“First and foremost, we ask the media and any official news reporting organization to refrain from propagating the unofficial popular name Blue Spekter and refer to the person in question as an unidentified phenomenon until such time as his or her intentions can be verified.”
Quinn saw several reporters roll their eyes, but they patiently waited for the chief to finish her briefing.
“Secondly, to any law-abiding citizen considering vigilantism, we urge you to refrain from such behavior because hero worship only serves to undermine police operations. Acting as a vigilante and pretending you are above the law or impervious to physical harm can and will have dangerous consequences. You will also inadvertently put yourself and other people in danger.”
Quinn sighed and shifted his weight, folding his arms across his chest.
“And thirdly, to the person, man or woman, young or old, who interfered with the emergency situation on the Memorial Bridge and the potential suicide bomber in Market Square, please stop. As I already said, though we believe at this point in our investigations that your intentions were aligned with our police and emergency responses, you are not trained to respond in crisis situations. I will now take your questions.”
The reporters shouted a cacophony of questions at the police chief, who sighed and pointed at the reporter directly in front of her. They shushed themselves, so they could listen to the first question.
“Thank you, Chief Applegate. While it is important to address the safety of concerned citizens, how do you account for the confirmed, visual fact that Blue—sorry, the phenomenon—flew through the air, twice.”
“I do not have an answer for that.” She pointed to the next reporter.
“Chief, what does the presence of DHS in Portsmouth signify?”
“Portsmouth is a strategic harbor both economically and with regard to the U.S. Navy and the Coast Guard. Nuclear submarines are in port, and Seabrook Nuclear Station is not far away. It behooves us to coordinate our efforts and form contingency plans with those agencies and DHS.”
“Contingency plans for what?” another reporter shouted.
“Plans that detail how we might defeat and detain the unidentified phenomenon should he become hostile.”
Wow, Mr. St. Germain was right. These people are terrified of me. What the heck can I do to win them over?
Camilla Brenhurst spoke up next. “Chief Applegate, why don’t you ask to speak with him to find out what he stands for?”
Huh, now there’s an idea…not that I’d do it with all those officers around.
“And how do you propose we do that?” the chief asked, shifting her weight to her left leg.
“Ask him on television, right now. I think it’s safe to assume he’ll get the message. Or maybe he’s standing among us listening to this press briefing. Regardless, I would interview him if you won’t.”
Wow, she’s got some guts.
Someone on the DHS team stepped forward as Chief Applegate’s eyes widened with surprise and realization. She pointed at the reporters and frowned at them. “That's a negative to private interviews with the phenomenon, is that clear?”
Quinn eavesdropped when the agent whispered into the chief’s ear. “Cut the briefing. They’re reaching out to him via the broadcast.”
“That’s all for now, thank you,” the chief said. Then, she and the other officers and agents made their way back to police headquarters. The reporters shouted more questions in frustration, but the chief didn’t turn around.
Slowly, they disbursed as camera crews reset for their post-briefing reports that would broadcast live via the parked satellite-ready news vans.
Quinn watched Camilla walk away from the gaggle of reporters to a spot not far from where he stood. Her cameraman approached and secured his camera on the tripod he had set up before the briefing. Quinn decided to eavesdrop with his super hearing.
“What was that all about?” he asked.
“I want this story, Phil. I need Blue Spekter to know he can speak with someone if he wants to help get his story out. There’s also the added career bonus of being the first reporter to interview a potential superhero. That has to come with an award somewhere.”
Is she sincere or selfish?
“I hope you didn’t make yourself a target.” That crazy bomb guy yesterday might have inspired other lunatics…let’s hope no one thinks coming after you will draw him out.
“Are you kidding? DHS is going to have me followed from here on out. If he comes to me, they’re gonna know about it. They’re probably tapping my cellphone right now.”
“Station says you’ve got five minutes,” Phil said, pointing to his headphones.
“All right. Just enough time to clear my thoughts and put a report together.”
Quinn looked away, focusing on some bystanders leaving the police parking lot. I have no idea if I’ll ever talk to you, but it’s nice to know someone reached out, even if they’re thinking about their own gain.
❖
Blake
A middle-aged woman stepped into the office and stopped when her eyes set upon Blake.
“Mother Superior, welcome,” Victor said, bowing slightly at the neck.
“Abbot,” the woman answered firmly, her hands clasped in front of her. She wore a black dress with black pearls and simple, matching earrings. She had short, shiny, and spiky jet-black hair and she wore dark red lipstick. She carried no purse, and her medium-length high heels click-clacked on the strange, metal-laminate floor. She carried an air of intensity about her that intimidated Blake.
Blake felt underdressed, noting his red Converse sneakers, blue jeans, Green Lantern T-shirt, and unzipped maroon Clippers hoodie brought way too much color to The Order.
“Hi,” he said, waving, remaining seated.
She looked at Victor and took a deep breath, then exhaled it slowly. Blake looked at Victor, who shrugged and ignored her strange glance.
