King of superheroes, p.24
King of Superheroes, page 24
“Dr. Kish and Dr. Hamlin work for a private chemical engineering company,” General Navi said, but I noticed she wouldn’t meet my eyes. “They aren’t contracted by the government or the Federation.”
“Officially, you mean,” I said as I raised an eyebrow.
The general pursed her lips but didn’t respond, but her silence was answer enough.
“Okay, so what exactly is the plan here?” I asked.
“They demanded no police or law enforcement-- and if we assume they were behind the multiple bomb threats throughout the city today-- they also rightly anticipated how we would therefore call upon the supers for help.” General Navi’s voice was still flat but almost started to give away her annoyance at the entire situation as she shot me and my group a disdainful look. “Just my luck to get a bunch of fledglings barely out of their training wheels.”
“We can help,” I said with a firm nod.
“Definitely,” Danny added. “Whatever you need.”
“Well, according to the charter log, Dr. Kish and Dr. Hamlin were planning on transporting an incredibly dangerous biochemical. We don’t have a full understanding of what the chemical does, but the company the doctors work for have warned us that if it is released, it could result in numerous painful deaths.” The general cleared her throat and then continued without waiting for a response from us, though we were all too stunned to really give her one anyway.
I could feel my jaw hanging open, so I clamped it shut and whistled through my teeth at the general’s businesslike explanation of such a potentially catastrophic situation.
Dahlia hadn’t been kidding, this really was the real deal.
“And… They really were just transporting this bioweapon thing through a very public, very busy international airport full of civilians?” I asked in a strangled voice. “I can’t imagine TSA enjoyed that too much.”
“The jet was a private charter, naturally,” one of the airport security guards interjected. “The doctors arrived this morning, and we knew they were on official business, but we had no idea the jet was so open to… Hijacking.”
“These domestic terrorists knew exactly when and where the two doctors were transporting this chemical.” General Navi sniffed and held her hands behind her back as she started to pace back and forth. “And they knew we would bring in supers.”
“Of course you’d bring in supers,” I scoffed. “That’s literally what we’re here for.”
Navi fixed me with a cool stare and then continued her pacing.
“They are not some opportunistic climate change activists,” Navi said as she continued to stomp from left to right. “They had this planned from the very beginning, so we must therefore assume they’ve thought out and accounted for all possible ways that this could end.”
“I bet none of those endings are particularly good, either…” Frank muttered from somewhere behind me.
“Do we know if the terrorists possess any powers of their own?” I suddenly asked. “If they’re even remotely connected to supers, they’d have trained at an Academy, right? Like us? So there’d surely be some record of them somewhere.”
“We’ve already cross-checked records the moment we started gathering intel,” the general said curtly. “They aren’t in any of our databases, going on the limited information we have.”
“So it’s doubtful they have strong powers,” I said with an understanding nod. “Okay, well, that makes me feel slightly better.”
“But it’s still possible that they possess powers, they just might not be classed as strong enough to receive an invite by the Federation,” Dahlia pointed out. “It doesn’t mean they’re not supers. We have to keep all avenues of possibility open.”
“What do you need us to do?” I asked the general. “Lay it out for us.”
“In an ideal world?” The general stopped her pacing and turned to me with a sharp look on her already formidable face. “We would apprehend the terrorists, with no loss of life, secure the biochemical, arrest the perpetrators, escort them in an armored vehicle, and then let the President decide whether they deserve a trial or not.”
“Seems simple enough.” I nodded and then sighed heavily as the weight of the situation started to settle on my shoulders. “Except it’s not a perfect world, and they’ve threatened to blow this thing up, and themselves along with it, if you try and bust in with all guns blazing?”
“In a manner of speaking,” the general said. “And quite reluctantly, that’s where you come in.”
“Tell us what we need to do,” I said.
General Navi kept her gaze on me and then sighed heavily as she motioned to the rest of my team.
“Not them,” she said before she turned to Dahlia. “We can only send the one, and you’re the group’s mentor, yes? What’s your power?”
“I can control minds,” Dahlia said, and the ghost of a proud smile flitted across her face when she saw General Navi’s eyebrows raise.
“Uhm, ma’am…” One of the military people who’d been skittering around the general’s makeshift desk space suddenly spoke up. “I was put on research duty, and I, uhh, I found something that might make her powers redundant. No offense.”
The girl dressed in army green blushed awkwardly and avoided Dahlia’s intense gaze.
“How so?” General Navi demanded.
“The leader is a shielder,” the young woman explained. “He apparently washed out of one of the super Academies up north. This means he’d be able to stop her from controlling his mind.”
“Well, that screws that plan.” The general huffed impatiently, and then she turned her attention to us. “Do any of you possess powers that can go up against a shielder?”
“Mark does,” Dahlia answered immediately, and I felt my own eyebrows raise the moment she advocated for me. “He’s more suited to the task. Like I said, he possesses multiple abilities, and he’s proven himself time and time again in high-risk situations. He should go.”
