"All that we know of," said Tildie.
Jamie counted out twelve people, including six on the ground. "There have to be more survivors than this...somewhere. What about 'Telly' – Jay? Or Belinda?"
"Belinda got in a shootout – or maybe I should say 'flamewar'?" Jeremy shook his head. "That's what started all those fires. She and Barry with his particle beams, plus a couple dudes on the other side who had about the same weapons."
"I think I got the flamethrower guy," said Barry Apple. "Thought I scored a direct hit and saw him fall, but never got a chance to check up on him."
"Telly just disappeared after the first explosion in the stairway," said Jeremy. "I figured he just did his inter-dimensional thing or whatever the heck it is, but we never saw him again."
"Probably buried under the rubble somewhere," muttered Hulk Korner.
"Are they coming to pick us up?" Jamie nodded to the injured. "They need to get to medical."
"We lost communication with Anderson and the military when the firefight started," said Jeremy.
"They're not coming for us, not until the smoke clears," said Jake. "They're probably assuming we're all dead – or got our asses handed to us."
"We just started searching the area for survivors," said Jeremy. "This is what we've come up with so far."
"Are the Brown Devils gone from the area?"
"Seem to be." Jeremy shrugged. "Unless they're regrouping somewhere."
"Nah," said Jake. "Those pussies were running every which way when we starting getting in our licks. Their leader ran like the fucking coward he is, and when his girlfriend took off after him we kicked some serious ass."
"With their numbers, I wonder why they didn't take a stand."
"Well, Commander Shepherd" – Jake added harsh quote marks to her rank – "we were better than they were. We worked together – focused our telekinetics and weapons as a team – while they fought as individuals. Also, turns out if you even have a little advantage in power you can pretty much take out weaker people by the droves. Which we did."
"We musta killed a hundred of those little cockroaches," Korner agreed with a grin.
"Yeah," Jake chuckled. "They made the mistake of getting Hulk here pissed off. Big fucking mistake. He went through 'em like a chainsaw through rotten wood."
Tilda and Jeremy glanced at Jamie who frowned and thought how extraordinarily out of place in this world she was. Barry and the others stared grim-faced at the burning buildings.
Suddenly a slim young man in tattered clothing emerged from a cloud of smoke and came staggering toward them.
"Holy fuck," said Jake. "That's Telly!"
Jay Utrecht walked up to them scratching his head as if he was lost.
"Where have you been, dude?" Jeremy asked.
"That's a good question." Jay scratched his head some more, but seemed no closer to the answer. "Something hit me in the stairs, and the next thing I know I was..." He shrugged. "Elsewhere."
"Define elsewhere." That was Jake.
"A fuzzy place. Halfway here, halfway not. I could see stuff...but these buildings" – he gestured to the burning buildings – "were like all gleaming futuristic towers. No damage at all. People wore funny clothes." He shrugged. "Like I said, somewhere else."
"Dude," said Jeremy, "I think you were in, like, a parallel world."
"I dunno. Could be."
"While you were sightseeing in your parallel world," Jake growled, "we were dying out here."
Jay nodded somberly. "I didn't know what to do. I couldn't find my way back at first. Finally, I saw this space...it had a funny light. I squeezed through, and stepped out here." He blinked at them. "How much time has passed?"
"Less than an hour since the fight started," said Jamie. "How long did it seem you were gone?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe three or four hours?"
A groan from one of the fallen agents made Jamie set aside the fascinating questions about possible parallel worlds. The DARE scientists would no doubt be all over him about that...while Mort and Boltman would no doubt be all over her about what happened. She scowled.
"Okay, now that you're here, you can help us get our injured to the medical team," she said.
Chapter 17
THE DEBRIEFING AT DARE headquarters six hours later was an emotional rollercoaster ride for Jamie. The good news was that sixteen other team members – including Hot Girl/Belinda James - had made it to L.A. Airport and the Marine Corps base and were in decent shape. That left the bad news: nineteen of the 47-person unit were missing and presumed dead.
