“Okay, sorry I didn’t think you’d be naked.” I nod to Kate and point at the locker with my lab coat. She runs over and swipes the coat before porting right to Monica and wrapping it around her shoulders. I shake with excitement as I wheel over to her.
Monica sits up, resting on her knees and staring at her hands. Somehow, I didn’t think she’d have pale blonde hair, eyebrows, and eyes the color of old ice when she transformed initially. That could be side effects of the time she spent… wherever she went. But who cares… it worked!
“I can feel her emotions,” Kate says. “Monica, are you okay?” Kate kneels down next to her, running a hand through her hair to get the water out.
“How…” she says, eyes still on her hands.
“Well, since you still had a magnetic field, and clearly ice doesn’t, I theorized you had a body, hidden away in the dimension where your powers come from. I just had to find a way of swapping your ice body for your human one.”
“How?” she asks again.
“I just explained how… oh, now you want the science?” I can’t help but grin. “It’s complicated, and most of the math Epic did while I worked out the device. Suffice to say there is a carrier wave that holds your ice body together. Blocking it forces the connection to dip below the dimensional threshold and wallah!” Of course, the other theory I won’t tell her about is that her consciousness might have stayed with the ice… in which case we would have gotten a frozen corpse back.
The three girls still have blank stares. “Point is, you get your body back! The battery in the belt is good for eight hours or so, but there’s no reason I couldn’t fashion the same sort of power supply I use for my suit… or this.” I have one more present up my sleeve. I hand Kate a small black box the length of a pencil and as wide as my wrist. I had it in my chair pouch waiting for the right moment.
Kate’s eyes go up in surprise. “Amelia, how did you hide this from me?”
“Trade secret, take it and open!” I hold it out to her. She takes the box pulls it open. I know what she sees. A silver chain with black highlights. Hanging from the center is a green gem the same color as her eyes.
“Not that I don’t appreciate the gift but— Oh!” She gets it. That’s my Kate, sharp as a knife!
“It isn’t really an emerald. Epic and I grew it here in the lab. Pressing it activates the miniature ZPFM inside which will power ECM until the sun goes nova in about four billion years.”
She looks down at the necklace and then back to me.
“I don’t get it,” Tessa says, “Are you two a couple or something?”
I cough, choking on my own spit, “No. No not at all! You never had a best friend Tessa? Friends do things for each other. Now Kate can have a normal day without being bombarded by other people’s emotions. She can turn it on and off when she wants.”
Monica makes it to her feet, a little shaky as she reaches out for Tessa to help her stand. “This is the best day of my life,” she says. Her voice is rough like she hasn’t had a drink in years.
Kate slips the necklace on and gives me a smile, “Thank you, Amelia. It’s been so long since I couldn’t feel the emotions of everyone around me… I didn’t even remember what was like until we went to Seattle.”
Now I just have to get them out of my lab before they remember it’s my birthday. My secret plan was to overwhelm them with gifts so they would forget to celebrate.
“Well, it’s getting late and this has been fun, but we have a busy day tomorrow. Monica, enjoy the food, just don’t eat too much.” I wheel around and I hear Kate’s throaty laugh.
“Hold on ‘Wheels McShooter.’ Where do you think you’re going?” she asks.
“To bed?”
“I haven’t turned it on, Amelia. Don’t think I’ve forgotten your birthday. Or the fact that you haven’t left your lab in a while.”
I sigh. Shoulders slumping forward. “I have a very good reason not to go out. Cat-7 had detailed files on me. Everyone knows I’m Arsenal and I saved the President. It’s only been a few of months since the incident. What if…” Kate sees right through me. She walks over, kneeling next to me with a hand on my arm.
“Amelia, he’s gone. He’s not coming back. Don’t let him keep you in a prison of your own making.”
I hate it when she’s right.
“Well I don’t really know what the hell is going on,” Tessa says, “But I need a frigging drink, Blondie needs some clothes, and Amelia needs to lighten the hell up. I know just the place,” she finishes with an evil gleam in her eye.