Danny, Hannah, Frank, and Rhiannon all immediately sounded off with arguments and various determined comments, but the general held up her hand until the four of them eventually fell into silence.
“These criminals specified, without any shadow of a doubt, that we only send in a single person for negotiations.” The general looked pained at the prospect, and her brow furrowed into an ugly frown. “Believe me, if I could do this any other way, then I would. But we can only send in one person, one superhero. That’s him.”
“But can you guarantee his safety?” Hannah demanded.
“Young lady, I can’t guarantee the safety of anyone in this entire airport unless we can get whatever that bioweapon is out of the hands of terrorists.” General Navi snapped. “We are stretched thin, all over Miami, and it just so happens you lot got the call for an actual bomb threat. I’ve naturally alerted the relevant people, but as far as negotiations go… This is where we stand with it.”
“That’s fine,” I said with a nod. “I can stop them, I know I can.”
“But, Mark, you’ll be going in on your own.” Rhiannon’s voice was soft but strained with worry.
“Better than them unleashing a deadly chemical, though, right?” I asked with a feigned smile. “General, we normally have a communications device in our supersuits, which obviously I don’t have right now. Do you have anything you can speak to me with?”
“We have something that should suffice.” The general fixed me with a suddenly appreciative half-smile, and then we got to work.
She caught me up to speed, from the moment she’d received the call herself to the moment we’d driven onto the tarmac, and she fitted me with a tiny in-ear transceiver that acted in exactly the same way as our communications devices that Amanda had fitted into our supersuits.
“I’ll be able to hear everything that goes on from here,” she said. “And you’ll be able to hear me through the earpiece, too. Do nothing unless authorized, do you understand?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said with a nod, but the general glared at me in silence. “I promise.”
“I’m serious, young man.” General Navi’s voice grew low. “That’s an order.”
“I understand.” I nodded again. “I’m going in for negotiations only.”
Everything happened in a rush of voices and chaos, and before I knew it, I was standing alone on the tarmac facing a private jet with nothing but an earpiece the size of a pencil eraser.
I walked slowly toward the aircraft with my heart beating a steady rhythm against my ribcage, and I forced myself to focus on the situation rather than freak out about it.
I had to treat this like any other mission.
It just had far bigger stakes, and the prospect of accidentally killing thousands of people, including my peers and my girlfriend.
No big deal at all.
The night was warm and still, and the heat of the many now stationary airplanes made the air sticky and acrid. I could smell the strong stench of jet fuel, and there was no breeze to carry the smell away, so it hung low in the air like a toxic cloud.
I shook my head at the metaphor and tried to avoid thinking about chemicals being released into the night as I continued on my trek toward the aircraft. It was stationary on one of the main runways, and I was hyper-aware of the fact that despite the airport being in lockdown thanks to the initial bomb threat, there was still several jumbo jets and personnel rushing about the place like ants on a hill.
There was still a strong human presence, and that upped the ante as far as I was concerned.
The private jet was far bigger than I’d imagined it to look like, and as I approached it a door on the side of the smooth white hull suddenly pushed open with a soft pneumatic sigh. A small set of stairs lowered themselves automatically to the ground, and with a deep breath, I quickly clambered up them and into the belly of the jet.
It was eerily quiet inside, and the door sealed shut behind me with another soft whoosh. I tried to keep my feet light as I walked slowly through the cabin, until eventually I came to a thick black curtain that partitioned the kitchen and bar area from the main cabin.
I slowly extended my hand so I could push the curtain aside, and I stepped into the private jet’s cabin with my breath caught in my chest.
There were two burly-looking men on either side of the aircraft, dressed in all black and holding military-grade rifles in their hands. Their faces were blank, with not a single shred of humanity behind their eyes, so I did my best to pay them as little attention as possible. Instead, I turned to the center of the seating area where two men were bound, gagged, and slumped in a heap together on the floor.
I assumed they were the two doctors, because flanking them on the left side was another man who watched me approach with a look of disdainful glee.
“What’s your name, boy?” I recognized the man from the video message, and his thin lips were pulled into a half-smirk that slashed his face in two.
“Mark,” I said slowly. “Why don’t you tell me yours?”
“Oh, I don’t think you’ll need to know that.” The man shrugged and then patted the briefcase that was opened on a table in front of him. “But let me tell you, it’s a pleasure to meet you finally, Mark.”
“Finally?” I asked.
“Oh, yes.” The man nodded eagerly. “I’ve heard a lot about you, Mark.”
I was silent for a long moment as I stared across the airplane interior at him.
“Who are you?” I eventually demanded.
“Doesn’t matter,” the man said with a light and airy chuckle. “It’ll be of little importance to you soon, anyway.
“Why?” I asked. “Not planning on seeing the morning?”
“In a manner of speaking.” The terrorist smirked up at me and then sighed happily, as though we were discussing our plans for the summer.
My eyes flitted to the piece of machinery that clicked and whirred in front of the terrorist leader, and I felt a lump in my throat as silence fell again inside the airplane cabin.
