by P. S. Power
After they ate, a very well-prepared meal, if one with an awful lot of greenery and vegetables in the mix, Howard waved the kids into the back yard.
“Kerry… I’m going up top the shed there. It isn’t that high, so get ready to catch. On the first one, I’ll break out the window with an explosion, which will be me clapping my hands for the time being. Then we both count to ten. One thousand one, one thousand two… On ten, I run and jump, trying to get fifteen feet away from the building. As soon as I do, you make the catch. Then float me away, toward you. So, we’ll do that from the house?” The others were there, watching her, as if she might just miss and drop him to the ground. That was only about twelve feet down, so he could roll out of it, if that happened.
It took about ten seconds for him to hop up the side, since climbing wasn’t that hard to do when you could pull up your body weight with one hand. The pitch of the roof meant that he didn’t get a nice floor to jog on, having to run along the ridge line on the top, instead.
He clapped, which wasn’t loud. Given the girl was watching him from about seventy feet away, he didn't know if she was going to hear it. He counted anyway. At ten, he ran carefully and leaped out into the night.
His weight didn’t even dip. In fact, Kerry had to lower him at the end, so that he could be on the ground with her.
“Nice! Great. Now, we need to do with the blindfolds on.” That part was about confidence, but couldn’t hurt to have down, if she could do it.
It was a bit more hit and miss, when they couldn’t see, he discovered. Mainly when the ground kept hitting him. Nothing broke, but he had to figure he was going to be a bit sore in the morning.
Chapter ten
The next day was decently busy for them. All of them, as it turned out. Except Tabby, though she did her part, hanging out with them whenever they went anywhere. Howard was sore enough that he decided not to exercise that day. He had to be as sharp as possible in three days.
The trick with Kerry, the day before, had actually worked blindfolded, after a while. She let him hit the ground four times out of six, then managed every catch after that. Even when he stayed on the roof of the metal shed, and tossed a small mirror with a light on it at her. That one had come out pretty interestingly. They all got the idea.
Denis was the one that mentioned it, at the time. Going into how, if Howard couldn’t get out, he might have to find some way of making the whole thing work, anyway.
After eating some oatmeal, with a couple of eggs in the morning, they started right into work. That meant taking Den out into town. Katie had things to do, being a busy woman as a rule. Kerry, being smart and clever, worked out that having two people from the cooking show she was on out at the same time might get them recognized. Which wasn’t a horrible thing. They were on the West Coast, after all. On the day of the break-in they needed to make certain they had good alibis in place. Well, it wouldn’t matter for him, since no one knew who he was, but the rest of them needed to have some good disguises going on at the time. That and a few dozen people getting them on their newfangled camera phones.
It meant walking into the little town on foot, even if his right knee was decently sore. They were dressed in jeans and t-shirts, since the day was warm enough. Not hot, though the sky was a nice blue.
Brian remarked on it, pulling at the front of his red shirt. It had been his uniform the day before, but had been altered to show off his lean form by Kerry. They all had that going on, except Howard, at least in the jeans department. His had come second hand originally, so left some room in the back. Brian looked nearly like his behind had been painted into the things. Denis was a bit better than that, but Howard kind of had to figure that part was down to being the girl’s brother and her not wanting to spend fifteen seconds staring at him there.
“It looks like it’s going to get hot, later today. High eighties, anyway. We should get some swim gear and go to the beach later on.”
That sounded a lot like playing around to him, but he nodded, instead of putting the guy down.
“Day after tomorrow? If the weather holds. We’ll want to be seen then. It isn’t perfect, but most people won’t put things together with us all being seen here at the right time. We can have a picnic? I haven’t been on one of those for…” He honestly didn't recall that at all. Blinking he glanced around and whispered a bit. “In at least fifty years. Maybe sixty.”
That kind of thing was for the young, after all.
Denis smiled at the idea.
“I should get my girlfriend out for it. Peggy? I… She’s Infected. A bit strange looking. We haven’t gotten her in to meet with Tim Baker or anything yet.” He hunched his shoulders a little bit, as if that part was a big deal.
Brian just walked. Nodding a bit as he did it.
“Right. Cindy doesn’t know her at all and even though Marcia is kind of pro-Peggy, she can’t be seen to be supporting a known killer in public. That’s got to slow things down that way. Still, if it works on her, getting a new face, then no one will make the connection. Let me see if I can ask after that? A lot of people are trying to get on the list. I know that Nan has been struggling to work out how to do it for weeks.”
What all of that meant, Howard didn’t know. Then, he didn't get how hard or easy doing that kind of work would be, either.
“Right. So, we make up a con for it? What can we use for leverage on this Tim fellow? Can we bribe him to get our people in?” Not that they were truly his crew yet. He was warming up to the ones with him, but that didn't mean he knew the rest of them.
There was a head shake from Denis, but a smile from Brian.
It was Yi who answered him at least.
“Nope. He’s from a different reality. We have nothing at all that he needs. On the good side, he doesn’t ask for anything, either. He’s been training people up for the work, on his side, but most of them are still at school.”
