The Guardians Omnibus

by Damien Benoit-Ledoux

  In each of the crenelated corner towers, Cloudbusters or similar looking technology pointed into the sky. Unlike the original, thick-tubed design he saw at Orgonon, these had been miniaturized to metallic rods that would be invisible to the naked eye on the mainland shores. Suddenly, he recalled seeing similar devices all over Portsmouth on buildings, telephone poles, the bridges, and other high points around the city.

  They’ve turned Portsmouth into one big, inconspicuous orgone energy collector. But where is the reactor?

  He flew over to the two older buildings next to the prison and checked them out. When he peeked at the windows, he saw they had been blacked out from the inside—thus giving the appearance of always being unoccupied. Intrigued, he flew back to the naval prison and tried to look through several windows, but they had been blacked out as well.

  They’ve sure gone through a lot of effort to hide things from the world.

  Confident Blake wasn’t around, he took a deep breath and flew back to the main tower and landed on it, instantly feeling a connection with the orgone in the building.

  “This is it,” Quinn said softly to himself. This is the reactor. They must have hollowed out the main tower and built the reactor inside, which means the batteries are inside the prison building as well.

  He squatted and touched one of the small Cloudbuster antennas and sensed the unusual energy moving through it. He took a deep breath as an intoxicating feeling overcame him.

  This is really weird; I felt this up at Orgonon when we went back into the reactor to try and destroy it…it just makes me feel so…good…

  He shook his head and allowed the strange feeling to pass. Then, he walked around the roof, looking for an entry point. The only hatch he could find was locked from the inside. Though he could have broken it open, he didn’t want to risk triggering an alarm or alerting Blake and Victor to his presence.

  Maybe there’s a cracked window I can force open somewhere in the building.

  He lifted off and flew around the tower slowly, examining the windows and searching for an entry point he could exploit. He noticed several security cameras and he double-checked his invisibility. Satisfied, he checked the windows on each floor, but soon realized the prison’s new tenants had taken numerous security precautions to keep intruders out.

  He sighed in frustration, then looked down and watched a pair of guards turn toward and climb the exterior stairwell that led into the main tower of the prison.

  Oh! This is my chance!

  One of them placed his hand on a security panel near the door and it flashed green, then unlocked. Quinn swooped in and landed softly behind them. As the guards entered the building, two exited through the same door. As they greeted each other, he snuck into the building undetected, and found himself at the bottom of a stairwell.

  He wrinkled his nose at the smell. The facility was old and it reeked of moisture and other unpleasant odors he couldn’t identify. The bottom of the stairwell led nowhere but up, so he floated upward through the center of the wall-hugging, concrete stairwell, careful not to make any sounds with his clothes. The only sounds that echoed around him were the booted footsteps of the two, non-speaking guards who climbed to the top floor of the tower. Quinn sensed the orgone on the other side of the interior wall.

  I’m right about the reactor core’s location.

  The guards unlocked and opened another door and Quinn followed them through. Now, he was in a familiar yet different octagonal-shaped chamber. Two suspended gangways, one beneath him, and one at his level, hugged the exterior walls, allowing for safe passage around the perimeter of the chamber. He stopped and studied the reactor core. He could feel his body absorbing some of the idle orgone energy in the chamber.

  Wow, this reactor is huge. These gangways must connect the two sides of the building and be the only way across.

  Like Orgonon’s reactor, hexagonal plates lined the walls of the chamber, separated by eight tubes filled with bright blue downward-flowing energy. In the center of the ceiling, a glowing blue-white ring on a conical silver thing with a different array of antennas pulsed with blue-white light. The mounted antennas pointed down to a larger, ten-foot in diameter metal platform in the concrete floor. He assumed it elevated just like the one in Rangeley.

  The security guards unlocked another door, startling Quinn. He flew over to them and snuck through the door before it closed.

  The large room looked familiar. Following the guards, he looked around at the computer consoles and the various status panels.

