Hunter (9780698158504)

by Carroll, Michael

  “You’ll find I always repay my debts. I hate having favors hanging over me.”

  Their aircraft—they called it the Hopper—descended and landed nearby. To Lance it resembled a giant metal stingray, and he asked Nika why they hadn’t called it that.

  “Because it doesn’t look much like a stingray to me—it looks more like a frog.”

  With two extra people on board, conditions in the Hopper were cramped: Cam had to sit on one of the girls’ laps.

  As the vehicle rapidly ascended into the evening sky, Lance said to Cam, “You enjoying yourself?”

  “I would be, if her armor wasn’t digging into my butt.”

  He called out to Nika, who was piloting the craft. “Nika, what is your mission? Maybe we can help.”

  She turned back to face him. “We’re tracking an illegal weapons shipment from Chad into Nigeria. The plan was to stop the smugglers before they reached N’Djamena. Too late for that now, but we never plan a mission like this without having a second point of attack. Now we have to get to them before they get to Maiduguri.”

  “Smugglers?” Cam asked. “They brought you guys in for that? That’s a bit of overkill, isn’t it?”

  “They have eight hundred handguns and fifty thousand rounds of ammunition destined for sale on the streets of Lagos. The smugglers are escorted by thirty-two mercenaries, each with at least twenty years’ experience.”

  “Ooh,” Cam said. “Gotcha. But that seems like overkill. Those sort of mercenaries don’t come cheap. Whoever’s behind this isn’t going to make a profit.”

  “The guns are to be traded for heroin,” Nika said.

  “Then you should wait until the exchange is made. Better to get drugs off the streets than guns.”

  Lance said, “I don’t agree, but I’m not getting into that argument now. Nika, how do you plan to stop them?”

  “They’re traveling in a convoy, eight trucks widely spaced so they don’t draw too much attention. We’re going to attack them from behind, try to take the last one down before the rest notice. If we’re lucky, we’ll get two or three that way.”

  “If you’re very lucky, yeah. But the others will bunch up to protect each other. I’ve got an idea that’ll be a lot safer. Wait until they reach a long straight stretch of road with no turns, and take out the lead truck. Hit it hard and fast, and get out.”

  “That’s insane, Hunter. The others will see us.”

  “Right. And they’ll scatter. Some of them will turn around, others will try to escape over the fields. Then you pick them off, one by one. It’ll take longer, but it’ll be a lot less risky for you guys and more effective. You’ll get them all that way.”

  “If they scatter, we won’t be able to keep track of them all.”

  “Then it’s a good thing you’ve got Cam here. He’s an expert at analyzing satellite feeds. He won’t lose them.”

  Nika smiled. “Your organization is better equipped than ours, Hunter. We don’t have access to the satellites.”

  “Yeah? Give me a phone and five minutes, and you will.”

  • • •

  The Hopper touched down on a small airfield outside Athens, and when Lance and Cam disembarked, Nika followed them out. “You’ll be OK from here?”

  Lance nodded. “Our contact should be here soon. I’m sorry again about your friends.”

  “They’ll recover. It’s not the first time some of us have been injured.”

  Three of the Poder-Meninas had been shot during the raid on the weapons shipment, but otherwise Lance’s plan had worked well. Four members of the team had stayed behind to coordinate the arrest with the Nigerian authorities.

  As they walked side by side away from the craft, Nika said to Lance, “For someone who’s not a superhuman, you’re quite remarkable.”

  “Yes, this is true.” Then he smiled. “Thanks, but you guys did all the work. I still owe you for the rescue—if you need us, just get in touch.”

  “You know, we didn’t even know Deliverance existed until last year. After Manhattan.”

  “That wasn’t us,” Lance said. “That was the High Command. Dalton’s crew.”

  “I know, but you were called in to clean up his mess. Energy told us about you. She said that some of you used to work for Dalton. And that made me wonder . . . You’ve tracked and captured a lot of rogue superhumans, but you never went after Brawn. Why is that?”

