The Guardians Omnibus

by Damien Benoit-Ledoux

  “Will your recon teams be able to confirm if there’s a reactor core on site? I assume these facilities are heavily guarded or camouflaged, or both.”

  David smiled and gestured around him. “We’re in one of the biggest reactor core facilities right now. It didn’t take Tara long to build a rudimentary orgone detection script the military satellites can use. We also retrofitted some scanning tech for the recon teams to work with. In theory, they only have to get close enough to determine if there is a quantity of stored orgone on the premises.”

  “Wow.”

  “We also studied the classified satellite imagery over this island and Rangeley. Large quantities of orgone have a unique thermal signature that registers on infrared scans, but you have to be looking for it to see it. Tara’s script can’t automatically locate reactor cores right now because it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. If the reactor core is underground as with Rangeley, its energy and temperature signatures are naturally cloaked by the geothermal readings around it, unlike Seavey Island. The cold river makes the prison light up like a Christmas tree.”

  Quinn chuckled, then David continued. “Right now, the orgone signature is generally not distinct enough to be noticed by the untrained eye and frankly, we all have untrained eyes when it comes to spotting orgone energy thermal signatures.”

  “I can’t get over the amount of progress you guys have made, especially over the holidays. Didn’t you go home?”

  David shook his head. “No, and believe me, it’s been a source of angst for the entire team, but national, hell, global security is more important than one missed holiday season.”

  “Ah,” Quinn said.

  “Are you okay? You seem…uh…distracted.”

  “Um, yeah. While this is great and useful, and I don’t mean to dismiss it, I was really hoping to see Blake today. I need…closure.”

  “I completely understand. Why don’t you go to the makeshift lab they set up? I think Ana Maria is in there with him.”

  “Um, where is the lab?” Although, I can sense where Ana Maria is at the moment…

  “I believe Ana Maria set it up on the lower level of the reactor core. Blake…well, his body…um, sorry…it’s there, too.”

  “Thanks.” Quinn made his way to the elevator on the far side of operations near the center of the building and pressed the call button. When the doors opened, he stepped through and immediately felt the concentrated orgone on the other side of the elevator’s rear doors. He pressed the rear door open button and when the doors slid open, Ana Maria looked up at him and smiled.

  “I wondered when you’d come.”

  He approached the railing of the upper gangway ring, looked down, and observed the inside of the chamber. Ana Maria sat in a chair next to Blake, who was lying on his back on a gurney they had wheeled in from one of the other work spaces with only a towel draped over his groin. Someone had washed his skin and cleaned the dirt and dried blood. The gurney he rested on sat in the center of the metal disc in the floor of the chamber.

  Astounded at what he saw, he covered his mouth with his hand and hesitated. Oh my gosh, his chest wound is gone!

  Then, he jumped over the railing and floated down to the side of Blake’s gurney. He pointed at Blake’s completely healed chest and stared at Ana Maria in disbelief.

  She smiled. “I had a hunch that if we brought Blake’s broken body into the reactor chamber and reassembled it, his healing factor would trigger. The medics cleaned Blake’s heart and placed it inside his chest cavity. Though it didn’t happen right away, a few days later we noticed tissue growth and no decay. Two days after that, his body had completely healed. Today’s x-rays show his heart has been re-integrated into his cardiovascular, nervous, and muscular-skeletal systems.

  “So he’s alive?” Quinn whispered.

  Ana Maria shook her head. “There’s no brain activity. So, not yet.”

  “But his chest is rising and falling, like he’s breathing…” Quinn focused and listened with his super hearing. “And I can hear his heartbeat.”

  “You can, but it’s like he’s in a coma.”

  “So, what you’re saying is…” he stopped speaking, unwilling to finish the doomsday sentence.

  “Medically speaking, he’s dead. But who knows what could happen with the healing factor. It may be a matter of time. I won’t give up hope, and neither should you.”

  “Can I…be alone with him?”

