The Guardians Omnibus

by Damien Benoit-Ledoux

  5-8 | Blue Spekter Strikes Back

  Quinn

  THE NEXT MORNING, QUINN RELUCTANTLY left Keegan’s warm embrace, scrawled a quick note after he dressed, and made his way back to the naval prison. Once inside the locker room, he changed into his Blue Spekter super suit. In operations, David and his team of cyber sleuths handed over a list of places they suspected Dr. Madison might be. The Order, it seemed, preferred to select abandoned locations hidden in plain sight that they could renovate without raising suspicion.

  Three hours later, Quinn and Ana Maria had knocked off the first four abandoned sites in Maine, including Fort Gorges in Portland Harbor, Battery Steele on Peaks Island, Loring Air Force Base in Limestone, and the nearly two-hundred-year-old Kennebec Arsenal in Augusta.

  Now, they rocketed across town after exploring Rangeley Medical to double check whether Dr. Madison was at the Orgonon reactor core facility or if they’d have to continue their pursuit across New England.

  On the surface, the abandoned sites were closed off to the general public due to their deterioration and unsafe conditions, but a little super-sleuthing revealed Cold War and modern era underground facilities that contained little more than cyber-laboratories and unknown research facilities—some of which seemed as abandoned as their buildings on the surface.

  Due to the lack of information and the expected difficulty identifying reactor core locations from satellite imagery, Tara’s list did not include whether the facilities were offices, reactor cores, or served some other purpose. After exploring each site, they radioed in so the military could take over the location.

  Quinn led Ana Maria to the bunker and tunnel entrance he and Blake originally discovered and the pair snuck into the facility. Once inside and invisible to the intense presence of mercenary guards patrolling the facility, they discovered the reactor core was humming and they sensed a nearly-full charge. On the main levels, teams were busy at their computer stations.

  After they went through the facility and turned up empty-handed with no sign of Dr. Madison or her technicians, Quinn and Ana Maria hovered above the facility while he checked his cell phone for the next location.

  “This is so annoying,” Quinn said.

  “Patience,” Ana Maria replied, a hint of encouragement in her voice. “She can’t be that far. We will find her. What’s the next location on the list?”

  Quinn sighed. “The last one in the north county is the old Brown Company pulp and paper mills along the Androscoggin River in Berlin, New Hampshire. After that, we’re headed south to Somerset Station, in Somerset, Massachusetts. Then, English Station and the Winchester Arms abandoned factory in New Haven, Connecticut, followed by the old Fairfield Hills State Hospital, in New Town, Connecticut. I think that one was an insane asylum.”

  “One of these will turn something up. Have faith.”

  He huffed down his annoyance and pointed in the south-western direction they needed to fly. “I know, it’s just frustrating. We’re so close to figuring out what’s going on and The Order remains elusive no matter how close we get.”

  “I know. Come on, let’s get going. The paper mill awaits.”

  “All right.”

  The superhero pair willed themselves forward as they ascended higher into the air and flew fast over the snow-covered landscape beneath them until, minutes later, they spotted the Androscoggin River and the small town that surrounded the old paper mill. As they approached, Quinn sensed the heavy presence of orgone energy in the air around them, even at ten-thousand feet up.

  “Wow, do you feel that?” Quinn said.

  Ana Maria nodded. “We’ve discovered something. Whatever they’re doing, I’m willing to bet we’ll find who we’re looking for here.”

  They hovered directly over the plant and then descended together. Quinn used his super vision to examine the buildings and grounds surrounding the facility. A singular smoke stack rose up in the center of a cluster of rectangular buildings that looked like they had been added onto each other over the years. The largest structure, however, caught Quinn’s attention.

  “The reactor’s in there,” he said, pointing at the only part of the complex that seem wide and tall enough to house a reactor core based on what he had seen in Rangeley and the naval prison. “Also, there are way too many guards patrolling the buildings. This has to be where Dr. Madison is working,” Quinn said.

