by Stan Lee
As she felt the power—as the Rooster flowed through her, shrieking and crowing—all Roxanne’s doubts faded away. This, she realized, is what I was born to do. This is who I am.
After all my misgivings, all the times I’ve tried to run away…I guess I’m a Zodiac.
The second charge exploded, high on the volcano’s peak. Another shock wave struck the ship, much closer and stronger this time. The vessel rolled up through the water, briefly turning completely upside down.
“Hang on!” Josie yelled.
Kim slammed into Roxanne. The Lees shot up toward the ceiling—except it wasn’t really up, Roxanne realized. The ship was turning again, slowly righting itself.
Mr. and Mrs. Lee landed on the floor with a thud. Mrs. Lee picked up her helmet and motioned for her husband to do the same.
“We’re okay,” Josie said. “Hull integrity is holding. Moving into position now for third detonation….”
“Look,” Kim said.
Roxanne yanked off the mask and rose to her feet, following Kim’s pointing finger. The hologram showed the volcano, with two blast points marring its surface. The second explosion had cleared away an area of rock, leaving a flat crater halfway up the gradual slope.
“That’s a caldera,” Kim said, “a kind of crater formed by an ancient eruption. It must have been covered up by centuries of sediment.”
Roxanne nodded. “It might be a way inside.”
“Inside to what?” Josie asked.
Mrs. Lee stared intensely at the crater. “To whatever the Dragon is doing in there,” she said.
“That smoke seems to be getting thicker, too,” Roxanne said.
“Hey,” Kim said. “Where’s Steven?”
They all looked up. Roxanne cast her eyes around the small cockpit, across the pilot’s chair, the Zodiac amplification mask, the smaller hologram stage in back. Steven was no longer in the vessel.
Three holograms flared to life all at once: the small one in the corner, the larger display at the pilot’s station, and a third one against the back wall. They all showed Steven’s face.
“Um,” Steven’s image said, his voice echoing in triplicate. “So.”
His eyes, Roxanne thought. I’ve never seen him look so grim.
“I’m recording this before we take off,” he said, “because this mission—well, there’s a part of it you guys weren’t told about.”
Mrs. Lee moved close to her husband, staring at the hologram. Her mouth silently formed the word son. Mr. Lee turned to her and whispered a few words in her ear.
“I’m sorry I had to lie to you,” the recording continued. “But I knew you’d never go along with this….”
“Hey,” Josie said, an edge of panic in her voice. Roxanne turned to look. From the viewport in front of the pilot’s chair, a bright light shone in through the darkness.
“Where’s that coming from?” Kim asked. “Is there something else down here?”
“Shut off that hologram and bring up an external view,” Roxanne snapped. “We’ve gotta see what’s happening outside.”
“No matter what happens,” Steven was saying, “you must continue setting off the charges….”
“But he’s telling us something important,” Kim said.
“We’ll hear it later!”
Steven’s image froze midsyllable and flickered off, replaced by an external camera view of the seabed. The volcano seemed angrier, pockmarked and smoking—and a bright glow suffused the entire area. It seemed to radiate from inside the mountain, filling the ebon-black void with a godlike radiance.
Roxanne recognized it immediately. “Dragon energy,” she breathed.
“Look!” Josie said.
Roxanne peered at the hologram. Above the volcano, tiny against its unearthly glow, a small pressure-suited figure swam through the churning water. It moved like an arrow, speeding straight toward the exposed caldera on the mountain’s surface.
Roxanne shook her head in disbelief. “Steven Lee,” she said. “Are you insane?”
Am I insane?
Steven shot through the darkness, angling downward. He swam furiously, sucking in deep, regular breaths from his oxygen tank. Even with the Tiger’s enhanced senses, he could barely make out the shape of the smoking mountain below.
It’s so huge, he thought. I can’t see the far side of it.
Tiny spotlights from the drill-ship above fanned across the seabed, illuminating the volcano’s vast expanse. At its peak, a thin column of smoke hissed upward into the water.