The longer her session with Mort and Director Boltman dragged on, the more pissed off and guilty she felt. First, the implication in their questions that she had failed both to protect her team and to fulfill its mission. Or it seemed to Jamie that those implications lurked behind every question. Why had she held back instead of attacking all-out as Mort had recommended? Why had she deviated from the plan of a direct assault through the roof? Why hadn't she knocked down the fleeing flyers when they'd first appeared? Was she planning to go clothes shopping every time her uniform was damaged in the course of action?
Mort never raised his voice, nor was there any inflection of accusation in his neutral tone, but Jamie heard accusation in every word. She was a dingbat biology teacher, more suitable for blond jokes than leading an elite Interdiction and Enforcement unit.
She bit down on the urge to start making some accusations of her own. For one, what the hell were they thinking sending them into a hornet's nest with so little training? Why hadn't they offered them other supposedly less elite IDE units, negating the Los Diablos Marrones's numerical advantage? Why hadn't they placed medical and evacuation teams closer to the Los Diablos Marrones headquarters? Were they too chickenshit to get any closer than a Marine base in Pasadena and the Los Angeles Airport?
Mort seemed to sense her growing anger, and abruptly ended the interview. He stayed behind when Director Boltman went out to get some coffee, his expression relaxing into a more genial mode.
"Look, Jamie, I know this mission was almost totally by the seat of the pants," he said. "I fully realize I was placing you and your team at tremendous risk. We could only guess how it would all play out, and we knew the casualties could be heavy. As your commander, I take full responsibility for that. But we're going through a period of terrible turmoil, and terrible risks need to be taken. If we wait until we're completely ready – until we've properly trained everyone, assessed all the dangers, established the best safety protocols – well, that could be too late."
Jamie slumped in her chair, feeling some of her frustration and anger drain from her body.
"I wasn't intending to beat you up or guilt you with the questions," Mort said. "It's all about thinking over what happened and learning from it for next time. Me as much as you. I have only the fuzziest idea of the battle dynamics between augmented people. Thanks to you and your team, we know a bit more about that. For the record, Commander Shepherd, I believe you did a commendable job out there. You have good combat and leadership instincts. You weren't afraid to use your own judgment, and you acted calmly and rationally instead of on fear or anger. You were flexible, going with the flow instead of rigidly following pre-made plans."
"But I failed to get Rodriquez."
"But you shut down his operation. Or put a huge dent in it. He and his people – what's left of them – no longer believe they can act with impunity. We put the fear of God into them, Jamie. We hit the most powerful augmented criminal gang in the country, to our knowledge, and we won the battle " He gave her a hard smile. "And this is only the beginning. We're going to take out these criminal gangs one after another. After word gets out about our attack on the Brown Devils, thugs everywhere are going to stop believing that super powers give them carte blanche."
Jamie nodded in cautious agreement.
"Anyway, we're done here for now," said Mort. "Go get some rest and recreation." A dry smile worked its way onto his lean face. "We h
ave a mighty fine bar and grill on the second level, and I understand someone is anxiously waiting for you there who wants to buy you a drink."
Jamie showered up in her quarters – larger and slightly less Spartan than others she'd seen – wondering if she could simply clean all the grunge from her body telekinetically but unwilling to forgo the delicious warm spray even if she could.
She'd dressed in simple jeans and a blue "cowgirl" blouse when Tildie showed up. It was the first time Jamie had seen Tilda in a dress and made-up. She wanted to suggest her friend lighten her near-gothic eyeliner, which she suspected was not the intended effect, but held her tongue. Tildie could be a bit sensitive, and might retire to her room down the hall for the duration of their downtime if she got more self-conscious than usual about her appearance.
"Nice outfit," said Jamie. "You look cute."
"Ah, well..." Tildie patted her hair and glanced away self-consciously. "A girl does what a girl can, as the cliché goes."
