“. . . Yeah. Sure. That’d be great.”
Confirmed, both backed away from the idea, as if afraid to upset the gentle balance of panic and joy that they had somehow found. Billy would recall nothing of what was said in those following minutes, only that they talked a while longer.
At last, saying their warm goodbyes, they hung up. Returning the phone to his pocket, Billy no longer wondered how to spend his money.
__________
Cynthia, Red’s wife, got home a few hours after the senator had left. It had been one of the longest days Red could ever remember. He watched as she pulled off her pumps and dropped her keys on the coffee table. He moved to greet her, asking about her day.
She began to tell him. The copier jammed twice, and her boss expected those financial reports by Friday, but nothing out of the ordinary had happened. She smiled.
“Alright, I’m done torturing you. What is it?”
Red grinned. She could always read him, and must’ve seen the anxious question in his eyes. They both sat in the kitchen, using the same seats he and the senator had occupied hours before.
She was a beautiful woman, lean in her black pantsuit, and a part of his mind admired her as the story poured from him. He admitted that he was scared, they had been together far too long for any modest omissions. She tried to follow his story, and he watched as her concern grew. She never interrupted him however, and he continued until finishing. He looked up, scanning her face.
Cynthia sat back, and his heart almost broke at seeing that same old fear in her hazel eyes. She worried every night when he went out, and he knew it. Despite her concerns however, he had continued doing what was needed, and she had come to accept the fear as part of her burden, something she must endure to support him. The last thing he wanted was to add another worry to this weight, but he had no choice. Their secret had been exposed. A few simple words had twisted their lives into something new, and the possibilities beckoned their anxieties.
Without a word, she got up and twisted the faucet handle. A cool, fluid stream burst forth, its clearness bouncing into her water glass. She drank without breathing, emptying the glass twice. After it went vertical a second time, she placed it with care upon the Formica countertop.
He waited wide-eyed for her response. “Well, whaddya think, C?”
As he spoke, his tone carried an apologetic edge. In the intervening hours, the senator’s offer had grown on him. There seemed little choice. He didn’t want to stop his nighttime work, and the support of the government would be ideal. Looking at Cynthia however, he was reminded of his hesitations. He didn’t want to put her in any danger, and increasing his profile could do exactly that.
She reached down, laying a gentle hand upon Red’s shoulder. “Do you want to do it?”
He studied her, deciding that she already knew the answer to the question. She just wanted to hear him say it. He put his hand over hers, thought for a moment, and replied. “Yeah. I think I do.”
She smiled. “Then, I think you should.”
Red stood and hugged her, squeezing tightly with his enthusiasm. Unwilling to part the embrace, he instead whispered in her ear.
“Get dressed. We’re going out tonight.”
Chapter Fourteen
Hawkin’s Isle Prison rested two miles from shore, beyond the mouth of the city’s bay. It was a craggy, inhospitable piece of rock, unworthy of the population that called it home. Even the seabirds appeared to avoid it, and as Billy rode a small boat over the choppy waves in the predawn darkness, he thought they had the right idea.
This was the last thing that he wanted to do. He had dreaded the possibility of prison ever since beginning his spree of petty crimes, and would never have dreamt of actively seeking one out. The idea was ridiculous, but he had agreed to do his part. A million dollars waited at the end of this first mission, and despite his fear, he felt a sense of exhilaration. In less than an hour, he would be a millionaire.
The boat glided in, coasting to a stop along the chunks of battered granite on the island’s shore. The Aegis shifted from his seat at the motor, stepping down into the shallow sea. Hollow wells surrounded his legs as the water thwacked against his invisible barrier, never touching the protective armor within.
Billy leapt over it all, landing on the shore and gripping a boulder’s sheer surface. He adjusted his ear bud and waited for more instructions.
The Aegis’ glowing eye turned toward him. “Go,” the inhuman voice commanded over the radio.
