With a glance at her face, I realized that it wasn’t her bones. She’d been wearing glasses and the plastic frame broke. This wasn’t as good news as you’d expect. Blood ran down her cheek from the spot where the plastic dug into her skin.
The glasses hung for a moment longer and then fell to the floor.
Ana didn’t seem to notice as she stood straight up and then moved her head back as if getting ready to hit the bars with her face.
And then she didn’t. Continue reading From Far Away: Part 6
After all that Izzy and Jaclyn had done and the damage they’d taken, I probably was the person most ready to take point. The Rocket suit might not be in perfect shape, but I could take a few shots from the True I knew had to be up there.
Of course, Cassie was already moving. She jumped through the hole in the ceiling even as I aimed myself in that direction. I shot off a bot to scout as she passed me because I wanted to know what was up there if I could. Continue reading Underground Tower: Part 11
I aimed my sonics at Ana’s suit. Even though firing them off was something of a crapshoot and you never knew what you’d damage, you generally damaged something, sometimes even something important. Given that Ana’s suit was no longer protected by either stasis or a force field, I had a real chance now.
Despite that, it didn’t spark, blow smoke, or stop moving.
Even though her suit wobbled, she still took a punch at me. It missed, passing a few inches in front of my helmet. Continue reading Underground Tower: Part 10
What was disappointing though, was how the force field regenerated before my eyes in an instant. Noticing that, I swerved to the right, whipping around her toward the wall behind her with the idea that I’d be able to go around her back.
For a change, an idea that struck me as questionable even as I put it into practice worked. The force field generated a pseudopod and struck at me except this time it missed, possibly because she didn’t have as wide a perspective in her helmet or possibly because I’d moved too quickly. Continue reading Underground Tower: Part 8
“I’m most worried about the mechs,” I said. “If we can do it without killing anyone on the floor, I’d like to start this thing by aiming the main gun at the lower level of the warehouse. Plus, as much as I’d like to investigate the Abominator generator, destroying it might be the better choice. If you think about it, if they’ve got one Abominator artifact, they might have more.”
Raising an eyebrow, Daniel said, “I didn’t even think about that, but you’re right. If they managed to find something like that and get it working, they’ve probably got more working.”
“Yeah,” Cassie nodded, “exactly that. The lab I grabbed the gun from didn’t just have the gun.” Continue reading Transitions: Part 7
Grandpa stared out at the water, not saying anything else.
“What precautions?” I asked.
Turning back to me, he said, “I don’t know. The regular ones they took with all of their families, but more than that on the advice of Gunther. He wasn’t there, but Joe mentioned his name.”
We talked longer than that, but he didn’t have anything more to add about the block, Grandpa Vander Sloot, or anything about the League. We talked about Grandma who’d taken the car into town to do grocery shopping. She didn’t know that Grandpa Vander Sloot was the Rocket or that I’d be flying in this morning. Grandpa Klein had chosen our meeting time to make sure she’d continue to remain ignorant. Continue reading Memories: Part 3