“I understand you had an issue at the Atlas facility,” said M’Lak.
“Yes, sir,” said Callus. “We’ve experienced some pretty big losses recently. The Garden has been destroyed, Azarov is nowhere to be found. And now, Vanguard has managed to take possession of the Codex.”
“What of the tachyon generator?” asked M’Lak.
“The Red Fist took it when they attacked Proximo, and they also killed Miriam Rowe. From the footage we recovered at Atlas, it appears the generator is also now in Vanguard’s hands.”
“And this Chronos, what do you know of him?”
Callus sighed. “Not a whole helluva lot. Only what your source has told us.”
“Have you reviewed scans from Times Square? Where he was first sighted?” asked Ramsey.
“I’ve checked the readings taken by the Gunsmiths who encountered him and you were right, sir,” said Callus. “He was definitely emitting tachyon particles.”
“So his story might actually be true—tachyon particles are capable of temporal shifts…”
“What are you talking about?” asked Callus.
“Chronos claims to come from the future. A time when my people didn’t come to Earth until far later. A time when there were no specials,” said M’Lak. “He said he stole the Chaknaar from the Kotharians of his era and released it upon humanity in the past. So they would be prepared to fight us off.”
“You mean he created specials?” asked Callus.
M’Lak nodded. “And inadvertently brought us to the planet even earlier than expected.” The general rubbed his chin in thought. “If we can discover how his technology works, then we too could open a portal into the past.”
“What would the purpose of that be?” asked Callus. “You already rule the planet. What else could you want?”
“There are always things that can be changed. And having a kind of insurance against Vanguard’s attempts would be a benefit,” said M’Lak. “But first, we need that tachyon generator.”
“We could try another Cerberus strike.” Ramsey looked at Callus. “We were able to get our hands on two of their members last time and we scared the Khagan out of hiding.”
“I would advise against it,” said Callus. “We had the benefit of most of the team being away at the time. Now they’re all onboard, we have no distraction, and they know to expect an attack.”
“Callus is correct, an attack from outside would do us no good.” M’Lak’s smile grew. “But an attack from within…”
“The Codex?” asked Callus. “But it can’t be activated remotely.”
“No, but my puppet can do it directly,” said M’Lak. “If the Codex is activated, it would tear that ship apart. And then we prepare to swoop in and claim this Chronos and the tachyon generator for ourselves.”
“Taking out Vanguard in the process,” said Ramsey.
“General, I want your troops standing by,” said M’Lak. “I will make the arrangements and provide you with the Icarus’ coordinates.”
“Sir, if I may,” said Callus.
M’Lak turned his cat-like gaze on the human general. It was clear from the look in his eyes that he wasn’t fond of his underlings speaking up. Especially when they were of what he considered to be a lesser species.
Callus swallowed hard, shrinking slightly under the stare. He took a breath and maintained his composure. But out of the corner of his eye, he could already tell Ramsey was slinking.
“This is a delicate operation we’re talking about and the Codex hasn’t even been tested,” he said. “We have no idea if the programming will take. There’s always the possibility that there is some remnant of the Zenith protocols lurking within that body. We’ve seen it happen before, he’s managed to come back from what appeared to be the brink of death.”
M’Lak folded his arms across his chest. “Do you have another solution, General?”
“The special,” said Callus. “If we can harness that special’s power and turn it on Vanguard, it should be able to achieve the desired result.”
“An intriguing proposition, to be sure,” said M’Lak. “But we do not know if that conditioning is still in place. If it ever was in the first place. It’s a far riskier proposition and given the years of solitude and potential mental instability, we can’t assume such an approach would prove effective. Now do as I say, General.”
M’Lak entered a command on his gauntlet and his body began to fade, surrounded by swirling, blue energy. He teleported away in a flash of light, leaving Ramsey and Callus alone in the office.
“Jesus…” muttered Callus, rubbing the back of his head. He looked at Ramsey. “He’s insane. You realize that, don’t you?”
“Shut up!” hissed Ramsey through gritted teeth. “We have to stick with this.”
“Releasing the Codex? Altering the timeline? He’s going far beyond anything he’s done before. Who knows what the hell’s rattling around inside that orange skull of his.”
Ramsey leaned over his desk, staring hard at Callus. “It’s because of me you’re even still alive. That you were allowed to be part of this.”
“Maybe I would have been better off dead,” said Callus. “Eliminating the specials was one thing. That’s the only reason I agreed to join with the Kotharians in the first place. But all of this? Becoming slaves to them? How does that make us better off?”
“We do what we have to,” said Ramsey. “Once the specials are eliminated, the Kotharian fleet will pull back to their own galaxy.”
“We’ll still be part of their empire.”
“True, but they’ll be on the other end of the galaxy. That means we’ll have a lot more autonomy to conduct our own affairs. If we cooperate with M’Lak, we can get rid of the specials and create a better world.”
“And the Khagan?”
Ramsey sighed and sat down in his chair. “An old fool. Should have stayed in that damn coma.”
“We agreed to serve him. Look at what it got us. Now we’re siding with someone far worse than any of the human governments that we were fighting against.”
