The Vindico

by King, Wesley

  Emily looked at the mirror, frowning. Why had the Torturer mentioned her grandpa? A knot started to wind itself into her stomach.

  “Emily doesn’t know this, but there is a reason her parents treat her this way. Fourteen years ago, her mother cheated on her husband with another man. When it was discovered, the scandal shook the close-knit family. It was even worse when Emily’s mother discovered she was pregnant. You see, the man Emily thinks is her father is infertile. She was the product of that affair.

  “Her parents decided to stay together to raise the child, but they would never love her. She was a constant reminder of her mother’s infidelity. Only Emily’s grandfather, perhaps the one decent person in the family, recognized that Emily had nothing to do with it.”

  Emily had always assumed she was adopted, so the Torturer’s story was not that surprising. Truthfully, she preferred to think she was adopted because that meant there could be loving parents out there who just couldn’t afford to keep her. But the constant talk of her grandpa was really starting to worry her, and she just wished the story would end.

  “Her parents’ search for Emily lasted about two days and consisted of nothing more than a few calls and a police report. They are happily back to their lives now. But Emily’s grandfather searched every day since she disappeared, on his own, driving around the city, interviewing her teachers and classmates. He barely slept. He was determined to find Emily, but of course, he could not.”

  Emily’s eyes started to water. The image of her grandfather searching in vain was too much for her. It was the most caring thing anyone had ever done in her entire life. And the fact that he couldn’t find her while she’d been having a great time here made her feel very guilty.

  The Torturer paused for a long moment, and Emily allowed herself to believe that the story might be over. Unfortunately, he continued.

  “This search went on until yesterday, when, after a long day scouring the town, Emily’s grandfather returned home, lay in his bed, and died in his sleep. We can only guess that it was from heartbreak.

  “That is all,” the Torturer finished. “Be ready in twenty minutes.”

  Emily stood up, tears streaming down her face. She walked in a daze to her room, closed the door behind her, and fell face-first onto the bed.

  25

  TWO DAYS AFTER EMILY’S ANNOUNCEMENT, THE TORTURER shuffled into the Baron’s meeting room, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. The others were already sitting around the long table, so he quickly settled into a chair.

  “Good morning, everyone,” the Baron said from the head of the table, his hands clasped on the gleaming wood. “My apologies for the early wake-up, but I’ve just received information that requires our immediate attention. Torturer, this concerns you especially.” The Baron met his eyes. “It seems that a League member has ventured out of Headquarters alone.”

  “Tell me it’s Junkit…” the Torturer breathed, suddenly very awake.

  “It is. The Sparrow has left the nest.”

  The Torturer slammed his meaty fist on the table. “He’s mine.”

  “I figured you would say that,” the Baron said. “We need him alive, however. He’s far too close for comfort: only a few hours from here, in a town called Fornist. This is our chance to obtain information on the League’s next move.”

  “It sounds like a trap,” Rono said. “Why would Junkit come out here on his own?”

  “Because he’s a fool,” the Torturer scoffed. “He’s arrogant. Thinks he can just fly away from a fight.”

  “He can,” Sliver pointed out.

  The Torturer turned to Sliver, grinning maliciously. “Not if I’m holding on to his leg.”

  “Make sure you do,” the Baron said. “Now, who’s going with the Torturer?”

  No one answered.

  “Oh, thanks,” the Torturer grumbled.

  “I’ll go,” Rono said. “It’ll give me a chance to stretch my legs.”

  The Baron nodded. “Very well. I’ll have the address dropped off at your quarters. If all goes well, we will have updates on the League’s activities by tomorrow morning. If Junkit is this close, the League must suspect that our base is in this area. It won’t be long before they find us. Nighthawk’s death will have spurred a new lust for revenge, and if we kill Junkit, it will surely be the catalyst for a full-blown League assault. I suspect our timeline will soon become a matter of days rather than weeks. As such, our protégés must be prepared to fight before the end of this week. Will they be ready?”

