The huge monitor that fills one wall flares to life. It shows a huge image of Devlin De Marco, in a red silk suit, with matching deep red overcoat.
His white silk shirt is unbuttoned, as usual, revealing his hairless tanned chest.
I grind my teeth as I look up at Devlin.
“This man is now the most dangerous man on the planet.” Donald Winters states gravely.
“Him? Come on. I can take him.” I say casually.
“Which is why you are here.” One of the men seated at the table says and looks up at me. He’s a scrawny man in his thirties, wearing a deep blue suit.
“He gave you your powers. Correct?” Donald Winters asks.
“Yes.” I say grudgingly. I hate giving Devlin any credit.
“How many people do you think he has also given powers to?” One of the men at the table asks. He’s wearing green military fatigues. A whole bunch of medals adorn his chest.
“I don’t know.” I shrug. I remember all of the computer monitors in his secret basement. “Lots, I guess.”
“Do you have any idea how much this is worth?” The scrawny man in the blue suit pipes up again.
Who wouldn’t want to have superpowers?
“Yeah, I guess I do. What are you getting at?” I say.
“This.” Bill says as he walks behind me, and presses some buttons on a console that’s embedded in the oval table.
The screen changes, and now shows several images. They’re photos of men taken from security cameras, or maybe from a satellite.
“This guy is known only as the Dubai Devil. He’s responsible for several high profile terrorist attacks in the last three years.” Bill says pointing to one of the images.
The guy doesn’t look very scary. Calm, placid eyes stare from an angular face. A small black goatee hangs from his chin.
His high cheek bones make him look gaunt, especially with the thin pencil nose and arching eyebrows, which make him look surprised.
Has he had Botox?
“This charming young man..” Bill says pointing to another image. “..is known as the Prince of Pain. He specializes in kidnapping, torture, extortion, murder..”
“Okay, okay. But what have they got to do with Devlin?” I ask.
“Since Devlin’s arrest and subsequent escape, these men have vanished off our radar. We have no idea where they are.” Bill says grimly.
“Wait. You think they’re gonna go after Devlin?” I ask.
“We need you to locate Mr. De Marco, apprehend him, and retrieve the meteorites, at any cost.” Donald Winters says gravely.
“And what do I get out of this?” I ask.
“The appreciation of your country.” Donald says with a wry smile.
“I have one condition.” I say and face the men.
“Now wait just a minute...” The scrawny guy says and starts to stand up.
“It’s alright, Jackson. I want to hear her out.” Donald says and waves the guy back into his seat.
“I want you to call off the dogs. Me and my friends are allies, got it? No more being chased by police, no more being shot at by the Air Force. Leave us the hell alone, okay?” I say and fold my arms across my chest and wait.
“Consider it done.” Donald says and smiles.
I point to the phone sitting near the scrawny pencil neck.
“Now, if you please.” I say and smile.
“Jackson, if you will?” Donald says and turns to the guy in the blue suit.
Jackson huffs, but he picks up the phone and starts dialing.
“Hi Central, this is agent Warren Jackson. Send order to all agencies. Bluebird and friends are off the menu. Correct. Thank you.” Jackson says then hangs up. He gives me an odd look.
“I think that takes care of that, my dear.” Donald says and turns to me. “Now, it’s time for you to honor our agreement.”
“Where do I start?” I ask. “Where was he last seen?”
“Well, we do have additional security cameras in most cities, and we are looking for him. Some in Chicago were damaged, unfortunately.” Bill says and looks at me accusingly.
I blush.
“One of our satellites tracked him off the coast of San Diego a few days ago. But then we lost him.” The military guy says and presses a button. It shows an overhead view of the Pacific Ocean and the golf course near Devlin’s hilltop mansion.
“Uh oh.” I say as I realize why he went there.
“What is it?” Bill asks.
“That’s where the jet went down. I think he might have had the meteorites on board.” I say as I gaze at the image.
“He flipped out about some cases, which I thought was weird at the time. But now it makes sense.” I say and hover above the oval table and gaze at the screen. “He went to get his precious rocks back.” I add and look back at the men.
I look around for the exit. “Is there a quicker way out of here?” I ask quickly as I look around.
“This way.” The military guy says and gets up from the table. “With your permission, Mr. Secretary of Defense?” He asks and nods his head towards Donald.
“By all means, General.” Donald replies, and the military guy walks quickly over to one wall, where another door stands closed.
He opens the door and marches along a short corridor towards a steel elevator.
I fly behind and hover by the elevator as he taps some buttons, then presses his hand against a pad. The elevator pings open, and I fly inside. He enters and presses the only button.
In a couple of minutes the doors ping open, and I am greeted with some rusty metal doors.
“Good luck, Cosmic Girl. Don’t fail us.” The General says, then salutes me.
I exit the elevator and the doors ping close again. I open the rusty metal doors, and find myself on top of a large flat roof. The area around me looks industrial as I try and get my bearings.
