I let out a yawn then take another sip of Coke while I think about the best way to answer this. The truth, obviously, but how much of the truth?
I decide to stall. “You sound different from when I met you before. How come?”
She flashed me a knowing look, taking another grape and plopping it in her mouth. “You’re stalling, but I’ll humor you. I’m a creation of Apollo. I would be a poor creation if I couldn’t communicate with people in a way they would understand. I sound like this because this is the way you will best understand me.”
Holy crap. “It’s an act?”
“What is?”
“Your whole Princess Zelda routine where you speak in mysterious sentences and creepily read people’s minds.”
She giggles, which turns into a full blown chortle. “Oh, that’s funny. It’s not an act, per se. I don’t have any control over it. I look and sound like people expect me to, that’s all.”
“So, what do you really look like?” I ask.
“I have no real look,” she says with a shrug. “What you see, is what you get, until I change again.”
I nod in understanding, running my hands over my face. This is freaking revelatory. All that mystic crap she tried to convince me of was because I expected her to act like that. I shake my head with a grin.
“Okay, let me fill you in on a few things about the future... I’m going to guess that if there is one person who needs to know, it’s you.”
I don’t tell her everything, just the relevant parts. The Red Gem, us returning here to bring her forward, and lastly, I mention the Protector and the armor he wears. When I’m done her eyes are impossibly wide.
“Oh, wow. It sounds like the future is exciting!”
I shrug. “That’s one way to put it. The Protector of my time is having trouble following his mandate. He needs you to guide him, give him purpose. That’s the main reason we came back. We originally intended to grab you from 400 AD, but I hypothesized that traveling backward beyond the event that opened up our world to other dimensions would, in-fact, mean Frank wouldn’t have powers. Leaving us stuck in the past. Which would suck.”
She draws little circles on the marble table while we talk, her eyes occasionally darting over to Luke, and then, as if she remembers she has another guest, to Frank.
“This is all very interesting, Amelia. But you have to understand, I can’t go with you,” she says with a sad smile.
“You can’t? But there isn’t anything for you here.”
“No, that isn’t true. Apollo told me my greatest purpose would lie in the far future. If I leapfrog over huge chunks then I could miss something important. There isn’t any way I could leave, especially now, knowing that The Titan is out there, and that I’ll soon be able to speak with Apollo, however brief.”
I open my mouth to respond but just let it hang there catching flies; I assumed the Protector needing her would be enough reason for her to come with us. Carlos is desperate for her guidance. It just didn’t occur to me that I would need a secondary argument to convince her. Other than telling her the truth about her death. If she knew, would she still go? Still sacrifice herself for me?
These what-ifs can drive a person crazy. But they are only what-ifs.
Instead, I say, “I see your point.” And I really do. I can’t make her come back with me. Even if I could, we don’t have a pod anymore and I’m not sure I can repair my armor—let alone build something as advanced as a kinetic manipulator—using this time’s primitive technology.
“The armor and this Protector you have mentioned, they are very interesting. It isn’t the first time one has existed,” she says.
I shake my head in astonishment. What? Sydney was maybe forty when he died? Who before that? Pythia said when one died another was chosen. After Syd it was Carlos... but I never heard of one before Sydney. Unless she means people alike Achilles? Hercules?
She quirks an eyebrow at me. “You are clever. I can sense you working through the possibilities. Let me explain,” she says with a smile. “History remembers them with different names, but they all performed the same function—protecting humankind from destruction,” she says.
“Hercules?” I ask. I can’t help the surprise in my voice.
She smiles and perks right up. “Yes! He was the first. Each hero added something to the calling. Strength, invulnerability, speed, travel, that sort of thing. The last one before the drift became too much to sustain their power was Leonidas, King of the Spartans,” she says with a sad smile. “He was a great man for his time. I truly wish he could have li—” she stops in mid-sentence. Her eyes go wide and unfocus. She looks above me as if there is a presence there.
“What?” I say, alarm spreading through me.
“I... I don’t understand,” she says, but not to me. “Of course, but why?”
“Pythia?” I wave my hand in front of her eyes. She doesn’t see them.
“You’re leaving? But... I’ve done this alone for so long, please don’t—” Her eyes return to our reality, instantly focusing on me before she bursts into tears, sobbing, collapsing against me and burying her face in my neck.
Oh boy.
Whatever just happened wiped her out. She lets out choking sobs and collapses on the table, crying like she lost her best friend. Luke rushes over, picks her up and carries her to bed. Once she’s tucked in and quiets down, he comes back over to me.
“What was that about?” he asks me, glancing at her still form as her chest rises and falls slowly.
“I have no idea. That woman has always creeped me out. I don’t ever know if she’s telling me the truth, or what I want to hear, or what.” I shake my head. “Regardless, I need out of this armor. Help a girl out?”
He grins, “Why Amelia Lockheart, are you asking me to take your clothes off?”
I punch him in the arm. “Technically, the clothes are on underneath this…”
THREE
KATE
Kate stared out the window over the Parisian landscape. The once beautiful city held no sway over her. Not now. Maybe not ever again.
