Hero Engine

by Nader, Alexander

  “What about River? He seemed to have a pretty strong relationship with Tess.” Ann has her gaze locked with Flaura. She’s not afraid of Gaia reborn.

  I turn in my chair to better keep an eye on both ladies.

  Flaura spits out a repulsive snort. “River was fucked up. Drugs, booze, gambling. You name it. He was going off the deep end. For whatever reason, Gravitess picked herself up out of her corner and took him on as her little pet project. Once River was sober-ish, he realized how much of a wet blanket Tess is and dropped her.”

  That’s not quite the story River gave us. I like his version better. But if he was as fucked up as Flaura claims, who knows how much of his story is real?

  Ann keeps the questions coming. “So you think Gravitess hated all the heroes?”

  “Yes.”

  “Enough to start killing them?”

  Flaura sighs, apparently growing bored with the conversation. “Listen, the bitch was crazy, messed up in the head. All right? She was the lonely kid that sat in the corner and no one talked to. One day she snapped and showed up at school with a gun and started shooting. You people can paint some victim’s picture about how she was a ‘good-hearted person’ and helped River get out of a bad spot, but that doesn’t change what she was, what she is. She’s deranged and psychotic, and now she’s taking it out on the world.”

  Flaura’s forehead scrunches, her cheeks darkening with color. “The bitch probably has some kind of hero-self-hating complex and is taking it out on all of us. On all the world. For all I know, she’s trying to kill off all the heroes for her own problems. I heard SHI has put extra guards on the Engine. I’d say that’s a pretty fine idea. Crazy bitch would probably try to break the thing in half, if she had the chance.”

  So the other heroes don’t know about the Engine, yet. Vince has done one hell-of-a-job keeping that bombshell under wraps. I wonder how right Flaura is about Tess. Hatred makes people say some pretty terrible things about each other. This could just be a super Salem Witch trial. Or Tess could be crazy. Attack Seattle to draw the heroes to her and then show up at Houston knowing they would be looking for her there?

  Ann drums her knuckles across the desk. “That is all the questions I have. Mr. Quig, have you got anything to ask?”

  “No, I think I’ve heard enough.”

  Flaura pushes herself up from the table and saunters to the exit, shaking the floor with every step. A wispy scent of orchids reaches out and touches my nose. The sweet scent overpowers the moldy smell of dirt. She reaches the staircase and faces us.

  “Just so you know, when I find Tess—and believe me, I will be looking—I will have my pets tear her limb from limb. My trees will draw and quarter her, and death will come slowly and painfully for what she’s done. She’s ruined things and killed heroes. She is a rabid attack dog and needs to be put down,” Flaura says with a snarl.

  Her face softens from harsh lines to a sultry pout. “Have a nice night and keep in touch, Secret Agent Man,” she says in a voice sweet as honeysuckle.

  She gently stomps her way from the plane. Out the window, a series of trees separating the park from the surrounding city uproot themselves and follow her out to the streets. The odd group make their way to a crumbled building and start digging at rubble.

  “What do you make of all that?” I keep my eyes on the oaks moving large pieces of broken building. Most of the wreckage is charred black from explosions.

  “Hard to say. I don’t know that she was lying, but hatred can make a person throw out some pretty terrible accusations.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I was thinking, but it adds up – sort of. The theory that Tess hates herself for being a hero could fit. Self-loathing has made lots of people do lots of bad things to themselves and others.” I take my gaze off the trees and turn back to Ann.

  She rubs a hand across her cheek. “Gravitess hates herself, so she hates heroes. She blows up the Engine and then starts attacking places to draw out the heroes. Kills them one at a time and then splits before they can gang up on her? It mostly fits.”

  “Yeah, but that doesn’t explain what McCarthy and his AHAssholes have to do with all this. Gravitess really could use her ability to break the Engine in half. Why would she bother having some redneck Walter White cook up a turd bomb to destroy the Engine?”

  “Bloody hell, I don’t know.” Ann slaps a hand on the desk. The impact isn’t as impressive as Flaura’s tiptoeing would be, but the table still shakes.

