I still feel fine.
In fact, I feel better than fine. What happened back there?
Blake inhaled and smelled pumpkin spiced latte. He looked down and winced. The wet coffee had soaked down his shirt and into the front of his pants and underwear.
Gross. At least the car seats are leather.
He relaxed his arm and leaned his head back and watched the ambulance pull up. Instead of looking for a seizure victim in the park, the paramedics focused on Darien, who had managed to sit up on his own. It looked like his right arm had broken when he hit the pavement.
Blake smirked.
Guess I was right; his phone wouldn’t be the only thing to get broken. I should feel bad, but I don’t. That little puke had it coming.
He put the Coupe in gear and drove home.
❖
Victor
“What have you got for me?” Victor asked, staring at the images of Arek and Miguel on his computer terminal.
They looked at each other, then Miguel spoke.
“We had a little downtime and took the liberty of exploring the reactor panels that Dark Flame moved around when the boys tried to sabotage the core. We worked with the assumption that he moved all the panels. Interestingly, when we examined the backside of the panels, we noticed they were inscribed with a set of out-of-sequence numeric codes. When we pulled off the neighboring ones, we found a pattern and realized the numeric sequence was broken. An hour and sixty panels later, we started sketching out the codes and discovered they were location codes.”
“What does this mean?” Victor asked.
“It means panels were all in the wrong spots.”
“Well, we know that. Blake moved them all around.”
“Right, but we think the numerical code implies the panel’s specific location in relation to the rest of the panels.”
Victor stared at him blankly. “Meaning?”
Arek spoke up. “We want to pull down every single panel and notate its numerical identifier. Then, we’ll run some calculations and figure out where each panel is supposed to go and place it there.”
“Don’t you think that will only return the panels to their previous configuration?”
Arek shook his head. “No, I think the codes have been a long-lost secret about the optimal position for each panel because we’ve never pulled the panels off before. Even the cleaning process doesn’t remove the panels from the walls. If we get this right, each one will be reset to the original design specifications and possibly increase orgone production.”
Victor raised an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t they have been in that position initially? Do you think someone sabotaged the reactor?”
Arek and Miguel looked at one another and frowned. Then, Arek answered Victor’s question. “We didn’t exactly say that, but the panels are definitely in the wrong spot now, as they might have been before Dark Flame tampered with the core. All I know is, the engineers who designed this place intended for each panel to be in a specific location. We think we should undo what Blake did and if we stumble across something big, we’ll revert the core to its original specs.”
“How long will that take?” Victor asked.
They shrugged as they looked at one another, then Miguel spoke. “About three weeks maybe? If you’re worried about the delays in the updated reconstruction schedule, this shouldn’t impact the new timeline.”
“So, you either completely screw up the reactor or increase its capacity?”
Arek shook his head. “It’s a safe bet we won’t screw up the reactor since it works regardless of where the panels are. If our hunch is right, every panel has a specific location written in code on the back. We just need to figure out what that code is and place each one correctly. The end result of our theory is dramatically increased orgone production.”
Victor shrugged. “Well, I’m all for that, but do it in two weeks if you can.”
3-7 | The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend
Quinn
DURING THE SHARED FREE PERIOD the next day in school, Quinn shut the door behind him and walked over to Mr. St. Germain’s desk.
“What’s up?” his teacher asked, pulling himself away from grading papers. “You look glum today.”
He shrugged. “I’m okay, but I have a couple ideas about the, uh, super suit.” I don’t want to get into what’s been going on in school this week.
Mr. St. Germain set his red pen down and folded his hands together on the desk and smiled. “I’m all ears. Discussing super suits is way more exciting than grading biology tests.”
Quinn smiled back. “I think I need two versions of it.”
Mr. St. Germain tilted his head to the side, his eyebrows furling with interest. “Okay, go on.”
