The Feros (Vindico)

by Wesley King

  “Well, technically we captured them,” Hayden noted.

  “Because they were busy fighting us,” the Flame replied coldly. “I disagreed with Thunderbolt that we should wait even six months to train you. I wanted you to become full members immediately. But he sent you home, and we all went back to our regular rotations. Three-and-a-half months later, Renda was gone without a trace. Then Peregrine disappeared a week later from the mansion in Ontario.

  “For a few days, none of us knew what to do. Then we received an anonymous lead. This man told us he was defecting from some sort of secret organization that was planning to slowly pick off League members, one by one. He gave us a location where the two captives were being taken as a stopover, but he warned us they wouldn’t remain there for long. I immediately called for a full-scale attack, and I was supported by many of our members, including these three. But Thunderbolt hesitated. He told us something ‘didn’t feel right’ and that we had to proceed with caution. So he sent us in for a reconnaissance mission first.

  “I went with Gali and Ceri, and we were almost shot out of the sky. Some ground-based weapons opened fire, and we narrowly escaped after two black ships appeared and chased us away. When we got back to headquarters, Thunderbolt finally decided to send the full team. But when we returned to the site, we found the compound already deserted. There were signs of a hurried escape, and that was all. We’d lost our chance.

  “I was furious. I had an argument with Thunderbolt, but in the end I decided not to leave. I didn’t think I had the support, and I didn’t want to fracture the League because I knew we’d get picked apart.

  “After we had no news for a few days, Thunderbolt split us up again. I was sent with these three to watch over Hayden and Emily since Thunderbolt knew about your reunion weekend. The rest of the group stayed with him at headquarters. Everyone except Blue, who he sent to stay at the mansion. Thunderbolt thought it was the safest place for her since no one but you kids, the League, and the Vindico knew of its existence. It was two days after we moved Hayden’s neighbors to another location and moved in ourselves that a note was left on the doorstep addressed to me.”

  The Flame stared at the far wall.

  “It was the deserter. He said he wanted to meet me. The next night I went to meet him, and he appeared out of nowhere, dressed all in black. He told me that the organization, which he was hesitant to name, was preparing to attack the League. He said their leader was going mad, talking about wiping out everyone. He needed to get out and he wasn’t alone either. He told me he had at least ten more men like him, all superpowered, who would join the League to rebel against their leader. He said that their support was behind me, not Thunderbolt. In fact, he told me they’d only join if I was in charge.”

  “I see where this is going,” Hayden said. “Did you at least find out where these superpowered guys came from?”

  “No,” the Flame said. “He only said he’d been recruited.”

  The Liberator dipped a little as they flew through some turbulence, and Lana saw Sam nervously clutch the edge of his chair. “And so this is why you decided to rebel?” she guessed.

  The Flame sighed deeply.

  “I thought I had to make a move to save the League. I convinced the others, and we decided that in order to secure enough influence, we needed to recruit you. But we also knew your loyalties were with Thunderbolt since he had Deanna and Lyle on his side. So we came up with the plan to have you arrested. We were going to act as if Thunderbolt was being unreasonable, demanding that you go to the Perch, and try to win your loyalty by refusing to take you. It was ill thought, in hindsight, and things have gone downhill since.

  “Talia picked us up from Hayden’s house after your escape and let us borrow the Liberator. She was sympathetic, though not enough to join us. Noran decided to go back to Thunderbolt as well; he said we had gone too far. He was right. We knew we had betrayed the League; we knew Thunderbolt would arrest us if you got to him with the story. So we chased you. We were too late to get you at the Perch, and after hearing from Junkit that Blue and Emily had gone missing, we were frantic. At this point, I believed the deserter fully. I thought that if we were arrested, then the rest of the League would be killed when this organization attacked. That’s why we followed you to New York.”

  “What were you going to do?” Lana asked coldly. “Kill us?”

  The Flame shook his head. “We thought you would be frightened into surrendering. We were never going to kill you.”

