“I don’t think so,” Blake asked, grinning wickedly as he pulled the doors shut with his mind. He turned around and let his eyes glow orange.
“Which one of you has the keycard that goes to the top floor?”
“Oh shit,” one of them said, reaching for something in his coat.
Blake reached out with both hands, grabbed the men by their necks, and drained their life force. When their skin mottled and their veins blackened, he quietly repeated himself, “Which one of you has the keycard that goes to the top floor?”
“You can go to hell,” the man in his left hand wheezed.
Anger flashed through him and Blake pulled whatever life they had left into his body, relishing in the rush he felt. A moment later, he released them but held their bodies upright with his mind as he fished through their pockets for the hotel keycard. He found one in the breast pocket of the man on the left and when he tapped the Wi-Fi point near the button for the twenty-sixth floor, the control panel spoke. “Penthouse access granted.” Then, the elevator ascended.
Of course…these people are too good for a standard meeting room. Makes sense they’re meeting in the penthouse suite.
Blake stretched his jaw when the ear pressure changed, and the elevator car slowed its ascent to the penthouse suite. A moment later, it stopped and the doors slid open.
Two burly men with assault rifles stared at him with surprise. “Can I help you?” one of them asked.
“Is this where the Archimandrion Council meets?” Blake asked, an evil smile on his face. He powered on his orange eyes.
Kill them all.
“Oh shit!” The guards raised their weapons, but Blake slammed them through the wall behind them. Sheetrock dust and chunks of marble exploded into the air and the people inside the penthouse cried out with surprise at the loud sound.
Blake stepped into the foyer and two more guards jumped at him. He grabbed them with his mind and threw them through the penthouse door. Then, he stepped through the broken door and looked around.
Two guards jumped up from the seating area in front of him, but he pushed them through the window. It shattered when they crashed through it and they fell to their death. The air pressure in the room changed and the pages of the magazines on the coffee tables flipped in the breeze.
“What in the world?” someone to Blake’s right exclaimed. Turning, he saw six terrified elders in expensive-looking business attire seated around a dining room table. He approached the table cautiously, his body simmering with orange light. One of the men looked familiar, but he couldn’t place why. He didn’t remember this man from his Internet searches.
One of the female council members shook her head and pushed her chair away from the table, trying to get away from him. “This isn’t possible,” she muttered. Blake assumed she was Madame Presider.
“I told you he would come for us!” a familiar voice cried out as two more guards ran out from a back room.
That’s Mathias. Kill him.
Blake dispatched the guards without turning around, crushing whatever his telekinesis connected to. They briefly cried out and then fell to the floor, dead.
“Good lord!” a Lebanese-looking council member exclaimed, grabbing a radio from the table. “Security, we need back up!”
That must be Farez Printaris.
Blake ignored him and focused on Mathias. “You should have listened to Antony, Mathias. I was standing right there when you told him he was being paranoid. Now, the man is dead, and so are you.”
Blake extended his hand and pulled Mathias across the room until the man’s whimpering face was close to his. The man’s chair spun violently and tipped over.
“Freeze asset one!” Mathias commanded.
“Why do you people keep saying that to me?” Blake asked.
Mathias paused, then regarded him with a confused expression. “Victor told us that would stop you, that the control chip would…”
Control chip? Victor put a control chip in me? He lied!
Blake crushed Mathias.
Blood sprayed out of the orifices of the man’s face as Mathias’ rib cage and skull collapsed with a disgusting and wet mashing sound.
Madame Presider screamed and one of the council members dry-heaved. Blake recognized the heaving one from the pictures as Wang Shu Mao.
He tossed Mathias to the floor and pointed at Wang. “How many children did I see in that factory?”
“What factory?” Wang asked, terrified.
Blake snapped the man’s legs and he crashed to the floor, yelling and writhing with pain.
“How many?”
“You destroyed Mystic River!” an Italian woman said, pointing at him. Maybe that’s Madame Presider.
