“C—coun…” It’s exhausting trying to talk.
“County Hospital,” Luke finishes for me.
“What happened?”
“I was hoping you could tell us?” Kate asks.
I close my eyes and think back. They're awfully patient. I remember sparring with Carlos. Things got heated. Everything felt so… intense. Did I really ask Epic to unlock the mass driver? What was I thinking?
“Glasses,” I ask.
Kate shakes her head, “Epic’s offline. It’s part of why we’re so freaked out.”
That sends a jolt of adrenaline through me. Epic can’t go offline. He has more backups and redundancies than the space shuttle. Luke and Kate are talking at me. I raise my hand for silence. I need to think.
Epic said something about abnormal neural activity. The suit works by linking with my nervous system. It’s essentially what I used the synthsuit for, but now with the new armor, there’s no need. With my nervous system directly linked to the suit I… I fried my brain.
“I should have spotted the euphoria. I overclocked my brain,” I tell them.
“For those of us who don’t have multiple PhDs?” Kate asks.
“I linked my nervous system with the MK IV, which means I linked my brain to Epic. His processes are far quicker than mine and my brain struggled to keep up. I basically gave myself a fever. I can’t imagine what would have happened if it’d gone on much longer.”
“I can,” Kate says with a frown. She pulls out her phone, hitting a few keys faster than I can follow she puts it away. “Teddy wanted to be notified when you woke up.”
“Oh. Can I go back to sleep now?”
Kate smiles, leaning down she places a light kiss on my forehead. “Get some rest. We’ll be here when you wake up.
They are. I wake up a few more times and every time either Kate, Luke, or both of them are present. A few hours later a doctor comes in to check on me. Then Teddy comes by and does his magic on me for an hour. By the time the next morning rolls around, I feel much better. Better enough to have them bring me my laptop.
Kate hands me my shiny Surface with the Windows logo on it as I rub my hands greedily together. It only takes a second to power up. Within seconds I’m neck deep in code.
“Why don’t you build yourself a better laptop like you do your lab computers?” Kate asks.
“Box computers are easy to build. You can use a lot of stuff right off the shelf. I did need specialized parts for my quantum computer, but those were custom made and require certain conditions only found in a cleanroom. Laptops…” I glance up at her. I can see the dull glaze in her eyes. “Sorry,” I say sheepishly.
“I try to follow along, really Amelia. But sometimes I think you purposely try to confuse the rest of us.”
“I know. Sorry. I get so excited about what I’m thinking I forget that you all can’t read my mind. Suffice to say, laptops require specialized components and it would be more hassle than it’s worth. Especially, when I can just buy one as awesome as this. It’s not like I need it to hack the Pentagon or house Epic. Writing code doesn’t require an expensive machine.”
She looks at me again, then the computer, then back to me. “If you say so.”
“I do,” I say with a smile. Now, let’s find out what’s going on with Epic.”
“Where do you have him stored?”
“I mixed in computronium with the new MK IV alloy. Theoretically, he can be active even when the armor is in storage mode like it is now. But maybe—”
“Storage mode? Amelia, when Carlos brought you to us, you weren’t wearing your armor,” she glances down at the floor for a second, her cheeks turning slightly pink. “You weren’t wearing anything…”
Right. I didn’t tell them and now doesn’t seem like the time to explain but I guess now is better than never.
“I made some upgrades to the suit. I don’t know if Carlos told you…” she nods. “Good. The suit isn’t really a piece of armor I put on so much as a substance I carry with me.”
Thankfully it’s just her in the hospital room with me. She’s a smart cookie. I won’t have to backtrack too much.
“You mean… the suits with you right now? But— where?”
I cough nervously, glancing at the laptop then back to Kate. “Uh, inside me.”
“Inside you?” she asks with her mouth hanging open. “Amelia, didn’t you stop to think that could be dangerous? Wasn’t it enough you were building a new suit of armor out of an alien metal?”
