by JC Bybee
“Yeah I know. It’s those damned HSO idiots. We know it’s them, but I’ll be damned if we can find them,” he replied.
“Well that’s what Emily is working on right now along with Torment. They’ll have answers.”
“Is she really that powerful?” he asked.
Ace nodded. “She read right through the interrogation room walls. She explained to me later that the shielding did dampen her ability somewhat so we know she’s not a Fifth; the power gap isn’t big enough. Even Torment and Angel occasionally experience power bleed through in the interrogation rooms.”
She still doesn’t know about me either. She’s not powerful enough.
“So we might actually be getting a break in the investigation?” he asked.
“Maybe, they still have a lot of people to question and some of them are not being very cooperative,” Ace said.
He nodded. “Alright kid, I’ll keep my ear to the ground and see if I can figure out who brought Mayhem in. Just don’t discount the idea that this is just him taking advantage of a bad situation. You are the only one who’s ever come close to capturing him. He prides himself on being untouchable.”
“Don’t I know it,” Ace said. She still had flashbacks of the different times she’d faced off against Mayhem. Each and every time the mercenary Anti had gotten away.
He’s scared of you and he hates himself for it.
She finished off her muffins and the coffee. “Thanks for your help old man.”
They both stood and Ace gave him a hug. “Just be careful out there kid.”
Ace left the small bakery and it faded from view. She could never tell if it was real or just a powerful illusion. With the old man it was always hard to tell.
Not even I know that.
Again she took to the air with a renewed sense of purpose. With the old man directly on the case they stood a much better chance of getting results.
Chapter 12
“So you’re going to be on air patrol for the foreseeable future.” Emily hadn’t phrased it like a question.
She doesn’t sound happy about it.
Ace nodded. “Unless Torment needs me the Captain wants me out and doing things. I called in a lot of cases today. The normal cops had a busy day. On the other hand there was nothing for the E.E.D to do beyond what you and Torment were dealing with. How did that go?”
Emily shrugged. She finished setting plates out on the dining room table. It was a big, black, heavy thing with square corners and room for at least six. Everything in Ace’s kitchen was black and steel gray. Most people found it oppressive, she found it soothing. Go figure.
“No real results then?” Ace prodded.
“Not yet. A lot of the people we spoke with were the ones that were less cooperative when we visited them in their homes. Sometimes Regs can be such babies,” Emily replied.
Ace had to laugh at that. “What?” Emily asked confused for only a moment before realizing that she was still just a Reg. “Right, I’m still just a Reg. I wish there was a different name for those of us who actually want to use our powers to help. I really don’t want to be associated even a little with some of the petty whiners I had to listen to today. Seriously how can people be so damned closed minded?”
“It’s pretty easy when you think about it. Just because we have powers doesn’t mean we’re any better or any worse than the rest of humanity, no matter what the HSO or Tomahawk say. This is going to sound horribly cynical coming from a twenty-five year old, but I’ve learned that as a rule people are selfish. They quite often are content looking after number one. If they have a family they might include them, they might not. That’s one of the reasons the E.E.D rarely calls on Regs who aren’t already closely linked with the E.E.D. We hate having to deal with their whining.” Ace had seen that very attitude on her very first assignment with her squad here in New Davenport.
That guy was a complete ass.
That had been the assignment that had ended with her buried under a building all because a Reg had been too slow to listen to a direct order. The property damage sustained was substantial and the ensuing lawsuit from the company was still in court. The Reg in question had had his license suspended pending a trial.
Incidents like that almost turned Ace against all Regs. Then she would meet one like John Holander, who was more than willing and able to use his powers when called upon. Regs like him restored her faith in her fellow Exceptionals.
“That’s pretty much a lot of what we encountered today. There were even a few that hadn’t even really read the contract they signed to get their Registered status. They thought they were just letting the government know. There was one lady that had wanted to have her Registered status revoked. We had to bring in a lawyer to explain to her that if she did she wouldn’t be able to use her powers again without a supervising officer of the E.E.D present. I almost wish she’d done it. We don’t need people like that out there making a bad name for those Regs who are willing to help.”
Ace brought their dinner to the table. “You got any plans for the evening?” Emily asked as they ate.
“Do I ever? If you haven’t noticed from the video games and movies I don’t exactly have a thriving social life,” Ace replied.
You gave up on that after your last date. That guy was an idiot.
“Why is that? I might not be seeing anyone now, but I’ve never lacked for dates in the past. The whole uncontrolled power thing prevented most relationships from getting very far, but still I was out there,” Emily said.
That was a sensitive subject and Emily picked up on Ace’s mood change quickly. “If you don’t want to answer…”
Ace shrugged. “It’s hard being the only Fifth. Most Fourths are either intimidated or terrified of me. Some only want to prove they’re better than me and I’m not just talking the Fortress Class. There was a telekinetic in Basic that was unrelenting. I nearly had to break that jackass’s neck before he would let up. I won’t even mention the Thirds and below. And you know most men; they can’t handle the idea of a woman being stronger than them. Can you imagine even one of your exes putting up with my powers for more than an hour?”
