"Now we obviously know this is you. As you can see we have the proof. And we've been able to put together the incident at the Warrens plantation thanks to your computer. We know it was you that killed all of these people."
Max tried to sink into her chair but the solid metal frame held steady against her.
"Would you care to confirm our version of events?" Collins asked. Max didn't answer because she was too busy contemplating her recent past. She had tuned the world out.
"Very well, Ms. Dawson. That is all. The trial begins in 2 weeks." Collins said as he stood up and gathered the images. He left the room and shortly after 2 cops came and escorted a practically comatose Max off to the temporary holding cells in preparation for the trial.
##########
Max sat on the prison bus with her head hung low. She wasn't really paying attention to much of anything. The trial had been a complete front. From the moment she stepped in the courtroom the entire place was against her. She could tell by the way they looked at her that they thought of her as an abomination. At first Max thought it was because of her powers.
But then as the trial went on she found out that they didn't actually know about her powers. The version of events that they'd shown simulations of were slightly different. They ended in the same result of her killing a number of people, but the how she did it wasn't correct. They assumed she had tortured them to death via various means, including bludgeoning.
The jury hadn't even taken long enough to close the door to the deliberation room before deciding on a verdict. Max was guilty of 5 counts of first degree murder. It seemed they'd gotten her computer and found the information about her targets from there as well and had upped the charge from second to first degree just before the trial.
Now she was being shipped off to a life sentence in prison. While she had a chance at parole, she didn't care to try for it. She knew that she deserved prison. And she was going to get what she deserved.
But Milia didn't deserve prison. She hadn't done anything wrong. Max felt even guiltier that Milia was also being punished for Max's problems, but she couldn't do anything about it. Milia had been subdued to since the sentence was handed down and hadn't said a word since. Max faintly heard her crying in the back of her head while they boarded the prison bus, but she had been quiet since they left the court house.
##########
"Evening. You the new girl we heard about on the news?"
The voice temporarily knocked Max out of her stupor. She looked up to the door of her cell to see a tall blonde woman standing there. Her most striking feature was her shining turquoise eyes, which seemed to bore into Max's soul. She looked away from the woman mostly to escape her gaze.
The woman walked into the cell and sat down next to Max.
"What's wrong sweetie?" she asked. Max didn't reply and they both sat in silence for a long time.
"So it's that?" the woman asked. Max looked up at her and she smiled warmly.
"Don't worry sweety. Most of us here understand. We won't ask if you don't want to talk." she said as she hugged Max. "My names Em, by the way."
Max embraced Em's hug with one of her own and a single tear flowed down her cheek.
Chapter 19:
Hostile Intent
Frank, James, Shi and his brother, and former Captain Dawn and her sister were sitting inside a van outside the complex they planned to take over. The man in the wheelchair was sitting in another van on the other side of the complex with a set of surveillance equipment and a headset. He would be overseeing the operation as they stormed the building and aiding them where necessary.
James had found a backdoor into the compounds electronic surveillance system. He hadn't used it before because of the risk of exposure, but now that things were underway he felt like the connection would go unnoticed long enough for the operation to begin. They were thankful that the surveillance system had been upgraded to modern computer controlled standards, even if the rest of the facility hadn't.
The Shi brothers had on the heaviest of the armor, a full body suit that protected everything except the joints. Next to them James and Dawn stood wearing lighter full body armor. While it wouldn't stop a round from a high powered rifle like the other, it was enough to stop the handgun rounds most of the guards would be equipped with. Finally, Dawn's sister followed up the rear. She was wearing the same heavy armor as the front men, since it was possible that she would take a few rounds from the few guards that did carry high powered rifles. She would be watching the rear as the bottom piece of the 'sandwich' formation they were using.
They all had FN P90 personal weapons and Dawn had loaded herself down with the extra ammo in case they needed it. James had to haul almost a hundred pounds of computer equipment to their destination so he couldn't carry any extra ammo. The leading and following members had to worry about being shot, and have a cartridge full of ammo go off on them wouldn't be the most pleasant thing, so they couldn't carry much beyond their initial cartridges.
As it was they were all waiting on the ready signal from the overseer. Since he had funded everything they were to follow his orders and, as much as they wanted to get the operation on, he hadn't given the go ahead. He wouldn't say why though, so they were left waiting for his okay. In the end they had waited well past their noon window and it was now midnight.
"Come in strike force." came the mans voice over their headsets.
"This is strike force." Dawn replied.
"We're ready. Begin the op at your discretion."
"Roger. We're leaving the van now. We'll be in position in 5."
"Roger that strike force."
With that all of them silently left the vehicle. They went to the small tree covered section near the road to the base and prepared and double checked their weapons. After they did Dawn checked in with the overseer before beginning. With his permission, all hell broke lose.
