The Nameless Hero by Lee Bacon Read Free Book Online Page B

clench my teeth and wait for it to be over.
    When everything finally leveled out and the pod coasted to a stop, I let out a relieved breath. My entire body felt jittery from the ride.
    With a sharp click, the top of the tanning bed was unlatched and lifted upward. Light washed into the enclosed space. I blinked, waiting for my vision to adjust. All I could see was the dark silhouette of someone standing above me.

8
    “Welcome! You must be Joshua!”
    The man standing beside the tanning bed was small and stocky, with a stomach that bulged out in front of him. He was mostly bald, but a dense thicket of hair poked out from beneath the collar of his shirt, as if all the hair on his head had migrated downward and eventually settled on his chest.
    “My name’s Gavin,” he said in a gruff voice. “Gavin Garland.”
    I climbed out of the tanning bed and wobbled in place on unsteady legs. Looking back where I’d just been, I was suddenly overwhelmed with embarrassment. A charred black burn mark stretched across the inside of the tanning bed. It was shaped exactly like my body.
    Spontaneous combustion. You never quite know when it’s going to kick in.
    “S-sorry,” I said. “That happens sometimes when I get excited.”
    “No need to apologize,” Gavin said. “The journey to headquarters tends to provoke strong emotions. And strong emotions trigger the powers of Gyfted children. I had to cover my eyes when I opened the pod and saw your friend Sophie inside. She was glowing quite brightly.”
    The mention of Sophie made me realize that she wasn’t there with us. And neither was Milton.
    “Excuse me,” I said, “but I was just wondering—”
    “Where your friends are?” Gavin smiled. “Not to worry. They’re in the main room.”
    I had a lot more questions, but Gavin was already moving at a quick pace. “Come with me,” he called without turning around. “We have a busy morning ahead of us.”
    I jogged to catch up, following Gavin down a twisting corridor. Along the way, I noticed a series of tiny video cameras attached to the ceiling. They swiveled to track me everywhere I went.
    Gavin led me through a doorway and into a vast open space. The walls and floor were completely white, stretching out in all directions, making it tough to tell where the floor ended and the walls began. There was nothing else in the room—no furniture, no windows. A sea of white that looked endless, even though I knew it couldn’t be.
    In the middle of all this were Sophie, Milton, and the weird know-it-all girl. Beside them was a guy who looked a couple of years older than the rest of us. There was something oddly familiar about him. He had a confidentsmile and light brown hair that swept over his forehead.
    Gavin gestured to the group. “I believe you already know Sophie and Milton. And this is Miranda.” He pointed to the dark-haired girl. She waved, shooting me another mischievous grin.
    Next Gavin turned his attention to the older guy.
    “And this is nFinity.”
    That was why he looked so familiar. nFinity was one of the most famous superheroes in the country. Although he was only fifteen, he showed up regularly on YouTube videos and daytime talk shows. He was a regular in the pages of
Super Scoop
, the magazine devoted to superheroes and supervillains.
Super Scoop
covered hard-hitting news like “Which Evildoer Was Spotted Kissing Her Archnemesis in a Nightclub?” or “How Raven Fury Lost Twenty Pounds by Exercising with a Mutant!”
    The reason I hadn’t recognized nFinity was because he wasn’t wearing his usual uniform and mask. Instead, nFinity was sporting a more casual look: a fashionably wrinkled T-shirt and blue jeans.
    As we approached the group, I cast a puzzled glance around the enormous room. “Where’s everyone else?”
    “There is nobody else,” Gavin replied. “Gyfted and Talented is a
very
selective program. We only invited the best of the best.”
    “But …” I thought back to the brochure, the