  “I think you’re right. Don’t forget to mask your presence in case Victor is here as well. The last thing we need to do is tip him off to our arrival.”

  He focused and cut himself off. “Done.” Then, she disappeared from his mind.

  Ana Maria reached out and took his arm as they turned invisible. Then, they descended the final thousand feet to the roof of the facility.

  Although they had learned how to rely on the proximity sensing power to know where the other was when they were invisible, sometimes physical touch proved more accurate and reliable, especially during a mission when undetectable infiltration was of paramount importance.

  Quinn led her down to a roof-access door and forced it open. A moment later, they descended via a cement-and-metal stairwell until they reached a door that opened to the inside of the old paper mill. Several armed guards patrolled gangways, so they slipped inside quickly before any guards noticed the door opening and closing by itself. The sound of men and women yelling karate hi-ya’s in unison echoed throughout the facility, so Quinn hovered and flew with Ana Maria toward the sound. He froze in place and stared in awe at the sight below.

  A shirtless Victor accompanied by four shirtless and muscular men and a team of mercenaries in workout gear trained with a martial arts instructor who put them through the paces of hand-to-hand and super-powered combat. Quinn absentmindedly stared at their physiques for a moment before his peripheral vision noticed a red-headed woman walking in a large, glass-enclosed room that looked like the workroom in Rangeley where she had tried to implant a micro bug in his ear.

  “That’s her, should we grab her?” Quinn whispered, pointing to Dr. Madison. Then, he remembered Ana Maria couldn’t see his arm.

  She squeezed his arm and whispered her response. “No. We need to wait for the right time to strike. If we attempt to remove her by force now, she’ll only alert Victor and they’ll stop us. Patience and stealth.”

  “You’re right,” he replied softly.

  “Which ones are Miguel and Arik?”

  “I don’t see them. They might not be here.”

  “We need to stop talking. They may hear us with their super hearing and become distracted. We must wait for her to go on break or leave.”

  That could take hours. But, she’s right.

  “Okay,” Quinn replied as he watched Dr. Madison walk to a security door.

  Oh, wait, this might be our chance.

  After tapping at the controls, the door unlocked and slid open. She stepped through and paused, watched the group of men and women in training, then walked away from the lab toward another set of security doors.

  Quinn felt Ana Maria pull on his arm and the duo descended to the double doors and waited for Dr. Madison to press her hand on the control pad. When she did, they followed through the doorway and down a hallway lined with a number of security doors on both sides. She approached one and unlocked it by waving her hand over the door control. The duo slipped inside behind her and watched her sit at her desk. The door slid shut behind them.

  This must be her office.

  It was modest in appearance; gray-painted walls with a number of colorful Thomas Kinkadet-style pictures decorating the wall. Quinn tip-toed to the side of her desk, ready to appear to her.

  A framed desktop photo caught his eye. In the picture, Dr. Madison stood with her arm around a brown-haired young man in a United States Marine’s uniform. Next to him, a man—presumably her husband—stood next to two brown-haired and nearly identical twin teenage girls. Except for the marine, they all wore white linen shirts with blue jeans. Each member of the Ma
dison family smiled, portraying one, big, happy family.

  So, you have family…that will make this easier to appeal to your senses.

  Quinn looked around the office for a camera and when he saw none, he shifted to the visible spectrum.

  Dr. Madison shrieked when she noticed him and jumped in her chair, clutching her heart. Her eyes grew wide with panic as she stared at Quinn in his Blue Spekter outfit.

  “Quinn! What are you doing here? How did you find me?” she whispered, clearly shocked.

  “I’m here on behalf of the people of the United States,” he replied, trying to sound official. “You need to come with me right now.”

  She scoffed and protested. “I don’t think so.”

  “Oh, but I do,” Quinn said, leaning forward.

  Her hand started to move across the desk, but Quinn was faster.

  “Don’t!” He reached out and gently but firmly placed his hand on top of hers. “What would your family think if they knew what you were really doing? Especially your son, the marine?”

