by Jon Davis
The two started arguing about the fight. I ignored it and turned to talk with Dana. I stopped as I saw her face. She had this haunted look in her eyes. The look grew stronger as she stared at a poster of some tattoo shop plastered on one of the alley walls. I asked, “Dana? What’s wrong?”
“Gaia…it’s not possible.” She said with a tremor in her voice.
Still next to Angela, Alan said, “Relax, you two. It’s only teleportation. We’re safe now. Our mutual ‘friend’ doesn’t even know where you are.”
Dana took a deep breath and said, “It’s not possible.”
Alan looked at her with a surprised look. “Yeah, actually, it is possible. You know where we are, don’t you?”
Angela took his attention as she grabbed clothes out of his hands. She muttered, “Did you least pay this time?”
He looked at her as though she were insane. “Please, what do you think?”
Angela rolled her eyes and muttered, “Thief.”
She went to one of the dumpsters, moved it to the side, and slid behind it. I watched as her jacket flew to the top of the dumpster and the followed. I saw that they were charred in spots. I would have continued watching, but Alan stepped between me and the dumpster, glaring at me.
Throwing a t-shirt into my arms, he said, “Go change, Hagen. That winter stuff makes you stand out. And God knows this looks better than what you have on.”
I started to snap at him, but shrugged his words off when I saw Dana walking towards one end of the alley. I went to join her, and after a moment of looking up and down the narrow two-lane street I said, “Dana, I’m guessing your coven never ran into teleportation.”
Dana looked at me, then back at the cityscape that showed above the building across the street from us. She swallowed. In a distracted sounding voice, she said, “We have, but it was never like this. We never thought any one could reach such a distance…”
Stepping out of the alleyway, she walked into the direct sunlight and looked around. It wasn’t busy on the street, but I could see that businesses were getting ready to open. Back in Riverlite, it was nearly eleven in the morning. Here, it was a little before nine—the normal opening time for most places around the country. That meant there was a two hour difference—we were on the West coast.
I said, “Okay, weirding out now. Dana, where in the hell are we?”
She wasn’t looking at me, but rather at the end of the block where I saw more sky scrapers in the distance. Dana said, “Home. And I swore I’d never come back, silly me.”
I kept looking in the same direction that she was. It took me a moment to realize what was bothering her. I’d been to only a couple of cities—Chicago and Minneapolis. And they each had their landmarks. But this city had a fair number of recognizable places I knew from movies and shows going back for a couple decades.
That included the Transamerica Pyramid Building.
Dana said, “You did say that you wanted a tour. Welcome to San Francisco.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The sunlight made me smile. It had been too long since I’d felt this warm, spring like feeling. Since the buildings around this neighborhood were only two or three-stories high, there was plenty of warm light. I saw small, rounded patios that stood out on upper floors. People were out on some of them, and cars passed by every so often. It looked like a perfectly normal day in any given city. It helped ground me. Being teleported thousands of miles away from home didn’t make a person very comfortable.
Once we were dressed for the weather, Dana pushed us out of the alleyway. On the way here, I started to ask if she would be alright, but Dana had noticed my worry and just shook her head. At her urging, we headed to a restaurant at the end of the block. I could see a sign hanging above the doorway that said, ‘Vaughners.’ Nearing the entrance, I could smell something sugary with hints of hazelnut and amaretto. There were pictures of cheesecake on posters in the windows.
Okay, I wasn’t a big fan of cheesecake, but at the moment, I didn’t care. My stomach rumbled. I was definitely hungry. We arrived just as they opened. Dana said, “I’m declaring a break. I need something familiar. Vaughn, let me introduce you to a piece of home that I’ve missed.”
Dana entwined her right arm around mine, and we walked in. Angela and Alan walked behind us, talking about trying to get a hold of someone that they knew of in the city. I ignored that for the moment and took in the place. Vaughners looked as if it were some sort of an extravagant coffeehouse. I could definitely smell the rich and aromatic coffee. I could see that the owners of the place had taken the idea of a simple dessert and had turned into a full restaurant.
