Every one of our new teammates is wide-eyed. Carly is listening in to their thoughts to see if they are going to believe what I’m telling them and, I’m happy to see her nodding to me periodically that they’re not rejecting what I’m telling them as I go through the entire story. I start from the time of our first stake out and fight at the Technology Park and Henderson Robotics, to tracking down the students near Van, West Virginia. It takes a while. Thankfully, all of them keep an open mind and believe what I am saying.
Dreamweaver takes over, “We’re going to make two – three man squads, for the mission. One squad will be led by Nova, the other I will be leading. Granite. Hit Point. You’ll be with Nova. Anvil, Sparks, you two will be with me. That may change as we work out how we work together, or it might change in the middle of a fight, if that is what’s needed. It just depends on how it goes.”
Hit Point, not one to wait patiently, jumps ahead, “So, what’s the plan? When do we go? And, where the hell is ‘Van, West Virginia?’ We gonna have to fight hillbillies?" She's got a silly grin on her face and is looking around to the others to see if she gets a laugh out of them. Crickets. "That’ll be fun,” she follows up, but without the smirk as she sees her hillbilly comment didn't go over with the others. This group may be a little too uptight. I'll have to keep an eye on them, or rather Carly will. She's the resident psychologist.
“You can always tell the speeders.” Replies Anvil, with a good laugh. Which is somewhat true. Hit Point is a Class 3 speed, same as me. We do tend to talk fast and expect immediate results. I'm a little different as I've had to learn patience working to build my inventions.
“Alright, be like that,” Hit Point says and crosses her arms. Nodding, she quickly gets she’s being made fun of.
“Hit Point, we’ll discuss the planning in a few days. First, we need to get some work in together to see how we fit. The mission is tentatively set for ten days from now, weekend after next,” I tell everyone.
“Wow, we’re going to wait ten days? Not much of a hurry to free these guys, is there.” Chimes in Granite, his voice just as gravelly as his name. Everything else about him, though looks entirely out of place for how I picture earth elementals. He's tall and gangly with long blond hair that hangs down over his eyes all the time. He habitually pushes it to the side.
“They’ve been gone for a long time already. Ten days won’t make much of a difference and I’m not going to take a green team into a mission without any preparation.”
“No, I get it. It’s just not like you see on the vid, is it?” Granite concedes.
Anvil pops off, "And what if they're killed before we get to them because we're screwing around for the next ten days?"
“Then they're screwed. Which will be terrible, but if we go in there without any preparation, we're likely to get them killed anyway." I'm ready to move on, "Any other questions?” No one speaks up. “Okay, good. Then let’s get to the other reason we’re here in the labs.”
I pull out a student crate that projects are normally stored in and start pulling out neural neutralizers, “These are called ‘neural neutralizers.’ They’re the same neural neutralizers being worn by the students that have been kidnapped. The difference is going to be, the ones being worn by the students are meant to keep their messed up minds – messed up. You’ll be wearing them to keep your not messed up minds from getting messed up by any telepaths we run into.”
“There’s no such thing,” Hit Point claims as she grabs one of the devices and studies it.
“Up until a few months ago, I'd say you'd be right in saying that. As it is, they do exist, and are being used by this criminal organization to hide their mind controlling from other telepaths. And, yes. The telepaths, even the ones here on campus, know about it. But, they are not interested in doing anything about it because they say they're pacifists. ” As much as I would like to tell them all about what is really going on with the telepaths, I don't. It wouldn't do them any good if I did as the next telepath they ran into would just take it out of their memory. Hell, I can't be sure Carly wouldn't take it out.
Sparks asks, “What do you mean?”
“I mean the telepaths do not get involved in anything that does not affect them directly. It’s their ‘hands off’ policy to not attract attention to themselves, or to interfere with others.”
“But what about Dreamweaver? She’s involved,” asks Granite.
“Dreamweaver has a different outlook. She’s not a pacifist, and she’s wants to make a difference.”
“And they let her do that?” Sparks follows.