  “Brawn’s not one of the bad guys.”

  “But he attacked—”

  “No, he didn’t. They attacked him. Watch the footage again with that in mind, and you’ll see. Brawn went to Manhattan because he was sick of hiding. He wanted to try to return to some sort of a normal life. The others showed up but Brawn didn’t do anything until they attacked. In fact, he didn’t even fight back. Not until he was out of Manhattan.”

  “Energy said he defeated them all. Herself, Titan, Hesperus, and Thunder. Four of the most powerful superhumans. And Max’s brother.”

  “And Paragon,” Lance said. “I know. And if you ever go up against Brawn, he’ll win. Even if it’s all of you.”

  “You knew him, didn’t you? That’s why you never tried to find him.”

  “Oh, I tried. And I succeeded. And I left him alone. Brawn was my friend. I didn’t know him well, but well enough.”

  “And now he’s sided with Ragnarök.”

  “Brawn’s been dealt a bad hand. He’s been treated like a monster ever since he was twelve years old. Max Dalton despises him because he can’t read his mind and can’t control him. Max has tried to have Brawn killed on at least three separate occasions. Sure, Brawn’s got a temper, but who wouldn’t in his situation?”

  “You really don’t like Dalton, do you?”

  “No. And I know that’s uncomfortable for you because he funds your team.”

  Nika’s shoulders sagged. “No one knows that! Even the other girls don’t know!”

  “I won’t tell anyone,” Lance said, smiling. “For all his faults, Max is sometimes very generous. The more money he gives away, the less he has for himself. I say milk his bank account for every cent you can get. Tell him you all need new cars. And helicopters.”

  “Is it true that you keep track of him at all times and you make sure you’re never within ten miles of him?”

  “Yeah, that’s true. Where did you hear that?”

  “His sister, Rosalyn, told me. She’s very fond of you, you know.”

  “Roz is cool. Even Josh is OK most of the time. It’s only Max that I don’t trust.”

  There was laughter behind them, and they turned to see Cam swapping phone numbers with one of the other girls.

  “You think she’ll call him?” Lance asked.

  “Perhaps. She’s between boyfriends right now. Tell me, Hunter, do you ever get to Lisbon?”

  “Not as often as I’d like.”

  “If you ever do, look me up. We could hang out.”

  “That’s very tempting, but I don’t date superhumans. I try not to mix business with pleasure. Plus I don’t have a lot of free time. I work seven days a week, twelve hours a day. Sometimes more. And I can be called away on a moment’s notice. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for socializing.”

  “That’s a shame,” Nika said. “It doesn’t sound like much of a life.”

  “It works for me.”

  LANCE CLOSED HIS EYES AGAINST the glare of the evening sun and rolled the chilled soda can across his forehead. He stood on the roof of the Deliverance organization’s headquarters in Salzburg, Austria, wearing only shorts and a T-shirt as he watched the gleaming humanoid figure descend toward him. Jets flared and the figure’s speed slowed, and seconds later Paragon landed on the roof and was striding toward Lance.

  Paragon took off his helmet and the two men shook hands. “You’re looking well, Lance. Not sure about
the long hair and the beard, though. Doesn’t it get uncomfortable in this weather?”

  Lance grinned. “Not too much, Sol. And the name’s Hunter now, remember?”

  “I’ll never get used to that. You know why I’m here?”

  “My guess is Max asked you to persuade me to find Brawn.”

  “If we can find him, we find Ragnarök. And Slaughter. She escaped again.”

  “I know. It’s hard work keeping a lid on that woman. General Piers came to me for advice on how to keep her locked up, but he concluded that my ideas were too expensive.” Lance shrugged. “His fault. At least she’s lying low for now. Come on inside out of the heat.”

  As they walked together toward the stairwell, Lance said, “I never thanked you for getting me and Cam out of Sudan last year.”

  “You don’t need to thank me for something like that.”

