The goon strikes down at Vernon’s chest, where the duster is open. Vernon knocks his arm out of the way, causing the goon to spin around. Vernon then gets off the ground in one motion. The goon faces Vernon with a confused look on his face, as the air leaves his body from the fist in his stomach.
There is a small shockwave, mixed in with the cracking of bones. The goon flies a few feet away from Vernon following the impact, and lays lifelessly still. Smoke now starts to billow out of the back of the house, as the other seven goons come out of the front door.
They all look over at the lead goon lifeless on the ground, and then back to Vernon. Moving slowly out into the yard they try to encircle him, but Vernon doesn’t let that happen. He lunges at the last one to exit the house.
Bones snap, as Vernon’s foot meets the head of the goon. Vernon grabs the robe of the one standing next to the one he just kicked, and flung him across the street. He lands on his head with a snap and pop.
The other five panic, and run in different directions. Vernon appears in front of one, letting the others get away, and rips off the mask. It was a boy, who was no older than his teens, with glowing blue veins covering his head.
Vernon holds him off the ground, with his feet dangling in the air. “Who sent you?”
The boys eyes dart back and forth, not really paying attention to anything. His mouth starts to move, like a baby babbling, but nothing comes out.
“I asked you, who sent you?”
The boys mouth starts moving faster, finally squeaking out, “Don’t know, just trying to get a fix. He said he would give us all we could take for putting on this getup and following his orders.”
“Who was he?”
“A dealer, that’s all I know.” He says, beginning to fidget with his neck and hair.
Vernon lets him go, and he tumbles to the ground. “Get out of here, before I change my mind.”
The boy looks at him and stumbles up as fast as he can, and runs away. Vernon looks back at his parents’ house, fire now shows where the smoke once was. Even if he could cast his runes right now, he didn’t have anything to put out a fire.
He waits until the fire department gets there, showing his Paladin credentials to the Knights who show up shortly after that to deal with the three bodies. They ask Vernon a couple of questions as a formality. Vernon was still in dismay that he is standing there at his parents’ house, and its half burnt down.
He tries to think why they would come after him there, he didn’t even live there anymore, he and Marie lived in New Atlantis.
Marie. Oh crap.
Panic strikes him, and he pulls up her location which she’s at home. He calls her, and doesn’t get an answer. He calls Tyler, and gets an unavailable message. He tries to call a car, but they have all been rerouted away, and he would have to wait an hour before one would get to him. That was time he didn’t have.
He runs as fast as he can to Maldone’s building where two large men are already waiting outside. The same two that lead him out a few minutes ago.
“I need to get to New Atlantis, now!”
“Mr. Maldone has already been alerted to your predicament, and your destination is already set. He said it was a good faith gesture.”
Vernon runs past the two into the back room, and sees the circle already lit up. He stops on the circle, and in the blink of an eye he’s back in New Atlantis. More men in suits await him holding doors open for him, as he runs out of the building to a waiting car.
He jumps into the car, and it takes off to his apartment. He now has a little time to think things over. Maldone was not working with Hood, or it wasn’t likely that he was. Flint didn’t seem to think so either, and he flipped on Hood to work with Maldone. Vernon had half expected to have to break the doors off the hinges to get Maldone to let him use the rune jump back to New Atlantis, but it was there waiting for him. He was also surprised that he asked to go to Saint Anthony. Maldone could have known more than he was letting on, since he did have so many connections to the criminal world. Which would explain why he knew what was going on at his parents’.
The car turns down his street, and he can see two hooded people black robes and white masks. Rage fills Vernon, and he jumps out of the car. Rushing over to the first he can get to taking the person by the mask, and ramming it though the brick wall. The body slumps, and Vernon turns his attention to the second. They run off, and he lets them. Grabbing the door he tears it off the hinges, and looks at it not believing he just ripped it off. He tosses it on the ground, and runs up the stairs. Reaching the sixth floor he creeks open the stairway door. He can see that his apartment door is open, and his panic turns into fear. Pushing open the door reveals a scene he didn’t and couldn’t have prepared for.
16
Ignis and Blu were standing over three bodies in their dragon forms, teeth set in snarls until they see Vernon. They both sit up on their hind legs and smile doggie like grins at him. Vernon lets out a sigh of relief, and hit his knees next to the two, wrapping his arms around their necks.
“Thank you. Both of you did really good. Where’s Marie?”
Blu looks back toward the bedroom, and Vernon goes looking for her. As he enters he can hear the shower running, and walks into the bathroom. The water turns off, and Marie steps out of the shower. She gets a look at Vernon and screams.
“What are you doing here Vernon! Trying to scare me aren’t you?”
Tears well up behind his eyes for a moment, and he walks over to her and hugs her.
“I’m so glad you’re safe.”
Vernon then goes through the last half hour or so he’s lived through. Marie listens to everything, with the same look of dismay, like it was all too much to take in. She believed it all, with the bodies on the floor and all, but she didn’t know how to react. Angel appears and introduces herself. Vernon and Marie’s overlays had been linked together the day after they got married. Vernon had done it incase anything started to go weird with his overlay. It had happened years ago to someone else, and he didn’t want it to happen to him.
