“But a shapeshifter could make it seem like I was,” said Jim. “And now I’m left with an even bigger question—was Anita ever really the one we had to worry about? Or was it you all along?”
Erin’s eyes drifted back and forth between the two men and the rest of the room. What they said sounded insane to her ears. But she’d been feeling strange lately. Odd, disturbing dreams that were forgotten once she woke. Lost time. A feeling of being outside herself. She thought it was just the stress of everything that had happened lately.
Her head cleared and she sighed. She held out her hands in a gesture of surrender. Jim took a few steps closer and then both arms extended forward, becoming a kind of sludge that engulfed both Jim and the Analyst. They were thrown to the ground and Shift flowed over their bodies, becoming an oil-like puddle that slid across the floor, up the wall, and then into one of the vents.
“Dammit!” Jim stood up and helped the Analyst to his feet. “Can you find her?”
The Analyst closed his eyes, reaching out with his psychic powers. When he opened them, he shook his head. “I believe her conditioning is a lot stronger than we feared. It seems M’Lak has somehow managed to hide her from my telepathic scans.”
“So where the hell is she?”
“I have no idea.”
“Dammit!” Jim kicked the wall. “I’ve got to get to my armor.”
***
A green, viscous liquid emerged from a ventilation shaft in the hangar. It slid down the wall before settling on the ground. The puddle rose up, beginning to take a humanoid shape and finally settled into the form of Erin.
Something was clearly wrong. Her memory was fuzzy, but she recalled there was a problem with Jim and the Analyst. They were acting strange. Was it possible they were the moles? It would explain how the Analyst claimed he’d cleared everyone following the Proximo mission. And she had a memory of Jim activating the Codex.
Wait…how could she remember that? She wasn’t there at the time. Shift stood still as she tried to remember. But the more she tried, it only seemed like the image became blurrier.
“Erin!”
A voice. Erin spun around, surveying the hangar. No one was present, just her. The voice wasn’t a physical one, it was in her mind. But it wasn’t the Analyst, she knew that. It was someone else. Someone she hadn’t detected in a very long time.
Erin continued to scan the room but found nothing out of the ordinary. Her eyes fell on the jump-ship. Yes, that’s it. She had to take a jump-ship, get out of here. Erin approached the plane when she heard a voice behind her. A familiar one.
“Hey, there you are.” Koji. Her teammate. Her husband. He came closer to her, flashing the same goofy smile she fell in love with. “You talk to the Analyst?”
Erin bit her lower lip. She talked to the Analyst? About what? Without any conscious thought on her part, she opened her mouth and said, “Yeah, I did.”
Lie.
“It was nothing big, he just wanted to see how I was after we’d taken out the Codex.”
Lie.
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense,” said Koji. “You were able to bring out Zen for at least a moment back there. Getting him back, even for such a short time…”
He reached out and took her hand in his. Erin looked into his dark eyes, filled with worry for her.
“Are you okay? You seem kind of…”
Erin cocked her head to the side. “Kind of what?”
“I dunno…off, I guess?”
She gave him a smile of reassurance. “I’m fine, really. Just haven’t been sleeping so well is all.”
“Koji!”
Erin drew in a sharp breath and Koji turned around. Jim and the Analyst entered the room, with Jim clad in his armor and holding one of his teleforce guns with two hands. His cybernetic eye flashed with a yellow light.
“Step away from her, Koji,” said Gunsmith.
“What’s going on here?” asked Koji. He felt Erin move behind him and glanced over his shoulder at her, then back to Gunsmith. “Why are you aiming a gun at me?”
“I’m aiming it at her.”
Koji narrowed his eyes and his lips curled back. “That’s not exactly comforting, Jim.”
“She’s been conditioned, Koji,” said the Analyst. “She’s under M’Lak’s control.”
He scoffed. “That’s insane. You scanned her yourself—scanned all of us. You said we’re clean.”
“I was wrong. M’Lak is far more powerful than we realized. And he’s been playing us for far longer than we knew.”
