“I think you are ready with this power. There’s nothing more I can teach you here,” she said.
“Now I just need to work on telekinesis. I can barely do it, and it always seemed to give Dark Flame the upper hand.” Quinn purposely used Blake’s old super villain name to distinguish him from his rescued state. “Now, Victor has demonstrated skill with it. I just want to toss a car back at him, you know?”
“The secret to unlocking telekinesis is anger and hatred, things that come easy to Blake and Victor,” Ana Maria replied.
“There must be another way. I learned how to channel orgone energy and mask my presence without emotional launch pads.”
Ana Maria pursed her lips. “You’re right, of course. I’m not sure how to help you focus on it. Is there someone in your life who infuriates you? Perhaps focusing on the feelings that person triggers in you would help.
Quinn thought for a moment, then smiled. “Darien James, the school bully. That kid picks on me for no reason.” Well, he used to. Something’s up…but what?
“Then make sure he gets in your face when you get back at school. Pay attention to your feelings. Remember them later and practice with small things first.”
Quinn nodded. Not sure that’s gonna work. “So, when do we face Victor?”
She smiled again. “Soon enough. Believe me, he’s licking his wounds and plotting his attack. I believe he considers us a threat to his objectives. He will stop at nothing to eliminate us first and then go after his goal.”
“Which is?”
“Ultimate power. My assumption is that he would start with government leadership. Or, he’ll take out the financial systems and cripple the economy. I don’t really know how he’ll do it, but if Victor wants global domination, I guarantee he needs us out of the way to attain it.”
“And a whole lot of super soldiers to do his bidding,” Quinn added, sighing. Maybe now is the time to tell her about my idea. “What if we took the fight to him?”
Ana Maria tilted her head with interest. “What do you mean?”
“At least twice now, we’ve been caught off guard when he shows up. We’re always scrambling and reacting to his attacks. If we could figure out where his base of operations is, we might gain the upper hand. But, to do that…I uh…know someone we should…kidnap…and bring back here to tell us what we want to know.”
“Who?”
“Dr. Madison. She’s the doctor at the hospital where Blake and I recovered from our accidental exposure to orgone. I’d try to bring the two technicians that work for her, too. She’s the one who built the control chips and those two guys did all the testing with Blake.”
“Interesting,” Ana Maria said.
“David’s team knows where the facilities are, and they can point us in the right direction. Think about it, if we go there, we can mask our identities, become invisible, and slip inside. Victor will never know we’re coming and of course Dr. Madison won’t either. We could snoop around, grab her, then bring her back here for questioning. I’m sure Agent Hartman and his team would appreciate getting more information, and it wouldn’t hurt to understand Victor’s plans from someone on the inside.”
“What makes you think she’ll talk?” Ana Maria asked.
“Honestly, if she’s as demented as Victor, we have no chance. But if she has a sliver of goodness in her, perhaps we can appeal to her emotions and convince her that Victor is maniacal and despite his promises, her family will not be safe.”
Ana Maria nodded. “It’s worth a shot.”
“Great. So when can we go?” Quinn asked.
“Let’s head to the naval prison and talk with David and his team right, so we can figure out which locations to investigate.”
❖
Quinn and Ana Maria made their way to the DHS-occupied side of Seavey Island. There, they met up with David’s team in the operations room.
“Hey, welcome back,” David said. “Trinity has some new information for you.”
“Great, because we have a plan. Is Agent Hartman around?”
“Yeah, but he’s been talking with Washington all morning. There’s been a lot of chatter since Victor’s stunt with a nuclear submarine and people are scared. I think they’re calling in more military personnel.
“Um…why? Don’t they know they can’t stop Victor?”
“It’s not for Victor. You’re going to handle Victor. They’re being called in to take care of the facilities we’re identifying. You won’t be able to provide superhero coverage for all the assaults, so they’re going to do what they do best.”
“Incursion,” Walter, or Trinity chimed in.
“More like invasion,” a new voice said from behind Quinn and Ana Maria, “but not on foreign soil.”
They turned to greet Agent Hartman as he strode across the room.
“What’s going on?” Quinn asked.
“I’ve been on the phone with the President, Vice-President, the Joint Chiefs, and way too much military brass for my tastes. When Victor attacked the shipyard and pulled the Thunderchild out of the water, he made his intentions known.”
The President? Wow!
Hartman sat on a desk near David. “You’re a very interesting man. No one knows of your team or its operations. At least, no one would vouch for you.”
David smiled. “We enjoy certain freedoms. It helps give the government…plausible deniability on the cyber espionage front.”
Hartman rolled his eyes. “I see.”
“What did the President say?” Quinn asked, his curiosity peaked.
“Apparently, she’s a secret fan. When this is over, she wants to meet you.”
“Wow,” Quinn responded, surprised.
“Don’t let it go to your head, kid. We’ve got serious problems so long as Victor is out there. With the information David’s team has pulled from The Order’s databases…”
“Wait, I thought Dark Flame cut the hard lines and severed the connection to their private network things?” Quinn interjected.
“Did you really think that would stop us?” Tara asked.
