“Can I coto? I’ve always wanted to meet her.” Kate puts her hand on my shoulder and I can tell she’s serious.
“Stay in France and once I land in Delphi, Epic will signal you.” I glance at Lux, she’s wearing shorts and a t-shirt along with sandals. “Do you want to fight in that?” I wave at her clothes.
“Oh, this is what Tony professes to like. I can change.”
She raises her hands above her head and in a flash of light her clothes vanish, replaced with her white one piece that hugs her body with the yellow star over her chest.
“Is that a uniform?” Kate asks.
She nods, “The symbol of my people.” She touches the starburst over the right side of her chest. “To remind us we come from the stars.”
“Okay, do your thing,” I tell Kate.
She gestures for Lux to join us and when the blonde alien is standing close enough, Kate puts a hand on each of our shoulders.
“Lux, this might feel a little weird,” she says.
Augustina nods.
Kate closes her eyes and there’s a pop. Momentary nausea comes over me and is gone just as fast. I open my eyes and we’re in her Paris apartment.
“Epic, notify Luke that Kate will join them once they’re in the region. Get that ship moving.”
Understood. Artemis is one hour from position.
“Excellent. Okay then…” suddenly I’m nervous. I’ve put on the armor at least a hundred times but this… I’ve never been scared of wearing it. Now, doubt is undermining me. It will work, I have to have faith that it will work.
“Epic… initiate!”
The armor flows up and around my body, hugging my skin like a glove until it encases me entirely. The HUD boots up and I can see. My field of vision is completely unobstructed, which helps me calm down from the near hyperventilation I experience from the momentary claustrophobic fear of being encased.
“You okay, hon?” Kate asks.
I nod, not trusting my voice. My new armor is thin enough it spreads on my skin almost like cream. I pull my clothes off, careful not to rip them as I stand up. The only place it’s thicker is around my legs to give me more support and strength. Of course, my regular legs are on the thin side. With it fully deployed I just look like your average walking mirror with a dash of red paint and a Spartan inspired helmet as a nod to Carlos’.
“Okay, Lux. Think you can keep up with me?” One of the awesome things about this armor is I decided I no longer need to synthesize my voice. I don’t need to sound intimidating, I am intimidating.
She smiles at me, her perfect teeth reflecting the light, “I’m not sure you understand how my powers work.”
I shake my head, it isn’t that she’s been secretive about it, but she hasn’t really told me.
“Amelia,” Kate interrupts, “Be safe, okay?”
I shrug, “Hey, it’s me.”
“That’s what I’m worried about.” She pops over to the bay window overlooking the Eiffel tower and opens the glass wide.
All systems operational. We are ready to kick the tires and light the fires. Our link is limited to twenty megahertz for the moment. Verbal authorization is required to disable the safety interlock on the neural link.
I nod.
I am detecting an accelerated heart rate. Are you okay?
Kate’s looking at me too. I stall by walking over to the window and pretend like I’m admiring the cityscape in the distance. I can do this, right? I can do this. I take a deep breath trying to muster my resolve.
“You can do this, Amelia.” Kate reaches over and pulls me into a hug. With the new armor I’m only 5’6”, not my previous 5’8” so she’s much taller than me now.
“Thanks,” I say.
She pulls back and smiles, “You’re my best friend. I believe in you.”
“Okay, okay, now or never.” I leap out the window. The Emdrive kicks in and hurls me through the air. I let out a whoop. All four drives whine as they push me through the air on my way to Mach One. The suit’s alloy is low friction, which means very little heat builds up as I cut through the atmosphere.
The silver parts are mirror-like with the red lines interrupting their reflection. If I look down I can see the ground reflected on me as I fly by. Breaking the sound barrier this low to the ground can have an adverse impact on buildings and glass. Pulling up I set the autopilot for twelve thousand feet and punch it.
The air around me booms as I shatter the sound barrier. “Now that’s what I’m talking about!”
I thought you might like that.