I shrug. “Nope. Weighing my life against the world’s seemed like a no-brainer. Besides, the molecules for the armor are programmable. It was child’s play to shrink them down to the point where they hide in my subdermal. That way I can always have the armor with me and… Oh! I think I know what happened to Epic.”
She perks up, “What did you do?”
“Hey now, that hurts. I don’t do this stuff intentionally. It’s the law of unintended consequences.” I close the laptop and focus for a second. The armor is still tied to my nervous system but in the resting state, it’s in low power mode. The alien alloy has far more potential than the aliens actually use it for. I don’t know what they call it, but I think my name for it is spot on. I’ll need to come up with a scientific name, but Animetal works for me right now.
I close my eyes and search for the connection. It’s there, ever present like a low powered hum. I focus on the hum, bringing it forward and then… Kate gasps.
I look down and the alloy congeals out of my skin to wrap around my flesh like paint. I let it go all the way until the HUD boots up across my field of view. Once the armor connects enough to my nervous system, I command the helmet to meld back into the suit so I can talk to Kate. Once the HUD is up, though, it stays regardless of if I have the helmet up.
I see you figured out our mistake.
“Epic!” I say aloud.
Kate pulls her glasses out of her pocket and slips them on her perfect nose. “There you are, you little stinker.”
I am glad to be back. Once the armor switched to storage mode, I was ‘asleep’ and couldn’t reactivate. We will have to resolve this issue before you don the MK IV again.
“Yeah, I almost cooked my brain. I can already feel the connection heating up. Why don’t you limit our connection to no more than,” I do some quick math. “Twenty megahertz?”
I concur. Programming alterations.
“You’re also going to need to stay active, clearly. Let’s adjust the size of the armor’s resting state. Say, torso and hips? That should provide enough surface area for you to work…”
“Now that I know you’re safe, Epic, Amelia, I’m going to go get some coffee. Try not to mad science while I’m away?”
“Bring me a Coke,” I yell after her. “And no promises!”
Carlos is off saving the Mediterranean from a freak storm, apparently. I’m not grumpy about that at all. He’s off dressed up in his super duds and I’m stuck here, wheeling around HQ trying to stay busy. I’ve been out of the hospital a week, and there’s no sign of the Th’un. No more probes, nothing. This has me worried. They should be here. Why aren’t they advancing? I want to go up there and take a look, but I made a stupid promise to Luke that I wouldn’t put the armor on until I could fix the connection problem with Epic. As long we hard limit his interface with my nervous system we should be fine. I didn’t realize being point-two seconds more responsive would be such a big deal.
So here I am, on the observation deck watching grass grow in the Arizona desert. At least I have the schematics for my new drone, codename: Lockheed, to tinker with.
“Penny for your mind?” Augustina walks in, strangely alone. I don’t think Fleet has left her side since I brought her down.
“Thoughts, Augustina, it’s a penny for your thoughts. Close though.”
“I’m still learning. Your thought patterns are so different than my people. It’s interesting. I think our scientists, or what remains of them, would love to come her
e and study you, once the Th’un are gone, and I can wake them up.”
I glance at her sideways, I know what she means, but it still sounded weird.
“Are you healing?” she asks.
“I think I’m all better. I know what the problem is and how to avoid it. I’d like a more permanent solution, but what do you do.” I shrug.
She nods. “I know you mean well, Amelia. And I have enjoyed your world immensely. Especially what Fleet calls, ‘Jimmies John.’ But I must return home soon. My people suffer as well. For whatever reason, the Th’un are hesitating here. Can we not go save my Luxilla and then come back?”
She has a point. The Th’un are hesitating. I just wish I knew why. What if they’re hesitating for the same reason we’re winning? Don't they know how to handle people with superpowers?
“Augustina, on your world, you said no one has superpowers but you, right?”
“Correct. I am the chosen, Princess of Luxilla. We are protectors, imbued with power—”
I wave my hand to cut her off. “You weren’t enough, right? You can blow up a Th’un ship here and there, but there’s only one of you?”