Quinn shrugged. “Maybe?” I’m honestly not sure.
She smirked. “Please, all we had to do was carefully recut the conduits he damaged and then match the colored wiring on one end to the colored wiring on the other end.”
“Huh?” Quinn said, looking around the room at their spaghetti of network cables. “How is it that easy? Look at the mess you guys have; all your cables are blue. How did you know which end went to which end?”
“Whoever wired the building was extremely methodical. The handful of data cables and wires were different colors. We had a few trial and error situations, but all we had to do was wait for a positive connection to again access to the network. They have the facility locked out, but again, did you really think that would stop us from figuring out a way in?”
“Cool,” Quinn responded, his eyes widened with amazement at their technical prowess.
Agent Hartman cleared his throat. “Anyway. The President has given the go-ahead to the armed forces. They’re mobilizing the Army National Guard and the Reserves, not to mention anyone who’s available anywhere. Pease Tradeport will temporarily return to its former glory as an interim Air Force base until the crisis is over. Oh, and let’s not mention the three naval fleets and submarines making haste to drop anchor off the Isle of Shoals. That’s going to be one heck of a view from the beaches, not that anyone’s there in winter.”
“That’s insane,” Quinn responded, imagining the silhouette of destroyers and aircraft carriers on the ocean horizon.
“No, nuclear disaster is insane, and must be avoided.” Agent Hartman responded. “The military will be responsible for following up on every location the team discovers. They will infiltrate and commandeer the locations, then set the devices in place to hack the network. We’re hoping to catch a few of them off-guard so they don’t terminate their connections to The Order’s private network. The more we learn about this elusive group, the better.”
“Until they figure out what we’re doing and purge the networked data,” Quinn said.
Agent Hartman smiled. “That’s a risk we have to take. Quinn, we need you to…”
“Wait, please. I have an idea. Ana Maria and I have been discussing a way to get more information, right from the source.”
Hartman regarded Quinn with steel eyes.
This guy really hates being interrupted.
Then, he raised his eyebrow. “I’m listening.”
Quinn explained his plan to use the updated cyber-reconnaissance data David and his team discovered to locate and apprehend Dr. Madison, and if possible, her two lead technicians. “It wouldn’t hurt to understand Victor’s plans from someone who’s on the inside, right?”
Hartman looked at Ana Maria. “This plan involves you, Ana Maria. You have been extremely reluctant to step into the fray. What do you think?”
Ana Maria nodded and folded her arms across her chest. “I think the idea has merit and is worth a shot. If we can do this before the military brass arrives, we have the chance to avoid bureaucracy and strike with surgical precision.”
“And you’re sure you can both hide from Victor? I’m referring to your…sensing thing.”
Quinn and Ana Maria nodded. “Absolutely,” she responded.
“And if you find Victor…what assurances do I have you will not engage him and endanger civilian lives?”
Quinn looked at Ana Maria, then back at Agent Hartman, but it was Ana Maria who answered.
“None.”
“Excuse me?” he snarled, visibly upset with her response as he stood and attempted to use his height to intimidate her.
Quinn smirked. Dumb move.
Ana Maria simply stepped forward and violated the reasonable bounds of personal space to intimidate him back. Hartman didn’t flinch, but Quinn’s super vision noticed the man’s temple veins pulsing as his ears reddened.
“The military left me for dead, Agent. There’s nothing I will promise you. However, if you consider the past fifty-plus years of my quiet, undetected life, then let the record show I know how to behave.”
“You could have come forward,” he retorted.
“And let The Order discover how close they were to succeeding? Absolutely not. I made a choice to take my secret to the grave. I simply didn’t realize my life would be unnaturally extended.”
“Okay, stop,” Quinn said, gently placing his hands on both of their shoulders. “You’re acting like my dads when they get into a fight.”
Hartman was fuming, but there was nothing he could say. Ana Maria met his gaze with her own strength.
Quinn came up with a suggestion. “How about this. If we’re attacked, we’ll respond. But we will promise not to instigate a fight, which is a stupid promise to make.” He dropped his hands and stepped back.
“Collateral damage, Quinn. You’ve been lucky so far because you’ve been fighting above river, not over densely populated areas. Some of the locations are in the heart of mass populations and people will get hurt.”
This is exactly why I hold back, because people will get hurt and I don’t want innocent blood on my hands. If only people weren’t so stupid and wouldn’t gawk when a battle is going down…I could be a little more…creative.
“We’re wasting time,” Ana Maria snapped. “I do not take kindly to your feeble attempts at intimidation, Agent Hartman. We’re supposed to be a team, yet you think you are calling the shots.”
“And just who do you think is calling the shots?” Hartman snapped back, putting his hands on his hips with indignation.
Ana Maria pointed at Quinn. “Blue Spekter is our leader, and whether you like it or not, he’s the leader of this team, and you’re simply a founding member.”
“This team doesn’t even have a name,” Hartman fired back, his hands balled into fists.
“Yes, it does,” Quinn replied. “We’re the Guardians.”
“That’s so cool,” Goodbutt replied.
“Right on,” Trinity added.
