GAIA: Rogue State (A Girl Power Novella)

by P. T. Dilloway

  She realized she’d miscalculated when she looked down and saw she was about three stories up. Without her armor it’d be a long fall down. Worse yet, Darrien is closing in on her. She narrowly gets behind a pipe before his shot would have taken her head off.

  “You don’t want to do this, Diane! You love me. I know you do.”

  “I’m not Diane. My name is Darrien.”

  “You might be now, but for the last year you were Diane. I know somewhere in that Swiss cheese brain of yours you still remember.”

  “All I remember is you trying to leave me in Haiti without any knickers.”

  “I’m sorry about that. It was for your own good. You need help.”

  “From you? I’ll be in the grave before I take help from some little punk like you.”

  “I’m not a little punk! Not inside.”

  “Could have fooled me.”

  From his voice she can tell he’s getting close. She decides to bolt, hoping to reach the next cluster of pipes. If she can just keep talking, maybe something will kick in. She counts to three and then leans around to fire a wild shot from her gun. It doesn’t come anywhere near him, but it does the job of getting him down enough for her to take off.

  Except like a dumb girl in a horror movie she trips over a raised portion of the catwalk and tumbles forward. The gun skitters away from her grasp, ending up by the pipes she hoped to reach. She gets halfway to her feet, but that’s when he hits her right in the face.

  She lies on the catwalk, looking up at him. He aims his gun at her forehead. There’s no way in Hell he can miss from this distance. “Get up,” he growls.

  “Why? So you can hit me again?”

  “Only if you don’t behave. You’re going to be my ticket out of here. No way your friends risk killing you.”

  “A human shield? That’s all I am to you now?”

  “I’ve told you before, you’re not my girlfriend. I don’t know you.”

  “Then I’d rather you put a bullet into my brain right now. I’d rather die than have to live without you.”

  “Tell it to your diary, kid.” He grabs her by the front of her shirt. As a man it’s easy enough for him to haul her up.

  Tonya can think of only one thing to do, something so desperate and crazy it will probably get her killed—she kisses him. He’s not prepared for her to lunge forward enough for her lips to touch his. For a second he resists, but then he starts to kiss her back. The lips are a little firmer and not as full, but otherwise it’s not so different than kissing Diane.

  When they finally have to break for oxygen, he stares at her. Then he drops his gun. He puts both hands to his head and screams. She can only squat next to him as he thrashes around on the catwalk, acting like Linda Blair in The Exorcist.

  His body finally stops thrashing around. Tonya worries for a moment he might be dead. Then he rolls over and reaches up to touch her cheek. “Hey, kid,” he whispers. “Thanks for waking me up.”

  “Diane?”

  “It’s still Darrien. But I remember, yeah.”

  She helps him to sit up and then throws her arms around him in a hug. This time she opts for kissing his cheek. “That was like a fairy tale,” she says. “Only the princess woke up the handsome prince for a change.”

  “Well there’s no Happily Ever After quite yet. Not until I get that son of a bitch Outback.”

  “Who?”

  “Big guy. Red beard.”

  “Oh, that asshole. I think Dr. Pierce was dealing with him.”

  “Oh, her. How’d she manage that trick with the staff?”

  “I don’t know. We can find out later.”

  They start to make their way down the catwalk when Dr. Pierce appears in one of those magic bubbles the Peacekeepers use. There’s a queasy look on the woman’s face that reminds Tonya of Melanie whenever the Auxiliary had to fly somewhere. Still she has the wherewithal to aim her staff at Darrien. “Are you all right, young lady?”

  “I’m fine, Doc. So’s Diane.”

  “More or less. I suppose we’ve both undergone a change since we parted ways.”

  “Yes, I suppose so. I’ll meet you two at the bottom.”

  Tonya nods to her and then watches the bubble zig-zag away like it’s being driven by a drunk driver. “Do you suppose you need a license to operate one of those?” she asks.

  Darrien groans and then bends down for his gun. “Don’t make me reconsider killing you.”

  “There’s my old friend. So how’s it feel to have your ding-dong back?”

