Hostile Territory

by Tom Andry

  "Aww..." I sang, "you do care."

  Gale rolled her eyes and pushed me toward the stairs. Halfway down the first flight we ran into Chris, bald head gleaming in the red emergency lighting. He was carrying his suitcase and looked disheveled.

  "Bob!" he smiled. "God, I'm glad you're okay. Have you seen Leon?"

  I shook my head, "Wasn't he with you?"

  He shook his head in kind, "Haven't seen him. Do you want me to wait for you?"

  "No. That's fine. Might as well leave the luggage, though. They won't let you on with it."

  He looked down at his suitcase. "Really? Damn. I just bought these suits."

  Gale leaned in and whispered, "If you are one of the last ones, they may let it on. No promises though."

  Chris looked back down at his suitcase, "So, it's not serious then?"

  A number of the people in line turned at the question, eyes trained on Gale. She put her hands up and spoke louder, "We are only evacuating you as a precaution. We've had a power outage and we don't want you to be inconvenienced. We've secured some housing for you planetside and we'll get you back up here just as soon as we've determined the problem and made sure it won't happen again."

  This mollified the tippys and they started talking quietly amongst themselves. Chris stepped out of line and waved for the people behind him to pass, "You didn't see Leon up there?" I shook my head, "Maybe I should wait for him."

  I wasn't sure if he was using that as an excuse so that he could take his luggage or if he really was concerned. Gale and I continued down the steps and found that Doe was, in fact, correct. There were probably only about thirty people left behind Chris' position and the line had been moving fairly fast. I'd have to hurry if I didn't want to make the shuttle wait for me.

  We had to go down three flights of stairs to get to the building proper. From there, Gale had us exit the stairwell to cross a security corridor. Gale ripped the doors out of their frames at both ends. She said that there were quite a few lethal countermeasures for keeping people out, but apparently, none of them were active.

  "I can't believe you don't have backup power generators," I huffed, trying not to think about the trip back up the stairs. I'd have to swallow my pride and ask Gale for a ride if we wanted to make the shuttles in time.

  "We do. That's why we came here, so I could see if they were active. I'm not sure how Ted bypassed them."

  After backtracking to the stairwell and continuing down, we finally arrived at my suite. Gale waited in the living room while I ran back to the bathroom to retrieve the Multikey. From the door, I could see the slight light from the back of the Multikey that indicated that it was still in operation. Good. At least Mind was still...

  Wait? Still in operation? But that meant that there was still power somewhere...

  With a groan that shook the room, the little bit of light I was getting from the exterior windows cut out as well. A moment later and the light on the back of the Multikey dimmed and disappeared. I reached out and grabbed it, sticking it in my pocket.

  "Gale?" I called out, "What's going on?"

  "Lockdown," she responded. "The building is being locked down. We're trapped."

  * * *

  Chapter 17

  I paced back to the living room where Gale was standing, looking out the now black windows, "So, what exactly does 'lockdown' entail?"

  Gale didn't turn, "We designed this place to be a fortress. With so many politically powerful tippys in one place, we wanted to make sure that they could be protected. The lockdown is to protect this and the other four buildings from outside threats."

  I snorted, "Those walls. The ones outside the building? They slammed shut on us, didn't they."

  Gale nodded, "And they are completely impregnable. Designed with all the most powerful supers in mind. Nothing can get past them. We did a test and it took the Bulwark the better part of a day to breach them." She turned to me, "A day, Bob. We're stuck here."

  "But why now? Why not when the power first cut?"

  She shrugged, "Beats me. Could be anything. Maybe there was a delay built in to allow for evacuation. Maybe something tripped something and it went off. Heck, maybe someone pulled a fire alarm or something."

  "This place has fire alarms?"

  Gale collapsed on the couch, "No."

  "Oh."

  I sat down as well. There was less than a seat between us. The red light made Gale's costume and eyemask look pink. Her hair turned positively black. She caught me looking at her and cocked her head to the side.

  "What?"

  "Nothing," I smiled. "We haven't been alone like this in a long time."