They were walking at a decently ambling pace, so none of them were breathing hard. For a while he just paid attention to their footfalls. Finally, something came to him though, so he asked about it. It was the only way he’d learn, after all.
“Okay, so the leverage is in these kids learning? They’ll need to practice. If we can set that up for them, get volunteers and all that? Like they do at barber’s colleges? You get a free haircut, for the price of your trainee possibly botching the whole thing?” It was a risk, but all cons were.
Instead of telling him to be less evil, Brian actually nodded.
“You know, Will set that up over there in the Noram world. Doing the same thing? Only one time though, as far as I know. That’s how Marcia had the work on her done. It was minor stuff, getting her a sense of smell and having hunger returned. It’s not a small thing in her life, but as far as the work went it didn’t sound hard. I bet we can do that again. I’ll see if I can set that up for us? I can go back and forth. Not bad. Should I do that now?” It was a weird thing to ask.
Especially since Brian was the Operative in charge.
“After we get the day’s practice in the bag? I know that I hate to use up my down time on something like this, but if we have to set something up, then we should make a plan and go in as a team. Do it right or don’t bother.” His voice sounded young, but had a tone to it that made him think of a very old man. The grumpy kind that he was used to hearing all day long at the home.
Like Gary, the whiner. Only without the actual complaining. No one looked at him funny, but he grinned anyway. Making the words into a gag. A joke. No one laughed though. Interestingly, Denis nodded at him.
“That’s kind of true, isn’t it? I don’t think that the Noram people will make it hard, but yeah… They seem to respect people being willing to help out. Even if they get something from it. This could work. I… Really, we should have mentioned it before, even if we really don’t get anything from it. It’s not like we don’t owe them a lot already.”
What that was, neither man spoke of. In fact, no one said anything un
til they were well into town, near the Safeway parking lot.
Then Howard did it, being in charge of the current job they were on.
“Okay. Den, what I want you to do is send out a strong feeling that we aren’t here. That it’s just the parking lot… Focus on that idea and hold it. Then project it outward. Half an hour. Brian and I will check your work.”
The men both blinked, as if the trick didn't make sense at all. Which was odd, since about a half minute later Howard was pretty certain he wasn’t there at all.
“Stop hitting Brian and me on this one? It makes it too hard to work. Still, great start. I can’t find either of you at all.” That was just true.
They were all standing there, he thought, but not only couldn’t he see himself looking down, but the other men just weren’t there. Not much was, to be fair. He knew that there was a parking lot, but his brain felt a little fuzzy. They were on the far edge of the thing, not in the middle. Thankfully. Otherwise a housewife was going to run them over. It would be his fault too, since he’d set up the rules.
The man didn’t really have any trouble with it at all, as far as Howard could tell. No one seemed to look at them or anything. After a long time, that half hour, he let himself nod. He could feel that he was there and got that the other men were, most likely, so spoke, trying not to be too loud.
“Nice. Let’s go in now. Same thing, except that I want you to keep reflecting what’s around you the whole time. Otherwise… act normal. Follow me.” That was probably going to be hard for them to do, but it seemed to be working pretty well.
It was tempting to shoplift some things, even if he didn’t need them. Bottles of wine called to him. Not that he was used to drinking anymore. That had never been a thing near a job. That meant he passed it all by, not picking up anything at all, since they were going to show up on video. At least he didn’t think anyone had mentioned Den being able to do his trick with machines.
Being a pill, he kept changing the rules for them. Including making a woman, who looked to be about fifty or so, seem prettier as she walked through the store. She wasn’t hard on the eyes to start with for a woman of a certain age, but by the time they were all walking to the parking lot, she honestly seemed to be a lot younger and better looking. She wasn’t. He could see her and she looked exactly the same. Except that she felt more impressive. Other people, men and women both, seemed to notice that as well.
At the edge of the parking lot, Howard turned and winked at where he figured Denis was.
“Now, drop it all. Everything.”
The only thing that he noticed was that the other men both suddenly seemed solid and real again. Even if he knew, on some level that he’d seen them the whole time. He’d just felt that they weren’t there.
It was interesting, but Brian looked like he was actually proud of the other guy.
“That’s… Impressive. I mean, it’s not Penny level, but… yeah. I couldn’t find either of you for most of that. That’s…” The man suddenly looked upward and grimaced. “I’m about to transfer out. Twenty seconds… It looks like… Five.” The man went dark then. His words nearly a growl. Then he started to run, back toward the store in the distance. After thirty feet, he leaped into the air, kicking forward. Then he was gone. Just vanishing.
Den sucked in a deep breath of air.
“Freaking hell.” Then he shook his head. “His power, the main one? It sends him away to fight like this. When someone is about to die, sometimes at least, he takes their place. On the nice side, he got some upgrades. With Tim and his people in Noram? So he should live. I have to keep reminding myself of that part.” He stopped, still seeming worried.
After a minute, with both of them just waiting for something, Howard not asking why, the fellow went on.
