Chapter 20
As I said, none of us knew that any of this was taking place, except maybe Wizzit. The first any of us Primes heard about it was when, after Bill and I had been watching the monster farce in Chicago for a couple of hours, Wizzit announced, "Heads up, kids. It looks like they've finally decided to release Shelley."
I let out a whoop of excitement, and I could hear my teammates doing the same. "Do we know how soon, Wizzit?" I heard Mike ask.
"Negatory on that, good buddy," Wizzit replied. "News reports just state that her release is 'imminent'. They have moved her from her cell, but I don't know what her final destination will be. In the meantime, though, prepare to teleport back to HQ. There's no point to your staying out there."
Wizzit had put a news channel up on the large vid screen in the common room by the time we got back. The pretty blonde newscaster was concentrating on the teleprompter in front of her with the utmost seriousness. "In other news," she read, "it appears that Shelley Windham, the one-time leader of the monster-fighting group calling itself the Primes, is scheduled to be released from military custody today.
"Administration officials declined to elaborate on the reason for the sudden decision, although speculation is running high that her release is somehow connected to the running battles that police and army forces are currently waging against monsters in Chicago, Las Vegas, and the nation's capital. Windham is reportedly en route to Washington, DC, where she will meet briefly with the Vice President before being released. There has been as yet no comment from the Primes."
"Idiots!" Mike muttered as Wizzit switched off the newscast. "They're wasting time flying her out to DC. We would've been just as happy if they had dropped her off on the streets of Denver with a hearty ''Bye now!'"
"They probably still think we don't know where they've been keeping her," Bill said. "Wizzit, any thoughts on how we should pick her up?"
"I am open to suggestions."
"I'm thinking we should send two of us. Obviously Mike goes, as Prime Red, and then either Toby or me, dressed up as Prime Gold, since we're both about Shelley's height. That way, when Prime Gold starts showing up at battle scenes, folks won't immediately assume it's her."
"Good thinking," Mike said. "I nominate you to go as Prime Gold, Bill; you've earned the right if anyone has."
Bill nodded his thanks. Trina said, "While we are waiting, we should talk about the monsters we were just watching. Perhaps we can spot weaknesses of some sort."
"I was about to suggest the same thing myself," Mike agreed. "First, though . . . Wizzit, have you contacted the Primes Emeriti and Junior Prime Pink? We might need everyone's help today."
"Affirmative," Wizzit replied. "Primes Copper and Silver have cleared their calendars and are standing by. Prime Steel and Junior Prime Pink are currently unavailable. Oddly enough, each of them is due onstage sometime soon."
"I know that Alvaro was supposed to be performing in a benefit concert today," Toby said. "It's been in the works for months."
I shrugged at the puzzled looks that came my way. "My sister is in a musical at her high school," I explained. "Today is the last performance."
Mike grunted noncommittally. "Let's go over the monsters, then. Trina, you go first, since you brought it up."
Wizzit brought up a still image of a tall, four-armed, golden-skinned man wearing a tall headdress that looked vaguely Indian. I heard Padma gasp. "Do you recognize the image?" Trina asked her.
"It is Indra," Padma replied, wide-eyed. She explained, "He is the chief of the gods. He controls the thunder and the rain and is supposed to be a very great warrior."
"That would make sense," Trina agreed. "He is carrying a weapon, which you can see here." She tapped the vid screen, indicating the golden-skinned man's fist. It appeared to be holding a short, heavy stick with fancy-looking knobs at either end. "When he strikes something with the weapon, it makes a loud sound like a thunderclap."
"That is the Vajra," Padma said. "It is supposed to be hard like a diamond and irresistible like thunder."
"Of course, this is just Enclave's re-creation of their idea of Indra," Bill remarked. "My guess is the Harley twins put this monster together, since they're the ones who did the Ganesha monster earlier. They seem to put a good deal of thought and detail into their monsters. Padma, does the god Indra have any traditional weaknesses? If he does, then perhaps we could exploit those in this particular monster."
"I cannot think of any," Padma said thoughtfully. "He is a typical man: he is proud, he likes to fight, and he likes to seduce beautiful women. Oh, and he is very fond of Soma. It is a kind of intoxicating drink," she added.
"Not much help there," Bill mused, "unless we can find a keg or two of this Soma and get him drunk." He shrugged. "I'll go next, I guess. Wizzit, if you please?"
Wizzit obligingly put up an image of a beefy red-haired, red-bearded man wearing a Viking-style horned helmet and holding a short-hafted hammer in one hand. "This," Bill said, "is most likely Enclave's impression of Thor, the Norse god of thunder."
"I thought Thor was supposed to be blond," Toby interjected.
Bill chuckled. "He is in the comic books," he said, "but in the Eddas, he is described pretty much as you see him here. The hammer you see him holding is called Mjolnir, and like in the comics, it supposedly never misses its target, and if he throws it, it always finds its way back to his hand. Here," he said, tapping the screen, "are the metal gauntlets he uses to wield Mjolnir, and he also wears a magical belt, which you can see here, that is supposed to double his strength."
"So we might get somewhere if we attack the hammer, gloves, or belt?" Mike asked.
"They're probably our best targets," Bill agreed. "And lastly, we have . . ."
Wizzit brought up a third still, the image of a regal-looking man wearing a toga. "If the other two are Indra and Thor," Mike said, "then this one is probably supposed to be Zeus, I'd say. No weapons, but every now and then he makes a throwing motion, there's a flash of light, and then something explodes as if it has been struck by a thunderbolt. Appears to throw with his right hand, if it makes any difference."
"Well, the pattern is clear, if nothing else," Bill said with a shrug. "Three cities, three storm gods."
