General Mayhem wouldn’t be pleased, but she was willing to deal with that. It wasn’t as though they wouldn’t be able to steal the technology later, assuming the military found anything worthwhile.
Chapter 40
Wednesday, May 14th, 2031
Hill Air Force Base
“Lil?” Warden asked, landing in the entryway of the hangar bay, looking around in shock.
She’d arrived just in time to see Dreamer being taken away in a gurney, and it’d looked like the woman was being kept sedated. The bruises forming on the woman’s face hadn’t been too surprising under the circumstances, but she didn’t pay the villain too much attention. Not that there wasn’t plenty of other things to distract her.
The entire area was riddled with bullet holes, craters from explosions, and spots where energy weapons had melted holes in the buildings. It was a small miracle that most of the aircraft inside the hangar were intact, though when Warden thought about it, it made sense. The alien had been trying to steal the starjet, from what had been explained over the com, so of course it had tried to keep it out of the line of fire. Sitting on a crate near the spacecraft was Lilith in her undersuit, along with Archon, Spark, and a fit male soldier, though his uniform lacked any insignia. Behind them, Warden saw a group of people examining a machine that looked vaguely familiar to her.
“Over here, Warden,” Lilith said, waving tiredly, though Warden saw her wince and stop waving quickly.
“Are you alright?” Morgan asked, quickly following Warden inside. “We came as quick as we could, but—”
“I’m fine, for the most part,” Lilith interjected calmly, looking at her right arm as she added, “A little sore since my arm got dislocated, but otherwise I’m fine… though in need of new power armor.”
“That was a really neat trick, blowing it up to make the alien vulnerable,” Spark said, grinning broadly. “Not that it wasn’t an expensive trick, of course. I hate to think of how much it cost.”
“Less than you’d think, more than I care to consider,” Lilith said, glancing at Warden as she asked, “Are you two alright? What about Shade?”
“We’re just fine,” Warden said, leaning down to hug Lilith tightly, though she eased up when Lilith gasped. “Shade’s still waiting for the cops, last I heard, but no other bad guys showed up.”
“That’s right,” Archon agreed, shifting in place. “Fortunately for the villains, the staff had the medications to keep them alive after they were exposed to the gas. I believe that Shade is mostly annoyed to be stuck waiting for the authorities at this point. An unfortunate side effect of the facility being in a remote location.”
A poke in the side caused Warden to look up, only to be met by a pointed look from Morgan, and she let out a sigh before reluctantly releasing Lilith to allow Morgan her own turn.
“So, what’s happened since you won?” Morgan asked, hugging Lilith firmly.
“My arm does hurt, so please be a touch gentler,” Lilith said, then the soldier cleared his throat, attracting their attention.
“The alien has been placed in quarantine, and we have provided medical attention, what we can manage with how…” The blond man hesitated, then grimaced as he continued. “Well, how alien its biology is. We believe it will survive, but we’re not certain. From what was said, it appears it was being used as a host by another alien parasite, which it killed when it broke free.”
The man nodded toward an odd-colored smear on the concrete to the side, one which was covered by what looked like a transparent plastic tent which was hermetically sealed and had a biohazard symbol on it. Morgan detached from Lilith at that point, looking over at the smear curiously, but didn’t interrupt.
“The eggheads are looking over the equipment, which was left behind in excitement as well, but I’m not sure how much we’re going to get out of it yet. They’re too absorbed in their examination to keep us up to date, but hopefully we’ll get a response soon. Things nearly went south fast, as I’m sure you heard about Destruction Corps being in the area,” the man continued, giving an unhappy smile. “After the alien, that would’ve been ugly. It took out our primary sensors during the attack, so fighting back would’ve been hell. We’ve Archon to thank that they didn’t hit us.”
“I was merely chasing off the ravens,” Archon said, inclining her head slightly. “I wish I could have arrived sooner.”
“Mm, I might have been able to teleport here by that point, but it would’ve been a near thing. That was a really good distraction, whether the alien set it up or not,” Warden said, shaking her head in disgust. “Either way… well, actually, I hate to ask, but… who are you?”
“Oh, sorry, ma’am. I’m Richard Hunt, LANCE Regional Command,” the man said, shaking himself as he grinned at her. “Thanks for pulling us out of the fire, hm? My field days are a bit behind me.”
“Really? You don’t look like it,” Warden said, her eyebrows rising as she looked him up and down.
“Hah! I wish that was true. I had an encounter with one of Esrid’s bioweapons a few years back, and now I can’t shoot straight,” Richard explained, raising a hand and showing how his fingers were shaking. “If I could’ve, I’d have been on the front lines earlier. I don’t have much trouble with psychics, so I would’ve been useful for once.”
Warden winced in sympathy, nodding to him. “You have my sympathies. Question is… what now?”
“Honestly? You’re all free to go whenever you want to. Lilith was just waiting for the two of you, and we’ve gotten what information we can get already. If we need to know more, it isn’t like we don’t know how to contact you,” Richard said, grinning at them as he shrugged. “It’s been a hell of a day, but since we only had a fair number of injuries and miraculously no deaths, I think we can call it about as good as it gets.”
