nothing.
“It’s just a computer telling me it has finished compiling,” Taylor said, flashing Mr Hendriks a winning smile as she hurried from the room.
Konnect was exhausted and out of breath. Her every muscle screamed. The desire to give up the chase had set in and was growing with every step. But she couldn’t just let her quarry go. He was a prolific armed mugger who had killed one man and left a young woman fighting for her life in hospital. Konnect had managed to find him during his most recent attempt, the blade still in his hand as he had sprinted away from her. She skidded to a halt as she reached the end of the alleyway. The thrill of the chase pumped adrenaline through her and she looked around urgently. Before her was a brick wall, too tall for the man to have climbed without her seeing him disappearing over the top. The alleyway walls were completely free of doors, ladders or windows the man could have forced himself through.
“Where did he go?” she demanded through the constant phone call.
She continued to look around as her partner, Rick, stammered into her ear. She was using her powers to call him while he sat in their base, watching CCTV to ensure she didn’t lose the suspect and checking that no bigger crimes were happening that would require the superhero to intervene.
Konnect has a brand new cover, just in time for Christmas! A set of adventures by teenaged superhero, Taylor Springer, Konnect is the first (hopefully of many) book about this electrokinetic.
"This is really too much, Taylor," Julia said as she slipped off her jacket and hung it on the back of her chair.
She smiled as she looked around the restaurant. The building had once been an old dance hall with the original features still in place. Tables were scattered around, smartly dressed waiters darting skillfully between them. It was crowded with people celebrating Mother's Day; Taylor had struggled to get the reservation.
"Are you sure you can afford this?"
Taylor nodded, smiling to reassure her. She'd been planning the meal for months, putting aside spare money to ensure the evening wouldn't be one full of worry. Taylor's only worry was that she might be called away to handle an emergency as Konnect.
"The shop has been doing well," Taylor added. "I just want to thank you for everything you do."
She nudged the fancy leather-bound menu towards her mother and told her to relax.
"Thank you, Taylor. This is really great."
Taylor said it was no problem, grabbing her menu. She had been really worried about managing the day without a hitch. She'd ensured that her mother's present and card were waiting on the side for her when she left for her shift at the hospital and she'd skipped work at the shop so she could clean the flat by the time her mother got back. Rick had understood and had covered for her. After all, his mother would still have his brothers to spoil her whereas Julia just had Taylor. And Rick had clocked off early himself to go back and spend the evening with his mum.
"We really should spend more time together,” Julia said. “Not working or doing bills or whatever… Just together. I know my work keeps me busy and your work…”
Taylor nodded. She could handle her work with ease. Her superpowers made short work of any computer fault that came into the repair shop but between school and running the shop and being a superhero, she did stretch herself a little thin.
Before she could reply, her eyes caught on a pair who had just come in. They were two men, neither of them looking happy to be there or even happy to be with the other. One man was remarkably tall with a shock of red hair that didn’t match his eyebrows and the other was stocky and sweaty with a fake moustache on crooked. Both were wearing suits. They didn’t wait to be seated but began to cross the room. Taylor tried to ignore them, she wanted to focus on having a perfect evening with her mother but knew enough to know that the evening was already ruined. The men were dressed like criminals trying, and failing, to disguise themselves.
Taylor decided to use her powers to see if she could find a match in the police mug shots, to reassure her that it was nothing or gain more information if it was. She hoped that she would find nothing as she accessed the police database. She wanted to be able to focus on having a good evening with her mother.
She did everything she could to hide the grimace that came when she found two perfect matches. The tall man was named Frankie Lawson. He’d dyed his hair or found a wig but it was clearly him. And he was wanted for several counts of robbery and assault. The shorter name was named Paul Turner who came with matching counts to his name.
Frowning, Taylor tracked the men across the room. She felt her stomach twist and her skin crawl. Even as she tried to ignore them, she found herself unable to look away. She watched as the men settled at a table next to a fire door, eyes fixed on the entrance.
"Should we order?" Julia asked.
"Yeah," Taylor said absentmindedly.
She watched the door, frowning as two more men came in. They lingered by the door, meeting the eye of the men by the fire exit.
"Mum, something's wrong," Taylor blurted out.
Her mother frowned, looking about urgently. Taylor got her to stop, not wanting to alert the men.
"I think you should go to the toilet."
Julia gave her daughter a horrified look. She went to glance around but Taylor stopped her once more.
"What about you?" Julia asked.
Whatever happened, Taylor wanted to still be in there. She wanted to be able to get more information. And she didn't have her Konnect costume on her. The closest one was in the shop and she didn't have time to go and get it. Not if the men were going to make their move soon.
“It’ll be suspicious if we both leave at the same time. I’ll follow after.”
