Even though I wasn’t sure that he was on our side, I decided to act as if I thought so. “How soon?”
He made a gurgling noise. “I can’t say—-”
Whatever he said after that turned into indecipherable noise, and then he hung up.
I stood there, smelling my own sweat and a faint burned smell that seemed familiar. Then I knew why. It reminded me of the smell my arm had given off when I’d been hit by dragon fire. Continue reading Revelations: Part 10
Loosening my choke hold, I dropped to the ground, putting Lucas body in the center of the wards Samita had set up on the floor. The Thing That Eats’ head had disappeared, revealing Lucas’ face.
As he lay on the concrete between black lines and symbols that I didn’t recognize, I reminded myself that he had to be alive. I’d choked him correctly, and I’d timed it. The Thing That Eats had a talent for playing on people’s fears. My longstanding one was that I’d kill somebody who didn’t deserve it, and he’d done his best to play on it. Continue reading Revelations: Part 8
Lim walked a couple steps more up the ramp, and joined me. “Keep on moving. I’ve got to get in there to thank everybody in person, and to assure them that their friends are getting the best medical care available—which is true by the way.”
I turned around, and started following Daniel for a few steps before turning back toward Lim to ask, “About those rights and responsibilities—“
Lim interrupted me. “We’re looking into it, but in the end you may have to flat out ask them. Of course, you may have a few more resources than most of us. Use them and you’ll have a head start.” Continue reading Glory: Part 7
Lim answered the phone, and from his tone I could tell he sounded a little better than he had before.
“Rocket, who do you need? Right now, almost everyone’s free, so you’ve got your pick.”
“Everyone?” That seemed unlikely.
“You got stuck with the largest group. Most of the rest had to deal with four people at a time. I’m not saying people didn’t get hurt, but we haven’t had any deaths yet. Plus, we just had help show up–mercenaries.”
“Who? Protection Force?” Continue reading Stardock: Part 29
Sean wasn’t all wrong. When it came down to it, he really could be useful fighting anybody using advanced technology. One big electromagnetic pulse could take out computers—assuming they weren’t protected. The robots we fought were pretty resistant to EMP’s, as I remembered it. They weren’t entirely resistant though, and it might be that he could put more energy into a pulse than a roachbot had available.
For that matter, if the ships were made even partially of metal, he could throw them around, or possibly make them structurally unsound.
The only reason I wouldn’t put him on the front lines is because they could take him out practically instantly.
Jaclyn followed Izzy in through the door. Izzy said, “Hi” as she moved out of Jaclyn’s way, and met people’s eyes as she did it–including Daniel’s. I didn’t hear any anger in her voice either. She did talk quietly, but she always did that when we were together as a group. My theory was that she still didn’t quite feel comfortable with everyone.
All the same, the fact that she was here at all hinted that whatever they’d talked about last wasn’t irreparable.
She’s not just nervous about being with the group, Daniel thought at me. It’s more complicated than that.
He glanced over at her. What’s going on with us is complicated too, but I don’t want to go into that right now.
Jaclyn lifted up her print out of the plan, a small sheaf of paper. “We’re here to talk about this, right? What did you think of it?”
She caught my eye, “What do you think of it?”
I pointed at the back of the chest section. “If you could pick that up and hang it on my back, it would be a lot easier.”
Tara’s gaze followed my hand, and I realized that I wasn’t doing all that well. Almost everything was in the same place. I clarified. “Uh… The piece with the rocket pack on the back. It’ll be heavier than you’d expect.”
“This?” She picked it up without a problem, and placed it on my back.
I felt the weight, and stepped backward with one foot to brace myself. Then I started plugging cables into the stealth suit, and pulling out sections of frame that the breastplate would lock into.
Tara handed me each piece of armor, and it went quickly.
We’d said our goodbyes earlier, so when my sister Rachel and I got out of Dad’s SUV at the airport, we didn’t have much to say to our parents.
I popped the hatch, grabbed my suitcase and backpack and put them next to me in the drop-off area. I handed Rachel her suitcase (her backpack hung on her back), and shut the hatch.
We moved to the side of the vehicle. Mom had her window open.
Rachel said, “I’ve got everything. Nick?”
“Me too.”
Dad smiled at us. “Enjoy your conference, and congratulations to both of you again. Full ride scholarships. That doesn’t happen to everyone.”
“Thanks, Dad. Now hurry and get out of here before airport security decides you’re terrorists.” Continue reading TBD: Part 1
I couldn’t have explained it in so many words then, but saving Sean wouldn’t be simple.
I had a little bit of a head start because I was below him, and most of his metal defenses had been facing Dixie Supergirl. So I wouldn’t have to avoid much if I kept on flying upward, and a little to the left—where his back had been.
The big problem would come when I caught him.
The second he stopped falling, he’d get hit in the head by a chunk of steel reinforced concrete, or a ten foot section of railing.
Continue reading Under 30: Part 16
I barely saw him leave—just a blur of green and white. Jody followed, running away so quickly he might as well have teleported.
Out of the corner of my eye, Jaclyn appeared in the air, arcing upward, and landing at the edge of a third floor cell as I flew in. We both skidded to a stop on the floor, ripping the brown carpet.
Dayton stood on the walkway, past the shattered remains of the wooden door and its frame. He began to turn his head back toward us, probably noticing the noise, but even as he did, his eyes widened, and he began to pull himself over the metal railing.
I couldn’t see if he made it because fire filled my vision except for a string of errors from the suit’s readouts, all of which could be summarized by the phrase, “It’s getting too hot.” Continue reading Under 30: Part 15