Mother Superior walked to the chair Victor had been sitting in and sat down, her feet together in front of her, hands flat on her lap. Blake got the sense she was all about decorum and formal process. Victor walked to the other side of the couch Blake was on and sat down.
“So, young man, you wish to join The Order?”
“Ah, no?” Blake looked at Victor and then back at Mother Superior. He decided to play hard ball. “Lady, I only found out about you today, let alone this whole Order thing you belong to.”
Mother Superior’s face exploded with silent insult. “Why has he not been primed prior to our meeting?”
“Mother Superior, with respect, you’re several weeks early. Blake only recently decided to consider a relationship with us.”
“My schedule is not your concern, Abbot. The Archimandrate is very interested in the accident your sloppiness encouraged.”
“What the hell is an Archimandrate?” Blake asked. Also, she’s really mean.
Mother Superior stared at him with disbelief. Victor cleared his throat and winked at Blake with the eye Mother Superior couldn’t see. “That’s her superior, Blake. A small number of people at that level make up our the Archimandrion or governing council. They’re, um, like generals.”
“So, that council doesn’t have a weird title?” Blake asked sarcastically.
“Abbot, where is the other boy, Quinn McAlester?” Mother Superior asked, ignoring Blake’s question.
“He has decided not to join us at this time.”
“Why is that?”
Victor took several moments to explain the observed differences between Quinn and Blake’s psychological profiles. Blake felt put off that Victor had amassed so much information about them, down to their families, work peers, and friend circles at school. I see why Quinn is creeped out by you.
Mother Superior turned to Blake but spoke to Victor. “I am interested in hearing how this conversation unfolds, Abbot. Please continue.”
Victor took a deep breath and nodded. “Remember how we talked about providing swift justic
e to those who always manage to escape it?”
Blake nodded. “Yeah, exactly what I want to be…the guy who can get to the untouchables.”
Mother Superior softly groaned at his statement.
“Good,” Victor said, ignoring her. “The Order, which by the way, is an acronym…it stands for Orgone Regenerative and Directed Energy Response.”
“Uh-huh,” Blake said, repeating the words in his mind.
Victor smirked and continued. “Allow me to break that down for you. Orgone is the world’s only known self-regenerating energy. The orgone reactors we have today self-regenerate orgone at a one-to-four ratio.”
“Which means?”
“Think of it this way, it takes one unit of orgone energy to make four units. However, it’s a moot point if we don’t have enough orgone energy to start the process. When you and Quinn accidentally activated the focusing array, you drained the Rangeley facility and temporality halted production here.”
“Right, I got that part. Sorry.”
Victor waved his hand dismissively. “Among other things, orgone powers the CloudBuster tech you saw on the surface. The Cloudbusters release orgone into the atmosphere while the antennas collect orgone passively and channel it into the chamber to stimulate regeneration. The storm that tore through the woods near the campground the night before you wandered over here demonstrated the CloudBusters discharging energy directly into the atmosphere; in turn, the storm provided more orgone that topped-off the energy storage cells to capacity. It took well over a year to collect that much orgone from the atmosphere and there’s a lot of it in New England. We think it has something to do with the large amount of granite in the bedrock. Our goal is to keep the orgone stockpile consistently available.”
You’re not telling me a damn thing I don’t already know, Victor…and this is getting old, fast. If she hadn’t shown up…I’d have my answers.
“Is that why the reactor seemed inactive when we came back?” Blake asked, playing the fool.
“You let them come back to the facility?” Mother Superior asked with astonishment.
Oops.
“Yes, that’s right,” Victor said with respectful annoyance. “I let them come back and discover nothing because I didn’t want to involve them if nothing actually happened to them. If there was nothing to find, the problem would resolve itself.”
“Very well, Abbot. Please continue.”
Blake raised his hand. “How exactly am I involved in this grand plan of yours? You don’t need me or Quinn to play weather god around here. You seem to be doing just fine without us, and quite frankly, while the shit you’re talking about is fascinating, it’s telling me nothing.”
Victor nodded. “I believe the second part will interest you more. Consider Directed Energy Response, the last half of The Order’s acronym. Rangeley is an old facility. We have more modern facilities around New England.”
“Yeah, I remember you said that.”
“Indeed. Manipulating the weather is great; weaponizing the weather patterns could be even better, but directing psychological confusion against our enemies so that our operatives can go in and take out the bad guy is the real aim of why we need successful orgone regeneration.”
“Okay, I’m still not getting how I’m involved. It sounds like you’re upgrading your CloudBusters into brain lasers or something.”
“Not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, is he?” Mother Superior asked, her voice thick with disdain.
Victor smirked and pointed at Blake, continuing his patient explanation. “You, Blake could be that operative since normal human beings—and any organic matter—would be adversely affected by the weaponized orgone. An operation could look something like this; we fire the orgone system and bounce the energy off our satellites in space to the targeted area with the right concentration and disrupt the weather or the psychological—even physiological—status of the targets. We would distract local defenders long enough for you to bring the pain of swift justice to those who need it. You could punish the unpunished and bring people in line with our way of thought.”
