Red Death
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Jim switched to a visual feed from the Pentagon and he and Brant watched as Greta used her mind to take control of all four fighter jets once their pilots had disembarked. She flew them around like toys. They had amazing maneuverability, and some of her moves would’ve probably knocked out the pilots had they been in the cockpits.
Within a few moments, she’d managed to take out six hidden ground-to-air missile installations designed to protect Location-H. And then she went in for the kill.
All four jets converged on the farm and let rip a barrage of fire power that resulted in a huge fiery explosion.
The six dots on the Red Death control room screen winked out of existence.
“That’s it? We did it?” asked Jim.
“Yes,” said Brant. “But there’s still the issue of the dampening field. We need to figure out how to undo what Zeb has done.”
“There’s only one way to find out,” said Jim. “I need to unfreeze him.”
“All right,” said Brant. “But be careful.”
Jim positioned himself so that he could grab the dampening weapon out of Zeb’s hand as soon as he returned to normal time, then mentally “turned off” the pausing effect.
He snatched the weapon from Zeb’s hand, then fired on him.
Zeb staggered back and fell against the computer console, then slid down so he was sitting on the floor. He breathed heavily, as if he’d been socked in the gut.
“Tell us how to undo it,” said Brant. “How do we remove the dampening field?”
“There’s only one way,” said Zeb. “It takes the combined power of the whole Red Death. Each member of the team need to focus their mental strength and energy on disintegrating the field.”
“That could be a problem,” said Brant. “Red Death is dead. Except for you.”
Zeb smiled. Then he started to laugh. He sounded maniacal. “Well, then, I guess you have a dilemma, don’t you?”
Jim looked at Brant, confused. Why wasn’t this man concerned that his whole team had just been obliterated?
“I see how it must be,” said Brant, frowning. “I’ll see to it. Jim, give me the headset.”
Jim handed it over, stunned and wondering what was going on.
“Order team,” said Brant, “return to base. Except Eduard. You are to go to Location-H and revive the Red Death team members. Allow them to take you into custody and return to their headquaters.”
“What?” yelled Jim. “Are you crazy?”
“It’s the only way,” said Brant.
“Wait a minute – revive them? What – what are you even talking about, anyway?”
“Eduard’s primary gift is the ability to restore to life those who have been dead for less than twenty four hours. It has come in very handy a couple of times over the years.”
Jim looked over at Anna’s body. “That’s why you weren’t concerned? About Anna?”
“Yes. I knew she would be restored.”
After a few minutes, the six Red Death members arrived, with Eduard bound and gagged.
“My friends,” grinned Zeb. “You’ve made it home.”
“What is going on here?” barked Victor Davidson, the senior member after Zeb. “Why were we called back to Location-H, and then ambushed? And then brought back to life by this Order maggot?”
“It’s complicated, Victor,” said Zeb. “Don’t worry about it right now. The plan will still go forward – this was just a snag. For now, I need the six of you to focus on removing the dampening field around me.”
“No!” shouted Brant. “The deal is you take care of me first – then your boss. Or Jim here will freeze you all in place, while we spend the next few decades figuring out how to remove the field from me. Your choice.”
Zeb nodded. “You heard him.”
While the six complied and removed Brant’s dampening field, Jim untied Eduard and Eduard dropped to his knees beside Anna. He laid his right hand over her heart and closed his eyes. A moment later, she was awake.
“Eduard? Oh, Eduard, thank you!” she said.
“Her next,” said Brant, once he was back to normal.
Victor looked to Zeb for instructions.
“Go on,” said Zeb.
The six once again did their thing and removed the field from Anna. Then they turned their attention on their leader. Within a few moments, Zeb was free from the bonds of his own weapon.
“Now!” he called. The Red Death focused their combined energy on Brant, Anna, Jim and Eduard. An invisible wall closed in on them, and the air within their transparent cage grew thin.
“Ha ha!” laughed Zeb. “Thank you for bringing my team home, Brant! First things first,” he said, pushing a few buttons on the computer. “This isn’t exactly how we had it planned, but it’ll have to do as a contingency. There! The water toxin has been released. Next - prepare to die.”
In a combined effort, the four Order members pushed back with their minds. Brant strove to stupefy the Red Death, while Anna tried to make their minds wander. Eduard shot feelings of pain into their bodies, and Jim did his best to try to freeze them all.
But the Red Death were too strong.
Then Austin, Nicole and Greta appeared in the doorway. They added their own strength to the battle, and were able to break through the confinement field around their team mates.
Suddenly, Jim found himself able to utilize his power to its full extent. He froze the entire Red Death.
They quickly turned into black fuzzy shadows, not moving at all.
Brant grabbed Zeb’s dampening weapon and shot each of the Red Death members in sequence.
“You may release them now, Jim,” he said. “It’s over.”
With the Red Death controlled by Zeb’s own weapon, and with no way to use their powers to undo the damage, it truly was over.
Except for the water supply.
“Where’s the antitoxin? How do we administer it to the water supply?” said Brant, grabbing Zeb by the lapels.
“I’ll never tell.”
“You don’t have to. Austin?” said Brant.
Austin, who had the strongest invasive telepathy, pulled the answers from Zeb’s mind. It was easy, as Zeb was rendered inert by the dampening field and unable to resist.
He stepped to the computer and entered some codes.
“That oughtta do it,” he said. “The water supply will be normalized immediately. No harmful effects will remain.”
“Good,” said Brant. “Team, let’s go home.”
On the flight back to The Order headquarters, Anna reached over and gripped Jim’s hand warmly. “We couldn’t have done it without you, Jim,” she said.
“So, with these guys finally out of commission, what do we do now?” Jim asked.
“We wait for December 2013, meet up with Kane – the last of the abductees - and hope we can convince him to join us. Because if he has more ability, greater strength, and a tendency to be selfish, he could end up releasing the Red Death and unleashing a whole new reign of terror on this world.”
“And then we’d be back in business, eh?” said Jim.
“Yeah. But I’d rather just retire to some island.” She flicked her auburn hair back over her shoulder and smiled at Jim. “With you.”
THE END
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