“Thanks. Mostly for taking care of Lil until we could get here,” Morgan said, glancing at Lilith as she clicked her tongue. “Why do you weaponize your armor, anyway? This is the second time you’ve done something like this!”
“Armor does me no good if it can’t protect me anymore. If I can use it to eliminate a threat, I think that’s a good use for it,” Lilith said, standing up slowly and stretching. “Besides, it worked.”
“I’m just surprised you aren’t down about it getting broken,” Spark said, pulling an energy bar out of a belt pouch and unwrapping it. “Anyway, I hope you three get back home safely. Today’s been nuts.”
“Agreed. Not what I had in mind when I left the house this morning, either,” Lilith said, then paused, looking at the two other heroines, and glanced at Morgan and Warden with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes, Lil?” Warden asked warily, her eyes narrowing a touch at Lilith’s obvious inquiry.
“Would the two of you mind if I invited the Sentinels to dinner with us one of these days? All of them,” Lilith said, and Warden almost missed Spark’s reaction, as the heroine fumbled her energy bar briefly and flushed.
“Oh? I don’t see a problem with it, but I am curious as to why,” Morgan said, tapping her upper lip as she looked at them.
“I want to make more friends, and they’ve seemed far more accepting than most other supers we’ve met so far,” Lilith said bluntly, causing Richard to cough, then step back.
“I think that’s a sign for me to leave. Have a good afternoon, ladies. Good work,” the man said, hastily retreating.
Archon watched him go, her lips quirking into a smile, and Warden considered, chewing her lip. A tiny bit of jealousy was rearing its head, but she stepped on it firmly. Lilith’s comments that morning were echoing in her mind, about not wanting to be living in a cage, and being possessive about her time… well, it wasn’t really fair. Besides, she couldn’t blame Spark for being attracted to Lilith, and Lilith was probably just being friendly.
“I think I’d be alright with it, if we’re careful. The last thing we want is for some villains to decide to strike when we’re all off the job,” Warden said, glancin
g at Archon for a second before adding, a bit dryly. “Though getting a chair for you would be a bit more difficult, Archon. No offense, but I don’t know how you live with wings.”
“With a great deal of difficulty. I stay in the compound much of the time for that very reason,” Archon replied, glancing at Spark as she continued. “As to the offer, we’ll have to present it to the others. I would be interested, though it may be easier to hold such at the compound instead.”
“Yeah, we have plenty chairs for her there,” Spark said cheerfully, taking another bite of her bar and swallowing, then grinned. “Anyway, I’m going to head back! Have a safe trip!”
With that, the heroine zipped off, and Archon nodded before taking flight and following at a much more leisurely pace. Glancing at Lilith, Warden considered, then asked, “So, how are we going to get you home?”
“Personally, I planned to go get a bus ticket over to the rail line, then take it the rest of the way home,” Lilith said promptly, grinning at them. “It might be a touch mundane, but I don’t see any reason not to. It’ll be another new experience.”
Morgan laughed, shortly followed by Warden, as she just imagined the looks on the faces of everyone else when they got onto the train. It was an amusing thought, and she glanced at Morgan curiously.
“Want some company?” Morgan asked, grinning. “I mean, we could fly, but I’m a bit tired. Making someone else do all the work sounds like fun.”
“Why not? Let’s go draw some attention, shall we?” Lilith said, offering her arms to them, and Warden laughed as she took one.
“Lil?” Warden asked, prompting a curious look from Lilith as Morgan took her other arm.
“Yes?” Lilith asked, starting toward the exit.
“I hope you never change,” Warden said fondly, relieved that Lilith was safe.
Eden Manor, Glendale
Several hours later, Lilith plopped onto the couch to relax. Gina and Rachel were downstairs getting out of their armor, and that gave Lilith a few moments to rest on her own.
The trip had taken longer than she’d expected, mostly due to waiting for the buses on either end of the trip, but the number of stops the train had made had extended the trip quite a bit as well. Still, it’d been surprisingly fun, and Lilith had been amused by the attention they’d gotten along the way. Each of them had been asked to sign something a couple dozen times, and a few people had asked why they were taking the train as well. Lilith had responded with the truth, which mostly seemed to confuse the civilians, to her private amusement.
Still, things had gone better than she’d expected so she tried to relax. Right up until Circe spoke in her ear.
“Mistress Lilith, I have a message for you from Mistress Amber,” Circe said, not using the house speakers, but rather the com that Lilith hadn’t removed yet. “She says ‘Clever girl, though you should take better care of your things.’”
“Of course she does,” Lilith murmured, sitting up straight as she considered the message. It was the first confirmation that Amber was alive she’d received, and that wasn’t a pleasant thought.
“Additionally, you’ve received an email I believe you’ll wish to read. I’ve forwarded it to your personal account,” Circe said, then fell silent.
“Hm? Thank you, Circe,” Lilith said, pulling out her phone and unlocking it, then flicked over to where her emails appeared. When she saw them, she ignored the first few, instead scrolling through them slowly until she came across one which surprised her.
Hello, Ms. Lilith!