“I was in lockup at the old base. It was underground. I’d tried to kill a guy. Twice. So they put me away. Six months in solitary. Then Brian came and got me out. They’d been about to kill me, since I was too powerful to keep forever. It’s the dark side of the IPB. If they can’t control you, you’re in constant danger. Basically, Yi had walked into the front office and told them that if they killed me, he was walking out and never coming back. Since he needed medical almost constantly back then, that was him pretty much announcing that he’d kill himself to keep me alive. Only, you know, he meant it. They had to let me out and give me a second, or really more like fifth, chance. So, now, I worry like a cop’s wife, every time he goes out like this. I should freaking wring my hands, right?”
Instead of pretending he didn’t get the idea of what the guy was saying, that it seemed a little bit too close for men to be, he focused on what it probably really was. They were kind of combat buddies. It was a different sort of war, but he could respect that.
“Yeah? That’s tough. You must have been good pals, for him to do that.”
The other man actually teared up, looking away a little bit while it happened, to hide the shame of being a weak sister. For his part, Howard made sure not to notice it. It could force the man to fight him over the teasing, being that he didn't know him that well yet. Worse, anyone that could make a group of people more or less invisible would be nearly impossible to defend against. The better part of valor was in not poking at a bear, if he could help it.
The man spoke then, sounding slightly sour and annoyed.
“Except that… We weren’t pals. Not back then. He was the man I tried to kill. Though, honestly the first time I’d really just been joking about it. Then, later, I got mad and tried to shoot him, while hitting him with everything I had. He was all chubby and soft back then too. I had a handgun… I threw every kind of pain I could think of at him, and took aim…” He was being dramatic about it now, but kept going. “Then he ducked the bullets, and kicked my ass anyway. Even with all of that against him. Six months later, he saved my life. It wasn’t the last time, either. I used to be… Kind of an asshole. I mean, I have my moments still, but back then…”
There was a head shake, but he stopped talking as a blood covered man suddenly appeared, about thirty feet from them. A little further. Just about under where the kick in the air had been. Smoothly, Yi walked back over. His face hard.
“They won’t be a problem again. Um… They were planning to kill an old woman. Teens. It was some kind of rape club, I think. I killed them all.” There was pure misery in the words.
The kind of thing that Howard hadn’t heard in over seventy years. Longer than that. Back in the second world war. Men had to kill and some were a lot better at it than others. Not everyone could pull the trigger. It wasn’t talked about a lot, but the one in ten or so that could handle it had to pick up the slack for the others.
The thing was, some of those, the killers, had been like it seemed Yi was now. Remorseful, after the fact. Needing to know they’d done the right thing. Protecting their country and Sue back home.
So he did now what he’d always done at the time. Which was clap the man on the arm, as Den looked him over, for bleeding wounds.
“Good work. We can’t leave people like that running around. Now, we should get you cleaned up. We don’t get out of the rest of this because of you taking time out of your day to make the world a better place.”
They walked then, heading back.
After a while, Brian shook his head.
“Morons. I mean, they weren’t great looking guys, but none of them were beyond fixing or anything. If it was just about sex. Only, it really wasn’t. It was about us. The Infected.”
That got the man stared at. By Den and Howard, both.
The curly headed man spoke first, so that the old man wouldn’t have to be the clueless one.
“They were Infected?”
Yi rolled his eyes.
“No. That’s the problem. A lot of regular people feel like they can’t be powerful, with people like us in the world. So they do things like this. Finding people weaker than they are and pushing into areas they shouldn’t. Trying to be strong. It’s all ki
nd of things, not just crimes but I’ve been seeing it more in the last year or so. Since Bridgie had that little dustup with… pretty much everyone. Nearly two years now. I’ve also seen a few men and women wading in to fight Infected people, even knowing they were going to lose. So, it’s not all bad.”
“Ah.” Howard got the basic idea then. Even if it didn’t really make sense. Then, even working with Infected people, he’d never felt like he was less than they were. Different, but that was all. Part of that was the fact that he’d always lived outside of what good people did. Being a thief had meant that Howard had been outside of society, most of his life.
Connected to it, but also not, at the same time.
Den snorted.
“Still, you did the right thing. If they felt like their dicks were too small, they should have just become cops. If they didn’t want to do something useful with their life. Lumberjack comes to mind. No one thinks of them as being pussies, do they? Plus, they help make things work, getting all that wood.”
There was a grin to go with the words, but Brian just snorted back.
“No doubt. Anyway… Good work on the stuff earlier. That will come in handy, I bet. I don’t know how much of this… Um… Stealing information, we’re going to be doing. It could be a lot.” The tone was relaxed, and too calm sounding. As if trying to hide the obvious from them. That it might be a series of jobs, not just the one.
A secret thrill ran through his soul at the idea.
“That sounds fun. Still, we need to do this first bit, then lay low. That’s the plan, right? For this to just not be us having done it?” Hence his working out an alibi for them all.
The blood-soaked t-shirt was still red, but looked like water had spilled on it. The jeans had a large patch of blood as well. From a distance it would look about right, except where it was on the golden colored skin of the man’s arms and face. That showed pretty well, to be honest. Crimson and obvious. People looked at them, which got him to nod.