“You enslaved those people!” Blake spat.
“You will stand down,” the woman cowering in the corner said, finding her courage to stand tall.
“Madame Presider, I presume?” Blake asked.
She nodded.
Blake noticed the black pearls and earrings she wore matched the ones Mother Superior had worn.
Now I know who Mother Superior’s looked up to.
“There are many things you have yet to learn about The Order, but this is certainly not the way to go about it. Whatever it is you’ve come here to do, I expect you to stop.”
“Don’t tell me what to do!” Blake snarled, grabbing Wang and tossing him through the broken window.
The now unflinching woman walked around the table and approached him. “If you think throwing a temper tantrum will assuage your anger, you are gravely mistaken. Even if you were to eliminate us, we would be replaced and you would cease to become our most highly prized asset. You would become enemy number one and we would pull every resource in to stop you.”
Blake hesitated, and the violent voice in his head hesitated as well.
Is she for real? Can they be replaced that easily? I thought eliminating the heads would cripple The Order…but are they like…a hydra?
His phone vibrated in his pocket again, but he paid no attention to it. With his super hearing, he heard the elevator ding and the sound of hurried footsteps on a mission echo in the foyer.
“The Order is a well-oiled machine that…”
Blake reached out and grabbed the Italian woman and the Lebanese-looking man.
“Stand down!” Madame Presider shouted, but it was too late. Blake hurled the two council members at the incoming guards and they were killed on impact. The guards fell back and toppled over one another in a calamity of arms and legs, but they recovered, climbed to their feet, and aimed their weapons at him.
Madame Presider raised her hand to stop them and they halted their approach.
“What is your name?” Blake asked, pointing to the only remaining council member at the table.
“My name…is…Absalom Miller,” the man replied, his voice trembling with fear.
Wait…I think…holy crap, now I know why he looks so familiar. He’s the spitting image of his grandson…Keegan Miller!
Blake relaxed and laughed, then grinned wickedly.
“Have you finally settled down?” Madame Presider asked. “Have you shed enough blood yet?”
Her voice grated on him like Mother Superior’s voice did when she barked orders at him or laughed about his false-freedom.
“Not yet,” Blake replied. Then, he reached out with his mind and grabbed her. As he pulled her closer, he blasted her with fire from his left hand, instantly killing her. When the guards to his right opened fire, he blasted them with hot flame and in seconds, their bodies and guns fell to the floor. Blake dropped Madame Presider to the floor as the sprinkler systems activated and the fire alarm sounded in the penthouse.
Blake approached the table where Absalom sat. “Today, you live, because I have plans for you.”
Blake’s phone vibrated yet again in his pocket. Without taking his eyes off Absalom, he pulled it to his ear and answered it.
“What?”
“Where the h
ell are you?” Victor shouted.
“Careful, Victor,” Blake replied. I should be asking where you are.
“No, I’m done playing your childish games, so you listen to me, you unreliable piece of shit.” Blake winced, but he couldn’t do anything to punish Victor over the phone. “You were supposed to be in Portsmouth, which clearly you’re not because if you were, you would have known that Blue Spekter and the fucking government seized the naval prison.”
“What?” Blake asked incredulously, stepping over Madame Presider’s dead body.
“They captured Seavey Island, Blake. The facility is lost,” Victor yelled back. “If you were there, you could have stopped them. This is on you, Blake, I hold you responsible for the loss of Seavey Island. If you were there, they never would have succeeded. Now tell me, where the hell are you?”
“Chicago.”
Victor sighed. “I don’t believe this.” Then, he hung up.
Blake pulled his phone away from his ear and visually confirmed the call had ended. He pocketed the phone, unaffected by Victor’s frustration. He turned back to the last man standing—sitting—and grinned as a new plan formed in his mind. “I’ll see you soon, Absalom.”
“What do you mean?” the man shrieked.
“Hanukkah’s coming.”