The place was done in rich tones of dark brown and gray colors. The tables surrounding the matching bar were of a dark-red stained wood. The chairs were plush and nicely formed to allow patrons to lean back and relax. The lighting for the place was muted and welcoming, and there was soft music coming from hidden speakers in the ceilings. Beyond the bar was a kitchen with a thin, sallow man in his fifties setting up for business. The walls held pictures of sports figures and baseball bats.
At Dana’s request, a casually dressed waiter escorted us to a larger dining room with tables and booths lining the walls. Just to the right from the entrance, the room was dimmer. They were using the morning light shining through the large tinted windows instead of the lights on the ceiling. We went to the farthest booth at the back of the restaurant.
I had to admit, as nice as it looked, I felt a little uneasy about the place. The people seemed friendly enough, but I didn’t think that I’d normally come here on my own. I considered waiting until we got back to Riverlite to have something to eat. But my stomach rumbled in disagreement.
Dana must have noticed my edginess. Sitting on one side of the booth, she gestured for me to join her and said, “Order whatever you want. Trust me, Vaughn, I’ve got it covered.”
She said it with a smile, but I could see sadness in her eyes. Worse though was the pain I heard in her voice. Something bad had happened to her here. I wanted to ask, but now wasn't the time to pry.
Alan and Angela sat across from us. But we didn’t talk about anything until the waiter returned with water and menus. Before we could hand out the menus, Dana said, “Kaile, go ahead and bring us a large carafe of the Blue Mountain. For cheesecake, we’ll take the Wednesday Surprise mix.”
As the waiter walked away, Dana saw Alan’s surprised reaction. “What?”
“You know this place?” he asked.
Dana shrugged. “I grew up in the city. My brother even dated a waiter from here, once.”
A second after Dana mentioned BJ, her eyes widened. “Oh Gaia, I have to call BJ! He’s going to be landing in Iowa any minute now! And I’m not there to get him! And I don’t have my SUV, anymore!”
Yeah, she was freaking out. I put a hand over hers as she became upset, saying softly, “Okay, Dana. Calm…calm…he’s on a later flight…remember?”
She grimaced and visibly took a hold of her emotions, glaring at the Alan and Angela. After a moment, she said, “This is your fault. And that crazy pyrokinetic bastard destroyed my damn SUV! Tell me what the hell is going on!”
Alan looked at Angela, shrugged, and sighed. “I told you they were going to be in shock.”
Angela nodded slightly. “Hardly a surprise.”
She looked at us with a sympathetic expression and said, “Look, I know it’s a lot to work out. But let’s get something in our stomachs first, okay?”
Dana grabbed at a glass of water and drank it down. She was doing her best not to scream at the two. As for myself, I stayed quiet for a moment longer before I shook my head.
I said, “No.”
Alan did a double take and said, “No…what?”
I met his eyes and shrugged. “No. I’m not in shock. I’m pissed, and I am tired of all the cloak and dagger crap. I want to know who in the hell you are, and I want to know why my hometown is being attacked.”
Alan laughed. “
Wow! You really have been off the grid, haven’t you? Check the Internet, man. Riverlite is the most looked at town on the web. It’s like it’s a brand new Jerusalem. Thanks to the Avatar, everyone wants to literally touch the place where he lifted off the ground from. Congratulations, Hagen, you guys have the newest Blarney Stone!”
I pointed below the table and said, “Oh, kiss these blarney stones! I’m not talking about the religious nuts. They don’t have super powers, you do!”
Alan looked ready to argue, but Dana interrupted him as she looked at Angela. “You were there at the library, helping people. And I remember when you clapped after Vaughn made his speech at the memorial. Who are you?”
Angela looked embarrassed. She said, “I had to pop out right after that. Too many reporters started demanding my credentials. Guess they don’t like it when one of their own gets involved with the story.”
I started to say something about seeing her on the roof of the bank, but held off when the waiter brought our orders. I blinked at the portions on our plates. This wasn’t a dessert, this was a meal all by itself. And the coffee mugs were huge. I took just a sip from the mug. As edgy as I was, I knew I’d be bouncing off the walls if I drank too much. The taste was fantastic, though.