  Everyone nodded.

  “Good,” the Baron said. “We will reconvene tomorrow. By that point, we will have Junkit in captivity, and we can begin his questioning.”

  The Torturer motioned for Rono to follow him out the door. They had preparations to begin and two more members of their team to recruit.

  Later that night, James and Emily stepped through the mirror door, where Rono and the Torturer were waiting in the shadows of the control room.

  James was wearing an all-black outfit that had come through the panel earlier that day, along with instructions for him to put it on after dinner. He was happy to be out of his peasant clothes, but had no idea what they were doing, and it was making him nervous. It didn’t help that he’d been in a bad mood lately.

  The excitement of his developing muscles had been soured by Hayden and Lana, who now seemed to be an official couple. James had seen them kissing twice now, and both times, it felt like someone punched him in the stomach. He tried to tell himself that he barely even knew Lana and couldn’t possibly like her enough to feel this terrible, but it didn’t help. It was the second time in a month that a girl had chosen someone else over him. Hayden had attempted to talk to him about it yesterday with his usual unapologetic honesty, citing once again that he had “shotgunned her,” but James had just shrugged him off.

  “So, I hope you’re ready,” the Torturer began, shutting the door behind them. “We’ve decided that it’s time for your first mission.”

  James glanced at Emily. She’d said very little since her announcement, despite everyone’s best attempts to cheer her up, and now James didn’t know how to act around her.

  “Really?” he asked. “What are we doing?”

  “Capturing the Sparrow,” Rono explained, glancing both ways down the hallway. “Then bringing him back here.” He nodded at the Torturer. “All right, let’s go. It’s clear.”

  As they hurried toward the garage, James noticed that their mentors were cautiously looking around, as if expecting something to leap out at them.

  “Is he alone?” James asked quietly. A statue of an ebony werewolf watched them hurry past, its protruding fangs catching the light. “And why are we sneaking out?”

  “Yeah, it’s just him,” the Torturer muttered. They crossed the lobby, and the big man scanned the upper balconies. “And we’re sneaking out because the others don’t know we’re bringing you. We told Avaria that we left you personal instructions for tonight, so you’d both be skipping your workout. The Baron wants to keep the fact that we have been training you secret from the League, but once we capture Junkit, he won’t be able to tell anyone anyway. This will be good training for you guys; we couldn’t pass it up.”

  James smiled uncertainly. He might have chosen to stay for the rest of the training, but he wasn’t sure he was ready to go attacking League members. However, his mentor looked so eager about the idea that James felt he couldn’t let him down.

  They made it to the garage without interruption, and Rono led them right to the strange black vehicle James had seen the last time he was there.

  “Sweet,” he said.

  Emily looked at him with the faintest hint of a smile, the first he’d seen from her in days. As soon as Rono reached the ship, a ramp descended, clanging down onto the concrete. “Welcome to the Shadow,” he said proudly.

  They all clambered inside, and James looked around in awe. The central hold had two benches pressed against either wall and a rack st
ocked with rifles. Everything was finished in gleaming black. There were two doors, and Rono led them toward the one on the right, which promptly slid aside to reveal the cockpit.

  A huge, curving window stretched over the two pilots’ chairs and past them on both sides. The only thing to mar the view was the control console, which contained dual levers for steering and a huge array of glowing instrument panels and sensor screens.

  Rono and the Torturer settled into the chairs.

  “Don’t worry,” Rono said, firing up the controls. “It won’t be a long ride.”

  “How does this…move?” James asked excitedly.

  “It flies,” Rono said, glancing at him. “Fast.”

  Turning back to the controls, Rono pushed the two levers forward, and the Shadow accelerated out of the parking garage, pressing James and Emily against the back wall. The ship angled upward, and they raced toward the setting sun.

