I felt as if I was being pulled in two. I slowly floated back down to the ground. Every fiber within me told me to go and save Mom and Dad from the STF. But still—as usual—Dad had a great point. The STF only hated Supers; they wanted to keep civilians safe. A hidden STF base really was the best place for them. Still, I wasn’t entirely sure.
“What happens if the STF finds out who they are? If they know they have Tempest’s parents, they’re going to use that against them.” I placed my feet on the ground and waited for Samantha to tell Dad my concern.
A few moments later, I had a response. “He says that they’ll be careful,” Samantha said. “They can take care of themselves. They’ll come up with an alias—if they’re even asked. The STF has a lot of people, and can’t keep track of them all. Besides, if your parents are in danger, they know of a Super or two who’ll come save them.” Samantha opened her eyes and looked into mine. She took a step forward and put a hand on my arm. “I promise you, Kane, I’ll check in with them all the time. If they’re in any danger, I’ll let you know as soon as possible, and we’ll all stop what we’re doing to save them.”
I looked past Samantha at Doug, Drew, and Selena, who all nodded in agreement.
I sighed. It seemed as if I didn’t have any other options. “Okay. Tell them to stay safe and that I love them.”
Samantha smiled and nodded. “They say the same.”
I nodded, and Samantha stepped aside. “So, what the hell happened?”
“The STF attacked us out of nowhere,” Selena said. “I don’t even know where they came from. I let my guard down, and they slipped by. I’m so sorry.”
Guilt twisted my gut. She was blaming herself for my mistake.
“They just started attacking, herding people into the trucks,” she continued. “There were too many of them, so I just focused on getting you guys out of there. And then Nep, he...”
“Nep was killed by one of the soldiers,” I said.
Nobody said a word. They were all stunned.
“Why now?” Samantha asked finally. “Why decide to attack us now, out of nowhere?”
“They must’ve found out about us being attacked this morning,” Drew said. “And they figured they’d make their move while we were still recovering—when we least expected it.”
I nodded in agreement. “I’m so sorry, guys. I shouldn’t have let my guard down. I should’ve been out patrolling with Selena.”
“No, it’s fine,” she said. “You handled those Supers this morning all on your own. This one was on me.”
I didn’t have the strength to argue. “So, what’s the plan?” I said, turning to Samantha. “Anybody have any ideas?”
“Well, it’s obvious now—you have to go to England and wherever else you can,” she said. “We need more people on our side, especially if we have the Legion and the STF to worry about.”
“Yes, if you can make the right impression on the governments overseas, especially England, we could garner a lot of support,” Doug said, leaning up against an SUV that had long since been abandoned. “They have no idea what’s going on over here. If Selena can explain what she knows from her scouting missions, and with Kane there as a figurehead, maybe we can convince them to help us.”
“We’ll do what we can,” I said. “But first we need to get some rest. We’ll leave first thing in the morning.” I turned to look at the large store behind us. “I’m sure there’s some mattresses and couches in there. We can crash here for the night.”
Everybody murmured in agreement, and we walked towards the entrance, spirits lower than ever.v
The Human Elevator
I walked outside, the cool, fresh air filling my lungs. Everybody inside the store had long been asleep, but I couldn’t stop tossing and turning.
I walked a bit farther out and looked around. The store and its large parking lot stretched out for a ways before reaching the road that led into the small town we had set up camp in. There didn’t seem to be much around, at least nothing taller than the store.
I turned and floated up to the roof of the building and sat down on the edge with my feet hanging off. They dangled fifteen or twenty feet off the ground. Definitely high enough to make pre-Tempest me nervous.
I felt a small tingle of energy in the back of my head, and I knew instantly what it was. “Hey, you gonna come pick me up, or do I have to stay down here?” Samantha said in my head, confirming my suspicion.
I pushed off the roof and floated to the ground with a smile.
Samantha was standing at the bottom wearing a denim button-up shirt and dark pants. Her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail.
“You want me to give you a ride?” I asked, holding out my arms.
Samantha walked towards me and wrapped her arms around my neck. I held her tight and then floated up towards the roof of the building. Her body tightened, and she held her breath.
“I’m not going to drop you,” I said with a chuckle. I set her down on the roof, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
“I know,” she said as she sat down and slid her feet over the edge. “Just a habit.”
I sat down next to her, our legs swinging in unison. “So, am I like your personal Uber for flying now or something?” I said with a smile.
“No not Uber—Lyft,” she said with a wide smile, satisfied with her joke.
I laughed and shook my head. “Damn, I should’ve thought of that.”
Samantha shrugged with a teasing look on her face. “It’s okay, buddy. Not all of us can be as fast as the Great Samantha.”
I rolled my eyes, and the two of us sat up there in silence for a few minutes, looking up at the stars in the sky. “What are you going to do while Selena and I are gone?”
“Well, obviously we need to find somewhere to set up camp. Hopefully we won’t have to go too far to find somewhere suitable.”
“Does Doug have his computer equipment with him?” I asked, turning to look at Samantha.