  “We need to track down the Grand Sovereign Mage, have a little chat with Tess, and get to the bottom of all this shit.”

  “Yeah, all we have to do is get me close enough for Tess so she doesn’t rip us to bits.”

  “Sounds like a plan. Now we just need an address, two shots of bourbon, and sixteen hours of sleep to pull this shit off.” I slap the table too, for effect.

  “You guys must have quite a plan worked out.” Vince stands at the top of the stairs, wad of gum balled up against the inside of this cheek.

  I have no idea how long he’s been there. “Hey Boss, we’re just working out our next move.”

  “Did you all get anything useful from Flaura?”

  “That she really, really doesn’t care so much for Gravitess,” Ann says.

  “She had an almost workable theory on things, but we’re still chewing on it. Tastes good at first but there’s this bitter aftertaste that doesn’t sit right with me.” My stomach rumbles loud enough that I’m sure Ann and Vince both hear it. Bringing up food on an empty stomach may not have been the best idea.

  Vince steps over and raps his knuckles on the table top a couple times before putting a fist under his chin and staring down at me. “Right. I’m not even going to ask until you’ve swallowed that theory. Just remember, an enemy’s half-cooked conspiracy theory might not be the best thing to work off of.”

  “You really don’t think Tess wants to be doing this, do you?” I still haven’t made up my mind on who’s on whose side, but Vince seems to have been pulling for Tess since the beginning.

  “I really hope not. The other heroes might not have much nice to say about her, but being a black sheep doesn’t make you a mass murderer. What is your next move?”

  “We haven’t quite worked that out yet.” I look over at Ann. “I’m thinking we’ll probably get back with Adriana and see if she’s got any information on Andy Donovan. We’ll go from there depending on her answer.”

  “Vince, you up here?” A heavily Russian accented voice says from the stairwell. The Patriot steps into the cabin of the plane. He looks from Vince to Ann and settles his laser-eyed stare on me. He hocks and spits down the stairwell, rubs a hand through his groovy black pompadour. “Vince, we talk, now.”

  Chapter 19

  VINCE TAKES A SEAT at the desk opposite Ann and I. “Welcome in, Petr. We were just having a meeting and would love the extra company.” He makes no attempt to hide the sarcasm or annoyance in his voice, but he taps the empty seat next to him, anyway.

  Ann steps forward from the back of the plane and stands next to me.

  The Patriot grits his teeth and marches to the edge of the desk with stomping, military-precise steps. He glares down at me. For a moment, I think he’s going to open his mouth and blast a laser straight through my brain. But he can’t do that, not this close to Ann. He turns his glare to Vince. “Can we talk in private?”

  Vince drops the sarcasm and gives a generous smile. “Whatever you’ve got to say, it can be said in front of Mr. Quig and Ms. Pretorius.”

  The Patriot grinds his teeth loud enough for me to hear. He leans over toward Vince. “This, this circus go on long enough. These two shit-heels cannot perform a proper investigation. It is far past time for official inquiry into matter. The whole situation needs sorted out and Tess needs found before she can do any more damage,” he says, adding about two dozen unnecessary Z’s in his speech. Out of the public eye his accent is thicker than Grandma Klitschko’s borscht.

  Vince clas
ps his hands together on the desk in front of him and smiles.

  “And let me guess,” Vince says, “you think you’re just the man to spearhead this investigation that I should be initiating?”

  Petr squeezes the edge of the table. Steel cable muscles and freeway-sized veins pop out through the USA-themed Spandex of his outfit. He looks like an American bobsledder on ‘roids. “Yes. I am the most experienced hero on hand, and I am the most appropriate for this investigation.”

  “And what will you do when you finally track Tess’ location?”

  “I bring her for trial. She will be held accountable for tragedy. Her self-loathing has made her lash out against human and hero. She is not so stable.”

  Another one who thinks loner Tess has gone on a rampage for not fitting in. Situations like that happen with humans almost every day. The kids pick on me, solve it with violence. I hate my boss, solve it with violence. My neighbor’s dogs are talking to me, solve it with violence. All the other heroes hate me, solve it with violence? I’m still not buying it, but Tess going off the deep end is a viable theory for the moment.

