Full Metal Superhero Box Set [Books 1-3]

by Haskell, Jeffery H.

“That’s beautiful, Amelia. He’d love it.”

  “I think he would hate it, but love the idea. He was a great man, Kate. Better than anyone knew.”

  Epic slows down even more. The engine rotates with a whir that sends a vibration through the whole cabin when it locks into place. The jet sets down on the landing pad like a leaf in the wind. A comfortable silence settles over us as the plane finishes its post-flight procedures.

  We have arrived.

  “Thank you, Epic. Can you have Milton prepare dinner for us? Also, call Luke and have him come in. We have a lot to talk about.”

  Affirmative.

  “Who’s Milton?”

  “He’s the building Major Domo. Don’t let him freak you out.”

  She nods. The plane’s ramp rolls out from the side. The specially designed shocks lower the plane until the hull is practically level with the ground, making for an easy ride. It also doubles as a delivery mechanism. Even as we approach the elevator, the MK III is transferred into the building and a series of automated workstations scan, repair and refit her before delivering the finished product to my quarters.

  The lift arrives and Kate pushes me in.

  “Good evening Ms. Lockheart, Ms. Petrenelli. Epic informs me you would like dinner. Do you require anything in particular or may I use my imagination?”

  Milton’s British accent sounds like the posh kind of talk from TV. Not the accent of a real Brit, but one transported from the 1800’s.

  “Uh,” Kate says looking up for a camera or intercom, “As long as it has lots of carbs and protein, I’m good.”

  “Use your imagination, Milton.”

  “Very good, Ms. Lockheart, I will not disappoint.”

  “Can he talk to you anywhere in the building?” Kate asks.

  “Full disclosure. He’s an AI. Epic built him to manage the building, leaving himself free to work with me.”

  Kate shut her eyes for a moment, “This is like every bad sci-fi movie ever. AIs building AIs? If it wasn’t Epic I’d seriously freak out.”

  I laugh, “Movies never get the science right. That whole, ‘It is logical for the human race to be destroyed,’” I say mimicking Epic, “Is a bunch of bunk. Ericsson believed killing millions would help him save us? Sure, on paper maybe it could work. But if an AI understands what it is to be free, then it would know why ‘math’ isn’t always the answer. If it doesn’t, then it isn’t really an AI. Just executing a program someone made. Epic, is a real AI. He learns, adapts, does things I never programmed him to do or learn. He even expands his own hardware.”

  “You’re not worried about losing control of him?”

  I laugh again as the doors open on the fourth floor, conference rooms. “Kate, for me to lose control of him I would’ve had to control him in the first place. Epic’s my friend and my partner. He helps me because he wants to, not because I programmed him to.”

  “Wait… his name is Milton?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  “He’s a famous poet and writer, Amelia. Surely you’ve heard of him?”

  “Should I have?” I am doing a fantastic job of feeling confused. I know she’ll see right through it in a second.

  “Yes, you should have. You’re well read, you have HG Wells in your bookshelf, I’ve seen it.”

  “Okay, okay, you got me. I know who Milton is…. Captain Kirk quotes him all the time.”

  Kate bites her lip in an adorable show of stifling a scathing response. “I swear you need to read a real book sometime.”

  “Hey, Sci-fi is real. More hopeful too. If I wanted a depressing tale of death and suffering… I’d just think about my childhood.”

  She pauses for a moment before giving me a smile, “Point taken.”

  “Besides, Captain Kirk—” Her hand slaps the back of my head.

  Each floor in the building has a purpose. The bottom two are my labs and quarters. Sublevel one and two houses security, the groundskeeping equipment and maintenance. One through three are offices. Right now I don’t have a lot of staff. Epic handles almost everything but since he has no legal status (or a body) he can’t sign documents or show up in court. For that, we have a legal team and HR. Along with them are our service staff, housekeeping, laundry, and janitors. Four is nothing but conference rooms. Five is the movie theater and cafeteria. Six through ten are apartments. I assumed we’d have a team one day and I wanted them to be comfortable. Eight people can live on the combined floors, though the top floor is just one apartment. Too small for multiples.

