Note made.
Once he’s in, Pythia holds her hand over his head and slices the air over him in a wave. The glass slides back into place with a hiss of compressed air. The light inside glows and Frank visibly relaxes.
I stumble back, suddenly breathing heavily. Relief floods through me and I smile. It’s going to be okay.
“Once he’s healed, I’ll go back and get Luke, then we can figure out what happened to Nemesis,” I say, turning and heading for the cave. The next thing I need to do is figure out how to get out of here.
Weariness consumes me as I traverse the pond for the fourth time in ten minutes.
I stumble to the elevator shaft and look up to see how bad the damage is. I have to blink several times to clear my vision.
Amelia, you are in respiratory distress. You need to sit down.
“I can’t, Epic. I need Kate—she can make everything better.”
Pythia is next to me, looking up the lift shaft. “The cave will repair itself, given enough time. I’m afraid we’re trapped here for a few days,” she says with her stupid face.
Anger floods through me and I want to punch her. She knew. This whole time, she knew everything that was going to happen—to me, to Frank, to the world, to Luke... oh Luke. Hang in there hon, I’m coming.
“Amelia, rest,” she says.
I hold my hands up like I want to choke the life out of her, but despite my burning anger I’m exhausted; I haven’t slept in… I don’t know how long, a while, and it’s catching up with me. I suddenly, desperately, want out of the armor.
Stumbling, I make my way to the bed that belongs to Carlos. I know he won’t mind me crashing in it. Despite the fact that it’s partially destroyed from our battle with Chronos. I slump down on it. “Epic, retract faceplate.”
It slides up. “Pythia, tell me I can save him. I don’t care about anything else. You can keep all the secrets you want, you can turn me into the next Protector, I don’t care. Just tell me I can save him. Please,” I end in a whisper.
She pulls a chair in front of where I’m lying on the bed and sits down, crossing her long legs.
“Yes, you can,” she says.
I breathe a sigh of relief. Oh, thank God.
“But you won’t,” she says with a sad smile.
“What? Are you out of your artificial mind? Of course I’m going to save him.” How could she think I wouldn’t?
“Amelia, if I told you that going back in time and bringing him forward would indeed save him but cause one person to die, would you?”
I open my mouth to say yes, but I pause. Would I? Trade a stranger’s life for Luke’s... just one...?
“How about ten people?” she asks, “or a hundred?”
I close my mouth. Well, no. Not a hundred, but I’m not going to tell her that.
“How about a million?” she asks. “What if,” she says in a whisper, “I told you the entire planet. Seven billion and countless unborn. What if I told you they would all die, but you could have Luke back?”
I shake my head. He would never forgive me, and I seriously doubt I could make myself do that, knowing the cost.
“But, no, that’s not the way it works. We brought Frank’s wife and daughters back from the past...”
She nods. “Yes, and in doing so, there is a parallel Earth where they die, causing Frank to go back to save his family… and so on and so forth. But Frank and his family aren’t superheroes Amelia. They’re not focal points of action. You saved more than the Earth when you stopped the Th’un. If you were never there, how many trillions would die?”
“But I was there,” I tell her.
She nods. “Because you chose to be there. Time is nothing but the choices we make. Would you sacrifice trillions just to find out if you can change the past?”
I shake my head, no, of course I wouldn’t. It isn’t a philosophical debate. Maybe Luke would be there when we go back, since we went back before there were powers—before I caused super-powers—but once we left... he lived his life. Everything he did would be undone. Everyone he saved...
“Every decision you’ve made since you chose to become who you are to save your parents, was a choice you were going to make, Amelia,” she says putting one hand on my armored knee. “You are who you are. You’ve made hard choices and you’ve saved countless lives. Behind all of your struggles, fighting Ericsson, then the Th’un, then the Titan—”
My head jerks up, she knew about that? “You knew?” I asked.
She nods. “I’m sorry, I had to do and say everything I did and said to make sure you were in the position to make the decisions your heart told you to make.”
