“Carlos!”
I spin so fast my hair whips me in the face. He kneels down and wraps me in a hug. I almost put on the armor, so I can stand shoulder to shoulder with him, but after a couple of weeks (to me) in the suit, I would rather not don it for a while. After what feels like five minutes he pulls back but looks me right in the eye, “I missed you, niña.”
“Me too. Listen, I have to tell you something. I guess you already know, but not the details.”
His eyes grow hard in a way my old Carlos never would’ve.
“Is it about Pythia?” he asks.
“Yes,” I say. The tone in my voice probably confirms for him what he already suspected.
“When she didn’t come back I can’t say I wasn’t worried. But after a few months, and after we found out about the…” he mimes an explosion with his hands. “In the Th’un system, well I figured it out. She saved you, didn’t she?”
I nod. I have to blink a few times to clear the mist from my eyes. “I was all ready, you know?” He nods, standing up and wheeling me over to the couch so he can sit down next to me. “I’d sent Kate back, made sure Luxilla was safe. I was good with it. Epic and I rigged a singularity—”
“That’s a black hole, right?” he asks.
“Yep,” I sniff, “I don’t even know why they had one on their planet, it was stupid, but they did. I rigged it to break out of containment, but just as it was about to, she showed up. Carlos, she said the world still needed me and I had to find my way home.”
He slips one of his massive hands over mine. A stark reminder of the new Carlos. “You did, niña, you did.”
“I know, but a year and a half.” I playfully slug him in the shoulder. “You’re older than me now.”
He quirks an eyebrow at me, “I hadn’t thought of it like that. I guess that means you’ll listen to me now?”
We look at each other for a moment before we burst out laughing.
“Seriously though, Amelia. I’m so glad you’re back. When you didn’t return, and Lux told us about the black hole,” he says, his voice wandering off as he looks down. Tears well up in him, “And then Pythia didn’t come back, I thought… I thought I’d lost my way.”
I reach out and touch his chin, pushing his head up to look at me. “Carlos, you’re one of the most wonderful people in the world. You’d never lose your way for very long. Besides, you’d have Monica to bring you back—”
He glances away from me for a second, “Yeah about that. We aren’t dating anymore.”
Well, it wasn’t like they were engaged or anything. I guess a year and a half can do a lot to people.
“You parted amicably I hope?”
He nods, “Oh yeah. I adore her. She’s awesome, it’s just… it didn’t work out is all.”
I smile, not wanting to press the issue. I don’t see any pain around his eyes, which is nice.
“How did you come back, anyway? I thought the Q-drive you’d built into the suit wasn’t working…”
I let him change the subject. I know breaking up can be painful, I guess even if both parties agree to it.
“It doesn’t have a navigation system. When Pythia activated it and tossed me through the gate, I went wherever.” While I talk I reach over to the mini fridge next to the couch and snag a Coke. After a few weeks of nutrient paste, this is heaven. I hold one up to him and he gladly takes it. “When I came out of the first gate I got hit by some kind of freeze ray.”
“Like, a stasis beam? Doctor Horrible style?”
“Exactly,” I slap him on the knee, “I woke up in a cargo hold. Some kind of automated freighter traveling between star systems. It was actually pretty cool. There was this awesome drone we had to fight. Plus, they used some kind of hyper-advanced crystalline structure for their hull.”
He sighs, “You would geek out about metallurgy.”
I shrug, “Yep. Anyway, when we were all set to take control, pirates attacked.”
“Attacked by pirates is good,” he says with a smile.
“Turns out, it was the best thing possible. I didn’t want to bring a freighter full of alien goods back to Earth. Once they were close enough, I boarded their ship and commandeered it. One of them was a Th’un, which meant the language on the ship was something Epic could decipher. We jumped a few times to find our bearings but once Epic figured out where we were it was easy peasy.”
