Steampunk Time: Cape High Book Seven (Cape High Series 7)

by R. J. Ross

  "Is that why you came back again?" I ask.

  He hesitates, looking down at me. "Some things happened the first time I came that I won't allow to happen this time."

  "What happened?" I ask.

  “Looks like it’s your turn,” he says, pushing me forward rather than answering that question. “Nice job with that metal ball, Jason! You can let it fall now!” he adds to the teen at the end of the obstacle course. There’s a massive metal ball floating in the air above Jason.

  “I didn’t know I could do this,” Jason admits as I head for the starting line. “Awesome.” The ball hits the ground with a heavy thud.

  ***

  It's astonishing, Tatia thinks as she glances at the clock. She's been talking to this woman for almost an hour. "I am sorry," she says, starting to stand. "I have something important to do. It was very nice meeting you, Marilyn." Even though they'd drawn a lot of attention, she notes as she glances around. People moved closer while she wasn't paying attention, listening to them talk.

  "Oh, it's fine, you've got a very important job to do!" Marilyn says, standing up. She hesitates as Tatia holds out her hand.

  For a second she looks at the hand, a strange expression on her face. For some reason Tatia feels nervous. Then someone tugs on her cape, distracting her from Marilyn entirely. A little girl around Kenny's age looks up at her shyly and she breaks into a smile. "Hello, little one," she says. "Are you here for lunch?"

  The little girl nods, and then holds up a pen and a napkin. "You want my autograph?" Tatia asks as she gently takes the offered items. "Of course!" she says, writing her name and handing it back. The little girl stares at it in wonder and Tatia gently pats her on the head before heading out the door.

  "Ah--Tatia!" Marilyn calls. "Can we talk again sometime?"

  Tatia turns. "Of course!" she says.

  The bell rings as she leaves and Marilyn looks at her hand--the hand that had almost shook Tatia's. There's a strange expression on her face, but it disappears quickly enough as she drops a tip on the table and walks out of the diner.

  ***

  Superior stares blankly at the display of technology on the walls of Radio Shack. It's utter junk, he thinks. He might not be the technopath that his son is, but he can manipulate machines a bit, enough that he can mimic the technopath ability. It's actually something he hadn't fully come into during the seventies, but considering the supply in front of him, it doesn't seem to have mattered, he thinks dryly.

  "Is there something I can help you with, sir?" a small man in glasses asks, approaching him a bit hesitantly. "I see you're interested in our TRS-80. It's amazing, don't you think? We're offering microcomputers to the man on the street--"

  "How is this micro?" Superior asks, leaning closer to look at it with a scowl. "Forget it, I want one." He has no money, he realizes abruptly. "Charge it to Central Hall," he decides.

  "Cen--Central Hall?" the man asks, staring at him in shock. "But--"

  "I'm their newest super hero," Superior lies easily. "Don't worry, Mastermental will cover it. In fact, I'll just take the floor model," he adds, grabbing the bulky "microcomputer" and walking out of the building.

  "But--what--" the man stammers behind him, but he's ignored. "I'm going to call the police!" he yells as he chases Superior out the door. "Don't think I won't!"

  Superior keeps walking, the bulky computer and keyboard tucked under his arm. He's got a tracking device to build.

  ***

  I drop down on the log that's next to the fire, letting out a sigh. We've been running through that stupid obstacle course for two hours. I'm not sure what Grandpa wants us to learn from it, he keeps watching us closely as if something big is going to happen, but I'm too exhausted to figure it out. I need a nap.

  "Hey," Jason says, dropping down a few feet away from me in front of the log. He uses it as a backrest. "What were you singing in the shower this morning?"

  Grandpa opens the cooler, pulling out sandwich meat and bread to build lunch from. I look over at him curiously before turning back to Jason. "Singing?" I ask.

  "Yeah, something about rum and captains. What was it?"

  "Um..." I look down at the borrowed clothes I'm wearing, feeling a bit shy. It's stupid, I mean, if you wear steampunk clothes people should realize you listen to steampunk music. It goes hand in hand. "I'm into steampunk," I tell him. "It's pretty awesome--and actually you'd look perfect in steampunk because the metal skin works great with it! I mean, there's Steam Powered Giraffes--they're amazing! Some of the songs are so funny! They put on makeup to look like they're robots and they've got songs about it and everything. But the one I was singing was from Abney Park--" I just got way too enthusiastic, didn't I? Whoops.