11
Every muscle in my body aches as I finish the long bank to bleed off speed. The spire of the HQ glints in the sun just a few miles away and I’m glad to be back. Despite the fact the girls kept me out until the wee hours of the morning, we still had training today. The whole team ran a course Luke designed to push us together and stress our limits. After nearly nine hours of flying, shooting, carrying, and being hit, I’m ready for a hot shower and bed. It didn’t leave me any time to talk to him. I’ll call him tonight, that is exactly what I will do. If I can muster the courage.
Kate took off to Paris since today is Friday, she wanted to spend the weekend at home. Teleporters, sheesh. Everyone else is crammed aboard the Emjet headed back this way. They’re only a few minutes behind me.
“Epic, what’s with the crowd in front of the building?”
Milton has not made me aware of a disturbance or security breaches. Checking.
I use the HUD’s zoom feature to check out the crowd. Uh-oh. Signs with, ‘All supers belong in jail’ and ‘no more powers’ are held high. I’d heard of anti-super protests in some of the bigger cities. But Arizona loves the Diamondbacks, I didn’t think they’d make much headway here. Of course, they’re probably bussed in. It wouldn’t take a genius to figure out who I am and what this building is for. I guess they know now. It isn’t like my identity was ever secret. From the moment I joined the DB’s I had to give Cat-7 my name and I knew the cat would eventually be out of the bag. After I dumped all of Cat-7’s secrets on the web and saved the President, people found out.
It isn’t like it made me a celebrity. I got a host of requests for interviews and then it all died down when I didn’t respond to any of them. Like Kate said, I haven’t left the lab in a few months, other than to see my folks. I spent more time out of my lab and armor when we recruited the team than I did the three months before.
As we get closer, I can see building security in their bright red shirts standing impassively between the crowd and the front doors. We have a front like a hotel with a pass through driveway. It makes it easy for people to drop off guests then drive to the underground garage or have the valet do it. Okay, it’s a lot like a hotel. Hotel Mars. I smirk, maybe a revamp of the building logo is needed.
There really isn’t anywhere for them to stand on the outside gate since we’re right off a state route. They must have waited for a car to go in then ran through to the front doors. At least the pass-through is under the spire and out of the sun. The last thing we want is to have an out-of-towner have sunstroke on our lawn and then be blamed for it.
“I’m gonna touch down and see what’s going on.”
Amelia, I do not advise that course of action. Crowds are unpredictable. The only weapon systems we have will severely hurt them.
“Weapon systems? Epic, clearly they’re upset about something. I’ll land and explain to them what is going on. I’m sure if I just tell them what’s what they’ll understand. Everyone knows about the aliens now. Clearly, we need to be working together.”
Amelia… have you met people?”
“This isn’t the Internet where no one is allowed to be wrong and heaven forbid anyone else be right. These are real people, in the flesh. Trust me, it will be fine.”
I have recorded your last phrase in order to play it back to you next time you are tempted to ignore my advice.
“Funny. Ease up on the thrust and let’s land slowly.”
The deep hum of my boots alerts the crowd to me just before I get there. Pulling up, I slow to a hover before setting down. A hush falls over the crowd for a second, all of them look up at me… gripping their signs like weapons? Why?
“PA on.” The light flashes letting me know. “Hi, I’m Arsenal. Let me answer—” A tomato hits my faceplate.
“Supers belong in jail,” the thrower yells. The crowd picks up the chant and starts shaking their signs and fists in the air. This makes no sense.
“Epic scan the crowd, facial recognition. This doesn’t feel right.”
On it.
“Please, listen,” I say with the PA up to thirty decibels. That gets their attention. “I’ll happily answer any questions you have.”
For a second I think they’re gonna take me up on it then the stupid chant starts. What is up with that? I’m being perfectly reasonable here. I wish Kate was here, she’d have them eating out of her palm in about five seconds.