  Vince watches his hands and takes a deep breath. The sigh he lets out sounds awfully close to, ‘Wouldn’t that be convenient for you?’ Instead, what he says is, “And what will you do if your attempt to bring her in peacefully fails? What if there is a confrontation? She has already killed five heroes. Are you ready to see how you stack up against a woman who can bend gravity to her will?”

  The desk creaks and groans under Petr’s grip. This close to Ann, his super powers should be null, but I guess he’s still pretty strong. “I am requesting a team. Given the outcome of today’s events, it is clear that no one hero should try to apprehend Tess.” Petr rotates his head. His neck gives a loud pop. “If violence come, she will be taken care of. The safety of the citizens of the world is more than life of one delusional hero.”

  “What do you think set Tess off like this?” I’m so caught up in the conversation between Vince and Petr that Ann’s question makes my heart skip.

  Petr turns to Ann, the muscles in his shoulders bunched up somewhere around the crown of his head. If it wasn’t for Ann giving his powers the axe, the poor table would be nothing but splinters by now. “What you say?”

  “You seem to think Tess is some paranoid, psychotic, delusional sociopath, right? If you’re right, there had to be a trigger. Why start now? What pushed her over the edge?” Ann returns every bit of Petr’s mean-mugging, and then some. She knows he’s powerless and even if he wasn’t, I’m not sure she would back down from him right now.

  “What does it matter? She is danger to herself and world around her. Whatever her trigger was, is no important. Now will you give me authorization to put together a team?” The last question is for Vince. Apparently, he’s done with Ann.

  I agree with her. I do think the why matters as much as the how on this one, but we aren’t going to get shit out of the Iron Curtain over here.

  Vince sits very still for a few beats. I don’t envy his position. If he doesn’t authorize this murder squad—and this would be a murder squad—it will look like he’s not doing enough to protect the people. If he gives the go-ahead to the superhero hit team, Tess will end up dead and any information she might have will die with her. I’m no conspiracy theorist, but this shit smells more rotten than McCarthy’s meth plant.

  “Four heroes. That’s all I’m authorizing. Out of twenty-one heroes on the roster, I’ve got one AWOL and five dead. Four is all I can spare. There’s still a city to be cleaned up. Who are you taking?”

  “Flaura, Inkwell, Vizzy, and Icestro.” Petr rifles them off at a fast clip. He came prepared for this.

  Vince nods. “Lead your investigation, but remember, when you find her, I want her alive. Do you hear me? Alive. I don’t care what you have to do to make that happen, or what the cost. I want her living and breathing when you bring her to me. That is a direct order.”

  Petr scoffs. “You order me around like one of your little pets.” He flicks his two-foot hairdo in our direction. “But remember, Larson, I can crush you. Just because you are Director doesn’t mean you are untouchable.”

  Ann is on her feet in a blink, and I’m right behind her. I put a hand out on her shoulder, vaguely attempting to hold her back, but thinking I wouldn’t mind much if she pulled loose and socked him right in the kisser. I’ve already given him a handful of knuckles in the past forty-eight hours. Ann can take her turn now.

  Vince stands and holds his hands out in between Petr and Ann. “Now, now, what I think Petr meant to say was that he would love nothing more than to find Tess and end this madness. He would think it his pleasure to bring a living hero back to me when this is done.”

  Petr grunts. We get a Siberian-cold glare before he pushes off the desk and stomps out the door like he’s trying to knock ice off his boots.

  “Nice tights, Pete,” I mutter as he disappears down the steps. “Do you trust him,” I ask Vince.

  “Not especially, but what choice do I have?” Vince says this more to the floor than either of us. “If I told him no, the heroes would think I’m going soft on Tess or that I don’t care about stopping this.”

  “Are you going soft on Tess?” The question is Ann’s, but it matches the thoughts floating around in my head. Vince seems convinced Tess has been innocent from the start and, other than a brief flash from River, Vince is the only one who’s showed any sympathy towards her.