Thank you so much for the signature earlier, and for saving my brother! I saw what you did on TV earlier, and wish I could be just like you!
James Jones
“Huh. He found my email,” Lilith murmured, her eyebrows rising, then she grinned as a thought occurred to her. “Circe?”
“Yes, Mistress Lilith?” Circe asked, this time through the house speakers.
“Look up what James’s grades are like, would you?” Lilith asked, and heard faint footsteps on the stairs. “Send me the results, please. It sounds like they’re almost here, which means it’s time for dinner.”
“Of course, Mistress Lilith,” Circe agreed.
Then Gina and Rachel’s voices could be heard, and Lilith dragged herself off the couch. She could worry about other things later. For now, she was with people she loved.
Poenari Castle, Wallachia
“This is getting ever more complicated,” Vlad murmured, looking at the chessboard in amusement.
Once, the board had been a normal board with two sides, each with age-weathered pieces. Now, though… now it was different. He wasn’t certain how one would play an eight-sided chessboard, with pieces on each of the sides. They were in a riot of colors, and the last of the green pieces had just fallen, only to be replaced by a bright orange pawn that was entirely on its own. It was amusing, but it also made it very difficult to read what the board was trying to tell him.
Still, it really didn’t matter much. Red wasn’t in the best of positions, but it wasn’t in the worst, either, as it had a white rook nearby, along with a white pawn, helping fend off what looked like a whole series of gold pawns. It was almost enough to give Vlad a headache.
Finally, he simply shrugged and pulled out his pipe. Whether things had changed or not, he wasn’t going to let the board interrupt his morning ritual, and he carefully lit the pipe, then picked up his newspaper. He had local news to catch up on, and that was more important than things happening on the other side of the world.
Epilogue
Friday, May 16th, 2031
Paragon State University, Paragon City
“What did the alien do to this?” Russ demanded, staring at what had once been half of the teleporter prototype.
It looked little like it had before, with entire sections ripped away and rebuilt differently, and wiring that went places that made him scratch his head in confusion. Comparing it to its former twin simply made his confusion grow deeper, and he looked at Trish helplessly as she grinned.
“That’s the question, isn’t it? It took a bunch of work to get LANCE to bring it back, but we’re the ones who’re going to get to find out.” Trish said, rubbing her hands together eagerly as the redhead examined the machine. “Sure, it hurt you, but… it had to have a reason to steal it, right? It means we’re on to something!”
“Possibly, not for certain.” Professor Adams interrupted, the man looking at Trish with narrowed eyes. “We’re not going to take this too quickly, and for god’s sake, don’t power it on. Not until we know what it’s for, and that it won’t be blowing up the building.”
“Again,” Professor Merlin said sourly as she looked around the lab they were using while the Engineering building was being repaired. “It isn’t like we have an unlimited number of labs kicking around.”
“Yes, Professor,” Russ said, setting his backpack in the corner as he grinned. “I suppose we’re going to start by cataloguing the exterior?”
“You suppose right. So get to it, Russ. You’re the best at this,” Adams said, nodding toward the three-dimensional scanner in the corner, and Russ chuckled and headed for the machinery.
He couldn’t wait to see what the alien had done, even if it meant delaying his decision to look at becoming a superhero.
Jones Home, Paragon City
“Huh?” James muttered, doing a double take as he saw the package sitting in the apartment drop box. The big box was used for larger packages, and when he’d gotten a call to pick up one, James had been perplexed. Happy his parents hadn’t gotten the call, as they’d probably have yelled at him for ordering something, but he was confused since he hadn’t ordered anything.
The box was big, big enough that he had his doubts that he’d be able to pick it up, but the weird thing was that it was specifically addressed to him. Not any of the other family members, or even the family in general, but James himself. He paused, then shrugged as he reached down and tried to pick it up, only to find tha
t he’d been right about its weight. It had to be more than fifty pounds.
James ended up having to borrow a cart to get the box back to the apartment, which meant making another trip to return it before he could sate his curiosity. Still, at least he had a room to himself now that Russ was in college, and James grabbed a pair of scissors to open the box, curiosity and excitement rushing through him.
The box took some work to open, with as thick as the packaging was, but it opened to reveal another box, this one with a caption on it that made James’s eyes go wide. It said ‘Robotics for Beginners’, and that was a shock, as he could see the piece list directly below that. More importantly, on the top was a sheet of paper, and James picked it up with trembling fingers, then opened it to read.
Dear James,
I got your email, and I appreciate your kind words. You want to be like me? Well, no one can be exactly like someone else, but… I don’t see any reason for you not to try. All you need is the opportunity, so here’s something to let you get started. I hope you do well!
Sincerely,
Lilith Carpenter
James dropped the letter, almost numb as he looked at the box, then at the letter, then back at the box. Only then did he slowly grin, excitement rushing through him.
“Ah, hell yes!” James said, and he tore into the box in excitement.
The End
That’s it for Queen’s Move! Next on my list is another volume of Lilith’s Shadow, after which I’m debating taking a brief break with something else, or continuing with the series immediately. I currently have three more volumes in the series planned out, possibly four, and I know I could do more than that in the end. Either way, that’s for the future!
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