The man regarded him with wide eyes until Blake turned and ran toward the broken window. He jumped out of it and flew around the building, noticing the flashing lights and wailing sirens on the ground below. Happy with the surprise he discovered, he headed east toward home.
4-11 | Blue Spekter 1; The Order 0
Quinn
THE DAY FINALLY ARRIVED FOR the fake-interview-joint-military-and-DHS operation, and Quinn suited up in one of his new super suits. Before he pulled on the cowl, his phone rang. When he checked the display, he saw it was Ana Maria.
“Hello, Ana Maria,” he said, wiggling his left foot into the suit boot.
“Quinn, I have a strange request concerning the mission.”
“What’s that?” He asked.
“If you encounter Blake, I need you to do something…different.”
“Okay…”
“Let him win.”
“What? Why?” Quinn asked, surprise at Ana Maria’s request.
“Hear me out. This will be a deception. Though it will be another chance for you to fight him and learn of his abilities, it is another opportunity to allow his arrogance to become falsely convinced he can beat you in a fight. The more confident he is, the less he’ll expect what’s coming when we enact your other plan.”
“I understand,” Quinn responded. “If it’s me and him fighting, I can do this. But if other people’s lives are in jeopardy, I may not have that chance.”
“Of course, Quinn. That goes without saying. Good luck today.”
“Thanks.”
Quinn disconnected the call and tucked his phone into the special pocket. Then, he locked the belt in place and went downstairs to show his dads the suit and say goodbye.
“Wow!” Daddio exclaimed, sitting up on the couch when Quinn walked into the room. His widened eyes and excited face conveyed his enthusiasm. “That suit is freaking awesome. Ron’s brother did a great job with it.”
Quinn looked down at himself and flexed. “I think so, too.”
Dad paused the movie they were watching and regarded him with equal amazement. “I know you’re invincible and you can heal from pretty much anything, but please be careful, especially if you have to deal with Blake.”
Quinn smiled. “I will, Dad.” Then, he hugged his dads goodbye and went out to the backyard patio. Since their yard was surrounded by trees, the neighbors wouldn’t see him take off. Glowing with bright blue light, he launched himself into the air and flew through the cold winter air to downtown Portsmouth. He circled above to check for Blake’s, but when he didn’t sense his former best friend, he gave up and flew to the naval shipyard.
He tightly circled around Seavey Island and examined the unusually heavy military presence on the snow-covered island. True to his word, Agent Potter had coordinated with the marines and the navy to secure the island. On the grounds near the prison buildings, he didn’t see any Order guards on patrol, but he knew they were inside watching, hopefully confused and overwhelmed at what was going on in the baseball field. Even though several inches of snow covered the island, it didn’t deter them from setting up a convincing scaffolding structure in the outfield of the baseball field for the fake interview.
Two cameras, portable heaters, and a fake news crew made preparations as Blue Spekter descended to the platform and powered off his glowing blue light. A third cameraman tracked his descent and when he landed, the disguised marine stood and extended her right hand and introduced herself as Camilla Brenhurst. Her left hand held a large tablet.
Around him, the armed audience of military personnel applauded, giving the whole charade credibility to one who might be watching the spectacle from the prison buildings.
“Thank you for coming,” fake-Camilla said, sitting down. Then, she tapped her ear. “Agent Potter is waiting for your go/no-go decision.”
“My what?” Blue Spekter said, sitting down in the chair opposite the soldier.
She smiled. “Do you sense Dark Flame nearby?”
Blue Spekter shook his head. “No, I do not.”
“Then we’re going to get started right away. We don’t want to give The Order any more time to prepare or react to what’s coming.” She pressed a finger against her ear. “Command, the mission is a go. Repeat, the mission is a go.”
Fake-Camilla rotated the tablet on her lap and showed it to him. “I have the final plan for you, Blue Spekter. Are you ready?”
“I am.”
“The latest satellite imagery consistently shows heat signatures in and moving around these three buildings. The signatures also move between them in what appears to be two underground tunnels connecting the buildings, here and here.” She pointed as she spoke. “Right now, there are no Order guards outside of the facility.”
