Zooming in with the Rocket suit’s sensors, I realized something. I knew this guy. I’d last seen him while fighting Rook and other operatives of the Nine at another lab analyzing alien technology, that one on Earth.
I’d worked for a company called Higher Ground and this guy, Victor, had been my co-worker, mentor, and semi-supervisor in an internship that was an undercover mission. Victor had seemed nice enough at first. Continue reading Moon: Part 5
I couldn’t rule out the possibility that some were literally in our basement or one of our storage rooms. The original team confiscated a lot of technology from supervillains that they didn’t feel comfortable handing over to the government.
I also hadn’t forgotten that Yoselin’s father and Russian Victory had also brought some home from the Moon.
I’d always assumed it had been Abominator tech, but seeing the room, it could have been Artificer tech. There were enough empty spots to be nervous about. Continue reading Moon: Part 4
Marcus shook his head, “That does not look good. I hope whatever did it is gone. Hey, Accelerando, any idea what killed them?”
Shooting him a look, Jaclyn said, “I’m training to be a doctor, not a forensic pathologist. I have no idea. Without an internship in alien autopsies, I can’t even guess whether it was the Abominators’ defenses or another creature.”
She leaned forward to inspect the bodies anyway and her eyes glazed over as she took what had to be a massive download from her implant. Continue reading Moon: Part 3
Daniel might have sensed how long it had been, depending on factors I mostly didn’t know.
I looked down the hall ahead of us. The lights didn’t help much, but with our suits’ sensors, everyone would be able to see what I did. The hall went on as far as I could see, but it wasn’t straight.
It curved enough that the small changes of its path made it impossible to see anything in the hall except for the distant glow coming from the ceiling.
“Hey,” I said, addressing everyone via my comm, “it looks like Rook’s people either were here or are here and I can’t tell more from these… bootprints. It also looks like they might have used a different entrance. So we have no idea how many it is.” Continue reading Moon: Part 2
We stepped out of the hatch into the hangar. A thin layer of moon dust covered the floor, capturing our footprints. It wasn’t a good sign if I were hoping to find working machinery, but it might be a good sign if I were hoping that the building’s defenses were in bad shape.
Given that the base was thousands of years old and that it had opened up the doors to the hangar with no issue, I decided not to be optimistic. The universe wouldn’t be handing out that kind of favor unless it planned to collect on it with interest at the worst possible moment. Continue reading Moon: Part 1
Marcus’ eyes glazed over as he absorbed the knowledge, but then he said, “Yeah. That’s got to be it. There isn’t anything else like that. I’ll head down… Well, unless there are defenses. Then we go shields up, I guess.”
We already had been because we were cloaked, but I upped the level of protection, saying, “I’d be surprised if someone else hasn’t already visited. I think I remember Rook saying he’d been to the Moon.”
Jaclyn sighed, “Great. We need to run into that psycho up here.” Continue reading If Found, Please Return: Part 9
By then, Marcus had already gone through the checklist, and all systems showed green—even those that allowed interstellar flight.
He glanced at me, “Do you want to take control?”
“If you want to fly it,” I said, “go ahead. You already got everything going.”
He grinned and grabbed the joystick, “Let’s go.” Continue reading If Found, Please Return: Part 8
Hey, I thought as I walked across the main room’s concrete floor, did they say anything about clairvoyantly finding Magnus?
I tried, Daniel thought back, he’s obscured either by something Rook made or another telepath.
I considered that, Any chance you might at least be able to predict when he figures out how to use the device? He’s got some control over it, but he could get more even if he can’t get full access unless he beats us to whatever mystery spot they left it at.
I could feel Daniel consider it, I’m not sure. He’s fuzzy and the device is dangerous, but if I can come up with the right side effect, I might be able to predict that. Continue reading If Found, Please Return: Part 7
Vaughn stopped, and frowned, “I mean, I probably can’t do much of anything up there except for throwing lightning inside the jet or my suit, but it’s still the moon. It would be cool. It’s just that the more I think about it, the more I think I’ll be a lead weight—no powers except where they could do more damage than help.”
Looking up from my screen at the table, I said, “We can think about it. It’s probably a bad idea, but if there are… I don’t know… Selenites or something up there, for all we know there might be a secretly inhabitable area. It’s not like that never happens in comics.”
“Or Nazis,” Vaughn said, shrugging. Continue reading If Found, Please Return: Part 6
With a sigh, Vaughn said, “Okay. It would be easier if you guys took a more active role than telling us we’re on the right track.”
C didn’t hesitate, “The Mentalist followed the futures where we took an active role. They didn’t turn out as well as this one.”
Haley looked up from the table toward him, “This is one of the good futures?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, “but yes. We’re still wondering if we’ve given you too much help so far.” Continue reading If Found, Please Return: Part 5