22 | Negotiations
Quinn
INVISIBLE, BLUE SPEKTER HOVERED OVER the police chief’s car as it braked to a stop in the modern cobblestone driveway, waiting for the garage door to open. When it did, the chief pulled in and Blue Spekter landed in the center of the driveway behind the car. He appeared out of thin air, his eyes and body glowing with blue light. He figured it would be an awesome sight to behold at night, even if it would be lost on Chief Applegate.
A moment later, the she slowly stepped out of her car, eyes on him. Blue Spekter suspected it was only a matter of time before backup arrived.
She hesitated for a moment, then drew her firearm.
He raised his hands in surrender. “I only came to talk. But by all means, point your gun at me if it makes you feel better.”
She did.
“What do you want?”
“To talk; to tell you I’m not the bad guy and that there’s potentially something far more sinister coming that you need to worry about.” He lowered his hands.
“I’m not sure I’m ready to believe that.”
“Why not?” Blue Spekter asked, taking a step forward. The chief made a threatening move with her gun, and Blue Spekter stopped. “I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Vigilantism is…”
“Do you really think I planned to get magical powers and become a common vigilante?”
She didn’t answer him.
Blue Spekter finished her sentence. “Vigilantism is not illegal but highly dangerous. I’ve heard your statements and press briefings and I Googled it myself. Believe me, I understand your point of view, but you need to understand mine. I didn’t sign up for this, but here I am anyway. When I found myself in a situation where I could help people, I did. If you think I was going to sit on my butt and watch that man fall to his death when I knew I could save him, then I’d be going against everything you swore to do as an officer of the law in the Policemen’s Oath of Honor. Am I wrong?”
The chief lowered her firearm a little. “You’re not wrong.”
Blue Spekter pointed at the gun in her hand and asked, “You know that thing won’t hurt me, right?”
Chief Applegate stepped away from the car and sighed. She holstered her weapon.
“How did you get…the way you are?”
“An accident.” He crossed his arms over his chest.
“Is that what happened to the other one like you?”
Blue Spekter tilted his head in curiosity. “Other one?”
“You glow blue, he glows orange. The difference is that you seem to save people while he hurts people.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Blue Spekter said, unsure of how to respond.
The chief found courage and stepped forward. “You think you’re the only one running around this town in some fantasyland dream claiming to be its new Messiah, while I’m the one dealing with reality. There’s at least two super-powered people in town. The orange guy? He hurts, maybe even kills people.”
What the hell is Blake doing?
“Weeks ago, we received a report of an adult male with glowing orange eyes beating up and burning thugs on Pierce Island. At first, we though the guys were crazy, but then a woman claimed she was saved from sexual assault by a glowing orange man with super strength in Hislop Park. When, the body of a known sexual offender with a violent history washed ashore with handprint burn marks one of his arms, we knew was going on. So, tell me, whoever you are, do you glow orange as well, or is there someone else?”
Blue Spekter dropped his arms to his sides and looked down at the ground. “I don’t glow orange. I only glow blue.”
“Dammit. There’s two of you.”
“I want to help you, Chief.”
“Unlikely.”
“Please give me a chance. I’m not going anywhere, so we might as well find some common ground and possibly trust each other, even if only a little.”
Chief Applegate crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ll think about it. Maybe when you share who you are and what you can do, then I’ll think about trusting you.”
“That first part isn’t going to happen, Chief, at least not yet. You’re scared of me because you can’t control me, and I respect that. But I promise you that I am not your enemy. I grew up reading comics and I know the difference between right and wrong, I understand the moral choices superheroes must make.”
The chief laughed in exasperation. “You think because you’ve read comic books you understand how the world works? Maybe I should include a comic books morality question on the police interview questionnaire to make sure my officers have a sound understanding of how the world works. Sheesh.”
Blue Spekter chuckled. “Okay, I admit that sounded really stupid.”
“Ya think? Listen, kid—and now I know you’re a teenage kid because no sensible adult would have tried that argument on me. You’re probably a sophomore at Portsmouth High.”
Blue Spekter ignored her on-point insight and sighed. “I was only trying to say that I understand the gravity of the responsibility entrusted to me with these powers.”
“Entrusted to you? Who do you think gave you these powers?”
“No one did, Chief, it was an accident. The universe; I don’t know—like I said, it wasn’t planned. My reality, Chief, is that I now have to deal with these abilities. I choose to do something good with them, and to help others whenever I can.”
Two silent-running squad cars and four black SUVs pulled up behind Blue Spekter. Officers and DHS agents stepped out of their vehicles and aimed weapons at him.
Blue Spekter shook his head and sighed.
“Unless you plan on shooting me, lower you weapons,” the chief ordered loudly. Then, she took a few steps closer to Blue Spekter. “You may not be my problem today, and you might not be my problem tomorrow. I hope you’re never my problem because honestly, I don’t know how to stop you if I ever have to. But the orange vigilante is one of my hottest problems and it’s in my best interest to figure out how to stop him, even if that means being able to stop you. Someone with your seemingly unstoppable abilities could wreak havoc on the city, the country, and the planet. So, if I seem a little tense around you, it’s because you two made my life four times as complicated.”
