He felt his knees give. The leverage of the robotic leg allowed him to spin as he fell, avoiding a face-first nose dive, and he landed on his side, sprawling awkwardly across the carpet. The Luger fell limp in his hand.
Drayger heard soft footsteps. The shape loomed over him, and an amused voice called down to him, “Hello, sweetheart.”
CHAPTER 27
Ben Drayger was floating in a white puffy cloud.
At least that’s how it felt. That notion was shattered as Clay Arbor’s face—Lithium’s face—burst through the fog, snarling and laughing all at the same time. He was close, down in Drayger’s personal space, seemed to be checking his pupils or something.
“Don’t worry. I’ve just incapacitated you for a moment. You’ll be feeling fine in a few minutes and joining us for some Chardonnay...or whatever it is.” Arbor moved in even closer to him and whispered with a wink, “I’m more of a whisky man myself.”
Drayger’s mind was reeling. Why was Lithium here? What did he have to do with these low-level street scum?
Arbor seemed to read his mind. He let out a hearty chuckle. “Did you really think we wouldn’t find out about your little money problem, sweetheart? This is Freedom Council City!”
Drayger tried to speak. “A...A...A...Ang...”
“She’s fine, son. Does she look like she’s in distress? Hell, we’ve had a fine time waiting for you. Haven’t we, Angel?”
Angel’s face was filled with concern for Drayger, but she turned toward Arbor and beamed a wide smile. “We sure have, Mr. Lithium!” She seemed relaxed to Drayger, but at the same time she stayed where she was. She made no move to check on him or make sure he was okay. Arbor may not have harmed her, but she was intimidated by him.
Just her type. Great.
Arbor grinned at Drayger. “Did you think we wouldn’t expect you?”
Drayger tried to answer him, but his mouth wouldn’t move. His tongue lolled lazily in his cheek. In this zombie-like state, he knew the utter confusion showed on his face. There was no way to hide it.
“You’ve got it all wrong, son,” Arbor said. “Angel’s as safe as she can be. We rescued her from that gang of loan sharks you met outside and brought her here for her own protection.”
That was a load of bullshit, and Drayger knew it. Arbor seemed to sense his skepticism.
“We were waiting for you,” he explained. “It’s kind of hard to get a message to you when you’re all dug in at a secret hidey hole.”
Drayger watched as Arbor bent down and picked up the Luger that was lying on the floor next to him. “You won’t be needing this anymore. And based on what I’m guessing is a pretty high body count outside, I’d say we’re all safer if I hold onto this for a little while.”
Angel nodded at him. “We’re safe in here, Bennie, we really are.”
Drayger’s mind cleared a bit, and he tried unsuccessfully to sit up. Arbor motioned for the goon in the waiter get-up to help him, and the next thing Drayger knew he was sitting in a chair at the table next to Angel. He felt drunk and hung over all at the same time.
“You see, Ben, I don’t hold any hard feelings about that shot you took at me back in Philly. Hell, you put me on my ass for a good while. And that’s not something many folks have ever done. That told me something about you. That told me that you’re a man of action. And I like that.”
Drayger grinned at the memory of shooting Arbor in the chest back at the Hall of Chambers.
“So, when we got word of your little money problem and how it was being collected, I convinced the uppers to intervene. Not only did we save dear Angel here, we also paid off your debt. With interest.”
Drayger’s mind cleared fully when he heard those words. He found his focus returning. He formed the words, “What’s...the...catch?”
“There is no catch. I just want ya to come work for me. There’s a good payday in it, too. How does ten million a year sound in good old U.S. dollars?”
Drayger grimaced, tried to shake the cobwebs out. None of this made sense. He played back what Arbor had just told him. He tried to start from the beginning. Arbor had said he was expecting him. “Those goons out front. They’re the ones that took her,” Drayger said, motioning to Angel. “They sure as hell didn’t expect me.”