I give them what I can that may not be wiped from their memories by the next telepath they run into, “The telepathic community manages itself on a local level and is generally passive in nature. The telepaths here at school don’t feel like it’s their place to interfere with Dreamweaver being involved. Don’t expect any help from them, but at the same time, we shouldn’t expect them to interfere with what we’re doing, either.”
Finishing handing out the neural neutralizers, I get the purpose of the meeting back on track, “Okay, here are your neural neutralizers. Go ahead and put them on and we’ll show you how they work.”
The four new team members put on the devices. Granite has his on backwards, but I don’t correct it as I’m curious if it will still work. “Press this pressure switch one time and the device turns on.” I point to the stud on the inside of the edge of the cap on Hit Point’s head. “You’ll have to press the button five times in a row to deactivate the device.”
Everyone turns on their device and Dreamweaver steps up, “Right now I’m trying to read each of your minds and I’m also transmitting a very uncomfortable compulsion that you all need to go to the bathroom. Anyone feeling anything?”
Everyone indicates “no” while giving Dreamweaver a concerned look that she can even do that to them. I am satisfied to know Granite’s backwards neural neutralizer still works when it is on backwards. That could make a difference in the middle of a fight.
Smiling, Dreamweaver continues, “Good. Anyone want to take off your neutralizer so you can tell the others what it would have felt like to have me make you want to go pee?” There are no takers. "Okay, well then you can just trust me the devices are working."
I take over, “You will all be wearing these during the mission. If it comes off, you need to immediately get it back on your head or you risk being mind controlled. Trust me, it only takes a couple seconds for a telepath to shut you down, so be mindful.”
“Was that a pun?” Dreamweaver asks, smiling.
“Yes. Someone's paying attention,” I grin back at her.
Anvil looks like he ate a sour grape, “What about you and Nova?”
“I’m a telepath, so for me to wear one would be like cutting off my arm. Nova has his own protections.” Carly says, not telling them my protections are built into my mind.
Heading for the door, I move things along, “Looks like everyone’s is working. So, let’s get out to the practice area and get some work in.”
Breaking up into two groups the team takes Carly’s Volkswagen Rabbit and Hot Point’s beautifully restored 1970 Chevy Chavelle SS. The black Chavelle with its white racing stripes growls as it leaves the parking lot and I’d swear I felt Carly’s VW Rabbit try to shy away from the muscle car.
I looked over to Carly, eyebrows raised.
“I think my bunny’s a little intimidated,” is her only response.
The practice area I found is located just South of the Illinois Beach State Park. No one goes out into the marshy area south of the park and we are able to find a deserted stretch where we work in the heavy brush near the beach. We meet up with some of the other candidates who didn't make the team and break up into our two squads: me, or rather “Nova,” leading Granite and Hit Point. And, Dreamweaver, leading Anvil and Sparks. The other candidates break themselves up into squads and set themselves up to be the Opposing Force. Even though we are careful not to hurt our glass
cannons, and none of us wants to be electrocuted by Sparks, we are able to get some good work in supporting each other during the practice engagements and learn how to move together. The OpFor team gives us some tough competition, but also confirms I picked the right people to be on our team. Carly and I are able to coordinate through our suit communicators, which, since we were the only two able to communicate at a distance, is another reason we cannot be on the same squad together. I really hate the idea of her not being beside me so we can watch out for each other, but it's needed as she's the only one I completely trust to lead the other squad.
By the end of the training everyone is exhausted and the ground we have been using is torn all to hell, mostly by Granite. I have Granite put the ground back to level so there are no big holes or walls of earth left in the marsh.
It was a good day. Another couple training sessions like this one and we will be ready to go on the mission. We’ll never be 100% ready, not with the amount of time we have, but our squads are effective, and work well together. I’ll take that.
Our last training session is on Wednesday, so we decide to leave on the mission on Thursday after classes. Friday is a light day for all of us, and no one has anything major going on for then, so we take it off in case the operation takes more than a day. Monday's a heavy load of classes for all of us, so no one wants to miss it if we don’t have to. Although, now that I think about it, it is pretty sad to be superheroes who have to schedule missions around school.
