Category Archives: Book 07: Compound Kids

Arc 7.8: Threat Analysis

Threat Analysis: Part 1

20 Comments

After the phone call with Larry ended, we all squished into the van for a kind of post event victory party. If it felt less like a victory than the beginning of a whole new problem, well, it probably was.

On the bright side, it wasn’t as if we had to do anything immediately.

The roachbots were set to record. The jet would be doing translation. All the humans had to do was provide direction.

By the time Saturday and Sunday were over, all we had to do was throw ourselves back into our normal lives which for the moment meant constant training. Continue reading Threat Analysis: Part 1 →

Arc 7.7: Go Time

Go Time: Part 10

26 Comments

Vaughn shrugged. “It’s not like the Russians know it’s us. That’s the whole point of using the fake suit, right? Plus, even if they did, it’s not like the Russians are exactly friendly to the Turk… um… Turkmens? Turkmeni? Last I heard, the Russians weren’t saying anything nice about them at all. They’re not going to be sharing information. So no biggie.”

Amy shook her head. “Maybe, but you’ve got to think bigger. This isn’t just espionage. This is politics. If we had something their rulers wanted, I could easily see them telling us that they’ll tell the world that we were there.”

Cassie let out a breath. “Exactly. That’s exactly the sort of thing I’m worried about.” Continue reading Go Time: Part 10 →

Arc 7.7: Go Time

Go Time: Part 9

13 Comments

The split screen showed two very different scenes. The view from the jet showed the spread of the cloud creatures. In moments they would have her completely surrounded in roiling white, gray and black sphere.

Izzy’s side of the screen showed only creatures, mythological and real, as far as the eye could see.

“Shift? Railgun? Whichever of you has the com,” Izzy said. “Get the jet on the other side of the creatures. I’m going through and I’ll need a fast exit.”

Izzy’s speed had slowed down from more than the speed of sound to practically nothing. Russian Victory had righted himself and his sidekicks were following him in. Continue reading Go Time: Part 9 →

Arc 7.7: Go Time

Go Time: Part 8

15 Comments

Who was the second glow? Russian Victory Jr.? Victoryboy?

The way I remembered it, all Russian superheroes were state sponsored. The ones that weren’t state sponsored were officially criminals no matter what their motivation.

A third glow appeared behind the two I’d already noticed, reminding me of something. Russian Victory was part of a group of three soldiers in powered armor. My grandfather had mentioned it was connected to Russian folklore somehow.

For the life of me I couldn’t remember the name of the group though. Continue reading Go Time: Part 8 →

Arc 7.7: Go Time

Go Time: Part 7

13 Comments

“What’s Izzy supposed to do with the Ferris wheel?”

Vaughn shrugged. “Maybe take a picture on it? I don’t know. It’s in the Guinness Book of World Records. She should do something funny with it. Maybe pretend she’s going to throw it, or stand in front of it with her armor saying ‘All your base are belong to us?'”

“Better yet,” Jaclyn said, “how about you let Izzy know that everything works and that she can bug out of there before someone starts firing missiles at her.” Continue reading Go Time: Part 7 →

Arc 7.7: Go Time

Go Time: Part 6

12 Comments

“Marcus and Sydney are waiting in the jet. They’ll be taking off soon. They’re going to shadow her from a distance—far enough away that they shouldn’t be visible, but close enough that they’re in range.”

Jaclyn leaned toward the screen, probably noticing now that the camera display program’s current tab was labeled “Blue,” but the second tab was labeled “Jet.”

I clicked on the button that showed all cameras, and the program divided the screen between Izzy’s view of the sky above South Dakota and the League jet’s much less interesting view of the airlock between the hangar and Lake Michigan.

Jaclyn pulled up a chair and sat next to me. “I didn’t know Marcus could fly the jet.”

Then she frowned. “They can’t hear us from here, right?” Continue reading Go Time: Part 6 →

Arc 7.7: Go Time

Go Time: Part 5

15 Comments

My hand hit the door, and it melted away, leaving me in the Cohen’s house. I sat at the table where I’d sat many times over the years. A picture of the Cohen family hung on the wall nearby—Daniel, his mom, dad, brother and sister posing together at the beach.

Hanging on wall near the picture was a series of hebrew letters in burnished metal. I’d been told what the words on it meant before, but I could never remember. I stared at it for a moment.

I glanced over at the pile of books piled on the end of the table. As usual, they were mostly about interior design and art history.

A pile of paper sat next to them.

Then even though she hadn’t been there before, Daniel’s mom was sitting in the chair across from me. Just like in any normal dream, I found myself simply accepting this. Continue reading Go Time: Part 5 →

Arc 7.7: Go Time

Go Time: Part 4

17 Comments

I left not long after that, finding another student waiting in the hallway outside her door. It was a guy I’d seen, but didn’t recognize–one of the freshmen.

“If you’re here for Ms. Hemming, I just finished.”

He muttered, “Thanks,” and then his eyes widened, recognizing me.

I smiled and started walking toward the labs. I probably could have introduced myself, but I didn’t want to make awkward conversation that amounted to “You’ve heard of my grandfather, and of me to some degree. Nice to meet you.”

Vaughn probably would have stayed and talked a little. He was good at that kind of thing. Continue reading Go Time: Part 4 →

Arc 7.7: Go Time

Go Time: Part 3

10 Comments

Ms. Hemming waved me into her office. “Take a chair.”

She shut the door behind me, as I walked inside. Pikes Peak rose among the mountains viewable from her windows.

I sat down in one of the chairs across from her desk. Unlike every therapist’s office I’d seen in cartoons, it did not have a couch–not that I expected to see one. My dad was a clinical psychologist. He didn’t have a couch. Continue reading Go Time: Part 3 →

Arc 7.7: Go Time

Go Time: Part 2

12 Comments

Daniel grunted something unintelligible, but didn’t wake up.

I imagined an air horn, an old one that varied in pitch, ranging from a normal tone to a ragged, scratchy one to a painful screech.

Then, thinking back to our fight against Evil Beatnik, I started imagining a chorus of air horns, all of them slightly out of tune, endlessly repeating the only part of Barry Manilow’s “Mandy” that I could remember—the refrain.

Daniel raised his head. “That’s got to be against the Geneva Conventions. What time is it?”

We both turned toward the alarm clock. It was 5:48am. Continue reading Go Time: Part 2 →