by Michael Todd
Angie took the phone off speaker and held it up to her ear. “Do you have any questions?”
Timothy cleared his throat, embarrassed. “No, I just wanted to hear that it was all going well. If they have any questions, just call me back. I’ve never been good on conference calls.”
Angie chuckled. “You could have fooled me.”
Angie pressed End and shook her head, then collected herself and peered at the officers, who had begun talking amongst themselves. “Do you guys have any questions?”
An officer with a thin mustache cleared his throat and stuck up his hand. “Yes, but it’s not really about the system.”
Angie sighed. What now? “Okay, shoot.”
He looked at the man next to him, who nodded and prodded him with an elbow. “How’s Katie?”
Angie grinned and picked up her purse. “She’s good. Apparently, Pandora is starting to want to play Batman.”
Two of the cops looked quickly at each other, concerned. “Oh, shit.”
They quickly huddled together and Angie narrowed her eyes, watching them as they whispered to one another. The cop with the mustache shook his head and left the room, and she turned from the closing door to face the remaining officers. Angie didn’t know what was going on. Whatever it was, it had worried both of them—and she knew it had something to do with Katie and Pandora.
Angie raised her eyebrow and tilted her head. “Was it something I said?”
The chief shook his head, taking a sip of his coffee. “No, not at all. It’s okay, just dealing with a potential oops before it becomes real.”
“I thought you were going to bring lunch?” The general grinned at her.
Katie nodded and smirked. “I should’ve picked it up on the way here. Unfortunately, I’ve had to deal with Wonder Woman in my psyche.”
“I’m not exactly sure what you’re referring to, but I never imagined Pandora as Wonder Woman.”
For God sakes, woman, you’re talking in riddles. Let me handle this. Pandora took over Katie’s speech. “What’s up, Papa Brushwood? Yeah, it’s Pandora. I took over.”
The general coughed and sat up straighter. “Hello, Pandora.”
Pandora clicked her tongue and pulled Katie’s hands over her face, giving her a mask of fingers. She lowered her voice to a growl. “So here’s the thing… Katie and Angie showed me Batman, and I’m pretty pissed that’s been kept from me this whole time.”
The general narrowed his eyes. “Batman?”
Pandora continued in her normal voice, “Not Batman exactly, but the fact that there are actual superheroes. Vigilantes who are out there, saving people’s lives and even working with the government like we do. She made it seem like what we do is wild and crazy. The truth is, they’ve actually made movies about it. Superheroes are pretty much the shit! It seems I’m the only one who sees this similarity.”
The general tilted his head to the side. “So, am I to understand you find superhero movies interesting? I enjoy superhero movies just like the rest of them, I’ll admit. I wouldn’t think the vigilante aspect would spark your interest, though. My guess is you’re more interested in the villains.”
Pandora gasped. “I’m not the villain, am I? Besides, it’s a bunch of hot men in tight suits bending over and showing off their assets. They beat people up and destroy shit. Couldn’t ask for better television.”
The general laughed loudly and shook his head. “I guess you’re right. I do enjoy it when they blow up shit in movies. I used to think that didn’t actually happen in real life—until I met the two of you, that is. It seems like wherever you two are, something’s falling down.”
Pandora bared her teeth. “Yeah, but it’s falling into a pile of demon dust. That’s why we’re here in the first place. We don’t really blow shit up, though. Not very often, at least. It’s usually more of a crumbling building than a car bursting into flames. I mean, we can change that if you want. I’d have to get with Timothy about some new ordnance.”
Pandora put her hands over her eyes and made her voice a growl again. “You could be my commissioner.” She had the next Batman all planned out in her head.
The general shook his head. “No, I think I’m good with my current job. And it’s hard enough for me to explain the amount of destruction you cause as it is. I’m just lucky that it’s usually because of some horrifying demon who ends up dead, and that it leads directly to hundreds, if not thousands, of lives being saved. If it weren’t for that, I’m not sure how I could keep you guys on the books.”
“You could make a movie about us. You wouldn’t even have to re-shoot. You could just have a cameraman follow us around everywhere.”
The general humored her with a smile. “I could, but I think I would probably need a whole fleet of cameramen to follow you around. The fatality rate of those who work beside you isn’t exactly low.”
Pandora pointed her finger at the general. “Good thought. We would definitely need at least a dozen.”
The general looked up as the pilot moved the helicopter higher. When they reached five thousand feet, the pilot gave the general a nod. Brushwood nodded back and sat up straight, turning toward Katie. “Okay, we’re here. What did you want to talk about or show me?”
Pandora was still in control, and she shrugged. “Beats the fuck out of me. I’m just the passenger.”
The general was genuinely surprised and slightly suspicious. “What? I thought you knew everything that Katie knew, and the other way around. At least, it seems that way most of the time.”
“Yeah, well, it’s not like she asks my permission or anything. She just pokes and prods around. She gets a few special appendages, and then WHAM—big head syndrome commences.” Pandora lifted her hands and mimed her words, puffing Katie’s cheeks out and rolling her eyes.