Chapter 57
I rent a large tour van from a limo company in Chicago. It is a black Mercedes Mauck2 luxury van. It’s loaded with leather bucket seats and a ton of room for our gear. I’m willing to go cheap on lots of things, but not on the chariot, or tour van, I ride into battle. I have three large gym bags with all Carly’s and my stuff already loaded when we go to pick up the team at the science lab where we decided to meet. Everyone but Anvil is carrying a large bag. Hit Point’s bags are even bigger than mine. Anvil’s the opposite. He just has a half mask bandana in one hand, and a half full paper grocery bag tucked under his arm. I guess everything else he needs is built into his Class 4 body. The sun is just setting when we leave campus.
Granite and Sparks are sitting together, and it looks like they are hitting it off. Whereas Hit Point is decidedly ignoring Anvil’s attempt to talk her up. It looks like he’s used to it, because he just keeps chattering away without expecting a reply to any of the sometimes personal questions he’s asking her. Carly’s up front with me and it feels kind of like it did on our first trip together to Evanston. Except for all the people in the back.
It takes about an hour for everyone to settle in for the trip. Anvil takes a nap, to Hit Points immense relief, and she is looking out the window watching the woods along the road pass by. I doubt she has ever taken a nap in her life.
Granite and Sparks are watching a movie on one of their phones. Carly and I are quietly discussing the latest images we received from the Dragon Tracker.
Rather than do the nine hour trip and go straight into battle, we decide to stop in Charleston, WV and stay until the following night in a local hotel. Charleston is about an hour and a half north of our destination.
The southern part of Ohio and all of West Virginia are some of the most beautiful forest areas in the United States. Unfortunately, we are passing through it at night and not able to see it in all its glory. Instead we get to see the darkness with the fringes of the forest in our headlights as we drive down the freeway. Which, if you’ve travelled at night across country, is eerily beautiful and mysterious. We have the windows down and can feel the moisture and smell of the forest with its soft decay of old growth mixed with the lively smell of the trees. For me it’s a smell that can make me question why anyone would want to live in a city.
It’s 3:00 AM when we enter the outskirts of Charleston and Sparks decides to ask the $64,000 question about our stay here, “How are the rooms going to be assigned?”
I’m tired. I don’t want to play house mom, and I think it is better to let them figure it out, “You tell me. I’ll get whatever rooms we need.” A conversation breaks out between them and it is a surprise to hear Granite and Sparks deciding to share a room, which leaves me getting separate rooms for Hit Point and Anvil.
After checking in, I let the team know Dreamweaver and I are turning in and to not expect us for breakfast, "Everyone is to meet in the lobby at noon and we’ll go to lunch. Until then, get some rest and enjoy your stay in beautiful Charleston, West Virginia."
Carly and I go up to our room and immediately go to bed. Whatever planning there is to do can be done in the morning. I'm up by 8:00 AM, which is two hours earlier than I want to be, but there’s work to be done, “What do we have from the Dragon Tracker?” I ask Carly.
“They’re doing the same thing they’ve been doing every day. Up by six, and in the big building by seven. They're also getting sloppy in their patrols and have fallen into a routine. Same guards each shift, and they’re walking the same route each round.”
“Let me see,” I ask, stooping over Carly while drying my hair.
“Hey, I already took my shower,” she says in mock complaint.
“Sorry.” I look over the pictures and it is immediately confusing to me, “They’re laughing in all these pictures!” I keep going through the images downloaded from the Dragon Tracker, “How can they be so happy? It’s like they want to be there.”
Carly doesn’t bother to look again at the pictures, “They are happy,” she says, matter of fact. “They’ve likely had their minds altered so they think whatever they are doing there is the most important and fun thing they’ve ever done.”
“It’s that easy? Just change who someone is, what’s important to them, anything?”
