“Goto,” Cole says, waving him off, “there’s no need for that.”
“There are a hundred Federation suits down there, and who knows what other technology from 3016,” Goto says flatly. “We need to destroy it all.”
Cole shakes his head. “There’s no need because The General already agreed to destroy it all for us.”
A heartbeat after Cole finishes his sentence a blast wave rocks the Aithon, momentarily shaking it off its axis. Just as The General had promised, the Americans are systematically bombing the cemetery, wiping out all evidence from 3016 – along with General Davenport himself.
Chapter Thirty-Nine – Rectigrade
Above America’s Mid-West | January 28, 2012 | 2:52 pm, Central Standard Time
The view from the passenger bay window has Cole nearly hypnotized. He’s amazed at how serene everything is while flying over the clouds; the swirling grey maelstrom that thunders below is unleashing torrents of rain on half of the country – yet above, the Aithon glides smoothly through the air, its silvery-white wings drenched in the unfiltered sunlight.
“Amazing, isn’t it?” Goto says, taking a seat across from his former adversary. “A slight change in perspective and it’s as if you’re experiencing a different reality.”
Cole averts his eyes from the window and takes a quick swig from his water bottle. “How’s Jens?”
“He’s been better, I’d wager – but he’ll survive.” Goto’s eyes flick towards his oversized watch. “The pilot is planning his route in the next few minutes – where would you like to be dropped off, Mister Cole?”
“New York City,” he replies without missing a beat. “One way or another I’m going to make sure Gary gets out of prison.”
Goto smiles a little. “I have a suspicion that the ‘evidence’ which was used to detain your friend will go missing at some point this evening. All being well, he should be released fairly soon, as your legal system will have no grounds upon which to hold him.”
“How—?”
“I made a quick phone call,” Goto says plainly. “Someone owed me a favor. As soon as he is to be released, I will let you know where and when.”
“Thank you,” Cole replies after a brief moment of reflection. He smiles to himself after saying the two words he never thought he’d utter to the man sitting across from him. “I guess I’ll go back to New York either way. I want to be at the gym when Gary gets out. So where do you go from here? Back to 3016?”
Goto stands and smoothes out his jacket, adjusting his cuffs. “This was a one-way trip – I was fully aware of that when I accepted this assignment. I need to stay put and ensure The General doesn’t have any disciples waiting in the wings, preparing to take over his work. Not to mention the small matter of a Large Hadron Collider that needs to be destroyed.”
“You know something,” Cole says, standing and extending a hand, “you’re not as big an asshole as I thought you were.”
Goto chuckles. An actual laugh coming from a man who Cole thought was completely incapable of the emotion. “As eloquent as ever, Mister Cole. And you’re not the only one to have recently shared that sentiment...but I’ll take it as a compliment.”
Goto accepts Cole’s outstretched hand and shakes it firmly.
“You boys seem to be playing nice,” Paige interjects as she emerges from the lower level of the aircraft.
“For the time being,” Goto concedes with a small nod. “Although I don’t want to press my luck. I’ll give the two of you some privacy.”
Cole slides back into his window seat and Paige takes the chair facing him.
“How is she?” He asks.
“Sleeping,” Paige replies. “I have a feeling she’ll be out for a while. And I know you’re not going to like this, but I have to tell you something. During the battle, Dia—”
“You wiped her memories,” Cole interrupts. “You took out all traces of her life as Danica, her time spent in 3016 – everything. As far as she knows she’s just a regular girl without any powers.”
“I never told you I was planning to do that,” Paige says, creasing her brow in a perplexed frown.
“I saw it back in Tibet. It was The Messenger; he showed me the battle here today. Possible versions of it, anyway.”
“So,” Paige asks curiously, “if you know everything that’s going to happen, what are we going to do next?”
“Beyond today?” Cole shrugs. “I have no idea. I guess we’ll all just go back to being who we are. Allison will return to her tennis career, Jens will resume being a gentleman of leisure...and you can do whatever it is you’ve always wanted to do.”
“I wish I knew what that was,” Paige says with a weak laugh. “Dia and I have been running forever, and I never thought...” she trails off momentarily, catching a glimpse of the sun reflecting off the wing of the jet. “I just...I never stopped to think what would happen when all of this craziness came to an end. And now with Brodie gone there’s no one to produce Muse, so once our stash runs out I’ll be powerless, too.”