I want to cry so bad it hurts. But it isn’t time yet. “Ericsson was right; he said there would always be trouble, that I couldn’t save everyone...”
She tsks, “Oh Amelia, hon, he was so wrong it’s almost funny. He was manipulated by the Th’un. All the people he sacrificed for his cause, it was all for naught. The moment the Th’un showed up all his tech would have gone dark and he would have lost the Earth without a fight. Once the Th’un were done strip mining the Earth and murdering every man, woman, and child they could find, Chronos would have returned, laying claim to his planet.” She takes my chin in her delicate hands and pulls it up so I’m looking at her.
“You saved everyone, Amelia. Not just in this time, but in the past. Luke, as the Protector, fought in the great wars, saved countless millions, stopped genocidal mad men with power they had no idea how to control, all because of, and for… you. He fought for your future, Amelia. He died for your future, don’t you see? This is what happened, because this is the only way it could have happened. All because you chose to save your parents.”
Understanding dawns on me. All of it. My whole life. I could say it was pre-ordained destiny or something, but it wasn’t. Maybe if I wasn’t me, I could make other choices that would result in different actions, but looking back... even if I one-hundred percent knew the outcome of every choice I made that has caused me pain... I’d still make them.
My parents.
The Th’un.
Chronos.
Luke...
“Pythia,” I say moving her hand off my face. “I get it, but I’m really tired, can you do your hand wavy thing and knock me out until I can get the hell out of here?”
“Yes Amelia, sleep. You’ve earned it.”
THIRTY-ONE
DOMINO
Kate exited the federal courthouse in downtown Phoenix with a smile on her lips and a spring in her step; things couldn’t have gone better with the judge.
“What did they say?” Carlos asked her as she walked out of the Courthouse. He was dressed in unassuming clothes; khaki pants and a short-sleeved polo over his broad shoulders. She let her gaze linger on those shoulders for a few seconds more than she probably should have.
“All charges are dropped and everyone is free to go— except Tessa that is. While she’s out on bail, and the case looks good for self defense, they want to investigate a little further. Milton’s recordings make it pretty clear, though, that Massacre had controlled her. I think it’s going to be okay… well, as okay as it can be with Tia’s death.”
“I have to say, I’m glad Tessa did what she did, saves the rest of us the trouble. I’ll surely miss Tia, though. She was a sweet spirit,” Carlos said.
Kate nodded. “Amelia’s going to be heartbroken, the three of us really formed something in Argentina.”
“Amelia, but not you?” he asked.
She smiled, a sad expression floating across her face for a moment. “I’ll mourn Tia, for sure. But she isn’t the first friend I’ve lost in the line of duty, and I doubt she’ll be the last,” Kate said, looking away for a moment.
Carlos wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her like she weighed nothing, spinning her around then kissing her on the mouth for a long, long time.
Kare didn’t mind at all. When they stopped they were both breathing hard, and he had her pul
led in tight against him.
“Carlos?” she asked in a whisper.
“Yes?”
“Have you ever had dinner atop the Eiffel Tower?”
“Nope. Is Milton taking care of the others?” he said, in a sudden change of subject. “I imagine they’ll want to know what’s going on, and about Tia...” he smiled sadly and stepped back from her. For a moment, Kate imagined the rest of the world disappeared and it was just the two of them, but they were far from problem free.
The largest issue she had to deal with was arranging Tia’s funereal, which meant a trip to Buenos Aires. She shuddered just thinking about that place. Sure, it was gorgeous, and the people were nice, but when she and Amelia left the last time, she had told herself she’d never go back.
Then there was moving everyone back into the Spire, briefing the team on ISO-1, and going full alert until they knew what and who they were dealing with.
Finally, there was Amelia and Luke. Almost a week and a half since they disappeared and still no word from them—no sign that they had returned.