The general covered his mouth and laughed, trying to hide his amusement at Pandora’s sarcasm. “I guess we all need to keep secrets now and then, even those of us with someone else in our head. Not that I would know how that feels. I’ve managed to stay demon-free.”
“What is it that you humans say? Oh, ‘knock on wood’ on that one. Don’t want to go jinxing yourself or anything.”
The general ran his eyes over the interior of the helicopter and knocked on the window. “That will have to do. As much as I appreciate you and Katie and our relationship, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be that lucky.”
Pandora locked her hands behind Katie’s head. “Not very many people can be this lucky. Not only am I a savage hellfire-raised warrior queen of a demon, but I’m here to help you humans keep your heads on your shoulders. The rest of them end up with idiot demons who don’t even know what they’re doing.”
“So I’ve seen.”
Suddenly, Katie’s arms flew down to her sides, and her eyes shut tightly. Her shoulders went limp and then her eyes slowly opened again, a red sparkle in her pupils. She rubbed her face, groaning with irritation. “Wow, she has a big mouth.”
The general raised his eyebrows but didn’t say a word. Katie stretched her arms over her head and cracked her neck, then leaned forward and tapped the pilot on the shoulder, lifting one side of his headset off his ear. “What are we, about five thousand feet up?”
The pilot gave Katie a thumbs-up, and she patted him on the shoulder. “Good. Hover here.”
She leaned back in her chair and smiled sweetly at the general, straightening her holsters and stretching her arms. He looked at her, amused but confused. She leaned over. “Got everything you need?”
The general narrowed his eyes. “What?” She was already up and reaching for the door handle, and his eyes popped wide open as she slid the door open and air rushed into the passenger compartment. When he finally realized what she was about to do he tried to back up.
Katie reached over and undid his seatbelt. She waved her hand at the open door and yelled over the roar of the helicopter’s engine, “C’mon!”
He shook his head feverishly, pointing to his back. “No
way. No parachute, and we’re way too low anyway!”
Katie shrugged. “I don’t need one!”
“Yeah, but what about me?”
Katie sighed, then grabbed the general by his arms and leaped backward out the door. The general froze in her arms as they plummeted earthward. Katie waited an extra half a second and then her wings sprouted, caught air, and jerked them upward. She twisted the general around and hugged him tightly. Her wings beat heavily and carried them away from the roar of the helicopter.
The general looked around wildly, then gulped in air and tried to calm himself. “I didn’t realize you could carry two so easily.”
Katie giggled. “Neither did I. I just had faith that I wasn’t given secondhand wings.”
The general resisted the urge to panic and flail. He was in the arms of a mercenary who had wings, flying thousands of feet above the middle of nowhere. Instead of panicking, he slowed his breathing. He peered carefully at Katie’s face and decided that he could trust her. They had been through too much together for him not to.
He figured she wouldn’t fly him out to the middle of nowhere just to drop him five thousand feet to the ground, so he took another deep breath and studied his surroundings. Now that he was calm, he could appreciate just how beautiful it was that high up. He had never had a view quite like that, out in the open air without a helicopter around him. He had a feeling he would never have a view like it again.
Hell, even if he did die, it was a good way to go.
Katie pumped her wings as she watched the general relax and begin to take in the view. After all, it was pretty amazing from up there. She rarely took the time to enjoy it. She should learn to sit back and take in the moment, even if it was just for a second.
Deep beneath the ocean’s surface, the dark current flowed quietly and strongly, feeding the ecosystem beneath the waves. Schools of fish swam freely through the water near the surface, shifting and moving as larger fish moved in and out, looking for their next meal.
From a thin crack in the seafloor, a plume of bubbles began to trickle, then the trickle became a stream. Bubbles shot up through the current and scattered the schools of fish.
The seafloor rumbled with seismic activity. Sand and coral dislodged as the ground shook, sending grit up to cloud the water. A small mountain began to shift slowly, and the mud and rocks around it on the seafloor broke loose. Long-trapped air rushed in every direction, and streams of bubbles and sediment sent the schools of fish swimming in a hundred different directions.
The earthquake increased in intensity, and rocks and sediment swirled along the seafloor. The underwater mountain broke loose and drifted upward, creating waves when it surfaced. It bobbed in the waves like some massive, impossible buoy.
Huge chunks of mud and rock began to fall off the mountain, revealing dark, slick scales.
This was no mountain. The echo of a groan rose from deep under the ocean, and then something broke the surface and stretched high into the air. The last of the rocks broke free as it fully extended. It wasn’t some ancient shard of the Earth’s crust, but a giant arm. Enormous and scaled, it dripped seawater and the corpses of a hundred fish.
The sea had been hiding a secret, too far out for any sailors to see, but too close to land for it not to be a complete and total disaster waiting to happen.
The ocean raged. The seafloor shook. And danger slowly made its way out of the depths toward land.
6
Katie looked behind her to make sure the helicopter was maintaining a safe distance. The pilot was protecting the general, but he had made sure to wave the craft off as soon as he realized he was safe. He didn’t need him shooting down his only ally, or at least his only ally with a chance of fighting the Damned.
