The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer Read Free Book Online Page B

crystal screens sat side by side with last-century monitors.
    ‘Most of this stuff is black market. We observe Satellite sites, waiting for disasters.’
    ‘What? You hack the state police site?’
    Ditto chuckled. ‘The state police site? No, thank you. We’re in too much of a hurry to wait around for the police. We hack the law firms.’
    It made sense. With lawsuits being so costly, most corporations hired private teams of rapid-response combat lawyers to beat the police to accident sites.
    Ditto turned his attention back to the room. ‘We all have a bunk,’ he said. ‘Basic stuff, but it’s a place to lay your head.’
    ‘And you just happened to have a spare one for me?’
    Ditto sighed. ‘A spare one for you? Well, no. That was Splinter’s. He used to be one of us. He couldn’t take the visions any more. He left the city six months ago. He lives out of town now. He wears blue-lensed sunglasses, never takes ’em off.’
    ‘Are you a Spotter, Ditto?’
    ‘A Spotter? Yes, we all are. But with me, it’s a Bartoli side effect. Mona told you about me, right?’
    ‘Yes. And how did you find Stefan?’
    Ditto frowned. ‘Stefan had an… accident a few years ago. I was in the ambulance that picked him up. Theworld’s shortest paramedic. That particular hospital made a big deal of hiring a Bartoli Baby. Maybe you read about me on the Sat-net?’
    Cosmo shook his head.
    ‘Well anyway, when we picked up Stefan, he was babbling about blue creatures sucking the life out of his chest. I couldn’t believe it. Until that moment I’d thought
I
was crazy. So I visited him at the hospital and we took it from there. When Stefan decided to set up our little group, I quit my job without a second thought. Ever since then, we’ve been saving the world together.’
    ‘One more question.’
    Ditto shook his child’s head. ‘One more question. With you kids, it’s all questions.’
    ‘What’s Stefan doing with real flowers?’
    ‘The flowers? Stefan will tell you when he’s ready.’
    Cosmo’s heart sank. He was almost part of a group. Almost, but not quite.
    The LED on his plexi-cast switched to red and an alert began beeping gently.
    ‘That’s enough walking around for you today. The cast needs another eight hours to do its job. Are you in pain?’
    Cosmo nodded.
    Ditto pulled a pain plaster from his pocket. The rumpled tab looked about ten years past its sell-by date.
    ‘Here. There’s still a bit of juice in this.’
    He peeled off the adhesive backing, slapping the pad on to Cosmo’s forehead.
    ‘How’s the heartbeat? Your ticker took quite a hammering.’ Ditto placed his hand on Cosmo’s heart and suddenly the pain disappeared.
    ‘It’s gone. The pain. How’d you do that?’
    ‘Not me. The pad. One of my own concoctions. I get plenty of opportunities to put my medical training to use in this job.’
    ‘And Stefan trained at the police academy?’
    Ditto grinned a grin far too cynical for one of his apparent years.
    ‘Yes, he specialized in demolition.’
    ‘Tomorrow, do I get to be a Spotter?’ asked Cosmo.
    Ditto nodded at Mona Vasquez, who was snoring gently in a deep, but untroubled sleep. ‘No one can teach you how to be a Spotter, kid. That’s what you are. But that little innocent-looking girl there will teach you what to do when it’s time to put your natural talent to work.’
    The warehouse on Abracadabra Street possessed what looked like a little-used side door. In fact the door was well oiled and alarmed, but to the casual observer, the creeping rust and stacks of rubbish made the entrance seem obsolete. Outsiders were not to know that the rust was carefully cultivated and the rubbish stacks were on castors. With the simple push of a button, the entire mound slid aside revealing an entrance wide enough to admit a large truck. Not very high-tech, but sufficient as long as no one tried to recycle the rubbish.
    Stefan opened the door a crack, slipping into the Satellite City dawn.