  They descended the stairs and Lance said, “Close your eyes. The biometric scanner’s lasers are pretty bright. Won’t do you any harm, but it can be dazzling.”

  Once inside the building, Lance led Cord through to his main operations room. “It’s your first time here, right? So what do you think?”

  “It’s not what I expected. I always pictured it like mission control at NASA.”

  “Yeah, everyone says that. But this is all we need.”

  The room was no more than eight yards square, with a ring of eight desks in the center. Each desk contained a computer workstation with three or four monitors, and right now only five of the desks were occupied.

  “So, about Brawn?”

  Lance gestured toward a door to the side. “My office.”

  Lance’s office contained a single desk with a computer, and two chairs.

  “What, no plants? No photos? No Newton’s Cradle? You’re not exactly pushing the boat out here, Lance.” Cord put his helmet down on the desk.

  “I don’t need any of that stuff. Sit down and we’ll talk.”

  Cord asked, “Is there any point? You’re never going to agree to go after Brawn, are you?”

  “No. Not directly. I’ll do what I can to find Duval, and if Brawn’s with him when we find him then we’ll deal with that as it plays out, but I’m not going after him specifically. He’s not a villain.”

  “Lance, you don’t understand what he’s like. People are terrified of him.”

  “Hunter. And I do understand. People are scared of spiders too. That doesn’t mean we should trap and kill every spider on the planet. For one thing, we’d choke to death on all the flies. Brawn hasn’t done anything wrong. I know—I keep files on the guy. At worst he’s guilty of a little property damage.” Lance sat down behind his desk, and regarded Solomon Cord for a moment. “I’ve got something to tell you and it might come as a shock. So you’d better sit down.”

  “I’m fine standing. If I faint with the surprise, my armor will keep me upright.”

  “Fair enough. Sol, you’re not immune to Max Dalton’s mind control.”

  Cord grinned. “You know, he said you’d try that one.”

  “Of course he did. It’s one of the standard moves in this game. This is my countermove: Why do you believe you are immune?”

  “His power doesn’t work on proto-superhumans like you and me.”

  “Do you remember the night my family was killed?”

  “Of course. Next month it’ll be ten years since it happened.”

  “You know how bad I was after that. Max used his powers to help me cope. He didn’t take away the memories, just lessened the pain.”

  “I remember. I’m the one who asked him to do it.”

  “OK, don’t you see the dichotomy here? I’m a proto-superhuman, Max’s power worked on me, yet you still believe that Max’s power doesn’t work on proto-superhumans.”

  “You’re going to tell me that this is because Max has made me believe that, aren’t you?”

  “Well, yeah. And I can prove it.” Lance reached out to his computer monitor and swiveled it around so that Cord could see the screen. “Eighteen months ago, in Orlando.” The screen showed shaky footage of Cord—in his civilian clothes—and Lance sitting together in a bar, talking. There was a small laptop computer on the table in front of them.

  On-screen, Lance said, “He’s manipulating your memories to make you forget that he can control your mind. Sol, we’ve already had this conversation five times. And every time, as soon as you confront Max about it, you forget. Look.” Lance activated the laptop and the camera zoomed close enough that its screen was visible: The laptop showed Cord and Lance walking through a public park. The laptop version of Lance said, “This is the fourth time we’ve talked about this, Sol. Max keeps wiping it from your memory.”

  Lance turned the computer monitor off. “Sixth time now.” He pointed to a security camera mounted above the office’s door. “That’s for when I need to show you the seventh time.”

  “This is real?” Cord asked.

  “I could provide you with absolute proof, but next time you meet Max he’ll just wipe it again.” He stared into Cord’s eyes. “Isn’t that right, Max? Sometime in the future Sol has confronted you about this and you’re reading his memories and squashing the parts you don’t like.” On a whim, Lance waved. “Hi!”

  Cord said, “If this is true, it changes everything!”

  “You said that last time. But it doesn’t change anything because this is the way it’s always been. This is why I’m never going anywhere near the guy again. He’s dangerous.”