Epic pulls up a window showing my chase cam. A flare of light burns in the sky behind me, golden like the sun… or Lux’s hair. She pulls up next to me and I can’t help but gasp. She’s incorporeal.
“You can turn into light?” I shout. Of course, she can’t hear me…
She nods, smiling. “Photonic manipulation. I can move as fast as light. Shoot focused photons from my hands, that sort of thing. It’s how I fight the Th’un.”
How the hell can I hear her at this speed? I shrug, just another of her unique powers. “Follow me.” I kick in the full throttle. The Emdrive whines as the ZPFM shunts power to them. Sound vanishes as Epic pulls down the sound dampeners. We zoom past two-thousand miles per hour and I am grinning like a fool as we hit twenty-six hundred. Virtually no heat buildup on the suit. The Emdrive’s perform flawlessly and the ZPFM produces more than enough power.
ETA to Delphi, twenty-three minutes.
“How’s the cyclone?”
It is gaining in size. There is an evacuation order for the eastern coast of Italy. This weather phenomenon no longer looks natural. Carlos is on the peninsula of southern Greece assisting fishing boats caught in the chop.
“Now we just need to find them.”
Then what?
“Then we blow some stuff up.”
The Oracle’s cave is precisely how I remember it. Soft blue light glows from behind the waterfall casting a slightly eerie pall on the room. There isn’t much in the way of furniture. A few chairs, a table, the large green sofa she lounges on and— the bed is new. So is her outfit. The last time I came here she still wore her Greek robes, circa no clue. This time she’s dressed to the nines. Why is it every woman in my life is easily a hundred times more beautiful than me? I push down a spike of irrational jealousy as she comes into view. Is it because she’s dressed fabulously or because, in part, she stole Carlos from me?
That thought stops me cold for a second. Lux and Kate are with me. Kate is in her full on ‘Domino’ persona, weapons and all. I shake my head. Carlos is going to be sad he isn’t here.
I mentally tell my armor to withdraw down to my neck. The awesome thing here is the HUD is still visible since it is overlaid on my optic nerve directly.
She doesn’t move as the lift descends into her cave. She’s relaxing on the green couch with a cell phone in her lap, tapping away at the touchscreen.
“Pythia, what are you doing?”
“Instagram. Carlos told me to ‘get with the times’.” She stops, raises the phone above her head and pouts her lips together. The phone flashes at her before the ‘click’ echoes in the cave. She really is seventeen…
“Uh, okay. Listen this is—”
“—Princess Augustina Luciana Maxima, of Luxilla. And of course, Katherine Petrenelli, aka Domino. Carlos is quite fond of you, but you should know he has a keen interest in a woman named Monica. Don’t take it personally, men never seem to know when they have the right woman in front of them.”
Kate opens her mouth but doesn’t say anything. I’ve never seen her lack for words.
“If you are about to ask how she knew what you were thinking, don’t. She does it to me all the time. Now you know how I feel when you do it to me,” I say, sticking my tongue out at her.
“As for the Princess, ever since she came to Earth my purview has expanded.” She looks up from her phone, her young features contrasted in the harsh light of the screen. “The Th’un have caused so mu
ch suffering in the galaxy. I never knew.”
“How does she know who I am?” Lux asks.
“She’s… somewhat omniscient. Other dimensional beings created her to help guide the people of Earth.”
Pythia makes a tsk sound. “Other-dimensional beings,” she shakes her head. “For a smart person you have a hard time understanding simple truths.” She looks up at Lux, her eyes glowing with the same blue light as the waterfall. “I am the creation of Apollo, a god. He left me here to guide the humans for as long as they would seek my counsel. Needless to say, I think he’d be disappointed in my progress.”
The lift jerks to a halt an I step off followed by my entourage. “I’m glad you think that, because I’m here to seek your counsel.” I realize now the furniture is put together loosely in the shape of a living room with a large TV I didn’t see before, hanging on the wall. An Xbox rests underneath it as well as two controllers. I also notice the bed isn’t that far away.