They took a large elevator up to the second level, which served as a kind of poor man's shopping mall within the Advanced Research Complex: small grocery store, three restaurants, a bar, clothing shop, and a cafeteria for those who wanted to eat for free.
They entered the bar under an official-looking circular logo affixed to the entranceway – test tubes arranged around the chemical symbol for alcohol set within the title Advanced Alcohol Lab for Consumption and Inebriation, or "Alkie."
A large dance floor bracketed by tables stretched beyond a lengthy bar. Light and darkness performed a teasing dance throughout the room. You could choose to be well-lit or not. Soft rock music played from speakers on an empty stage where live bands or comics performed every weekend. It was a pretty cool place as far as bars or nightclubs went, Jamie thought, given her distinct dislike of bars inspired by her former-alcoholic father.
Zachary – Jamie had come to prefer the longer version of his name – waved at her from the far end of the bar. Belinda was sitting a polite three stools down from him, to Jamie's relief. Belinda, with her long raven hair and large violet eyes and an indigo summer dress that embraced all of her ample curves, easily matched her "Hot Girl" sobriquet.
"You never told me what Zach's super power is," said Tildie.
"No one really knows."
"If I had to guess, I'd say 'super-cute.'"
Jamie laughed. "I'd say that's as good a guess as any."
Zach rose and extended his hands to Jamie. They hadn't quite settled on how to touch or hug, not to mention anything else. Lately, Jamie had begun fantasizing about something more, but was holding back to avoid her fantasy becoming a nightmare of broken body parts. For now she was content to let him hold her mostly limp hands and peer into his dark grey-blue eyes.
"Hey, Lightning," said Belinda, smiling. "Commander Slayer."
Jamie's thin smile held little amusement. Beyond "Hot Girl" Belinda, most of Team One lounged at tables on the darker end of the bar. Jeremy and a few others raised their drinks in somber greeting to her. With nearly half of her team missing and presumed dead, the mood in the room fell well-short of festive.
"What are you drinking?" Zach asked.
"Dark beer?"
He raised a finger to the bartender, a beefy guy with a walrus mustache, who ambled over and took his order of a Heineken dark draft and a second Bloody Mary for him.
"Just wanted to thank you for your brave service and say sorry for your loss," the bartender murmured to Jamie as he set down the drinks.
"Thank you."
Zach smiled at her frown as the bartender retreated. "Takes a bit of getting used to being a military hero, doesn't it?"
"God, I hope they don't think that of me."
Jay Utrecht wandered up to the bar, still looking lost. The bartender brought him a non-alcoholic beer.
"Teleporting drunk wouldn't be a good idea," he said in response to Zach's raised eyebrows. "Like being a drunk driver cubed."
Jay had been a high school math teacher before this – one of three teachers on the team. Two now that they'd lost Sally Brunelle, a former middle school geography teacher and member of the ground squad. Her body had never been found. Probably burned up. Jamie took a long, frowning sip from her beer.
"Right," said Zach, forcing a light note into his voice. "You never know where you might end up sleeping it off."
"My thought, exactly. Though maybe it would be an improvement."
Jay returned to his table in the shadows.
"Why don't we get a table?" Zach asked.
"Sounds good."
They settled down in a corner across from the main Team One group, which had clustered near the stage centered around Jake Culler and Hulk Horner, both ex-military, who seemed to have become inseparable buddies. Jake met Jamie's eyes and nodded over his tall glass of beer. His thin smile suggested a disdainful acknowledgement of her pairing with Zach or perhaps her mediocre performance in the mission.
Other people, most wearing I.D. badges but no identifying uniform, began drifting into the bar.
"Those are some of your lower-level IED compatriots," said Zach. "I don't expect you've met any of them."
"Just passing in the halls."
"I imagine you and your 'A Team' will soon become celebrities around here and even in the outside world. What happened in East L.A. is already achieving legendary status among the rank and file here."
"What are they saying happened?"