“We do what we have to, Nate. A better world doesn’t come easy.”
Callus growled under his breath and spun on his heel. “Keep telling yourself you’re doing this for any reason other than your own benefit.”
Ramsey watched as the general left the office. Once the doors closed, he reached a hand for his phone and dialed a number. “This is Governor Ramsey. I’m authorizing full surveillance on General Nathan Callus, effective immediately. I want eyes and ears on him at all times, I want to know where he goes, who he talks to, and what the hell he’s planning.”
CHAPTER 4
Alex Rodriguez descended to the lower levels of the Icarus. When he stepped off the elevator, he entered a corridor with empty cells on either side of him. Two, however, were occupied. He stood in front of the opaque forcefields that prevented escape and entered some commands on the console between the cells. Both fields became translucent and he found himself looking at the two Red Fist operatives they’d captured.
Pulse was lying on his cot. He sat upright looking at Alex. Zephyr stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at him. Alex cast his gaze between the two of them, sizing them both up, waiting to see if either spoke first.
When no one did, he decided to get the conversation rolling. “We know the Red Fist is larger than just the two of you. What else are they planning?”
“Traitorous bastards.” Zephyr punctuated her insult by spitting at the field. “We could have stopped the Codex, could have stopped the occupation. But you just had to get involved, didn’t you?”
“Your plan was stupid, even for you,” said Alex. “We weren’t about to risk the whole timestream just because that nutcase thought it was a good idea.”
“Timestream…?” asked Pulse, furrowing his brow. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t listen to them, Sawyer. You can never trust a Vanguardian.”
Alex took a few steps and stopped so
he was right in front of Zephyr’s cell, staring her down. His eyes flashed with crimson energy. “I know about you, Grant. Spoiled rich girl with a cause. Hooked up with the Khagan the first chance you got. Stood by as he experimented on specials, manipulated them for his own use—helped him, even. My buddy Tuwa’s just dying to have five minutes alone in that cell with you.”
Zephyr scoffed. “Hypocrite. How do you think those specials were controlled? It was your friend. The Analyst. Once upon a time, we all played for the same team. And now he’s possessed the Khagan’s body so that he’s no longer old and decrepit? That sound like justice to you?”
“He’s spent years trying to make up for what he did. What have you done?”
“While you guys have been flying around in your little floating cruise ship, I’ve been liberating specials from Cerberus.”
“And you were going to risk destroying all of reality when there was another way to stop the Codex.”
Zephyr laughed. “You think you’ve got that thing secure? Just because it’s not on right this minute doesn’t mean it’s helpless. What happens when Cerberus finds a way to activate it? What will you do then?”
“Not possible. There’s no power source and we’ve blocked all incoming signals from it,” said Alex. “But I can see you’re not gonna be very cooperative. So, enjoy the solitude.”
He pushed a button on the console. Zephyr’s forcefield turned opaque, hiding her from sight. Alex could hear her fists pounding on the forcefield and her curses coming through.
“Scream all you want, sweetheart.” Alex hit another button, making the forcefield soundproof. He moved from the console and approached Pulse’s cell, looking at the man on the other side. “How about you? You willing to talk?”
Pulse took a breath and stood upright. “Maybe.” He walked over to the field and looked out at his jailer. “You had some pretty impressive moves back at Atlas. What’s your name?”
“Cache.”
Pulse raised an eyebrow. “Cash? What’s money gotta do with your powers?”
Alex snickered. “Nah, man. Cache. C-H-E. Y’know, like weapons cache? My thing is I can absorb energy and reuse it in a bunch of different ways.”
Pulse’s mouth opened in realization. “Ahh, I got it.”
“The others tell me you got some kind of electromagnetic control?”
Pulse nodded. “Yeah. If not for this inhibitor you guys fitted me with, I could shut down every electronic device on this boat.”
“That’s why we got you fitted with one.”
“Smart move.” Pulse looked down and sighed. “So, what was that you were telling Grant? About the timestream?”
“The Khagan’s plan, using the tachyon generator and Lucent to shove the Codex into some kind of time-loop? That would’ve caused some sort of big catastrophe. Like, Biblical-big.”
Pulse blinked. He turned away from Alex and moved deeper into the cell, hands resting on his hips. As his head tilted back, he fixed his eyes on the fluorescent ceiling lights.
“I had no idea.”
“How’d you hook up with them anyway?”
Pulse glanced over his shoulder. “I was being held in one of the camps. The Red Fist got me out and Khagan showed me how to use my powers.”
“You know if he had anything else planned?”
A shrug served as Pulse’s response. “No idea. All I know is that he was pretty dead-set on getting rid of the Codex. Basically set it all up so he could go straight for it. It was the only thing he really cared about. We’d even stopped doing camp liberations for the most part.”
“When was that?”
“Couple weeks ago, maybe? Khagan had some ex-Red Fist guys inside Cerberus. Seems Ramsey and Callus recruited from his ranks. Once they heard Khagan was back in action, they reached out to him. Gave him what little intel they could get their hands on. Eventually, he found out about the Garden and what Azarov was doing his research for.”
“You don’t know anything about the tachyon generator, though?” asked Alex.