The 2 human giant front men opened fire from the shadows, killing the 2 guards at the entrance to the compound before they knew what was happening. The rest of the guard was quick to respond to the gunfire but they fell in short order as well. They hadn't seen the direction of the gunfire so they had no clue where to look and were felled without ever finding the strike team.
After that the team left their hiding spot and went toward the gate. On the way they met no resistance. Dawn ducked inside the guard shelter and pressed a button. The gate outside began to open and the rest of the team tensed up. Dawn left a small glob of plastic explosive on the button and rejoined her position with the squad.
They went through the open gate and waited just on the other side for it to close. After it did Dawn grabbed her transmitter and pressed a button. The guard shelter behind them exploded in a shower of debris, effectively locking the gate behind them and preventing anyone from easily entering.
After that they went to the door. They all took up positions on one side and Frank stuck his head around the corner. There was a long hall with no splits. At the end was a stairwell headed down. It was exactly as they had been told by the spy the overseer had payed.
Most importantly, there were no people waiting on the other side. Frank waved them all in as he turned the corner and stepped through. The rest of the team followed him in and James got to work on the door problem.
He looked at the mechanism and found that the repair would be simple. But it would take a small amount of time to implement and he would need Franks help.
"Need some C4 over here. 1 ounce." James told Dawn. She grabbed a piece of it for him and inserted a detonator. He placed it inside the mechanism carefully and stuck it to the side of a piece of hydraulic support.
"Back up now." Dawn said and they backed up and out of the direct line of sight of the explosive. Dawn pressed the transmitter button and the C4 blew with a tiny bang. As soon as it did, the entire shifted down slightly but was otherwise unmoved.
James moved back to the door and ducked outside, with Dawn following him. As they did they h
eard gunfire start inside. James took another piece of C4, a much larger brick, and placed it on the door handle. Dawn placed a detonator inside and they ducked back to the other side of the door.
"Frank, come help with this door. We need to close it." James said. Frank didn't respond but after a moment the gunfire from him ceased. He went over and grabbed the door handle. Together with James' guidance he manhandled the door into place. James turned the handle on the door and listened as the arms clicked into place.
After they did he pointed at dawn and she pressed the button on her transmitter. There was a muffled thump as the C4 detonated and destroyed the outer handle. With it gone the only way to open the door was on the inside.
After that they began to descend the stairs. On the way down 5 more people tried to stop them. They were all gunned down by the efficient strike team, but Frank would have a number of large bruises on his chest the following morning from the 2 who were carrying their own P90s.
They made their way through the corridors to the elevator shaft. They had planned on taking the doors initially but now that they were half a day behind their initial window they knew the elevator would be the better bet if they could get it working. It was less likely to be occupied at this time of night.
James pried off the panel. Once inside he began cutting and manipulating wires. After a long few minutes he managed to call the elevator to their floor.
Once it arrived Frank stood on one side with the rest of the group and the older Shi brother stood on the other side. When the door opened they both swung around and opened fire into the elevator. After they finished they stepped in and rest of the team followed them.
Inside they found a very large and very wide freight elevator. The sides offered plenty of cover from the open doors and would be very handy when they reached their destination. James kicked the bodies of the 7 men who had been on the elevator out of the way and they stepped in, which none of them were expecting. Apparently they had been wrong about the elevator being unoccupied. Once inside Dawn keyed the bottom floor of the elevator and it began to descend slowly.
Once it reached the bottom the team separated onto either side of the elevator for cover. As soon as the doors opened a hell storm of gunfire entered the elevator. The high powered rounds impacted the far wall in a deadly rain torrent for 3 entire minutes straight before the men firing ran low on ammo.
The team waited patiently hiding behind their cover until the enemy ran out of bullets and then Frank ducked around the corner. He let off 5 quick bursts from his gun, downing the entire compliment of attackers before they could open fire. He'd caught them changing their cartridges on their weapons and they'd been unable to respond.
They stepped off the elevator and made their way down the corridoor unimpeded to the door to the control room. As they'd suspected they found the door to be sealed. And as solid as it should be. So, Dawn grabbed her C4.
##########
"Status report! Now!" yelled a man in a decorated military uniform.
"We're not sure sir! Our surveillance is down!" replied a man sitting at a very modern looking computer.
Just then they heard a very loud bang from the wall next to the main door.
"They're trying to blast their way through the wall!" yelled another man from the side. At that everyone in the room drew their weapons and stood back from the wall. After a few more bangs the wall finally cracked and crumbled.
As soon as the first moving object was visible the men began firing at it. Unfortunately for them the object wasn't a human but a flashbang grenade. The grenade went off in mid air and disoriented the men in the room. A moment later the team stepped into the room and opened fire, killing everyone inside before they could respond to the attack.
A few moments later the control room had been secured. The overseer informed them of the locations of the remaining soldiers and they quickly scoured the base and finished them all off.