"Probably about what you'd expect. It was a terrible, violent battle featuring epic superpower showdowns...revolutionary visionary against the new marshal in town – that would be you. Shoot-out in the Un-OK corral. Your pursuit of Rodriquez into space, only to be blown out of orbit by a spectacular battle with Zelia, Rodriquez' firebrand girlfriend..." He smiled at Jamie's growing scowl. "You know, that kind of thing."
"We don't know if it was Rodriquez and his girlfriend," Jamie grumbled.
"I know. But that's the working theory."
Jamie drank her beer, telling herself to mellow out. As legends go, it could've been worse.
"And then there's 'Telly's' trip to another world. And The Hulk's rampage. Rumors have him killing dozens of people, some of them not criminals."
"That wouldn't surprise me. He and his pal" – she nodded to Jake and Greg Horner across the room – "seem to like this military stuff a bit too much."
"They're already calling them the 'Mayhem Twins.' Did you know that Horner was dishonorably discharged from the Marines?"
Jamie's throat clogged in mid-swallow. She took a moment to force down her drink. At least she knew she'd never strangle on anything she ate or drank.
"No," she said. "Do you know what for?"
"Insubordination. I heard about it from someone in Personnel."
"But I guess that didn't count against him here."
"No. They want the most powerful augmented people possible. Unless you have a criminal background or test out as a sociopath, they'll take you."
"He didn't test out as a sociopath?"
"Apparently not." Zach smiled. "You know he was suffering from Hodgkin's Lymphoma before he caught the nanovirus? He was actually suing the Navy, claiming that anthrax vaccinations had caused it. Not a lot of love lost between him and his old employers."
"He was really sick." Jamie started to tap her fingers on the table, but caught herself when the table rattled. "Like me."
"Yes. Some of us have posited an inverse ratio between ill health and power levels, but it doesn't always pan out. There still seems to be a random element or some other factor we don't understand."
"Terry Mayes was just as bad off as I was."
"Right. Though Terry does seem to have a uniquely powerful gift. Most telekinetics can move or break stuff, but Terry can fix or assemble things – bodies, machines – in a highly complex way. It's as if he has some internal instruction schematic for people's bodies and a vast variety of machines."
"His dad's a healer, too."
Zach nodded.
"But he can't do anything with machines. Terry's a cut above."
They drank without speaking for a minute or two. Zach half-turned to trace Jamie's gaze to a group of mostly women approaching the Team One tables.
"People from the lower units," he observed. "Looks like you already have groupies."
"Not me."
"You don't think I'm a groupie?"
Jamie laughed softly. "What's going on in the biology division? Learning anything interesting?"
"One nice thing about this job is that there's absolutely nothing that's not interesting. You know the major discovery we've made? People aren't just genetically enhanced. They're physically enhanced. Your muscles and skeletons have been reconstituted by the nanovirus into exotic materials of incredible strength, most of which we don't recognize. One noteworthy hypothesis is that nanotubes are involved. Or nanotubes squared, because even their construction can't account for the toughness and strength of some individuals." He paused to meet her stare. "Yourself perhaps most notably."
"Have you checked out my data?" Jamie's smile was forced.
"Hard to avoid, since you're number one on the data checklist." His own smile faded. "You hold the record so far for the density and strength of the nano-fibers, to the extent we can accurately measure them."
"Great," said Jamie.
"Could be worse. Though they'll probably want you for the genetic centerfold in Augment Magazine."
"Ha." Jamie sighed. "I know, I know, I should be grateful to be alive. But what's the price, Zachary? What if I can't have a normal life?"
"Not a lot of normalcy going around these days."
"But you know what I mean."
"Jamie, haven't you noticed? We're all changing. People just have to find their way – a new way, a new normal, with new directions and new relationships." Zach nodded to the growing congregation of augmented across from them. "Your team and the other IED units – by the way, some people are starting to call you "DIE" agents – are doing that right now. Finding people they're compatible with."
"'DIE'? Oh, God."
"Someone had to see that acronym. Hopefully, it won't go viral." Zach's smile wasn't terribly reassuring.
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