Pulse shook his head. “No idea. First time I even heard of it was when we rescued your boy, Chronos.”
“Thanks.”
As Alex was about to return the field to its opaque state, Pulse stopped him.
“Hold on,” he said. “The Khagan…he’s really gone?”
“Seems like it.”
“And he was actually gonna screw up the timestream just to stop the Codex?”
“That’s the rumor.”
Pulse sighed. “I’m sorry. I had no idea.”
Alex’s lips crept up in a light smile. “You wouldn’t be the first person he’s tricked. He had Chronos believing him, too.”
“Name’s Glenn, by the way. Glenn Sawyer.”
“Alex Rodriguez.” He tapped the field with his hand. “I’d offer to shake, but…”
Pulse snickered. “Yeah, I got it. Would you mind keeping it see-through? Gets a little claustrophobic in here.”
Alex stepped away from the console. “No problem. Do you know if there was any sort of protocol to follow if the Khagan got captured?”
“The only real chain of command was Zephyr and now you guys got her in the cell next door. Like I said, he was pretty single-minded.”
“Right. Well, I gotta run. If you need anything, there’s a call button inside the cell.”
Alex turned away from Pulse and returned to the elevator. As it started to rise, he heard a voice in his head.
“Well?”
“It’s like the others said. Zephyr’s the crazy one, Pulse seems like he was just suckered into this whole thing.”
“Can he be trusted?”
Alex frowned. “You’re the psychic, shouldn’t you be able to answer that question?”
“Unfortunately, no. Even with an inhibitor, Mr. Sawyer still maintains some electromagnetic interference. It prevents me from getting a clear reading of his thoughts.”
“He seems on the level to me. But maybe we should keep him in there for a little bit longer, see what develops. If he stays cooperative, then I recommend letting him out, but keeping the inhibitor in place.”
“I’ll take that under advisement. Thank you, Mr. Rodriguez. You’ve been most helpful.”
The Analyst’s psychic voice faded from Alex’s mind. Even though he’d been with Vanguard for a few years now, he didn’t think he would ever get used to communicating via his mind.
CHAPTER 5
Erin stood under the hot water of the shower, her arms folded and braced against the wall, head resting against them. The water flowed down her scalp and back.
The dreams were getting worse. She didn’t know why she kept having those visions of Anita. It was twenty years ago, why now? And why was M’Lak in there, too? She’d only encountered him the one time, when her and Koji were taken captive after the Kotharian attack on New York.
She struggled to remember that day. His ship, it also went to the Island. She managed to escape, somehow. Her and Koji were held separately so she went to find the rest of the team.
Erin remembered walking into McCabe’s office. She recalled watching as Anita killed Dom. Then Anita left, fortunately not realizing Erin had seen the whole thing.
But why did that feel so…wrong?
She turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. Grabbing a towel from the rack, Erin quickly dried herself off and took her robe from the hangar on the back of the door. Once she donned it, she walked out of the bathroom and into the room she shared with Koji.
After not getting much sleep last night, Erin opted to stay in bed as long as possible. Koji went off to get breakfast on his own. He’d offered to bring something back for her, but she said she wasn’t hungry. Looking at the clock on the wall, she now realized it was almost noon.
Erin dressed in the green and teal uniform she’d worn as a member of Vanguard for decades. It still fit just as well as the day she’d first put it on, thanks to a special kind of material that Zenith had developed. Smartclo
th, he’d called it. Capable of adjusting to the temperature and withstanding a lot of damage, almost acting as a sort of body armor.
Her head still ached. She took some painkillers and then left the room. Erin walked past the dorm area of the Icarus, ignoring the people who offered her greetings. Something was bothering her, although she didn’t exactly know what. All she knew was that she had to get started with her daily routine.
Erin stopped in her tracks. What was she supposed to do today…? She felt another stab of pain in her head and rubbed her forehead with her thumb and index finger.
“Mom?”
Looking up, she saw her daughter approaching. Erin managed a weak smile. “Morning.”
“Yeah…not quite,” said Vicky. Reina was by her side. Vicky had concern written all over her face for her mother. “You okay? Dad said you didn’t sleep too well?”
Erin waved a dismissive hand. “It’s nothing, I’m fine.”
“Maybe you should go back to bed.”
“She’s got a point,” said Reina. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look like crap.”
Erin scoffed. “Thanks, Ink.”
“Sorry.”
“I’ll be okay,” said Erin, turning away from Vanguard’s youngest members. “I just gotta get started on the day, then this will all pass.”
Erin could feel their eyes on her as she continued down the corridor. When she reached the elevator and the doors closed on her, she was grateful to shut out the voices all around the dorm.
But the voices continued in her mind. Erin’s hands gripped the sides of her head in a pathetic attempt to get them to stop. She clamped her hands over her ears, but still they continued to come.
More flashes appeared. Her dream again. She saw M’Lak standing there in the darkness. Saw his lips moving and his catlike eyes glowing like burning coals. He spoke in the Kotharian tongue. But what surprised her even more was that she understood every word he said to her.
Vanguard: Season Four: A Superhero Adventure Page 17
