The Fire In My Eyes

by Christopher Nelson

  The agent was more powerful than the two girls put together, and I doubted that my own attacks would make a difference. I reinforced my shield and expanded it to cover both Star and myself. She shuddered as the shield stabilized. The agent stepped back as my shield's strength grew, and I saw his eyes widen. Was my shield that strong? I deliberately focused my power, a precursor to an attack, and the agent leaped backwards across the street, focusing one shield to defend against any attack I might make.

  My distraction worked. Two shields seemed to be his limit. The blonde rushed forward, her own shield reinforced and blazing with energy. When the agent landed, she simply thrust forward, smashing her shield into him. The agent's other shield buckled and he crashed backwards through the window of the building behind him. I could hear a crash and a scream from inside. “Did you get him?” I shouted.

  The blonde was already falling back to our side of the street, breathing heavily. “Not a chance,” she called. “I think I just made him angry.”

  The agent burst through the roof of the building, showering everyone with dust and pieces of masonry. Debris bounced off my shield and I heard Max and Drew curse as rubble rained down on them. The agent floated into the air above all of us, a bubble of red energy deflecting a hasty lash by the brunette. He pointed down at the blonde. With the power she had just expended, she had nothing left to defend with. He grabbed her with telekinesis and pushed her down to her knees. Before anyone could focus a shield, he forced her backwards. She shrieked in pain and I could sense the agent pressing her down, crushing her down into the pavement.

  The brunette launched herself into the air and flung energy at the agent, flanking him and trying to distract him from the blonde. It worked. He tried to swat her out of the air, but she was agile enough to dodge his attacks. Her attacks were weak, but enough to force him to focus on defense. He couldn't keep the pressure up on the blonde and shield against the brunette at the same time. After one dodge, she locked eyes with me for just a moment. The message was clear. She was buying time for me to do something.

  What did she expect me to do? I glanced down on Star. She was starting to hyperventilate. Her uncontrolled power was still enough to block anything I tried. I had to get her away from the agent. I looked over at Max and Drew, who were both clinging to the ground as if the earth was going to try and throw them off. “Max! Drew!” I snapped, trying to get their attention without drawing the agent. “Get the blonde! Bring her back inside!”

  Drew looked at me wide-eyed, then nodded. He crawled forward to the blonde, then grabbed her under the shoulders. Before the agent could renew the pressure on her or attack Drew, I extended my shield to protect them. The agent's telekinetic grip broke and Drew dragged her back toward the bar. Max looked at me for instructions and I gestured for him to help Drew. “This is an amazingly fucked up situation,” he said.

  “You're telling me,” I said.

  “What the hell is going on?”

  I didn't know what to tell him. The agent and terrorist story was far-fetched enough without the psionic twist coming into play. “I'll tell you about it later,” was the best I could do.

  He laughed harshly. “If we live that long.” He jumped up and yanked the bar's doors open for Drew. The agent started to fling an attack toward him, but the brunette flayed his shield, forcing him to concentrate on defense again.

  Max gestured at me and pointed at Star. If I could get her into the bar, at least she'd be a little safer, and I could try and do something for her while the brunette held off the agent. I scooped Star up off the ground and headed for the door. I'd do my best to save her, at least.

  “Wait! What are you doing?” the brunette shouted.

  The agent laughed. The attacks had stopped. I looked back over my shoulder. The brunette was shielding against the agent's attacks, but her eyes were on me. I could see the expression on her face. Betrayal. “That's right, Parker, leave this one to me,” the agent said. “Run away, coward, run inside so you don't have to watch. I'll come for you and that bitch when I'm done breaking this one.”

  “Don't let him get to you,” Max said, still holding the door open. “He's trying to confuse you. Don't listen.”

  “Max,” I said. “Take her inside.”

  “Don't listen to him!”

  “Do it!”

  Max propped the door open with his foot and I shoved Star into his arms. He grunted and looked down at her, then back up at me. “I hope you know what you're doing. If Nikki finds out that you were risking your life to save another girl, she's going to kill you.”

