by Jason Zandri
“You are perceptive, Nathan.” She smiled. “This is why you were chosen. Your intelligence and empathy are far more power to you than anything else.”
Nathan felt nervous. When he felt another pull on his psyche, he didn’t know what to make of it. Incoming firepower from one of the jets disrupted his focus on it, and he turned to Rebecca. “As I move away, my protective shielding will drop.”
“I understand,” she said. Then she reached out, pulled him in by the shirt, and kissed him.
Nathan’s skin tingled, and his body felt electrified while Rebecca kissed him deeply and passionately. A feeling of intense euphoria overcame him, he felt compelled to remain by her side, and returned her kiss enthusiastically.
Rebecca released him from her grasp and watched the small electrical charge wash over his body. “Go,” she said with a smile. “Be the hero the world needs you to be.”
Nathan touched his lips and shook his head. The nearby roar of the closest jet pulled him out of his fog. He engaged in pursuit, and Rebecca climbed in altitude. She thickened up the cloud cover around her and increased the cross winds.
Nathan hit his communications device, “Computer Central?”
“Enabled.”
“Patch me through directly to Officer Jack O’Malley and Officer Adia Santiago,” Nathan said, falling in behind one of the jets.
“Direct communications online.”
“Adia, Jack … can you read me?” Nathan asked while he closed in on the nearest aircraft.
“I can hear you, Nathan,” Adia said with a crackle in the radio channel break.
“I need police response,” Nathan said and raised his charge. “I’m going to down these jets, and I need law enforcement to take these pilots in. General Westmartin indicated this in a non-sanctioned mission, and that these pilots and aircraft are rogue. There will be no pushback by the military.”
“Five by five, Nathan,” Jack said.
“Please be careful, Nathan,” Adia said.
“You’ve got it.”
Nathan dropped the communications channel and raced to the rear of the aircraft. Another aircraft engaged and attacked with its M61 Vulcan Gatling gun, but it ricocheted harmlessly off Nathan’s shielding.
Nathan released Captain Delta’s power burst into the engines of the aircraft in front of him. The attack shorted out the engines and the electronic systems in the aircraft and put it into a drop spiral.
The pilot ejected, and Nathan turned one-eighty and focused his attention to the aircraft still giving chase. The pilot, observing the total incapacitation of the other plane, cut power, dove, and then re-engaged engines.
Nathan gave chase and soon caught up. He repeated the attack on the aircraft with the same results.
Rebecca created a local, high-pressure updraft against the aircraft to slow its fall. She did the same on the second aircraft to give Nathan more time to follow up.
Nathan smiled at the events—happy to have the assistance, although he could have raced to land both craft safely and without harming civilians on the ground. He trained his sights on the two pilots as they parachuted down.
“The remaining two jets are attempting to leave the vicinity,” the female voice of Computer Central spoke through Nathan’s earpiece.
Rebecca lowered herself alongside him and dissipated the storm clouds. “Should you engage them and give chase?” she asked.
“No,” Nathan said, watching them depart. “Let them get to where they’re going and report to their superiors that we’re not screwing around.”
Rebecca continued to focus on the aircraft. “I can soft-land these if you want to collect the pilots for the police.”
Nathan looked at her and smiled. He felt an irresistible urge and moved in to kiss her softly, placing his hands on either side of her face. A trace amount of electrical discharge flowed over his body. He let her go and smiled at her again. “Soft-land them on the street in front of the courthouse. I’ll chase the pilots and meet you there.”
***
Hermes and Apollo arrived in Elysium and wandered a short while together, trying to find the source of the pull.
“One might think just being here would allow for that urge of a feeling to be clearer,” Hermes said, looking over at Apollo.
“That was my hope as well,” Apollo said. “While I can … feel it more clearly here, I still cannot pinpoint it.”
“That’s because the call of a Watcher sounds different than a prayer,” Cici said to them, coming into view.
“Ah,” Apollo said. “That would explain many things.”
“So, tell us, kind Watcher,” Hermes said, turning towards her. “Why call out to us in such a manner? It is unusual in general, and especially on top of the fact that you just recently had counsel with Zeus.”
“Yes.” She turned to walk with them. “Since that meeting, the other departed Watchers here, along with myself, have discovered the corruption in the source connection to the Prime Universe.”
Both Hermes and Apollo stopped in their tracks. Cici stopped as well and turned back and looked at them. “We are observant observers after all,” she said, smiling warmly.
A large and tall maple tree appeared from the nothingness. Warm sunlight adorned it and the small stone benches beside it. Hermes and Apollo sat together on one bench, and Cici moved toward the other one.
“I wonder,” Apollo said. “If we shouldn’t contact Zeus to have him here for this discussion.”
The warm breeze moved Cici’s golden gown. “I think the messenger of the gods can communicate to all the Olympians the message I have.”
Hermes stared.
“Yes,” Cici said. “Zeus and Hera need to know, but so do all the others. This is that big an issue.”
Hermes and Apollo looked at one another, and then back to Cici.
