Rainbow Rush (Cape High Series Book 19)

by R. J. Ross

  “She’s the victim,” Century says, “and what’s happening is along the lines of survivor’s guilt syndrome. She blames herself for what happened.”

  The two stare at him, and then look at each other. “How deep should we bury the guy?” Nico asks.

  “I vote we encase him in rock and ship him into space,” Superior says.

  “This isn’t something to joke about,” Century scolds them.

  “Who’s joking? She was A LITTLE GIRL!” Nico snarls. “Powers or not, she was still a child! I’m going to hunt him down.”

  “There’s an easier way,” Century says, holding up a hand to stop him. “Yes, can I get you to patch me through to Ms. Monk? Thank you.” He motions to Nico, who waves a hand. The sound of the phone ringing comes from the speakers built into the wall.

  “Hello?” Davis’s mother says.

  “Ms. Monk, this is Century,” Century says. “I apologize for any interruption I might be causing, but I need to ask you a quick question.”

  “Oh, Century. Is Davis having trouble adjusting?” she asks.

  “No, ma’am, I do believe he’s fitting right in. This is about your brother, Richard.”

  “Richie?” she repeats, sounding confused. “What about him?”

  “Can you tell us where he lives?”

  The phone goes silent for a very long moment, and the three men look at each other with a hint of confusion. “I don’t appreciate this joke,” Ms. Monk says, her tone cold. “I’m not sure where you get off, pretending to be the Hall leader—”

  “I truly am Century, ma’am,” Century says. “I’m not sure why you think this is a joke. Your son says he’s been in contact with your brother regularly, and we would like to meet him, ourselves.”

  “You’re taking this way too far, mister,” she snaps. “Quit pretending!”

  “Then can you tell me what’s wrong?” Century asks.

  “My brother, Richie, has been dead for fourteen years!” She hangs up, and the click seems to echo through the room for several seconds.

  “Say what?” Nico says, finally. “Now I’m even more confused.”

  “Is Mimic still in the Cape Cells?” Superior asks.

  “He is,” Nico says.

  “Any time traveler versions running around that we don’t know of?”

  “Not that I’m aware of.”

  “Then we have a problem,” Century says, saying what they’re all thinking. “Nico, start searching. We’re looking for an impostor that’s been doing this for long enough to fool a genius nephew.”

  “Longer,” Nico says, “because her brother’s full name is Richard Davis Penski, and he’s in the SITEC files, as well. He just retired, recently.”

  “SITEC?” Century repeats, his eyes widening slightly, “What does this have to do with SITEC?”

  ***

  “Here’s a question,” Ariel says as we run to the school. Doris wound up picking poor Davis up princess-style, because he’s super, super slow. Even Chooperic is faster than he is. “Doris and I started playing the game with the Technico and all that, right? So we were playing with Sandra the other day, and she took down one of Nico’s bases all on her own!”

  “But that’s not a question,” I point out.

  “She’s just fangirling,” Doris says. “She’s really fond of Sandra.”

  “I want her to come down to this branch so we can fight together!” Ariel says excitedly. “But what I was GOING to say is, if she can resist lasers and all that so easily, couldn’t she actually go through one of Nico’s security fields?”

  I almost trip, shocked by the question. “Not yet, but there’s a slim chance when she’s older…” Skye says.

  “Wait, seriously?” I say, looking over at her. “You think so?”

  “She reflects the lasers,” she tells me, nodding, “except she likes Nico, so she probably wouldn’t. Oh, but that means her mommy could do it, too, doesn’t it? But I’m pretty sure that there’s more to the security system than just lasers, since Nico is super duper paranoid. I’m so proud of him.”

  “To be called paranoid by Queen of Paranoia, herself, it’s quite the honor,” Ariel agrees with a nod.

  “I NEED A CROWN!” Skye declares.

  “How can you STILL be joking like this?” Davis demands. “We should have told them his address! And if he hears that I ratted him out, he’s going to find a way to get to me! He’s not stupid, you know!”