  I had to laugh. “If we live that long.”

  He grinned, then stepped backwards, Star cradled in his arms. I slammed the door shut and whirled around to face the agent, extending my shield to defend the front of the bar. “All right, you son of a bitch, you've got my undivided attention now,” I said.

  The agent laughed again. “I wasn't going to kill you, but now? Now you're going to wish I had.”

  I chuckled and tripled my shield's strength. My power hummed through my body and mind, fully focused for the first time this evening. “One problem with that, secret agent man.”

  The agent's eyes narrowed.

  “I'm still here!” the brunette shouted. She had taken advantage of the agent's focus on me to get directly below him, and now she thrust both her hands upwards. A lance of blue energy flashed straight upwards and popped his bubble shield. He only barely dodged the deadly spike, but the attack had wrecked his defenses. “Now!” the brunette tele'd to me.

  I reached sideways with telekinesis. None of the attacks the agent or Star's friend had used against each other had involved actual objects, only raw force and energy, things that Shade hadn't trained me on yet. I was willing to bet the entire fight on the idea that the agent wouldn't be prepared for a simple physical attack. What I was planning was an order of magnitude or two stronger than a simple punch, though.

  I grabbed the base of one of the streetlights with telekinesis and lifted. It resisted and I applied some torque. It wrenched free of the ground and sparks flew as I whirled it around, driving it toward him at an angle from behind and above, whistling through the air as it moved.

  He threw a new shield up at the last moment, but I was swinging my super-sized club hard enough that he simply didn't have the strength to completely block it. The strike bent the streetlight even as his shield shattered into glowing red shards and drove him down. The impact left a crater in the street. The shield had absorbed enough of the kinetic force to leave him alive, but he was dazed and staggering in the middle of the street. He was obviously in no shape to continue the fight, but I couldn't give him time to recover.

  It was almost anti-climactic. I walked up to him and swung a right-handed roundhouse punch as hard as I could. I broke his jaw. His jaw broke my fingers. He ended up face down on the ground while I swore viciously up and down.

  “Is he out?” The brunette regarded me with a guarded expression.

  “I hope so,” I said. My hand felt like it was on fire from the inside out. The pain was enough to make my eyes water. “I'm never going to punch anyone like that again. Not without gloves. Holy shit, this hurts.”

  She didn't even crack a smile. “What did you do with Star?”

  “What?”

  She grabbed me by the collar. Glowing blue eyes, very close to me. What was with people grabbing me by the collar? “Where is she? You brought him here. You're the reason she's hurt. So help me God, I will take you apart piece by piece if we lose her.”

  “She's in the bar, with your other friend!” She let go of my collar and stalked toward the bar. I followed her, adjusting my collar with my left hand. “I couldn't help her. Her power was out of control and blocking anything I tried.”

  “Of course,” the brunette snapped as we walked in. “She doesn't know you, how could she trust you? Of course she wouldn't let you through her defenses. Idiot.”

  I bit back a response and looked around the ba
r. All of the patrons were sitting down, eyes closed, unmoving. The blonde was sitting on a barstool, breathing heavily, and Drew was bringing her a glass. Star was lying on the floor and Max was kneeling above her, fingers pressed to her wrist. He looked up as we entered. “Her heartbeat's getting weak. What the hell happened? It’s like she's in shock.”

  The brunette shook her head. “You don't want to know what she's seeing right now.” She knelt on the other side of Star and placed her hands on Star's shoulders. Blue energy flickered from her eyes and I could sense her biokinetic touch with my Sight. Star's defenses challenged her, then faded. Whatever damage the agent had done was undone in seconds. Star took a deep breath and sat right up. “How do you feel?” the brunette asked.

  Star looked down at herself, then glanced around until she saw me. I expected her to frown or be angry or even to attack me, but all she did was smile. “I feel like I've just found a new goal in life.”

  The brunette sighed. “That agent almost kills you and all you can do make jokes?”