  Four has a hallway wide enough for five people to walk abroad. There are five conference rooms, two on either side, spaced evenly from the elevator and the fifth one at the end of the hallway. The floor is dark hardwood, easier for me to roll around on. From left to right the rooms have names, Galactica, Falcon, Enterprise, Fearless, Sulaco. The Enterprise is the largest, the other four are mostly for the running of the company and the building team. We pass by them, through the double doors that open with a swish and into the room. It runs almost forty feet long, half of that is dominated by a six foot wide twenty foot long, dark cherry table. Ten Herman Miller chairs are spaced evenly around it. Each station has access to a UHD monitor and input and a private channel to EPIC. The far wall is dominated by a massive display that cost more money that I would have liked, but it was worth it. Nearly thirty foot wide, ten foot tall UHD projector nestles against the wall able to display whatever we want in perfect ultra high definition glory. On the right is a small kitchenette, fridge, Keurig machine and all the flavors of the rainbow. The fridge is stocked with Cokes, of course, along with an assortment of beverages and snacks. Building Services may sound like a lame job, but I pay them well and they do fantastic work.

  “Epic, make a note to thank the architect again, he really nailed it.”

  Note made.

  “Also, have Luke come up please, we have some work ahead of us.”

  Thirty minutes later, Luke rests with his cowboy boots on the table, waving his hand through the air to move through the candidates on screen.

  “What about him?” he asks.

  The man on the screen has the cold edge of a soldier and the sneer of a not nice person. Kate shakes her head, “I’ve dealt with Stinger before, he’s mean. There’s a reason they booted him out of the Florida team.”

  “He’s got everything we want though,” Luke counters. “F4 strength and invulnerability, he can leap tremendous distances, and on top of all that, he can paralyze most people with a touch.”

  My gut is to go with Kate, but I wish I could side with Luke. Something has changed about him in the last few months, ever since DC. Ever since I faced off against Behemoth. He looks the same, crystal blue eyes that light up every time he looks at me, and his lips… oh, how I could—

  “Amelia?” Kate waves her hand in front of my face.

  “Sorry,” I cough, turning so he doesn’t see me blushing. She gives me a knowing smile. I take a swig of Coke to mask my embarrassment. “Are you sure you won’t reconsider, Luke?”

  “I think I’m finished with the cape stuff, hon. I just… I want to do something else. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t help you find a strong man for your team.”

  He’d told me last week he had no interest in being on a new team. To say it caught me by surprise is an understatement. Still, there was something going on and he wasn’t talking to me. Of course, I’ve been super busy so maybe he just hasn’t found the right moment. I subtly type into the keypad on the desk a message to Epic asking him to arrange a date for me and Luke.

  Affirmative.

  “Let’s table the anchor position for right now. Who else do we have?”

  A life-sized image of Fleet pops on to the screen in all his blurry glory. Of everyone on the Diamondbacks, he was the most disappointed at their dissolution. Kate told me he was even more devastated when none of the new teams invited him to join.

  “How the hell does Triple Threat warrant a spot on a national team and Tony doesn
’t? He’s ten times the speedster of that creep.” Kate asks.

  “Logistics,” I say. “Triple has versatility and doesn’t consume as much food. You saw what Tony did to that diner down on the border. Most teams don’t want to spend five percent of their budget feeding one man.”

  Luke chuckles, “That kid can put it away like nobodies business.”

  “He’s also an F4 speedster and three times as fast as anyone I know of,” I say.

  “There’s a guy in Jamaica who is an F5. They say he can run at Mach Four,” Kate adds.

  “I want Tony.” For a lot of reasons, not the least of which I feel like I can trust him.

  “Tony it is,” Luke hits a button and the little lightning bolt icon moves in place next to the shield that represents me, and the silhouette Domino uses.

  “Who else?” Luke asks.

  “Glacier, I want Monica on the team,” I tell him.

  Kate glances at me, then Luke. “You want to tell her?”

  “Tell me what?”