Taylor tried to make herself sound authoritative and glanced over her mother’s shoulder at the entrance, planning to get some names and information on the men standing there. One of them caught her staring and Taylor sharply looked away.
“Please, Mum,” Taylor pleaded.
Her tone had an instant effect on Julia. Her mother straightened up and nodded.
“You go first.”
“Mum, no, I…”
“You go first.”
Taylor could see her mother wasn’t going to negotiate. She wasn’t going to accept no as an answer. And she could sit there arguing for the entire evening about who was going to leave first.
Glancing over her mother’s shoulder once more, Taylor saw the two groups of men seemed to be silently communicating with each other. She needed to get her mum out of there and even if that meant her leaving first and being forced to reveal to her mother she was Konnect… Well, wouldn’t it be worth it if her mum was safe?
Taylor nodded and got up to leave, telling her mum not to wait too long. She looked around for the bathroom, ensuring she was able to get a quick look at both groups of men. They were just sitting there but Taylor got the impression they were preparing to make their move. She sent her mum a final glance and then made her way into the bathroom.
The restaurant bathroom was a well-lit area that smelt of fine soaps and air freshener. Taylor walked in and scanned the room. She was the only one there, all of the stalls were empty. Trying to stop her mind from turning back to her mother, who was out there alone, with four criminals who could easily be armed, Taylor focused on her next move. She didn’t have her costume; she hadn’t brought it in the hope that it wouldn’t be needed. Didn’t criminals have their own mothers to spoil? And there was no way she was going to be able to leave the restaurant to go and get it.
Pacing, Taylor instinctively called Rick. She didn't even think about it. After a few rings, Rick answered.
"Rick? You there?" she asked.
"Can't talk long. Mum's got us all playing board games."
“Something’s about to go down at Mansen’s,” Taylor revealed.
She heard a series of indistinguishable noises that she guessed was Rick moving then she heard the click of a door shutting on his end.
“That’s where you are, isn’t it?” Rick clarified.
Taylor did her best to get him up to speed with the situation, her eyes fixed on the door. She hoped that her mother would walk in at any second. She didn’t care that her mother would catch her using her powers to talk to Rick about the possibility of her being able to fight the criminals Taylor had just warned her about.
“I can make an excuse, try and get your costume to you,” Rick said.
“No time,” Taylor sighed, scrambling for an idea. “I am going to hang up so I can call the police. And then I’ll call you back and we can work something out.”
Although Rick agreed, Taylor could hear the hesitancy in his voice. He told her to stay safe and she thanked him before ending the call. She paused for a moment, drawing in a deep breath. For a moment we went to mentally call the police before stopping herself. She still hadn’t worked out if there was any way the police, or anyone else who could hack their way into the police records, could prove she had been making phone calls to the police using her powers. She pulled out his mobile and made the call through it.
As the phone rang beside her ear, Taylor realised she didn’t know what to say. Unless she revealed Konnect had somehow been in the restaurant, she wouldn’t be able to tell them about what her powers had shown her but she didn’t think it would convey the urgency of the situation if she simply told the police she had seen four men with bad disguises. As soon as the phone was answered, Taylor requested the police. A male voice cut through, asking her what the situation was.
“Hello, I’m at Mansen’s on Wallis Street and four men just came in. They look suspicious and I think one of them has a gun.”
It was a lie. She hadn’t seen a gun on any of them. She wouldn’t have left her mother if she had been sure they were armed but if she was right and something was about to happen, she wanted the police to get there fast. And if she was wrong, they’d be able to pick Lawson and Turner up for their arrest warrants and that would be the end of it.
“Okay, Miss, we have a squad car in the area. They should be with you shortly. Are you in a safe place?”
“I am in the bathroom,” Taylor replied. “But my mum and a room full of other people are still out there.”
The man’s response was stolen away but the terrible sound of a gunshot. Taylor instantly recognised it. She had dealt with guns before; most of the dangerous players in the city had access to guns. But just because she was used to them, didn’t mean they didn’t still make her blood run cold. Especially when it was a gun in the same room as her mother.
Fearful cries followed. Taylor was sure she recognised her mother’s voice amongst them. She heard the man on the other end of the line asking what was going on, demanding an explanation.
She dropped the phone and left it lying there. Slowly she crept towards the bathroom door. She could hear shouting from the other side, orders to get down, put hands behind heads. Taylor dared to hope for a moment it was the police, that they’d made it there already to handle the situation but she knew better than to assume. She mentally hacked into the CCTV feed of the restaurant and felt sick. The four criminals had made their move and there was not a single police officer in sight. The men, each holding a handgun, were patrolling the restaurant where all the patrons and staff lay on the floor, hands behind their heads. Taylor picked out her mother and saw she was still beside their table. She looked terrified but, thankfully, unharmed.