  I’ve been here before...no wait…this is the control room. It looks like the one we busted up…okay, so they’ve got some of the same tech running this thing. Good to know.

  The guards continued and made their way through a doorway marked Security. He decided to study the controls and try to figure out how things worked. At any rate, he had to wait for the next walk-through to explore more of the facility undetected or risk setting off an alarm.

  3-4 | Heart of Glory

  Blake

  BLAKE RELAXED HIS BODY UNDER the shower stream, letting the hot water soothe his sore back and arm muscles. Although he regenerated quickly, the intense training Ira and the other instructors put him through had begun to wear on his muscles. If he were only human, he would have been experiencing extreme fatigue and more soreness from the various fitness and training activities, but the mild discomfort he felt was consistent with post-workout muscle growth. These days, a hot shower and a little bit of time was all he needed to feel himself again.

  When he finished showering, he dressed in the facility’s locker room. Like the one in Rangeley, at Orgonon, the modern looking space was always pristine and clean.

  “Yo, Blake,” Ira said, poking his head into the men’s locker room.

  “Yeah?” he answered, pulling on his standard issue two-tone, futuristic looking uniform tunic. The shirt and pants resembled better-fitting nursing scrubs and with the exception of the facility’s executive staff, everyone wore a version of the uniform.

  “Victor wants to see you in his office when you finish up in here. I think he has an assignment for you.”

  “Okay.” Finally, one step closer to taking over this racket. Maybe I should just bide my time a little longer and see what plays out…if I show my hand too soon, he’ll do everything he can to stop me. Victor is determined and a little crazy…I need to make sure he never sees me coming for him. I also need to make sure The Order won’t be a problem.

  Ira disappeared, and Blake finished dressing, closing the auto-locking locker behind him. He made his way through the facility to Victor’s office.

  Though it was larger than his space at Rangeley, Victor maintained a minimalist style of decor and kept the colors neutral with black and white furniture and accents. Soft lighting filled the room, an upgrade from the harsh fluorescent lighting that dominated Orgonon.

  Blake knocked at the open door and paused when he saw two of Victor’s top henchmen—Gary and Samuel—sitting around a rectangular six-person conference table with black leather chairs. They nodded at him.

  “Come in, Blake. Have a seat.” Victor said. Seated at the head of the table, he gestured toward an empty chair next to Gary.

  Blake walked in and sat down. “What’s up?”

  “I have a mission for you.”

  “So I heard.” It’s about time.

  “A cargo ship named the Heart of Gold is in port at Schiller Station.”

  Blake raised his eyebrow and mentally calculated what and where Schiller station was. “The wood burning place on the river?”

  Victor nodded. “Yes, that very one. Tonight, the ship will transfer cargo that belongs to The Order to a set of moving trucks overseen by one of our tactical teams. I want you to accompany the tactical team Gary and Samuel will lead to make sure the cargo makes its way here without delay or interruption.”

  “Are you expecting trouble?”

  “No. I will be honest with you, Blake; this is a tag-a-long
mission for you. I want you to see how a tactical team operates and conducts itself in the field so that you may understand, if something should go wrong, what that might look like. If something does go wrong, you’ll be the one to keep the team alive. Of course, I hope you experience a normal, successful, and eventless mission.”

  “I see,” Blake answered, remaining expressionless to hide his excitement.

  Victor regarded him for a moment. “You seem…disappointed?”

  Blake smiled politely. “On the contrary, I’m very excited. I’ve been waiting for something like this for weeks, and I finally get to go on my first mission.”

  Victor smiled. “Good, I’m glad. I know it’s not much, and I hope you understand the need for patience when introducing you to the field before I send you out on your own. I know you’re more than capable of taking care of yourself, but drawing attention to The Order should never be an option, no matter the cost. I want you to observe and learn how to conduct yourself in the shadows and remain unseen.”

  “What’s the cargo?” Blake asked.

  “Some of the critical electronics we need to restore the Rangeley facility, and a few pieces of equipment for this facility.”