“A Watcher, one that still walks Earth Prime, has gone rogue,” she said with a sigh. “Worse, perhaps, than that is what I have recently seen. More than just going rogue, interfering, and partaking in action, he has done so for the will of evil and all things foul. Ahzeem Ama’s eternal soul is still trapped between the Ethereal and Astral planes of existence. What did escape was … a personification of his evil essence. The Watcher manipulated a student, a young girl, into setting it free.”
“That would have required a host to settle into,” Apollo said. “There’s no way a young Earther would have been able to sustain the spirit. It would have ravaged her.”
“It did.” Cici bowed her head. “The abomination then moved into a middle-aged woman.”
Uncomfortable, Hermes moved in his seat. “Even a middle-aged woman … unless an exception, would also be consumed.”
“That remains to be seen. I have visited The Fates recently. Lachesis finished her measuring work. I am now under the impression that the measured thread that belongs to Rebecca Farnsmith will be handled next by Atropos.”
“What is to be done?” Hermes asked.
Cici studied the two Olympians for a moment, and then spoke, “I will need intervention; a way to communicate with both the living and succeeding Watchers. Also, because a Watcher cannot interfere, I will need an Olympian’s help.”
“Our connection to the realm is only partly restored, and we cannot travel there,” Apollo said and stood. “Even when we could, Zeus himself expressly forbade it. Additionally, with all the millennia that have passed, time spent there, for any of us, forces our age to be realized much more quickly. We wouldn’t last more than mere hours there, and would need to return to Mount Olympus and the Fountain of Life quickly to be rejuvenated.”
Cici held up her hand. “I know the effects of Earth Prime on all of you all these thousands of years later. I would go and work with the Watchers. I would only need an Olympian to take action where we cannot.”
“If this other Watcher broke the sacred vow of the order, is it not the responsibility of the order to address it?” Hermes asked.
“Even due to a violation suc
h as this,” Cici said, as she stood. “We cannot act. The end does not justify the means, and taking the action to address the violation is a violation itself.”
“And that is why you need an Olympian’s help,” Apollo said. “Of course, one might argue, your actions here are in violation of the sanctity of the non-action and non-interference vow.”
“This is true,” Cici said, then turned to look into the sunlight. “I am no longer a Watcher, having passed. I will need the help of the living Watchers, but only in fact-finding and locating the one who has disgraced us. He will know we won’t act for fear of being as guilty as he. We are powerless to do anything, so yes, we need your help. The Watchers have been in the service on Earth Prime for Zeus, Hera, and all Olympians for a long time. I would think …”
Hermes held up his hand to pause her. “Without question.” He walked away and motioned to Apollo. “Come, Apollo; we have a message to deliver and actions to take on behalf of the faithful Watchers.”
CHAPTER TEN
Nathan and Rebecca sat on a bench in Madison Square Park. The sunshine faded in and out between the cloud cover. Nathan looked up and around at the clouds for a moment.
“Are there too many clouds?” Rebecca asked. “I could dissipate a few.”
“No, don’t,” he said, and then stood and took a couple of steps. “Aren’t you concerned, making adjustments to the natural course of the weather patterns? I know any time I’ve had the powers of the Weather Master, I’ve always been concerned about that. And your powers are much more than his and tied directly into Earth and the elemental plane. At least that was the sound of it when you explained it.”
“Yes, Nathan,” she said, also standing and coming over to him. She moved in and stood in his personal space. “It is because of that connection to Mother Earth that I don’t have the concern. Gaea’s will is strong, and I champion her. Because of this, I know I am not disrupting the natural order of things.”
Nathan looked down and directly into her eyes. He felt comfortable doing so and uncomfortable all at the same time.
“Nine million New Yorkers and they all walk past us, not even knowing who we are,” she said, stroking her hair, and then touching Nathan’s arm. She wrapped her free hand up and around his back. “Do you like my closeness?” she asked, as her eyes turned white.
Nathan’s skin tingled a little. The feeling intensified, and he leaned in and kissed her deeply. He pulled her in tight, held her, and became excited. Rebecca pressed into him with her hips.
“I could stand here all day to feel and enjoy you,” she said, and then backed away an inch. “Your friends are on their way to meet you.”
“You’re welcome to stay,” Nathan said and pulled her back in. “I would love for you to meet them formally.”
Rebecca smiled. “Perhaps another time. You need to catch up with Officer Santiago regarding the pilots.”
“Yes, I do,” Nathan said. “She also mentioned Lisa would be here too, strangely enough. I hadn’t realized that they had become chummy with one another. Still … it will be nice to see them both, regardless of the circumstances. I saw Adia a little recently but haven’t seen Lisa in some time.”
Rebecca reached up, kissed him again, and then backed away. “Will you come to my place later?”
“I can, but we’re going to need to make some adjustments or something. I’m a little uncomfortable with all the press camped out on your lawn. With me, they never knew me or where I lived. Hell, they still don’t know my last name. You’re a professor with published papers and all. You’re a known entity.”
“We can figure that all out at some point,” she said while reaching up and opening the top two buttons on her white shirt seductively. “It doesn’t have to be today.”
“No, it doesn’t have to be today,” Nathan said, looking at her intently and fixated on anywhere her hands moved. Intentionally, she moved them suggestively.