  Gale laughed and reached up, removing her eyemask, "Yeah, well, you haven't been here a day yet." She rubbed the skin around her eyes. It must have been one of those masks that bonds to the skin, "I'm not sure the world can take the two of us in the same space for too long."

  "Oh, I don't know. The building hasn't crumbled around us."

  "Yet."

  I laughed, "Yeah, yet."

  We fell silent. I continued to steal looks at my wife...ex-wife. Without the eyemask, she looked even more like the woman I'd married. I rubbed the spot on my finger where my ring once lived. It was like an itch I could never scratch.

  "I do that too."

  I looked up at Gale, "What?"

  She nodded at my hand, "Once you wear one, it's like it is always there. A phantom ring."

  "Ugh," I moaned, "don't talk about phantom pain."

  Gale turned to me, "Was it bad? The leg?"

  I turned forward, letting my head fall back onto the couch, "It wasn't good." I sighed, "It took a while for the legs to start responding. That was frustrating. The doctors said my brain had to learn new ways to control the legs. That the paths were different or whatever. But what I never told them was about the pain. I could feel them. Like they were burning."

  "That must have been terrible."

  I shrugged again, "Once the metal ones started working, the phantom pain went away. Before that, all I had were the pain killers. Those were...difficult."

  "Yeah?"

  "They worked, for the most part, but they made me nauseous."

  "Ick."

  "Upside? No chance of addiction. Downside...well, that's obvious."

  Gale laughed.

  "But they did have one unexpected effect. I didn't dream as long as I was on them."

  "Yeah? How's that good?"

  "Oh...you know. The job: it can get to a guy."

  Gale nodded slowly, "You don't want to talk about it."

  I rolled my head. Damn her, she knew me too well, "Doc Arts mostly. I'd dream about him getting eaten by those...things."

  Gale's eyes narrowed, "Yeah? Huh, I wouldn't have guessed that. Explains your reaction in the Australian Embassy."

  Gale had suspected that I'd had something to do with Doc Arts' death. I might have let on more than I intended, "Well, it was traumatic. Watching them go after him. And him just screaming..."

  "I thought you ran back to his lab for the stuff to disable them?"

  "I did." I answered quickly, "But it took some time."

  Gale paused. "You hated him." It wasn't a question and she didn't need confirmation from me.

  "That's not a secret."

  "It wasn't his fault. Abigail."

  I swallowed. That had been her name. Abigail. Our daughter. The daughter than Doc Arts promised would live. And when she didn't, did he take responsibility? Did he admit that he had failed? No, he told everyone that it was my fault. Years later, I'd been vindicated. When he saved his own tippy/super hybrid daughter. But at the time...

  "You never looked at me the same. After that."

  "Bob..."

  I turned to Gale, the words falling out, "No, don't do this. You never did. He told you it was my genes. That I was the reason. And even though you never admitted it, some part of you wondered."

  Gale turned away, her tongue wetting her lips, "But it wasn't true. We know that
now."

  "Do we?" I put a hand on her shoulder, "Do you? Look at me, Wendi. Tell me you know that it wasn't my fault."

  Gale met my eyes, "I know that."

  I smiled, "You never could lie to me." Gale started to protest, but I put a hand up, "It's okay, Gale. I'm okay with that. I've learned to live with it."

  "You got so distant. You left me."

  I laughed, "That's not the way I remember it."

  Gale shook her head, "You crawled into that bottle and you never came up for air. I was hurting too. We needed each other, but you shut me out."

  "Fine," the word exploded out of me, louder than I anticipated, "it's all my fault. Is that what you want to hear?"

  "No, Bob! That's not what I want. I want you back. The real you. Not that angry, half-drunk PI who spends all his time trying to figure out new ways to get himself killed."

  I blinked, "I'm not trying to get myself killed."

  "Really, Bob?" Gale demanded. "You show up at the final fight with The Raven; you try to piss off every super you can; heck, you show up here. In the Super City, where you probably have more enemies than anyone else. If I hadn't assigned Chevalier to you, we'd be finding you in little pieces by now."