“Yeah, it is.” Carly looks back at me without shying away from what a telepath’s powers, her powers, are capable of doing to a person.
“I don’t see how the telepaths would be willing to allow this guy to do this without trying to stop him. If people see this going on there will be a backlash. A big one.”
“I know. But, keeping a low profile is what has allowed us to avoid attention. It’s become ingrained in our culture. It's our survival instinct.”
“All right. We can’t worry about that right now,” I reply, “What’s important to me is what the students are going to do when we try to rescue them. It they’re so happy, are they going to fight their rescuers?”
“There is a chance they will fight us. We have to be prepared to take them down without hurting them.”
“How fast can you undo what’s been done to them?” I ask.
“I can’t do it during the battle. Better to just knock them out and unscramble their eggs later.” Carly says it like it’s not a big deal to have to knock out a couple hundred people.
We finish looking over the images from the drone and I make some notes to discuss with the rest of the team.
Chapter 58
Heading down to the lobby, we run into Sparks and Granite. They both look refreshed and are noticeably playing new couple, which I think is great. Except that now I have to worry about them both having their judgement compromised during the mission if one of them gets into trouble. Nothing to be done about it now, but hoping for the best isn’t really something I want as part of my game plan.
Down in the lobby, Hit Point and Anvil seem to have worked out their relationship, which is based on Hit Point not being interested and Anvil dealing with it. Overall they both look refreshed and not hostile to each other so much as indifferent. Hit Point is flipping a throwing knife with one hand and browsing her phone with the other, while Anvil plays with a one pound bronze ball he carries around and uses like silly putty.
“Good morning,” I offer to the two who are not one and get a grunt from Anvil and a good morning in return from Hit Point. “You guys hungry?”
Both of them get up without saying anything and head to the front entrance to the hotel. Okay, I think, glad
I have the two on separate squads. I look to Carly and can tell she’s doing a little telepathic investigation to see what’s going on between the two.
We decide to go to the Black Sheep Burrito and Brews because I want Mexican, and it has very good reviews online. The menu turns out to have a good bit of variety and the food is excellent. While we’re here we discuss the plan in detail in a back corner of the restaurant where we won’t be overheard and I make sure everyone knows their role and what is expected of them. In case everything goes to hell, we designate our rendezvous point (making sure the location of the van is nowhere near the rendezvous to keep it from becoming a casualty if we’re engaged while regrouping).
At the end I pick up the tab and we all walk outside where I give them some last instructions, “We’re rolling out at midnight, so I suggest you all go over your gear and make sure everything is ready to go. Make sure you get some rest; it’s going to be a long night.”
We split up at the hotel and Carly and I head up to our room. I don’t bother looking back, leaving the rest of them to do what they will. Up in the room, Carly and I go over all of our gear in detail and everything is in perfect condition just as it was when I went over it in detail before we left. Once we are done with that, we decide to spend the next few hours exploring each other in detail, rather than sit around worrying about tonight. After, we take a long nap, and then do it all over again, this time in the bath.
We hardly notice the time pass until it is time to gather our gear and head out to the bus. My mind is clear and fresh and I’m ready to go.
Chapter 59
Everyone is quiet on the drive down, not showing any real interest other than in their own thoughts until we reach Van. Van is a little hole in the wall community that takes all of a minute to pass through as we head further south on State Highway 85. As we near the turn off that leads to the compound where the students are being held, we pass through an even smaller community than Van, called Wharton. If I take the turn off there we will be on a dirt road for about five miles until we reach an old coal mine. The students are located another two miles passed there. Instead, we're going a different way. We can come up behind the compound by taking another dirt road that takes us about eight miles out of our way and snakes back to within two miles of the compound. We’ll make our approach through the heavy woods that covers almost all of this part of West Virginia. If we’re lucky, no one will see us coming. I added GPS and pathfinding programs to our suits before we left, so I'm not particularly worried about getting lost in the woods.
Nova Academy: A Superhero & Supervillain Novel Page 25