  "Abney Park?" he repeats. "You got any on your phone?"

  "Yeah, um, let me get it," I say, digging out my phone--and staring at it as I try to turn it on and something pops inside. "I killed it," I say pathetically, knowing exactly what just happened. "Grandpa?"

  "Your powers are coming in, kiddo," he says as he hands out plates with sandwiches and chips on them. "You're going to be a bit technologically deprived until you get a better handle on it, I'm afraid."

  "But--but my music!" I say, close to tears.

  "I know," he says. "It sucks, but you'll get better."

  I pout down at my phone. "Can't you fix it?" I ask.

  "I could, but you'll just break it again."

  "Can you fix it and send her music over to me?" Jason asks. I give him a dirty look, because it's obvious he's out for free music, but he shrugs. "I want to hear it, and if I play it you can listen to it, too, right? Without blowing it up."

  I hand the phone over to Grandpa, since he's right. "I bet you listen to rock or something, don't you?" I ask Jason.

  "Sure I do," he says. "I like rock music."

  "After doing this, I need to go out again," Grandpa says. "So you two are going to stay here, got it?"

  "But I wanted to go see Tatia!" I protest.

  "The less we get involved with the people of this time the better it is for all of us," he says firmly. "As much as I want you to know your Great Grandma... it might be better off if you don't."

  I stare at him as he stands, wanting to ask him so many things. "Does she die?" Jason asks before I can manage.

  "As things are? Yeah, she does," Grandpa says before racing away.

  "I don't want her to die," I say. "Jason, we can't let her die!"

  "We don't know HOW she dies, though. It's not like we can save her when we've got no clue--and like he said, we don't want to mess up the past, bad things could happen in our time if we do, right?"

  "She's my grandmother, Jason!" I say, getting to my feet. "She's big and strong and she's amazing, and you're just sitting there telling me I need to let her die! That I can't even TRY to do something because of some stupid rule! I won't accept that!" I tell him, tears starting to fall. "I have to try--I at least have to warn her about Mimic."

  He looks down, staring at his phone for a long moment before speaking. "I..." he says slowly. "Well, y'know, I'm going to be a super villain. I'm going to be doing the wrong things all the time when I'm grown, right? So... I guess this is sort of like practice, right?" he asks me with a wicked little grin.

  I sniffle and grin back at him as I wipe the tears off my face. "Exactly."

  "But we're just going to warn her, got it? Nothing more. Who's to know if someone else didn't warn her beforehand?"

  "Fine, just a warning. It might not even be Mimic that does it," I admit. "I just don't like the fact that he's out there and nobody knows it. He's scary."

  "Yeah, you've said so before," he says as he gets to his feet. "Let's go to the Hall."

  "Yeah," I say, starting forward. He grabs me by the back of the shirt.

  "It's this way."

  ***

  "Why hasn't it happened yet?" The question over the payphone is loud enough to make Mimic pull away from the receiver. "You said this wouldn't take long
at all!"

  "I have to get her trust," Mimic says, shifting his voice into the male form. The last thing he wants those military dogs to know is that he's a female at the moment. If anything, if he botches the job he can run off like this and never be found. Although it's difficult to keep a female form for long, he admits. They're too different from his natural form.

  "All you have to do is take her out--I didn't let you out just so you could be her new best friend!" Kunnins roars. "If she's not taken out by the end of the week, you're going back into the brig, do you understand? You'll not see the light of day for another hundred years! And by then everyone will have forgotten about you and just leave you down there to rot."

  Mimic scowls, gritting his teeth to keep from--nope, it happened, he thinks as the receiver falls in pieces to the ground. He hits the hook to hang up the phone and walks away, ignoring the strange looks he's getting from passer-bys. This little mission is a nasty piece of work, he thinks. No, he's got no problem with taking someone out--it's built into his abilities. He's been doing it for a hundred years, practically. The problem he has is the target. He likes her, he admits as he pulls to a stop at a walk sign.