  I shook my head, "I've been doing fine without you for quite some time."

  "Yeah, with my terminal."

  "So, you're taking credit for everything? Without you, I'm nothing?" I could feel my blood pressure rise. If the red light wasn't making my cheeks red, I was sure they were flushed by now. "I could have been just fine without access to the Bulwark's files, you know!"

  "You know what I have to deal with all day long, Bob? Men." She put a finger up, "Correction - boys. Boys in tights. It's like one big dick measuring contest all day long. God forbid a woman have anything to contribute."

  "I don't see..."

  "Shut up, Bob." Gale stood, her costume whipping around her angrily, "You are going to seriously sit there and tell me that I've had nothing to do with your success? All the times you've called me, all the times you've used my terminal, all of that? None of that was a help?"

  "I'm not saying that. Of course. But you can't take all the credit."

  She threw her hands up and turned her back to me, "So, it's down to semantics, is it? Okay, Bob, how much? How much credit can I take? Eighty percent? Fifty? What will allow you to still feel like you have a pair in your pants?"

  When Gale turned back, I was still staring at the floor.

  "Bob?"

  I could barely speak. All the emotions were flooding back. It was like we were right back at the end of our marriage. Like it was happening all over again. I remembered a cartoon they used to show at Christmas. Maybe they still did, I don't know. About a guy who gets to see what life would have been like without him. Or maybe it was a movie. I couldn't remember. I felt like that was me. Back in time. Getting a chance to do everything again and right about to make the same mistakes all over.

  I took a deep, shaky breath, "I'm sorry." I paused, bringing my head up slowly. Gale was watching me. I knew that look. She was trying to catch me in a lie. She never could, but I didn't have to hide anything this time. "I'm sorry," I repeated.

  "Okay," Gale stretched out the word.

  I put my hands on my knees and stood. I took a step so that Gale and I were close enough that she didn't have to squint to look in my eyes, "I'm sorry."

  She nodded, uncertainly.

  "I know I fucked up. I know that. You think I don't? You think I don't lie in bed and think about what could have been? I was a mess. I acted selfishly. I wasn't there for you and you left. I get that. You were right to. I was wrong. And I'm sorry."

  "Bob..."

  "Let me finish," I turned and took a step toward the bar before I remembered the lack of power would probably render it useless. "Have I ever acted mad at you?"

  "Well..."

  I scowled at her, "Now who's playing semantics?"

  "Fine," she acquiesced, "not about the divorce, no."

  "That's right. Because I didn't blame you, Wendi. I knew I was no good to you. But I guess I always thought we'd come back around. That we'd get a second chance. I mean...we were good together, right? At one point?" I knew I sounded like I was begging, but I couldn't help it.

  "Yeah. We were."

  It didn't seem like she was lying, but I could be reading my own hopes into that. It didn't matter.

  "So, maybe now is that time?"

  Gale's brow furrowed, "Huh?"

  "Maybe this fight with Rod...my coming here...it's like a sign. A sign that we should give it another shot."

  Gale put a hand up to her mouth, her head shaking, "Oh...Bob. No. We're not...I said he needed some time to think."

  "Yeah," I agreed, "which is code for 'we're breaking up'."

  Gale shook her head, "No. We're not."

  "But you just said, Wendi, that you want me back."

  "No, I didn't."

  "Yes," my voice was too loud, too shaky. "You said you want the old me back. That's what you said."

  "I do. We all do. All your friends. But that doesn't mean..."

  I collapsed into the couch, "But you said..."

  Gale closed her eyes, "Not like that. Bob. I'm...I'm sorry."

  I glanced over to the wall that hid the bar. Was there anything in here I could use to pry it open?

  "So, Rod is thinking about what? How to be a bigger dick?"

  Gale's eyes softened slightly, "He's a good guy, Bob."

  "So your lunchboxes, t-shirts, and beach towels tell me."

  "God," Gale sat slowly down next to me, a hand on my shoulder, "this is not the way I'd have you find out."