‘Ah, there you are. Where did you go?’ I hear Beth’s husky voice inside my head, sounding relieved.
You couldn’t hear me? I ask inside my head.
‘Not at all. You think they’re on to me?’
Who knows? Get the others together and meet me at Grant Park near the fountain, in costume. I reply.
‘What happened?’
I’ll tell you in person. I reply in my head.
I launch up into the darkening sky and accelerate until I pass the first layer of clouds. Once through, I slow down and breathe in the fresh air. I wait for my inner compass to start working, then pitch forward and fly down and bank to my right as I head towards the lake. In seconds I’m down and walking across the short grass towards the Buckingham Fountain.
Plenty of people are calling after me, and I see the flash of cameras as I saunter over to the fountain and hop up on the ledge and sit down. I hear a rumble and feel the wind on my face, then my friends materialize one at a time. First Mitchell, in costume, then Stuart in his blue unitard with the white lightning bolt and blue skiing goggles, followed by Beth in her white leather catsuit with matching eye mask, then lastly Paul in his magician’s costume.
“Hi guys.” I say and smile at them. “I’ve got some good news, and some bad news.” I say.
“Figures. So what’s the bad news?” Beth asks.
“The bad news is that we have to hunt down Devlin De Marco again. If we don’t, then he could create super-terrorists.” I reply.
“Bloody hell.” Paul blurts out. “We can’t let that happen, right?” He adds and looks around at the others.
“Okay, so what’s the good news?” Stuart asks calmly.
“The cops and military are no longer after us. So we have more freedom now.” I say.
“Well, that should help.” Mitchell says in his deep muffled voice.
“Yeah, it’s always easier when people are not trying to blast you out of the sky.” Beth says.
“So do we bring in the newbies for this?” Paul asks.
I think about our new friends and what they can do. I remember what happened when Georgia touc
hed me.
“I-Spy, contact Ghost Girl. Have her meet us at the junk yard. Five minutes.” I say quickly to Beth.
Beth closes her eyes and leans her head to one side. Then she opens her eyes and rubs her nose with her thumb.
“Done.” Beth says.
“Let’s go.” I say and take off into the air and fly west.
I get to the junk yard in seconds and drop to the dirt like a rock. I hunt around for a suitable carrier for everyone. I see a beaten old trailer.
Nope.
I race over to a large pile of scrap and look for anything useful.
Nothing.
I race past a pile of washing machines, and something catches my eye. I turn and look to my left.
Ah. Now that’s a little more like it.
“A fishing boat? Really?” I hear Beth shout out to me from above, as we reach the first cloud layer.
“A smelly fishing boat.” Paul calls out.
“It serves its purpose quite nicely.” I shout up at them as I hold on tightly to the hull.
“This boat has seen some really bad times. Those poor fishermen.” I hear Georgia call out.
“What’s she been smoking?” I hear Paul call out.
‘So, where are we going, exactly?’ Beth’s husky voice asks inside my head.
San Diego. I reply in my head.
The Secretary of Defense is true to his word. We reach San Diego without any trigger happy flyboys saying ‘Hi’.
I swoop down to the Pacific, then lower myself into the blue ocean. As the fishing boat bobs on top the waves above me, I let go and then fly to the side and come up out of the water.
“What? Are we going fishing?” Paul asks as he looks up at me while chewing a toothpick.
“In a way.” I say and lower myself on to the boats deck. Trying to remember the image that was on the screen, I face away from the land and walk to the other side of the boat and point towards the blue choppy water.
“Okay, Warlock. Time to show us how strong you are.” I say and fold my arms across my chest.
Paul eyes Beth, then grins and cracks his knuckles.
“What do you want?” Paul asks and sweeps his black cape behind himself dramatically.
I can’t help but smirk.
“Out there is Devlin’s private jet.” I say.
I see Beth nod her head in understanding, then she sidles up to Paul. “Be a good boy, and fetch.” Beth purrs and squeezes his butt playfully.
Paul chuckles and reaches out with both of his white gloved-hands. His eyes narrow and he begins to move his arms in a sweeping motion from left to right. He moves his arms in a sweeping motion back to the left again, then stops. He leans over the side of the vessel and reaches down towards the waves.
“I got something.” Paul murmurs and begins to slowly raise his arms. A few seconds later and the surface of the water, a hundred yards away, begins to bubble.
Paul continues to raise his arms, then he rises up from the deck.
As he gains several feet up, the water erupts a hundred yards away and something white breaks the surface. I watch as more is revealed, while Paul continues to rise up into the air. The shape of a small wing emerges, then some fuselage.
“It looks like the tail.” Mitchell says as he removes his helmet and looks at me.
I nod my head and look up at Paul, hovering above the boat in his magician’s costume, with his black cape billowing behind him.
“Can you bring it closer?” I call up to Paul.
“No worries.” Paul replies and turns his hands so that his palms are facing his chest, then pulls his hands towards himself. The tail of the jet glides through the water towards us.
