After he leaves, Kate sits down on the bench built into the floor, “You okay?”
“Yeah. No. Sort of.”
“Wanna talk?”
“Not right now. I’ll have Epic figure out what happened. If they have anything other than my IP cannons though…”
She didn’t need me to elaborate. Anger rolled from me in waves strong enough a non-empath could tell. A beep from the opposite door interrupted us as it slides aside to allow the prisoner in, accompanied by a large female guard. Tessa looks awful. Gaunt to the point of emaciation. Her hands and feet are bound in chains and a collar around her throat blinks.
“I didn’t think there was a way to neutralize powers?” I ask.
The guard just grunts, tapping a black box on her waist, “There isn’t. If she so much as mouths off, we zap her. If she tries to use her powers it zaps her automatically.”
I’d say it was inhumane but so was being burned to death by Frostfire. Tessa shuffles over to the bench, her chains clinking together as she moves. Once seated, she leaves her hands in her lap since the chains didn’t afford her enough room to put them on the table. Last time I saw her she had long, wavy brown hair. Now it was shorn close to the sides of her head. She has scars and more than a few bruises sticking out from under her prison clothes. When she moves, I can see her neck has a blue ink prison tattoo of a heart and someone’s name. That isn’t good; I’ve watched enough documentaries to know what prison-style neck tats mean. She’s someone’s property.
“You can leave us,” I say to the guard without looking at her.
“I’m afraid that—”
“I wasn’t asking. If you have a problem with it talk to your supervisor. He will tell you who I am and by whose authority, I’m here. Now leave.”
She scowls before leaving. I figured she’d know I was the real deal just by the fact that I was here.
“I’d say it was a pleasure to see you again, Ms. Harper but the last time we met you slammed my face into the dirt at two-hundred miles an hour.” I try to put some mirth in my voice to lighten the mood. Even with who she teamed up with, no one deserves to be treated like this. And while she hung with some bad people, as far as I know, she’s never murdered, crippled, or attacked anyone other than her father. Mostly petty theft, jewel heists and the like. I had the feeling she was moving up in the criminal food chain when I ran into her.
When she doesn’t respond, I nudge Kate. She’s not wearing her pendant, I asked her not to. As tough as this place probably feels, I needed her full mojo.
“Ms. Harper, may I call you Tessa?” Kate asks. I can’t smell them but I know she’s filling the room with pheromones. Good thing she isn’t a guy. I’d hate to see a man with that kind of power. He’d have to be pretty darn righteous to avoid abusing people.
Tessa glanced up, her eyes opening a little more.
“I know you’ve been through an ordeal here, but we would like to talk about—”
“Ordeal?” She says the words like they’re foreign to her mouth. Her voice is surprisingly high, I didn’t expect it from her.
“By ordeal, you mean ‘effing torture?”
I shake my head. This is all kinds of wrong and I am ending it right now. I put my hand on Kate to let her know I’ll handle this. Inside my coat, I keep the blue piece of paper signed by the president, a full pardon. I pull it out
“Do you know what this is?” She shakes her head. I was really unsure about this, but even if she doesn’t come join the team my heart won’t let me keep her here. “This is a full presidential pardon. You sign this and walk out of here a free woman. Would you like that?”
Hope glimmers in her eyes but the idea of freedom is squashed by the weight of what she’s experienced. “You’re lying. I want to go back to my cell now.”
“Tessa,” Kate says in her honey voice. “This isn’t a lie. It is the real deal. You know who this is, right?” She gestures to me.
Tessa nods, “Arsenal. The bitch who put me in here.”
“No Tessa, you put you in here,” I say. I don’t waiver, I look her straight in her brown eyes.
Both Tessa and Kate’s eyes go wide.
“Listen, I’m not going to lie to you. Not about now, not about then. Your situation sucks. It has since you were sixteen. I get it. Life was hard and you turned to crime. You probably feel like you didn’t have a choice?” She doesn’t answer but I see her head nod imperceptibly. No doubt Kate’s influence. “Maybe you didn’t, I won’t judge you for that. But right now, right here, you get to make the first decision you’ve ever had a choice on. You sign this line and you walk out of here with Kate and I. No going back to your cell, no out processing. They come in here, take those chains off and you’re a free woman.”
