GodMode

by O. K. Mills

“I’m worried about him,” said Bear somberly, confessing his concerns to Heather as Cole and all of the Vienna police officers, except for Walker, drove off.

  “Why?” Heather asked.

  “He threatened to kill five members of an elite military ops strike force. Or were you thinking about eating lunch when all that happened?”

  Heather chuckled.

  “You are so cute when you try to be maliciously sarcastic. Do you do that because it’s me?”

  Bear rolled his eyes.

  “Don’t you think we ought to be a little concerned about him?”

  “Honestly, Bear, I am less concerned with him now than I was before. I may not have liked what he said to Colonel Norris, but for the first time all day I know he meant it. If Brynn is dead, then those men will die.”

  “No they won’t. Spade will die. Those men are as highly trained as he is, and they won’t hesitate to put him down.”

  “But they did hesitate. Spade stood chest to gun barrel with one of them and, as far as I can tell, Spade’s still breathing. Do you think he will have a conversation with any of them when he’s ready to take them out?” Heather asked.

  “Maybe the Spade who built churches in Africa would, but not the guy we served with in Iraq,” Bear replied.

  “And that’s exactly my point. Something’s happened to him. His entire focus has shifted to saving that young girl’s life. And if there is no life to save, then God help those men who purposely kept us from that business.”

  Heather patted Bear on the shoulder as she walked over to the safe house entrance.

  “I’m going to check on him,” Heather announced.

  Seated on the couch in the main room, Spade stared at a picture of his brother, his father and himself that was taken when he returned home from his first tour in Iraq. His face was completely emotionless. He blinked a few times, snapping out of the reverie when Heather entered the room.

  “How are you holding up?” Heather asked as she took at seat next to him.

  “I’m at peace, oddly enough.”

  “I’m sorry I ran out of here when we found your dad.”

  “You did the right thing. Brynn was still in play, and you went after her. That was the right call. There was nothing we could do for my dad at that point.”

  “Did you … did he…”

  “I told him I loved him. I apologized. And you know what, right before he passed on, he grabbed me and squeezed my shoulder. I think he actually heard me.”

  Colonel Norris suddenly entered the room.

  “We’re ready to relocate.”

  “Then lets go,” Spade said.

  Spade and Heather followed Colonel Norris out of the safe house to where several Humvees were idling.

  Silas lay on the operating table next to Brynn. Connected to both were various tubes and intravenous taps. Connected to those were various computers using medical monitoring software. Seated at the helm was Arata, watching each screen like a nighthawk.

  He had been with Silas the first time he attempted to siphon God Mode abilities, back when Dr. Aaron Powers was still alive. That’s when Powers discovered Silas’ true plans and was treated in the same regard as Dr. Cannon.

  Somewhat successful, he gained the ability to move objects telekinetically, but at great personal cost. He had become very creative and proficient with it as well, although his practice was limited due to the adverse effects of the procedure.

  Power siphoning worked very similarly to blood transfusions, and consequently, the same risks and complications existed. Silas, whenever he used his stolen powers, suffered nosebleeds caused by what Dr. Cannon believed was Transfusion-associated Acute Lung Injury (TRALI), only it was difficult to be certain because they weren’t dealing with normal blood.

  Dr. Powers had feared that genetic manipulation could have any number of negative side effects. His argument was that the only truly safe way to gain power was via life’s natural selection process. And while he had been able to stimulate his own God Mode event, the odds that it could be duplicated were akin to finding out you won the lottery while being struck by lightning.

  Once Powers was dead, Dr. Cannon hypothesized to Silas that with each use of his power, the blood rushed from one part of his body to reach his brain, which caused the body to release it from his nasal passages. She claimed that the vast majority of TRALI sufferers all recovered eventually.

  Arata knew he needed to be extremely careful, but quietly wondered if Silas was actually suffering from those symptoms, or was this something else entirely? And what would that negative strand of nucleotides that Dr. Cannon had warned them about do to exacerbate the problem?

  He had been ordered to give Silas Brynn’s full power, but he thought better of it and took only a small percentage.

  If Silas yelled at him later, then it meant that he was still alive.

  He watched as blood laced with power traveled from Brynn to Silas.

  The Humvees pulled up next to what amounted to a fully mobilized base of operations for the Black Daggers. The facilities consisted of several large trucks and multiple military vehicles.

  Heather gave Bear and Spade a look suggesting she didn’t entirely trust what was going on, which they each acknowledged with a nod. Once they were out of earshot of the others, Colonel Norris quietly approached Spade.

  “You and your team have no reason to trust us; I get that,” Colonel Norris began, “but we are under orders from the President. I’m not sure whom you voted for, but you can certainly trust the office, if not the woman. No one here wanted anyone to die. We all have families. I know you lost yours and that this girl is all of the family you think you have left.”

  “I’m not hearing a point, colonel,” Spade responded.

  “Son, my point is—”

  “I am not your son,” Spade replied sharply.

  Colonel Norris sighed and composed himself before responding, “My point is that I get it. I understand where you’re coming from.”