  “I'm not joking, Beth,” Star said. She stood up, wobbling a little, then walked toward me. “Didn't you feel it? I could, and I was halfway to the moon. My boy Kevin here has amazing power. I felt like I could fall into it.” She prodded me in the center of the chest with her fingers. “I think you could be very useful to us.”

  The brunette looked at me and rolled her eyes. “You're doomed,” she mumbled.

  “Us?” I asked. “Hold on here. Aren't you supposed to be terrorists?”

  Star looked over her shoulder. “Hey, Ruth? How many people have we terrorized in the past month or so?”

  “Lost count,” the blonde said. She was wheezing with every breath.

  Star looked back to me. “That's what the suits call us,” she said with a shrug. “But one man's terrorist is another man's patriot, as the saying goes. I prefer the term vigilante, though. Or maybe we're agents of justice?”

  “You're losing me here,” I said.

  She started to reply, but then tilted her head to the side. Blue energy flickered in her eyes. “More suits on the way. Beth, you up for another fight?”

  “Sure, if you're not worried about winning,” the brunette replied.

  “Figured. Get to the safehouse. We're bugging out tonight, cell compromised. Pack what we can, burn what we can't. I'll catch up in a few minutes.” Star fell silent, but I could sense telepathy flickering between her and the other girls.

  “Got it,” the brunette said. Star grabbed my left wrist and dragged me outside. The agent was still lying in the middle of the street where I had left him. She knelt beside him, then touched his forehead. Her eyes shone blue.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Twisting,” she said. “He shouldn't remember this, and even if he does, he won't be coming after us for a few months.” She patted him on the head and stood up. “His crew will handle cleanup, so don't worry. You and I need to talk.”

  “Talk about what?” I asked. “Who are they? Who are you, for that matter?”

  She touched my injured hand. I could feel her probing the injuries. “Maybe I just wanted to talk about rescheduling our tryst,” she said.

  “Like hell.”

  She laughed. “I'm serious. We don't have enough time to discuss things properly. You go to Ripley? That's in upstate New York, in Troy, isn't it?”

  “Are you planning on taking a tour?” I asked.

  Her smile turned playful again. “Of course. I've always wanted to visit that campus. Will you be my guide?”

  “Yeah, for about three minutes before you get caught up there too,” I said. “Are you serious? That's like walking naked through a field full of beehives. Our people up there will track you down fast, and I don't think they'll be any happier to see you than this guy was.”

  “Are you thinking about me walking around naked?”

  I was, now that she mentioned it. “That's not my point!”

  Star laughed again and I felt psionic energy curl into my broken hand, knitting the bones and encouraging the injuries to heal quickly. I clenched my jaw as the pain spiked, then receded. She was at least as skilled at biokinesis as Nikki, maybe better. “You can trust me, Kevin. I won't get caught. I've been on the run since I was fifteen. I can dodge the authorities, I can fend for myself, and most importantly, I can keep a secret. Can you?”

  “I'd like to think so.” I wiggled my fingers with only a small twinge of pain. “Thanks.”

  “You're quite welcome. Here's what's going to happen. Your friends just got their memories of this event tweaked. You'll have spent a nice long evening in the bar, but didn't get anywhere. Your friend Max owns a car?”

  “Yeah, that one in the lot,” I said.

  “Good. They’re going to be in a haze until they get some sleep, so you'll want to grab a hotel room. Wish I could join you. Oh well. There's always next time.”

  “Hopefully not involving a government agent almost killing us,” I said. “That settles things for them, but what about me?”

  “I'd like to trust you,” she said. “I'd like to trust you to not tell anyone about what happened tonight. I'd like to trust you to not even think about it. You're right about the Establishment. They won't be happy to see me. There's a lot you don't know about them.”

  “How do you know-”

  She cut me off before I could ask. “Trust me on that. Return my trust, all right?” She sighed and looked side to side. “We're running out of time. Kevin, here's the deal. We can trust each other and we both walk away from here. If you don't trust me, I'll just tweak your memories too. The suits probably won't bother you any more if you're laid out like everyone else. That one seemed like he was going beyond his orders. He set you up so he could take you out alongside me.”

