Connecting to my comm through my implant, I told him, “No worries. We see you. We didn’t know it was you, but we do try not to shoot when we don’t know what we’ll hit.”
I looked over at Cassie and she rolled her eyes at me.
Unaware of that, Lim replied, “Good. I’m contacting D.C. to get people there up to speed about all this. Did you recognize the missiles?”
I was about to say I hadn’t, but Hal did. Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 13
Lim, who had years of following both the original League and us didn’t hesitate. Tapping the screen exactly twice, talked into it, and as he finished, his words blasted out of speakers throughout the complex, “Evacuate immediately! Only take something if you’re holding it. There’s nothing in here that’s worth your life. Again, get out now!”
To us, he said, “I’m leaving with the staff. Go to your jet and don’t feel bad about breaking things if you need to.” Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 12
“Uruk,” Daniel said, shaking his head. “That’s where Gilgamesh ruled, assuming that he was a real person. Also interesting? Gilgamesh wanted to be immortal and he went to find Utnapishtim. Utnapishtim was basically Noah down to building a boat to preserve the world’s animals and his family during a massive flood. In Sumerian myth, Utnapishtim was given immortality by the gods afterward.”
Izzy glanced over at him and smiled, “You beat me to it.”
His mouth twitched, “I cheated. I heard you thinking about it. I knew Gilgamesh, but I didn’t remember Utnapishtim.” Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 11
Cassie looked up from the tablet, “Do you think this is Magnus talking? Writing on clay tablets seems like too much work just to keep a diary.”
“No idea,” I said. “Do you think he’s seeing people from the Cabal?”
She shook her head, “Who knows? I guess I’d better get back to reading.” Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 10
I thought back at Daniel, Me too. Because I don’t even dare to touch some of this stuff.
Next to the scrolls on the desk were clay tablets with the odd triangular marks and lines of cuneiform. There was even a clay cylinder with a kind of scene. In addition to the cuneiform, there was a scene that showed a man in what looked like a kilt and another creature with a man’s torso, a lion’s body, and what appeared to be wings on its back. Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 9
Even though I didn’t expect any problems here, I still found myself telling the jet, “Be ready for action. You’ll be better at projecting scenarios we might have to respond to than I am. Warn us if you realize one of them is happening.
“Also, and this is probably paranoid of me, but could you monitor the media for any signs of being manipulated by the Nine in their coverage of our activities? I don’t know what to ask you to look for, but maybe similar wording or similar negative perspectives? Maybe even attempting to create a certain perspective on us that could then be turned negative? I don’t know anything about propaganda or public relations, but I feel like that’s the Nine’s most effective weapon right now.” Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 8
“Sure,” I told him. “Where is it?”
Lim grinned, “The Pocono Mountains. It’s an old supervillain lair that we use to store things we don’t want to lose. It’s hidden under an abandoned resort. We’ll get you exact coordinates once you’re in the air.”
“An old supervillain lair? Whose?” Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 7
Guardian nodded back toward the part of the parking lot where the sheriffs’ cars, boxes, reporters, and all of the people from the building stood. There were more people than I remembered and several black SUVs, all of them unlabeled. The people coming out of them wore black jackets and armor with the letters “FBI” placed in the middle of the chest and taking up half of it.
The Probationers, our team, and the Defenders were in and out of the crowd, some of them helping law enforcement, and the rest simply talking. Daniel and Izzy were talking with Ape Nasty and Mistress Madness. Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 6
Guardian nodded, watching me as we talked, “How long will it take?”
“I don’t know. My bet would be two weeks at most. It might be as short as a couple of days, depending on where my friend is and how long it takes me to get to an ansible.”
“Oh,” Guardian let out a breath and shook his head. “I’m guessing this is a friend from your excursion into the Human Ascendancy. I’ve never gotten any details on that beyond hearing that it was harder than it should have been. Alright, get your friend. We’ve got an ansible at our Chicago base. That way, you won’t have to fly to Mars to use the Xiniti ansible.” Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 5
We didn’t have long to think about Guardian’s statement. Even as I wondered whether or not he was going to chew us out when he got here, a hole opened in the air above the parking lot. Guardian floated out, muscles showing under his silver suit as it shimmered in the sunlight. Flying along with him came Daniel’s father, Mindstryke in a black costume with the Greek letter Ψ on the upper left of his chest.
Flick jumped out of the hole to the right of Daniel’s father, landing on the sidewalk going down the middle of the parking lot. Small, blond, and wearing a light blue costume with large, metallic gauntlets, already glancing around the parking lot to understand the situation. She’d been one of our teachers at Stapledon. Even though her power didn’t put her in the top ranks of heroes by itself, she’d made the most of it. Continue reading Older Enemies: Part 4