by James Maxey
“It’s Amelia,” said Sarah. “You’re right. She’s on Mars. She’s probably living in that dome.”
“What the hell is she doing on Mars?” said Steam-Dragon.
“Hiding, obviously,” said Sarah.
“So she can escape justice?” said Chimpion.
“So she can protect the rest of the world from herself,” said Sarah. “Look, I haven’t spoken to Amelia since the incident in Jerusalem. But, I know her. She knew she wielded dangerous powers and took great care to stay in control. In Jerusalem, she lost that control. Despite all her power, she was still a person. She had bad days. Unlike most people, her bad days could flatten cities. So she left. She didn’t go to Mars to escape justice. She imprisoned herself on another planet to protect us.”
“It’s not a prison if she went there voluntarily,” said Servant, gruffly. “She committed the greatest war crime in history. It wasn’t up to her to decide what her punishment should be.”
“Excuse me?”
“She wiped Jerusalem off the map. This was a sacred city. What could possibly be a worst crime?”
“Oh, I dunno, the holocaust?” said Sarah, putting her hands on her hips. “The killing fields of Cambodia? The firebombing of Dresden? Stalin starving his own people? Amelia tore up a bunch of old buildings. Let’s keep things in perspective.”
“Old buildings? The Church of the Holy Sepulcher housed the tomb of Jesus. It’s wiped out. The Wailing Wall was the most sacred site of the Jews… gone forever. While I’m no cheerleader for Islam, the Dome of the Rock was sacred to Muslims, and a priceless cultural treasure regardless of who was in control of the city.”
“The fact that all these ‘priceless’ places were crammed up right on top of one another came at a pretty high price. That part of the world has been fighting over religion since the Stone Age. Amelia didn’t create the mess over there. We were there to try to solve it.”
“You did a great job. The world’s certainly all peaceful now that Jerusalem’s gone,” said Steam-Dragon, holding up a fore claw.
“Could you try for five minutes not to be an asshole?” asked Sarah. “Look, I’m not trying to defend my sister—”
“Kind of sounds like you are,” said Steam-Dragon.
“—but Amelia wasn’t evil, isn’t evil, could never be evil. She was the best person I’ve ever known.”
App said, “But if she’s crazy—”
“She was sane enough to get herself off the planet,” said Sarah.
“Because even she thought she was dangerous,” said Servant. “If she thought she could turn evil, why would you doubt it?”
“Don’t talk to me about turning evil,” said Sarah. “I fought you when you were a goddamned supervillain. You want to compare Amelia’s body count to the lives lost in your gang wars?”
“No,” said Servant. “But I take some small comfort that the people I killed weren’t innocent. I was at war with other crime-bosses and thugs, the worst of the worst.”
“How about the children dying from the drugs you were pushing?” said Sarah.
“Whoa,” said App, holding up his hands. “Everybody take a deep breath. We’re not going to accomplish anything fighting among ourselves.”
“We’re also not going to accomplish anything if Sarah won’t help us find her sister,” said Chimpion.
“Uh, I think we’ve agreed she’s already found,” said Steam-Dragon. “I mean, you can see her dome on Mars from space. Can’t the space-machine take us there?”
“If so, Sarah shouldn’t come with us,” said Chimpion.
“I’m still leader of this team,” said Sarah.
“Because your mother writes our paychecks,” said Steam-Dragon. “I didn’t vote for you.”
“You’re only on this team because my mother thought you’d accomplish more good working for us than rotting in prison,” said Sarah.
“I agree with Chimpion,” said Servant. “You shouldn’t go to Mars. You’re plainly compromised in your judgment.”
“And you aren’t?” asked Sarah. “You spent a long time thinking you were in Hell because of what Rail Blade did to you. I hardly expect you’ll be objective regarding her innocence.”
“Then Servant stays behind as well,” said Chimpion. “App, Steam-Dragon, and I pay Amelia a visit. Maybe she isn’t connected with these attacks, but it would be negligent not to pursue this lead.”