Cole reaches across the table, gently squeezing Paige’s hands. “You’re powerful beyond measure,” he says as their eyes lock. “Stop fearing that, and you can manifest whenever you want.”
She stares back at him for a moment, and then squints her eyes accusingly. “Hey Cole...you’re not gonna put on an orange robe, shave your head and start chanting, are you?”
“I might,” Cole laughs.
His laughter is loud and contagious, and Paige can’t help but join in. When the moment passes her expression darkens – ever so slightly – and she folds her arms over her chest. “Look,” she says softly, “I need to tell you something...”
Cole shakes his head. “I need to tell you something first. What you did to Dia before: changing her memories, trying to make her a better person...I judged you. I wasn’t in your position, and I had no idea what you were going through, but I felt like I had the right. What you did for her today must have been impossible.”
Paige deflates, sagging into her chair. “Wiping away almost fifty years of memories?” she says, her eyes once again trailing towards the small circular window. “Yeah, it was tough. I had to re-live a lot of crazy shit from our pasts. Just glad it’s over.”
“You gave her a gift,” Cole reassures her. “Most people never get a second chance.”
“Wish I could hit the reset button in my own brain,” she mumbles. “Forget all the crap that I’ve been through.”
“All that crap made you who you are today. And besides, you’ll need all those experiences to help guide Dia back. She needs you, Paige...I have a feeling that she’ll need both of us.”
“That’s the thing I wanted to tell you,” Paige whispers. “It’s not that simple. When I was—”
“Paige?” A voice calls out from the lower level. Dia emerges from the staircase. Her dark hair is tied into a loose braid, and her brown eyes are wide and nervous, darting around the Aithon’s passenger bay. “What’s going on in here?” she asks innocently. “Are we on a...flight?”
“Dia,” Cole says, rushing towards her. He reaches out to take hold of her hands.
She looks down and pulls them away.
“I’m sorry,” Dia says, her gaze fogging over, “but...who are you?”
Chapter Forty – Panglossian
General Davenport’s heroic phone call became one of the most infamous recordings in American history. For anyone who wasn’t at the Battle of New Orleans in January of 2012, the audio file was their only account of the events that transpired that day.
According to news reports, The General had been following a series of leads about a massive attack that would take place on American soil; an attack with the potential to demolish entire cities. When intelligence reports indicated that the terrorist group was converging in Louisiana with a stockpile of WMDs, Davenport insisted on personally leading his team in an operation to apprehend them.
His men were ambushed in a cemetery, and after an hour-lon
g shoot out, a stray bullet struck The General in his lower spine. Bleeding and paralyzed (and having lost most of his team) Davenport bravely sacrificed himself for the good of the nation. “I need an air strike,” he shouted, his strained voice being drowned out by the rushing wind and thunderclaps booming overhead. “If the terrorists get to a major highway with these weapons, millions of lives could be lost. There’s no time to save me...make sure my troops have cleared the area, and then unleash hell.”
Davenport became more than a martyr after that day – he became a legend; before long The General would become as revered and celebrated as America’s founding fathers. Davenport’s name would appear on military bases, airports, schools, and a bronze statue that stands outside the Library of Congress. Years later (and before physical bank notes were discontinued in favor of digital credits) there would even be talk of having his face appear on the five hundred dollar bill.
Cole kept his word to The General, never revealing the truth. All of his aspirations to acquire the Akashic compendium died with him, along with his clandestine operation to track down people with the ability to manifest powers.
As the bombs dropped on New Orleans, blanketing the graveyard with the most powerful non-nuclear explosives the military had at their disposal, all evidence of the battle was destroyed. The re-animated corpses, Trent’s body, the high-tech armor from 3016 – it all was reduced to cinder with the touch of a button.
Amidst the ashes, only The General’s legacy remained intact.
Epilogue
New York City | August 3, 2012 | 10:45pm, Eastern Standard Time
“You can do this, man.” Jens massages Cole’s shoulders from the backseat of the car, as if he were a corner man prepping his friend for a world title fight.
“He’s right,” Paige says from the passenger seat. “I know this is scary, but you can handle it.”
“This isn’t my first time going into a warzone,” Cole explains. He tries to steady his trembling voice but he’s not fooling Paige, Jens or himself – he’s absolutely terrified.