  “Of course,” Ana Maria said. “One last lesson, though. While you’re in here, tune in to the ample orgone energy around you. You can summon it whether you’re in the chamber or in the park.”

  “I’ll try,” Quinn replied, fighting back tears.

  Ana Maria knowingly nodded, levitated up and over the upper gangway railing, then walked through the elevator when the doors slid open for her.

  Quinn pulled the chair closer to the gurney but remained standing, studying the healed skin over Blake’s pectoral and abdominal muscles where a gaping hole had wrecked his best friend’s chest a week or so ago.

  “I’m so sorry, Blake. I thought I could save you,” he said, his voice choked with emotions as tears dripped from his cheeks. “I thought I would be making the big sacrifice, but it turns out you saved me. You never did like to play by the rules.” He chuckled, then a memory from his Superhero Responsibilities Manifesto conversation invaded his grief and his eyes drifted to the hexagonal panels on the chamber’s walls.

  “Sacrifice,” Ron St. Germain’s voice echoed in his head. “Superheroes are often lonely because once the bad guys figure out who’s important to you and who you love, they know how to emotionally manipulate and compromise you. You will have the added weight of being mindful for your dads’, Keegan’s, and your friends’ safety because Blake knows all your weaknesses; I’m willing to bet Victor does, too.”

  “Blake would never do that!” Quinn had protested.

  “He turned on you, didn’t he?”

  “Yeah.”

  Ron was right, but he didn’t know about the chip back then.

  Victor said he knew my weakness…and so did Blake. I don’t seem to have a physical weakness…but if Victor has truly figured out my heart is my weakness, the people I love won’t be safe until he’s brought to justice. Blake knew it, and that’s why he went after Keegan. If Victor goes after Keegan—or my dads—or my friends—I don’t know if I could fight him. I couldn’t handle losing them…I’ve already lost Blake and the pain is unbearable.

  Quinn pulled his eyes from the distraction and looked at Blake’s relaxed face.

  “I’ve missed you so much, buddy,” Quinn said, losing the stamina to stand. “You’re the brother I never had; you’re my best friend and I’m not giving up on you. I never will. Come back to me, please.” Then, he laid his head on his best friend’s torso and sobbed.

  ❖

  Victor

  “Here are the test results you asked for, Hegumen,” Arik said, extending an oversized manilla envelope across Victor’s desk.

  Victor took the envelope from the technician. “Thank you, I will join you and Miguel in operations for the next set of tests shortly. That will be all.”

  Arik nodded and walked out of Victor’s office.

  As the door slid shut behind him, Victor opened the large envelope and pulled out a series of developed, fourteen-by-seventeen-inch x-rays. He pulled another set from a similar envelope in his desk drawer that were taken prior to his orgone infusion. Then, he held the matching x-ray images of his body parts up to the office lights and studied them. He had been curious to learn if his bone density and the resulting super strength of his muscles would be reflected in his x-rays, but the only changes he noted during his comparison were minor and seemingly insignificant.

  He set the x-rays of his skull next to one another and scrutinized them, but nothing appeared to be different. He frowned with frustration.

  I really expected something new. I can’t understand why my physiology hasn’t
changed. Maybe it’s too soon. I wish I had thought of doing this test with Blake. Then I would know if a physical change other than increased muscle mass would take place. Then again, it’s not like I’m an x-ray technician. Maybe I’m missing something completely. I feel different; bigger, stronger, more powerful…I must be missing something. Or perhaps the muscle structures don’t show up well in x-ray imaging.

  Giving up, he set the x-rays down, but paused when something on the new x-ray caught his eye.

  What is that?

  There was a small white speck in the center of his neck, just below his skull.

  No…

  He pulled the film closer and examined it, but it was too grainy to interpret correctly.

  Are those serial numbers?

  He hastily set the x-rays down, sat at his desk, and logged into his computer. Moments later, he navigated through the medical records database and pulled up the high-resolution digital images of his x-rays. He navigated through the images and stopped on the corresponding x-ray of his skull. He clicked the mouse and zoomed-in on the white spec and waited as the image auto-enhanced.

