by Lucas Flint
The question was, how to make them tell me. It was pretty clear that everyone involved was being pretty tight-lipped on the true purpose of the mission. They were probably under orders from Ephraim to keep the details of the mission to themselves and not blab them to every person who asked. I could understand maintaining a measure of secrecy, but if this secrecy affected me, then I had to know it.
“Ah,” I said, nodding. “I see. I’d like to meet him someday. He sounds like a good guy.”
“Maybe someday,” said Mack, “though I wouldn’t count on it anytime soon. Ephraim doesn’t like meeting with people outside the organization unless he absolutely has to. Otherwise, he’s more than happy to stay in the background and let us agents do all the talking and socializing.”
“Makes sense,” I said, leaning back in my seat casually. “As the leader of Pinnacle, I imagine that Ephraim must be pretty busy.”
“He definitely is,” said Mack. “Pinnacle is a pretty big organization. We’re smaller than Icon, but we still have a lot of operations all over the world and many agents. I don’t envy his position at all.”
“How much involvement does he have in each mission, exactly?” I said. “Does he figure out all the details on his own or does he have someone else figure out the details and brief you on the mission or—?”
Mack smiled. “It varies. The most important missions, like this one, Ephraim personally debriefs the agents involved in the matter. In less important ones, though, he usually assigns debriefing duties to one of his subordinates.”
“So Ephraim himself debriefed you on this mission?” I said. “Then again, that doesn’t surprise me, given how important this mission is. It might be the most important mission you guys have ever gone on.”
“Can’t argue with that,” said Mack. “Between destroying Iconia and retrieving the Armor, this might be the most important mission in the history of Pinnacle, and that’s saying something, because Pinnacle has done a lot of important things throughout the years.”
“Armor?” I repeated. “What Armor are you talking about?”
Mack’s smile suddenly looked a lot more nervous now. “Oh, did I say ‘Armor’? I was thinking of another mission I was on recently. Has nothing to do with this one. I do that sometimes. Just ask Gina. I’ve frustrated her loads of times by mixing up the various missions I’ve gone on over the years.”
Mack laughed, but there was a hint of nervousness to it. It seemed to me that Mack had pretty loose lips for an agent of a secretive spy organization whose true purposes were unknown even to me, but hey, I wasn’t complaining. If Mack kept this up, I might just be able to make him tell me what was really going on here well before we arrived at Iconia.
“I’m not sure,” I said, stroking my chin. “That didn’t seem like a slip up to me.”
Mack gulped and suddenly stood up. “You know what? I’m going to go and check on Gina and Christina. I doubt Gina is having any trouble with her, but I know from experience how tricky Icon agents can be. Want to make sure she’s okay.”
Mack walked past me toward the door, opened it, and entered, practically slamming it shut behind him on his way out.
I cursed under my breath. I’d been too obvious with my questioning about the true purpose of this mission. If I had been just a little bit subtler, I might have been able to get more information out of him.
On the other hand, our conversation hadn’t been entirely for nothing. I’d learned that Uncle Josh, Mack, and Gina were trying to retrieve some ‘Armor’ from Iconia in addition to destroying the island itself. Unfortunately, that just left me with more questions, like what this Armor was and why none of them had mentioned it to me before we left. Perhaps it was just because Pinnacle was a secret organization and they weren’t at liberty to discuss the full details of their mission with a non-member like me, but somehow I sensed that they were keeping it a secret from me for entirely different reasons. And maybe not entirely benign reasons, either.
Oh, well. It was too late for me to go back now. If Pinnacle was trying to do something that would hurt me, I would be able to take care of myself. Besides, I knew Uncle Josh would never harm me, regardless of what Ephraim may have told him.
All that mattered to me was getting to Iconia and saving Grandfather. I would worry about Pinnacle’s actual motives later, when Grandfather was freed and safely back home with the rest of my family where he belonged.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The second leg of the trip was more awkward than the first. I figured that Mack must have told Gina that I was asking too many questions, because when she ended her shift and came back to talk to me, she avoided mentioning Pinnacle or the mission at all, which was impressive, given how we were still on the mission.
Then again, we barely talked because Gina, when she was not guarding Christina, spent most of her time up front with Uncle Josh where she apparently helped him with the controls. I wanted to help as well, but Gina told me that because I didn’t have experience piloting submarines I couldn’t help and that I should just sit back and let them pilot it. She had a point, but I would have loved to help anyway, even if my only job was to monitor the screens, because that would be much more interesting than sitting around, bored out of my mind and waiting for us to get to Iconia.
It was times like these that I wished TW was still with me. I could have spoken to him in my mind about everything that happened and asked him what he thought the ‘Armor’ the Pinnacle agents wanted was, but unfortunately I couldn’t. As much as TW may have annoyed me from time to time, I had to admit I missed him. I didn’t appreciate how much I needed his perspective on things before he died. Now I would never again hear his views on anything. It made me feel alone, even though I knew that I still had my parents to look toward for guidance, at least. But they’d never understand what it’s like being a superhero the way TW did.