“Are you sure I’m dressed for this?” Cole glances down at his old ‘Gary’s Gym’ t-shirt and time-worn jeans.
“You look prettier than ever,” Paige says, patting him on the side of the face. “Now go – this is your big chance.”
The spinning lights and blaring music flood the street as he flings open the front doors. When Cole’s eyes adjust to the dim lighting he peers through the crowd, intently scanning the night club – and that’s when he spots her.
A stunning girl at the bar with a sweep of dark hair and haunting eyes sips a cocktail, glancing in his direction.
He takes it as an invitation and approaches her, nervously wiping his palms against his jeans.
“So cowboy,” she says confidently, “do you have an opening line?”
Cole is taken aback for just a moment. “I’m sort of new to this,” he says with an awkward smile. “I was hoping we could skip this part and move straight to the awkward small-talk portion of the evening?”
“I like it, no bullshit.” She extends a hand towards him and smiles warmly. “I’m Dia.”
The End
Thank you for reading!
Thank you so much for taking the time to read the Vs. Reality series. I hope you enjoyed it!
If you did, please leave a review on Amazon. It only takes a minute to do a star rating and leave a sentence or two (you don’t need to write much). Reviews are so incredibly important to an author’s success on Amazon, and it would really mean the world to me.
And if you didn’t enjoy the book, feel free to keep that to yourself. This is the internet, after all – not some place people go to complain about things. :)
Thanks again...and if you are on the social medias, please pop by and say hello! I would love to chat with you!
Hugs and kisses,
Blake xxx
Books by Blake Northcott
THE VS. REALITY SERIES
Vs. Reality
USA / UK / Canada
Relapse (Vs. Reality Volume Two)
USA / UK / Canada
Legacy (Vs. Reality Volume Three)
THE ARENA MODE SAGA
Arena Mode
USA / UK / Canada
Assault or Attrition (Book Two in the Arena Mode Saga)
USA / UK / Canada
Final Empire (The Conclusion of the Arena Mode Saga)
USA / UK / Canada
NOVELLAS
The Manticore Ascension
(A Short Story in the Arena Mode Saga)
USA / UK / Canada
About the Author
Blake Northcott is an author, Twitter-er, and Slayer of Vampires (only the ones that sparkle).
She enjoys comic books, novels, movies, travel, and the occasional rum & Coke. Turn-offs include Wheel of Fortune and Ke$ha.
Blake lives just outside of Toronto, Ontario, Canada with her family.
If you want to know more about Blake, visit her on one of those social media thingies. Or her website ... she has one of those too.
BlakeNorthcott.com
facebook.com/BlakeNorthcott
twitter.com/ComicBookGrrl
Thanks To ...
I always hated writing in people’s yearbooks, because either, a) they’re someone you’re never going to see again, so why bother writing something special? or b) it’s someone you are going to remain friends with, in which case writing something overly sentimental comes off as flowery and superfluous.
When you’re writing an Email to someone you plan on seeing in the next couple days, you’ don’t sign it, “May all your dreams come true! The time we spent together has changed my life and made me a better person!”
Having said that, I’m still friends with everyone listed below, and so hope I strike the right balance and don’t come off as overly maudlin...
Jim Deley, for being an encyclopedia of knowledge when it comes to structure and pacing. Without your input, the Vs. Reality books (and my other work) would look completely different. I can’t thank you enough for all the hard work you’ve put in, and for being there as a friend when so many people haven’t been.
Kiri Callaghan, for not only being an amazing BFF, but for teaching me so much along the way. And for creating the Vs. Reality trailer which to this day makes me smile every time I see it on YouTube (and I watch it like twice a week, minimum).
J.D. Hunter, for all your hard work and amazing edits. You brought Goto to life in a way I never could, which gave the series an entirely new dimension. The UK is lucky to have you!
Mimi Angel (Maria Angelopoulou, AKA: ‘Dia’) for your incredible work on the covers of Relapse and Legacy. You are as beautiful as you are talented!
Sean Molloy, for all your help with editing, your friendship, and for allowing me to kill you :-)
Mike ‘Cleverpawn’ Stephenson for being a bad-ass beta reader and finder of typos. You are the awesomeness.
And Jeff Geddes, who is not only is a meticulous typo-assassin and grammatical wizard, but is a wonderful friend who is always there when I need him, day or night. Thank you for everything.
Legacy (The Vs. Reality Series Book 3) Page 16