She nods, frowning. “Where are you going with this?”
“I’m not sure, just thinking out loud.” I drop my chin into my fists and stare at the window, not really seeing the desert beyond the glass. They cost-effectively conquer worlds, then bring back resources to their home world. Clearly, they don’t carry them back by ship, that would have enormous costs.
“Augustina,” I say, “How do they transfer the resources back to their planet? Certainly not by ship, right?”
“No, that would be more financially costly than they could ever recover. Their processing plants have stable quantum gates that lead back to processing plants on Tahunnan, their home.”
“Can those gates operate in both directions?” I turn as I ask her. She is beautiful, like looking at a small sunrise. Her hair practically glows in the sunlight it’s so blonde.
“Yes… but they take much power. More than a ship can generate alone. Usually, they will land the two big ships and convert them to factories.”
Oh my God. I bet that is what they’re doing. But how? Even if our space observation is limited, there isn’t a square inch of the Earth that isn’t under satellite view—
“Epic,” I say while wheeling for the elevator. “Red alert. I want everyone in the briefing room ten minutes ago!”
Alert issued. Is everything okay?”
“I think I figured out the Th’un’s next move. If I’m right, they might already be here!”
To my team’s credit, it doesn’t take them ten minutes to assemble. Before the last person is in the door, I’m dialing up my contact with the Department of Defense. A Major Nelson, if I recall. I can’t keep track of what liaison is who when it comes to the government. I’d call the president if he’d let me.
“Ms. Lockheart, good to see you. I’m Major Nelson. What can I do for you today?” He seems nice enough. Short black hair and striking blue eyes. He has those little crow’s feet around his eyes and a touch of gray at his temples.
“Major, is there anything unusual going on in orbit? Radar holes or interference? Satellite malfunctions or even collisions?”
He frowns, eyes narrowing. “I haven’t heard of anything, but I’m Army, not Air Force. Let me check with Space Command at Cheyenne mountain. Can I put you on hold?”
I raise an eyebrow. It never occurred to me that was a real place. I thought they just used it for movies. “Yeah of course, uh Major?”
“Yes?”
“You wouldn’t happen to have a Stargate there, would you?”
He laughs, “No, Ms. Lockheart, no Stargate at the mountain. Believe me, if there was, I would work there, not pushing paper across a discount desk.”
“Okay, just checking. I’ll hold.” The door to the conference room opens as the last member of the team comes in. Luke walks up to the front to sit near me. He’s in his new costume that I am one-hundred percent in favor of. He’s super agile when he’s amped up and nigh indestructible. It made no sense for him to wear anything remotely like armor. He switched to a skin-tight blue shirt with short sleeves and baggy cargo pants and combat boots. He’s way more flexible in this costume and super hot. His shirt still has the Eagle, globe, and anchor of the Marines. Around his neck, he has a pair of goggles with yellow tinted lenses as his ‘mask’. It’s his connection to Milton or Epic. Even though he’s near indestructible, dust in his eyes can still bother him.
While I’m waiting I turn to the team. “Thank you all for coming. I was talking to Lux and I think I figured out why the Th’un haven’t attacked yet.”
“I’ll take the bait,” Tessa says. “Why not?”
“I think they’re already here.”
I let that sink in for a moment. Everyone in this room knows the stakes. The only person not present is Carlos. I have a feeling he might already be neck deep in it.
“You’re kidding,” Kate says. “Those drones are massive. No one could hide those.”
“You’d be right, but if they are doing what I think they are doing—” The connection to the DoD picks back up.
“Well. Ms. Lockheart, I’ll be damned. Mind telling me how you did that little trick?”
“Wild ass guess, Major. Tell me where?”
“We have two satellites that monitor The Mediterranean Sea, a geostationary one and one that passes by every twelve hours, both were taken offline within the last forty-eight hours. AFSC says it’s a malfunction. Which is why it didn’t make the news or anything. You think it’s them aliens?”