  “We almost had her distracted and everything,” Ariel complains as Skye’s expression goes blank for a second.

  I look over at him. “So why DID you rat him out?”

  “I don’t know!” he says, sounding frustrated. “I just don’t like the guy, okay? And if anyone can get rid of him, well, it’s the Hall, right?”

  “So this time you’re using me as an excuse to get rid of the thorn in your side,” Skye says. “I’m really tired of being used as your stepping stone, Mavis.” This time she’s obviously messing up his name on purpose.

  He gives her a dark look before looking away. He’s blushing slightly. “Can you blame me?” he asks, finally.

  “Sure I can,” she says, “Especially for the fact that you’re trying to use people I love to do it. I TOTALLY blame you for that. You should have used Gin and Tonic, instead. He’s a stick in the mud.”

  “Isotonic?” I ask, surprised. “I’ve never really talked to him…”

  “His name is Gin and Tonic!” Skye says. “Like the drink!”

  “No it’s not,” Doris says. “And you’re just trying to distract us, again, Skye. We need to have a serious talk after we’ve taken the kids home, got it?”

  “You can just drop us off here, if you want,” Davis says. “It’s not like anyone’s going to bother us. They’re a lot more likely to notice the three of you.”

  “We told my brother we’d take you to the school, and that’s what we’re going to do,” Skye says stubbornly. “Besides, it’s right over there,” she adds, motioning to the field in the distance. We turn slightly, heading for it, and pull to a stop as soon as we can feel the electric field.

  “Skye should be able to go through the wall, too, right?” Ariel suddenly says.

  “Nope,” Skye says, after looking at it for a long moment. “He does that variable vibration thing, too.”

  “What?” Davis says, stunned. “I’M the one that invented that—”

  “No you aren’t,” she says, “Nico did it before you did, I bet. All of his security fields are like that! But it wouldn’t affect Sandra.”

  “I’M the genius here—” Davis starts out, looking like he’s going to throw a fit.

  “You’re smart, sure,” Skye says, her expression going serious, “but you can’t hold a candle to a technopath that has to keep out phasers like me, shadow walkers like Shadowman, S-class capes like when Pop was going crazy and stuff, and all SORTS of people that might want to kidnap the babies of the super world. ESPECIALLY when he’s as paranoid as me! Ahhh, my brother’s amazing!” she says happily, doing a silly little dance, “Which is why you’re NEVER to tell him where to find that bully kidnapper.”

  “Skye, if he’s smart enough to—” I reach over, tapping Doris on the shoulder before she can finish that thought and shaking my head. “Fine, no one tells Nico anything else. Now, we need to get back to our base and start getting ready for Carla’s sleepover.”

  “Carla’s sleeping over? YAY!” Ariel says.

  “We’re going to kidnap her,” Doris says. “Right, Carla?”

  “Right!” I say happily. “It’s going to be a lot of fun!”

  We wave as they run away, and I start for the entrance of the school, only to have my wrist grabbed by Davis. “Wait,” he says.

  “What?” I ask, turning back to him.

  “Can you… can I ask a favor?” He looks like he’s never said those words in his life, and they taste terrible. He’s literally making the same face that Vinny does when we force him to eat overly salty popcorn. If I wa
sn’t so worried about everything going on right now, I’d start to laugh.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Not here… um…” he looks at the “empty” cornfield and then tugs at my hand, leading me away from it. “How far do his cameras cover?” he whispers.

  “Oh, probably a couple of miles, at least,” I say. He groans, and leads me to the nearest tree, as if hoping the leaves will at least give us some privacy.

  “I don’t feel right just leaving Richard with the nanobytes,” he says as we nearly hug the trunk. “I know she said to not tell Century, but what if we just sneak into his house and steal my tech back? Then Richard won’t have the only tool he can use against her, anymore, and everything will be… back to the obsessive stalking routine.”

  “Is that really the only thing you made him, though?” I ask.