“That’s fine. Hold it there.” I call up and then turn to Georgia.
Georgia doesn’t have a costume yet, but she does have a white Domino eye mask. We’ll work on her costume later.
“Can you touch this, and see what you get?” I ask her.
“I’ll try.” Georgia says and steps forward.
She leans over the side and reaches out with her right hand. As her hand makes contact with the tail wing tip, her eyes glaze over.
“I’m getting, happy. Parties. Lots of parties. A dog. Wool and knitting needles. Reading, lots of reading. Then anger. Scary angry.” Georgia says while staring off into space.
“I hear gunshots, now. Then laughter. The last thing is someone very happy. HIs face looks familiar.” Georgia says while in a trance.
“I-Spy. Can you read her? See what she’s seeing?” I ask Beth.
“Sure.” Beth replies and then looks intently at Georgia as she holds on to the wing tip.
“Devlin’s been here. He found some cases.” Beth says.
“Ghost Girl? Can you read anything that might tell us where he was going next?” I ask Georgia.
She blinks and looks blankly at me. “Ghost Girl?” She asks.
“Sorry. It’s the name we chose for you.” Stuart says calmly to Georgia and smiles apologetically.
“Oh. He was thinking of someone called Fifi.” Georgia says and looks at us. “Who’s Fifi?”
“Of course.” I say and slap my forehead. “His dog.”
“What happened to his dog? It wasn’t at the house.” Stuart asks.
“I don’t know. It wasn’t on his plane, either.” I say.
“Maybe the Feds know.” Mitchell says.
“How do you know this?” Stuart asks Georgia.
“It’s hard to explain. It’s like a movie playing inside my head when I touch things. Where it’s been, who’s touched it, how they were feeling and what they were doing.” Georgia explains slowly.
“Umm, guys? Do you still need me to hold this?” I hear Paul call out from above us.
Ten
I rest the fishing boat in Devlin’s front yard, grab my backpack that Beth was looking after, then hop up to the roof and fish out my cell phone. I look through and find Agent Forest’s number, and hit speed dial. She picks up after a few rings.
“Hello, who is this?” Agent Forest answers in her southern drawl.
“Hello Agent Forest. It’s Cosmic Girl.” I say..
“Hi. Still at large, I see.” Agent Forest replies warmly.
“So far, so good.” I say. “I need your help.” I add quickly.
“What do you need?”
“When Devlin was arrested, what happened to his dog?” I ask.
“It went to a pound, why?”
“Do you have their address?” I ask.
“You think Devlin’s going after his pet pooch?”
“I think he already has.” I say.
“Hold the line, I’ll call them.” Agent Forest says, then I hear some hold music. Nothing I know, just some classical music.
It’s a few minutes before the hold music stops. “A police officer answered. He says it’s a mess. Where are you right now?” Agent Forest says quickly.
“Devlin’s mansion in San Diego.” I reply.
“I think you need to get over there.” She says, and tells me the address. I race indoors to the main living area and jot down the address on a notepad.
“I’ll speak to you later.” I say and hang up. I race upstairs to the roof, then hop down to where the others are waiting.
“He’s already been to the dog pound.” I tell the others. “I need to get over there quick.” I say, and Mitchell nods his head in agreement.
“You’re coming with me.” I say to Ghost Girl, as I saunter over to where Georgia’s standing.
“Where?” She asks worriedly.
“Don’t worry. Just a dog pound.” I say and wrap my arms around her. “Hold on tight.” I warn her, then launch us up into the sky.
“Wow!” Georgia cries out as I gain a few thousand feet in just a couple of seconds.
“Sometimes, the abilities we’ve been given are a blessing.” I say to her as we pass through a cloud, still heading east away from the setting sun.
“Sometimes.” Georgia echoes, and twists
her head to look up at me.
I try and remember the address as I race through the clouds holding on to Georgia. She said it was just off of Aero Drive, not far from Montgomery Airfield. There’s a Walmart near it, so I focus on these three things as I begin my descent.
There’s an airfield far below us. I see a small aircraft taking off as I fly overhead. I fly lower and look for the Walmart.
Bingo. There it is, just off to my right, several thousand feet away.
There’s a fancy looking building next to it. The sign reads: Pet’s Paradise. Four police cars are parked out front, and I see a couple of ambulances. A paramedic is speaking to a young woman. She’s crying.
Oh, no. Devlin, what have you done?
“Hold on.” I tell Georgia as I swoop down to the sidewalk. “Refer to me as Cosmic Girl.” I remind her.
“Okay. And I’m Ghost Girl, right?” She asks.
“That’s right.” I reply as I land and set her down near a police officer. He takes a step back as he looks at us both.
“Whoa, there. This is a crime scene. You’re not going in there.” He says and holds up his hands to stop us.
Cosmic Girl: Looking For Trouble: superhero series for young adults - Book Two Page 7