“Uh-huh,” she said, brushing a strand of hair behind her left ear. “He sleeps with the essentials in a bag next to his bed, so he was ready to go.”
“That’s good. Anything other than that?”
Samantha shook her head. “Just keeping tabs on you and Selena. I’ll be in your head for most of the important bits.”
“Well, it’s good knowing I’ve got somebody watching my back,” I said, turning my attention to the ground below me. “You know how you have to have a connection, or know a lot about the person, or stuff like that, in order to use your powers on them?”
Samantha nodded. “Yeah, I know that pretty well,” she said, throwing me a teasing look.
“Yeah, I figured you were an expert. Back at the beginning of all this, when I was fighting Richter in the desert, how did you get into my head? We’d never met before that, had we?” I asked.
Samantha didn’t answer right away. I could tell she was trying to figure out how to answer the question. “No, we’d never met, obviously,” she said finally. “I guess...well...” I could see in her eyes that her wheels were turning, trying to figure out how to best articulate what she was trying to say. “It’s going to sound kind of dumb, but here goes. Doug was obviously all over you—Tempest—whatever. Anyway, he was a part of all these online forums, trying to figure out who you were and stuff. Plus I’d seen you all over the news 24/7. I didn’t know what you looked like or who you were, obviously, but I had a pretty clear mental image.”
“Be honest,” I said, unable to pass up asking her my next question. “When you saw me for the first time, did I live up to your mental image, or were you disappointed?”
Samantha sighed and shook her head, trying not to laugh. She pressed her hand on my back, and with a good shove, pushed me off the roof of the building.
I fell down a few feet before stopping myself mid-air. I floated back up to the roof and sat down next to her, trying to hold back a laugh.
“I’m going to push you off every time you interrupt my seri
ous story with a dumb question,” she said, pointing a finger at me with a goofy, adorable smile on her face.
I raised my hands in defense. “Alright, alright. Continue.”
She cleared her throat. “Anyway, I had a pretty clear mental image. But...hope is a powerful thing. I mean, there wasn’t a lot of hope before you were around, when it was just Richter. We weren’t sure if it was the end of the world or not, but it was looking like that was our new reality. And then you showed up, and you brought us—brought me—hope. That’s a pretty powerful connection.”
I wasn’t sure exactly what to say, afraid that whatever was going to come out of my mouth next would ruin the moment. “I don’t really know what to say. Thanks for believing in me, I guess.”
“No problem, Tempest.”
“I’m sorry I let you down,” I said, and I wasn’t sure why.
“What do you mean?” Samantha asked, furrowing her brow.
“You have to admit, things are much worse now than they were when it was just me and Richter. If you weren’t sure it was the end of the world before, it definitely seems that way now. At least, the end of the world as we know it.”
“Kane, it was the end of the world as we knew it the second Richter showed up. And, yeah, things are much different now, but you couldn’t have done anything about that. You don’t know what you’re going to find on your trip. You gotta remember, we’re just a bunch of teenagers. If you can get the help of the most powerful and smartest people in the world? We’ll be able to figure something out. I’m sure.”
“You really think so?” I asked, leaning back on my hands. “They saw what happened to our government. I’m not so sure they’d be eager to help us.”
“You heard Doug, England has Supers working for the government. They’re obviously open to the idea.” Samantha paused for a moment. “I still believe in you, Kane. I still have hope. You can do this.”
I took in her words, believing every one of them. “Alright. If you do, then I guess I do too.”
Samantha smiled and leaned back on her hands like me. “Good. Besides, like I said, I’ll be right there with you.”
“Front row seats,” I said with a chuckle.
“That’s right. Although hopefully you won’t be so far away that I can’t get a clear connection with you,” she said nervously.
“Why wouldn’t you be?” I asked.
“You’re going to be on the other side of the planet. I’ve never connected to someone that far away. What if there’s something with the Earth that blocks my signals, or whatever it is that allows my powers to work?”
I shook my head. “Samantha, you’ve connected with me while I was in space.”
“Yeah, but low orbit isn’t that far away, miles-wise. The other side of the Earth is thousands of miles,” she said, her voice picking up speed as she let out her anxieties.
“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “If for some reason you’re not able to connect, I’ll come right back and we’ll figure something out. It’ll be fine.”
“I sure hope you’re right.”
“Hey,” I said, looking right at her. “Believe in me.”
Samantha rolled her eyes, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “God, you’re really going to make me regret telling you that, aren’t you?”
I shrugged and chuckled. “I’ll consider it my birthday present from you.”
Samantha’s eyes lit up, and she punched me playfully on the arm. “You didn’t tell me it was your birthday!”
“I just did!” I exclaimed. “The big one-eight.”
“Well,” Samantha said. “Happy birthday. Welcome to adulthood. We’re all glad you’re here.”
“Thank you,” I said, bowing my head with a smirk. “It’s good to be here.” A yawn crept up my throat, and I let it out with a stretch. “I’m getting tired. Come on, let’s go get some sleep.”