I rubbed the surface of the Trickshot Watch, thinking about TW, when all of a sudden Mack poked his head out of the back room and said, “Hey, Jack, can you keep an eye on Christina for me? Gina just called me up front to talk about something, but I’m not going to leave Christina by herself back here. Think you can make sure she doesn’t get into trouble?”
“What?” I said. “Uh, I mean, sure. I’ll make sure she doesn’t try to escape or cause any trouble.”
“Good to hear,” said Mack. “I was getting tired of her constant snide insults about my intelligence anyway. Seems to think I’m stupid because I’m big.”
“Oh, it’s not seems to, dear,” came Christina’s sarcastic voice, “I actually think that.”
Mack’s hand curled tightly around the door jamb, but he just stepped out of the room and gestured for me to enter. I got off the bench and walked into the room, making sure to close the door on my way in, and then looked around at the room into which I had entered.
It was a fairly small room with dull lights on the ceiling providing some illumination. Against the opposite wall were a set of bunk beds, which Christina was lying on top of, though she wasn’t sleeping. She rolled onto her side when I entered and smiled that same vicious smile she always seemed to wear whenever she looked at me.
“So you’re going to be my jailer for now, eh?” said Christina with a chuckle. “Are you sure you’re up to it? I’m pretty disagreeable.”
“Tell me something I don’t know,” I said. I folded my arms across my chest. “For someone who is trying to help us, you sure are quick to insult us.”
Christina shrugged. “It’s just some ribbing. It’s not my fault if you’re so sensitive you can’t handle some light banter. Seriously, I’m actually being nice to you guys, nicer than I normally am, anyway.”
“Uh huh,” I said skeptically. “Well, you can keep your ‘nice’ thoughts to yourself. I’m not very interested in talking with you or anything. I’d suggest taking a nap, because we’re still a ways off from Iconia and it will probably be a long while before we get there.”
Christina’s eyes glittered wit
h amusement. “You want me to sleep while you watch? I didn’t know you were into that.”
Despite myself, I couldn’t help but flush at her remarks. “It’s n-nothing to do with that. I’m just—”
“Don’t worry,” Christina interrupted me, “I’m just joshing with you. Besides, you’re too young and not my type. I prefer men who are mature, strong, and, most important of all, rich. You’re strong, but one out of three doesn’t cut it for me.”
I wasn’t quite sure how to respond to Christina’s teasing, so instead I said, “Whatever. If we’re going to talk, why don’t you tell me your real name? I know Christina Madison is just a name you stole from a woman who died ten years ago. What’s your real name?”
It seemed like an innocent enough question to me, which was why I was surprised when Christina suddenly frowned and looked down at the bed under her. “I don’t have a real name.”
I blinked. “Wait, what?”
Christina looked at me again, but this time she looked truly angry. “I said I don’t have a real name, okay? How many times do I need to repeat that until you get it?”
“No, I heard you the first time,” I said, shaking my head. “I just thought I might have misheard you or something.”
Christina snorted. “Nah, you heard me right the first time. I don’t have a real name. I’m not sure I ever have.”
“But …” I struggled to think of how to respond. “How? I mean, didn’t your parents give you a real name when you were born?”
Christina shrugged. “Don’t remember my parents. Not sure I have those, either.”
“But you were recruited into Icon at some point, right?” I said, scratching the back of my neck. “You had a life prior to Icon, didn’t you?”
Christina tapped her chin in thought. “Maybe. I don’t remember it, though. All I remember is waking up on the shores of Iconia one day ten years ago, where I was found by some Icon agents who took me to Chaser. He then recruited me into the organization, which I accepted because I had nowhere else to go and couldn’t remember where I came from.”
I wasn’t sure if Christina was lying again or not, but she seemed very sincere now, very unlike how she normally was. It was possible she was just hiding how she really felt—she was a good liar, after all—but somehow I sensed that I had stumbled onto a moment of sincerity from her. It was an odd thought, the idea that Christina was telling me the truth about anything, especially anything related to her background.
But I had to admit, sincere or not, I was interested in her story. “What about your powers? Did you have those when you joined Icon?”
Christina nodded. She held out her bound hands and an energy rope poured out of them and onto the floor, which she swung back and forth a couple of times. “Yep. It’s a sign that I was probably a superheroine at some point in my past life, but when Icon looked up any superheroes with my powers in the government’s database, they couldn’t find any registration or hint that I’d ever worked as a superhero anywhere in the United States. It’s possible I could have been a superhero in some other country, but really unlikely because I’m pretty sure I’m American and not from some foreign country.”
“That’s … interesting,” I said. “And a little sad. What if you have a family that is worried about your disappearance?”
Christina shrugged again. “What if I do? No one has come looking for me. In my ten years of working with Icon, I’ve never seen any evidence that anyone is searching for me. As far as I can tell, I have no past, no background, nothing to link me to anything. I’m just a lone individual trying to make my way through life. It’s what I am and what I always will be, probably, especially now that I’ve quit Icon.”