Her first thought was to switch off the lights and make her move but she didn’t dare do that with so many hostages. Even if she could make it through the maze of people lying on the floor without hurting anyone, she would never be able to take out four gunmen in hand to hand combat without at least one shot going off and that could hit anyone in the room.
She was still scrambling for ideas when Frankie Lawson cleared his throat.
“Now, I don’t want to hurt any of you but I am willing to get what I want.”
He paused for a moment and flicked his gun over all the people in the room. Then there was a slight noise. The CCTV footage didn’t capture it very well but the way the gunmen all turned sharply towards the kitchen told Taylor it must have come from there. She scrambled to bring up the CCTV of the kitchen and saw that the cooks were standing in the back, staring out.
A quick check at the CCTV of the main floor told her that the gunmen were closing in.
Bringing back up the kitchen CCTV, Taylor saw there was a fire door in one corner. Fear was stopping the kitchen staff from realising and making their escape.
Taylor used her powers to select one of the phones she sensed in the kitchen and rushed to write a text. Then she turned the phone up as loud as it would go and hoped they would answer it in time.
She watched the kitchen CCTV feed tensely as one of the dishwashers fumbled for his phone. He read the message she had sent: a quick and simple ‘OUT THE FIREDOOR’. The young dishwasher looked around urgently. Then his eyes caught on the fire door behind him. He started towards it, getting the attention of the others.
Taylor smiled, proud to have gotten them out. She brought up the CCTV feed to the restaurant floor and grimaced. The gunmen were moving too fast, getting to the door before the kitchen was clear.
She needed to do something. Taylor floundered for a moment, her mind racing. Then she had an idea. It wasn’t much but it was the best she could do. She dimmed the lights in the main room. Then she made them flicker, turning them on and off, enough to confuse the men but not enough to scare them into shooting. They stopped sharply, looking around to see if someone was fiddling with the lights. Taylor kept it going, holding their attention until the last worker slipped out of the fire escape. Then she let the lights stay on.
“What was that?” Lawson snapped.
“Konnect?” Turner asked.
Taylor felt a flash of pride at the fear in his voice and saw Lawson turn to his men.
“Search the kitchen now!” Lawson roared.
Two of his men raced into the kitchen, guns raised. Lawson and Turner remained in the main room. It wasn’t exactly what Taylor had wanted but it was something she could work with. She turned the kitchen’s CCTV. The two thugs were looking around, guns pointing into every shadow.
Taylor reached out with her powers, turning on all the kitchen equipment she could. The whine of motors starting up filled the air as blenders and fans and coffee markers sprung into life. The two men jumped, wheeling around quickly. One fired his gun; the glass coffee pot exploded.
“There’s no one here!” one of the men shouted.
“There’s got to be,” the other returned.
Taylor turned her attention to the other room, checking on everyone there. Lawson and Turner looked anxious, agitated. Taylor didn’t like that at all.
She paused for a moment, searching the room for something she could use. Her eyes kept being drawn back to her mother. She was still lying on the floor, her eyes on the bathroom door. Taylor wanted to send her a message, something to reassure her. She almost did. But she decided against it. Her phone going off might upset the men more.
Lawson gestured towards the kitchen.
“Go and check what is going on,” he demanded, eyes fixed on Turner.
Taylor grinned as Turner slipped into the kitchen. If she could keep the three men in the kitchen inside then she would only have to worry about one gunman with the hostages. She could manage one.
Bringing up the CCTV footage of the kitchen once more, Taylor watched Turner go inside. He looked around, saying something to the other two men she didn’t catch as she turned the fans up another level. She scanned the space near the doorway. There were no locks on the kitchen doors so there wasn’t anything she could do to lock them in. That meant she’d need to block their path back into the main room. There wasn’t much besides the kitchen door. There were just a few metal surfaces and a TV displaying orders. But Taylor could work with a TV.
She overloaded it, making it explode in a shower of sparks. The three men flinched back, hurrying as far away from the TV as they could. Taylor kept going, trying to scare them as much as possible. Sparks continued to fly from it, making it clear going near the TV was not a good option.
Taylor then turned her attention back to the main room. Lawson was completely unaware he was on his own. He was keeping his gun trained on the patrons. Taylor focused on his phone, making sure she would be able to recognise it when the time came.
Then she killed the lights.