By the time the first of the outside authorities reached the base the entire thing had been taken over and was now under the control of the strike team. While James set about getting into the old computer systems Dawn and Frank went off to search the base for any hidden entrances that the outside forces could use to enter the base unannounced.
##########
"Sir, we have a problem." said a man in a black uniform with black sunglasses. Before him sat the President of the United States of America in his chair in the oval office.
"What kind of problem?" the man asked.
"We've just received numerous reports that our nuclear facility in Arizona is under attack. A terrorist organization has just taken control of the largest nuclear cache in the country." the man said as stoically as possible.
"A problem?" the President asked rhetorically. "A problem is what happens when your daughters boyfriend is found dead under mysterious circumstances after impregnating her. The take over a nuclear launch facility is a disaster!" the President said as he stood up and leaned over his desk, glaring at the secret serviceman in front of him.
"Get everyone on the line now. I'll be in the bunker." the President added as he gathered up his files from his desk.
Chapter 20:
Prison
Max was laying in bed in her cell trying to sleep. Not that she could even though the schedule of the prison mandated it. She hadn't been able to sleep since last week when she'd been placed there by the government.
She'd betrayed Milia. All Milia had wanted was a good life. Saving people and being a hero had been her dream since she'd been 'born', if born was even the correct word. And now she was going to have to live out the rest of her life in prison, confined and restrained against her will. Max deserved to be there, Milia didn't.
Since the day they'd been incarcerated Milia hadn't said a word. Occasionally Max could hear Milia silently sobbing, but if she made any mention of it Milia would just retreat away from her without a word.
Max turned over onto her side and a few tears streamed from her eyes. She wished to give Milia a chance to be free. But she couldn't any more. Even if Max managed to escape, which she could do quite easily, neither one would ever be able to have a life. They would be wanted fugitives with their face plastered on every television screen, phone, wall, and pole within the country. Short of reconstructive surgery, they'd never be able to live any kind of real life if they were on the run. And they wouldn't be able to afford such surgery while on the run.
They were stuck where they were, with no chance to ever do anything about it.
Suddenly the buzzer rang throughout the prison. Max knew the signal by heart after only a few days. It was now breakfast time.
Max stood up from her bed. By virtue of luck, Max was in a cell by herself. Though there were 3 other beds in the cell, so Max knew they could be filled at any time. After taking a moment to stretch, something Em had demanded she do, Max finally changed her clothes. Not that it was much because they always wore orange jumpsuits, but at least they were clean.
After taking a few more moments to herself, Max left the cell and went to the main floor where the food court was. She thought about eating, but she wasn't very hungry. Truthfully she didn't even want to leave her cell, but she found out the hard way that if she didn't, the guards would quite literally beat her out of the cell.
As Max was deciding where to sit she saw Em waving at her from across the floor. Deciding cheery company was better than none, Max went over and sat down gingerly.
"Hey sweetie." Em said. "You gonna eat anything today?"
"Nah, I'm not hungry." Max replied.
"You sure?" Em asked. "This is the third morning you've gone without breakfast."
"Yeah I'm fine."
"Well will you at least tell me what's wrong?"
"I don't want to talk."
"Then I'll go get you breakfast." Em said as she began to stand.
"No don't. I don't want anything." Max said as she looked up at the woman.
"Then you'll tell me what's
on your mind." Em said with a smirk. Max grimaced as Em sat back down and smiled at her.
"Fine." Max relented, already knowing where the woman was planning to go with the argument. Max wondered where to begin her story, but as she thought about it she felt her voice catch in her throat. She wanted to talk about it very badly, but she felt like she was choking just thinking about it.
Em sat there staring at her with those bright eyes, expectantly awaiting an answer. As Max looked into them she felt that she could trust Em, but couldn't explain why. Finally Max decided that had to tell Em. Somehow that made the knot in her throat go away and she felt like she'd finally be able to speak.
"Well, there's this person. She's like my sister, and relies on me to protect her and give her a good life. But I can't do that from in here." Max said. She knew she couldn't say much more than that without having to reveal her powers, so she decided that a vague truth was the best. To her credit, Em seemed to take the explanation at face value.
"So this person, can she not live on her own?" Em asked.
"No. She's not physically capable."
"Oh. I understand that." Em replied. She turned towards her breakfast and pushed it away, suddenly not feeling very hungry.
"What's wrong?" Max asked her. Suddenly, Max wished she'd never opened her mouth.
"I used to have a younger brother. But he's gone now. All because I couldn't help him."
Both women sat there for a long time, thinking about what they should say next. Finally, Em spoke up after deciding that she should trust Max as much as Max had trusted her.
"When I was 17, me and my younger bro were living out on the streets after our parents were murdered by a group of drunk cops. They tried to claim that our parents sedan matched the last known vehicle of a guy who'd killed 72 cops across the country. The only problem was, the last vehicle he'd been seen driving was a tractor.
Chronicles of the Supers (Book 1): Born From Darkness (The Story of Max) Page 11