  “Didn’t seem that way when you were throwing fireballs at our heads,” Hayden mused.

  “Then the Vindico showed up,” Gali cut in. “We still don’t know how.” He looked at the others, and their faces were grim. “We fear that Junkit may be dead.”

  “Leni left us alive,” the Flame continued, “and told us to hunt you. I don’t know how he would be so foolish, to tell you the truth. We would never join them. When we got back to the ship, we knew we had to try and save you, return you to Thunderbolt, and face the consequences.” He sighed again. “And that was the first right move we’ve made in weeks. I don’t know how we were so stupid.”

  “And what about this deserter?” James asked. “Have you heard from him since?”

  “No,” the Flame said, almost sheepishly. “And now I begin to wonder if he was a deserter at all.”

  “What do you mean?” Lana said.

  “It strikes me that all he really accomplished was to split the League,” the Flame said. “And where has he gone now? Why didn’t he just tell us where to find the organization in the first place?” He scowled. “He may have been with them all along.”

  “It bothers me that Leni did something so dumb,” Hayden said. “He’s a jerk, but he’s not stupid.”

  “I know,” James agreed, looking concerned. “There’s not much we can do, though, other than meet up with Thunderbolt. Do you think he’ll arrest you guys?”

  The Flame shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably. But maybe he’ll wait. We need to recapture the Vindico, or kill them as I’d prefer, and then deal with this organization. The deserter warned me they were very powerful, and for some reason I don’t think he was lying about that, at least.”

  “Well,” Lana said, “despite everything, I have to say I agree. We need all the help we—”

  “We’ve arrived at the coordinates,” Sinio said from the cockpit, cutting Lana off. “Now what?”

  Hayden turned to Sam. “Time to find your girlfriend.”

  Sam closed his eyes. A minute passed, and then he suddenly broke into a smile.

  “Found her,” he said.

  “Tell her how pretty her mind is,” Hayden suggested.

  “I see where they are,” Sam said, opening his eyes. “It’s a few miles west of here. I’ll show Sinio where to go.” He hurried into the cockpit.

  “I guess we’ll find out what’s happening soon,” Hayden said.

  “I just want to know one thing,” Lana whispered. “Where is Emily?”

  25

  THE RAMP TOUCHED DOWN IN A MEADOW, AND LONG GRASS CURLED UP OVER the edge. James gazed out at the sprawling property, miles away from the nearest town.

  The two-story house was ancient: its faded gray bricks and peeling white windowsills looked like they’d seen too many hard winters. A huge red barn stood forty feet behind it. Forest ringed the property, past fields that had once been tilled but were now a patchwork of sun-soaked cornstalks, purple and yellow flowers, and clumps of grass.

  James walked down the ramp slowly, eyeing the screen door of the farmhouse. Sam must have this wrong, he thought. A loud bark cut through the air, and he saw a big white dog come bounding out of the house.

  “Someone’s going to be really confused if we’re at the wrong house,” Hayden said.

  “This is the right place,” the Flame murmured from behind them.

  The white dog slowed to a halt ten feet in front of them. Its coat was made of thick tufts of speckled white and gray hair and when
it bared its sharp teeth James realized it wasn’t a dog at all. It was a wolf.

  “Nice boy,” Hayden said, and the wolf growled. “Or not.”

  “Here!” a stern voice called, and the wolf immediately bolted back to the house.

  Thunderbolt walked out of the screen door with Deanna and Lyle behind him. Four other League members followed them and spread out across the porch.

  The wolf ran past Thunderbolt and perched itself on the porch.

  “Why are you here?” Thunderbolt asked sharply.

  The Flame stepped up to meet him as he came across the front lawn. “To bring them to you,” he said. “They were about to be captured . . . or worse. We would like to rejoin you or give ourselves up, whichever you choose.”

  Thunderbolt didn’t reply for a moment. He looked much as he did in his message: tired and old. But there was still danger resonating in his eyes. “Why?” he asked.