“It’s okay,” Tara chimed in.
Hartman looked at Quinn then, looked at the members of the team. “You’re willing to trust the fate of the planet to a…fifteen-year-old kid?”
“I’m one month away from turning seventeen, thank you,” Quinn responded, folding his arms across his chest.
“Seriously?” Hartman said, extending his hands to his sides in desperation. “Am I the only one who thinks this is crazy?”
David cleared his throat. “This kid’s been right every step of the way. You even agreed with him when it came to giving Dark Flame a chance. Now you’re afraid? What, did your call with Washington ruffle your feathers?”
Hartman pursed his lips, took a deep breath, and stared at the floor.
“That’s it, isn’t it?” Quinn asked.
The agent nodded. “First it was just you. Then Dark Flame. Then Ana Maria. Now, it’s Victor and his super-powered friends. Who knows what else he’ll unleash? This isn’t a video game or a…”
“The government wants control,” David interjected.
Hartman looked at him with annoyance, then relaxed his arms.
“It’s that simple, isn’t it?”
All eyes focused on Hartman’s pained expression. Several moments passed, then he nodded.
“And you feel pressured as the big man in charge now that someone with more bars on his or her uniform jacket yelled at you,” Ana Maria said.
Quinn looked down at his clean Blue Spekter costume, then smiled mischievously. “Maybe I should make a visit sooner rather than later. Did they say where the President is?”
Hartman flailed his hands in desperation. “All right, fine, yes, Washington increased my stress level by ten thousand percent, okay? They want complete control over the situation and you two from here on out.”
“Well, that’s not going to happen,” Quinn said. “David, I need your three best targets for where Victor’s lair might be. You have one hour.”
Then, he turned and walked to the elevator that led out of the building. He pressed the call button and the doors opened.
“Where are you going?” Hartman asked, annoyed.
Quinn spun around and snapped his fingers. “I have a date with the President.” He backed into the elevator.
Hartman’s jaw dropped with surprise as the elevator doors closed.
Quinn chuckled. I’d pay to see that expression again.
❖
Blue Spekter rocketed toward Washington D.C. at four times the speed of sound. Though he was curious to know if radar was tracking him, he didn’t see any fighter jets or signs of pursuit or defense.
They can’t fly as fast as I can.
Moments later, he spotted the U.S. Capitol beneath him and dove toward the White House. He slowed his approach and turned invisible. Then, he flew toward the front doors of the White House and snuck inside, gently flying over the staffers. Unfamiliar with the layout, he spent several minutes flying around, following staffers through the maze of corridors until he followed someone into the Oval Office where the President was meeting with a number of high-level and official looking men and women in suits and military uniforms. Several four-star generals were in attendance.
He moved into position directly in front of the President’s desk and waited for the right moment to reveal himself. He admired her striking and strong features. She was the candidate he liked in the presidential debates because she was the only one without a tarnished record. She evangelized the unity of the American people instead of proliferating the typical division of the polarized left and right. Where others saw fit to slander and defame, she chose the high road and ignored the squabbling of lesser men.
“The nuclear threat is horrific,” someone commented. “There are numerous east coast nuclear facilities within reach of the super villain Nightmare, not to mention he can pull submarines out of the water or flip nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.”
Nightmare? I kind of like
that better than Tasmanian.
“Containment of the threat and his actions should be our top priority,” one of the army generals argued.
“You’ve seen what he can do…what they can do. It’s not like we can just…shoot them down,” an Air Force general argued.
“The TaseBolts have been effective. So far, only Blue Spekter has shown signs of immunity, but what if Nightmare is immune as well?” a woman in a suit asked.
“Blue Spekter has proven to be an ally with his gifts. His track record…” a Navy general offered, but he was interrupted by someone else.
“Is undisputed, yes, but who’s to say which side he’s really on? It’s not like we can just ask him.”
It’s now or never.
“What if you could ask him?” Blue Spekter said aloud, startling the attendees. They all looked around for the source of the unknown voice.
The President smiled, leaned forward, and rested her elbows on the desk. “If I could ask Blue Spekter which side he’s on, I’d welcome the opportunity.”
“Then you shall have it,” Blue Spekter replied. He shimmered into the visible spectrum and made sure his eyes and body were glowing at their brightest. As the room filled with brilliant blue light and audible gasps, Blue Spekter heard the sounds of firearms being drawn and cocked.
“By all means, point a gun at me if it helps you relax,” Blue Spekter said. Several of the officers in the room did as he suggested.
The President smiled and sat back in her chair. “Blue Spekter, I presume?”
“The one and only, Madame President. I believe you have a question to ask me.”
She smirked “I do. Whose side are you on? The people in this room are desperate to know.”
“I’m on the side of truth, justice, and freedom. But more importantly, I’m on the side of humanity.”
“So, you’re not siding with the President?” A member of the Cabinet asked.
He glanced over his shoulder. “If you’re asking if I’m siding with the American government, the answer is no.”
“What will it take to convince you?” the President asked.
“Madame President, do not negotiate with the intruder,” one of the generals said, his tone full of exasperation.
The Guardians Omnibus Page 102