  “Sir, in order for you to get where I’m coming from, someone would have to walk into your home, kill your entire family, all except for one of your children, and then prevent you from going after the men responsible because the government, the one you shed blood for in multiple tours of duty, wants to create a bunch of Captain Americas using your child’s DNA. That’d be about apples to apples, sir.”

  “You’re angry, grieving, and you’re working through that, but I will drop you like a bad habit if you threaten this operation.”

  The two men stood waiting for the other to make a move. Neither man broke eye contact. The sudden appearance of Heather interrupted a possible showdown.

  “Spade, you have got to see the gear they have in the armory. Come on!” she said dragging him away.

  Once they were far enough away from him, Heather entertained the elephant in the room.

  “If you stand that close to someone and you don’t start making out or swing at them, then it just looks bizarre. You okay?”

  Spade considered the question.

  “No. I’m pretty far from okay at the moment,” he admitted with a laugh.

  “And that, my friend, is okay. That’s honest and very thoughtful, but I have to tell you something.”

  Spade gave Heather his full attention.

  “I can’t let you kill these people. If Brynn is dead, then we will kill every mother-effer responsible, but not these guys, all right?”

  “But they are responsible, Heather. What are we not doing right now? We’re not going after Brynn.”

  “And who let her get taken in the first place?”

  The question caught Spade off guard.

  “You’re saying it’s my fault?”

  “Not completely, no. I was with you. We both left that safe house because you and your dad were about to throw hands, so if you’re going to kill anyone, then start with me. Then, find that coroner van and kill your dad. Then, once that’s done, pull over and put a bullet in your own head.”
/>   Spade sighed, laughed at himself and gave Heather a hug.

  “Ew, now I’ve got cooties,” Heather gave Spade a peck on his cheek followed by a swift kick in his backside.

  He laughed.

  “No more threatening the people who aren’t trying to kill us, okay?”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

  “We don’t own her, Spade. That child is God’s and God’s alone. If he wants to bring her home, then he’ll do so. But if she’s alive, then it’s on us to get her out of there in one piece. Got it?”

  “I got it.”

  Heather grinned.

  “Good. Let’s go get outfitted.”

  Pike and Arata silently watched as Silas recovered from the transfer process. In a separate area Brynn was recovering considerably slower than she normally would have if she still had her full power.

  Arata suddenly left the room, but returned momentarily with two cups of freshly brewed coffee. He handed one to Pike, who thanked him with a nod. It wasn’t lost on either man that earlier they had exchanged veiled threats.

  But that was business.

  Pike was a gun for hire, and Arata was basically the same with just different responsibilities. The men understood one another and had no need to utter the words.

  “Did you spit in this?”

  “Of course not,” Arata replied before simulating zipping up his trousers.

  “That’s cold, man.”

  Pike laughed as he smelled the coffee before taking a reluctant sip.

  Awakening from his sleep, Silas suddenly stirred.

  Heather and Spade were garbed in full tactical attire from shoulder to boot. The upper body featured a mix of mesh and Kevlar, the former allowing movement and breathability and the latter providing extra protection from bullets and edged weapons. They also had on infrared goggles and a utility belt that boasted a vast collection of unique armaments.

  Heather, a master of the composite bow and knife, chose them as her primary weapons.

  Spade equipped himself with various edged weapons and a silenced Desert Eagle fitted with a scope and loaded with subsonic ammunition. Additionally, he had dual, 29-inch, full tang black machetes strapped to his back.

  “I had no idea a Desert Eagle could be suppressed. I mean, how is that even mounted to the darn thing? The end is rounded isn’t it?” she asked.

  “I’m guessing they used a 10-inch barrel and cut it back to 7.5 and threaded it,” Spade replied as he admired the weapon.

  “And the swords?”

  “You know me, Heather. Swords don’t get tired or run out of bullets.”

  “That they don’t,” Heather agreed.

  Spade gave his weapons a final check and then holstered them.

  “Thanks for … for being here,” he said timidly.

  Heather started to smile but quickly caught herself.

  “If you make me cry, I’ll kill you,” Heather replied, then walked out of the armory.

  Bear walked in as Heather was walking out. He wore full body armor featuring various lights and switches as well as multiple attachable components, most of which glowed an ambient white.

  “Let me guess … SexualChocolate.com?” Spade snickered.

  Bear rolled his eyes.

  “I see we’re not letting that go anytime soon.”

  “Try never.” Spade laughed and added, “Did Robert Downey Jr. throw up on you or something? What exactly are you?”

  “They call this thing the Birthday Suit. I want to help you all get Brynn back, but we all know that I am not as gifted at punching people in the face as you and Heather are.”

  “But Bear, you’re easily the smartest—”

  Bear held up his hand to cut Spade off.

  “I’ll hand you a 20 when I need a blow job, kind sir. This isn’t about my ego; I know my value. I want to help and not die. This suit will allow me do that.”

  Spade nodded and smiled as he admired the suit.

  “What can it do?”