“When there’s an immediate emergency, I typically show up wearing whatever I’m wearing. I think it would be cool to have a Spider-Man type body suit that I can wear under my clothes or quickly change into. While I really like the BMX jacket you got me, carrying around leather pants and the jacket means, well, I always have to carry a duffel bag around or leave it somewhere and always go to a base of operations I don’t have.”
Mr. St. Germain leaned back in his chair and stroked his beard. “I hadn’t thought of that.”
Quinn burst into laughter. “You’re kidding! I finally discovered something superhero-related you haven’t actually thought about yet?”
Mr. St. Germain chuckled and shook his head. “Honestly, no. I was thinking more along the lines of Batman who changes into a suit in the Batcave, or Iron Man who can bring a suit to him. Clearly, what you need is something like Superman, Spider-man, Green Lantern, or even the Flash. Somehow, their suits are already on or around them at all times.”
Quinn nodded. “I’m not sure wearing a spandex bodysuit would be the most comfortable thing. Besides, it will be hard to hide that in the locker room at school and from my dads at home.”
“Have you considered telling your dads that you’re the amazing and invincible Blue Spekter?”
Quinn shook his head. “No, because you told me not to.”
“Right, but as a parent of little kids, I’ve had a change of heart because I wouldn’t want my future sixteen-year-old lying to me. Maybe I haven’t told you yet.”
Quinn shrugged. “I think you had the right idea because not telling them keeps them out of danger.”
Mr. St. Germain chuckled. “You forget, it’s not like Victor doesn’t know who you are and where you live. He already met your dads in the hospital at Rangeley.”
“Crap, you’re right.”
“One way or the other, if Victor wants to manipulate you, he could. Maybe telling your dads would be a good thing.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“And I’ll think about this new super suit idea. Maybe you could use two suits, maybe you only need one, I don’t know. As cool as the BMX outfit could be, running around in BMX gear isn’t necessarily superhero-cool, you know?” Mr. St. Germain mused.
Quinn smiled. “I like the colors, a lot. Maybe your brother could engineer some kind of flexible suit. I think the Spider-Man approach works, if it’s light and portable while remaining durable and strong, I can keep it in my backpack or hide it some other way. Then, I can change into it whenever I need to.”
Mr. St. Germain nodded. “Okay, practicality and efficiency, got it. I’ll talk to my brother and we’ll get some new ideas going.”
“One more thing,” Quinn said.
“What’s that?”
“I think the suit should have a hood or cowl like the Flash does on television. I like the way he can pull it off his head and hang it like a hoodie.”
Mr. St. Germain nodded thoughtfully. “So the headpiece wouldn’t be a second piece, like Batman has?”
Quinn shook his head. “Right, that’s just more crap to carry around or lose. I don’t need a utility belt, either. I just need to throw on a suit that hides my identity.”
“Okay, we’ll work on that. It’s to
o bad you couldn’t have a couple of secret hiding spots around the city.”
Quinn grinned. “What makes you think I don’t? Where do you think I go when the city needs Blue Spekter?”
Mr. St. Germain looked at him wide-eyed. “Do tell.”
“Since I have no idea what people can or cannot see when I’m glowing, I typically have a change of clothes stashed somewhere. So far, I’ve been at work or near work and I just grab the stashed gym bag and then discreetly fly up to the roof of the 100 Club and change. It’s high enough so that no one can see me, and I can leave my stuff there and then fly back to it when I need it. Then I just fly back, change into my normal clothes, and roof-hop over to the garage and make my way back into civilization.”
His teacher smiled. “That’s awesome. Your Batcave is the roof of the 100 Club!”
Quinn burst out laughing. “It’s more like a bird’s nest than a cave I’m glad it’s high enough that no one can see it.”
“Point taken,” Mr. St. Germain responded. “Okay, I need to get to work on these test papers but don’t worry, I’ll talk to my brother.”
“Thanks,” Quinn said. “See you in class later this afternoon.”
“Oh, and by the way, when we’re not at school, please call me Ron. I realized the other night that calling me Mr. St. Germain all the time gets old, even for me, especially when I’m not at school.”