Arbor waved the point away. “You just took out the trash for us, that’s all. They threatened my girl Angel here. You did my work for me.” Arbor leaned down closer to him again and said in a half-whisper, “Truth is, we paid ‘em so well, they started working for me two days ago. Thought they were protecting Angel here.” Arbor chuckled. “I lined ‘em up for ya. Got what they deserved, don’t ya think?”
Angel’s face hardened like she was just now catching on to the fact that Drayger had killed a bunch of guys outside. She’d never been the brightest bulb. Polar opposite of her sister in that respect.
Arbor saw it, and his gruff voice warmed. “Don’t you worry, sweetie. I told you I’d take care of them. You got nothing to worry about now.”
That seemed to soothe her.
“You’re a murdering, lying bastard,” Drayger said flatly. “Why should I trust you?”
Arbor nodded. “You don’t have to. I’m letting you go. But you think about it. We’ll talk more tonight at dinner.” Arbor dropped a business card on the table in front of Drayger and headed toward the door. The card was actually a paid dinner ticket for three at Luciana’s, one of Manhattan’s most upscale eateries.
Arbor gave him a final once-over as he passed by. “Wear something...better.”
Drayger turned in his chair, his body starting to respond like normal. “A little presumptuous, don’t you think? You walk out that door and we’re gone.”
Arbor beamed his famous toothy grin at him. “See you tonight at dinner, sport. You know how I know you’ll be there?” Arbor didn’t wait for him to respond. “’Cause you’ve yet to use that little toy of yours on me.” Arbor pointed at the golden Neurolyzer around Drayger’s head.
The big man walked away.
And Drayger let him. He stared down at the all-expenses-paid invite on the table. He could feel tears welling in his eyes. He wished he could make the damn Neurolyzer work on himself.
“Bennie?” Angel’s eyes searched his face.
Drayger swallowed back the burning in his throat. “We need to go talk to your sister.”
CHAPTER 28
LAKE TAHOE, CALIFORNIA
“There it is again,” Fiona said.
Becky Collins winced and adjusted the pickup’s rearview mirror. She glanced around the grassy field Fiona had cleared to use as parking for the Palace. “You’re scaring the shit out of me, just so you know. The last time you had one of these...”
Becky wasn’t sure what to call it.
“Feelings,” Fiona clarified.
“Yeah—feelings—a missile strike nearly took out South Lake.”
“No, it’s not that. Something else, I just can’t put my finger on it.”
“Maybe it’s just the paparazzi coming back and you can feel it.”
Becky remembered all the photographers camped out around the Palace hoping to snap pictures of the famous Fire Fly and her “Fionettes”—the rather derisive name the press had given to her troupe. She also remembered Fiona’s reaction. She smiled thinking about Fiona scaring the paparazzi so badly that a few of them actually soiled themselves. She could still picture them all high-tailing it back to their vehicles in a panic. She ought to have felt guilty, she knew they were all just trying to make a living, but damn, they were obnoxious! It was a lot more pleasant without them lurking about.
The two women eyed each other for a moment, clearly reliving the memory, and then said in unison, “Naw!”
They both laughed. “They’re not going to be coming back for a while,” Becky chuckled.
“Besides,” Fiona shrugged, “I’ve been having these for two days now. This is something weird. Almost feels like someone is watching me. It’s very sucky.”
<
br /> “That strengthens my paparazzi theory.” Becky smiled at her reassuringly. “I think you’d know if that was the case. Nobody gets anything past you if you don’t want them to.”
Fiona glanced over at the Palace to their right. The girls were already there. They were waiting for their lesson to start—part dance training, part combat training. They knew not to interrupt when Fiona and Becky were having a “driveway moment.”
Fiona turned back to her and pursed her lips. “Still, I don’t want you to stay here. I want you to go back to the cabin.”
Becky glanced over and spied Arcadia watching them. “Are you sure? Maybe I should stay just to make certain everything’s okay.”
Fiona shook her head. “Pretty sure I’ll be okay, but I need to know you’re safe.”