“It would be negligent not to go to freakin’ Mars,” said App, smiling. “I mean, we’re superheroes! We need least one outer space mission on our résumés.”
“No one’s going to Mars!” Sarah said, exasperated.
“We should put it to a vote,” said Steam-Dragon.
“This isn’t a democracy,” said Sarah. “Look, we’re facing a real threat. The dervishes hit us where we live. As team leader, I need to direct our resources where they’ll do some good, not send the team off on a wild goose chase.”
“If wild geese were killing people, chasing them would be logical,” said Chimpion. “People who can manifest swords from thin air are killing people. It’s logical to—“
“This discussion is over,” said Sarah, turning her back to the others. “We’re getting nowhere.”
“Where would you like us to get?” asked Steam-Dragon. “If it’s all about allocating resources, where do we go to stop these dervishes? Or is your plan to have us hang out in the gym training until they attack again?”
Sarah didn’t answer as she pushed open the door at the end of the hall.
“That’s what I thought,” Steam-Dragon called after her. She chuckled, shaking her head. “She’s probably going to go tattle on us to her mama.”
Chapter Seventeen
Old Novels
Sarah drifted into the jump room, her helmet dangling in her grasp. She looked down at its blank surface, staring at her own blank expression reflected within. Before joining the Covenant, living her other life, she’d gone days, even weeks, without thinking about Jerusalem. And Amelia. Poor, sweet, murderous, and terrifying Amelia. Sarah had grown up with someone she thought she knew and understood, only to bear witness that the sister she thought she knew was, in fact a god, wielding power over life and death. She still couldn’t process the contradictions. Her sister was a hero. Her sister was a monster. Her sister was beyond all understanding. Part of her felt like she needed to go back and convince the team not to pursue Amelia. No. Screw it. She had problems in her real life. This superteam crap wasn’t something she wanted to deal with anymore, at least not at the moment. Maybe not ever. In a weary voice she said, “Destination alpha, Simpson.”
She waited five seconds, ten. The walls around her didn’t change.
“Forget about the environmental adjustments. Just move me.”
“Uh,” said Simpson over the intercom, “No can do.”
“Why not?”
“Mrs. Knowbokov gave orders that we’re not to transport you until you speak with her.”
Sarah gritted her teeth. The second she’d stormed away from her argument with the others her phone had started buzzing. Barely two minutes had gone by and she had two voice mails and three texts. They had to be from her mother.
“Just cut and paste me,” Sarah said. “Tell her I threatened you. I’ll take the heat.”
“You know our conversations are recorded, right?” said Simpson.
“Right. So an imaginary threat won’t cut it. How about this? If you don’t move me in the next five seconds I’m going to fly into the control room and start punching people. I’m in no mood for a lecture, but I am in the mood for hitting people.”
“Really, Sarah, you’re a little old for temper tantrums,” said a woman’s voice directly behind Sarah.
Sarah’s shoulders sagged. Without looking behind her, she said, “Hello, mother.”
“Please step to the floor,” said her mother. “And look at me when you speak.”
Sarah’s feet were only about three inches off the floor. She spun around i
n the air like she was on a slow moving turntable, facing her mother.
Katrina Knowbokov seldom smiled, but at the moment she looked positively dour. She looked ready to scream and curse, which would have been a welcome change for Sarah. Her mother normally conveyed anger by letting her voice grow toneless, almost robotic.
“I heard about your confrontation with the others,” said Katrina. “You didn’t handle it well.”
“I won’t pretend I did,” said Sarah. “You can’t expect me to be happy that my teammates want to hunt down Amelia.”