“The hell’s that mean?”
“It was Erin, Koji,” said Gunsmith. “Not Anita, Erin.”
“Oh, right.” Koji snorted. “Erin’s been a puppet of M’Lak’s since the invasion began? When did he implant her, when we were prison—”
He stopped and blinked.
Koji turned around and faced his wife, looking at her with incredulity. “After New York? When M’Lak had us imprisoned on his ship?”
Erin started to back away. “Koji, something’s really wrong with them. At first, you were worried we couldn’t trust the Analyst. I think you were right.”
“Listen to me, Sharkskin. You cannot let her get into that jump-ship.”
“Get outta my head,” said Koji.
“We can figure this out, Erin. You just need to surrender to us. Let us help you,” said Gunsmith, inching closer towards her.
Koji stood between them. Gunsmith growled.
“You’re blocking my shot!”
“That’s the point.” Koji turned his gaze to his wife. “What are you doing, honey?”
Erin glanced over her shoulder at the jump-ship. There was a paranoia in her eyes. “I have to get out of here…”
“Erin!” That voice again in her head.
“Someone’s calling…”
“Who?” asked the Analyst. “M’Lak?”
“I don’t—” Erin closed her eyes and gripped her head. “What’s happening? Who are you?”
Koji took a few steps closer. “Why doesn’t everyone just calm down. Jim, can you lower the gun?”
“Are you cr—”
“Do it, James.”
Gunsmith looked at the Analyst, who nodded. He grunted and slowly lowered his weapon, sliding it into the holster on his thigh.
“There, you see that?” asked Koji as he looked at Erin. “Everyone’s calm.”
He reached his arm out and took her hand in his. Erin stared into his eyes. And his face changed. The hue of his skin became a reddish orange and his eyes transformed, glowing with golden energy. His ears ended in points and his hair elongated, shaping into yellow braids.
“You’re mine, always,” said M’Lak.
“No!” Erin retracted her hand, her fingers becoming so thin that they slipped from Koji’s grip. Her other hand morphed into a large sphere and she slammed it against the side of his head, knocking him off his feet.
Gunsmith reached for his holsters. “This is why I don’t lower my gun!” He drew his blasters and opened fire on Shift.
She avoided the blasts, her body changing shape and forming holes for the teleforce projectiles to harmlessly pass through. The Analyst ran forward, trying to use his powers on her, but she seemed capable of keeping him out, somehow. He was being blocked. But was it M’Lak’s influence or something else?
Shift’s arms extended, reaching across the room and grabbing hold of the jump-ship. They retracted, yanking her towards the craft. Gunsmith and the Analyst ran after her, with Gunsmith continuing to fire at her. She moved too quickly, though. Even with the aid of his cybernetic eye’s targeting system, it was near impossible to tag her.
Shift climbed into the jump-ship and quickly cycled up the power. She activated the shields and sealed the entrances to prevent anyone from getting in. Gunsmith continued to fire at it, his teleforce blasts striking the shields.
She switched on the weapons systems and engaged the VTOL protocol. The lower thrusters activated, raising the
craft off the hangar floor. Teleforce guns under the wings pivoted and fired at Gunsmith and the Analyst, who had to seek cover.
The hangar doors opened and Shift activated the thrusters. Koji rose to his feet, his body growing larger as he ran. His skin toughened and turned gray, his muscles bulging beneath his skin and the shape of his head changing into something inhuman.
As he took on his Sharkskin form, his speed increased. Sharkskin jumped, bounced off the wall, and sprung at the jump-ship. He grabbed hold of the wing, clutching tightly to it as Shift activated the rear thrusters.
The jump-ship rocketed from the Icarus, quickly disappearing out over the horizon.
CHAPTER 2
Vicky Asano shook her head in disbelief after the Analyst had gotten through telling them about the mole in their midst. She couldn’t believe it was her mother the whole time. Back even before she was born.
“So now Erin is under M’Lak’s control, has taken a jump-ship god-knows-where, and Koji is with her,” said Tuwa.