Samantha nodded. “Yep, I’m feeling it too.”
I picked her up and carried her down to the ground, ending our final night together for quite some time.
Tea Time
“Okay, I think we’re all set,” I said as I finished adjusting my backpack. I looked up to see the faces of the people who counted on me the most.
“When you get to London, go to the Ford Cafe near Piccadilly Circus. My guy will find you,” Doug said. “But try not to draw too much attention to yourself, okay?”
I smiled to thank Doug for his diligence, then turned to Selena. “You ready to do this thing?”
“Let’s do this,” she said.
I turned to Drew, my thoughts lingering on the fight we’d had a couple days before. “I’ll see you soon.”
He nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll hold down the fort.”
“Thanks.” I then turned to Samantha, unsure of what to say. The rising sun had lit up the night sky behind her in beautiful shades of red.
Then, without warning, Samantha stood on her tiptoes and planted a quick innocent peck on my lips.
“That didn’t mean anything,” she said as she pulled away, her cheeks flushing.
I didn’t know what to say. I felt as if I had to inject some comedy to defuse the situation. “Don’t worry, I’m used to hearing that one.”
Everybody else looked at us with wide eyes. Samantha stammered over her words as she tried to explain her reasoning to the group. “It’s just that my powers require a strong connection with the person, and the last thing we want at this time is for something to go wrong and for us to lose connection with Selena and Kane,” she said, appealing to the group. “So, it didn’t mean anything. I just need a strong physical connection and a memory to call on.”
“Don’t worry, Samantha,” I said, shrugging off the situation with a sly smile. “We understand.”
Everyone seemed to agree with that except for Selena, who looked at me with a sly, knowing smile. I ignored her body language and moved on.
“Anyway, we really need to hurry up and go. It’s almost four o’clock in London.” I turned and stood next to Samantha. “You ready to do this?” I asked her.
Samantha turned her eyes skyward.
I took one last glance at the people I was leaving behind before taking off into the sky, heading towards the ocean.
SELENA AND I STEPPED through the doors of the Ford Cafe a little over an hour later. Its warmth was a nice change from the cold London air outside. We each ordered a coffee and sat down with our drinks in the nearly empty cafe. I looked out the window to my right, watching a city that seemed to be hanging on to life by a thread. Hardly anyone was walking along the street, but compared to the States, seeing anybody at all on the street who wasn’t looting a store or trying to kill somebody was amazing.
“This is pretty crazy,” Selena said as she looked out the window as well.
“Yeah, it’s so...normal.”
We continued to watch in silence as the few people who were out carried on with their days, albeit a bit faster than was probably normal. I couldn’t believe how relatively unfazed the city seemed to be. I imagined that most people in business or in the government were freaking out and preparing for what could possibly be the end of the world. But the civilians still had errands to run. There was still bread to buy, coffee to drink, dates to go on, and plays to see. I could easily understand why some business owners would want to keep things going as normally as possible. Now, more than ever, people needed a morale boost.
“It reminds me of things I’ve seen and read about the World Wars,” Selena said, turning away from the window to take another sip of her coffee. “Most of Europe was a war-torn hell. People were terrified, dying every day. Bombs were being dropped on cities. But that didn’t mean that everything stopped in the States, and other places in the world where the fighting wasn’t going on. The day-to-day parts of life were still happening.”
“Yeah, except there were Allies to fight the Axis. Right now it’s pretty much just the Legion doing whatever they want,” I said.
Selena shrugged.
“Maybe. But not for long, at least if this trip goes well.”
I looked around the coffee shop. “Yeah, if this guy ever shows up,” I said, searching for anyone who even looked a little government official-like. Other than a couple quietly chatting in the corner and the baristas behind the counter, there was nobody in the store. “You listening, Samantha?” I asked, making sure she was there.
“Yeah,” she said. “I’m relaying everything you’re saying to Doug and Drew. They say hi.”
A bell jingled as the door opened. I turned and watched a guy around my age step in. He had blond hair cut short, and a little bit of scruff on his cheeks. He was wearing a blue button-down shirt with a light tweed blazer, a pair of dress slacks, and polished shoes. He scanned the room, and when his eyes met mine, he let out a grin.
“I think Doug’s guy is here,” I told Selena.
She looked behind her as the guy came walking over to our table.
“Kane? Selena?” he asked as he pulled out his chair.
We nodded, and he clapped his hands together. “Excellent. It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve been following your work ever since that whole Richter situation,” he said to me. He spoke with a very light, almost unnoticeable, British accent.
“Thanks. If only our current situation was as easy as that one—and that one wasn’t easy by any means,” I said with a smile.
He nodded and leaned back in his chair. “Well, hopefully we’ll be able to work something out and we’ll be able to get a better grip on the situation. I’m sure we’ll be able to come up with something that’ll be beneficial for us all.” Our new government friend stood up from his chair. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment, I’m going to go order a cup of tea.”
Selena leaned closer to me once he had left to go order at the counter. “What do you think?”
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