He smiles and pats my hand, “I’m glad you’re home, Amelia. Just promise me you’ll take it—”
“Master Carlos, sir.” Milton interrupts over the intercom. “There is a priority distress signal from a ship in the Black Sea. They are being attacked by some kind of sea monster.”
Carlos lets out a big sigh before standing. “Duty calls.”
“We’ll catch up when you get back,” I tell him.
The rec room has a balcony that he walks to, opens the door and steps outside. He holds his hand up in the air for a second and just as I start to wonder what he’s doing… his spear smacks into his waiting palm. He grabs it and slams the haft down on the deck. With a flash of light and a crack of thunder gone are his civilian clothes, replaced by his Protector armor.
“Dang that’s cool,” I mutter. He turns and gives me a wink before hurling the spear up into the sky, only to follow it a half second later. Is his armor always on him? Hidden with some kind of illusion? Or is it waiting in a dimensional pocket, like Q-space, for him to call it?
“He’s dang impressive when he does that, isn’t he?” I jump in surprise as Kate speaks from right behind me.
“Holy crud, Kate! Are you trying to kill me?” I say with a hand over my chest to calm my beating heart.
“Sorry, Amelia. Old habits die hard,” she says with a sad smile by way of apology.
My eyes narrow as they flash to the bag she’s carrying and the clothes she’s wearing… Is she leaving?
“Where are you off to and how long are you going to be gone? There’s a lot we need to do and a short amount of time—” I stop talking when I notice the sad look in her eyes and the way her effervescent smile turns to a little frown.
“No one told you yet? I thought for sure Luke would’ve mentioned it…”
“Mentioned what? I fell asleep about ten minutes after we got home last night. Luke was kind enough to make me breakfast before he left for a meeting with the Governor. He offered to cancel but I made him go. He’s got responsibilities he can’t just throw them out because I was away for a week—”
She cocks an eyebrow at me. “Amelia, you were gone for almost two years. I know it only seems like a week to you, but bear that in mind when dealing with him. He’s been through a lot. Okay?”
I nod, “Right, right I keep forgetting that. But anyway, why are you leaving?”
She sighs, “Amelia, I retired. I don’t do this anymore. I was only in California because Luke needed my teleportation skills.”
I look at her for a second until I realize she’s not wearing a prosthetic… “Oh. Because of your arm, got it.”
With a grin, she reaches out and fluffs my hair, “Yes, Amelia, because of my missing arm. Thank you for being so delicate.”
“You know what I mean, sorry. I’m the one who found you. Believe me, I was devastated when—” Oh God Amelia. Shut up. The hurt flashing across her face tells me I stepped in it. I should have quit while I was ahead. “I’m sorry, Kate. You know me, science brain but no people skills.”
Dropping to a knee she takes my hand in hers, “It’s okay Amelia. I’m glad you’re home and I really do want to catch up. Maybe dinner tomorrow or something?” She asks with a raised eyebrow. I look down her jawline to the necklace dangling around her neck. The gem I gave her to shut off her powers.
“Yeah, dinner tomorrow. Sounds great. See you then,” I say absently as my mind leaps into action. Kate pats my knee and vanishes in a pop of rushing air. Her powers are so cool. Well, at least the teleporting ones.
“Epic, you there?” I ask. I don’t really need to. He’s attached to m
y nervous system at the moment and I can feel him. It’s actually kind of nice.
For you, Amelia? Always.
“Maybe it’s time for you to fill me in on what’s been going on around here. I feel like everyone’s keeping stuff from me… “for my own Good” if you know what I mean?”
I do not. As no one can keep anything from me.
I swear I didn’t program him to be sarcastic. “Nu-huh, how about you just skip to the part where you tell me what’s going on.”
Since we have returned I have compiled a list of changes and prioritized them by level, using what I think you would find the most important, as my organization algorithm.
As he tells me I wheel over to the lift and key in for my express elevator. The door slides open with a proper “swoosh” a few seconds later.
One: Carlos and Monica are no longer together. They parted ways a few months after the invasion ended. Apparently, our dear Carlos is not a teenager anymore. He and Monica decided they were not for each other.