Taylor threw open the bathroom door to complete darkness. Ensuring that the room was dark enough for her to work utterly unseen, she closed her eyes. Then she began forwards. She mapped out the room using what her powers allowed her to sense, the phones belonging to the customers of the restaurant, the wires in the walls, the lights hanging from the ceiling. She began to close in on Frankie’s phone, tiptoeing across the floor. She winced as she sent a broken bowl skittering across the floor and sensed Frankie turning towards her. She froze, holding her breath. Although she could not see the gun, she sensed when the barrel passed over her. Her blood ran cold and she reached out, looking for something she could use as a distraction. She guessed it was meant to have been a robbery, holding up the restaurant to steal jewellery from the customers. And that gave her the perfect distraction. She opened the till. Lawson turned sharply, phone shifting. Taylor didn’t bother with stealth again. She closed the gap between the two of them as quickly as possible. Then she grabbed Lawson’s shoulder and turned him around sharply. Normally she would have just electrocuted him and been done with it but she couldn’t risk it. If he pulled the trigger during his convulsions, a lot of people were at risk of getting hit, maybe even killed. And that was the last thing she wanted.
Which meant she would just have to deal with Lawson the old fashioned way - at least until she knew the gun had been dealt with.
She swung out with a punch, unsure if she was going to hit anything in the darkness. Then Taylor felt her fist connect with something that felt like a face and blindly groped for the hand holding the gun. She needed to take it from him. Stumbling back from the blow, Lawson tried to land his own strike. It clipped Taylor but she managed to close her hand around his other wrist, feeling the tightness of the tendons in his wrist. That was the hand that held the gun. She forced him to aim the gun directly upwards before tightening her grip as much as she could. He was far stronger than her. His fading panic almost letting him struggle free. Taylor didn’t dare give him the chance.
She sent out a blast of electricity.
Instantly Lawson tensed. His finger caught the trigger and the bullet exploded out. Taylor heard the room fill with terrified screams. A dusting of plaster fell from the ceiling onto them both. Then Taylor felt the gun fall limply to the floor. Lawson swayed and stumbled before dropping heavily. He landed on top of someone and Taylor sensed their phone move as they squirmed away.
She stood there, waiting to see if Lawson was going to rise. He didn’t. She glanced towards the kitchen and saw that the doors were closed, that Turner and his companions didn’t seem any closer to leaving. But she decided she should probably stay in the room, handle things in case they did decide to risk coming out. There were a few long moments. Taylor considered speaking, telling all the customers that they could get up, but she decided she couldn’t risk it. She didn’t want her mother to recognise her voice and she didn’t want people moving around if Turner emerged.
She grinned as blue lights began to play across the room as the police arrived. Mentally, she contacted the police and explained who Lawson as and where they could find Turner and the others. Then she raced from the shop floor into the bathroom.
As soon as Taylor was in the bathroom, she brought the lights back up. She turned her attention to one of the large mirrors on the wall and brushed the ceiling plaster from her shoulders and hair. Then she curled up into the corner, trying to look as upset and distressed as possible. She heard shouting from outside and glanced up just in time to see the door explode open. Her mother rushed in, followed by two police officers. Julia sprung towards her and wrapped her arms around her.
“Taylor, are you okay? Oh, I was so worried.”
Taylor quickly repaid her hug, burying her face in her mother’s shoulder. Julia continued to ramble into Taylor’s ear, pressing kisses into her hair.
“Mum, I’m okay. I’m okay. Are you okay? They didn’t hurt you? I heard shooting.”
Julia murmured reassurances, saying that Konnect had come to save them. Taylor grinned and Julia gently pulled away.
“Can you keep an eye on her?” Julia asked the police officers. “There’s something I need to do.”
Taylor frowned as the police officers nodded. Julia pressed a kiss against Taylor’s forehead before moving gently away. A police officer came over, holding Taylor’s phone.
“So you’re the one who phoned?” the officer asked.
“I’m sorry your surprise went so wrong,” Julia said as Taylor unpacked the fish and chips they had picked up on the way home from giving statements to the police.
It had passed midnight, Mother’s Day had slipped away without anyone noticing it going. The police had been trying to piece together the situation and since Taylor had been the one who had called them, they had felt the need to ask them the most questions. Taylor balled up the paper wrappings and tossed them onto the side.
“It’s okay,” Taylor replied, grabbing the salt, tomato sauce and vinegar from the side. “I’m just happy we’re both safe.”
“Me too,” Julia said.
Taylor watched her mother smother her chips in ketchup. The fact that it had been past midnight had meant their normal fish and chip shop had been shut and they’d been forced to go to their local one. Neither of them particularly liked the chips but it was cheap food and neither of them had needed to cook it.
“I saw that you had treated one of the women in the restaurant,” Taylor pointed out.
When they had been led away, Taylor couldn’t help but notice that makeshift bandage wrapped around the arm of an elderly woman. Taylor guessed that had been why her mother had left so suddenly - she’d wanted to do her job. Julia looked away modestly, saying that the woman had cut her arm on a glass that had been smashed during the initial panic.
“Well, I’m proud of you. Looks like we have a hero in the family.”