“You are wise to seek my guidance. For the Th’un are indeed here, nasty creatures. They remind me of ogres. I wish them off this planet, Amelia. The things I see while they are here break my heart.” She gestures for us to sit down. Another advantage of my new suit is the mobility. I can sit, stand, lean, pretty much anything I could do before, assuming my legs worked. I take a seat opposite her.
“Tell us where they are?” I ask.
She turns her head away for a moment, glancing down at her phone.
“I can’t read any emotions from her Amelia, but I’m pretty good at body language. She doesn’t know,” Kate informs us. I find it interesting she can’t read the oracle. I thought Pythia was a person, imbued with immortality or something, but when I found her like this… all grown up, I started to wonder. What if she were some form of energy construct? Sentient computer or…
“I am not a machine,” she says pointedly.
Should I be offended? Epic’s words float on the screen and they elicit a giggle from me.
“Sorry, Pythia. I didn’t mean to imply that. Sometimes my brain runs faster than my heart.”
She smiles at me and I get the sense that it’s for real.
“As for their location, I do know where they are, Ms. Petrenelli. I just… there are possible futures and I fear the one my actions will set in motion.”
I glance at my friends then back to Pythia. “Do we die, or something?”
She shakes her head. “I can’t always see death. Right now, no… but that could change as you take, or fail to take, action. Death isn’t what I fear. However, you are right. You must know where they are. And I must accept my destiny, regardless.” She goes silent, hands fidgeting with the oversized cell phone.
“Pythia… we’re in a terrible hurry.”
She sniffs once, wipes her face then looks me square in the eyes, the intensity of her stare is almost too much.
She taps a key on her phone. Epic throws GPS coordinates up on the screen.
She texted me the location. Searching… it is the middle of the deepest part of the Mediterranean Sea.
“Thank you, Pythia. Really.” She nods but doesn’t smile. “Epic, inform the team and adjust the course of the jet. Also, can you put me in touch with Carlos?”
Working.
I stand to leave. Her hand shoots out and seizes mine. “You’re going to the stars, aren’t you?”
I look down at her hand then her. She must be talking about our plan to help Luxilla. “Yes… why?”
“No matter how much he asks or insists, the Protector cannot leave Earth. Promise me you won’t take him with you.” She glares up at me. I’d say with anger, but it isn’t, her eyes shimmer with barely held tears.
“Would you tell me if I asked you why?”
“Destiny doesn’t like her secrets to be told.”
I sigh. “Okay, I promise. When we leave for Luxilla, we won’t take Carlos.”
She sighs with relief, nodding to herself like some great tragedy was just averted.
I shrug, “Okay, ladies. Let’s go kick some alien butt… uh no offense Lux.”
She smiles, “None taken. You are all alien to me.”
Funny, I hadn’t thought of it that way.
Courage isn’t the absence of fear. Courage is thinking of others, of putting others before oneself in the face of fear.
-Luke Lancaster
The last time I visited this part of the world I marveled at how blue the sea looked. The warm weather and light breezes made it seem like a paradise. Now it looks more like Miami beach during Hurricane season. Gone are the blue waters and gentle breezes. The water is harsh, with dangerous white caps that fold in on themselves crashing into the surf. The wind is fierce as well, gusts hit me at almost a hundred miles an hour.
“Carlos, what’s the situation?” I called him a minute ago as Lux and I fly toward the coordinates Pythia gave us. Kate stayed behind until there was a place she could teleport to. When she pops in and out of existence she carries her momentum with her. Teleporting onto a plane traveling faster than the speed of sound would result in her instant death. Which means she has to wait for it to slow down, or for me to signal her.
“This region isn’t really ready for this kind of storm,” he hollers over the cell connection. I can hear the waves crashing behind him. “I can’t come help you right now. I’ve still got five passenger liners floating around somewhere out there. Not to mention all the small craft, then there’s the shoreline…”
“Don’t sweat it, Protectors got to protect,” I say with a smile inside my helmet.
“Right. Call if it’s critical, though. I could spare a minute. Okay?”