Billy, as Nightgaunt, waited no longer, crawling over the jumbled boulders and up the prison’s wall. His body melded with the night around him, leaving him invisible to the naked eye. He could infiltrate the place with little difficulty, and no guards would see him. He prepared himself for what was to come.
As he reached the top of the wall, he checked his belt. The Aegis had given him a string of plastic explosives, C4, powerful enough to punch a hole through any cell wall. He unfastened it and waited for further commands.
Iguanus hissed in his earpiece, indicating a readiness for the attack. The lizard had swum in alone, rejecting the inflatable that had carried the Aegis and Billy. It was for the best. With the muscled weight of the metallic villain, Billy wasn’t sure the boat would have held him. Besides, the more distance between them, the better.
The Aegis gave another go-ahead, and small arms fire sputtered from the far side of the prison, interrupting the morning peace. Orange puffs of explosions glared in the distance. Iguanus had breached the first boundary. It was time to act.
Billy climbed down the inner side of the outer wall. He looked across the prison yard. A few, fenced areas branched to the right and left, no doubt used to give the inmates a little exercise. He ignored these empty spaces, walking down the central corridor to a collection of concrete buildings nearby. One of these was the main cell block.
Guards ran to their stations, oblivious of Nightgaunt’s shaded form. He found the appropriate structure and attached the bundle of explosives. Looking around to make certain no one had discovered him, he set the timer for 30 seconds. It wouldn’t need long. In half a minute, the bricks before him would scatter, and the inside of the prison opened.
Screams sounded from the outer yard as another explosion rocked the prison from end to end. More gunfire echoed. The Aegis must have made his appearance.
The guards would be scattered now, defending on two fronts. Even if they heard the detonation of Billy’s device, there would be little they could do without compromising the ongoing battles.
He set the explosive and started the countdown, finding shelter around a corner. In moments, solid brick turned to dust before his eyes, the blast launching pebble-sized bits of concrete in all directions. Through the clouds, a hole in the wall appeared, individual bricks falling as the structure settled. A weak light shone through the haze. Nightgaunt crept toward it.
The dust cleared as he approached, allowing him a better view inside. Ni Nengah Idris, the villain known as Rangda, sat unimpressed along the far wall. Her slender form lounged catlike, the explosions having garnered little more than a slight attention.
Lights flickered as he glanced up and down the inner hallway, providing momentary views of the rows of metal bars. He leapt forward and set a smaller, breaching charge on Rangda’s cell door. It went off with a pop, and she stood, examining her new companion. The villainess nodded to him, leading the way outside. He followed.
Sunlight was breaking over the prison’s walls when they exited, filling the yards with long shadows. Dark blood stained the yellowed grass. The noises of battle had dwindled, and as Nightgaunt made his way back across the yard, he keyed his radio, opening the microphone for the first time in the mission. “I’ve got her. We’re leaving.” The scuba equipment waited on the other side of the island.
Rangda paused in the escape, basking in the rising sun. Freedom seemed to change her, and as the light struck her skin, her fingernails grew. Each became a sharp, elongated ta
lon, sizzling with intense energy. She brought her hands to her face, admiring their red glow. Her eyes shared the same frightening color.
Billy ushered her to the exit as best he could, following the plan. As she didn’t possess his wall-climbing abilities, they had to trace a different route through the prison. They ran for the entry gate that Iguanus had cleared, passing the strewn corpses of his victims. Blood mixed with the morning dew.
An unlucky guard sprang at them, and before Billy could react, Rangda was upon him. Her claws burned, slicing the man in half at the belly. Two cauterized pieces of corpse fell in opposite directions across the gravel path.
Billy continued running, more vulnerable now that the sun had risen. Every sound set him on edge, and every crackle of weapons fire made him leap in panic. His blood pounded in his ears, and the stupidity of his actions again crossed his mind. The end of the mission was near, but it was always the end that brought the most danger. He ran harder.