Tears well up in her eyes as she looks at me. “That’s not possible.”
“I get that a lot,” I chuckle. “When you save the President’s life, he owes you a few favors. This is mine.”
“Why? Why would you do this for me?” Silent tears spill down her cheeks.
“I told you I won’t lie to you. I need you on a team I’m putting together. I can’t tell you for what—” I hold up my hand to explain. “Not here, they’re listening. But I can promise you everything you’ve ever wanted. A home, a job, safety, and a chance to do some good. Remember, all I offer is the chance. The rest is up to you.”
Her eyes track back and forth between me and Kate. I hope she can see the sincerity in them.
“Do you have a pen?”
I smile, pulling out the pen I had with me and click it open. “Welcome to the team.”
As Tessa signs the document the guard bursts through the far door, a cruel gleam in her eye. “Times up,” she says marching toward Tessa.
“I don’t think so.” I point to the paper. “That is a full Presidential pardon. As of this moment, Tessa Harper is a free woman. Remove her chains and please escort the three of us back to the elevator.”
The guard laughs.
I don’t.
“You’re delusional. No one can do that, I don’t care who you say you are.”
I was ready for this; I do plan ahead on occasion. I wheel myself back and turn to face the guard. Opening my purse I take out a business card with a handwritten phone number on it and hold the plain white card to her.
“What the hell is this supposed to be?”
“That is the private number of your warden. As you can see, he was a dear and wrote it on there for me himself. Please call him and ask him what to do. He’s expecting you.” She doesn’t move, just glares at me with her beady eyes. I’m sure most prison guards are honest, decent folks just trying to make a living. But this one… this one’s just pissing me off. “I’ll wait. If you don’t hurry though, I might have to mention your name next week when I have lunch with the governor.” I don’t take my eyes off hers, but I can sense Tessa’s shock and Kate’s reassuring smile.
The jet lands so softly we wait for Epic to let us know we’re safe to depart. The suspension sinks down to the ground, letting me roll off safely. Kate and Tess come behind me. As we circled the building, I see government SUVs parked out front, which means Monica’s here. Surprisingly, Tessa was harder to spring than Glacier was.
“Kate, would you introduce Tessa to Milton? I’m sure he can arrange some new clothes for her and give her the tour.”
“Sure. Where are you going to be?”
The time on my glasses reads almost six, I’m starving and an hour late for the dinner Luke is planning. “In my quarters. I’ll see you both tomorrow morning for our first official team meeting.”
The building has two side-by-side lifts. One for general use and one for me. I roll into mine and don’t even have to tell it where to go. The metal cylinder hums along to the very bottom floor. Only Luke, Kate, and I have access to my quarters. Well, housekeeping too. I’m not about to start doing my own laundry now.
The door swooshes open. My stomach growls as I roll down from the lift into the li
ving room. I built these rooms around my old ones, what can I say? I’m not a fan of change. I have one large central room with a TV, the latest version of the Xbox, my favorite couch and a small fridge. The bedroom is down the ramp past the living room, the kitchen is off to the right. The only new feature is my massive bookshelf. Eye level for me is a pristine copy of John Steakley’s Armor.
One pull of that awesome tome and the whole shelf will spin depositing me into the lab. I mean seriously, why the hell would I custom build my own HQ and not have a secret passage?
For now, I just roll past. I’ve been in these clothes since five this morning and I need pajamas and food. Despite the bone-weary exhaustion I’m fighting, I manage to pull off my formal clothes and slip into pink sweats with, Property of Starfleet Academy.
I spin around and push toward the living room. I don’t smell any food but I’m sure I heard Luke in the kitchen. The kitchen isn’t the biggest but it’s big enough. The only downside for Luke is that the counters are all chair height so he’s constantly stooping when he cooks.