  Vince’s nostrils flair and he opens his arms out to both of us in one of those ‘Come at me’ kind of stances. “Not you. And what about you, Jim? I suppose you think I’m going soft on Tess, too?”

  After an awkward silence, Vince reaches up and grabs at his tie, pulling the knot away from his neck. The red tint in his face trails down and disappears into his open collar. He spits his wad of gum into a trashcan by the cockpit door. “Everyone, all of them,” Vince shakes a hand at the window of the plane, “they can all think I’m crazy for believing in Tess and that’s fine by me. But they are all biased. She’s the black sheep of this fucked-up family, and every single one of those heroes is quick to drop the blame solely on her.”

  Vince paces the plane with enough force to dislodge the carpeting. The stuff is so plush they probably have leprechauns spin the cotton from clouds shot straight from a maiden unicorn’s ass. I’m only slightly exaggerating.

  “But not you two. I need you both to give an unbiased opinion of the situation. If you investigate and find out that Tess really is just,” Vince’s hands slap against his thighs as he drops his arms, “just off her rocker, then I will accept that.”

  I look over at Ann. Her eyes flick to Vince and then away.

  “Listen, Vince, we are coming at this from every possible angle…”

  His mouth falls open a little as he turns all of his attention to me.

  “But, I have to admit, there has been a lot pointing in Tess’ general direction.”

  The color drains from Vince’s face until it looks less like a hot sauce bottle and more like the Pink Panther. “Just…” his voice is soft, an almost defeated kind of whisper. He takes the gum packet back out of his pocket, looks at it for a moment, and puts it back. “Just don’t give up on her yet. This situation still stinks to high heaven. I know you both smell it. Keep yourselves as neutral as possible and give this mess the investigation it deserves, and in a hurry.”

  “Are you worried Tess will attack again soon?” I ask. She took a little time off between Seattle and Houston, but who knows when the next one will come.

  “Possibly, but I’ve just authorized a five super-hero hit team. Tess won’t go down without a fight. Look outside if you need evidence. If they catch up to her before you, this thing could blow up in a big way.”

  “And you think we can stop her?”

  “He knows we can,” Ann says. “The other heroes will try to fight fire with fire, but we don’t need that. As soon as I get close, Tess becomes a normal woman with some high-
tech training. We will be on equal footing, should it come to a fight.”

  Vince nods. “She’s got the right of it. So I need you to find Tess and end this.”

  “What about our lead on AHA?” We worked hard for that name.

  “Ditch it.”

  “Sir,” Ann says, “with all due respect, that could be an important lead. If we find out who orchestrated the bombing of the Engine we can either confirm or deny Tess’ guilt on that end of things. Right now, we don’t know if Tess’ actions and the destruction of the Engine are separate acts or the work of a bigger plan. I think we need to follow all leads.”

  Vince holds Ann under his gaze for a beat before turning to me, a question in his eyes.

  “Yeah, yes. I agree with Ann. This whole thing needs sorting out. The timing is too perfect to be a coincidence. We need to track both to come to an end. Right now we are waiting on Adriana to get back to us. In the meantime, we can work on Tess.”

  “What line are you going to follow on Tess right now?”

  That’s a brilliant question, to which I have no answer. I flash an empty look to Ann and hope she saves me before my somewhat well thought-out ship of a plan hits an atom bomb.

  Ann hesitates for a moment, trying to think as fast as I am, I suppose. She finally says, “Tess is from Houston, right?”

  “Yes.” Vince leans against a cabinet close to the plane exit.

  “Does she still have family here?”

  That’s a damn good point. Between AHA and destroyed cities, I haven’t had the time to think about her family. The parents are the first place to check on a normal case. I must be tired. This is a mystery, just like any other police case. I need to get my head out of my ass and start thinking like a cop.

  Vince nods.

  “Has anyone from SHI been to speak with them?” Ann’s got a smirk on her face. She probably already knows the answer to this question.

  “Well, no. You are the only team I put in place other than Petr. They are on a seek-and-destroy mission, so I highly doubt they will be looking into next of kin.”