Iguanus waited at the opened gate, ripping a corpse to shreds and eating its insides. He hissed laughter as he saw Nightgaunt’s hurried approach. Blood-spattered fangs gleamed. “You need a weapon, boy.” He kicked a gun from a nearby, severed hand. “Perhaps then you would show some backbone.”
Billy ignored him, making his way outside the prison walls. He found the cache of equipment, and strapped the scuba tank to his back. The villainess joined him, and together, they dove into the bay’s murky waters. It was a long swim to the boat, but the tide would aid them most of the way.
He would deal with the lizard later.
__________
Jack didn’t move when Phillip entered the room, sitting silently with a half-filled glass of scotch coddled against his chest. His eyes stared into an unknown distance, a gaze seeing past time itself.
“Fifty-seven men killed, and twenty-six more wounded.” Phillip read aloud, summarizing the report’s key points. “Three assailants and one escapee. They were all preternaturals.” He stopped, letting the information sink in.
“I’ve seen the news, Phillip. I know the score.” Jack touched his lip with the tumbler, tipping a dose of warm alcohol into his waiting mouth. “This is exactly what I wanted to avoid.”
“This will help you. Won’t it, sir? They now have something to fight.”
“No. They have something to fear.” He grabbed the printout and crumpled it, adding the wad to the fireplace’s dying fire. “Those people that attacked the prison are organized and efficient. They’re not the wild cards that we had hoped.”
Phillip listened with visible empathy. “That’s exactly why we need the team, sir. It’s for this threat that the project exists.”
Jack poured himself another drink. It was early even for him, the remnants of last night’s binge not even dried in his bloodstream. He took another strong gulp, watching Phillip but offering no words. The leather chair again embraced his tired body.
Phillip leaned down, looking Jack straight in the eyes.
The senator considered his employee of over fifty years. They had been through a lot together. Phillip had seen the worst of him, but had remained loyal. He was more than a mere butler and chauffeur, he was an old friend.
“Are you okay?” Phillip asked, staring.
Jack could no longer contain the swirl of emotion within him. “Leave me,” he replied with an angry forcefulness. “I’m not going to do this.”
Phillip retreated as the man stood. He moved for the door, but did not leave.
For some moments, Jack was like a statue, staring at the wall. “We almost killed her,” he said at last, before taking another sip and walking to the window. Daylight shone across his manicured lawn. “She is the key to everything, and I can’t even keep her alive.” His reflection revealed a mouth molded into a tight sneer. Sleeves rolled up, his veins bulged in the early sun.
He turned. “You know what I’ve sacrificed for this.” He threw the glass across the room and into the crackling fireplace. Flames spewed forth as they fed on the liquor’s unfinished remnants. “I almost lost the whole project because some med school bootlick didn’t predict the possibility of seizure.” His voice grew in intensity. “And now? Now we have the worst case scenario blowing up in our faces.”
Jack wandered the room, dwelling upon the accident for the fifty-thousandth time. His eyes closed as he shook his head. “We kept feeding them to her, Phillip. I watched the numbers grow. We scanned hundreds and hundreds of minds until she could no longer cope.”
Phillip stayed quiet in his corner.
Jack returned to the chair, most of his anger and energy spent. “And the worst part of it?” He allowed a solemn silence to hover in the air. “I convinced her. I made her do it. She would have lived out her life in that little hole-in-the-wall town of hers.” He leaned forward, staring at the fire. “She almost died, and we’re not even beyond recruiting.”
He turned away, squeezing a few droplets from between his eyelids.
“But this is why we’re recruiting, sir.” Phillip approached Jack again, imploring. “It’s because there are people in the world like this.” He held the printed report and pointed. “The public needs to be protected. That’s why you created the project.”
“Is it?” Jack asked. He turned away from Phillip’s gaze. “It feels more and more like I’m doing this for my own reasons.” He wiped the last of the tears away. “Perhaps my pride has driven it all. Or my vanity.”