“Dammit Amelia, where are you?” The words slipped out of her lips, but she had meant them. Amelia was always so... reckless. As if she weren’t a normal human.
Even with all the hurt not-Luke had poured out on Carlos, he was almost back up. The magic armor really saved his life.
She glanced behind her at the bed the young man occupied. She could take him back to the states, back to Teddy, but that would be more trouble than it was worth. The FBI had forcefully disbanded the Protectors and jailed everyone. If Kate and Carlos returned to the states, they would be arrested. As it was, there were warrants out for their capture. The only reason they were safe in Paris was that there was no paper trail from this apartment to Kate Petrenelli.
Hiding wasn’t a plan, though. It was what to do while coming up with a plan. Brown, the FBI agent hounding them, needed to stop. But he wouldn’t be getting away with this if he didn’t have the support of his superiors. Kate knew how the business worked; she’d spent six years of her life as a spook for the CIA.
No. Someone high up is gunning for Amelia, but who? More importantly, why?
“Penny for your thoughts?” Carlos stood up from the bed. Kate flushed as she tried, and failed, to look away. Carlos was incredible, from his thick shoulders down to his calves, the man had a body like a Greek god. The best part, though, was that he genuinely didn’t seem to realize it.
He wore simple stretch pajama pants that hugged his waist, and a button-down shirt. It hung open, showing off his chiseled chest and abs. The only reason it was open was to make the sling he wore easier to adjust. It was a stark reminder that even The Protector wasn’t truly invulnerable.
“We’re in Europe, so the money—”
“Euro for your thoughts?”
She smiled. “You got it. I was just thinking about Amelia...”
If there was anyone in the whole world, besides the two who were miss
ing, that understood worrying about Amelia, it was Carlos. He walked carefully up next to her, keeping his distance so as not to touch her, even by accident. It was maddeningly frustrating. She’d made it perfectly clear how she felt. Each time she tried to move closer to him, he just pulled back.
His apathy was a new experience for her, making his affection all the more desirable. She usually was the one pulling back, the one telling men no more, the one breaking hearts. But here she was like a love-sick teenager whose heart’s desire seemed infuriatingly indifferent to her.
Maybe I should just jump him and move on.
But it wasn’t sex she wanted. Even if she wasn’t morally opposed to random hook-ups, she knew it wouldn’t satisfy her. She had something deeper with Carlos, something real. She just needed him to admit it.
She shook her head, only just realizing he had spoken to her.
“I’m sorry. What?”
“I said, what now? We can’t go back, I’m not sure how long we can stay here, what do we do?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. You’ve just nailed the problem I’ve been going over in my head since the sun came up.” She gestured to the sun hovering over the city, casting its morning rays.
“I don’t suppose we could go bust everyone out of jail?” he asked in a whisper.
“As satisfying as that would be, no. It would make things worse. The government has frozen all of Amelia’s assets that they are aware of. They’re still trying to find who’s paying for the team’s legal counsel so they can freeze that too.”
She smiled, thinking of who was defending the assets in question.
“Milton?” Carlos asked.
“Milton,” Kate said.
Even though they seized the Spire, they had no way of knowing that Milton was hard coded into a bank of supercomputers deep underground, connected to, but not physically located at the base. After the last time Amelia had disappeared, she made sure no one would ever get her tech again. Since she couldn’t rely on vaporizing the place, she simply moved everything off site that didn’t need to be there.
Kate just hadn’t realized her friend would disappear again within a year.
“It’s Amelia, Kate. She’ll be okay. They’re probably still looking for Pythia...”
“Why would they have to look for her?” Kate asked.
“She wasn’t always in Delphi. Before the gods showed her where the armor was, she moved among the people of the Earth, trying to make a difference.”
“So how are we supposed to find her?” she asked, trying to hide the shock in her voice at the thought of being stranded in the past.
He smiled. “You know when the Th’un arrived and Pythia suddenly knew everything about them?”
“Yeah?”
“Same thing. She’ll know Amelia is there and look for her too. It won’t be long and they will be back. Trust me.”
Kate scrutinized him for a moment. He truly believed what he was saying. His will was so strong, it wrapped Kate up in a blanket of belief and pulled her to him. He never lied, never hid the truth. When he spoke, it was the truth and nothing but the truth...
“Who are you?” she asked in a whisper.
“Just a kid from Phoenix.”
FOUR
Kate waited quietly in the tree above the small, ranch style home in the family quarters at Fort Bragg. It hadn’t been easy to infiltrate the place, but having the ability to teleport, along with Carlos’ spear travel, meant they could be anywhere in the world in mere seconds. Of course, Carlos couldn’t use his spear with any kind of stealth. If there was enough going on maybe people wouldn’t notice it, but this was too quiet a place for him to land in. Although it was dammed impressive when he did land. Her thoughts had wandered off the beaten path and she had to mentally smack herself to get back on track.
The house belonged to Major Nelson and his wife. He was Air Force, but she was a Colonel in the Army so they stayed on the Army base. They had no kids, which made it easier.
Whatever was going on, Kate didn’t expect the Major to be a part of it; he had always helped them in the past even at the risk of his own career. She hated involving him but she had no choice. He was the only person she could turn to in the government. All her old CIA contacts were useless. Or worse.