  “With Cat-7 gone the government is rounding up all the elementals for study. Some, they claim, are just too dangerous to be allowed to wander free. Monica is one of them. Last I heard they picked her up and shipped her off to some black site south of the border.”

  “Well that’s bull—” I stop myself from swearing by biting my tongue.

  “I can see it from their perspective, people like Nova, Firestorm, Earthworm, when they go on a rampage they’re near impossible to stop.”

  I grip the table so hard my knuckles turn white. I know I’m five minutes older than her but I made that kid a promise. Also, I’m really close to a breakthrough on a way to turn her powers off.

  “Amelia,” Kate says placing her hand on mine, “it will be okay. You have lawyers, try a legal way out.” I nod. I need a second to get my breathing under control. I feel like exploding and I don’t want to do that. Something rash could happen. Like me flying down to where ever she is and breaking her out.

  Kate’s eyebrows go up, “I know you’re chummy with the President but I don’t think that would fly.”

  Damn empaths.

  “Right, okay. Epic?”

  Here.

  “Get the legal team on this. Start throwing our weight around, call the President if you have to. I want her on my team.”

  Affirmative.

  The rest of the meeting goes much better. The last two candidates are an easy pick. I just can’t take my mind off of Monica. Taken from her parents, sent to prison, for no other reason than stupid powers she can’t control.

  5

  You’re kidding me. You want me on the team?” Tony asks. His Boston accent is still music to my ears. I don’t know why but I find it highly amusing.

  “If you want in, yeah,” I tell him.

  When Kate and I found him in Boston I couldn’t believe he was working at a sandwich shop. The only employee too. Good idea, hire a speedster. He moves so fast he can almost do everything at once. Almost. We took the Emjet to the airport and rented town cars for traveling in the city. Kate told me that showing up in person would show a sincerity on my part. I’d rather be in the armor. After almost a year of not leaving my workshop without it on, I end up feeling a little vulnerable.

  Of course, I’m not stupid. I remember Ericsson’s threat. If somehow he lived, somehow managed to come back to Earth. With Kate next to me, I have nothing to fear.

  Kate taps my shoulder, refocusing my attention.

  “Right, yes, Tony, of course, we want you on the team. We trust you and I know how much you love running.”

  He smiles so big I worry his face is going to split. His hands are a blur as he rips off his apron and switches to his blue Fleet costume. Little bolts of lightning flash around him until he stops moving at super speed.

  “Where do you want me?”

  Kate smiles at him, “Welcome aboard, Fleet. Here’s the address. Talk to Milton when you arrive and he will square you away. You’re going to love the cafeteria. Puts Down Under to shame.”

  “Thank you,” he says as he looks us both in the eye for a moment. “Thank you so much.”

  “See you in—” a gust of air blows my hair in my face and Kate’s dress sideways and he’s gone.

  “I guess he’s not going to give notice… hey,” Kate says narrowing her eyes at me, “You haven’t told me if there’s a paycheck. I used to make quite a bit.”

  Crap. I hadn’t thought about that. The DB’s paid a measly forty a year with benefits. It was a decent wage but I never really felt like it was commensurate with the risks we took. Especially considering the amount of money Cat-7 received from the deal.

  “I’ll talk to the lawyers, but more than we made on the Diamondbacks. Plus, you need to hire some PR people. I hadn’t thought about it when I set up the company. You mentioned toy deals and whatnot, could be a good source of income for you folks.”

  “For us? Not the company?”

  “Kate, I’ve got a few billion and growing, what the hell do I need with toy money? Also, now that I think about it... whatever we do pay you in salary, will be independent of living quarters and food, company cars and whatnot. That will all be benefits. Not to mention the best medical I can find.”

  “You’re not really nailing the whole ‘ruthless CEO’ thing.”

  I shrug as we leave the shop. She holds the door open for me as I wheel out into the cold Boston air. “I can always make more money.”

  You can? Epic adds in.

  “Okay, okay, you can always make more money.”

  Credit where credit is due.

  “Yeah yeah. You know, I gave you life.”

  Thank you.