“I have a question.” A hand shoots up from the middle of the crowd. The crowd instantly silences and parts for a tall man with cold black eyes. I suppress a shudder, I know him. Pedric Matahal. Former head scientist of Category-7. I very much want to rescind my offer and take off right now. But I can’t. I’ll look like I’m hiding something. Best to play the gracious host.
“How do you justify your actions in Seattle? Elliot Bay is all but uninhabitable now. And Colorado? If it weren’t for the actions of a few brave humans we might never know the truth.”
“And what is the truth, Mr. Matahal?” I ask. I instantly regret opening my mouth. He’s in front of the crowd now and he turns to them.
“The truth is you are lying to us. Supers, the government, you’re all liars and thieves. Look at this building behind us? How did you afford it Ms. Lockheart? When you came to work for Cat-7 you had meager earnings… now you are on Forbes top 500… how is that?”
“I don’t see what one has to do with the other. You were—” he cuts me off with a wave of his hand.
“Of course you don’t see, you’re not one of the chosen. Either through incompetence or collusion, you have allowed this calamity to fall upon us. People,” he turns to the crowd, “She is the harbinger of the end times. Look at her.”
I tune him out for a second as he keeps working the crowd. “You were right Epic. But I could have been.”
You could have been. If people were logical, reasonable beings who listened to facts other than their own.
“Touche. Scan him. When we met in Cat-7 the man made me feel like he hated everyone and everything but… there’s something… Why is he here now?”
Scanning. He appears perfectly normal. Crosschecking. Wait one.
I wait. But I have a feeling I know what Epic is going to say. The crowd is cheering now. When he raises his fist they roar. I send a text message to the lead red shirt, telling him to take his men inside. The people out here are no threat to anyone and I can reroute traffic to our backup underground entrance if need be. If they aren’t out here that will be one less reason for the crowd to confront anyone. My HUD shows his name. O’Brien. If I recall, he’s an ex-SAS man looking for a clean start in the states. Epic did all the hiring and he seemed to have put a lot of different people together who all work like a well-oiled machine.
O’Brien gives me a nod before tapping the man next to him on the shoulder, he does the same to the fellow next to him and within seconds, without a word, all four men are inside locking the doors. Dang impressive.
I have the results back. I checked with the national database and then I went international, do you want to know what I found?
“No.”
What?
“I’m joking, Epic, of course, I want to know.” Now the crowd is really going, he’s talking about locking everyone up who has superpowers and funding research that would strip people of their abilities. I need to double check my security protocols. All my research is behind three firewalls and a DMZ with both Milton and Epic running active security. The last ditch is an Arrow strike on the actual servers if they are breached. However, I can’t be too careful. I may be called paranoid, but I think if there were ever a person who was justified, it was me.
I do not think he is human.
That hits me like a cold bucket of water. He’s the former Chief Science Officer of Cat-7. He has more background checks performed on him than anyone but the president’s staff. How could they miss that? Which is what I ask Epic.
Spectre. The AI they had in the space station. He was very good. Better than me at cyber-security because that was his sole directive. He could have made sure the public persona held, especially with Category-Sevens internal access to government networks.
A thought hit me, “Scan for quantum radiation.” Sure enough, a trace amount shows up. He has a tiny ZPFM on him doing something. Well, that settles it. I will bid him good day and then—
Pedric turns from roaring crowd who are all chanting for my death at this point and smile, “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” His gleeful smile sends a shiver down my spine and makes me want to punch him in the face at the same time.
There is an emergency call coming in from Palo Verde nuclear plant. A mob of super-powered people are overwhelming security. The Presidents team has asked us to intervene.
“How did he… never mind,” I turn to Pedric and I pump up the decibels to fifty to drown out his crowd, “You may all stay as long as you like. If you require food, water, or medical attention please use the comm panel on the pillar over there,” I point toward the closest of five pillars holding up the covered drive, “and let my people know. They’ve been instructed to provide any and all care you may require. Enjoy the rest of your day.”