“Okay, yeah he’s definitely not entirely the same Carlos. I mean, he’s still my Carlos. What else?” The lift doors shut. My stomach does a flip-flop from the drop as I descend a hundred feet as fast as the lift can go without the passengers going weightless.
Two: Kate retired from superheroing to start a fashion company for superheroes. She designs many of the current crop of heroes’ costumes. She’s based out of Paris and is quite popular.
The doors open into my apartment. I can’t really spare a look though, as I roll through toward my lab. My mind is focused like a laser. I know what I need to do.
“Okay Epic. Here’s what we're going to do. First— spin up the lab. It’s time to play Doctor Frankenstein.” I give him my best evil laugh.
Yes, master.
Incoming Call: Luke Lancaster <3
“Amelia, it’s Luke. I’m running late but I want you to stay out of your lab until I get there, okay. There’s something I need to tell you.”
I don’t answer him. Mostly because I can’t think straight through the rage bubbling up in my veins.
“Amelia? Please tell me you aren’t in your lab?”
It’s cleaned out. My computers, research, tools, even frigging mini-fridge, all gone. I sit impotently clenching my fists before I finally spit out a sentence.
“Luke. Where. Is. My. Lab?”
He heaves a big sigh. “Honey—”
“Don’t honey me. Where is it? I had safeguards against this sort of thing. Unless the next words out of your mouth are, “we moved it to protect it” we’re going to have a problem.”
I can hear the traffic on the other side of the call, he’s on his way back and from the sound of things he’s flooring it.
“Listen, things got complicated after you left. When we got back here the international situation teetered on the brink. Amelia, countries were going to go to war over the alien tech.”
War? Over technology?
“Luke, why in the hell would they do that? There’s plenty to go around.” And there was. Three ships, a bunch of the drones, plus whatever they brought back from Luxilla.
“I know you see things that way, and I love that about you, but that wasn’t how the world's governments saw things. We don’t live in a happy place. There are terrorists, insane dictators, and good old-fashioned megalomaniacs. All in charge of some of the most powerful countries in the world. Alone, they didn’t stand a chance, but they banded together and demanded the technology from the Th’un.”
I try to control my breathing, I know it’s important to stay calm. While Luke talks I bring up my protocols only to find them overridden. Only Epic or I could do that, so what the hell?
“I still don’t know what this has to do with me?” I ask.
“I’m getting there. When it was all said and done the UN came to an agreement. All alien tech was to be confiscated and buried. Guarded by a multinational effort and kept quarantined until such time as they could figure out how not to go to war over it.”
“Are you saying,” I spit out through clenched teeth, “That the government raided my lab and took everything?”
He doesn’t answer right away. There’s a moment of silence and I can tell he’s trying to think of something to say that won’t upset me further. Normally I appreciate that but right now I feel so… betrayed.
“Yes. It was the linchpin. You clearly developed tech from the aliens and they didn’t want anyone else getting it.”
“We will talk about this when you get home.” I hang up the call. I can’t even right now.
All my work. All my work on the alien armor, the mass driver, everything, gone. I can barely breathe through the anger. I spin around again looking at the mess of exposed cables and outlines on the floor where my computers used to be. I had my beautiful lab set up in an octagon so I could go around in a circle and work on my projects. Now, it’s just an empty room with good lighting.
An empty room. Oh God? I wheel over to the wall on the far side and press my hand against the compartment. Four doors raise up showcasing empty compartments. They took my armor.
I worked hard to keep that armor out of the hands of people who would abuse it and then my team just hands it over? I slam my fists against the armrests. Anger clouds my vision as I try to keep breathing without hyperventilating.
“Epic, they took my armor!”
I am sorry Amelia, I see that. Perhaps we could petition them to retrieve it from where ever they sent it?
His attempt at comfort falls flat as I wheel around the room in a panic.