Emily let out a deep breath. “I am sorry. You are right. I’ll not bring it up again.”
“I appreciate that. My social life will figure itself out eventually. For now I’m happier to be here with my friend than out trying to fish for Mr. Right.”
They spent the rest of the evening watching TV. Football season was just starting and the Exceptional’s League had just gained another expansion team. The Professional Sports Act of the year two-thousand had brought an end to the long standing rivalry between the various professional sports and those Exceptionals that had wanted to play. Now if an Exceptional wanted in on a sport they had to choose; either they could use their powers in the Exceptional’s League, or they left their powers alone and played with the normals. Most chose the Exceptional’s League
Ace liked watching both and since the various cable networks and satellite companies wanted to reach the widest audience they could, they played both. It was probably a scheduling nightmare; especially when dealing with teams from outside of North America. All Ace cared about was getting to watch the New Davenport Bandits beat the Chicago Bears.
The next few days passed uneventfully. Ace kept up her air patrols still hoping to draw a response from anyone. New Davenport was a city of over five million people, the highest population in all of post war America. It covered more land than any other large city in the United States of North America.
At the rate Ace was taking it, it would take longer than a week to truly cover the entire city. She made certain to vary her search pattern. The most and least likely areas got covered first; areas like the warehouse and shipping districts and the suburbs and residential blocks.
One positive was crime rate dropped considerably while Ace was on patrol. The other Heroes that did air patrol welcomed her added assistance. Not all of them had the heightened senses tha
t Ace did. There were eight others who joined her on various rotations. They would occasionally meet and discuss any patterns that they felt were emerging. The law prevented them from taking direct action against any normals, even with Article Two in effect, but they reported everything they saw to the normal police.
At the end of the fourth day of air patrol Ace was called into Captain Angel’s office. She entered and was surprised to see Bones, who ran the E.E.D in New Davenport and Police Commissioner Albert Miller inside. “Ace, come in and have a seat,” the Captain said as she closed the door.
You knew this was coming.
She carefully took one of the remaining chairs and said, “You asked to see me?”
“That’s right, I was just talking with these gentleman about our recent air patrol efforts, and they had some questions to ask you.”
Ace nodded and waited. Bones was the first to speak. “We’ve been looking over the results you and the rest of the officers on air patrol have been bringing in. You all have been doing good work. Whose idea was it to start collaborating between the E.E.D and the normals?”
Bones was one of the older Fourths out there, born not long after the generation had started, she didn’t know much more about him than that. His brown hair was just starting to show grey. He was clean shaven his green eyes were sharp.
There is something familiar about him.
Ace thought back over her times out patrolling. “I couldn’t say for certain, sir. I have to admit my mind has been on other things.”
“That is unsurprising. Torment has been unable to determine if you or Ms. Carpenter was the target of the recent attack. For all we know it could have been both of you,” Commissioner Miller said. He shook his head and continued, “We are quite pleased with what has come out of this more concerted effort on the part of the E.E.D officers. And Bones and I have decided that it was time to make it more official.”
“We want you to head up the aerial patrol here in New Davenport. All officers that are assigned to aerial patrol, both normals and Heroes will report to you. This would necessitate you being promoted to lieutenant. You would still be under Torment’s command for those cases where her unit is called in, but for the rest of the time you would report to Captain Angel. What do you think?” Bones asked.
It took Ace by surprise. She was unable to come up with a response. “But my seniority…”
Right, because people are going to complain about you not having authority.
The Commissioner waved his hand. “Your time in the military serves as your seniority. We interviewed the other E.E.D offers on patrol. They all agreed that you were the driving force behind the increased reporting and the cohesiveness that we’ve seen over the past few days. The other Heroes look up to you Ace.”
“But why?” she asked.
We’ve really got to work on your self-confidence.
“They’ve seen what you can do. The power you have and the control you exert over that power is inspiring to all the men and women that work for us, Exceptionals and normals. You are a hero in the truest sense of the word. We need that right now,” Bones replied.
Again she was stunned to silence. Was she so unobservant to have missed the supposed respect her fellow officers had for her? She thought it over, but couldn’t come up with a satisfactory conclusion one way or another.
The three men looked at her. In their faces she could see confidence. Whether that confidence was misplaced or not was yet to be seen. She agreed, trying not to let her reluctance show. “I’ll do it.”
“Good. Captain Angel has your new insignia and the details of your new rank and the members of the aerial squads. It is up to you to make sure you know your men and to keep them working together,” Bones said. He and the Commissioner stood. Ace and the Captain followed suit.
“We expect results Lieutenant Ace,” the Commissioner said and extended his hand. Ace took it, gently. He blinked and shook his head. “It is hard to believe that so much strength comes from someone so small. After getting used to Fortress Classes like Tomahawk and Bulldog it is very strange.”