Quinn smiled. “Okay, Ron.”
“Bye.”
❖
“Hi, handsome, I’m glad you could make it tonight,” Quinn said, greeting Keegan at the front door with a passionate kiss. He reluctantly pulled away and Keegan made an adorable pouty face.
“Come in the kitchen, I’m helping Daddio get dinner ready. I’m skewering the meats and watching the rice on the stove while Daddio chops the taters.”
“Sounds dangerous in there,” Keegan said, laughing.
“Very dangerous, indeed,” Quinn said with a mischievous voice as he took Keegan’s jacket and hung it in the coat closet. The boys made their way into the kitchen where the evening news played in the background on the television.
“Hey, Keegan, how are you?” Daddio asked.
“I’m great, Mr. McAlester, thanks,” Keegan answered, accepting his hug. “I’m really looking forward to your grilling tonight,” Keegan answered.
“Why, thank you,” Daddio answered, winking at him.
“I hope you brought your appetite because he made enough food for the entire junior class,” Quinn teased.
“I’m starving. We did a lot of pre-winter cleanup around the yard today after school.”
“Ugh!” Daddio exclaimed, dramatically waving his hand and twirling around to the face counter. “Winter! I don’t want to hear that foul word again in this house, do you hear me young man?”
“Yes, Mr. McAlester.,” Keegan answered chuckling.
Dad entered the kitchen and exchanged greetings with Keegan.
“You guys want a soda or something?” Dad asked.
“Do you have Root Beer?” Keegan asked.
“Coming right up,” Dad said, heading for the refrigerator.
Quinn returned to the counter and picked up a clean skewer and a piece of uncooked beef.
“Can I help?” Keegan asked.
“Yes,” Daddio answered, pointing to the sautéing rice and herbs mix in a large pan on the stove. “Keep that moving around.”
Keegan smiled. “Okay!” He picked up the wooden spoon and started stirring.
Quinn smiled and stuck a pepper on the skewer. I really like having Keegan here, jumping in like he belongs with the family; belongs with me.
“After the break,” news anchor Paula Anders announced, “we’ll bring you a special, unprecedented first look at the phenomenon known as Blue Spekter. One of our reporters, Camilla Brenhurst, has been following the developing story and spoke with the superhuman vigilante and will share her findings with us when we return.”
“Oh wow,” Quinn exclaimed, staring at the television. Oh my gosh, are they finally running the interview? Are they going to represent me faithfully? Or did they twist the story? Or did they make me out to be a terrible villain with some sensational story?
“Um, it’s sticking,” Keegan said, looking at the rice in the sauté pan.
“Crap,” Daddio said.
Daddio pointed at a bottle near the stove. “Pour a little more avocado oil in the pan and that will loosen things up.” Keegan did as he was told and continued stirring the now unstuck rice.
“Why aren’t we grilling these skewers again, Tim?” Daddio asked.
His husband sighed. “Because we ran out of propane for the grill and we’re improvising.”
“Why exactly?” Daddio said mischievously.
“Because I forgot to get propane,” Dad answered, slapping Daddio on the rear end.
“Ooh, save it for later,” Daddio responded with sass.
“Eew, gross,” Quinn quipped.
“Oh boy, here we go,” Dad said, smiling as he pointed at the television when the news program returned. He grabbed the remote and turned up the volume as the news anchor appeared and introduced the story.
“Don’t let that burn,” Daddio said to Keegan as the four men turned their attention to the television.
“I’m on it,” Keegan cheerfully answered.
“Tonight, we deviate from our standard news programming to bring you a special, one-of-a-kind story. News Nine reporter Camilla Brenhurst joins me this evening because she was given exclusive access to Blue Spekter, the superhero phenomenon sweeping the nation and the world that originated in our very own seacoast city of Portsmouth.”
The camera angle changed, and Paula looked to her right, where Camilla sat in one of the extra seats at the news desk.