Marie asks, “So Angel, you’ve been here the whole time with Vernon?”
“I have, but I could only see what he saw.”
“Vernon, have you been able to reach your parents?”
“No I haven’t, and their locators aren’t on either. I don’t know what that means. If I didn’t have any problem with these guys I doubt my mother would, but I just don’t know.”
Angel says, “Creator is good too, he showed me lots of things before putting me in you. He can handle himself.”
“Good,” Vernon replies with relief, “I didn’t know how much combat experience my father had. I have to try to find this Hood guy, now. I’m not going to have him come after me and my family without bringing him down.”
Marie has a worried look. “What about if they come back?”
“You got Ignis and Blu, they seem to be able to handle things here. I want you back at your work till I come get you later. It will be safer there, and I won’t have to worry about you.”
“What about you?”
“I’m going back to the warehouse district to see if I can find anything physical that will point me toward him. See if you can crack anything on that data that I handed you earlier.”
Vernon could tell Marie didn’t like the answer, fidgeting with her hands. Blu cuddles up next to her, laying her head on Marie’s lap. She smiles, and starts to pet her.
“I guess you’re right.” Marie finally says. “I need to get my mind off all of this, and that would do it. You need to find the guy and bring him in.”
“I do. I’ll walk you out, and call you once I’m ready to come get you.”
Vernon kisses Marie and the dragons, then heads out the door. He needs weapons, and that means he needs to head to dragon squad.
The rec room was filled with other squad members, and everyone looked at Vernon as he entered. Each nod to him in acceptance. Not the entrance he was expecting, but he’
ll take it. Both Rhys and Presley are talking to someone in Rhys’ office. Vernon lets out a sigh thinking, of course right when I need something they aren’t available. He turns and walks back into the rec room.
The door to the armory is locked tight, and Vernon stares at the scanner. He tries to swipe his over it, just to see what would happen, and it allows him access. Vernon takes a look around the room, and no one is looking over at him at all. He hurries inside. There still wasn’t anything he really wanted in there, but he settles on a few things. A .45 caliber pistol, .75 caliber gunlet, and extra clips. He felt like he was still missing something, they had a few axes, some pole-arms, and runic guns – everything he could have used but just didn’t feel he’s trained enough with. At the back of the armory, next to the worktable was a shield. Vernon had trained with them as he was learning how to use swords. He dropped it because he thought it would just get in the way, let alone the idea that he would need a shield. He normally used an ice runes to make a shield, but he didn’t have one. A large tower shield hung on the wall, engraved with runes on the inside. Fire, ice, wind, and lightning. It was a good basic set of runes, even if Vernon focused mostly on ice and wind.
He grabs onto the shield, amazed it feels lighter than he expected. The inside grip rotates, locking into a vertical or horizontal position. The metal on the outside was finely polished, with the inside smooth. The shield was a high quality one. Vernon felt a little less naked with it in his grip, so he takes it. There was a small amount of training he did where the shield was more like an extra weapon. He hopes he can remember it, and he doesn’t have to use it.
The armory door closes behind him as he exits, and he pokes his head around the corner one more time. Looking to see if Rhys or Presley had finished talking with the person they were talking to. They hadn’t. Vernon starts to walk out when another dragon member walks over to him. He was an older than Vernon, mid to late forties, with a grey streak in his hair.
“So, they already got you on another mission. Man, they’re being rough on you rookie.”
“If it was only that simple, I’m still on the same one from yesterday. You hear about the warehouse explosion?”
He replies, ignoring Vernon’s question. “Wow, that’s a nasty cut on your face. You should go get that looked at.”
“It will be ok, I don’t have time.”
“Whatever you say rookie, but don’t push yourself too much you’ll end up in an early grave. Anyway, you said the warehouse explosion, was that you?”
“No, but I was there. I’m headed there now, see if I can find anything else to lead me to the guy that did it.”
“Try not to take anything personally. Most of these people that we go after just see us as the authority, which they are against, nothing personal.”
“Too late, he made it personal.” Vernon snarls and walks out.
Vernon walks back out to his car, and inputs the warehouse district as his destination. He tries to gather his will, and push it into the shields runes. It still feels heavy as a pool of syrup instead of a well of water. He focuses and takes the time to grab and pull forth his will, and he is finally able to get the rune filled, but it took far more mana than he should ever have needed. Letting his will flow back into him, he sits there stumped as to what has happened to him. There is one more thing he needs to try, and it’s his light. He imagines the door again, and opens it. Light floods out of the door, and over him. So much so, he has trouble holding it back, pushing effort into closing the imagined door. He’s relieved that it’s there for him to call on again if he needs it.
Vernon can see the warehouse district come into view. The area is virtually taped off, and obscured by an overlay. The whole area looks like it is covered in a black mist, and the longer that Vernon stares at it, the lock on the visuals of the area confirm that he is authorized to view it, and it vanishes. Over a fourth of the buildings that were there the night prior are no longer standing. Rubbles of brick, steel, and boxes are in its place. He can see a couple of cars that are in the middle of the square of rubble, and wonders who’s down there.