  Her eyes darted to the photo on her desk, then back to Quinn.

  “Innocent marines like him have died at Blake and Victor’s hands because The Order has become an unraveled mess. It’s only going to get worse as Victor ascends to power.”

  Her face flashed with rage and she grimaced. “My son was an innocent marine when he was killed by Taliban terrorists who overran the remote base he was stationed at in northern Afghanistan.”

  Aw, shit.

  Quinn hesitated, and Dr. Madison wrenched her hand free. She raised her hands in surrender and sat back in her chair.

  “More innocent people like your son will die if we don’t stop Victor and The Order, Doctor.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong, Quinn. The Order will wipe out terrorism and promote peace and security for all…”

  “Under whose authority, Doctor?” Quinn shouted, interrupting her. “Blake already murdered the Archimandrion Council because the chip you put in his head malfunctioned and twisted my best friend into a violent killing machine with no regard for human life. The only two remaining leaders have gone into hiding, and Victor is well on his way to usurping power on a scale none of us expected, all thanks to you, most likely.”

  She looked at the floor. “We suspected Blake’s chip malfunctioned. When Victor brought it to my attention, I maintained a theory that his emotional processing was compromised and anything could set him off. I warned Victor that would make Blake very dangerous and unpredictable.”

  Quinn looked at her incredulously. “What makes you think that won’t happen again? Do you even know why it malfunctioned?”

  Dr. Madison shook her head. “It was the prototype. It was an untested model that wasn’t properly configured for use. Mother Superior insisted you both be chipped as soon as possible in case one of you turned against The Order.”

  “That went really well,” he spat.

  She leaned forward and looked into his eyes. “It was a mistake, unlike the work we do here. Victor will lead us to peace once he…” she stopped.

  “Eliminates me?” Quinn asked.

  She swallowed nervously. “Terrorists have to be stopped.”

  “I’m not a terrorist, Dr. Madison,” Quinn said. “I’m a sixteen-year-old boy with an overactive moral compass and a sense of responsibility.” Wait…that’s why you do what you do. You think helping The Order will stop terrorism…but you don’t realize how you’re fueling the fire for global take over.

  “Victor is not a terrorist, either,” she replied, her eyes cold.

  He squatted next to her and changed his demeanor from aggressive to compassion. “That’s where you’re wrong, Doctor. When are you going to realize Victor has already become the next terrorist? Look at the cultish loyalty of the fanatics around you; their blind allegiance to pieces of a…fabricated fiction no one really understands because the true goal is so lofty it defies belief.”

  Dr. Madison stared at him with a blank expression. “He wouldn’t hurt innocent people.”

  Quinn groaned and rolled his eyes. “Dr. Madison, he used his new powers to pull a nuclear submarine out of Portsmouth Harbor. He lifted it high into the air and tried to drop it onto the naval prison to kill the marines and Department of Homeland Security.”

  “What?” she asked, seemingly unaware.

  “We have proof and we plan to show it to you, but I’m sure you could find it on YouTube right now if you wanted to. Before that little nightmare, he attacked Seavey Island with two super-powered goons that I’m pretty sure you helped create. There’s no point hiding the fact you or someone else figured out how to recreate the accident that created me and Blake.”

  Dr. Madison swallowed, then took a deep breath.

  “We need to know what’s going on. I need you to come with me, right now. Grab your coat and belongings; you won’t be coming back.”

  “He’ll kill me.”

  “He won’t know where you are.”

  She frowned and looked at him. “Why can’t he sense you? Why can’t any of them sense you?”

  He smiled. “I’ve had my powers longer, Dr. Madison. I know things you don’t.” Then, he pointed to the picture frame. “I trust your daughters are still alive?”

  She glanced at the photo and nodded.

  “Are they going to remember you as the woman who helped a madman destroy freedom as we know it, or the brilliant scientist who helped take him down?”

  “You want me to abandon my life’s work on a teenager’s hunch?” she scoffed.