  “Fresh from China?” Blake teased.

  “Fresh from the Citadel, actually. Wherever they source the materials from, I do not know.”

  “Oh.”

  Victor gestured toward his men. “Would you mind briefing Dark Flame on the mission parameters and your expectations for him?”

  Gary nodded. “Dark Flame, at twenty-two hundred hours, we’re going to drive to the pier were the cargo ship Heart of Glory is docked. When we arrive, we’ll secure our surroundings and make sure no one else is around. There will be two SUVs with six agents total, including you. When we verify the coast is clear, we’ll call the trucks in and then board the Heart of Glory. Clear so far?”

  “Very,” Blake answered.

  “Good. Next, we’ll board the ship and meet up with our agents; they’re mixed in with the crew and have safeguarded the transfer from the Citadel.”

  “So, the Citadel is a harbor city? Like Portsmouth?”

  “We didn’t say that,” Samuel answered.

  “Right, unknown sources,” Blake mumbled.

  Gary continued, ignoring Blake’s interruption. “Once the cargo is loaded onto the trucks, we debark the ship and return here to unload it. Seavey Island will be safe because it’s behind the naval guard points.”

  Blake listened as Victor, Gary, and Samuel ironed out a few more logistics. Several minutes later, the latter two left and Victor shut the door behind them. He turned his attention to Blake and smiled.

  “Those briefs will become more important as time goes on. The men are used to working together, but you’ll be introducing a more powerful and unknown element to the teams. They’ll be thinking of their safety more than ever now that you’ll start going out with them on missions.”

  He sighed and looked at Victor. “They know I can protect them, right?”

  Victor nodded and walked to the back of his office. “Of course, but they’re planning for collateral damage. They don’t want to be caught in your super-powered wake.”

  “Meaning?” Blake asked, tilting his head to the left slightly.

  “Meaning, if you accidentally throw something with your telekinesis or blast someone with fire, they don’t want to be injured in the crossfire.” He picked up a brown cardboard box and returned to the table. He sat down, setting the box on his lap. “You can’t blame them for taking extra precautions, right? As awesome as you are, until they’re comfortable with you, they’re going to be wary of you.”

  “Oh.”

  “It’s nothing personal, Blake. It’s to be expected. I hope you can understand that and support them.”

  Blake took a deep breath and exhaled, looking around the room for a moment. I never thought anyone would consider me a liability. I assumed they’d let me bring the muscle and be my backup. Clearly, I had that wrong. That’s gonna change when I take over…but for now I’ll go along with it. He nodded. “Okay.”

  Victor waved his hand dismissively. “Good. I have something more exciting for you.” He handed the box to Blake. “Open it.”

  Blake leaned forward and received the box, placing it on his lap. He opened the flaps and stared at something dark purple in color.

  “It looks like…purple running tights?”

  Victor clapped his hands and laughed. “They said you’d say that. They’re like running tights, but way cooler. Pull them out.”

  Blake pulled out the tights and held them up. There was more fabric in the box. “What are they supposed to be?”

  “These, Dark Flame, are your new, standard issue flame-resistant superhero tights.”

  Blake winced and looked at Victor over the waistband. “You went with tights?”

  “Did you think blue jeans or a business suit would be better?”

  Blake shrugged. “But I’ll just burn these off when I turn on my flame power.”

  Victor shook his head. “Nope. R&D has assured me they will not combust unless you ignite yourself to three-thousand degrees.”

  The number stuck out in Blake’s head. Where the hell have I heard that temperature before…oh!

  “Did you make me titanium pants?” Blake asked.

  Victor grinned. “Yes.”

  Blake flexed and stretched the material. “But…”

  “I know, right? Don’t ask me the science behind it. They figured out how to take heat-resistance fabric and bond interwoven titanium fibers throughout the material, creating a super-strong, mostly bulletproof, flexible, breathable, and most importantly, flameproof fabric you can wash at home.”