  “It seems smaller than I remember. You think that machine messed something up?”

  “You wish.”

  Chapter 23

  Hitter left Melanie in an office with a trio of guards. Then he touched a microphone in his ear and hustled off, leaving orders for the guards to keep her there. Apparently there was trouble in paradise. Probably Garlak and Kila coming to rescue her.

  There still hasn’t been a rescue after what must be twenty minutes waiting. When the door opens she hopes it will be one of her friends, but it’s Sunny Moon. The woman flashes her overly bright smile as she sits down behind her desk. “That is a very cute disguise, Miss Amis. Wherever did you find that out here?”

  “I borrowed it from a friend.”

  “I see. Now, suppose you tell me what brought you here?”

  “I found Dward in Kolwezi. Miss O’Brien said what you had done to him.”

  “That was unpleasant. I would have preferred to avoid it, but even space monsters can get too greedy for their own good.”

  “And he’d fulfilled his usefulness, right?”

  “Yes. His protection was no longer needed. As you can see, our operation is well under way.”

  “Not yet.”

  “General—Melanie—you’re a smart girl. You should join us. Stop fighting for the status quo. Where has that ever gotten you? Or the world for that matter? Look around this continent and see what a mess the old regimes have made of everything.”

  “And you’re going to fix all that.”

  “Yes. I know you don’t believe it, but Omega was a gift from God. He’s given us a second chance.” She pauses to shake her head sadly. “I think of how I wasted my life the last time. Like all the others I was in the rat race for my crumbs of money and power, but I was never going to get anywhere. Not really. To mix my rodent metaphors, I was only spinning around like a hamster on its wheel. Most of the others weren’t even doing that.

  “We’re not the worst, though. The worst are those like you. You fought for their side. You believed in their side. Yet you’re still on the hamster wheel. They might have given you a new title, but they won’t really let you save the world. There’s far too much for them to lose.”

  It’s Melanie’s turn to shake her head. “I can understand it all except why you contacted me about the missing girls. Why put me on your trail?”

  “You were already on my trail after your agent stumbled across our lab in the Outback. I thought—accurately as it turns out—that by contacting you I could ensnare you in my web. I’m only disappointed you didn’t bring the rest of your super friends. Then we could be rid of those fascists all in one swoop.”

  “They’re not fascists. They fight for everyone’s freedom, like I do.”

  “Save me the patriotic speech, Melanie. I know it too well. At one point I even believed it. America, the land of opportunity. But those opportunities are only for those with enough money—people like you.”

  Melanie wonders how much longer she can keep Moon talking. So far this has been working out like one of her old comic books, but Moon isn’t dumb enough to sit here gabbing forever. Eventually she’ll get tired of toying with Melanie and finish her off.

  To Melanie’s relief she hears a roar followed by the sound of doors being torn from their hinges. The guards behind her are in the process of turning around when the door explodes, knocking them to the floor. Garlak stomps into the room, looking every bit a flesh-toned She-Hulk. �
��Me bash bad woman,” she growls.

  “Be my guest,” Melanie says.

  The cavewoman takes a step towards where Moon sits. That’s when Moon presses a button that sets off a flash grenade. Melanie and Garlak cry out in pain. When Melanie’s vision clears to only a few popping flashbulbs of purple and green, she sees Moon has gone.

  With a roar Garlak tears apart the ropes holding Melanie to the chair. She gets to her feet. “Thanks. You clean up here. I’ll go after her.”

  Garlak nods, more than happy to continue her rampage through the “temple.” This leaves Melanie to try to pick up Moon’s trail. As a student of Midnight Spectre she had plenty of schooling in detective work. She didn’t need to be Midnight Spectre to know Moon is going to need some way out of here.

  She races out into the courtyard to see a cloud of dust in the difference. Moon probably commandeered a jeep. Well, two can play that game, Melanie thinks. She spots a jeep left in the street. The keys are still inside, allowing her to start it up and race off in pursuit.

