Free My Brother is a Superhero by David Solomons

stubbly-faced singer I vaguely recognised, one for a black and white French film. And of course there was one of her in Star Lad’s arms. Apart from that, there was a disturbing lack of superhero posters.
    The home screen blossomed on the laptop and the hard drive stopped whirring. Lara slotted in the flash drive.
    â€œThis is it, Luke,” she said, her voice rising withanticipation. Part of me wanted to tell her to relax, maybe have a lie-down. I saw her glance quickly at the poster of her sister and Star Lad on the wall. It was a look I recognised at once: Lara was jealous of her big sister. It made perfect sense. Since that day Cara had become a celebrity and everyone wanted to be her friend. Lara, on the other hand, was forgotten. Overlooked, second best, just a nameless extra in the background. I felt the same way about Zack. The difference was that Lara had done something about it. If she could land her story then she’d eclipse her big sister. I didn’t want her to succeed, but I couldn’t help but be impressed.
    â€œHere we go,” she said, the arrow hovering over the “play” icon.
    Any moment now she’d discover that Star Lad was my brother. I prepared myself for the inevitable by closing my eyes and wishing I was in a galaxy far, far away. I heard the double click of doom.
    â€œWhat?! That’s not possible.”
    Her shrill surprise gave me hope. Gingerly I opened one eye to see her dragging the cursor back and forward over the video timeline.
    â€œIt’s not here,” she groaned.
    â€œWhat are you talking about?” I leaned on the desk for a better look.
    Instead of recording the whole afternoon the footage jumped from two o’clock straight to three, meaning the time that Zack and I were in the shop was missing. Lara banged her fist against the desk in frustration.
    Relief flooded through me like an ice-cold can of Coke. Zack’s secret was safe. For now.
    â€œMaybe the cameras broke down,” I suggested. “That control room wasn’t exactly S.H.I.E.L.D’s helicarrier.”
    She gave me the kind of stare that would have made my head explode, if she’d been an evil telepath. “The cameras stopped working at the exact moment Star Lad happened to be in the shop? Yeah, sure, because that’s so-o-o likely.”
    Something told me that Lara’s instincts were correct. It was no coincidence that the footage had vanished.
    â€œSomeone removed those forty-seven minutes,” she said.
    â€œSomeone.” I held up a finger. “Or something .”
    Lara shot me a doubtful look. “Uh, no. Don’t think we’re looking for a thing here, Luke. Pretty sure it’s a person who did this.”
    I shrugged. “Could be an evil computer, or a being made entirely of energy, or—”
    â€œLuke!”
    â€œYes?”
    â€œIt’s a person who did this. A real, flesh and blood person. And he – or she – sliced out the section that reveals Star Lad’s identity.” She pushed the chair away from the desk and began to stalk round the room. “What we have to figure out is who and why.”
    I didn’t say it, but of course the most likely suspect was Nemesis. This could be part of her plan to defeat Star Lad. I couldn’t put it like that to Lara without giving the game away, so I said, “Maybe whoever has the footage took it for the same reason you want it – to tell the world who Star Lad really is.”
    She shook her head. “If that was their aim then they would have done it by now.” She tapped a finger against her cheek. “No,” she mused, “whoever did this had an interior motive.”
    â€œUm, do you mean ulterior ?”
    â€œUh, no,” she scoffed. “That’s not even a word.”
    â€œOh. OK,” I conceded. It wasn’t worth arguing.
    â€œIf we’re going to find out why they did it, then the first thing we have