  “You’re kidding?”

  “Nope. Want to try them on?”

  “Sure.”

  “I’ll give you some privacy. I’m pretty sure you won’t be able to wear underwear under that, so they’ll be like long underwear.” Victor stood and walked to the tinted window, turning his back to Blake.

  “Okay,” Blake said, kicking off his shoes and pulling off his pants and boxers. Then, he squeezed into the dark purple tights as Victor spoke.

  “If these work, R&D has plans to make you footwear, gloves, a mask if you want, anything you need so you can use your powers without fear of mooning the enemy or scrambling for clothes if you end up naked.

  “How thoughtful,” Blake said, setting the waistband against the skin at his hips. He pulled off his tunic and grabbed the shirt from the box and unfolded it. He held up the small, compression-fit shirt. “Um, Victor?”

  Victor turned around and snorted as he laughed. “Oh, so that’s not going to fit.”

  Blake tugged at the small shirt and stretched it a bit. “I was gonna say, even though it’s stretchy, I’ll never get it over my shoulders.

  “I see that. Someone obviously screwed up on your measurements. You’d think the smart scientists that work for me would have noticed the size discrepancy. Okay, well, the tights seem to fit fine, right?”

  Blake tossed the shirt back into the box and alternated raising his knees to waist level. Then, he squatted, tentatively at first, nervous the material would pinch or rip at his crotch. When it didn’t, he squatted faster and the material flexed and moved with him. “Yeah, they’re great.”

  “Good. Keep the tights, go test them out, and let me know if there’s a problem. In the meantime, I’ll have R&D rework the shirt so it fits.”

  “Will do.”

  ❖

  Right on schedule, the two-SUV convoy carrying Blake and the small special ops team pulled into the docking area where the Heart of Glory was moored in the calmer, nighttime waters of the Piscataqua River.

  Gary and Samuel, sitting in the front seats of the SUV Blake rode in, surveyed the dimly lit area and then gave the order to exit the vehicle. Each agent, including Blake, had inserted a small two-way earpiece for audio communication. They were all dressed in bespoke bulletproof black busine
ss suits with matching black ties on white dress shirts. Blake searched the area with his super vision, but he found nothing unusual—not that he would have necessarily known what to look for. Another sign I need to be more patient.

  Blake thought they would wear something more tactical and cool looking, but he enjoyed feeling like he was in a Kingsmen movie. On top of that, Victor convinced him a snappy suit would lend him additional credibility both inside The Order and with the general public—even if he wanted to wear his new tights under his dress pants.

  Blake watched everyone walk carefully and observe their surroundings as they approached the main gangway to the cargo ship.

  “Over here, Blake,” Gary said softly, gesturing for Blake to follow him. Blake obeyed.

  “Even with your super powers, sometimes the best approach is stealth. There’s no need to announce your presence to anyone by walking in the open. Understand?”

  “Even though they’re expecting us?” Blake asked, becoming invisible.

  Gary blinked with surprise and stared at the spot once occupied by Blake. “Hot damn, kid, now that’s a neat trick.”

  “Cut the useless chatter, Gary,” Kit said, approaching Gary’s position. She was an all-business personality with little time for distraction or revelry.

  Blake re-appeared next to them, following their lead and walking in the shadows rather than the lit areas of the dock.

  Samuel chuckled. “Be careful with that trick. One day you’re going to scare one of us and get shot.”

  “I’m bulletproof, so I’m not worried about that,” Blake answered.

  Gary shook his head. “Think about the team, Blake. We don’t need accidental gunfire going off. It could compromise the team and get one of us unnecessarily hurt.”

  “Oh,” Blake answered. I’m not really sure if I care about you all or not. You’re simply the means to an end.

  “It’s okay, that’s why you’re here; to learn.”

  Blake took a deep breath and nodded. He repeated his earlier question: “If they’re expecting us, why are we hiding?”

  “It’s a lesson in team stealth approach, that’s all,” Gary answered.