The car pulls up to the gate leading into the district, and doesn’t budge open. Vernon looks at the door, and tries to send an open signal, but it still doesn’t want to budge. He gets out of the car, walking over to the door that is beside the gate, and it’s slightly open. Peeking his head through the door there isn’t anyone waiting on the other side. Looking over to the gates answers the question on why they wouldn’t open. There is a large metal pole that has been shoved into the gate’s lock. Grabbing his gear out of the back of the car, he releases the car back to the transit system. He watches it drive off before he goes into the door to remove the poll. It’s lodged into the door, and he can tell someone forced it in. Pulling on the poll tells him just how lodged it is. He grips the end, crushing the poll.
“I’m not adjusting your strength anymore, you need to be careful.” Angel says from behind him.
Vernon lets out a little squeak. He turns giving her a little glare, “You have to stop doing that.”
“Stop what, I’m always here, and it looked like you forgot I already released control when you asked me to help.”
Vernon yanks on the metal poll, ripping it out of the doors, taking the bolt restraints with it. The doors begin to open, sliding on their tracks. He starts to walk toward the center of the explosion took place the night before. Angel appears next to him, walking beside him. He looks at her and then back down the road.
“Thanks for helping me earlier, I haven’t had the chance to do that yet.”
Angel beams.
“Once all this is done, and my family is safe, I’ll go looking for my parents.”
“Vernon, no need to worry about your parents. They’re fine.”
They walk in silence for a few minutes, till they reach the two cars in the middle of the rubble. Vernon walks over to them, and they appear to be turned off.
“Angel,” Vernon asks. “Are these cars turned off?”
“They are.”
“That’s weird, cars shouldn’t be able to turn off. If there is an emergency in the area they can be diverted to the area.”
As Vernon walks around the cars, he trips over a slightly tilted board, landing on the ground himself.
“What the hell.” Vernon says getting off the ground.
He wipes off the dirt off his duster, looks over at Angel, who is holding back a laugh. Vernon rolls his eyes.
“Go ahead, let it out.”
Angel laughs. “You need to watch where you’re going.”
Vernon grabs the board and lifts it out of the rubble, throwing it as far as he could. He watches it travel across the yard, and into the next still standing warehouse. He looks down at his hands, and then back to where he threw the board. He needs to be careful, since Angel isn’t regulating him anymore, he thinks. There is an opening where the board was, and peers down the man sized hole. A couple of feet in, he could make out a metal u coming out of the wall, and another a few feet after that. He shakes his head, crawling into the hole, hoping there is something worth going down.
After the first two rungs each was regularly spaced, which made descending easy. After a few minutes crawling down, he could barely make out the light from above, but there was a new light that was below, beaconing him along. Another few minutes pass, and he reaches the light at the bottom of the hole. He emerges into the top of a man made cavern. Concrete pillars, large semi-trucks, and tunnels large enough to drive in leading in all directions from the cavern he was in. He climbs the rest of the way down the ladder noticing the wreckage of what was an elevator, and he assumes it was where they were bringing down the X’cel to load.
“Wow look at this place.” Angel says.
“It must have taken a very long time to build this, without causing anyone to notice.”
“The HVN connection doesn’t work down here either.”
“Too much earth to go through, makes since.”
Vernon walks over to the back of one of the trucks. The back was unlocked, and he slides open the door. Boxes stacked inside the truck of the same ones that Vernon saw when he snuck into the warehouse. He opens one of the boxes near the door, and pulls out a blue tinted vile labeled X’cel.
“What are they trying to do with all this? There’s no way there are enough people using this to warrant this kind of production.” Vernon looks over to Angel, who shrugs her shoulders. “Well some help you are.”
He starts to look around the area, for any signs of the people who would have been in those cars up above. The ground had been covered in a layer of dust and rubble, all of which must have come from the explosion that happened yesterday. Walking back to the ladder, he notices there are multiple footprints surrounding the area. Too many to actually track any. As he gets further away from the ladder, there are fewer, and fewer still when he gets away from the trucks. There are five tunnels he walks past, and only one has a couple of sets of footprints near it.
“Hey Angel, can you watch my back?”
“Wish I could, but there are no camera’s down here that are HVN compatible. I can only see you, and what you see.”
“If something changes, let me know.”
The tunnel was stringed with lights every fifteen yards or so, giving more than enough light if you had to drive down the tunnel. Vernon, however, was not driving, and the limited light made for long stretches of dark between lights. At each light, he could make out concrete lining the walls, but not the ceiling. Which seemed like an odd thing to do.
After walking for what seemed like forever to Vernon, he could see two people standing over something in the distance. He made sure to stay in the dark, and put a hand on his pistol. Slowing moving himself toward the two, he can start to hear their conversation.
“So, who should we turn this one in to?” Says a graveled man’s voice.
“Hood will pay us good credits for this dragon, given his pedigree, but if we turn him into the squad, we might get a bonus. Nothing like what Hood would pay, but we might get some props to go along side everything.” Says a soft woman’s voice.
Cypher Theorem Series Box Set: Books 1-3, The Zero Class, Shadow Moon, Dragon Fire: A Science Fiction Fantasy Page 51