He felt a jolt of panic. This is the only way, he told himself. I have to do this. No matter what happens to me.
The drill-ship’s lights swung away, leaving him in blackness. Immediately, the voices rose in his mind: the Tigers, the Zodiac users from times past. They’ve always been with me, he realized. I just got better at tuning them out.
The darkness was complete. Ghostly faces appeared, just as they had inside Mount Merapi. A slim man in elegant robes. A farmer with tired eyes. An old woman with teeth filed into sharp fangs.
“The choice,” the Tigers said. “The choice is coming.”
Steven tried to speak, then remembered the breather in his mouth. No, he thought.
“You cannot avoid it.”
I won’t do it. I won’t make that choice.
“We warned you,” they said. “You refused to listen.”
I can do this. I can save them all. My friends, my parents…all of them.
He looked down, reaching out with his Tiger sense. He could barely make out the mountain as it drew closer, its gradual slope flattening out near the top. He kicked, aiming at the flat area unearthed by one of the explosions.
The caldera, he remembered. He studied it, searching for a way inside the mountain.
He felt cold, numb. I’m probably not coming back from this. I knew that the minute I swam through the hatch. But we can’t trust the missiles to finish off the Dragon’s machinery—and I can’t risk anyone else’s life on this. Not my team, not Malik’s team, not my parents.
It’s up to me. I’ve got to break the cycle.
All at once, a bright glow flared up from the mountain. Darkness turned to light; the Tigers retreated inside Steven’s mind. A swarm of eels twirled away, frightened by the sudden radiance.
Above Steven’s head, the Tiger flashed to life. It roared silently, raging in protest at the hostile environment. It turned its head to snarl down at the vast, smoking volcano.
It knows, he thought. It knows we’re going to fight the Dragon.
He looked down, shielding his eyes as his vision adjusted. The volcano spread out below, hundreds of kilometers wide. There was no doubt; he’d seen that glow before. It was the Dragon.
We have to do this, he told the protesting Tiger. We’re the only ones who can. It’s crazy. It might be our last battle. But there’s no choice.
The Tiger, he realized, wasn’t listening. Its senses tingled in alarm. Frowning, following some strange instinct, Steven turned to look upward.
The drill-ship was a tiny oval in the distance, its spotlights visible as two dots along the hull. Below it, two small figures in pressure suits moved swiftly through the churning water. Even before they drew close enough to make out clearly, Steven knew who they were.
Mom and Dad.
No, he thought. Not them. I won’t risk their lives. That’s the whole point of this. Dammit, Dad!
He closed his eyes—and saw the wheel, the circular representation of the twelve Zodiac symbols. The wheel began to spin, just as it had done inside Carlos’s mind. It moved faster and faster, the images along the edges blurring.
It’s all spinning out of control, he thought. Again he heard the words of the ancient Tigers: None among us may escape this destiny.
He opened his eyes. His parents were closer now, moving straight toward him. Mr. Lee’s expression was grim as always. Mrs. Lee’s eyes were wide above the breather in her mouth.
He wanted to scream at them. W
hy? Why are you doing this? But at that depth, his radio wouldn’t function. All he could do was watch them approach.
The Tiger roared in Steven’s mind, an edge of panic in its voice. It feels caught, he realized. Like it’s being drawn into an inescapable trap, a web of destiny. A cage.
Steven twisted and kicked hard, bringing himself to a near stop. The caldera lay directly below. In the eerie Dragon-glow, he could make out a small opening in its rocky surface.
Mr. and Mrs. Lee drew up beside him. They didn’t speak; they couldn’t speak. They just stared at him. Then his mother lowered her eyes, jerking her head in a downward motion.
Steven looked down again at the volcano, at the smoke hissing up into the water. There’s no choice now, he realized. No escape.
Maybe there never was.
He swept his arm around and pointed down at the caldera. Then he kicked hard and resumed swimming toward the opening. He didn’t look back.