A white four-door sedan pulled up, illuminating the driveway with its overly bright LED headlights. Once the car stopped, both doors opened. Major Tony Nelson stepped out of the passenger side and his wife, a petite woman with a dark complexion, came out the driver side.
“I’ll get the trash,” he said.
“Thanks honey, I’ll throw some of last night’s Lasagna in the microwave.”
Kate watched as his wife entered the house. Lights came on as she moved through the living room. Tony Nelson opened the garage door, disappeared inside for a moment, then came out towing a large plastic garbage can. He positioned it on the street then went back in for another.
Kate triggered her teleportation, vanishing from the tree without disturbing a single branch and reappearing inside the garage behind the Major.
Tony had good instincts; he turned, bringing his fist around to strike her jaw. Kate, however, was not just a highly skilled, experienced fighter; due to her powers, her body was enhanced to the absolute human maximum. She caught his fist with one hand while pressing her other against his lips.
“Hi to you too,” she said, her voice pitched low to be unheard. His eyes went wide before he nodded. She let go in the hope he wouldn’t do anything stupid.
“I’m glad you’re okay, but you shouldn’t be here,” he said. His head swiveled from side to side as if he expected ninjas to jump out of the shadows.
“I need answers and you’re the only one who can give them to me,” Kate said to him. He nodded. She could sense his doubt and worry, along with a strong streak of fear. That was odd; he didn’t have to be afraid of her. “What’s scaring you so badly?” she asked point-blank.
His eyes went wide for a second before he gave himself a little nod, as if just remembering who she was. “Follow me as quietly as you can,” he said.
Kate smiled. “Who do you think you’re talking to?”
Tony smirked, turned, and unlocked the adjoining door. As he did, he pulled out his cell phone and started talking as if it had rang. “Honey, I’ve got a work call, gonna take it in my office.”
“Sure thing,” came back his wife’s voice.
Kate followed behind him as silent as a shadow. When he opened the door to his office, she simply teleported in ahead of him. He jerked back, startled, then closed the door behind him. She started to speak, but his fear came back, even stronger so she shut her mouth and waited.
While the Major went to his safe, Kate opened up her senses to the surrounding area, letting through the emotions of everyone within range. It wasn’t ever pleasant to have multiple people’s emotions hitting her at once—she could only really do it for a few minutes at a time.
There was an undercurrent of fear and... anxiety… running through the nearest twenty people... well except for the couple next door. She pulled back immediately, her cheeks heating as those feelings hit her.
“You okay?” Nelson asked as he placed a little box on his desk. Pushing his thumb down the middle for a few seconds caused a blue LED light to shine around the edges.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“You’ve been out of the game too long. It’s a broad spectrum, multi-frequency, white noise generator. It disrupts bugs, lasers, recording devices and even has enough power to give any telepath a headache for days,” he explained.
Kate raised an eyebrow; she wanted one. Too bad Amelia wasn’t here to make it. “Tell me why everyone is afraid and why you need that.” She nodded to the device.
“Because something is wrong and I don’t know who to trust,” he said plainly. “When Amelia stopped Ericsson and the coup, I thought everything would go back to the way it was—and it did for a while. But I guess nature abhors a vacu
um.”
He had Kate’s full attention now.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“People are... disappearing. Judges, lawyers, officers, police, it doesn’t matter. One day they are at their desk, the next day they’ve been replaced.” He waved his hand. “I don’t mean body snatchers, I mean someone else has the job... someone more compliant.”
Kate side stepped to the small window of his office and glanced out while keeping to the shadows. Unless someone had an infrared scope, they would never know she was there. “When did this start?”
“About six months ago. It was little things at first. A new assistant showed up at my office. Then Heather, my wife, tells me her CO of five years suddenly decided to retire and they brought in a new guy who doesn’t know his head from a hole in the ground.” He shook his head, running his hands over his face. “Maybe it’s one of those things where you notice one then you notice all of them but...”
“But?”
“I’ve seen dedicated airmen replaced. People with powers who serve in the military are being shifted around to posts that make no sense. Then after all that, this thing with Amelia started.” He pointed at the TV. “Didn’t you find it strange that the media stations all started saying the same thing at the same time?”
Kate shrugged. “That happens all the time. Global warming became climate change, gun control turned into gun safety.”
“Yeah, I get it, they all have people they answer to, but this... this is a far cry from some political agenda. All the media, left right or indifferent, every single one with a channel, started bashing her.”
Now that Kate thought about it, she realized the Major was right. It was weird, and seemingly without motivation. “But why? And what does it have to do with the sudden replacements?”
The Major shrugged. “That I can’t tell you. All I know is, I hardly recognize anyone at work anymore. Not at the Pentagon, not here on base. It’s like the entire bureaucracy of the government is being replaced one person at a time.”
Kate didn’t need to be an empath to know he was telling the truth, but she verified it with her abilities regardless. She reached out again, this time to his wife, that undercurrent of fear and anxiety was in her too. What in the world could be powerful enough to do this...and why?
Ancient Arsenal (Full Metal Superhero Book 7) Page 2