“It’s actually good that he is,” said the Analyst. “Erin knows how to disable the jump-ship’s beacon and if she does that, we can’t track it. But with him onboard, he can get word to us once they land.”
“Assuming he doesn’t fall off,” added Glenn, leaning back in his chair. His statement drew some angry stares, one particularly harsh from Vicky. He cleared his throat in a nervous fashion and leaned forward again, resting his arms on the table. “Just sayin’…”
“There’s more,” said Jim.
“Of course there is…” muttered Reina.
“Before Chronos left, the Analyst and I had a talk with him.”
“James…”
Jim looked at the Analyst and the expression he wore made it clear that he didn’t think this was something the former team leader should bring up. But Jim was tired of the secrecy.
“They need to know.”
“Know what?” asked Alex.
Jim sighed and looked at the rest of the team. “We told Chronos about Paragon. How she’d been manipulated by J’Karra and betrayed the team. And we told him that he would have to kill both her and J’Karra to stop the invasion.”
“I’m not seeing a problem,” said Tuwa.
“The problem is that we don’t think Anita was the one who was manipulated,” said Jim. “If this conditioning really goes back as far as we believe, Erin could have framed Anita.”
“So now Chronos is going to target the wrong people,” said Alex. “Even worse, he’s going to guarantee that they think she’s the mole.”
“Yes, it was…” The Analyst cleared his throat. “Ill-advised.”
“Ill-advised?” Vicky rose from her seat. “My mother is under the control of a genocidal madman. My father is hanging onto the wing of a jump-ship that’s probably heading towards even greater danger. You’ve sent back our friend with false information that could very well make things worse. And all you can say for yourself is it was ‘ill-advised’?”
“Hey Vic, take it easy,” said Reina.
“We have to find out where that ship is heading.” Vicky slammed her palm against the table. Then she pointed at the Analyst. “And how about you wake up and realize this isn’t the Red Fist or the CIA or whatever you worked for back in the day. The secrets you’re keeping from us, they’re preventing us from doing our job.”
“Hold on,” said Jim, trying to interject himself into the conversation. His eyes fell on the Analyst, whose gaze remained fixed on the table. “We tried to do what at the time we thought was right. Keeping my involvement with the Analyst a secret was something that made sense at the time. We didn’t know who we could trust.”
“And what about telling Chronos to kill Paragon? What was the rationale for that?” asked Alex.
“She betrayed the team. Caused people to die. I’d say that’s a pretty good rationale,” said Tuwa.
“I’m not arguing with that part, I’m saying we should’ve known.”
“And now it turns out she didn’t betray anyone,” said Vicky.
“Shift is guilty, that doesn’t make Paragon innocent,” said Tuwa.
“Erin always maintained that Anita was just a pawn. She never would’ve gone along with killing her,” said Jim.
“And you know that how?” asked Vicky. “You’ve been gone for twenty years!”
Glenn leaned back in his chair. “You guys always like this?”
The Analyst rubbed his freshly shaved chin as his team continued to argue amongst themselves. He thought on the mistakes he’d made in his life, including quite a few big ones lately. It made him question the path he’d set himself on. Had he actually changed or was he still the same man who willingly killed and manipulated others on behalf of the Khagan?
“Enough!”
The mental cry shocked everyone’s mind and the room went completely silent. The Analyst rose from his chair. Once standing, he took a deep breath, then exhaled.
“I’ve made mistakes.” He locked his gaze on Vicky. “You’re right. I should have told you about our plan for Chronos. I misjudged the situation and now we’ll have to live with those consequences—whatever they may be. And I should have told you that James was working for me on the inside.
“I’ve spent decades in the shadows. Working for clandestine organizations, using innocent people as tools while I myself was being used by my superiors. Everything was need-to-know. Even working with the Khagan, my missions were largely of a similar nature to what I’d done for the CIA.
