“Anything else you can tell me?”
She shakes her head, “I fear I’ve told you too much already. Doubt and fear of making a decision are just as bad as making the wrong one.”
“When your new Protector is ready, send him my way.”
Her eyes shine like she is smiling inside, “Amelia, one thing I can tell you. While the fate of mankind is in the balance... there is always hope.”
“Did Apollo teach you that?” I close the faceplate in prep for take-off.
“No. You did.”
80
All the events of the last few days have left me reeling. Mentally and physically. Despite Teddy’s best efforts my ribs still hurt, though he assures me they would hurt much less if I would spend some time in bed.
I stay in the armor for the trip home and go sub-orbital, giving me a nice view of the world as it turns slowly away from me. Instead of zooming down I turn the heat up to max and float in the cold silence of space.
Kate, Luke, the team, aliens, fate of the world… seriously what more could I put on my shoulders? Oh yeah, my parents. I sigh.
One problem at a time. I tap into the nearest satellite and have Epic pull up the feed from Kate’s room. A little more than a day has passed since her injuries and she is looking considerably better. Teddy is still there at her side. As long as he is she’ll heal faster. He’s got to be exhausted. Her vitals though, they’re looking up. The pit of worry filling my stomach lessens somewhat, but only a little.
Epic switches me to the waiting room. Luke is there with his sleeves rolled up and his cowboy hat down over his head as he sleeps. I know he’s worried about her. I forget they were friends long before I came into the picture.
Luke…
Why didn’t I want to leave that day? I know I was tired but the panic that gripped my heart when he pushed me toward the exit was just totally unreasonable. I’ve left my suite before… but now that I think about it only as Arsenal or… or with Kate.
“If not today, then one day I will show up and you will be bound in your chair and on that day you will lose. For I will become you.”
I can hear Ericsson’s voice echo in my memories. It has haunted my dreams on more than one occasion and until this moment I hadn’t realized why I haven’t left my lab without my armor or Kate. What if he’s still here? I look out in the direction I sent him, floating off toward the sun. What if…
What if he managed to make it back somehow? All his identities were burned. He’d have to become someone new. With no telepath school to recruit from, he’d have to go after someone else. Someone like me. Oh god. I shiver all over at just the thought. If he were me… I hate being afraid. Afraid of leaving my own room. But I’d rather stay in my room where I’m perfectly happy than take the chance of him winning.
No. No, I can’t let that happen.
“Epic, open a channel to Luke and plot me a course home.”
Channel open.
“Luke?”
He snorts and I see him startle awake on the screen.
“Amelia? Where?”
“I’m in orbit heading back. I… I figured some things out and I need to tell you something. One, I’m really sorry. I panicked and I didn’t know why so I got angry and I took it out on you.”
I can hear the smile in his voice and it warms my heart. I allow myself the illusion that it will be all right. Because I know deep down in my heart we’re about to be over.
“I’m sorry too. You see I had a really big evening planned.” On the monitor he reaches into his pocket and pulls something out, rolling it between his fingers. I can’t quite see what it is.
Amelia, I strongly advise you to have this conversation face-to-face.
I can’t, I have to have it now. I need him to know now. I need to know.
“There was something I didn’t tell you, something that happened with Ericsson.”
“Hon, that jackass is either dead or a million miles away. He can’t hurt you.” I shake my head, I know he means well but I’m just guessing the Van Allen belt will keep him out. I don’t know, I can’t know.
“No, I can’t assume he’s gone. Only that he’s not an immediate threat. I’m sorry Luke, I just can’t. He told me he would find me and one day I would be in my chair and then he would win. He would win because he would be me. Do you understand?”
He shakes his head, taking off his hat and running his free hand through his hair. He drops the object from his hand into his hat.
“Amelia, wow, I can only imagine how terrifying that had to be. I wish you had told me sooner. We don’t have to go out at all. In time you’ll get over this and—”
I desperately don’t want to cry. But I don’t get what I want every time. “No. Not over time. Not ever. Luke, through me he would wield terrible power. I can safeguard everything. I can safeguard my tech, Epic, even you and Kate, but I can’t safeguard my own mind. What if he takes me over and he knows everything I know? Everything I’ve fought for, everything I’ve sacrificed for… it would be for nothing.”
“Amelia, you’re over—”
“Don’t you dare say I’m overreacting,” I snarl.
“No, no, just over thinking. You do that, you know?”
I do, I know I do, but this is endgame level stuff. One mistake and I’m done. “Luke, I need you to promise me something.”
“Anything, babe.”
I close my eyes because I know he will say no. “If we go out one day and someone dies next to me, in my arms or on my chair. You have to kill me. You can’t let him win, Luke, you can’t. I will gladly trade my life if it means he loses. Promise me that and I will leave my lab without Kate or my suit, but that is the only way I could ever feel safe.”
I can see him, it isn’t fair that I can see him and he can’t see me. I’m just barely holding back the tears.
“God, Amelia, how can you ask that of me? I love you. What if you’re wrong? What if an accident happens? Not only would you be asking me to kill you… you would be asking me to kill myself. I’d go to jail and… Oh.”