I run my hands through my hair, massaging my scalp as I go, trying to figure out what to do? The tightness around my chest makes me feel like I’m about to have a heart attack.
“Okay, Amelia, get it together. Focus!” I say out loud. More to hear my voice and help reign in my overactive nerves. “They have my armor. Let’s assume for the moment they don’t realize what they have,” I say to Epic.
That seems unlikely.
“I know. But what can we do? Wage war against the government? It’s not like they have… Epic, are the backups safe?”
I am speaking with Milton now about what happened. The server buried beneath the facility is intact. No data or physical breaches. We do have all the tech, just not the physical hardware we had on hand. Nor do we have any of your animetal. Which presents us with other problems.
“Dang if it doesn’t.” The armor isn’t indestructible. I was hoping to replenish what I’ve lost when we got back, but now… maybe I can talk to the handsome Major over at the Pentagon? Surely, they would make an exception for me? Right? I saved the president’s life after all.
“Epic, put a call to Major Nelson, please.”
Calling.
While I wait for him to go through the switchboards I start putting the lab back together in my mind. I need a tablet though, and since they took every computer I had in here, I wheel back into my room and find my old one. Which makes me wonder what kind of advances they’ve had while I’ve been away?
“Ms. Lockheart? I just heard the news. I have to say we’re all thrilled you’re back!”
I bite my lip to stifle my anger. “Thank you. I wish I was as thrilled. Major, I understand there were some political problems while I was away. While I appreciate that, I would like all my property returned to me… immediately if not sooner.” I can’t keep the icy tone out of my voice. I’m not sure I want to. I can’t let on, though, that they took non-alien armor. If they knew. For a second what they have, I’d never see it again.
“Let me say how sorry I am that it has come to this. If it were up to me—”
“Major, it is up to you. Find whoever took it and give it back. It’s that simple.”
“Ms. Lockheart, it really isn’t. The decision was made way above my pay grade. In fact, the farthest above it. If you know what I mean.”
Dang it, I do. He also doesn’t look happy about it. More like he’d rather be doing anything else than talking to me.
“Can you at least tell me who to call to start the paperwork, so I can have my things back?” I ask him.
He sighs audibly. “Unfortunately there isn’t anyone. Everything alien was confiscated and all of it hauled to an undisclosed location. No one but the people in charge knows where it is. That was the only way we could avoid a war for this stuff.”
“Major, this stuff was my stuff. Mine. I owned it. I brought down the drones, I captured the battleships. I didn’t see the UN out there fighting and bleeding. I didn’t see the UN in the Th’un star system when I set off the—” Between the anger and the surprise of having my lab stolen, I’d almost forgotten what I did.
Almost
“Never mind. I’ll find it myself.” Whatever he was about to say I cut off when I hang up the phone. My heart pounds and my head instantly runs hot. What did I do? What I had to. I push that away, trying not to think about it. At least, not until I can have Kate around to help me process it.
The sniffles still come out as I hold back my emotions. It will be easier later.
Uh huh.
Using the tablet, I link to the buildings security systems and see what else has changed. First things first, I update all my protocols to keep them from being overridden again and then I go to work on making a list of things I need to rebuild my lab.
“Epic, scan the Internet, find me the most pertinent news feeds for the last year and a half, condense them and play them back for me while I work. I hate the world news, so just focus on the information around the Th’un and criminal activity I might find interesting.” Another idea hits me while I’m speaking, “Can we trace our armor using the built-in tracking?”
On it. For what it is worth, I am sorry about your lab. As for the armor, I can attempt communications with it via Artemis. However, right now it is not anyplace I can reach.
“Not as sorry as whoever took it is going to be. Damn government. Turn your back on them for a second and they start thinking they know what’s best. How the hell did they override my protocols anyway? An Arrow should have leveled the building before my lab work got out the door? Did they hack it?”
No. While I do not condone his decision, I was not here to make it. Milton granted them access.
Unbreakable Arsenal (Full Metal Superhero Book 5) Page 3