  It's a shame to knock out a woman like that, he thinks with a sigh, walking across the street as the sign changes. He so utterly preoccupied with his thoughts that he doesn't even see the Mack truck barreling down on him until it slams into him. He's thrown through the air a few feet and barely remembers not to land on his feet as people start screaming in horror.

  Well, then, he thinks as he's surrounded by people and someone's shouting for an ambulance, this could interrupt his mission for a bit.

  ***

  That would buy him a little time, the uniform clad Technico thinks as he stands on the roof of a nearby building, watching as the norms rush to save the "woman" that had just been chatting with the military over a public phone in a male voice. It isn't enough to take out Mimic, of course, and things might get a bit awkward when they realize the truck had no driver. But it's easier to keep an eye on the villain when he's stuck in the hospital, pretending to be a norm. It's much easier than trying to keep Superior in one spot.

  It's a good thing there are two of him this time.

  ***

  "So... where is she?" It's the question I've been dreading, I think as I look around the Hall blankly. I look at Jason, frowning slightly.

  "Maybe she went home?" I offer. Little Nicolas is nowhere to be seen, so it makes sense. I hear someone cursing in the back and head for it, looking blankly at Sparky as she clatters around in the kitchen. A few of the pantry doors are hanging off the hinges, showing that she's angry about something. "Sparky?" I ask.

  "What?" she snarls as she turns on me.

  "Have you seen Tatiana?"

  "No! And that's the ONLY good thing that's happened today!"

  "Oh," I say as she goes back to searching. "Um... what happened?" I ask finally.

  "It was a CLONE!" she bellows. "A freaking CLONE! It pulled a fast one on me and I was finally going to get to lead a mission!" she wails. "Can't you imagine the comic books about that? Sparky and the Alternate Dimension! It'd be my first lead job!" she says, dropping down at the table and burying her face in her arms. "Stupid clone," she mutters. “And Tatiana has already claimed the job!”

  "It's just about a comic book?" Jason asks me a bit blankly.

  "Not JUST a comic!" Sparky wails. "MY comic book! My first one! I had my sexiest outfit all laid out and EVERYTHING!"

  "That is sortta sad," he says. I elbow him in the gut for that one, giving him a dirty look. "What? I've always wanted a comic book of my own, too."

  "See? Disco boy understands what I'm talking about!" Sparky says, waving a hand in Jason's direction. "And there's no alcohol in the entire house! Can't a girl get a drink when she's depressed?"

  "Disco?" he repeats. "Lady, I'm going to be the next Cold Ste--"

  "Cold Steel isn't even alive in this time period," I hiss at him.

  "Oh, right."

  "It's okay, Sparky," I say, heading for the table and patting her on the back. "You'll have other chances, right?"

  She looks at me. "Will I?" she asks.

  "Er..."

  "You're from the future," she says, turning and grabbing my shirt. "You know if I become a hit! Tell me, do I become famous?"

  "Um..."

  "Firefly," Jason says abruptly. "That's it!"

  "Firefly? Who?" Sparky asks. "Are you from the future, too?"

  "Yeah, I just--" he starts out.

  "We can't tell the future," I interrupt. "It might mess things up if you know too much--you might wind up messing up your future, you know?"

  "I see... yeah, yeah, I could see that," she agrees, looking more chipper. You know, I always thought Great-aunt Liz was weird, but I'm going to be so happy to see her after meeting Sparky. SO happy. "So you want to find Tatiana?" she asks.

  "Yeah, if we could," I say.

  "She went home. She's got a little house in the suburbs, but I don't know where. Um, I think Mastermental does, though. He's in his room," she says. "It's down that hall."

  I nod and head down the hall, Jason trailing along behind me. "Who was that?" he whispers quietly.

  "Firefly's mom," I whisper silently, bringing a finger to my lips as we get to the only door that's closed. I knock, feeling nervous. This is my grandpa, but he's not my grandpa--

  "Come in," I hear him say from inside. I turn the handle and peek in, blinking at the sight of him wearing a set of silk pajamas. He's sitting on his bed (this is the room I woke up in, I realize abruptly) reading a book. "Hello, Noelle. It's good to see you again," he says with a little smile.