“I don’t believe that,” Phillip interrupted. “Jack, I know what you’ve given for this country, and I know that now is not the time to doubt yourself. What happened to Miss Sybil is a tragedy, but you cannot let her sacrifice be in vain. The people need you, now more than ever. Who knows where these maniacs will attack next?”
Phillip leaned down again, putting a hand on each of the chair’s arms and trapping Jack in his seat. “You have to be strong enough to see it through, to do what is necessary, because if you don’t, I’m not sure anyone can.”
Chapter Fifteen
Back at the warehouse, Malorius’ team had returned from the mission, their new prize in tow. They again congregated in the main room, watching the video screen. The Aegis, as ever, stood centered in front, while Rangda and Iguanus took up the edges. Billy, waiting in a dark corner, could sense the lack of trust between them. All kept an eye to Malorius’ image, and most spared the other for their colleagues. Working relationships as they were, friendship was never implied.
On the screen before them, the phony Malorius looked pleased with himself. He waited a few moments to speak, relieving none of the continual tension. “Gentlemen, I congratulate you on a successful mission.”
He looked to his new recruit, and bowed into the camera. “Enchantez,” he said with his best French accent. “I welcome you to our little organization. I’m sure you’ll fit right in.”
“All was as you said it would be,” Rangda said with a slight accent, bowing to the screen. “I will work with your team, per our agreement.”
Malorius smiled and refocused on the others. “I have transferred the payments into the accounts you’ve specified. Not to worry, it’s all quite untraceable.”
“Now then,” he continued, folding his hands on the table. The screen divided itself, and changed to several newscasts. “If any of you haven’t kept up with your news, let me give you the gist of it.” The screen filled with replays of their daring attack, and reactions to it. On some channels, government officials were being interviewed, a dead seriousness painted across their solemn faces. “We have the world running scared. Not only are they finally addressing the problems that enhanced humans pose, but they are terrified by the fact that we have organized.”
Rangda looked as if she would speak, but held her tongue. She stepped back into the ranks of her improbable brethren. Iguanus and Nightgaunt had gravitated toward the room’s center, nearer to Aegis’ unchanging position. All focused on the screen.
The villain’s face again appeared, looking pleased. “Enjoy
your new riches, my friends. Continue to help me, and much more is yet to come.”
__________
Red woke up alone, swimming in last night’s happy memories. By all accounts, the evening had been a great one. He and Cynthia had enjoyed a sumptuous dinner, some dancing, and more than a little alcohol. It seemed a glorious blur, a much needed break from the rigors of the day-to-day in the Cunningham household.
He hadn’t realized it, but the celebration was something long overdue. Being away from the streets had done him a world of good. Turning over, he stared at the ceiling and thought. Last night’s home entertainment hadn’t hurt his mood either. A little time as a couple always tended to change his perspective, and after their date night, well, the evening had been a total success.
He got out of bed, shaking off the twisted sheets. Cynthia had already picked up their discarded clothes, leaving the room as neat as ever. He smiled. No one would ever suspect a thing, even if they were in the business of suspecting. He left the bed and stepped onto the cool bathroom tile, shutting the door behind. Water splashed as he relieved his night-filled bladder.
It wasn’t long before more watery sounds filled the room. With the turn of a handle, hot water gushed from tiny holes, at first shocking, then soothing his tired flesh as he entered the shower. It felt good, a lot better than the showers he took after spending the night as part of the frozen cityscape, perhaps better than ten of those combined. He lingered, not really washing, but soaking it all in. Celebrating.
His mind wandered again. Memories of the recent past turned to prospects of the future – this team of superheroes. He would be part of a team, each having an equal role among respected and admired colleagues, all of them working together for the greater good. It was a dream come true, and best of all, he would be a salaried member. No more relying on Cynthia’s paychecks, and no more missed payments and collection calls. Life was coming together at last.
Preternaturals: A Superhero Thriller Page 8