“Well,” I eventually said when the silence got to be too much, “I’d much prefer we all come out of this breathing. It would weigh far better on my conscience.”
“Careful with your threats, my boy.” The terrorist tutted and wagged his finger at me. “You’ve really no idea what you’re dealing with here.”
“Why don’t you tell me?” I asked. “I’m all ears.”
The more intel I could get from this man, the more likely it was that I could use the information to my advantage.
“As is General Navi, no doubt.” The man looked up at me and then sighed heavily again. “Disappointing, really. I expected maybe more fanfare, but did she really only send you in here with just a little earpiece?”
I felt my stomach drop, and I couldn’t find the words to answer him, but he waved his hand listlessly anyway.
“No matter, anyway,” he said. “It won’t matter in the long run.”
“Why?” I pressed. “Because you really think you’ll succeed?”
“What makes you think we haven’t already?” The terrorist smiled serenely up at me and then wagged his finger again, as though he were playfully chiding a toddler.
“Whatever your plan is, you’re not going to get away with it,” I warned him and kept my voice purposefully emotionless.
Strictly business.
“It’s already in motion, my dear boy.” The man chuckled lightly and shook his head. “Why do you think it’s you, of all the Supers and all the other fledglings in Miami… Why do you think it’s you, standing in front of me right now?”
A frown settled on my face, and I opened my mouth to retort with something biting, but the terrorist held up his hand.
“The first Omega in over a century…” the terrorist said, and his voice became reverent as he studied me with cold eyes that didn’t match his thin smile.
“How do you know?” I asked in a low voice.
“I know more than you, evidently.” The terrorist let out a chuckle. “But that’s entirely by design.”
As I’d been talking to the terrorist, one of the bound and gagged doctors had started to regain consciousness, and the moment he blinked his eyes open fully, he started to shout against the tape across his mouth and thrashed helplessly against his bonds.
The doctor locked eyes with me, and they were round with fear as he continued to scream and shout to no avail.
“Just let them go,” I said and motioned to the frantic doctor. “They’re just scientists, they don’t deserve to die.”
“My guess is the general sent you in here under the pretense of negotiations?” the heavy-eyed terrorist asked with an almost sad smile and a quiet nod of understanding. “Like a lamb to the slaughter, really. The doctors are already dead. We pumped them full of poison long before anyone knew we’d hijacked the plane. The bomb is just… I don’t know, call it tradition. A calling card, as it were.”
“What?” I gasped in horror, and then the earpiece crackled immediately.
“Mark, get out of there right now!” the general hissed in my ear. “That’s an order!”
“Is she barking orders at you right now?” The terrorist chuckled heartily and slapped his hand against his knee. “Oh, if I could be a fly on the wall.”
I had no intention of turning tail and running. This psychopath seemed to know a hell of a lot more than I’d given him credit for, and that was almost as disconcerting as the very real bomb threat. The bastard would probably kill me before I even made it to the plane door, so I mentally ran through my list of powers. I had pyromancy as a Conduit and super strength for Corps. Those were my main offensive abilities, and the ones I was most comfortable using. Then I had mind reading and telekinesis for my Dreamer and Tempest powers, but I couldn’t control them very well yet.
I needed more time. Maybe if I kept this fucker talking, I could get him angry enough to make a mistake. Then I could burn him to a crisp or pulverize him into a gory mess.
“If you set this bomb off, not only are you endangering thousands of innocent lives, but your own, too!” I scowled at him. “Just think about what you’re doing for a damn second. What’s the point? Just let the doctors go, let them get the medical attention they need if you really did poison them, and then you can live out the rest of your days in some maximum security prison. Three meals a day, roof over your head… Better than dying for a lost cause, right?”
“A-ha!” The terrorist slapped his hand against the table and then pointed at me excitedly. “That’s just it. It’s not a lost cause, you see.”
“It isn’t?” I asked.
“Not at all!” The man with the heavy-set eyes pulled the briefcase on the table toward him.
“How so?” I demanded, and my prayers were answered when he let out a long sigh and then started with a monologue.
Like most villains were always eager to do.
“Your presence has already upset the status quo, boy.” The terrorist leaned back in his leather-bound seat and steepled his fingers beneath his chin as he looked up at me with a mixture of disgust and intrigue. “A new Omega. Do you know the stories about the last one? He was quite mad, of course, and thankfully insanity has yet to overcome you… But give it time. No one person is supposed to possess that sheer amount of power.”
My hands were balled into fists by my side, but I let him continue just so I could gather as much intel from him as possible.
“The good doctors here, they pumped me full of drugs that were not approved for use, so I was always going to exact my revenge on them. They treated me like a subhuman, like a Guinea pig… Like I said, they’re already dead. I racked my brains for a suitable way to dispose of them, and then… Then I heard about you.”
The terrorist clucked his tongue and sat up a little straighter in his chair as he fixed me with another intense stare.
“I couldn’t leave this world without meeting you,” he said slowly. “And if I was taking two people out already… Then I could make the world a slightly better place by taking you out with them.”