  Since they’re equally matched, Melanie can’t gain much ground. At best she can hope to keep Moon in sight and intercept her at her final destination. That gets harder as they race into the jungle. Melanie has to worry more about trees and brush in her path than gaining on Moon. The jeep is at least sturdy enough to plow through the roughest patches of the trail.

  At last she comes to a clearing and finds the jet where they’d left it. Another jeep is already there, probably Moon’s. As Melanie comes to a stop, she gasps.

  Wriggling in Moon’s grasp, a pistol to her temple, is Mom.

  ***

  As an assassin, Hitter never spent much time chasing anyone down. The whole point of being an assassin was to eliminate needless chases by getting a clean kill the first time. Even during her year in GAIA’s employ she hadn’t gotten into many footraces, except with the occasional drug smuggler.

  Given all that, he’s not sure he’ll be able to catch up to Outback. This would be easier if he had one of those magic bubbles the Peacekeeprs—and Dr. Pierce—use, but they’re all busy at the moment. All he can do is keep plugging along through the town.

  At one point he was pretty sure he saw Melanie whiz past in a jeep, but she went by too fast to flag down. He doesn’t know where she had been going, maybe to get them some help. It’s no bother as Outback is still on foot. He bears left into a convenience store. Like in an action movie he shoves junk to the floor to try to slow Hitter down. Rather than wallow through the garbage, Hitter gets in a good stance and aims his Desert Eagle. The big gun kicks once.

  Outback cries out in pain. Then he collapses into the back room. “Sorry about the mess, mate,” Hitter says to the man behind the counter. He steps around the junk on the floor, into the back room.

  Outback is on his feet enough that he can stagger through an exit, into an alley. There’s blood oozing from the wound in his shoulder. By all rights Hitter should have aimed for his head, but he preferred to watch the man suffer. He watches Outback struggle along for a minute before he shoots him in the right calf.

  Hitter turns him over to look down on him. “Hello, mate. You trying to bail on your men?”

  “There’s still time to get out of here. We can make it back to Kolwezi, get on a plane—”

  “Only way you’ll be getting on a plane is in cuffs I’m afraid.”

  Outback shakes his head. “You can’t remember. That spell, it wiped everything.”

  “No, it just buried it for a while. I remember everything now—including what you did to me. That’s no way to treat an old mate, is it?”

  “I could have killed you then. Or I could have made you into a little kid. But I didn’t.”

  “No, you let me nearly kill my friends. That’s not something I can forgive.”

  “Then go ahead. Put a bullet in me. That’s what my old friend Darrien would do.”

  It is a tempting offer to be sure. Not only did Outback set Hitter on his friends—especially on Tonya—but he also monkeyed around with Hitter’s brain. That kind of violation isn’t the kind of thing he can shrug off. And yet when he thinks of Tonya and Melanie, he knows what they would want him to do.

  He turns the gun around to pistol whip Outback. The Desert Eagle is heavy enough to knock him unconscious. “It’ll be more fun seeing you in prison as a cute little girl,” Hitter grumbles.

  He hears someone coming and spins around. “Whoa there, partner,” Tonya shouts, putting her hands up. He tucks the pistol back into its holder. “So you got him?”

  “Obviously.”

  “And he’s still alive?”

  “For now.”

  “Great.”

  It’s then they look up to see purple bubbles raining from the sky. Apparently the cavalry has shown up, though perhaps a bit late. Hitter yanks Outback to his feet and then drags the man back towards the factory to join his mates.

  ***

  Melanie raises her hands. “Let her go.”

  “I don’t think so. She’s my ticket out of here.” Moon presses the gun tighter to Mom’s head. “The family resemblance is remarkable. You two could be twins.”

  “Miss Moon, please, don’t do this,” Mom says. “I understand your cause. I sympathize. I’m like you, a second chancer.”

  “You’re not like me. You’re working for the status quo. You and your daughter.”

  “My daughter saved the world. Without her, Omega would have killed us all.”

  “It was Apex Girl who blew him up. And Velocity Man who made the bomb,” Melanie says. “I’m not a hero. I only tried to do what I could to return sanity to the world.”