“Yes sir I do. Please let the President know that I am taking my team to the Mediterranean. I’m not sure who needs to be notified but we’re going.”
Major Nelson sucks in a deep breath before letting it out in a long sigh, “Good luck ma’am. I’ll clear the path for you.”
The line clicks dead and I turn back to the team. “The Protector is already on site rescuing people from a freak cyclone. I don’t believe it is a naturally occurring phenomenon. I think they’ve landed their factory ships and are preparing a large-scale assault in that part of the world. They’ve already shown their willingness to let nature do the damage for them. I don’t think they like to spend the money to deploy ground forces. Lux?”
“On Luxilla, they deployed massive tracked harvesters, miles high, that eat through everything down to the crust. Consuming, refining, and processing the resources and sending them back to Tahunnan through stable quantum gates.” She stops for a second, her hand covering her eyes, fighting back tears. “Once they are deployed these things do massive damage. They make the drones you fought look like child's toys. If they are preparing them, you must stop them.”
I let that sink in for a moment. “Epic, prep the jet. We’re going full speed the fastest route to the Mediterranean. Re-task Artemis to cover that part of the world.”
I may not be able to move her back. She was not designed for that kind of orbital maneuvering.
“Understood, but if we need her and don’t have her…”
Affirmative.
“Okay people, any questions?”
“Do we have a plan?” Teddy asks.
“Not as of yet. First, we have to find them, but I think we might have an ace in the hole in that respect,” I tell them.
“What’s that?” Kate asks.
“Pythia.”
The Emjet is minutes away from departing for the Med when Luke corners me. Only he, Kate, and Lux are left in the room. He has that, ‘I’m going to tell you something for your own good,’ look that he and Kate love to wear.
“You promised not to suit up until you fixed the problem.”
I smile, reaching out to rest a hand on his arm. “I know, and I have… sort of.”
He sighs, raising an eyebrow. “What does ‘sort of’ mean?”
“Well—”
“It means she hasn’t, but she’ll be careful,” Kate s
ays from behind me. Luke glances at her, then me, and his eyes narrow.
“I see.”
“Listen, if it were anything else, I wouldn’t. This is too important, and I can get there five times faster than anyone else. Epic is aware of the issue, we’ll monitor my brain activity and as long as we keep our connection limited then we don’t have to worry about burning my brain.”
He glances at Kate to see if I’m telling the truth. Annoying. Probably the best course of action, but annoying.
“She’s right, Luke. We need her on this. Say your goodbye and get upstairs. We need to roll,” Kate tells him. I can hear her waiting behind me, like she is in line to also tell me something for my own good.
Luke bends down and kisses the corner of my mouth. Why is that such a turn on? “Be safe, baby,” he tells me before kissing me on the lips. I let it linger for a moment, then he’s gone. Half walking, half jogging to the stairs. That just leaves Lux and Kate in the room as everyone else is already in the jet.
I cough to clear my throat and get my head back in the game. He has that effect on me.
“Kate, do you have anyone in Greece you can…” I wave my hands in the air to mime her teleporting.
She closes her eyes for a second. She doesn’t know where she can go until she thinks about it. Part of how her powers work is her empathic connection. She has to focus to use it, though.
“No,” she frowns. “I can get you to France, though. I could get everyone to France, but I think the Emjet is probably faster. Not to mention flying commercial to an alien invasion won’t really work.”
I glance over at Lux. “Can you do both of us?”
“I think so. What are you planning?”
“I want to get to Pythia and see if having her meet Lux will, or has, expanded her knowledge. She said that when the Th’un touched down on Earth it allowed her to see them. I’m wondering what she can see now with her here.” I nod at Lux.
“What’s a ‘Pythia’?” the alien asks.
“It’s complicated,” I tell her.
“Can I coto? I’ve always wanted to meet her.” Kate puts her hand on my shoulder and I can tell she’s serious.
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