He’s still smiling but I can see a chink in his armor. He expected me to get mad or something. Well, I am, but I’m not going to take it out on a crowd of people who are either doing what they believe is right or are unduly influenced. Either way, I’m not going to give him the satisfaction.
Arms down at my side I kick in the Emdrive and blast off. The high pitched whine of the boots drowns out anything he might have said as I left. “Epic, plot the least time course, let’s bust some barriers. Re-route the jet and notify Kate, we might need her when we arrive. Is anyone else coming?”
As if we needed another threat to worry about. Of course, if he is alien, then really it’s the same threat.
The Southwest team is on the way. However, they are using a conventional transport cannot make it there for another one-hour and twenty minutes. We will be there in seven minutes.
“Well, it’s a nuclear plant, no wonder the President called us. A lot can happen in an hour and a half. Re-route the team, give them a briefing and get me some eyes on the ground. Also, see what you can do about having Mr. Personality arrested. If he is an alien, then he’s working for the bad guys and we need him contained.”
Affirmative. Brace for acceleration.
“I feel the need for speed!” The suit shakes as we pass through Mach One, followed by two more in ten seconds. I love this part.
12
I’m five minutes ahead of the jet. While it can theoretically go as fast as I can, the hull isn’t made for faster than Mach Three. If I wanted faster I’d have to make it out of the same material I use to construct the suit. And that is just too much Titanium-tungsten carbide flying around for my liking. A private jet is a heck of a lot easier to steal than my suit.
Five miles out Epic cuts the thrust and we free-fall the remaining distance, coming down from sixty thousand feet in a hurry. I use the two minutes to scan the battlefield. And it is a battlefield. Palo Verde is in the middle of nowhere surrounded by scrub brush and dessert. A seven-foot-tall concrete and chain link fence encloses the small building and the two huge cooling towers. Fifteen hundred feet of open ground exists between the fence and the main building.
It looks like security has paid in blood for every foot of lost space. Soldiers fall back from a crumblin
g perimeter, shooting as they go. Epic Identifies them as US Army National Guard. Weekend warriors who train to defend their homes. They were never trained for this. My AI is doing his best to run threat analysis on the twenty or so super-powered attackers. The battle is pure chaos, though. The soldiers on one side firing in controlled bursts as they fall back. Superpowered lunatics on the other going crazy.
I spot at least two flame generators pouring out heat like they’re prize guests at a Texas Barbecue. A few F3 strong people throwing rocks, ripping cars apart in the parking lot, and generally making a mess. A number more with conventional weapons firing at the soldiers. No speedsters or elementals, which is a nice change.
“Epic, relay everything to the team. We’re going in.”
You do not want to wait for backup?”
“Negative. I don’t want any more of those soldiers dying. We’re going to land west of their location and get the attention of as many bad guys as we can.”
How do you suggest we do that?
“Rock and Roll.”
I kick in the Emdrive and floor it right to the ground, slamming into the packed earth with as much force as an elephant. Using my eyes, I flick through the menu on my HUD until the right selection pops up.
“It’s an oldie but a goody. Maximum decibels. Full PA,” I wait for the system to flash ready. “Hit it.”
As the dust clears the first notes of Queen’s We Will Rock You kick out of our sound system. Followed by a half dozen puffs from the grenade launcher as Epic goes active.
I have their attention now.
Firebolts scream my way. Epic pings their temp at over a thousand degrees. I return fire with IP Cannons on full power as I run forward. I could fly, but I want them shooting at me with the stray beams and bullets hitting the empty landscape instead of the hunkered down soldiers. The pop pop pop of gunfire echoes in my helmet and I can see bullets falling out of the air as they impact with my kinetic shields.
A man walks out of the dust in front of me, fire licking at his fingers. He wears a pair of dessert goggles to protect his eyes. The grim set in his jaw tells me he is no joke. I leap to the right a second ahead of a tornado of fire. The sandpaper roar of my IP cannons fills the air as I blast away at him. Most of the metas we face are susceptible to the IP cannons.
Full Metal Superhero Box Set [Books 1-3] Page 42