  “It’s mostly tactical. I’ll be at a position near the Janus building when we deploy, and I will have full schematics of the facility on my onboard computer. With that, I’ll be able to guide the team via com-link, disable alarms remotely, warn you of incoming threats—that sort of thing. And if the whole thing goes to pot, then I have a full complement of assault ammunition around my ribcage that shoots out through my forearms.”

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. I’ve already lost you once today, buddy. I can’t take anymore.”

  Bear became serious.

  “This isn’t a high school team we’re going to face. The Janus headquarters is pretty much a fortress. Our scans counted no less than 45 guards stationed on the lower levels, never mind the fact that we have Marshall Pike to deal with as well. And God only knows what Silas will be when we face him.”

  “Way to be positive there, Mr. Bowden,” Spade chuckled.

  “I’m just managing your expectations, Spade. People are going to die.”

  Silas awoke feeling and looking like a man nearly half his age. He could sense the healing factor working its way through his very pores. Dead skin melted off his body. Cells regenerated rapidly in his system. His blood flowed more smoothly. He could see, hear and do everything better than he could two hours earlier.

  Anxious to test out his abilities, he leapt out of the bed. Mr. Arata unsuccessfully tried to get him to slow down.

  “Sir, please take it easy. We don’t know exactly how this ability works just yet.”

  “Look at me, Goro,” Silas said in excitement.

  Arata was stunned to hear Silas call him by his first name, something he had not done in a number of years. Silas dropped down and executed several one-armed push-ups without even the tiniest sign of fatigue.

  “You should know how amazing this feels,” Silas said.

  Arata tried once more to urge his boss to slow down, but Silas ignored him.

  “Bring me one of the others we have on ice downstairs, Goro,” Silas urged as he walked out of the area.

  Pike, who was standing in the opposite corner of the room sipping his coffee, simply shook his head, his mind on the gun hidden in his back waistband.

  Silas stopped suddenly and looked around the room.

  “Where is Brynn?”

  “She is in the guest quarters recovering, sir. She is under guard.”

  “She’s nine. What is she going to do, heal them to death? Well, not anymore, right?” Silas quipped.

  Arata lowered his gaze, and Silas caught it.

  “Tell me you followed my instructions and gave me all of her power?”

  Pike eased his hand towards his back waistband and quietly slid the gun out from under his shirt upon hearing Silas change his tone of voice.

  “Sir, we had no idea how this would work. I did it to prot—”

  Before he could complete his sentence Arata found himself dangling like a marionette in mid-air. Silas held him there suspended for several moments as Pike chambered a round as discreetly as he could.

  “There will be no need for that, Mr. Pike,” Silas said, much to Pike’s surprise.

  Silas lowered Arata to the ground, approached his servant with a smile and brushed off his shoulders before gently placing both of his hands on either of Arata’s cheeks.

  “You were protecting me, my old friend. I thank you for that, but as you can see, the siphoning process has worked fabulously. Let’s bring Brynn back in here and complete the transfer procedure. Then, I want to siphon all of the abilities that we have in those people within the tanks in the lower laboratory. I have waited long enough to show the world the God Mode.”

  14: Diablo

  Once they received the go-ahead from the President, Colonel Norris led the Black Daggers along with Spade, Bear and Heather into a converted 18-wheeler. Serving as a mobile war room, it was equipped with the latest technology. This little fun fact was never more apparent than when Colonel Norris tapped the interface of his smart watch, which th
en activated a three-dimensional map that would have made Tony Stark jealous.

  “What am I looking at?” Spade asked.

  “This is a sonar blueprint of the Janus headquarters. It’s how we’re tracking the number of guards protecting the venue and how we know where they’re stationed. It’s in real time and will determine how and where we strike. As of now there are 57 guards in play at the facility.”

  “There might be even more by the time we get there.” Heather chimed in.

  “It is imperative that we take the simplest route to Damien Silas, subdue him, extract him and leave no trace of our having been there.”

  “Copy that.” Bear answered.

  Colonel Norris turned and looked Spade directly in the eye.

  “If the girl is dead when we breach the building, take it out on the guards we encounter at Janus. Make her life worth something.”

  Spade ignored the comment verbally, but glared a hole through Colonel Norris, a detail that worried the colonel a lot more than his expression let on.

  “Let’s talk tactics, colonel. Where do you want everybody?” Heather asked, hoping to get everyone back on topic.

  “The Daggers and I will form a five-man strike force. We will go in first and clear a path. The three of you will be the second wave at our six. You’ll deal with stragglers, not that we plan to leave anyone alive. Mr. Bowden will have schematics in his armor, but we’ll also have someone in close proximity with the same maps in case anything happens to Mr. Bowden.”

  Bear gave a half-hearted chuckle at that statement.

  “I want to remind everyone that Silas is to be captured alive. Everyone else is considered weapons free. Hell, get creative, pretend you’re Legolas and Gimli having a killing contest; I don’t care. Just make sure that when we come out of there that Damien Silas is still breathing. Is that understood?”

  “Yes sir!” the Daggers roared in unison. Colonel Norris turned to Spade and Heather and repeated the question.

  “Is that understood?”

  They nodded.

  “Good. The Daggers are going in airborne, while the rest of you come in on the ground.”