  I don’t believe it.

  He leaned forward and stared at a laser-engraved serial number in the middle of a small circular object no bigger than an aspirin pill. It had six small appendages that appeared to be latched onto what he assumed was his brainstem.

  “No!” he shouted, slamming his fists on his desk. “That bitch implanted me with a chip!” He stood and angrily swiped a stack of papers, books, and an empty stainless-steel coffee mug from his desk. They fell to the floor and he began pacing the length of his office.

  She betrayed me!

  She betrayed The Order!

  How?

  Why?

  When?

  It must have been when I was unconscious after I dosed myself with orgone…Dammit!

  But…

  The control chips all respond to me. They’re designed to follow my voice and my voice commands alone. To whom does this chip respond to? Does it respond to Dr. Madison or is there another player at the table I failed to anticipate? Is one of the two surviving members of the Archimandrion Council quietly interfering with my plans? Do they know I’m behind their extermination?

  He froze when he saw his reflected face in the glass of a picture frame on the wall. The mirror-image of his face expressed sudden horror.

  Am I even in control of my own actions at the moment?

  He turned and marched toward his office door, deciding swift punishment for treachery would be the appropriate response. When he reached the door, it slid open for him but he stopped.

  Unless…

  He backed away and walked over to his recliner. He sat down as the door slid shut and folded his hands in his lap.

  Whoever implanted this chip didn’t expect me to discover its existence. If I react and lash out against the wrong people, someone might be inclined to turn the chip on and use it against me. Perhaps the wiser move is to play out this charade until I understand the new rules of the game better. Unfortunately, I can’t trust anyone with this information. I’ll have to figure out how to remove it on my own.

  He returned to his desk and put all the x-rays back in their appropriate envelopes. Then he filed them in his desk for safekeeping. As his anger subsided, rational thought took hold of his mind.

  That’s what I’ll do. As far as anyone is concerned, I saw nothing questionable in my x-rays. The only person who could have acted against me is Dr. Madison. When the time is right, I’ll deal with her treachery. For now, I need her to continue working on the new superhumans. But in the meantime, I better look for a suitable replacement.

  5-2 | We're Not Done Yet

  Quinn

  “YOU’RE SURE THAT’S WHAT YOU want?” Ron asked, sipping his peppermint-flavored coffee as they gorged on seven-layer brownies at Popovers on the Square in Portsmouth. It was the middle of the afternoon and they sat in a corner of the quaint, café-style restaurant.

  Quinn nodded. “Yes, it’s the only way to avenge…”

  Ron shook his head. “To avenge is to inflict harm in return for an injury or a wrong done to oneself or another. That’s not what superheroes do, Quinn. Superheroes bring people to justice.”

  “But the Avengers…avenge,” he protested.

  “So, that’s not the best example when Marvel and DC Comics are delivering superhero comic books-turned-action-movies to the populace. Ask yourself what Superman would do.”

  Quinn sighed. “He’d fight for truth, justice, and the American way.”

  “Fighting Victor is akin to Harry Potter battling Voldemort. Like Harry, you have a significantly powered enemy that everyone is now afraid of. He’s scheming and plotting in dark shadows to destroy you and take over the world or do something far more sinister.”

  Quinn giggled. “Does that mean Ana Maria is Hermione Granger and you’re…Ron Weasley?”

  Ron laughed. “I’ve been called worse.”

  Quinn became serious and tapped his right index finger on the tabletop as he spoke. “We have to stop Victor. Ana Maria is committed to the fight now, and David’s techies have amassed information about The Order, not to mention several other secret facilities around here. It’s only a matter of time before we figure out which one Victor’s hiding in.”

  “What about your latest discovery?” Ron asked.

  “Uh…what?” Quinn frowned, unsure of what his mentor was asking about.