He’s not dumb he just plays one on TV.
“That’s the point then, keep him in jail. Kill you and he becomes me. He couldn’t just transfer to someone else because of my power.” He collapses his face into his hands, dropping the cowboy hat to the floor. I see what he had in his pocket. A velvet box, just large enough for a single ring, bounces out and clatters against the floor.
My heart catches in my throat and I suddenly understand why that date was so important. He was going to ask me to marry him.
“I can’t Amelia,” he says with a thick voice, “Ask me anything but this.”
“It is the only thing I need, Luke, and if you can’t give it to me, I can’t continue. I’m sorry.” I cut the line before the full-on sobs take over. Epic usurps control of the suit and guides us down from orbit.
I am sorry Amelia.
“I still don’t have a way to dry my tears, dammit.” I try to focus on that as we return home, and not the sea of despair experiencing a high tide in my heart.
81
I watch her progress on the monitor. It’s surreal seeing her in a wheelchair. Epic had a camera on her from the moment she woke up. I have to hand it to Teddy, he’s a miracle worker. Kate has pink skin as fresh as if she stepped out of the shower after a microdermabrasion. Her hair is even growing back. Right now she just has a short black scalp cap, but considering three days ago the doctors could see her skull bone… that’s pretty good.
I’m excited to have my friend back. Especially since I’ve spent the last three days making her a present. And it had nothing at all to do with me trying to keep my mind off Luke. I gave the team the week off, they earned it. Currently, I have every satellite we have access to scanning space looking for the next wave, no luck yet. Space is really freaking big.
She’s in the elevator now, making her way down her. Teddy went upstairs to visit his wife. The poor guy, I told him he could visit her every day and h
e hasn’t seen her in a week. No change of her status, she’s still in a coma. I consulted with a few specialists and they tell me there’s nothing to be done. Traumatic brain injury is tricky, then add in her level of invulnerability they can’t go in and do anything without using a laser and that would do more harm than good. If she’s going to wake up, she’ll have to do it on her own.
You have a message from Monica. Would you like it on screen?
“Sure.” I wheel around to face the elevator, resting my head in my hands.
Mom and Dad say you’re one of the family now. Nothing to be done about it. You’re invited to every Holiday ever and even a few they want to make up just for you. Thank you for giving me my life back.
My throat tightens from the sudden rush of emotion flooding me. I’m glad her parents are happy. Since she got her body back her demeanor has changed too. She’s a lot more cheerful than when we first met. I take a second to wipe my eyes.
The doors open and Kate stands there, empty wheelchair in front of her and a big smile on her face.
“No fair,” I yell.
“Get used to it, Amelia, you’re the only person who gets special treatment around here.” She leaves the chair behind her as she comes in. She’s thinner than I remember, a little haggard, but she’s walking and isn’t wearing any bandages I can see. Even in this state, she’s stunning. Her clothes are a little big, though.
“What’s with heroin chic?”
She glances down and gives me a weak smile. “I’m still recovering. Can I sit?”
I point to the large captain’s chair I have in the corner for when Luke… I wince. She glances at me, one delicate eyebrow going high.
“You’ve got a lot to tell me, I see. Four days in the hospital and everything changes.”
“Not everything. I still have no idea how to beat the bad guys.”
“You’ll figure it out.”
“I have something for you!” I roll over to the vault where I keep her present. Inside I pull out two blades, just eighteen inches long, short swords really. They have leather sheathes because she can’t have a naked blade dangling on her back. It was tricky, making a ZPFM small enough to fit in the hilt of these swords, but I did it. Each one is a miniature of mine. Monomolecular edge and near indestructible. The kinetic field emitters in them only increase their weight about tenfold. I made the sheaves of leather but lined the cutting edge with my special metal in small sections so they would stay somewhat flexible.
“Amelia…” she takes them from me, unsheathing them with a few practice swings. “They’re beautiful.”
“You do so well with mine, I figured you needed some of your own. However, my sword is too long for you to carry normally. These you can fasten on your thigh, or back, and draw them when you need them.”
“You do know how to buy a girl bling,” she says, ending with a whistle. “Thank you.”
“You’re going to need them if we go up against any more drones. Now—”
“Amelia. Spill.”
I freeze. It is eerie how she can do that. “Fine,” I mutter. I grab a pair of Cokes from the fridge and hand her one and open the other. She looks like she could use the calories. I take a long pull, a deep breath and I tell her. Everything. From the first argument, to what happened with Pythia, to me… breaking up with him. It all comes out in one giant sentence and when I’m done I can barely breathe.
She shakes her head. “Amelia, there is a place somewhere between never leaving your lab and Luke murdering you. You know that right? You’re a smart girl I’m sure you can figure something out.”
I shake my head. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last few days it’s that I can’t account for everything. I… I just can’t risk it.” A new tear rolls down my cheek. While I spoke Kate finished off her soda and knelt in front of me, hand on my chin. Her touch always lifted my spirits, she has that affect on everyone.
“Amelia. Luke loves you; he was going to ask you to marry him. Clear your head and go talk to him. Before it really is too late.”
I nod.