  I step in as Jason bumps into me from behind. "Um, hi, Mastermental," I say, hesitating. "Is it bedtime?" I ask a bit blankly.

  "It will be in half an hour," he says. "I'm afraid it's been a few days since I last slept."

  I nod. "Grandpa Nico does the same," I say. "I think he sleeps every other night or so. Um, Mastermental... can you tell us how we can get a hold of Tatia? We need to tell her something important."

  He hesitates. "Usually I don't give away personal information about my supers," he says mildly, putting his book aside. "Their secret identities are to be protected--especially the ones with children, like Tatia. On the other hand, haven't you been there already?" he asks me.

  "Um... yeah, I have, but--"

  "She's got absolutely no sense of direction whatsoever," Jason says bluntly. "Even if she's been there a million times, she still can't find it. How can you be a super with that lack of ability?" he asks me.

  "I'll figure it out when I can fly!" I tell him, giving him my best glare. "You can see better from overhead, right?"

  "Tell me, why are you looking for her, anyway?" Mastermental asks.

  "Because--because there's a really dangerous guy out there and Grandpa Nico says she might die soon and I think it's connected because the bad guy is the same bad guy from the future that left me back in this time earlier and I've never met Tatia even though I'm POSITIVE she's my great grandma!" I start to rant. I can't help myself, it's been building up for what seems like forever. "And it would be AWESOME to have her instead of just Great Grandpa Superior because Great Grandpa Superior just STARES at me whenever we meet, like I'm pathetic because I don't have any powers and I'm almost fourteen and he's some sort of god to the norms because he's got so much power--"

  "Hey, heeeey," Jason says, grabbing my arm as I start to pace. "Don't forget to breathe."

  I take a deep breath, letting it out quickly and going on, "And I'm just a pathetic waste of flesh even though I'm the daughter of Zoe and Maximum! Even I think that I'm pathetic!"

  "Except you're getting your powers now," Jason drawls.

  "Well, YEAH, but he's not here to see it--the one from my time is still in my time and the one from the time I was stuck in before this time pulled a fast one on Sparky and ran off to who knows where, and he's STILL not here to see it!" Wow, that was h
ard to say. But anyways! "Having Superior for a great grandpa really blows," I tell Jason bluntly.

  "Maximum?" Mastermental asks. I turn bright red--even my ears feel hot--because I had totally forgotten that he was in the room. Or, you know, that we were in his room.

  "He's um--"

  "Head of Central Hall in our time," Jason says.

  "I see, that would be difficult," Mastermental agrees.

  "Oh, you're still around, though!" I say quickly, not wanting him to worry. "You don't die or anything--you just take a desk job, and run tactics," I tell him, going over and sitting on the edge of the bed to give him a grin. "You say Dad was built to do the heavy lifting all the time."

  "I seem to put a lot of faith in this Maximum," Mastermental says.

  "Of course!" I say, since it's such a simple statement. "Dad's the BEST!"

  "He looks like you, too," Jason says, looking at Mastermental closely.

  "JASON!" I yelp.

  "He does, does he?" Mastermental says. "Is he my son?" He doesn't sound very surprised. "But wouldn't Nicolas be the head of the Hall, if it was inherited?"

  "What?" Jason asks, looking at me. "Doesn't--"

  "No telling!" I tell him. "We're not supposed to tell anything, remember?"

  "Oh, right," Jason says. "We can't tell you," he adds to Mastermental, who promptly laughs.

  "Well, since it's close to time for me to sleep, I'll put the directions into your mind, Jason, because as you say, even if I give them to Noelle, you'll still get lost," he says, looking at Jason. Jason blinks for a second before nodding.

  "Got it," he says. "C'mon, Noelle, let's go. He needs sleep, right?"

  "Yeah," I say, looking at Mastermental with a little smile. "Thank you," I add.

  "My son, is he a good father?" he asks.

  "The best," I say without thinking, leaning forward to hug him. "Bye," I add before heading out the door with Jason. "Let's get our clothes before we leave," I say, heading for the back of the building to find them. A few minutes later, dressed in my steampunk (someone washed them, thank GOD,) we head out with Jason leading.