Ace reigned in her annoyance and shrugged instead. People were going to forever underestimate her because of her stature. That was just part of her life. There was no use getting annoyed or angry about it. Bones also shook her hand. “Keep up the good work.”
Definitely something very familiar about him.
“Thank you, sir,” Ace said.
Captain Angel escorted the two higher ups out of his office. Ace went to her normal desk, but all of her stuff was gone. “We had to give you an office Ace,” Angel said. He’d come back from the elevators. “You’ll be coordinating a lot of officers and you are going to need the extra room. Here’s your key, it’s the one just down from mine.”
She took the small silver key from the Captain. It had 5E stamped on it. Even with the advent of almost fool proof electronic locks, and bio-monitoring security the police still liked to use regular old hardware locks for their doors.
Ace followed the Captain’s directions and unlocked the door. Inside was a desk that was bigger than her old one, a new computer and two filing cabinets. She opened one and saw it was full of personnel files, presumably for the officers who were going to be under her command. The other was filled with case files. She would have digital versions of all of them on her computer, but again the police were still old-fashioned about some things.
She looked over the case files first. A lot of the cases were those that she and the others on aerial patrol had reported over the last few days. There was also the case file on the open investigation of the HSO presence in New Davenport. There was a newer one centering on the search for Mayhem. Most of the information had been provided by Ace.
There was a knock at her door and she looked up to see Emily standing there with a look of appreciation on her face. “Nice office,” she said when she saw Ace look up.
“I don’t know that I deserve it, but it will help me get my work done,” Ace replied.
Again with that lack of confidence.
“I’d heard there were some NDPD higher ups in the building. They were here for you I take it.”
Ace relayed what had happened in her meeting with the Commissioner and Bones. It still felt strange to say it. Emily took a seat and said, “I think you do deserve it. I know the minds of your fellow officers better than you. Part of the respect comes from your time spent training with Tomahawk, but the rest comes from you. You are tough, and I don’t mean your powers. They are looking beyond your powers to the actions behind them. Hell, you came back to work after having a building fall on you. There have been other Heroes who broke after far less. Even Tomahawk had to take a month’s leave after he got hit by a fifty cal. They know you had to be ordered to take a break after the Mayhem incident.”
Yet again, you really need her. She hasn’t told you they talked with her.
Ace felt herself blushing profusely. She didn’t think of herself as tough, at least not like Emily was describing. She did her job, focusing on the tasks that she had making sure they got done. Nothing she’d ever done had made her want to quit being an officer of the E.E.D. She remembered talking to Tomahawk about the fifty cal incident. It had shaken him, badly. Not even having a building collapse on her had done that to Ace.
“Well now that you have more responsibilities how are you going to handle them?” Emily asked.
“I’m honestly not sure yet. I think the first thing I’m going to do is call a meeting of all those now under my command. I’m sure some of them aren’t happy to have a rookie in charge of them, despite the assurances of Bones and the Commissioner,” Ace replied.
“That’s probably a good idea. Do you want me there?” Emily said.
Ace hesitated. She wasn’t sure if she had that kind of authority. Yes, Emily was now an official consultant, but she’d been brought in for a specific case. “You want me to ask Captain Angel to come in?” Emily asked.
Ace shook her head. “I’l
l go ask him.”
She went to the Captain’s door and knocked. “Come in, Ace.” The Captain almost sounded amused. Ace entered and before she could ask he said, “You have that level of authority. Besides I think we, as in Bones and I, might be bringing Ms. Carpenter on as a permanent E.E.D officer, if she is willing. She’d have to go through some training first, but she has been invaluable in our recent investigations. Her abilities are much stronger than even Bones’. There aren’t many Exceptionals that would be able to resist her. I think you are the only one that can.”
Ace nodded. “Thank you, sir.”
“Now get back to work. I think your idea of meeting with all of those officers under your command is a good one. Because you’re right, some of them are going to hate working for a younger officer, let alone a Hero.”
Again with the I told you so.
Feeling a little foolish, but encouraged all the same Ace went back to her office and started looking over the NDPD calendar. She would have to wait a day or two for the orders to filter down properly, but once it was officially in place she had a date set for the first meeting with the newly formed Aerial Squad joint task force.
“I would very much like for you to be there when I meet with these officers. I need to know where their true loyalties are and what they really think of my orders, rather than what they think of me. I don’t give a damn what they think of me,” Ace said to Emily after she had set the date for the meeting.
Emily laughed. “I’m glad you aren’t going to let them intimidate you.”
Ace snorted. “I got over being intimidated when the biggest, baddest Fortress Class in the military tried to assert his dominance. After I beat the hell out of him he realized that I wasn’t just talk. The worst I’ll have here is the occasional insubordination. Some of them will think they know better than me. The worst will be the ones who try and act like my friends. Those are the ones I really want you to keep an eye out for. They are the ones that like to try and abuse relationships. I’m not going to let that happen.”