“I can tell by that far-off-look you have that you’re sorting through all the things you have to do,” Carlos said, interrupting her thoughts. “Maybe we don’t have time for dinner in Paris, but I sure could use a shower before I resume my job. Think I could use your place, since mine’s still inaccessible?” he asked. They drifted apart, though their hands were on each others waist still.
She smiled, a full face smile that made her feel like a kid again. “Sure, Muscles. Your car or mine?”
“Mine draws a lot of attention… how about yours?”
She pulled him close one more time and triggered her powers.
Tigress didn’t bat an eye as her mistress appeared, simply meowing as if Kate had just walked out of the bathroom. The feline ran up to ‘her person’ and purred as Kate scratched behind her ears.
“There should be some fresh towels in the—”
Pain. Searing, heart wrenching pain punched her in the gut so hard it was like her best friend died.
“Kate?” Carlos was there, kneeling next to her, trying to hold her, asking her what was wrong.
“Amelia,” she whispered. “Amelia’s back, and she’s hurt. I have to go,” she said.
“Go,” Carlos said. Kate focused on the pain, unable to fathom how one human being could hurt so much and still function.
∆ ∆ ∆
Five seconds after I reach the surface, she’s there. Decked out in her “professional look” with her hair in a bun, my Kate.
“Hey,” I say lamely.
She stops short of me, eyes going wide as she feels what I feel. Even after seventy-two hours of Pythia induced sleep, I’m still a wreck.
“Are you hurt? Oh, hon. What happened?”
I shake my head, pressing my lips into a stiff line. “I don’t—can’t talk about it right now. Rest assured there will be time to fill you in. Right now, I need to know how long I was gone.
“Almost two weeks... Amelia, a lot has happened in your absence. A lot...”
I nod. “Yeah, me too. Can you take me to your place in Paris? I can use the mobile removal unit I stored there and get out of this suit; it’s trashed. As it is, Epic and I are surprised I can even walk in it.”
“Of course. Where’s Luke?”
That simple question almost wrecks me. Thankfully, my feelings are enough of an answer for her. Tears well in her big eyes, but she holds it together. They were friends and colleagues for years before I came along; of course she’s going to hurt over him too.
She puts an arm around me, holding me close and... we’re in Paris. She can only teleport long distances to people or animals she has an emotional connection with. Her cat, Tigress, provides that for her here. Which makes it an ideal place to store emergency tools like a mobile removal and repair unit. However, the flight suit is beyond repair. Most of the mechanisms are fused and—
I lose my train of thought as a shirtless Carlos wanders out of the bathroom. His stretchy pajamas cling to his every inch. I stare at him, then at Kate, then back at him. I want to feel surprised, or happy, or anything, instead all I can feel is my own pain.
“Uh yeah. Hi,” he says just as lamely as I would.
“We’re dating,” Kate says suddenly. “We figured stuff out.”
I nod. “I’m happy for you two, really,” I say with a yawn, though I know my tone doesn’t indicate I am. “It’s about time, Carlos. Pythia would like you to come back to the cave when you can; she has some things to fill you in on.”
He smiles and puts the toothbrush back in the bathroom before coming over and giving me a hug. I don’t know how to respond; a hug seems so meaningless.
“I knew you wouldn’t fail, niña,” he says planting a peck on my cheek. He pulls back, his grin fades and he looks to Kate. “What’s wrong?” he asks.
“Later,” she says.
“Pythia will fill you in, Carlos. Go see her,” I say.
He nods, leans over and kisses Kate on the lips before walking to the balcony. The spear is outside, resting against the wall… taunting me. He picks it up, slams the butt against the ground, and he’s the Protector. Just like Luke.
He throws the spear up then looks back at me with concern on his face. I give him a little wave before he vanishes into the sky.
“Amelia, what happened?” Kate asks again. I sigh. I guess I do need to tell her.
I go to her bedroom where she has a walk-in closet with about a thousand pairs of shoes and outfits. In the back, stored as small as I could make it, is a mobile removal unit. It will take the armor off, send it to the quantum station where I keep my all my suits. It’s a write-off though. I can salvage it but there’s no fixing it.