I enjoyed the drink right up until Alan said, “Okay, Vaughn, we know you’ve been dealing with a lot of zealotry going on where Alex Shaw is concerned. So I can see why you’re a little paranoid about us. But the things we’ve been dealing with is a lot crazier.”
By itself, the words wouldn’t have bothered me. But his attitude was dismissive and arrogant. Alan started to lean forward to take a bite of cheesecake when, without warning, I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. and yanked him half across the table. Pulling him halfway across the table I grabbed the chain around his neck and pulled out the phad transceiver.
Alan started to squawk until I shoved him back into his seat. Quietly, Angela placed his plate of cheesecake back in front of him. I hadn’t even seen her move it out of the way. I ignored his protests and held up the disk.
But I didn’t talk to him. Instead, I said, “Dana, these two are working for someone named Paradoxis. She’s that cyber-presence that Eisenhawk told me about.”
I got a stunned look from brother and sister. Dana smiled at their expressions and said, “Well then, I guess that this woman, Yasmine, must be the ‘other side’ of the equation.”
Our eyes met. Dana said, “There’s a war going on between two groups of Empowered.”
I nodded. “Yeah, and Riverlite is in the middle of it.”
Alan stared at the two of us for a moment before he said, “How the hell do you two know those names? In fact, how do you know about the Empowered? We kept it as deep underground as we could!”
Dana gave them a mysterious smile. “I’m gifted. I can see your aura. So I know everything there is to know about you.”
It was a joke. I could tell that from the lilt of her voice. But Alan stared at her and then snorted slightly. Glancing at Angela, he said, “Oh, look. She’s one of the old ones. Too bad they’re so yesterday!”
Dana’s eyes glinted and turned a grayish green. Alan rolled his eyes and just gave her a small sneer. “Sorry, lady. You don’t scare me. Compared to us, psychics are like cavemen and might as well throw in the towel. We’re the Empowered; not some cheap carnival card reader or dice-tosser.”
I snapped, “Enough. Dana has more experience with psychic talents than any of us does, put together. Hell, she taught Alex! So knock off the insults. She knows us—probably better than we know ourselves. She can teach you, if you’re willing to learn!”
With a cynical sneer, Alan retorted, “Whoa, you’re a real psychic teacher? I mean, wow, really? So what?”
I tensed, ready to deck the arrogant son of a bitch, when Angela punched him on the arm, scowling. That made me happy. This jackass was pissing me off big time!
But it didn’t help when Angela said, “Look, Dana, don’t get us wrong. We actually do know about your coven. I’m sure that you offered help to Vaughn and all, but really, your group doesn’t have a clue about how to handle the firepower we have.”
I glanced over and saw that there was worry in Dana’s eyes, but she covered it. I had to give her credit. She had been calm throughout all of this, the sudden return to San Francisco aside. And if her eyes didn’t have that stormy look right now, I’d never have guessed that these two were royally pissing her off.
She said, “Really? You two are going to just sit there and tell me that? That’s interesting. Well, if that’ll be all, I think Vaughn and I need to leave and get a flight back to Riverlite. I’m only hoping that we get back before that firebombing madman destroys the town. You know the one. You left him behind on the road south of Ryan Tech.”
My eyes widened. In a panic, I started to move out of the booth. But Dana grabbed my arm and held me there. She wasn’t finished.
She said, “You two showed up, attacked the speedster, and yes, you saved our lives. I’ve no argument. And thank you for that. But tell me, what about the clean up?”
Alan looked miffed. “He’s nowhere near Riverlite. I put him in the Gobi Desert with your SUV. I had to, uh, jump him and it at once. I was reaching my limits at that point. And he was too close to the thing. Sorry.”
After a second’s pause, I said, “The Gobi is in China!”
“Mongolia. In any case, he won’t pop up anytime soon. Relax, Vaughn, it’ll be all right. I’m sure Riverlite is safe for the moment,” he said. He looked doubtful as he continued, “It should be, anyway.”