  “Unless you have been in contact with him, but you just don’t remember.”

  “No, I’m pretty sure I haven’t. I have someone watching my back.”

  “Your friend Adrianne, right? She always knows where you are, and where Max is. She warns you if he’s anywhere near you.”

  “Right. Just like she told you where to find me in Sudan. Unfortunately her ability doesn’t work so well on everyone. She wasn’t able to tell me exactly where Cam was. She knew it was Africa, but couldn’t pin him down any better than that. If Max could get to Adrianne he’d sway her over to his side, which is why I’m the only one who knows where she is.”

  “I hope you’re paying her well, because a lot of people would kill her if they knew about her.”

  “That’s one of the reasons I keep clear of telepaths.” Lance tapped the side of his head with his index finger. “There’s a lot of secrets in here that can never become public.”

  Finally, Cord pulled out the other chair and sat down. “So. No to Brawn, then?”

  “I can’t do that to a friend. So far, he’s managed to stay on the right side of the line, but if he crosses it, we will take him down. But that’s true for everyone.”

  “Except Max.”

  Lance shrugged. “Over the years I’ve come to see that Max is genuinely trying to do good. I just don’t like the way he does things.”

  “Are you just telling me this because you think that Max will read my memories next time I see him?”

  “That’s for Max to find out. How’s everyone else doing? Hey, how are the twins?”

  Cord grinned. “They’re good. Talking already. Vienna wants me to spend more time with them, but this isn’t exactly the kind of job that allows me to do that. Not right now, anyway. I can’t see myself being Paragon forever. You know, for a while I considered you as a possible replacement. You don’t have my technical skills, but you’re smarter than I ever was. You would have made a good Paragon.”

  “I used to daydream about that exact thing. I was never able to decide whether I wanted to be a superhero or a con man. Now I get to be both, in a way. In this organization we have to use a lot of subterfuge to get what we want.”

  “You were always very good at lying and talking your way out of trouble.”

  “Yeah. But I probably talked my way into trouble just as much.�
�� He looked down at his hands for a moment. “Sol, what do you know about Quantum’s visions?”

  “Visions?”

  “Max hasn’t told you, then. Or he’s made you forget. Quantum’s power isn’t just that he’s fast. He’s impossibly fast. You understand about inertia and acceleration. There’s no way a human being can move at the speeds he does. There are some of us who are seriously considering the theory that he alters time around him. Time isn’t a universal constant—it’s flexible.”

  “I know that.”

  “Quantum alters time, and that has side effects. He gets glimpses of the future. He’s too unstable to fully understand what he sees, but he remembers it. And Max picks the visions out of his memories. There’s something big coming. Something bad. I don’t know what, or when, but it’s a safe bet that not all of us are going to come through it intact. Max knows this, and I believe he’s making preparations to prevent it, or at the very least ride it out.”

  Cord seemed a little unsure. “OK . . .”

  “I don’t believe that the future is fixed and immutable, but the problem with foreknowledge is that the very things we do to stop an event from happening might well be the cause of that event. Like if you’re driving down a hill full speed and you get a sudden flash that you’re going to crash, you apply the brakes too suddenly, the car goes into a skid, and—bang!—you’ve crashed.”

  “Or you apply the brakes and the car stops safely.”

  “Then where did the vision of the crash come from? In the context of this scenario.”

  “From one possible future out of many,” Cord said. “There’s no predestination. The very idea is at odds with everything we understand about the universe. Quantum could be wrong, or just insane. In fact, that’s a distinct possibility. He’s never been the same since The Helotry’s plague. Think about it, Lance. You’re worried about the vague predictions of a man with some serious issues, as relayed to you by another man you don’t trust. Don’t go getting paranoid on me. In your line of work you can’t afford to be.” Cord stood and picked up his helmet. “I should go. It’s a long way back to the States, and Max’s jet won’t wait for me forever.”