  Deanna and Lyle were expressionless behind him, though Deanna smiled briefly at Sam before looking away again.

  The Flame hesitated. “We’ve realized our mistakes,” he explained, “and that this is the only way to save the League. If it’s not already too late.”

  Thunderbolt scanned over the four protégés. “What’s happened?”

  “The Vindico are free,” Hayden said.

  “And Emily and Blue were taken,” James added.

  Thunderbolt stiffened. “I feared Blue was gone when she didn’t respond to our latest attempt to contact the base. But I never thought Emily would be captured as well. How did this happen? How were the Vindico released?”

  “We don’t know,” the Flame said. “We visited the Perch, but when we left, they were still in their cells. We can only guess that whoever is abducting League members might also have let them out. We fear . . .” He looked away. “We fear this can only mean that Junkit is dead.”

  The lines on Thunderbolt’s face seemed to visibly deepen as he took in this information. “Things are much worse than I believed,” he said quietly. “Everyone come inside. There’s still room in the barn; store the Liberator in there. We will discuss our next steps together.”

  He started back for the house. Lyle and Deanna quickly followed him.

  “I expected more hugging,” Hayden said. “Or at least a firm handshake.”

  “Did he hurt your feelings?” Lana asked.

  “Yes,” Hayden replied seriously. “He did.”

  James nudged Sam. “Well, someone is happy to see us, at least.”

  “We should probably get inside,” Sam said, sounding uncomfortable.

  “Wouldn’t want to keep Deanna waiting,” Hayden agreed, and put his arm around Sam’s shoulders. “Walk with me, Sam. Let’s talk about courtship. The first step is to shotgun her so that there is no competition from your friends . . .”

  “Did he shotgun me?” Lana asked incredulously, turning to James.

  James bit back a smile and started after them.

  “He shotgunned me?” she said. “Hayden!”

  * * *

  James looked around the crowded living room, studying the tense faces. Pale light was filtering through the closed white curtains, and he saw dust swirling through the air. He and the other protégés were sitting on an old green couch, while the rest of the remaining League members stood in two groups. Besides Thunderbolt, Deanna, and Lyle, there were five other loyal members, and across from them stood the four traitors. The Flame was leaning against the wall, staring warily at the loyal members.

  “So,” Thunderbolt began, standing at the entrance to the kitchen, “at last we are all gathered, though it is far later than I’d hoped. The delay has been costly. For those of you who don’t know, the Vindico have escaped the Perch.”

  There were some curses from the other League members.

  Thunderbolt glanced at them. “And Blue has been abducted, as has Emily.”

  James saw a few dark looks and glances stray toward the four traitors. The Flame met their eyes stonily.

  “How could the Vindico have escaped?” Meirna asked. Her voice was calm, but James could see that she was visibly shaken. “It’s supposed to be impossible.”

  “We have to assume they were released by these unknown attackers,” Thunderbolt said. “But how they got in, I have no idea. There’s no way to get past the air defenses and sentries, and you can’t blow your way through that door.”

  Lana frowned. “Is there any way to override the systems?”

  “Not that I know of,” Thunderbolt said. “The only one who would know is the man who built them, and Nimian has been dead for almost twenty years.”

  “Did any of the other prisoners get out?” Talia asked.

  Thunderbolt shook his head. “I don’t know. If they did, we’re all in trouble. But if this mysterious group’s goal is to help the Vindico, they wouldn’t have let anyone else out. You know as well as I do that they would go after the Vindico first.

  James was just about to ask who else was in the Perch when Thunderbolt turned to the protégés. “We need some answers before we can begin. Why were Emily and Blue together? Where have you been?”

  Hayden recounted their actions since the failed arrest at his party, ending with the battle at League headquarters and their dramatic escape from New York.

  When Hayden finished, Thunderbolt nodded and turned back to the group with a grave expression.