  “So what-”

  “Listen!” She grabbed my shoulders. “No time! Do you trust me?”

  It didn't take much thought. She was telling me things, not like Ripley or Shade, and she hadn't kept me at arm's length like Nikki. She was straightforward and she was honest and she had tried to keep me from getting involved. Even though I had only known her for a half hour or so, I trusted her. “Yes.”

  Her expression softened with a smile. “Good. Do you want to see me again? I want to talk to you, tell you things. I want to see you again. I want to do things with you. To you. But it's your call. What do you think?”

  My hormones had calmed down by this point. I had a girlfriend. I could turn down the blatant seduction, and I could learn what was going on. “You'll tell me about what's going on? About who you are?”

  She nodded, hands still gripping my shoulders. “Yes.”

  I nodded as well. “Sure. When?”

  Her smile widened and she looked simply radiant. “I'll need some time to take care of business. I'll contact you. I promise. And here's something to seal that promise,” she said, and pulled me roughly to her. Her kiss was intense, brutal, nothing like kissing Nikki. Star kissed me like there was nothing more important in the world. The world could end around us and she'd still kiss me until she was perfectly satisfied.

  She let go far too soon. “Run, Kevin,” she whispered. “Run before I lose my mind over you. Go!” She licked her lips, then took a shaky step backwards, turned her back on me, and ran. Her hair twinkled as she passed under a working streetlight and I watched her go until she turned a corner and was out of sight. Immediately overhead, I heard a helicopter. I pressed up against a wall as it swept overhead, searchlight flashing past me and down the street, following her. I wanted to knock it out of the sky, but she had asked me to trust her. I curled my hands into fists and ran back into the bar.

  Max and Drew were standing near the door, both grinning drunkenly while the rest of the bar looked around with glassy eyes. The blonde and brunette were long gone. I pushed them both out the door. “Get in the car!” I shouted. To my surprise, they did. “Buckle up!” I snapped as I slammed the driver's door shut. I tore out of there like a frightened
rabbit.

  Traffic was non-existent for several blocks and I twisted and turned until I found a sign that pointed me west, away from the city. I got onto a highway, merged into the light traffic at whatever ungodly hour it was, and raced off. Max and Drew were still silent with identical ridiculous grins on their faces. Whatever memories Star's friends had suggested to them must have been pleasant. I sped down the highway and pulled off at an exit long before the point where we had originally been caught. There was a cheap motel not far from the exit and I pulled into the lot.

  The late night clerk was more than happy to accept a full night's payment for a room in cash. I thanked him, took the key, and herded my friends into the room. “Go to sleep,” I told them. Each of them obediently picked a bed, climbed into it fully dressed, and promptly passed out. We were probably far enough away by now to be safe. I dropped into a chair by the window and looked at the clock. It was almost three in the morning and I still had adrenaline pulsing through my veins. There was no way I could sleep right now.

  My thoughts drifted back to Star. If she really did come up to New York to find me, what would I do? Could I even talk to her without betraying the Establishment? Was she trying to recruit me to be a traitor to the people who were training me? It wasn't as if I had a lot of loyalty to Ripley and his crew, but if she was part of a terrorist group, I didn't want to get involved. She didn't seem like someone who would go around slaughtering innocents, though. What was her story? I needed to hear it.

  I nodded and curled up in the chair. I'd listen to what she had to say. She'd be able to take care of herself when she came up to Ripley, and hearing her out was the least I could do if she actually showed up. The only thing left for me to consider was how I would explain this to Nikki. Or if I would tell her at all.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Florida terrified me. After what had happened in Washington, I was constantly looking over my shoulder. Would they come after me? Would I wake up some night to see glowing red eyes in the darkness of the hotel room? That was the theme for nightmares that month. The incident had only gone to show me how very vulnerable I was when I was away from Ripley.