  • • •

  As the Shadow settled into a gentle landing outside the town of Fornist, Emily stared at the streetlights in the distance, trying to hold back her excitement. The last two days had been miserable. She’d continued with her training, but could no longer enjoy herself because it made her feel even guiltier than she already did.

  Emily knew she couldn’t give all this up now though, even if the Vindico would still let her leave: she belonged here, and that was something she’d never felt before. Besides, with her grandpa gone, she no longer had a family to go back to anyway.

  But she also knew she couldn’t trust the Vindico, not even Rono. If he’d sent her grandpa a message like she’d asked him to, maybe he would still be alive. Emily would never be loyal to someone she couldn’t trust.

  “All right, so what’s the address?” Rono asked.

  The Torturer unfolded a scrap of paper from his pocket. “Thirty-four Davidson Avenue.” He turned back to Emily and James. “We need to do a little recon, just to make sure this isn’t a trap. That’s where you two come in. You’ll walk by the house, and Emily can use the infrared on her visor to see if anyone’s home. Then report back here.”

  “Put this over your shoulder, Emily,” Rono said, handing her a black shawl. “Cover the mount.”

  She quietly obliged.

  “So, go straight up the main street,” the Torturer explained as he folded up the paper again, “and take your fourth right onto Davidson.”

  “Okay,” James said nervously, and he and Emily hurried down the ramp and off into the dusk.

  They darted away from the ship, picking their way over little mounds and divots in the grass. A cold gust of wind stung at their cheeks. When they reached the main road, they looked back and saw that the Shadow was almost invisible in the distance.

  “I don’t like this,” James muttered as they started down the road.

  “We’ll be fine,” Emily assured him.

  A few cars drove by on the way into town, but otherwise, everything was silent. Neither spoke as they walked along the sidewalk, trying to look casual.

  “There it is,” James whispered, nodding toward a large, two-story brick house with a white fence bordering the lawn.

  Emily nodded and pulled out her visor, taking another quick look around. Fitting it into place, she turned to the house and activated the infrared. Everything darkened except for the glowing sources of heat that were represented by various shades of red and orange.

  “Only one person,” she said. “Looks like they’re lying down upstairs.”

  “You sure there’s only the one?”

  She scanned the house again, checking the scrolling readouts at the bottom of her vision at the same time. “Yep. There’s another two I can see…but it looks like they’re in the house behind. It’s just Junkit in there, if it is him.”

  “All right, let’s get back,” James said, staring up at the darkened windows.

  They strolled back down the main street, and when they were far enough away, they scurried across the field to the Shadow.

  “He’s the only one there,” Emily announced as they climbed up the ramp.

  “Good work. Now it’s our turn,” Rono said, scooping up a rifle from underneath the front console. “I’m going to keep the comm on my belt so you can hear what’s going on. If something goes wrong, bring the Shadow in. Pull back on the throttle to—”

  “I watched you on the way here,” Emily cut in.

  “Oh…good,” Rono said. He tucked a stun gun into the holster on his leg. “If there’s a problem, just hover over the house, and we’ll do the rest. If things really go wrong, this red button fires missiles. Just start blowing things up around the house, and we’ll use the distraction.” He nodded at the Torturer. “Let’s move.”

  Rono breathed in the cool air as they snuck along the back of a strip mall, keeping to the fence. It had been two years since he’d been out on a mission, and he’d forgotten just how exhilarating it was. They hurried across the street and darted from house to house, always remaining hidden in the shadows. They were far more conspicuous than Emily and James.

  He felt a little stab of guilt as he thought of Emily. She was barely speaking to him, and he regretted allowing the Torturer to give her the announcement. He’d wanted to hide the news from her as long as possible, but the others had started to rib him about being too sentimental, so he’d had to relent.

  Turning the corner onto Davidson Avenue, Rono spotted a couple walking a dog at the other end of the street. He stepped behind a large oak tree, gesturing for the Torturer to stop. As soon as the couple turned a corner, the two Villains continued on to number 34.