  “The military knows about this facility. It’s only a matter of time before they decide to capture it, along with a bunch of other locations we’ve discovered. The Order is over, Doctor. You can come with me now, or you can be arrested with everyone else. My way gives you certain…professional courtesies.”

  She glared at him. “Fine. But how am I going to get past Victor?” she asked.

  “With ease,” Ana Maria said, shifting to visibility.

  Dr. Madison gasped again and clutched her heart. “What on earth? Who are you?”

  “You will say the one thing that stops any man dead in his tracks,” Ana Maria added matter-of-factly.

  “And what is that?” Dr. Madison asked, furling her eyebrow.

  “That you have woman problems and don’t have your feminine hygiene products with you. Then, make a hasty exit.”

  Quinn suppressed a chuckle.

  “I’m going to stand now,” Quinn said. “No alarms, Doctor. Come with us quietly. You will walk normally to the exit and make your way to your car in the parking lot. Understand?”

  “I do.”

  One minute later, Dr. Madison walked out of her office wearing her winter coat and carrying her purse. As she walked to the exit, she briefly waved at Victor. “I don’t feel well, I’m going to my apartment.” She didn’t stop as Quinn invisibly ushered her toward the exit, his hand on her back.

  “What’s wrong?” Victor asked, pausing his training.

  “Woman problems, Victor,” she snapped, glaring at him.

  “Oh, um…okay, see you…when I see you.” he replied. He shook his head and returned his attention to the two men he was sparring against.

  “Damn, that worked well. Why didn’t I exploit that one sooner?” Dr. Madison mumbled.

  Quinn grinned, but no one saw it.

  Dr. Madison approached the exit and nervously placed her trembling hand on the biometric reader and the security door unlocked. The guard at the security desk eyed her strangely as she drew near.

  “Leaving early?” he asked.

  “Yes, have a great afternoon.”

  His eyes narrowed and he studied her as she walked toward the desk to sign out. Then, he smiled and said, “The sun is shining brightly on the ocean today.”

  Aw shit, it’s a security challenge question. If she answers incorrectly, he’ll know she’s acting under duress.

  “I wouldn’t know, I’m in the White Mountains.”
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  “Thank you,” he replied as she placed her hand on the biometric reader. “And you’re leaving early because?”

  She sighed and gave him a nasty look. “I’m having feminine cramps and I don’t have what I need, all right?”

  His face turned ghostly white and he stammered an apology. “Oh gawd, I’m so sorry. Please have a wonderful afternoon. I hope you feel better.”

  She rolled her eyes and walked toward the last security door. When it slid open, she stepped outside and hugged her coat around her to keep out the biting winter cold.

  As she walked toward the parking lot, she asked, “What now?”

  “Go to your car and drive to the nearest Starbucks.”

  “There’s no Starbucks in Berlin.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Seriously,” she echoed, pointing to a car. “I’m almost at my car.”

  “Um...how about a grocery store?” I should have probably thought about this step a little better.

  “Berlin Marketplace.”

  “Park there, and we’ll follow you. No cell phones, Doctor.”

  Quinn and Ana Maria followed Dr. Madison from above as she drove to the grocery store and parked. From the sky, he saw a small alley between the backside of the market and the next shopping plaza. When they were far enough away from Victor, the super duo exposed their proximity to one another. Relying on his mental sense of Ana Maria’s location, he flew down to Dr. Madison’s car and waited for her to get out, remaining invisible. “Walk to the right of the grocery store and go around to the back of the building, then walk up the alley you’ll find back there.”

  She locked her car and started walking. “This sounds more like a murder setup than…whatever it is you’re doing.”

  A minute later, Dr. Madison angrily marched up the back alley.

  “That’s good enough,” Quinn said.

  Dr. Madison stopped.

  “You might want to put your hood on for this part, and hold it tightly over your face.”

  She sighed and pulled her hood on with a gloved hand and adjusted her scarf. Then, she clutched her hood. “I’m ready.”