  “Before I came around, he didn’t have anything that would do what the nanobytes do. Sure, he had research, and a few prototypes, but they wouldn’t have worked as effectively. She could have figured out how to get free pretty easily.”

  “So… you want us to break and enter into a norm’s house, and steal—”

  “It’s not stealing if I’m the one that made them and he never paid for them,” he says.

  “Isn’t possession nine tenths of the law?” I ask. He gives me a look. “Okay, okay… but you know where he lives and where he keeps the nanobytes, right? So why do you need my help?”

  “Because he has cameras everywhere in his building. I can hack into his security system to turn them off, but only for so long. While they’re down for that minute or two, you’re fast enough to get in, get the nanobytes, and get out. I’m not. Besides, I need to do my part with the camera system. The last thing we need is for you to be seen as a criminal, right? You’re one of their precious ‘heroes.’”

  I think about it for a second before nodding. “It would be a lot easier if we just told Nico, and he went over the house and blew up all the nanobots,” I point out.

  “But then we’d have to tell him my uncle’s full name, right? He’s probably figuring it out right now, but it’s going to take some time to get permission to deal with him, since Uncle Richard’s a norm. I looked into the standard procedures when supers are dealing with civilians—it’s a LOT of red tape that they have to go through to do anything. Did you know that the systems were completely separate?”

  “Of course they are,” I say. “Mastermental says that no norm prison could hold a super over D-class. Well, actually, first he said that if they tried to arrest me, he’d brainwash people into thinking he was their mayor and get me out, and then he’d change my identity and send me to another branch, but he was just teasing me.”

  “Teasing you,” he repeats, staring at me. “Obviously he’s thought it through.”

  “Well, yeah, but he doesn’t have to, since HE’S part of the board that rules over supers in the first place. It’s made up of all the Hall leaders and their second-in-commands, you know, like Max and Voltdrain. But I don’t think they usually bring in the second-in-commands for most of it.”

  “How do you know all of this? I mean, I know it, because I found the files, but you… don’t seem like the type to sit down that long.”

  “Oh, thank you, someone ELSE is calling me ADHD. But you know what? I LOVE ADHD people, and I can see why it’s so difficult to sit still in a LOT of situations. I’m thinking of setting up a program that might help them learn easier, if I can get Zoe to help me! I think that if we added physical stimuli to each of the lessons we could—”

  “You’re getting distracted,” he whispers.

  “Oh, sorry,” I say.

  “We need to do this as soon as possible so people won’t notice that we’re gone. We’re already pushing that time frame just by standing here.”

  “Oh, good point…”

  “So will you do it?”

  “I… I think we should tell Nico… but…” I say, wanting to do what’s right, but at the same time understanding exactly where Skye is coming from. I heard about what happened to Panther. We all did. It was funny, sure, that he had to run around pretending to be a hero, but it could have been so much worse. His wife could have been stuck running that place of theirs all on her own. His children could have grown up without a father, as well, because nobody can go visit at the Cape Cells… I don’t think that would happen to Nico if he went in and dealt with this norm, but it’s a pretty thin line, isn’t it? Nico does stuff that he shouldn’t all the time. I mean, look at the time he basically kidnapped an entire pizza place! Or the many times he’s either fried or wiped people’s phones because he didn’t want pictures taken! He doesn’t seem to even care about the line between norms and supers! And if it’s to protect one of his own, like Skye, he could just go off and do something a lot worse than robbing the guy.

  But… if I do this, won’t I be crossing that line, myself?

  “Look, I have a KEY to his house,” Davis says. “It’s not breaking and entering if you’re welcome to go into the place any time you want, right?”

  “I don’t know—”

  “They’re going to come out and check on us at any moment, now, so do you really want to just stand here and argue this, or do you want to actually do something that could help Skystep?”

  “I want to help Skystep,” I say, but I still feel uneasy.

  “Are you strong enough to carry me?” he asks.