“Okay,” Blue Spekter said. “I can confirm that. I saw no Order personnel outside when I circled around overhead.”
“The plan is for our troops to storm all three buildings as quickly as possible. They will surround all three buildings and monitor the doors, but you will lead the charge into this building first.” She pointed to the eastern-most building of the compound. “Move through each room and building and disarm the opposition. Let the marines worry about securing the personnel you encounter. Then, make your way through the prison via the underground tunnel, take out the opposition, and let the marines secure the building. Along the way, let the marines in from whatever doors you can open. Do the same with the third building. Is that clear?”
Blue Spekter nodded. “Did David’s team get control of the security system?”
“Yes, and when you’re ready to breach the first building, they will disarm all the buildings and disable the alarm. Two members of his team are onsite in my borrowed news van. She reached into her pocket and handed him a earpiece. “Put this in your ear so Agent Potter and military command can communicate with you.”
Blue Spekter took the ear-comm from her and stared at it. This reminds me too much of the micro bug thing Dr. Madison tried to stick in my ear. I know I’m being paranoid, but any of these people could secretly work for The Order and if they managed to get a control chip in me, who knows what I’d do.
He shook his head and handed it back to her. “No thanks, I’ll take my chances and stay close to the lead marine.”
She frowned. “Um, okay.”
“I’ll explain later, but there’s a really good reason why I’m not sticking that thing in my ear. For starters, I have super hearing and I can hear Agent Potter blowing his nose in the van over there.”
Fake-Camilla chuckled. “I see. Well, okay then. Let’s go capture a castle.”
“Sounds good. Camilla, it’s been a great interview. Thank you for your time.”
He winked at her.
“You’re welcome, and good luck. When you stand up, give everyone a thumb’s up. That’s the signal to let them know we’re proceeding.”
“Okay.”
Blue Spekter stood and slowly turned, looking at the cold, expectant troops around him. He nodded once, lifted his arm, and gave a very visible thumb’s up. They immediately saluted back and started running to their next positions, encircling the entire prison compound with a strong line of blue and gray uniforms. Blue Spekter jumped over the railing of the makeshift news platform and flew over the heads of the marines to the door fake-Camilla had indicated would be the initial breech point.
As the troops gathered at the door, Blue Spekter landed in their midst, his eyes and body glowing bright blue.
“Lead the way, Blue Spekter,” one of the marines said with an air of authority.
“Stay behind me and you won’t get hurt,” Blue Spekter replied. Then, he pulled his fist back and punched the double doors. They immediately yielded to his strength and swung open, slamming into the walls with a bang. A moment later, the red door control changed to green, and Blue Spekter realized Trinity had just unlocked the entire facility.
Oh, oops. Oh well.
On the other side of the door, six surprised armed men and women in tactical gear hesitated. Remembering his training with Ana Maria, Blue Spekter raised an invisible shield with his mind—not his hands—as the guards raised their weapons and opened fire. The shield deflected the bullets with small flashes of blue light.
Holding the shield in place, Blue Spekter moved in, fast as lightning, and disarmed the six guards. When their guns and tactical vests mysteriously detached from their torsos and clattered to the floor, they immediately raised their hands and surrendered.
“Get out!” Blue Spekter said, pointing to the open doorway. They marched through a gauntlet of equally surprised marines until a group took them into custody.
“Nice work, Blue Spekter” the lead marine said. “The name’s Johnson. Captain Johnson.
“Thanks. Nice to meet you. Let’s go, Captain.” Blue Spekter pushed forward and entered a large space that looked similar to the workroom he woke up in at Rangeley when he and Blake tried to destroy the reactor core. It was full of medical equipment, computer stations, and other terminals that served unknown purposes. Inside, a number of white-coat clad technicians were huddled against the back wall as Order guards in tactical gear aimed weapons at him.
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