Blue Spekter nodded and lifted off the ground. “I get it. I’ll do my best to track down the other guy. I’ll be in touch.”
“Preferably at headquarters and not my driveway, got it?”
Blue Spekter saluted and rocketed away into the night sky. If I’m going to meet her there, I need more than glowing theatrics to keep my identity hidden. Now…how do I deal with Blake?
❖
Blake
“This is so freaking cool!” Blake shouted, laughing as he flew through the cool early morning air on Quinn’s back. “I hope my flying powers kick in soon!”
“I know right?” Quinn shouted back, extending his right fist in front of him. “Look, I can do the Superman flying pose.”
Blake laughed again, hanging on for dear life as his buddy zipped over the trees toward Rangeley. They had left Portsmouth at six o’clock, well before sunrise, and carefully flew up the Piscataqua and Salmon Falls rivers until they soared over the tree line in South Berwick and headed north. Rather than have Quinn carry him, Blake jumped on his back—piggyback style—and the boys began their adventure to Orgonon.
“Can you fly higher?”
“Sure, hang on!”
Blake tightened his arms and legs around Quinn as his best friend pulled up and rocketed straight up at an amazing velocity. He looked down and his stomach flip-flopped as they pulled away from the ground. “Ooh, man. I didn’t think I was scared of heights, but apparently I am.”
“That goes away once you realize you can’t fall. Hold on tight!”
Blake squeezed harder and Quinn looped backward. Blake shouted in fear and excitement, clinging to Quinn upside down as he circled around until they leveled off and flew north again.
“Holy shit! Don’t ever do that again,” Blake said through excited and nervous laughter, his heart racing in his chest.
“You loved it,” Quinn shouted back. “You’ll be ready for it next time. If you think that was scary, you’ll love this.”
“No!” Blake shouted. Then, Quinn disappeared beneath him. Blake squeezed, realizing he was still there, but invisible. “Ha ha, very funny.”
Quinn reappeared and accelerated. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”
Blake sighed and watch the trees pass by under him. Something was bugging Quinn, but he couldn’t tell what it was. On Thursday and Friday, Quinn seemed standoffish and didn’t speak with him much, preferring to spend time with Ravone, Loren, and of course, Keegan.
He frowned.
Of all the times for Quinn to become romantically involved with someone, now was the worst time because everything had changed for them. Blake knew Quinn had no control over where his heart led him, but he figured Quinn’s nervousness would keep him away from Keegan. Instead, Keegan proved to be the unexpected variable, gently coaxing Quinn out of the closet and into pride-filled living. Of course, Blake couldn’t deny feeling a newfound confidence with the onset of his powers, a reality he assumed Quinn shared as well. He also couldn’t deny his friend the joy of living his truth.
But now, they were involved—no, caught up—in the business of The Order and Blake knew Quinn resented Victor for getting them mixed up in it beyond their hospital visit. He also knew Quinn respected Blake’s desire to have something to aspire to that was uniquely his own and wouldn’t be shared with anyone else, not even his best friend—except when Victor asked him to involve Quinn—a confusing action that Blake initially dismissed until Quinn pointed out its strangeness.
Several moments later, they flew over Mooselookmeguntic Lake and then Rangeley Lake. In the middle of the lake, Quinn banked left and flew up the inlet toward the Orgonon property.
“Which building is it?” Quinn asked.
“What?”
“There are two houses on the property. The white house we saw and the stone house in the back. I looked it up on Google Maps. I don’t remember the stone house when we came back to explore the chamber.”
“Right…I think the White House in the front is the museum or something. It’s the stone house in the back that gets you into the underground facility.”
“Okay, I’m gonna fly left and land in the woods where that tunnel is. I’m gonna need your help finding it.”
“Sounds good. Fly up a bit so we can find that line of fallen trees.
“Good idea.” Quinn banked left over the Orgonon property and ascended over the woods, steering away from the field of antennas and collectors.
“There’s the top of the reactor,” Blake said, briefly pointing over his right shoulder.
“And there’s the storm-downed tree line,” Quinn said. He flew to the edge of the fallen trees and landed.
“If we ever fly cross-country this way, I’m gonna need to figure out a more comfortable way to fly with you.” Blake hopped off and stretched his arms over his head, gently rocking his body from side to side. “Maybe I need to sit on your back like a horse,” Blake added, laughing.
Quinn laughed with him. “Awkward. Hopefully you get flying powers really quick, then.”
Blake smiled. It’s fun, being back with Quinn, but I hope he’s able to accept what’s about to happen, that I can only go so far in this little plan of his…
23 | The Assault Begins
Blake
THOUGH THE SKY HAD BRIGHTENED a little, the sun hadn’t risen yet. According to Blake’s smartphone, the sun would rise just after seven-thirty. The boys quietly made their way through the dark woods, looking for hidden cameras in the trees. Quinn put his right fist up like soldiers did in movies to signal stop. Then, Quinn’s index finger pointed to something in front of them and Quinn faded from view.