“Yeah, you’re assurances? Not so reassuring!” I snapped.
The waiter returned to ask if we needed anything else. Dana grinned, gestured with her mug, and said, “Yes, I want some of the coffee to go, Kaile. This is wonderful! Could you make up a bag for me?”
Kaile grinned, “I’d be happy to do just that, Ms. Sinclair.”
A few moments went by before he returned with a bag. We didn’t talk while that was going on. I kept looking at Dana with a bemused look, wondering how well she knew people around here. It’s strange that we popped out so near where she once hung out. The twins seemed curious about it, too.
Before I could say anything, Kaile returned with another carafe of coffee, and as he refilled our cups, he said, “Mark says hello, he was hoping to talk with you later, when his shift starts.”
Dana gave him a look of sympathy as she said, “Oh I’d love to! But unfortunately, my friends and I have to catch a ride back home soon. Could you give him my regrets and tell him I’ll call as soon as I can?”
Kaile looked wistful as he said, “Of course, Miss Sinclair. So will this be together or separate?”
Dana said, “Tab it, Kaile. I know my credit is still good; BJ uses it all the time!”
He gave her a smile and nodded. “Yes Ma’am!”
I looked at her with perplexed wonder. “Uh, just how well do you get paid at the library?”
The two across from us looked at Dana with surprise. Angela said, “The first time we came here, we had to show two IDs just to get them to take a credit card! How well off are you?”
She gave me a smile and said, “It’s not how much you have. It’s who you know. And I know the owner. His oldest son dated my brother.”
Then she narrowed her eyes and looked at the siblings hard. Her voice was tight as she said, “Now, get on with it. Tell us what’s been going on. I’m as tired of this mess as Vaughn is. Talk, now.”
Alan looked like he was about to shrug her off when Dana grabbed one of his wrists. She said, “If you jump out of here, or leave us behind, I will find you and I will hurt you. Am I perfectly clear?”
Alan’s eyes widened, and his voice was a squeak as he said, “Yes, ma’am.”
I really wished I could make people listen to me like that. Neither of them had listened to me, but Dana had said one thing and they gave her instant respect! I wondered whether her father had taught it to her while she
was growing up. The Sinclair family was definitely fun to be around—in a strange, life-upsetting sort of way.
I drank my coffee.
But, instead of Alan explaining, Angela was the one to do so. “It started on the day Yama was stopped by Alex.”
Dana said, “The radiation pulse…”
Memory of Alex’s flight flashed across my mind’s eye for a second as I said, “That must’ve been fun. How sick did you two get?”
Alan mumbled something through the cheesecake in his mouth. At my confused look, he swallowed and repeated himself. “We never got sick. We just gained superpowers.”
I started to make a smart aleck remark when Angela’s eyes narrowed. Alan winced when she reached up and pinched his ear. She said, “Sometimes, Alan, you’re an asshole. Stop trying to show off.”
Alan hesitated for a few moments and, finally, said, “All right. Some people got sick. But some didn’t. Not right away, anyway. Angela and I did just ‘power up,’ as you put it. Others like you got sick, and only developed powers once they received the magnesium-lithium therapy.”
A sad look crossed Angela’s face. She said, “But yes, people did show power right away, too. There was a cost, though. We all need the magnesium now. And some didn’t make it in time.”
I sighed. “I saw the numbers of how many died. Yeah, that wasn’t a great thing. So, what, are all the survivors Empowered? That’s one hell of a lot of superhuman beings running around!”
Angela eyes widened, and she said, “Good Lord! No, those are mostly people who had a bad reaction to the burst. Once they got on magnesium, they healed up fairly well. They don’t even need the therapy now. Limited instructions in the DNA I suppose.”
Dana shook her head. “Some instruction. So where did you two enter into this?”
Angela said, “We were trying to find a way to get out of the immediate blast area when Yama blew up. We got so excited that we jaunted. It scared our parents until we showed up again.”
Dana blinked and muttered the word silently. I had a memory flash and said, “Jaunted…isn’t that from the old British television show, Tomorrow People? They called teleportation by that word—jaunt.”