  “Absalom Miller, Keegan’s grandfather. Didn’t you discover he’s one of the higher-ups in The Order’s hierarchy?”

  “Yeah, he’s called an Archimanda or something like that. I guess Blake executed most of them but spared Absalom when he figured out he was related to Keegan. I’m still clueless on the details because Blake and I didn’t have the chance to talk about what went down.”

  “What did Keegan tell you?”

  “Apparently, his grandparents left early the next morning but he’s not really sure what happened between them and his parents because he only went home briefly to let them know I rescued him. Then, there was a big fight between his parents and grandparents, so he went to my house and sat around worrying with my dads about whether or not I’d come home from fighting Blake. Little did they know Tasmanian showed up at the prison.”

  “Tasmanian? Is that what you’re calling Victor now?”

  “Yeah,” Quinn replied, grinning. “Do you get it?”

  “I assume you named him after a Tasmanian Devil? Because he glows red or something?”

  Quinn chuckled. “No, I picked it because they get crazy when they become excited or angry and Victor’s last name is Kraze, and he’s become a maniac. So, Tasmanian fits…get it?”

  “I do,” Ron said, nodding.

  “Anyway, my point was, I don’t have a lot of information concerning Absalom’s involvement. I know Keegan has nothing to do with it, but I don’t want to drive an unnecessary wedge between us. I’d rather let the DHS inform Keegan of the connections between his grandfather and The Order. Besides, he already knows enough.”

  “Very good, Quinn, I’m proud of you for thinking that one through.”

  “Speaking of suits, I’m going to grab Blake’s super tights from the facility when no one’s looking. I was thinking your brother could study the material. I have no idea if they would be useful at all, but they seem pretty heat resistant.”

  Ron nodded. “Yes, please do. I will have him look at the material. In other news, I asked Stephanie if she would take Ana Maria’s measurements at some point, so my brother could make her a suit as well.”

  “Really?” Quinn asked, surprised.

  “Yeah, if she’s serious about joining the battle now, she’s going to need more than jeans and a winter coat. From your battle with Vic…uh, Tasmanian and his super thugs the other night, we know the current design will hold up to just about anything except Blake’s inferno.”

  “Great. I can’t wait to see the final results.” Ron smiled and
looked at Quinn with hesitation.

  Quinn suspected something was up. “Umm, is there something else you want to talk about?”

  His mentor nodded. “The DHS has employed me as a subject matter expert.”

  “Seriously? For what?”

  “Comic book super villains.”

  Quinn laughed, shaking his head. “You’re kidding!”

  Ron smiled. “Not at all. I’ve been working with their psychologists and writing up a profile for Victor and helping them analyze his behaviors and possible goals. If we can understand what makes him tick, there’s a possibility we can defeat him before he does something drastic.”

  “That’s awesome.”

  “You’re telling me. Who knew years of geekiness would pay off like this?”

  “Are you getting paid?”

  “No, but I’m honored to be involved. I expected they would cast me aside because I have no security clearances. I like to think they appreciate the wonderful job I did mentoring you,” he quipped.

  Quinn chuckled with him.

  Ron continued. “I suspect Agent Hartman decided I knew too much as a civilian, but he was smart enough to harness my knowledge for the greater good. For a man—especially a government official—to set aside his ego and accept the impossible or the bizarre as possibility…well, that’s freaking awesome to me.”

  “Well, you are a founding member of the Guardians. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Just make sure I know what I need to know when I need it, okay?”

  Ron smiled and nodded. “Absolutely, Quinn.”

  The two men clinked coffee mugs and sipped their beverages.

  ❖

  Quinn walked into the Book & Bar café and lounge and spotted David in the back corner. Trinity, Tara, and Goodbutt occupied the tables around him to maintain a perimeter so other patrons wouldn’t sit too close to their table. After he bought a coffee from the counter, he made his way to the back corner of the café. Coffee metabolized out of his system quickly, so it didn’t seem to matter how much he drank.