“Oh wow, this is a live interview! I thought this would be pre-recorded,” Quinn said.
“Camilla, thank you for joining us in the studio this evening.”
“It’s a pleasure to be with you, Paula.”
Paula nodded. “Let’s start at the beginning of who and what Blue Spekter is.”
Camilla smiled and nodded. “This story goes back to the first appearance of the flying blue man who saved Hector Rodriguez, a Department of Transportation worker who slipped off the Portsmouth tower of the new Memorial Bridge. During interviews with onlookers after the man was mysteriously saved by a glowing blue person, a young boy named Oliver inadvertently dubbed the hero Blue Spekter and well, the name stuck.”
Paula nodded.
“The authorities repeatedly cautioned us to be wary of the unidentified phenomenon because they could not confirm his intentions.”
“As they rightly should have done,” Paula said, but it sounded more like a staged comment.
“Absolutely,” Camilla responded. “It wasn’t until the Sheraton hostage situation in Portsmouth that I found out Blue Spekter was present during the joint police and Department of Homeland Security news conference at Portsmouth police headquarters. In fact, I found out Blue Spekter was among the crowd.”
“I dunno,” Keegan said, talking over the reporters. “I’m not sure I like this guy. He’s too dangerous to let loose.”
Quinn frowned and shushed him. This is not going to play out well for our relationship if you don’t come around on this.
“Sorry,” Keegan muttered.
“He really likes this guy,” Daddio whispered.
They listened as Camilla recounted his story, how he acquired his super powers, his list of public hero moments, and offered her thoughts on the exclusive conversation they had without mentioning where it took place.
Paula spoke and directed the conversation. “Let’s talk about the police and the effects of Blue Spekter in the world, starting in Portsmouth with the police and the Department of Homeland Security. They have been reluctant to accept Blue Spekter.”
Camilla nodded. “That acceptance will take time as trust is gained on both sides. His presence in our city has fundamentall
y changed our understanding of the world. A super-powered human exists now, and the police have every right to be wary of him. If Blue Spekter should ever turn evil or decide to hurt humanity, they need to know how to stop him.”
“Do you think Blue Spekter will hurt us?” Paula asked.
Camilla shook her head. “No, I don’t. He seems young, good-natured, and optimistic about life and humanity. When you look at his track record of appearances, he’s always there to save the day. Plus, there are other heroic events that haven’t been reported on the news. He’s here to help, period.”
Paula wrapped up the interview as Quinn finished skewering the last piece of marinated chicken. She did a really good job…I wonder why.
“I have one last thing to say, and it’s a message to the superhero vigilante. Blue, some important people want to meet with you this evening. If you’re hearing this, I’ll meet you at the same place and time we first met. Until then.”
Paula raised an eyebrow with amusement. “Thank you, Camilla. We look forward to learning more about Blue Spekter in the coming days.”
That’s why. This is her only method of communication with me. She needed to butter me up so I’d agree to meet her tonight.
“What did you think, Quinn?” Daddio asked.
He smiled. “She did a great job. They’re finally giving the guy a chance.” He looked over at Keegan, who absentmindedly stared at the rice he stirred.
“That looks done for now,” Daddio said, reaching over to turn off the burner. “Thank you for helping.”
Keegan looked up and smiled. “Yup.”
Quinn could tell Keegan seemed upset about the news story. “So, you don’t like him?” he asked, washing the raw meat juices off his hands at the kitchen sink.
Keegan took a swig of his Root Beer. “Not really. I think he’s dangerous. Like I’ve said before, nobody knows how Blue Spekter could use those powers—for good or for evil. I’m honestly surprised people aren’t freaking out more. The world’s just changed and no one seems to realize it.”
“You don’t think he’s demonstrated how he plans to use his powers?” Dad asked.
Keegan shrugged. “If it’s a good guy or gal they’ll prove themselves to us and the police will relax.”
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