His parents exchanged dour looks, then turned to follow.
THE STEALTH PLANE rocketed through the air, flying low above the vast desert. Its engines purred along, whisper quiet; specially built dampers kept it hidden from infrared and radar scans.
“Slowing to three hundred fifty kph,” Malik said, pulling up on the stick. “All systems normal.”
In the copilot’s seat, Liam studied the radar screen. It showed no blips, barely any blemishes on the flat landscape. The desert, less than thirty meters below, was almost featureless.
“Snake?” he asked. “You sure this disaster site is out here?”
Before he could turn, Snake was at his shoulder. She was quiet and slinky, and she seemed to enjoy unnerving the members of Steven’s team.
“Trust me, little Ram.” She laughed. “Just a bit farther.”
“Trusting you ain’t my first instinct,” he said, an edge creeping into his voice.
“If you want, I could convince you.”
Her eyes glowed green. The outline of a hissing snake appeared over her head.
“Knock it off,” he said, “before I head-butt ye out the hatch.”
Malik cleared his throat. “Play nice, you two.”
Nicky, the fourth member of the team, crossed the large cockpit to join them. He was in human form; his only yellow fur was the hair on his head. But even so, his power made him a strong, imposing figure. When he clapped Liam on the back, the Irishman lurched forward in his seat.
“You glad t’be back with the team, Rammer?” Nicky laughed. “Bet this ain’t the group you thought you’d be fighting with.”
Liam shot him a glare and turned away. Nicky was right. When he’d returned to the Zodiacs, Liam had assumed his next mission would be alongside Steven, Roxanne, Duane, and maybe Kim. The five of them had trained together, fought side by side, and stopped Maxwell’s plans several times in the past. They knew each other’s moves, trusted each other absolutely.
But Malik had requested Liam’s presence on the mission. “Steven’s team is armed with missiles. They’re making a remote assault,” Malik had explained. “But our fight is gonna get messy—maybe even hand to hand. I need all the muscle I can get.”
Liam couldn’t turn him down. But now, as they approached an unknown spot deep in the Sahara, he started to have doubts. I trust Malik, he thought. I think. But all three of these guys have worked for Maxwell in the past. What if…?
He hated to even consider the possibility. What if they’re still secretly loyal to him?
He stood up and walked down the steps toward the large area in the back of the cabin. Nicky and Snake watched him go; he could feel their eyes on him. When he reached the big table in the center of the room, he figured he was far enough away to speak privately.
“Duane?” he said, touching his earpiece. “Ye read me?”
“Yes.” Duane’s voice was faint, crackly. “I’m receiving your telemetry. Still no Dragon energy in your vicinity, but I’m getting some strange EM readings.”
“How ’bout the tremors?”
“Still increasing.” Duane sounded worried. “In fact, the timetable seems to be accelerating.”
That doesn’t sound good, Liam thought.
“Are you approaching your position?” Duane asked.
“That’s what they tell me.” He cast a suspicious glance at the cockpit. “What about Steven’s team? They getting anywhere?”
“They’re out of contact, as expected. Seismic activity in their vicinity has spiked.”
“Seismic activity…that could be good or bad, aye? Either the Dragon is settin’ off even more earthquakes, or Steven and Rox are blowing the devil out of its secret base.”
“Yes,” Duane replied. “Until their team surfaces, there’s no way to know.”
“Yo, Rammer!” Nicky called, tapping his ear. “Time for radio silence.”
“Stop bloody calling me that!” Liam walked a little farther away and touched his ear again. “Hey, Duane?”
“Yes?”
“Wish you were here.”
There was a pause. Liam thought they’d been disconnected.
“Me too,” Duane said.
Liam cut the connection, turned around, and gasped.
Nicky and Celine stood at the large table, which was covered with a holographic display showing an exterior view of their destination. The desert landscape seemed to stretch forever, uninterrupted—except for a deep hole blasted in the ground. Readouts described it as almost five kilometers in diameter, and less than twenty kilometers away.