  “Is he still in there?” the Torturer whispered as they hunkered down behind a bush on the other side of the street.

  Rono checked his infrared reading. “Yeah. He’s lying down upstairs.”

  “Good. I’ll take the front door, you try the back.”

  “Right.”

  They ran across the street, and Rono rounded the house into the backyard. He quietly edged up to the door, removed a tiny magnetic device from his belt, and popped the lock. There was a slight creak under his boot as he stepped into the kitchen, and he paused. Hearing nothing, he made his way to the front door and opened it for the Torturer.

  They tiptoed up the stairs. Every movement sounded impossibly loud, but using his visor, Rono could see that the figure upstairs still hadn’t moved. At the top of the steps, Rono led them to a closed door and then nodded at the Torturer. The big man wasted no time. He kicked the door right off its frame and then stepped inside and flicked on the light. Rono raced in after him, his rifle aimed at the sleeping man’s head.

  “Hello, Junkit,” the Torturer said. “It’s been a while.”

  For a moment, Junkit didn’t move. He was a handsome man with tousled blond hair and high cheekbones, and though he was lying in bed, he was wearing his navy-blue uniform.

  Uh-oh, Rono thought.

  A smile spread across Junkit’s face, and he opened his eyes.

  “I thought you’d come alone,” he said casually to the Torturer. “Maybe you’ve gotten a little smarter. But still, not smart enough. Hello, Rono. What a pleasant surprise.”

  As soon as Junkit finished speaking, the back wall tore open with an earsplitting crash. Drywall, brick, and paint went flying in all directions, and Rono saw huge black ropes snap away from where they had been attached to the corners of the wall. And there, standing in the opposite yard, was Gali, the League’s strongman, gripping the ends of the four ropes. There was a flicker of motion as a lithe red-haired woman jumped up onto the ledge, landing in a crouch.

  “Two of them,” Jada said. “Even better.”

  Rono pulled the trigger, and a burst of red energy flared toward Junkit. The League member was ready, though, and he flew off the bed just as it exploded, shooting flaming debris in all directions. With a mighty bellow, the Torturer charged.

  • • •

  The Torturer’s shout erupted over the comm, and James turned to Emily.

&n
bsp; “Pull it up!” he said. “We have to go!”

  Emily nodded and eased back the throttle, lifting the Shadow off the ground. As soon as they were about ten feet up, she pushed the throttle forward, just like Rono had done, and they streaked ahead like a loosed arrow.

  “Not so much!” James yelled as they barreled toward the strip mall.

  “Sorry,” Emily replied tightly, and pulled back again, slowing them down. “Didn’t really know what to expect.”

  She tilted the throttle upward, and they barely missed the top of the strip mall. As soon as they cleared the roof, they saw fire and smoke billowing up from 34 Davidson. A blast of red energy went careening off into the night sky. Emily accelerated again.

  “Keep your hand over the missile launcher,” she told James.

  He tentatively reached out and put his finger over the red button.

  Emily glanced at him. “It’ll be okay,” she said.

  “Yeah,” he mumbled.

  Emily steered the Shadow over the house, toward the backyard and the spouting flames. She pulled the ship into a tight loop and saw that the entire back wall of the house was missing. The fight had spilled into the yard.

  “It’s Gali,” James said, awe apparent in his voice.

  The Torturer was grappling with Gali on the lawn, while Junkit flew overhead and occasionally descended to smash a slab of concrete on the Torturer’s head. Even from there, Emily could see that the Torturer was being bested. Upstairs in a bedroom, visible now that the wall was gone, Rono was pinned down by Jada. She had a hold on his rifle as he struggled violently to throw her off.

  “Fire something!” Emily screamed.

  “At what?”

  “Anything! Blow the other side of the house up!” Emily angled the ship to face the exposed master bedroom.

  “Okay,” James said reluctantly. “Here goes nothing.” He pressed the button.