Fiona made to open her door, but Becky pulled her back toward her. Fiona twisted, and Becky planted a deep open-mouth kiss on her, moving her tongue deep inside Fiona’s open lips. Electric sparks flowed through each of them, and when they parted they both came up gasping for breath.
In her peripheral vision, Becky noted Arcadia had turned away and was staring straight down, fidgeting with the voi she was holding. Becky kissed Fiona’s forehead. “That was very satisfying.”
Fiona beamed a wide smile. “Frisky. I like it.” She winked and exited the truck. “Hold that thought for later.”
Becky watched her walk away. Arcadia smiled at her as she approached with those wide googly eyes she always had for Fiona.
Becky put the truck in gear and felt her blood pressure rise. As she reversed the truck, she noticed that Fiona had yet to even peer Arcadia’s way. She smiled and put it back in drive.
As Fiona strolled toward the Palace, she scanned the sky. It was a typical, wide-open, bright-blue California sky. Not a thing in it. The majestic Sierra Nevada framed the horizon. She let her eyes shift into full spectrum vision, which meant to the outside world they glowed bright green, but to Fiona the world popped in a rainbow of layers. Each color revealed a different part of the physical world—most of which were invisible to the normal human eye. It had taken her a while to get used to it. Like adjusting to bifocals, she guessed. Over time, she’d gotten good at it.
But still, despite the queasiness in her gut, there was nothing unusual. Nothing to consider a threat. She wondered if she was honing in on the various portions of herself that she’d left across the country. Bizarre as it was, every time she bled or fired a blast of energy in Fire Fly form, she left traces of her cells. And somehow those cells spoke to her. Like sentries spread throughout the country. Was that what she was feeling? She dismissed the thought with a sigh.
As she heard Becky’s pickup exit the lot and turn onto the mountain road, something new tweaked her consciousness. A stronger feeling than those she’d had before. The hair on the back of her neck rose, and she quickened her pace to join the other girls. Stepping into the stone floor of the Palace, surrounded by her friends, Fiona felt the sense of dread ebb away.
Even the Fire Fly could feel fear. She hoped the little fire that was burning in her mind could be quenched by the company of friends. But she also knew she needed to know what the hell it was.
“You okay? You looked a little freaked out,” Arcadia whispered to her as she walked up.
Fiona winced. She’d hoped her apprehension hadn’t shown on her face. They’d probably all seen her eyes shift colors, though. “I’m fine,” she said quickly. “How do you think they’re doing?” she asked, pointing back at the other eleven girls, trying to change the subject. “Are they ready?”
Arcadia shot her a curious look. “Ready for what? They haven’t even learned the first choreography.”
“Basics first,” Fiona said distractedly.
Just then a shiver ran down Fiona’s spine so strong she moaned. And spun.
“What is it?” Arcadia asked. The two Connors sisters turned toward the direction Fiona was glaring.
“Grab your voi,” Fiona said firmly, not wanting to sound panicked. There was no way to hide it completely, though. Her heart was racing, her temples throbbed. Something was definitely wrong.
Something was coming.
A sound screeched through the air. Low-pitched, high-pitched—was it a rumble or a scream? It stopped them all cold.
And then the Palace EXPLODED.
CHAPTER 29
At first, all was black. It was like nighttime had literally fallen on them all. Fiona shivered. But in an instant, the blackness began to fade, and there, standing in the rubble of what had been the grey and pink limestone grandeur of her Palace, was a dark, featureless figure. It towered over her. It was glaring down at Fiona in a way that seemed very odd until Fiona realized she was lying flat on her back.
She stood.
It still towered over her.
At least fifteen feet tall.
She phased to Fire Fly form.
From her left, a burning voi stretched toward the creature, and it immediately spun in that direction. In a millisecond, the creature shifted from midnight black to shimmering silver as a mirrored substance melted over its skin i.
Not a creature, Fiona realized. A machine. Another of the Council’s robots. Sent to kill her.
Again.