That sounded incredibly depressing to me, but Christina stated it without any hint of sadness or anxiety. I guess she must have just accepted it as her fate at some point, but I couldn’t help but wonder if she was throwing in the towel too early. I wondered if she had even tried to find out if she had any family or not. It sure didn’t sound like she had to me.
“What are you going to do after this is all over?” I said. “I mean, after we defeat Icon?”
Christina put on a thoughtful look on her face. “I’m not sure. I’m not going to join Pinnacle, for one. I’m done with spy organizations now. Pinnacle might be better than Icon, but I’m sick of this crap. I’ll probably figure out something. Maybe I’ll travel the world again, but this time on my own.”
“Or you could try looking for your family,” I said. “Dig into your past and find out the truth of who you are.”
Christina rolled her eyes. “Didn’t you just hear what I said? I’ve already accepted I have no one out there waiting for me. It would be a complete waste of time to try to find them, assuming they even exist.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” I said. “Family is important, even if you don’t know if you have family at all. I mean, it’s not like you have anything better to do, right?”
“Not everyone values their family as much as you, you know,” said Christina. “Some of us are perfectly happy not knowing where we came from or why. All I care about is doing what I want, and it’s much easier to do what I want if I’m not tied down by family or organizations like Icon. And it’s definitely easier if snot-nosed brats like you aren’t always telling me what to do, either.”
I opened my mouth to argue with Christina further, but then the door behind me opened and Mack stuck his head in. “Jack, Josh wants you to bring Christina to the cockpit.”
“Why?” I said, turning around to face Mack curiously. “Did something happen?”
“Yeah,” said Mack. “According to the Diver’s computers, we’re entering the sea around Iconia. Josh wants Christina to come to the front and tell us what she knows about the area.”
“So I get to do something other than play prisoner?” said Christina. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed before she pushed herself off and landed on the floor gracefully. “Finally. What are we waiting for? Let’s go give my old boss hell.”
CHAPTER NINE
Mack and I escorted Christina to the cockpit between us, with Mack before her and me behind her. This was to ensure that Christina would not attempt to escape while we took her up front, but it sure seemed like an unnecessary precaution to me, because Christina didn’t seem like she was going to try to go anywhere. She just hummed a happy tune under her breath, a tune I didn’t recognize, and she seemed to hold herself more like royalty than like a criminal. I suppose it was just her way of behaving as if she was still in charge of this situation, even though the two of us individually could easily deal with her if she tried anything.
When we reached the front of the vessel, Uncle Josh and Gina were there. Uncle Josh sat at the controls, which he kept adjusting and fiddling with every few seconds, while Gina stood by his chair with one hand on the head, her eyes locked on the various monitors on the wall before them. I also glanced at the monitors, but all of the graphs and numbers were too confusing for me to make any sense of. The best I could figure was that we were really deep underwater, deeper than I had ever been in my life, and suddenly I realized that the only things separating us from being crushed to death under thousands of gallons of water were the thick metal walls of the submarine. It made me feel more afraid than I normally did.
Christina, on the other hand, didn’t seem to be thinking about that. She just looked at Uncle Josh and said, “All right, I’m here. What’s the problem?”
“As Mack told you, we’re just entering the seas around Iconia,” said Uncle Josh. He tapped one of the screens in front of him. “According to the Diver’s screens, we’re about a mile and a half off the coast of Iconia. I’ve slowed down our progress, however, so we don’t accidentally crash into any sea mines or anything like that.”
“Good call,” said Christina. “Let me guess, you need me to point out where the mines are, right?”
Uncle Josh nodded. “Right, assuming that you remember where they’re all loca
ted, that is.”
“Sure, sure,” said Christina. “I saw a map of the ocean floor around Iconia before I left, so I remember where they all are.”
“You remember where they all are by just looking at a map?” said Gina skeptically.
Christina tapped the side of her head. “I forgot to mention that I have photographic memory. I just need to look at something once in order to remember it forever. And no, this isn’t a power I got from being injected with Superpower. I’m just that special.”
Gina rolled her eyes, while Uncle Josh said, “Special or not, photographic memory is useful to have.”
“It is indeed,” said Christina. “Anyway, I hope you’re piloting the sub toward that obscure beach I told you about on the south end of the island. There aren’t as many mines around there, so it should be easier to maneuver around them. You just need to follow my advice and we should make it to Iconia with all of our limbs intact.”
“You’d better hope so,” I said. “If you get us blown up—”
“We’ll all die and whatever you want to do to me won’t happen,” said Christina. “Also, could someone remove these ropes around my wrists? Would make it easier for me to help.”
I closed my mouth as Mack, with a nod from Uncle Josh, untied the ropes around Christina’s wrists. I was starting to reconsider the wisdom of taking Christina with us. Maybe she knew all about Iconia’s security defenses and how to get around them, but at this point I was almost willing to take my chances with the sea mines and trust Uncle Josh’s piloting skills if that would mean not having to listen to yet another one of her snide comments. Based on Gina and Mack’s expressions, I could tell they felt the same way, though Uncle Josh apparently didn’t, because he said, “All right, Christina. You just stand here and help me figure out how to avoid the mines.”