  “So we must continue to assume all of our known bases are in danger. It was stupid of me to leave Blue at the mansion for so long by herself and to leave Junkit alone at the Perch. But I was not the only one who acted foolishly.”

  He turned to the Flame and narrowed his eyes.

  “Perhaps it’s time you give some account of yourselves,” he said, the warning evident in his voice.

  The Flame repeated the same story he’d told the teens on the way there. All of the loyal League members listened grimly. Thunderbolt again made little reaction, though his scowl only continued to deepen. When he was finished explaining their rescue in New York City, the Flame stepped back against the wall again, lowering his eyes.

  “I wondered why your decision to return to us came so suddenly,” Thunderbolt said. “What more do you know about this organization? Aside from the fact that they have been capturing our members and have now released the Vindico?”

  The Flame shook his head. “Only what I’ve just told you. It is becoming more obvious that it was all a setup.”

  “As I feared in the first place,” Thunderbolt snarled. “Your stupidity has almost destroyed us all.”

  “I only wanted what was best for the League,” the Flame replied sharply.

  “By betraying us?” Ceri said, her lip curling in disgust. “Blue might still be here if you hadn’t acted like an idiot.”

  “Don’t blame that on me,” the Flame hissed.

  Ceri clenched her fists. “Who should we blame, then? The kids? Who had to hide at the mansion after being attacked by the ones who were supposed to be protecting them?”

  “We weren’t attacking them!” Gali protested. “We were just going to take them in.”

  “Without permission,” Thunderbolt said. “The entire reason I wanted the kids left at home was to keep them from becoming targets of this group. No one outside of us knew they would be future League members.”

  “Well, you were wrong,” the Flame snapped. “They were being followed by that organization already: Emily and Sam had both seen them. It was only a matter of time before they were snatched out of their beds. They needed to be brought in so we could keep a close eye on them.”

  “It wasn’t your decision to make,” Meirna said. “And even so, after you failed, you should have reported back to Thunderbolt. Instead you chased them across the country and ultimately attacked our own headquarters! What were you thinking?”

  “How was I supposed to contact him?” the Flame asked. “He was hiding here! In a place he’s never seen fit to share with us. We made mistakes, we’ve admitted that. That�
�s why we’re here. But while you lot were hiding up here with your tails between your legs, we saved these kids!”

  “We were following orders,” Ceri snapped.

  “Everyone calm down,” Thunderbolt said. “We don’t need to fight among ourselves any longer. We’re already in enough trouble. We know everybody’s stories now, and it’s time to make some decisions. As for our next step, we need to wait for the Vindico to surface somewhere. Before anything else, we must capture them again. We’ll have to think of where they would go and why. But for now, we have an immediate issue.”

  He folded his arms.

  “What to do with the traitors. The sentence is always life imprisonment, but the conditions here are unusual. We no longer have a secure prison, nor any facilities to keep them contained, unless it’s on the Defender. More importantly, we are undermanned and facing two potentially deadly enemies. My first instinct is to lock you up, but we can’t let our anger override our reason.”

  “And what if they betray us again?” Septer asked, staring at the Flame.

  “Their actions were stupid,” Thunderbolt said, “but I do believe they thought they were acting in the best interests of the League. The way to save the League now is clear: capture the Vindico and destroy this shadow organization. Due punishment may follow, but it can be based on their conduct as we move forward in the coming battles. But we all must accept them, or this group cannot function. We’ll put it to a vote. For myself, I vote to postpone punishment and re-admit them until the war is over.”

  He turned to Deanna and Lyle.

  “We vote the same,” Deanna said firmly.

  “I vote they be arrested now,” Ceri snarled.

  Septer and Meirna agreed with her, while Noran and Talia sided with Thunderbolt.

  “And how about you?” Thunderbolt asked, turning to the protégés. “Due to the situation, I think it makes sense to formally induct you into the League of Heroes, if you agree. I apologize for the lack of ceremony, but we will have a proper induction once this is over. Stand up, please.”