Another thing became clear to Fiona as the machine shifted from black to silver:
It had boobs.
What idiot puts boobs on a robot? A man, that was for sure. Somehow that pissed her off even more.
The voi made perfect contact with the robot’s head. And for a moment Fiona let herself smile as she glanced over to see Kristen Connors holding the elongated weapon and slinging it like an expert.
But the voi did not have the effect she’d expected. Instead of ripping straight through the monster’s head, it bounced off.
No, Fiona realized, it reflected off!
Not just that. Somehow the machine had aimed the reflection right back at Kristen. The energy began to dissipate as it reached the Connors sister, but it still lifted her off the ground and slung her twenty feet across the open field.
Heat flushed through Fiona’s body, and she heard herself cry out in anger and frustration.
Fiona aimed both hands at the thing and fired huge pulsing beams of luminescence straight into it. Pools of exploding light expanded on the creature’s silver skin at the points of impact. They reflected straight back into Fiona’s face, so she teleported out of their path just in time.
She materialized on the other side of the machine and instantly plunged her hand down toward the massive chest of the robot—but a silver arm flew up in defense faster than Fiona could follow. It might have blocked her killing blow, but Fiona felt her own arm enter that of the creature. So she did what she had planned to do all along.
She gave it a good hard pull.
The silvery mirrors came shredding off of the robot’s arm and clattered away. Fiona recalled the large mirrors surrounding the perimeter of the Council’s Fire Fly chamber in Trenton. As soon as she touched it she knew that this robot’s outer shell was made of that same material.
Her thoughts were cut short as the machine did two things that caught her completely by surprise. First it spoke. “I am the Photuris, and you are ordered to surrender or die.” The voice was authoritative and distinctly female. Second, it swung its now black arm at Fiona, who phased to light form—and was knocked into the air like a chartreuse comet. The blow was unearthly powerful. There was an energy to it all its own. Like nothing she had ever felt.
No, that wasn’t entirely true. Fiona righted herself in the sky and shook the cobwebs out of her head. She had felt something like it before. The shards the Krill had used on her and the black energy Von Cyprus had hit her with in Trenton. Both had nearly killed her.
Now she understood.
And the sharp shock of fear returned. They’d created a robot made of the two substances that could really harm her: the mirrors and the black shards.
A black bolt of energy streaked through t
he sky—so fast it caught her off guard. Pain raged though her entire body. Fiona screamed as she realized it had ripped a hole straight through her. She fell from the sky, watching the ground rise up to meet her. And then, everything went dark.
She awoke to sounds of battle.
She raised her head to see multiple voi, from all directions, stretching toward the Photuris—which had now turned completely black from top to bottom and was floating through the air effortlessly.
Zooming toward her.
Shit!
The big robot turned to its left and fired a black beam that directly connected with one of the girls—she couldn’t tell which one—and the girl simply burned from existence in ghastly black static. Her screams of agony remained in the air for a long moment after her body was gone.
Fiona rose into the sky like a glowing bird of prey, lips quivering, the anger surging in heat across her body. “Your fight is with me, monster! Leave them the hell alone!”
The Photuris raised its black featureless face to her. “You are wrong. I have waited and observed until the optimal moment of attack so that I may eliminate you all in one mission.”
Well, at least that explained the feeling of being watched, Fiona realized.
Spurred by the sacrifice of one of her girls, Fiona felt her power swell. It was time to end this.
She raised her hands and fired the strongest beams of power she could muster. She’d not hit the thing yet in its blackened form. Maybe now she would have more luck.
The energy blasted toward it—and disappeared inside the robot. The beams were simply absorbed.
A new voice emanated from the machine. She recognized it as Eric Von Cyprus. “Fiona, you cannot win. The Photuris is a combination of an anti-laser that absorbs all light; dark energy that travels though all physical matter; antimatter that negates that physical matter; and it is protected by mirrored armor that you cannot penetrate.”
The Suns of Liberty (Book 3): Republic Page 20