  “Yeah,” I say, turning so my back is to him. “Hop on.” I don’t feel right about what we’re about to do, but wouldn’t it be good? The sooner this guy doesn’t have a weapon that can be used against Skye, the better! I mean, I’m not sure they would be considered a weapon, since they’re more of a form of restraint, but it’s still something that can be used against her! And it’s not like we can just tell her to stay out of the public eye for a while, she will NEVER take that kind of advice. I mean, she’s probably out there, right now, doing something silly as we speak.

  “I’m here,” he says against my ear and I almost jump out of my skin. I hadn’t even felt his weight!

  “You need to eat more or something, boy, you weigh less than my little brothers!” I tell him. “Now how do we get there?”

  “Just because I’m not a burly type super—”

  “My brothers aren’t supers, yet,” I say.

  He sighs and points. “That way,” he says. Clearly that argument isn’t something he plans on having at the moment.

  “You at least weigh more than my sisters do!” I try to comfort him as I start to run. I hear him choke a bit and realize that he might be having trouble breathing at these speeds. I guess I should just let the topic go. “How are you going to stop his cameras? Do we need to stop somewhere and get a computer? Or maybe you could borrow my comm-bracelet, but if you did that I’m pretty sure that Nico would notice…”

  Instead of replying, he points to a street that’s coming up, so I turn, following his silent instructions. We finally pull to a stop as he points to a house at the end of a street in the suburbs. Beyond that house looks to be an abandoned field. Mostly it’s full of dead grass and a lot of weeds. I wonder why a genius scientist would pick such a crappy piece of land. The house isn’t even that nice looking. I bet it’s only got two bedrooms.

  “So?” I ask as he slides off of my back.

  “So I have a stash,” he says, turning and heading away from the house. He stops and starts kicking the dirt at the base of a tree to unearth a ratty looking backpack. He crouches down and starts digging through it, pulling out a tablet, a keyboard, and a drone. “Okay,” he says. “I should be ready in three minutes. While I’m doing this, you need to memorize the layout, so… ah, here it is,” he says, pulling out a few sheets of paper and laying them on the ground. He moves them slightly so they line up to show two different levels of floors. “This is the upper floor. Right there is the entrance to his underground lab.”

  I look at the larger layout, my eyes widening as I realize that it’s got to b
e at least two times larger than the house layout. “What in the world… is that what’s under the field?” I ask him.

  “Yeah,” he says. “Uncle Richard spent an arm and a leg, claiming that he wants a fallout shelter for the next big disaster. Nobody seemed to think he was all that crazy, considering where we live. He was rich enough to afford it, too.”

  “So… even though his ‘fallout shelter’ was twice as big as his house, nobody cared?” I ask.

  “This is Texas,” he says, sounding faintly amused. “’Paranoia, bibles, and guns’ might as well be the state logo.”

  “Really,” I say, not believing him.

  “Absolutely,” he says. “Have you memorized the layout yet?”

  “A long, long, looooong time ago,” I tell him. “Do you know how slow life can seem, sometimes? It’s like it’s constantly dragging on and you want to hit the fast forward button, but it doesn’t work.”

  “Um… yeah, sure,” he says. “Either way, here’s the key…” he digs through the bag and pulls out a rusty metal key. “When I signal, you go in through here, to the basement, and then enter into the secret lab here. The passcode for the secret lab is 1918, although I have no idea why. I asked him a few times, even about historical things that happened, and he never would tell me. It’s not even in his files. Once you get into the lab head to this station, here. There’s a lock on the door, but if you jiggle it a few times it should pop open. That’s where you’ll find a canister full of the nanobytes. Get them, get out.”

  “But what if he’s there?” I ask, looking at the house with trepidation. “It’s the middle of the day, and he works from home, right? Otherwise, why would he have such a big lab?”

  “Does it really matter? Aren’t you fast enough not to be seen by norm eyes?” he asks. “But right about now is his weekly trip to the store. He should be coming out in five… four… three…” he’s looking at his watch as he’s counting down.

  “I’m not going to go in while he’s there!” I stop as I hear a creaking sound and look over as the garage door of the house opens and a car backs out. He tugs me behind the tree.