He is in the kitchen, resting against the counter while he sips the beer he keeps in the fridge for visits. His eyes light up when I roll in but turn to confusion just as fast. I think I missed something. Luke is dressed to the nines, well the nines for him. He has his cowboy chic going on, and he fills out the clothes perfectly. His face drops as he looks down at me.
“Uh, you’re not ready,” he says.
“Ready for what? Dinner? Heck yes, I am, where is it?” I’m not blind, he isn’t cooking anything. Delivery?
“At the restaurant…”
“Oh.” Oh indeed. The thought of going back out twists my gut. I don’t want to go anywhere. I’ve traveled from DC to North Dakota and back to Arizona in one day. That should be enough. “Maybe we could order in? I’m beat.” I open the fridge and grab a Coke in a bottle, the kind from Mexico with real sugar in them. I close the fridge and he’s still standing there. He’s still got a goofy grin on his face.
“Amelia, we always order in. The incident was four months ago and you’ve left your lab twice. Neither time with me, I might add. We’ve spent enough time watching TV and eating delivery. I have a real meal planned and—”
Clearly, this is important to him but I really don’t want to go anywhere. He isn’t the one who spent all day outside. I hate outside. “Luke, I’m sorry but I really, really don’t want to leave. Let me put on a movie and order some pizza and—”
“Amelia, I need us to go out. I’m sick of pizza and watching movies. I have a fun evening planned, you’ll have a good time.” He finishes by walking behind me and grabbing my handles and pushing me toward the bedroom. It’s not that he’s never pushed me before, heck, he does it a lot even if I don’t ask him too. But he’s never pushed me in a direction I didn’t want to go.
“Luke. Stop.” I raise my voice to let him know I’m upset. Clamping one hand down on the wheel I spin around glaring daggers at him. “Don’t ever do that again.”
He takes a step back, confusion, fear, and yeah, anger on his face.
“What’s wrong with you?” He asks.
“Me? You’re the one who just started moving me along like I’m your own personal pushcart.”
“Right. ‘Cause I’ve never done that before. I get you’re upset about something, what is it?”
“I’m upset because you think you can just manhandle me around. Well, you can’t.” It’s irrational… I know it is irrational, but I’m angry. Why did he have to do that? Why couldn’t we just stay in and cuddle the way I wanted to? I glance at the elevator and my heart sinks at the thought of leaving. It sinks and something else… fear.
“You really won’t come out with me tonight? I’ve been looking forward to this for a while. It’s important to me, Amelia.”
I should be looking at him but I can’t take my eyes off the elevator door. Just the thought of leaving breaks a cold sweat out on me and I suddenly very much want to hide.
“Maybe you should just go,” I say between clenched teeth.
His eyebrows shoot up and surprise flashes across his face. I don’t think I’ve ever asked him to leave before. But I’m so mad I can’t think straight.
“If that’s what you want.” The hurt in his voice is unbearable but it’s like I’m frozen. I can’t say anything, can’t do anything. Instead, I just sit there, unmoving while he slips his jacket on and pockets his keys. He presses the call button and looks back. “You sure you want me to leave?”
I don’t say anything, just jerk my head in an approximation of yes. Say something, Amelia! Say something! The doors close on him and the last thing I see on his face is a tear.
“You’re frigging kidding me?” Tessa says after I drop the bomb. We’re in the Enterprise conference room. Epic has everything we know about the aliens and how we know about them on the big screen. Which is to say, he has very little up there.
“Let me get this straight,” Teddy chimes in, “A mind-controlling, body swapping, supervillain told you aliens were coming and you believed him?” He’s dressed in a white cotton shirt and tan slacks, for some reason that just jives with my vision of the African immigrant doctor.
“Don’t forget the prophetess of Apollo, the Greek god of myth. She said something about it, right?” Fleet asks. I decided if they were in, they needed to be all in. Including Pythia.
I nod. I glance to Kate for support but she shrugs her shoulders. Either they believe me or they don’t. Kate, of course, has her business chic look rolling, minus the wig. She lets her black hair fall in natural waves around her shoulders.
“Epic, show them the footage of the station.”
Affirmative.