“I know that confronting Amelia may be an emotional challenge,” said Katrina. “But you’re a Knowbokov. Your father and I raised you to show a bit more fortitude.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “Dad taught me a lot of things that turned out to be bullshit. And all I learned from you…” Sarah couldn’t complete the sentence. Not because she hadn’t learned something from her mother, but because the lesson she’d learned was too terrible to say out loud. By giving in to the temptation to use her powers over others on her own mother, Sarah had learned, long before Amelia fell from grace, that she, too, had the soul of a monster.
“Are you going to finish that thought?” her mother asked after a brief pause.
“No,” said Sarah. “I don’t want to argue. I’m tired. I just want to go home.”
“This island is your home,” said her mother. “Now that the dervishes have attacked our home, you can’t waste time in your make-believe hobby life.”
“I said I didn’t want an argument. Why are you trying to start one?”
“Because I want you to grow up,” said Katrina. “Whether you like it or not, you have a duty to defend others. I’ve had to twist your arm to get you to do what should be only natural for you, and lead this team. Instead you cling to the illusion that this isn’t your true home, and your true responsibility. That other life you live… it’s no different than the dollhouse you owned as a little girl. You enjoy the fantasy that it’s real, but you must know in your soul that it’s all built upon a lie.”
“Mother, this whole team is built upon lies. My other life is the only place where I feel honest.”
“Truly? So you’ve finally told your husband your history? Finally talked to him with your feet off the ground, as you insist on doing now?”
Sarah’s jaw tightened as she answered the questions with silence.
“That’s what I thought,” said Katrina. “Now that we’ve established what’s real in your life and what isn’t, I want to discuss the parameters of your mission to see your sister.”
“There is no mission,” said Sarah. “What’s wrong with you?”
“What is right with me is that I can judge evidence without allowing my emotions to get in the way. We witnessed firsthand the dervishes using ferrokinesis. It would be negligent not to follow that lead wherever it may take us.”
“Maybe it’s time you used your emotions in making decisions,” said Sarah. “A mission to see Amelia is a complete waste of time. She’s not turned into some sort of long distance, puppet master terrorist. Despite her slip up in Jerusalem, she was a good person. You know this.”
“Do I?” asked her mother. Then, she looked as if she thought better of her remark, took a slow breath, and said, “You’re right. She was a good person. But good people can do horrible things. Your father was a good man, with good goals. You know where this led him.”
“Okay,” said Sarah. “Let’s look at this rationally. No emotion, just think this through. Amelia’s lived peacefully on Mars for years. Why would she start attacking us now? If she did want to attack… why bother with these dervishes? Amelia can flatten entire cities just by thinking hard. She could manipulate the earth’s core to trigger earthquakes and volcanoes and probably put an end to all life on Earth if she pushed herself. If she had gone bad, we’d already be dead.”
“You’re assuming she’s acting rationally,” said Katrina. “What if she’s lost her mind? What if she’s being manipulated somehow?”
“Who could possibly manipulate her?”
“Your father could,” said Katrina.
“You, of all people, can’t seriously believe in ghosts.”
“Why not? You took a ghost for a lover once.”
“Who says ‘took a lover’ anymore? You read too many old novels.”
“You, my dear, haven’t read enough of them,” said Katrina. “Richard is now on Mars with your sister. We know he was capable of murder. Who can say he’s not involved in all of this?”
“I can say,” said Sarah. “People don’t change so fundamentally. Neither Richard nor Amelia were terrorists. Period. Why are we even arguing this?”
“Then we’ll forego arguments,” said Katrina. “I’m the final authority on assigning the Covenant missions. You’ll go to Mars and speak with Amelia because I’m ordering you to do so.”
“No,” said Sarah. “I quit.”
“You can’t quit,” said Katrina.
“I honestly think I can,” said Sarah. “I’m not a slave. I’ve been ambivalent about being a superhero ever since you called me back.”
“You can’t seriously abandon your duty to protect the world from these dervishes.”
“If it wasn’t dervishes threatening the world, it would be something else,” said Sarah. “There’s always going to be some nut out there waiting to create havoc. I agreed to stop Sundancer and Pit Geek because it felt like unfinished business. I never planned to stick around after that.”