As I work, I start talking. I tell her about the fight with not-Luke and who he really was. How we ended up in Greece a few years after we thought we would. Pythia’s creepy message from Apollo… and I also mention the fact that she isn’t the all-knowing, all-seeing entity she claims to be.
I stop for a second to put the last piece in place for the removal unit to activate. It goes to work, whirring and whining as it removes the armor piece by piece. Epic guides it remotely, since there is a lot of damage.
Then I tell her the rest—everything but why there are superpowers. I tell her about Luke’s last words to me...
“Oh Amelia, oh hon,” she says. The armor removal machine finishes, leaving me sitting in my underwear. Kate grabs a robe, wraps it around me, lifts me like a twig and carries me to bed. She lays me down and crawls in next to me, hugging me from behind. I need this so badly… I need the comfort.
After a moment I can sense she knows there’s more. I sigh.
“I never could hide anything from you.”
“What else could there be? Luke’s... gone, and—”
“It’s all my fault!” the tears I held back, the emotions, the feelings I didn’t want to feel, they come back at me a hundred-fold.
“Don’t be silly, Amelia, it isn’t your fault. You did what you had—”
“No,” I roll over with some effort and look at her. “I’m why there are superpowers, Kate. I helped Nemesis retrieve the spear. She used it to weaken the barriers in the dimensions for her own gain and I interrupted that. I acted as a conduit, grounding the power into the world instead of her. This is all my fault. Your misery is my fault, everything is my fault. Even Ericsson is my fault,” I whisper that last part. I hadn’t even thought of that till just now.
I can’t take it anymore, I break down and the tears come. All the while Kate holds me, running her hands through my hair.
After a long time an idea comes to me. “Kate, can you... can you make me forget him?” I ask through the tears. “It hurts so bad and I don’t know what to do, I feel like I’m going to die,” I say in a hushed whisper punctuated with chest heaving sobs.
“I can’t, hon, and you would hate me if I did,” she says.
She’s right, of course. I just don’t want t
o feel this anymore. No physical pain I’ve ever experienced in my whole life, felt as bad as this does. I really do want to die.
“Hush. You’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep.”
I nod, curling up against her. She’s wrong, though. I’ll never feel better.
Not ever.
THIRTY-TWO
The next day I do feel physically better, but not much. Maybe clearer headed. Kate takes me to the Spire, where federal agents await to arrest me. However, with Agent Brown dead and his boss implicated in some kind of conspiracy, the charges won’t stick.
Tia will still be dead. Finding out about her—and what happened to Tessa—is just two more blows I don’t want.
Once my lawyers are on the case it takes four hours for them to release me. With all the video evidence, witnesses, and expert testimony, I won’t even be going to trial.
With how Carlos and Kate dismantled ISO-1’s operation south of the border, the fact that Major Nelson was more than happy to testify, then Milton recording Tia defeating the assassin they sent to kill the team, it’s pretty clear we were set up.
“Amelia, I’m worried about you. Please tell me what you are thinking?” Kate asks as she pushes me into my apartment. Everything used to be so bright, so shiny; now the world just seems drab and cruel. What am I thinking? What am I feeling? I don’t want any of this.
Amelia, I am sorry to bother you, but I have something that is urgent for you to see.
“Not now, Epic. I want a shower and sleep.”
Amelia, it is important.
I nod and sigh. “Kate?” She pushes me silently over to the bookcase where I pull on Armor to open my not-so-secret passage. She wheels me in, and I want to leave immediately. This place used to fill me with so much joy, and now... now... it’s just some place where I used to spend time with Luke.
“What’s so important, Epic?” I ask.
After you removed the flight suit in Paris, I attempted to send it through the quantum gate to our station. When the gate did not form, I assumed there was some interference—or that maybe the mechanism in the local unit had failed. Now that we have returned, I have tried to access quantum space six-hundred thousand times. I cannot.
Ancient Arsenal (Full Metal Superhero Book 7) Page 16