The lights dim and my helmet cam footage comes to life on the far wall. The space station looms in the distance. I catch Luke looking at me and I try to offer a smile, instead, I get all stiff, though, and I’m not sure it comes out as such. He frowns before looking away.
“Clearly this is far beyond the tech we have available. As is quantum teleportation, holograms, zero-point energy, the hoverbikes, and a half-dozen other pieces of tech Cat-7 produced.” I tell them.
“You mean the stuff that all went dead the day after they collapsed?” Teddy asks.
It was Ericsson’s parting shot. A virus hard-coded into all of Cat-7’s tech. All of it turned to slag. And the two scientists who supposedly came up with most of it vanished along with the company. Though, we know the truth now. It wasn’t two men but almost a hundred. Kidnapped scientists like my parents working tirelessly to reverse engineer alien tech.
“Yep. As far as we’ve been able to piece together they found a ship and reversed engineered much of the tech. No one has located the ship yet and very few people outside of this room even know it exists. Just like the scout drone I took out over Seattle last week.”
Kate and Teddy knew, but to everyone else, this is news. “That was an alien ship? Not a meteorite?” Tommy asks.
The lights flicker again and more footage from my helmet cam plays. I don’t need to watch, I was there. When it’s done playing the room is eerily quiet.
“So… any questions?”
Monica, who as usual isn’t sitting around the conference table but leaning against the wall, wrapped in her pink parka, raises her hand?”
“Glacier?”
“Are you out of your damn mind?” she asks matter-of-factually. When she speaks the cold air forms a mist in front of her almost as if she were a normal person on a cold day.
I chuckle, “Yes. Next question?” That takes them by surprise and Glacier nods. “Listen, this isn’t going to be easy. We’re down one key member and no suitable candidates have come forth. I have no idea when the aliens are coming and no way of really defeating them when they get here. My mass driver…” I gesture to the devastation caused by the concussive force, “Isn’t a solution. I told Ericsson that I don’t believe in a ‘no-win’ scenario. And that’s the truth, I don’t. There’s no fate, no mystic
al energy field controlling my destiny,” Kate rolls her eyes at me. “There’s only the decisions we make and the consequences we have to live with. Help me. Help me win. Are you in?”
I wait, holding my breath hoping they all say yes. It was one thing to get them here to join a team. But to find out the threat we’re up against, the enormity of what we’re facing—
“I’m in, but you knew that already,” Fleet says with a grin.
“Thank you, Tommy.” He smiles at me.
“Me too, it almost goes without saying,” Kate adds.
“I can walk, right? Whenever I want and not go back to prison?” Tessa asks.
“Yep. I told you, you’re a free woman. Stay or go, but not back to prison.” She looks miles better. Clean clothes, a shower, and some food really helped her. I’ve also got her lined up to have those tats removed.
“Then I’m in… for now.”
That just leaves the good doctor and Monica. I wait, looking from one to the other. While I’m sure we can succeed without them, it will be a hell of a lot easier with them.
“As long as our deal stands, I’m in,” Teddy says. I have a medical team standing by to move his wife. I surreptitiously signal them with a press of a button on my smartphone.
“Thank you, Teddy. Well, Monica, you’re all that’s left. Are you in?”
She peers at me and as usual, I can’t tell what the living ice sculpture might be thinking. Her face is a perfect replica of ice, translucent and all.
“What the hell. I’m in.”
I smile. “Okay, thank you all. Let me introduce you to the staff and our training officer. Also, you’ll be getting new costumes and get acquainted with Epic and Milton…”
Particles of concrete and dust rain down on us. The team is hunkered behind an old firehouse, waiting for the giant tracked drone to pass by. Its T shaped chassis is covered in weapons hanging from rotating mounts. Even from behind, it’s nearly impossible to sneak up on. A hundred feet tall and rolling through the town at fifteen miles an hour, even the firetruck it pancaked didn’t slow it down. The perfectly sunny day would be fantastic for a picnic if it weren’t for the Terminator here shooting everything that moves.
Full Metal Superhero (Book 3): Inescapable Arsenal Page 5