“Sarah, you have a responsibility to—”
“Responsibility?” Sarah shook her head. “You said my other life was like a doll house. Don’t you see that you’re the one who’s playing? You’re dressing up people in costumes and sending them out to fight like they’re your personal collection of action figures. Have fun with your game, but I’m done playing.”
“This is no game. With your leadership, the Covenant could be the ultimate force of good in the world.”
“You sound like dad,” said Sarah. “We aren’t the ultimate force for good. You know who is? Ordinary people. They’ve been tackling problems a lot worse than dervishes for a very long time. Father wanted to end disease, crime, and war? Long before he came along, men created hospitals, courts, and diplomatic institutions like the UN.”
“You’re forgetting that I am one of those ordinary people you so revere,” said Katrina. “All those accomplishments of ordinary people didn’t happen by accident. Someone saw a problem and had the ingenuity and will to solve it. I saw a problem when Pit Geek and Sundancer came out of hiding. I implemented a solution. It worked.”
“If the Covenant had never formed, nothing would have changed. Sundancer was killed by her own powers, and Pit Geek committed suicide. We just happened to be standing nearby when they defeated themselves.”
“The ultimate problem, though, wasn’t these two supervillains,” said Katrina. “The true problem was your father and his broken universe. He altered the laws of physics to make superhumans possible. I don’t have the power to alter the laws of physics. I can only work to negate the horrifying consequences of his actions.”
“Wow,” said Sarah. “So that’s where this is coming from? The Covenant is just a weird way you’re getting back at dad.”
“You’re being absurd,” said Katrina. “How can you hope to lead this team if you can’t see the true good they can accomplish?”
“You know that’s my argument, right?” said Sarah. “Why am I bothering with any of this? I don’t want this. I’ve never wanted this.”
“I know.” Her mother shook her head slowly. “I’m to blame, ultimately. I spent too much of your childhood withdrawn into the cocoon of my own thoughts, afraid of your father. Afraid of my own children. I failed you. I suppose it should come as no surprise that you’ve become so… self-involved.”
Sarah shrugged. “That sounds like an excellent topic the next time you see your therapist. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going home.”
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“You’re not going anywhere until I give Simpson permission to use the space machine,” said Katrina. “I can’t let you leave until—”
“Mother,” said Sarah, rising higher in the air. “I don’t need the space machine. I can outrace fighter jets. I’ll be home before nightfall. I won’t be back.”
“So that’s it,” said Katrina. “You’re going to run away from your problems?”
“I’m actually running toward my problems,” said Sarah. “I’ve got a life I need to get back on track. Good luck with the Covenant. I know you mean well. Maybe you’ll save the world after all. But you’ll have to do it without me.”
She spun away and headed for the main hall before her mother had the bright idea of sealing the exits. She could and would fight her way out of here if needed. Fortunately, the doors all opened as she approached. In under a minute, she was outside.
Sarah pulled on her helmet and spoke her destination. A map appeared with a flight path traced in green. She looked up into the blue sky, spotting the slender pale arc of the daylight moon. Without looking back, she rocketed toward heaven faster than the speed of sound, leaving thunder in her wake.
Chapter Eighteen
The Parable of the Talents
Katrina Knowbokov passed the remainder of the team still gathered together in the hall. She couldn’t hear what they were talking about as she approached, but from their low tones and furtive glances in her direction, she suspected they were engaged in gossip about Sarah.
Without bothering to break her stride as she passed, she said, “See Simpson for your space suits. You’re heading to Mars.”
“Alright!” said App, raising his hand toward Servant for a high five. When Servant left him hanging, Steam Dragon reached out with a fore claw curled into a fist.
“I can’t really high five without injuring you,” she said. “Fist bump?”
He bumped her, then said, “Until this moment, I didn’t know we had space suits.”