“I will, I just… we need to tie up these loose ends and then I will.”
“What loose ends?”
“You remember the chief scientist of Cat-7, Pedric Matahal?” She does a full body shiver just thinking about him. I break contact with her and roll over to my computer, punching a few keys to pull up the video from the day of the attack. I’m glad for the excuse to change the subject.
“Yeah, emotionless, cold. It wasn’t that I couldn’t read him, what I got back was just hate.”
“I’m surprised you could read him at all, considering he’s an alien.”
Kate’s eyes go wide for a moment. “No way.”
I nod, “Yes way. Epic, play the footage from the crowd, start when I first see him.”
After she finishes watching the whole thing she shakes her head, “That doesn’t prove he’s an alien. Just that he knew about the attack. Not enough for us to arrest him, but at least we know.”
“I’m not planning on arresting him.”
“Amelia… you’re not planning on another run-in with the law again.” She looks at me with those green eyes slightly out of focus, the way she gets when she’s reading me.
“No, of course not.”
“Amelia…”
“Seriously. Besides, he is an alien. I can promise you that. His vitals are statistically impossible. It is like someone sampled every vital ever and then created an exact average. I promise you, Kate, that man is an alien. Now, we just need to find him.”
“The protesters don’t know?”
I shake my head, “I had O’Brien from security surreptitiously check them out. They were organized and funded by a third party. No one knows who paid for it all. They were happy to be here when they thought they might make the news. As soon as housekeeping brought out the food and drinks, and even invited them in to stay the night, things got decidedly less interesting for them. They left a few days ago. Matahal though, he left a few minutes after I did. I’ve got Epic looking for him. If he surfaces, we’ll find him and when we do I get some answers.”
“I don’t like the tone of your emotions, Amelia. Try not to lose yourself on this quest.”
“No matter what I do, I still don’t get to have my parents back, Kate. I can take out the aliens, blow away Matahal, but at the end of the day… I failed. I have to live with that. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to make everyone responsible for it pay with me.”
82
Epic, try cycling the power at one-point-twenty-one gigawatts.”
Cycling.
The power flows along the superconductor I’ve attached to the suit’s internal mechanism. I noticed when I fired the mass driver in Seattle that the power transfer loss was far higher than I calculated. Not to mention I used too much. Way too much. I was only a few kilojoules from killing myself. I’m trying to find out why. Having unlimited power is only as useful if I can transfer it from one location to another. I also need to rethink shooting fifty tungsten ball bearings at once. The devastation the concussive force caused was a little much. Maybe one ball, much, much slower.
If I fire one at a time and give the barrel more time to cool down I could conceivably fire on the go… or at least not have to brace so much. The sudden spike of recoil is more than the kinetic manipulators can handle without a little help. However, if I moved a few things around—
Pop.
“Amelia!”
I scream, honest to God scream, dropping the tablet I’m using to process the real-time data. The tablet clatters against the tile floor to come to a rest. It’s only matched by the thudding of my heart. I hope the screen isn’t broken.
“I’m sorry, hon. I wouldn’t have teleported in if it wasn’t important. I didn’t mean to startle you,” Kate says.
“Can you grab that for me?” I point to the tablet, still trying to get my breathing under control. “I normally wouldn’t be but I was focusing pretty hard.”
I take a look at her as she hands me the computer. In the ten days since she came out of the hospital, she almost looks normal. Her skin is a shiny healthy pink and her eyebrows grew back, even her hair is five inches long. It would take me a couple of months to grow five inches of hair.
“How come you don’t have the news on?” she asks me. The tablet’s fine, thank goodness. I hit the backup button and put it on the table.
“I’m working on something delicate so I put on the ‘do not disturb’ function for Epic.” I don’t know what could possibly be important enough for her to teleport down here instead of texting?
“Epic, turn on the news,” she says.
Which station?
“It doesn’t matter.” The resignation in her voice worries the crud out of me. The UHD TV on the far wall flares to life.
I don’t believe my eyes.
“Has anyone else seen this?” I ask.
“Amelia, the whole world has seen it. They’ve been playing it for the last twenty minutes nonstop.”
The image resets to Florida, where a drone landed about an hour ago. I didn’t know about the drone landing… this one has eight massive legs and a spider-like body. The arch of each leg is a hundred feet high. A pair of fighter jets engage it and the drone launches missiles at them, blowing the multi-million dollar planes out of the sky.
“We need to get the team together. We can be there in twenty—” Kate holds her hand up and points to the TV.
“Keep watching.”
The spiderbot heads for its preprogrammed target, yet another power station. Why did the aliens want to wipe out our power infrastructure? Other than the obvious reasons. They’ve got the tech to come here why does it matter if we have electricity? Matahal might know something, which is all the more reason to catch him.
The sky darkens as we watch and a flaming meteorite burns down from space to crash into the ground with a camera-shaking explosion. The shockwave from the impact spreads out in a circle, picking up debris and dust. The wall of force takes thirty seconds to reach the camera, blowing the man off his feet and knocking the lens back till it pointed at the sky.
Full Metal Superhero Box Set [Books 1-6] Page 45