Rebecca motioned, and a burst of wind lifted her upwards and away, which attracted the attention of everyone in the park and the immediate area.
Lisa and Adia approached Nathan from the west side. They both glanced up while Rebecca flew away.
Adia glanced back down, but Lisa watched her longer. Nathan still stared upwards while Rebecca flew out of sight. “You’re going to strain your neck, staring up like that.” Adia sounded agitated.
Lisa swatted her hand at Adia. “Business first,” she said under her breath.
Nathan looked back down from the sky and over to the two of them. “Adia,” he said, smiling and looking at them both. “You mentioned you had an update for me regarding the two pilots?”
“One pilot now,” she said. “The captain … Jones … he killed himself in his cell. Took a plastic utensil and cut up his arms. The other pilot indicated that after they both ejected they got the order to off themselves. Pilot Jannesy … he couldn’t do it.”
“So, is he co-operating?” Nathan asked.
“To a degree,” Adia said with her hands on her gun belt. “He seems to believe that even with the deal he cut, the relocation, and witness protection, that he will be found and dealt with.”
Nathan nodded and said nothing. His attention waned, and he looked upward at the sky. A dull feeling of pain moved across his forehead.
Adia quickly became irritated. “She’s gone. I’m sure she’s off waiting for you wherever you two go. You’re the one who wanted this update,” she said, and her Puerto Rican accent became more pronounced.
“Whoa!” Nathan dropped his view back to the two of them and extended his hands. “What’s with the hostility?” The pain became intense for a brief moment, and he drew his hands back and put one of them on his forehead.
Lisa went to say something, but Adia cut her off. “You were pretty quick to cozy up to her,” Adia said, backing up a step. “You barely knew who she was a short time ago, and now the two of you are an instant item. And here I thought we shared a moment a little while back.”
“Hey,” Nathan said softly. “We did. And I still have feelings for you. Honestly …” Nathan shook his head. He felt his mind shift like he was coming out of a fog.
Lisa looked over at him and into his eyes, where a light sparkling faded. “Are you okay, Nathan?” Lisa asked and stepped toward him.
“Yes.”
Adia looked him over, and then looked at Lisa.
“Are you sure?” Lisa asked, sounding more concerned. “You sound … disjointed. Are your powers affecting you? I could swear I saw a power discharge around your eyes. Like static or something.”
Nathan pulled at his shirt. “The Patriot,” he said with a smile, looking at Adia. “I thought it was fitting for the occasion, you know, the park and all.” Nathan turned to Lisa. “The Patriot has no ‘power’ based abilities; he just has his fitness advancements, skills, abilities, training, and so forth. He’s not invulnerable; he has no flight capabilities and no laser eyes or anything fancy like that. He’s just highly trained and skilled. Of course, there’s that, and the technological and genetic advances that he possesses. ”
“I know what I saw,” Lisa said. “Around you, and given everything, I am careful to watch for things.”
Nathan shrugged it off, and Lisa stepped over to take his hand. “Talk to us,” she said softly. “We’re your friends. We care about you, and we know you’re carrying the weight of the world, or at least trying to. It’s a tall order for anyone, and while you’re not just anyone, we know it can’t be easy. We can lighten your load if you let us.”
Nathan looked over at Adia, who was still upset but calming down. He looked around the park and noticed that people were returning to their regular habits. Rebecca taking off and flying away had created a little excitement, but somehow, people didn’t recognize him. To other people in the park, the three of them were two regular people and a cop.
“It is difficult,” Nathan said, softening his stance and stepping back and away. “It’s difficult to walk a fine line in a spotlight.
I get criticized for overstepping; sometimes law enforcement gets territorial. It’s why I stay out of those matters unless directly asked to get involved.” He looked right at Adia. “Look how many times there have been discussions about that on the news alone. Do you know how many times Rebecca and I don’t end up in a news cycle on a major network?” Nathan shuffled his foot on the ground. “People think everything would be so simple having superpowers. ‘You can do anything!’ Yes, and you’re expected to. Why couldn’t you stop the runaway bus before two people were killed? They don’t understand the timing or the physics. Sometimes you’re moving other objects and obstacles to save more lives. I can’t be everywhere at once, and I can’t save everyone. Even with Rebecca’s help. We are still just two people. We can do so much more, but still only so much. ‘Some people cannot be saved even when you arrive on time. Some are not meant to be saved.’ Do you remember when Cici said that?”
Adia softened her face and tone, “I know it’s not easy. I get it, and I’m just a regular beat cop. I have neighbors and friends that think I should be able to do more, be involved more civically, and clean up the neighborhood and the building I live in. I can’t be a cop all the time. I have to turn it off sometimes for my own sanity. This is part of the reason why we both wanted to see you. Jack too. I’m surprised he’s not here yet.” Adia looked around the park, and then stepped a little closer to him. “You left the city on your mission. I tried to be supportive. I still am. But I missed you so much when you left.” She glanced over at Lisa. “You dropped out of both our lives; that was hard on both of us. But I know what it’s like. It’s isolating. But at least I had friends and family. You went off on your own. You’ve been by yourself.”
“You understand why I left?” Nathan asked.