  “You wanted us to go back to what we were. But that time is over. Don’t you see? It’s our time to become more. My army—”

  “Is defeated,” Melanie says. She gestures with her head to the purple bubbles streaking overhead. “The Peacekeepers will take care of them. Those who aren’t on your payroll. If we’re lucky they won’t decide to destroy the whole human race.”

  “All the more reason to have let my project go ahead. Do you think these ‘Peacekeepers’ will ever go away? Do you think they’ll end their occupation of Earth? Not until they see we can make it hard for them.”

  “You sound like bin Laden’s ilk now.”

  “Just because they were wrong doesn’t mean they didn’t have some good ideas. The only way to save this world is to get rid of all the trappings of the status quo—including the Peacekeepers.”

  Melanie is surprised when Mom laughs. “I’m sorry, but I thought you were an adult. Fighting the Peacekeepers and the ‘status quo’ is only going to drench this world in blood. What do you think you’ll accomplish with this tantrum? You’re only going to get innocent people killed.”

  “Starting with you.”

  Before Moon can pull the trigger, Mom sweeps her leg back to kick Moon’s out from under her. They tumble to the ground. Moon reaches for the pistol, but Melanie kicks her in the face hard enough to break the woman’s nose. A shuriken tipped with poison to the back causes the woman to finally go limp.

  Melanie nudges Moon a few times to make sure she’s down. Then she takes a set of zip ties from her belt to tie Moon’s hands. Mom is still on the ground, only sitting up now. Melanie holds out a hand to help her up.

  “That was pretty impressive,” Melanie says.

  “I did learn a few things from Jasmine. She picked them up sparring with your friend Robin.”

  “Maybe I should let you be a field agent after all.”

  Mom shakes her head. “I think I’ve had more than enough of this excitement. My insides feel like jelly right now.”

  Melanie gives her mother a hug to help comfort her. “So are mine. When I saw her with that pistol to your head—”

  “It’s all right, honey. It’s over now.”

  Melanie nods, but she knows that isn’t true.

  Epilogue

  They hold a party in the cramped offices of GAIA in Atomic City to welcome Di
ane back. Thanks to the miniature version of the alien weapon, she is Diane Giordano once more. The change has left her scrawnier, so that she and Jessica Murphy could be sisters. Her freckled cheeks turn red as Tonya steers her into the room, where Melanie, Mom, and Garlak shout, “Surprise!”

  “Major Giordano reporting for duty,” Diane says.

  “Welcome back,” Melanie says. She forsakes a handshake in favor of a hug. “I was afraid you might not go through with it.”

  “Well it was either that or prison. I wouldn’t recommend prison.”

  It had nearly been prison in any case. Melanie had to strongly plead with American authorities that Hitter had been brainwashed when he broke into Guontanamo Bay and killed Klinsmann. A confession from the girl formerly known as Outback helped back this up. Despite all this, Diane is still on thin ice. The authorities promised Melanie that one strike and Diane will be locked up forever—if she’s not eliminated entirely.

  Seeing the rail-thin teenager in front of her, Melanie finds it hard to believe this could have been the man who nearly killed her and Tonya and did kill Klinsmann. Melanie reminds herself this is supposed to be a party; she lets Diane go to steer her over to the cake Jasmine made for the occasion.

  It’s a shock to see Diane crying at this. “Sorry,” she mutters. “It’s these new hormones acting up.”

  “It’s all right, sweetie,” Tonya says. “We’re all glad to have you back. Even big stuff, right?”

  “Me not care. Me want cake.”

  “She’s teasing.”

  “Not teasing. Want cake!”

  “Then I guess we best cut this then,” Diane says. She makes sure to cut off a third of the cake for Garlak to devour, leaving the rest to split amongst themselves. Melanie picks at hers daintily with a fork, not really in the mood for cake.

  When they get a moment to themselves, Melanie says, “After what happened, I don’t want you rushing into anything. It’ll take time to get back into shape. There’s plenty you can do around here—”

  “Thanks, General. I suppose I best take it slow. Someone might have a conniption if I get back out there too soon.” Diane glances knowingly over at Tonya. “Then again she’ll have a conniption if I ever get out there.”