  I closed my eyes. I didn't want to hear the next words. Block them out. Think about something else. You're not here. You're home. Mind is making you work on that robot project thing. Your no good assistant is late again. Alan is giving you a hard time about how little you know about literature. Liz is mad at you about the town hall meeting thing. She wants to meet to chew you out. There are black BMWs following you; you've been working for EnviroKop and they've been connected to the person or persons who could bring Nineteen back to you.

  Nineteen. Think about Nineteen.

  Your dartboard is downstairs in your office. You need to figure out a way to...

  "I'm pregnant."

  It didn't work. I couldn't unhear it. Pregnant. That was it then. That was all. It was over. I'd lost her forever.

  "Are you sure?" Why had I said that? Who was controlling my mouth? God, I needed out of this room. Now. Out. Anywhere but here. I reached for my pocket but it was empty.

  "Yeah, I'm sure. It's early, but it seems to be going well."

  "So...what's Rod thinking about?"

  Gale sighed, "I don't know. He wasn't ready. I mean, neither was I, but, you know, what can I do? It happened."

  I looked at her, my mind still spinning. Like a drunk falling off a barstool, it grabbed on to anything it could, "So, he might not come back? He might..."

  She shrugged, "Maybe. But if you think that means..." I put a hand up to interrupt, but she ignored me, "Bob, I don't see us getting back together. I just don't. I'm sorry."

  A smile appeared on my face. My mouth was acting without consulting my brain, "That's fine. I mean, it isn't, but it is. But, perceptions change right? You might see something that you remember you loved." I stood, "See, I haven't had a drink in hours." I shrugged, "Change is in the wind, Wendi. You never know what might happen."

  "Bob, don't get your hopes up. I really don't think..."

  I turned, unwilling to allow her to finish, "Continue in that vein then. Not thinking. Getting back with me would be stupid; I get that. But did you ever think that I might not want to get back with you now that you're knocked up, huh? Damaged goods and all?"

  Gale rolled her eyes, "Shut up, Bob."

  I put my hands out, "I'm just sayin'. Maybe you're not good enough for me anymore."

  Gale tried to look perturbed, but couldn't help bu
t laugh, "You're an idiot. I'm way too good for you."

  "Agreed, on both counts."

  For a moment, maybe a minute, we just looked at each other. It was as if I were seeing her for the first time in years. I'm not sure what she saw when she looked back at me. After a while...both too short and too long...it grew uncomfortable.

  I cleared my throat, "Now," I glanced at the kitchen, "what do you think the possibility is that we'll run into that Swell guy again?"

  Gale laughed, "The guy I sent out the side of the building? Little to none."

  I shot her a wink, "I bet you a kiss that we do."

  Gale frowned, "What am I, twelve?"

  "Fine, if you don't think you'll win..."

  Gale put her hand on her hip, "Fine. A kiss if we see him again."

  "Two if I'm the one to take him out?"

  "Oh, come on, Bob. Let's be serious."

  "If you don't think I can do it; what do you have to lose, Wendi?"

  Gale's eyes narrowed, "What do I get if he doesn't show?"

  "You don't have to kiss a fat guy. Isn't that reward enough?"

  Gale thought about it. "Okay, I'll give you a choice. Either you tell me who this Chris guy is you've been hanging out with or..." she bit her bottom lip, "you take Liz out on a date."

  My head snapped back, "Liz? A date?"

  Gale put up a finger, "A proper date. Flowers, dinner, walk on the beach, the whole nine yards."

  "But, she's barely speaking to me."

  Gale shook her head, "Bob, you are such an idiot."

  * * *

  "What did you grab from the kitchen?"

  "Stuff," I called back over my shoulder. "I should have bet you I could get us a way out of here," I laughed, "we'd be making out by the end of it."

  "Fat chance."

  "Hey, watch the fat jokes."

  "Well, if the suit fits."

  I stopped and turned to Gale, "Seriously, I'm fat?"

  Gale lowered her head, looking at me over her nose, "Seriously?"

  "Yeah."

  "Yes. You're fat. It's okay, though. You wear it well."

  "Seriously?"

  "Seriously? No. You should lose some weight before that date with Liz."