Blake smiled. Now you’re talking my game.
“The Order is the organization that will bring, well, order to chaos and end terrorist threats no matter where they are. With you, we can achieve these goals much faster than originally planned. Mother Superior, the Archimandrion, and the Council have far grander plans for you, Blake, plans that I know you’ll enjoy carrying out. I believe you are willing to do what it takes to help us advance The Order’s silent but powerful influence in the world.”
“I take it no clinical research discussion has taken place with the boy?” Mother Superior asked, crossing her right leg over her left.
Blake watched Victor become visibly disturbed. He fumbled for his words. “No, we have not crossed that bridge yet. There’s, uh…well we haven’t really discussed that yet, either. Uh, Blake, with the dawn of two super-powered humans, the Governing Council wants us to study you.”
Quinn was right, they want to experiment on us. I’m getting sick of her attitude and I don’t like the way she’s treating Victor, or me.
He slapped the arm of his chair and pushed himself up. “What is it you want, Mother Superior?” Blake asked loudly.
Annoyed, she looked at him indignantly.
He smirked and summoned his fire and limited electrical powers. Around them, the lights began flickering and his eyes glowed orange. “If you want to see what I can do, all you had to do was ask me nicely.”
Mother Superior’s eyes widened with surprise as Blake’s hands ignited into balls of flame.
“Holy crap!” Victor exclaimed, unaware of his newest super power.
Blake grinned wickedly. If you like that, then you’ll enjoy this…
A bright and hot ball of fire formed and exploded between his hands, startling his captive audience of two. Then, his powers faded. He leaned forward, his eyes glowing brightly. “If you ask politely instead of being a bitch, I’ll help you. But if you push me, I’ll push back…and I guarantee you won’t like it one bit.”
2-12 | Unwanted Tension
Quinn
QUINN OPENED THE FRONT DOOR and let Blake into the house. “Hey,” he said, cutting his greeting short. He didn’t want to pounce on Blake and ask why he had cut school because he could feel something uncomfortable between them.
“Hi, Blake,” Daddio called out from the living room as Blake stepped inside and shut the door behind him. “Hope you’re feeling better.”
Blake looked at Quinn with confusion.
Quinn whispered an explanation to Blake. “I told them you were home sick today when they asked about you at dinner.”
Blake’s eyes widened with understanding and he answered Daddio from the hallway. “Yeah, I had a wicked migraine this morning. It went away around lunch.”
“Good, glad you’re feeling better! Well, go get caught up on your missed assignments.”
Quinn led Blake up to his bedroom. Blake shut the door behind them as Quinn walked over to his desk and sat down in his chair. “So…a migraine?”
“Not exactly.”
“So, where were you?” Quinn snapped.
“Look, before you say anything, I want you to know that…”
“You were with Victor, weren’t you?” Quinn asked, already knowing what his best friend was going to say.
Blake sighed and nodded. He sat on the edge of Quinn’s bed and folded his hands in his lap.
Quinn waved his hand across his chest. “Let’s table that for a minute. Have you seen the news?”
“Uh, no…”
Quinn turned around in his chair and flipped open his MacBook. Since he had already queued up the news video, he pressed play and they watched the police address the reporters.
“Oh wow,” Blake uttered when the news clip ended. “I had no idea, Quinn.”
“The government is after me, Blake.”
“Yeah, I can see that. You know that means they won’t b
e far behind me once they figure out there’s a second super-powered person. Victor already knew I used my powers twice…I have no idea if the police know.”
“Well, if they do, they aren’t saying anything,” Quinn answered, staring at nothing in particular. “Maybe they’re trying to prevent a public riot.”
Blake cleared his throat. “Victor and The Order promised us protection if we signed up with them.”
“The Order?” Quinn raised his right eyebrow with interest.
“Oh, right,” Blake said. “Allow me to fill you in on what I learned today while in Rangeley.”
Quinn’s eyes popped open and he sat up with surprise. “You went to Rangeley today? How did you even get there?”
“Victor’s men chauffeured me back and forth.”
“Shit, Blake,” Quinn said. “I can’t believe you’re starting to skip school to be with Victor.”
Blake frowned. “You can judge me, or you can listen to what I have to say.”
Quinn took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, leaning back in his chair. “Fine. I’m listening.”
Blake shared everything he learned from Victor about the facility, The Order and its purpose. He talked about his meeting with Mother Superior, his understanding of the archaic hierarchy that governed them, and their overarching plan to take out bad guys anywhere in the world. “They’d also like the opportunity to run some tests on us to figure out what happened and what’s going on inside of us.”
“Experimentation!” Quinn exclaimed.
“That’s not how she phrased it.”
“How exactly then, did this Mother Superior person phrase it?”
“She asked Victor if any clinical research discussion had taken place, that’s all. She didn’t say anything about cutting us open.”
“I’m not doing it,” Quinn said, shaking his head. “I don’t need to know how the powers work, and I don’t need them to learn how, either. What’s to stop them from creating more superhumans?”
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