“Roger that, Red Leader,” I say with a grin.
“And don’t you forget it! When this is over, Xbox and Bianco’s, got it?” he asks.
“Sounds awesome, see you on the other side.” I cut the line. The storm in front of me is the real deal. So far, Lux and I were passing through the outer layers but this… swirling black clouds, rain, wind… it’s apocalyptic.
“Epic, can the suit handle the wind?”
It is performing within our expected parameters. I see no indication that we cannot take whatever the Th’un throw at us.
I grin savagely. “Excellent.”
Usually hurricanes dissipate as they make landfall but this one isn’t obeying the laws of physics. In fact, it is growing in strength, not diminishing. GPS puts the distance from Delphi to the Calypso Deep, at about a hundred and sixty miles. Lux and I are halfway there when I hang up with Carlos.
I signal her to floor it and we kick in the speed. The wind buffeting is a problem, right up until we blow past Mach One, then it’s silent.
Below is Greece. Mountains, green pastures, and every bit as beautiful as it is in the movies. I need to come visit when the world isn’t in peril. It only takes a few minutes to reach the shore then we’re out over the ocean. I can’t really see the surface, Epic throws a wire grid up on the HUD, keeping me from spatial disorientation. I know the suit can take a lot, but plowing into the sea at Mach One might be more than it can handle.
Amelia. The weather patterns are erratic and do not match any hurricane profile we have. I would suggest this storm is not natural. Nor is it a side effect. I think it is the creation of technology and it is forced. If we can locate the technology responsible, we could destroy it and end the storm almost immediately.
“It stands to reason, since hurricanes spin counterclockwise in a circle, then whatever is causing this is in the eye of the storm?” I ask him.
Exactly where we are heading. I am afraid the wind is too strong for the Emjet to penetrate. I will have it orbit the storm at fifteen miles. That should keep it clear of the worst of the wind. As soon as we have shut the machine down, then we can bring in the team.
The air in front of me parts, and just like that the gray skies are gone and sunlight streams down on us.
The eye of the storm.
The ocean would be beautiful if it weren’t for t
he Th’un ships parked on the surface like some kind of obscene oil rig.
“Epic, they need a lot of energy to affect the weather, any idea on how we can trace it?”
Augustina waves at me and points. I hold my hand up to signal her to slow down as we put the brakes on. The airspeed indicator drops from seven hundred miles an hour to thirty in ten seconds. I love this new armor, I didn’t feel a thing.
“That is the Th’un,” she says pointing. I try hard not to sigh out loud.
“You think?”
She nods. “I do.”
“They have a device causing this weather, any idea what it looks like?” I ask.
She slows to a hover, looking down at the flotilla of ships. I kick in the passive sensors and I pick up everything from radar to sonar pinging around down there. We’re five thousand feet up, the ships appear as small models in the deep ocean. The swirling wall of clouds and air cages us all in and gives the sunlight an eerie contrast.
“Epic, stealth mode.” I should have thought of that sooner. The HUD flashes from the standard green to the light blue of stealth.
With the new upgrades to our sensor platform and our greater understanding of the alloy they use, I can now perform sensor locks on the Th’un. In essence, I can see them.
“Good to know. Lux, anything?”
“It is hard to say, Amelia. They are… I am not as technically savvy as some of my people. Maybe the big ship in the middle?”
The largest ship is in the middle and runs at least a thousand feet long. It’s flanked by two smaller ships, each with cables and lines running from their hull to the middle one. A dozen smaller craft float in the water around them. I don’t see any movement…
“Epic, magnify.”
My vision shoots forward, and I can see as if I were only a few hundred feet above them. Their hull is an ugly green color with blisters placed erratically around it in irregular patterns.
“Those could be weapons, sensors, it’s hard to tell. Epic, run an electromagnetic scan, whatever energy they’re using has to show up. With a storm like this, it can’t be some laser beam, it has to be broadband.”
Alien Arsenal (Full Metal Superhero Book 4) Page 8