Blake looked ahead, became invisible, and saw two armed guards strolling through the woods. The infrared night-vision goggles they had were propped up on their foreheads and completely useless to them at the moment.
“I’ve got this,” Blake said. Remember what Victor said; “Don’t hurt them too bad, just make it look convincing to Quinn.”
He reached out with his mind and grabbed the semi-automatic guns from their hands. Startled, they froze. Blake spun the weapons around and clocked the guards on the back of the head with the rifle butts.
“You’re good at that,” Quinn said, without flinching.
Blake smiled. “I practice with things in the house when I’m bored.” The rifles fell to the ground next to the guards.
“Makes sense. Let’s stay invisible. I see a couple more guards over there, and another set behind them.”
“Damn, they’ve really stepped up security since…” he let his voice trail off, hoping to avoid another awkward conversation-turned-fight.
“Since Mother Superior zapped you?”
“Yeah, that,” Blake said, letting the topic lie.
Ahead of them, the closest set of guards were looking right at them, their night-vision goggles down. One of them grabbed the microphone on his lapel. “Mark, Sandoval, what are you two doing? Base, 10-53.”
“Acknowledged,” the radio squawked.
“He’s looking right at us,” Quinn said.
“No, he’s looking through us at the two guards I knocked out. Those goggles must be thermal and not just night-vision. I bet he can see their bodies slumped on the ground.”
“Gawd, we watch too much television.”
“Base, possible 10-12.” The guard said into his radio. Then, to his partner, he said, “Come on, something’s wrong.”
They raised their semi-automatic weapons and crouched low, slowly making their way toward their fallen comrades.
“You have to take them out. I don’t know what those codes mean but I think they know someone’s here now.”
“Won’t be a problem for long.”
Blake focused and ripped the weapons from their hands, knocking them unconscious with the rifle butts. They collapsed to the ground, then their rifles fell to the earth.
“I see the bunker,” Quinn said, shimmering into existence.
Blake followed Quinn to the bunker, which was in the opposite direction of the third set of guards. When they ran around the concrete structure to the entrance, they abruptly stopped.
“What the hell?” Quinn said.
“Oh, wow.” Blake put his hands on his hips and reappeared. New rebar mesh and concrete had been set over the tunnel entrance, preventing them from gaining access to the reactor core from the tunnel.
“I still think that Keep Out sign doesn’t apply to us, don’t you?” Blake asked. He pushed up his sleeves and squatted in front of the rebar. Then, he superheated his hands and grabbed at the rebar, pulling it away from the mesh of steel as it turned to molten metal at his touch.
“That’s wicked cool,” Quinn said.
Blake smiled. “It’s really cool until you start burning through all your clothes. I’ve had to learn how to localize it, otherwise right now I’d be shirtless, or worse.”
“Thank heaven for small miracles,” Quinn answered, laughing. “It’s kinda like my water powers—if I’m not careful I’ll get soggy sleeves, or a bad case of swamp ass.”
Blake chuckled. A minute later, he finished pulling the last of the rebar out of their way.
“Grab some flashlights,” Blake said, turning his back to Quinn. Since he had to ride on Quinn’s back, Blake carried their backpack of supplies. Quinn grabbed what he needed and zipped the backpack up. Handing a flashlight to Blake, he stepped through the molten rebar mess. Blake followed, and the boys made their way into the tunnel for the third time.
The damp, earthy smell inside the tunnel became stronger as they descended to the reactor core door. “I’m surprised they kept the tunnel open.” Quinn said, breaking the monotonous shuffling sound of their feet echoing in the long, conc
rete tunnel. “I would have filled the entrance with several feet of concrete to keep people—us—out.”
“I think it’s a heat vent, but that’s just a guess,” Blake answered.
Moments later, they reached the familiar, rusting door that blocked their path. The boys turned off their flashlights and Quinn pulled on the door knob. With a soft scratching sound, the metal door opened. A faint blue light illuminated the room. They stepped into the chamber cautiously, looking around for signs of life. When they saw none, Blake clicked on his flashlight and let go of the door. The old door closer hissed as it pulled the door shut behind them.
Why didn’t they just bolt this door shut instead? Maybe it’s not a vent at all.
Quinn confidently walked into the chamber to the center of the metal platform disk in the floor. “Okay, so all these panels should…”
He stopped speaking and looked blankly at the wall in front of him.
“What?” Blake asked, listening with super hearing.
“Come here,” Quinn whispered.
Blake warily stepped onto the disk with Quinn, unsure if it would activate again.
“Can you feel it? The orgone in the chamber…”
Blake closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and focused. “No…wait…” He reached out with his hands and waited. At first, it was faint, almost non-existent, but it was there; the subtle energy he felt behind his glowing eyes glowed surround him in the reactor core.
Quinn got down on one knee and placed the palm of his right hand flat on the metal surface. “The batteries are holding a minimal charge, and I can draw power from them.” He looked up at Blake, his eyes glowing bright blue. He placed his other hand on the disk.
“No way!” Blake knelt and put his hands flat on the metal disk as well. “How do you draw it?”
Unidentified Phenomenon Page 20