“But all that is over now.” The Analyst looked at each member of his team. “Until we hear from Sharkskin, we have no way of knowing where Shift is heading. But one thing is certain—she has a connection to M’Lak and I believe that’s something we can use to our advantage. Provided, of course, we have the opportunity to capture her.” He settled his gaze on Vicky once more.
“You want me to go after my own mother?” she asked.
“Shift is the most powerful among us,” said the Analyst.
“Uhh…hey?” Glenn raised his hand. “New guy, capable of manipulating electromagnetic energy, sitting right here.”
“Formidable, yes,” said the Analyst. “But Shift is something different altogether.
“How’s that?” asked Reina.
The Analyst looked at Jim, who sighed and began to speak.
“Cerberus kept detailed files on all the members of Vanguard,” he began. “Dr. McCabe theorized that Shift’s metamorph abilities make her capable of altering her molecular structure. It looks like she’s come a long way in the years since we last worked together. But even now, she’s still holding herself back.”
“Why would she do that?” asked Vicky.
“McCabe believed her subconscious had imposed limits on what she believed herself capable of. Kind of as a defense mechanism, to protect herself from pushing too hard, too fast.”
“But with M’Lak controlling her, those limits may no longer be a concern,” said the Analyst. “So yes, she is the most powerful among us and perhaps more dangerous than ever at the moment. But Victoria could stand the greatest chance against her if it comes down to a fight.”
“Why me?” asked Vicky.
“Isn’t it obvious? There’s nothing she cares more about than you,” said Jim. “Maybe that bond could help override M’Lak’s conditioning, even briefly.”
“Kinda like what happened with the Codex,” said Reina.
Jim nodded. “Exactly.”
“But the first step is finding her,” said the Analyst.
“We can’t just wait,” said Tuwa. “We should have a back-up plan in case something goes wrong.”
“I’ll get in touch with Cassie at the safehouse, see if there’s anything she can help us with,” said Reina.
“Very good. I’ll continue pushing the limits of my psychic abilities, try to get a lock on them,” said the Analyst.
“What about the rest of us?” asked Glenn.
“Be ready to go at a moment’s notice,�
�� said Jim. “We’re not sure when we’ll have to move.”
***
Sharkskin clung to the wing of the jump-ship, his fingers burrowed into the surface of the hull. He held on tight, patiently trying to maintain his grip until they arrived at their destination. The strain on his body was great, but he refused to let himself release his hold.
It took a few hours and by the time they were over, Sharkskin felt like his arms were about to fall off. But the jump-ship slowed and activated its VTOL system, slowly lowering before it touched down on solid ground. Sharkskin opened his eyes and took stock of the area. He stayed on his belly, hearing the hatch on the jump-ship opening and watching as Shift left the plane.
He let go of the hull and rolled onto his back. Pulling himself up to a sitting position, his body started to revert back to his human form. Looking around, he realized they were on an island. A very familiar one at that.
“Sonnuva bitch…” Koji climbed from the plane and dropped onto the sand-covered beach. He looked back to the direction Shift had gone off in. There was no doubt about where they were in his mind.
Arcadia. The short-lived island nation for specials established by the Exemplar. Before Cerberus stormed it. But why would she want to come here? What was M’Lak planning?
One thing was for certain, he would need back-up. Koji tapped the V badge on his uniform. It would send out a beacon, one he hoped that the team could pick up soon.
He took a few minutes to catch his breath and regain some of his strength. Koji’s body was exhausted, but he had to push on. He transformed into Sharkskin and sniffed the air, following his wife’s trail. Until the rest of the team got here, he would stay in the shadows, figure out just what was going on.
CHAPTER 3
General Nathan Callus stood in front of holographic projections of both Governor Ramsey and General M’Lak. Together, the three of them were the epitome of the government of the planet Earth—Callus was in charge of Cerberus forces and thus the peacekeeping operations, Ramsey was the height of political power, and M’Lak commanded the occupying Kotharian forces, which monitored the planet from a distance via the armada.
Vanguard: Season Four: A Superhero Adventure Page 21