"Bill and I saw some Zoinks in Chicago," I put in. "They were running interference for Thor, but no one appeared to be directing them."
"Same thing in Washington," Padma said.
Toby said, "Didn't see any Zoinks in Las Vegas."
"So how do you want to split things up, Mike?" Bill asked.
"Primes Silver and Copper should not go to Chicago," Wizzit put in quickly. "Currently there's a cold snap there; the temperature is just above freezing. Low temperatures would prevent them from functioning optimally, as they do not have force shields."
"In that case," Mike said, "Trina should lead the team in Chicago, so that every group has a shooter. Take, um, Trevor and Nicolai with you when you go, love, all right? Trevor, you're the only native English-speaker on Trina's team, so you will be their spokesman. I'll take Mayumi and Toby with me to Washington, which leaves Cathy and Padma for you, Bill. Everyone understand their assignments?"
"If it is all the same to you," Padma said, hesitantly raising her hand, "I would prefer not to fight Indra. I know it is not the real Indra, but still . . ."
After a moment, Mike nodded. "All right, then, my team will go to Las Vegas and Bill's will go to Washington instead. Everybody happy?"
We all nodded, while Padma murmured an apology. Everyone gathered up their battle gear, and after that, the only thing left was to wait until Shelley reached Washington. Let me tell you, it was a long wait. I could probably have run from Denver to Washington faster than that plane flew.
Finally, though, she landed at Dulles International Airport, and Wizzit changed the display on the vid screen from a map of the continental U.S. t
o one of the DC metro area. They must have loaded her into a van, because the little Shelley-dot began moving rapidly from Dulles eastward towards Washington. When she finally stopped, Wizzit zoomed in as close as he could and overlaid the map with satellite imagery.
"The White House?" I said. "Well, I guess that's about as public a place as you could find in DC. What part are they taking her to, the Rose Garden?"
"Correctamundo!" chirped Wizzit. "Let me see what kinds of video feeds I can find. Hmm. No one is going to air this live, but I should be able to . . . yup, here we are!"
The vid screen came to life with camera footage of the Rose Garden. A news reporter was checking her hair and makeup while various men in suits and sunglasses prowled around in the background. Suddenly, a white-haired man in a dark blue suit and red tie stepped toward a bank of microphones and started speaking. I recognized him as the Vice President. I couldn't make out what sort of speech he was giving, though, because everyone started to talk all at once as Shelley suddenly moved into the picture from somewhere off to the left, flanked by armed soldiers.
They must have found some clothes for her somewhere, because she was wearing a nondescript blouse and skirt -- not the torn, bloody tee-shirt and shorts she had been wearing when she had been captured, and definitely not the orange prison jumpsuit she had been wearing while a prisoner. She had evidently been allowed to clean herself up, brush her hair, and even apply some makeup, because overall she looked pretty good. While she had been kept in that cell, she had frankly begun looking more than a little rough around the edges.
I hadn't seen her in anything except that orange jumpsuit since she had been captured. (Wizzit steadfastly refused to show us the nude interrogation, despite repeated requests from Mike and Toby.) Seeing her in street clothes now, I could tell that her time in Denver had definitely put a few pounds on her. Not that she was fat by any stretch of the imagination, but as Prime Red she had always worked hard to keep herself in tip-top shape -- extremely lean and muscular. I could tell now that her face was rounder, softer, than it had been and that she had gained a bit of weight around the hips and bust. Her hair was longer, too. Definitely a more feminine look for her. And if I were Bill, I wouldn't have minded that one little bit.
"Not too many unobserved spots close by to teleport the two of you into," Wizzit said to Mike and Bill. "Looks like I'll have to send you out in plain view of everybody. I'll try to make it far enough away from the action that their Secret Service won't tackle you."
"How much time do we have before Enclave will be able to send down more monsters in addition to the three already out there?" Trina asked anxiously.
"Unknown," Wizzit replied. "This would not be a time to dawdle, however."
Mike nodded grimly. "Ready to go?" he asked Bill.
"I've been ready for this for months," Bill replied with a grin.
"Then let's do it. Prime Red, activate!"
"Prime Gold, activate!"
Wizzit teleported the two of them out right away. About five seconds later, the Vice President abruptly stopped his speech and the camera swiveled around to focus on the two Primes who had suddenly materialized.
I hadn't gotten a good look at Bill before he teleported out, but now that I saw him on camera, I have to say that Wizzit did a mighty good job with the Prime Gold getup. Bill looked positively majestic as he strode purposefully forward, shoulder-to-shoulder with Mike. The two of them stopped a short distance in front of the bank of microphones, instantly commanding everyone's attention.
There was silence for a moment as all eyes turned to look at the newcomers. The Vice President faltered, then gave up any pretense of continuing his speech. A gaggle of reporters with microphones rushed toward the two of them shouting questions.
Mike's amplified voice easily carried over them: "I hate to seem abrupt, but the sooner we can escort Ms. Windham home, the sooner we can be about our business." He extended a hand. "Shelley?"
Shelley looked around uncertainly. The Vice President swept his arm out in an expansive gesture. "You are free to go, Ms. Windham," he said with a toothy grin.
She stepped forward. The crowd of reporters surrounding Mike and Bill parted almost magically. She took hold of Mike's hand, and a second later, the three of them vanished in a flash of light.
About a minute later, Mike and Bill materialized back at HQ. "She's at home right now with her mother and Francesca," Mike told us all. "I said we'd look in on her after the battle. Everyone ready?" We were. The rest of us activated, from Trina down to Padma, and Wizzit teleported us out.
Attack Doll 4: Primes Emeriti Page 21