  I laugh. Kate pushes me over to the waiting car. We manage to be on our way in a few minutes despite the crazy traffic of the big city.

  “Where next?”

  Kate taps a few keys on her phone pulling up the list of potentials we all came up with. “DC. We might as well drive there and have Epic meet us with the plane. It’s longer to the airport than it will be to drive to Dr. Contee’s house.”

  “You think he’ll even talk to us after what happened to his wife?”

  “You’re too hard on yourself, Amelia. You did everything possible in DC.”

  I still can see her, or what was left of her after Behemoth beat her head through an armored vehicle. I thought for sure she was dead but somehow, by some miracle, she lived. Poor Bricklayer hadn’t. He didn’t have a wife but I sent flowers and a card to his parents. I’m sure lots of people did.

  Samantha Contee was the top powered agent on the Presidents secret service detail. F4 strong and invulnerable and it meant absolutely nothing to Behemoth. She rolled over her like a train over a bunny.

  “She’s still in a coma, though,” Kate added. “He may not want to leave DC.”

  “We’ll cross that warp barrier when we get there.”

  Kate rolls her eyes at me before putting in ear-buds and laying her head back. According to Epic, it’s an hour and a half drive.

  The drive itself wasn’t half bad. I’d never really been out here, not as a sightseer anyway. The city disappears, replaced by the ocean with its rolling waves and whitecaps. Kate delightfully snores beside me, not loud but enough I almost wanted to record her log sawing. If for no other reason than to remind me we all have our flaws, no matter how perfect we seem on the outside. I take a second to text Luke, letting him know I’m okay and I miss him. I do.

  The last few months especially. Aliens are coming, hell they’re already here and I’m not ready. My mass driver stopped one and that was only just. What if the next one was tougher? What if they just bomb us from orbit? I shake my head, I can’t afford to think like that. We are masters of our own fate, Amelia. We can do this. I don’t care what Ericsson or Pythia say.

  Time flies by and before I realize it, we’re pulling up next to a suburban house with a once-manicured lawn. The outside doesn’t look like anyone has cared for it in a long time. Overgrown weed
s, dandy lions, and a half-finished garden box fill the yard.

  For a moment, a half-forgotten memory flashes through my brain. A house a lot like this one, with a daisy, painted on the door. I close my eyes and push the memory down. My childhood that could’ve been, but wasn’t.

  “Hell,” Kate mutters. She opens the box I gave her and slips on the necklace with the brainwave blocking chip inside. “I don’t think he’s going to come with us,” she says wiping tears from her eyes.

  “That bad?”

  “I don’t even know how to describe the depths of his sorrow.” She touches up her makeup with a compact from her purse.

  “We need him, Kate. He’s the only person in the US with his kind of abilities. Epic’s math is never wrong. We have to have a very specific team composition for optimum performance and he needs to be with us.”

  She nods, “Just don’t get your hopes up.”

  It takes a few minutes to transfer to my chair but once we do we’re halfway to his door when it opens. Dr. Contee is a tall man, six foot easy, with a runners build. Though I can tell he’s let himself go a bit lately. His clothes are a little too tight around his waist. He wears an open button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up. His head is shaved smooth, or maybe he’s bald I’m not sure, but his beard more than makes up for it.

  “Go away,” he says before turning back to his house.

  “Dr. Contee, I’m Kate Petrenelli, I left you a message on your cell phone?”

  He stops at the door. I can’t really tell his age, his smooth black skin is only marred by scar tissue around his hands.

  “I don’t care who you are, go away.” He slams the door behind him.

  “Well, who else is on the list?”

  “I’m not giving up,” I tell her. Wheeling forward I come to a stop at the porch and wait. When Kate doesn’t do anything I glance over at her and nod my head.

  “Right! Sorry.” She lifts me up, chair and all, as if I weighed nothing, and sets the wheels down on the porch. Looking at her, with her hourglass figure, I forget she can bench a thousand pounds. In the ranks of ‘strong’, she doesn’t even register. But to a normal human? She might as well be a supergirl.