Katie looked around her for any sign of spies but saw only open fields below and clear sky above. “I just wanted to make sure it was safe to talk. I know that you are worried about the conversation being bugged. This was all that I could think of, so hopefully we’re safe here.”
The general glanced from side to side. “Who the hell is going to bug the air around us, even if they could?”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”
The general let out a bellowing laugh and nodded. “I suppose you’re right. It was the possibility of being bugged that was worrying me.”
“I don’t know why you’re so concerned with that. The demons don’t use bugs, and the rest of them? I don’t waste time thinking about them.”
The general looked at her intently. “Katie, you have to understand something. Everyone wants you right now. The government wants you to play Captain America for hearts and minds.”
Pandora was almost offended by the thought. Captain America is a pussy. From what I found out last night, he cheated his way into the system to be a superhero.
Katie ignored Pandora and tried to focus on the general. He was serious about what he was saying, but in a way she recognized as caring. “There are those in the government who want to dissect you to figure out if they can use you or duplicate you to make an army. Some of them want you to come to Washington to protect their important asses.”
Pandora scoffed. Oh, that’s rich, since half of them are Damned. They are just trying to trick the system. There’s no way they would want you actually around.
The general sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Then there are the churches. Many of the religious people want you.”
Pandora cackled loudly. That’s it! That is the answer. You could deflower the hierarchy of the church and bring it down with just a few strokes.
Lord, please don’t continue. I’m actually trying to have a conversation here, Pandora. I know you’re a demon, but if you could hold back on the church comments for just a few minutes, maybe I could get something accomplished.
Pandora was off in her own little conniving world at that point. Yeah… I’m thinking you start at the bottom and work your way up to the Pope. By the time you’re done, you’ll be wearing the hat, standing on the balcony, and waving at the believers.
Katie chuckled and wrinkled her nose. I have never looked good in hats.
Then you can wear the robes and nothing else. It’ll be a new day for the Catholic Church.
My grandmother is rolling over in her grave right now. Seriously, if there’s an afterlife, I’d rather burn in hell than face Grandma after this conversation.
Meh, you’ll be fine.
The general continued talking, not realizing Katie was having a conversation with Pandora in her head. “Then there are those who feel you’re going to become a danger to society.”
Katie looked down, surprised at the general. “Why?”
“Because you’re going to become a symbol. I mean, you already fly and kill demons when others can’t, and let’s face it—you aren’t unattractive.”
Katie scowled and gritted her teeth, making a face like an angry child. “That’s Pandora!”
“Who is also you, if you haven’t looked in the mirror lately.”
Katie shook her head. “I don’t want this, General.”
“Doesn’t matter what you want. You can’t command what others think, and if you could, it would just prove their point. You are officially the most powerful person in this country. The expectation is that you will become the most powerful person in the world in the next five years, give or take a few elected officials and the occasional despot.”
“Don’t forget work. I could be dead next week.”
The general grumped. “That would cause those people’s worries to go away.”
Katie rolled her eyes and sighed. “Not how I expected you to react.”
“What? You didn’t think I became a general without keeping my sense of humor, did you?”
Katie flapped her wings a couple of times and stared at the mountains in the far distance. “I want them to know that I’m not trying to take over or use my power to rule the world or anything like that. I’m using it to save lives.”
&nb
sp; “Welcome to politics, where no good deed goes unpunished. If you’re more powerful than someone else, they try to act like your friend while they secretly make plans to stab you in the back. These people are afraid that the masses will follow you and leave all government behind.”
Katie shook her head and wrinkled her face in anger. “That’s ridiculous. I’m just one person, and I’m no saint. I don’t hide that.”
“Which makes you even more relatable. I’m not saying you should change who you are. What I’m saying is, you have to be careful. The more powers you have and the more people you save, the more people will come after you. Sure, some are just curious, but most of them want to control you in some way, shape, or form. And if they can’t do that, they’re going to want to be close to you so that when you reach power, or when they think you reach power, they will be right there beside you and not stuck back with everyone else.”
Katie sighed and lowered her head. “Sometimes I think maybe I should just let the demons take us all. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a bunch of beauty in this world. Its safety has fallen into my hands, and I take that seriously. But sometimes it’s really difficult to remember why I fight so hard to save it.”
The general returned her sigh, but with a sense of hope hidden beneath. “I know. Do you remember that fight where I picked up that little girl and ran full speed across the field full of demons?”
Katie shifted the general in her arms, realizing they were getting tired. “Yeah, that was pretty much one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen!”
“Well, remember her face? You need to. You need to remember that her mother was infected. That’s why we want to save humanity.”
Katie nodded. “I suppose. Do you really think that nothing in my life is safe? I mean, are they listening to me and watching me at all times?”
“I don’t know the whens or the wheres, but yes, I think we’re all being bugged. When we get back to Earth, I’ll give you some contacts, and they can help you clean up the bugs. You need a professional.”