But as the image zoomed in, Liam realized the hole wasn’t empty. Curving metal arms, gray and grimy, stretched over the gap like the legs of a spider. They met at a central building, a featureless block whose base disappeared into the abyss and whose summit rose half a kilometer above its mouth.
“Someone’s been busy.” Nicky whistled. “Or something.”
Liam walked around the hologram, peering up and down. “This is the control machinery? For the whole worldwide seismic craziness?”
“That’s what they tell me,” Celine said.
“It stretches way down into that hole.” Nicky shook his head in confusion. “Down to the…what did the brainiac kid call it? Lithosphere.”
“The tectonic plates,” Liam said. “Like Steven and Kim described. The Dragon is using what it learned in Indonesia.”
Celine nodded. “The kid, Duane, he says there’s one of those ley lines below this spot. Sends the seismic commands all over the world.”
“Lystria. From the ashes,” Liam said. “I’ll say this for Maxwell: he’s big on recycling.”
Nicky pointed at one of four large spires rising from the edge of the hole. “What are those tent pole things?”
“Control towers,” Malik called from the pilot’s seat. “At the edge of the hole, forming a perfect square. They probably coordinate the seismic machinery, and who knows what else.”
Liam studied the complex. “If we can take ’em out, the struts should collapse.”
“Taking a lot of Dragon tech with ’em,” Nicky agreed.
It’s like some nightmarish techno vision of the future, Liam thought. There’s not a trace left of what used to be here: a vibrant city where people lived their lives.
Is that what the Dragon wants? A planet cleansed of humanity, with nothing but machines obeying its will?
A shiver ran through him. But it wasn’t just the horror of the Dragon’s plan. Some danger instinct, honed in the seedy pubs of Dublin, was pricking at his neck.
“This is too easy,” he said.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Malik replied. “The complex is shielded from satellite surveillance. But now that we’re close, those towers are begging to be hit.”
Liam reached out with both hands, into the hologram, and spread his arms. The image zoomed in on the central building. A walkway led out from it, crossing the gap like a plank over a moat, connecting to the charred sand beyond.
“Are there weapons?” he asked. “Is it even
manned—”
“Look,” Nicky said.
Liam zoomed in further. At the base of the walkway, a doorway had opened in the wall of the central building. Two Vanguard soldiers, armed with large energy rifles, marched out in formation. Two others followed, and then four more. They strode across the walkway under the blazing sunlight, over the gaping abyss.
“Any more questions?” Celine asked.
Plenty, Liam thought.
A hundred soldiers—possibly more—poured out of the building. As they reached the end of the walkway, they fanned out across the desert sand. They looked like ants crawling from a mound, each taking up its appointed position. Their movements were precise, unhurried.
And they kept coming.
“That’s a lotta soldiers,” Nicky said. “And a lotta guns.”
“We’re almost directly overhead,” Malik called. “We’re shielded from radar, but I’m taking us up a bit to make us a tougher target.”
The plane lurched, its nose tipping upward. Liam stumbled for balance, staring at the hologram. The soldiers were still fanning out, but they held their energy rifles loose at their sides. They made no aggressive moves.
“I count almost a thousand troops now.” Nicky shook his head. “That’s almost everyone in Vanguard.”
“Yeah,” Celine said, pointing. “But only one of ’em matters.”
Liam followed her sharp-nailed finger. A figure in a gray jumpsuit ran out of the building, leaping across the walkway over the soldiers’ heads. He had jet-black hair and a beard, elongated arms and legs—and bare prehensile feet.
Malik rose from the pilot’s seat and moved to join them. “Monkey,” he said, glaring at the hologram.
“I knew it.” Celine shook her head. “That guy’s my own personal curse.”
Monkey dodged and jumped, forward and side to side, leapfrogging over and around the soldiers. They didn’t seem to notice. As the last of them poured across the walkway, they settled into a rainbow formation several rows thick, fanned out in front of the hole in the earth.