Of course, for all I knew, Rook initially drew on a connection to Abominator tech. If so, the shadowy shape I saw could be the thing that inspired him. It wasn’t likely, but the world got weird sometimes.
Into the comm, I said, “I think I see a crowbot.”
“Really,” Marcus stared into the room, “where?”
“Kind of in the trees across the lake,” I said, “I think it’s out of phase.” Continue reading Knock, Knock? Part 4
I heard her but didn’t respond. I was too busy staring out the door.
Before we entered the hallway, we’d been in a room that I might have described as a biosphere (except technically speaking it wasn’t spherical). This was bigger and though I hadn’t measured it, if I had to guess, it was bigger than the building appeared outside.
While that might mean some kind of Tardis-style “bigger on the inside” weirdness, it might also mean that the hall dropped below the surface in a nonobvious way as we walked. Continue reading Knock, Knock? Part 3
I zoomed in and so did everyone else. It was a small drawing of a man with a long nose peering over a wall. The words “Kilroy was here,” were written below the drawing.
Marcus said, “There’s one of those in the hangar at home.”
Cassie nodded, “Dad left them when he had the time.”
With an eye roll, Jaclyn said, “And even when he didn’t, Grandpa told me about once when they were sneaking out of a supervillain’s base and he had to return for Cap. They nearly got caught because of it.”
Marcus turned to Jaclyn, “I missed out on that story.” Continue reading Knock, Knock? Part 2
“Wait,” I said, “who did you power up?”
Lee laughed, “Intentionally? No one you know. That risks the wrong kind of attention, but I do it when it’s worth the risks. Unintentionally? Everyone who stayed near me with the right kind of ancestry—including you and your friends. My kind are a nexus for power. If you can collect it, you’ll get a little more than you normally would.”
That opened up new lines of thought we didn’t have time for right now, but maybe after we freed him, we might.
“Wow,” I spoke the word aloud, prompting the rest of the group to look at me. To forestall questions, I shook my head, “I’m going to want more details about that sometime, but for now, how do we get you out?” Continue reading Knock, Knock?: Part 1
As he spoke, I wondered how I could reply, but then realized that I felt the familiar feeling of being in the in-between space I’d used to take lessons from Kee.
I thought back, “I’d been wondering where you were. I was told you’d returned to Earth after working with Kee for a while, but I hadn’t seen you.”
“Yeah, well. I solved a small mystery I’d been worrying about, but that meant visiting this place and now I can’t get out. How long has it been for you?” Continue reading Waning Moon: Part 10
It wasn’t Grandpa as I knew him either. It was Grandpa from old newsreels and recordings. I had a few in the lab—accidental recordings from when Grandpa was tinkering with various versions of the sonic systems and test recordings that he’d used for years to assure consistency in the official Rocket suit voice.
It also wasn’t just Grandpa.
I also heard the rest of the team—Captain Commando, Night Wolf, C, the Mentalist, and Grandma. Continue reading Waning Moon: Part 9
If I’d been hoping to see what was inside, I’d have been disappointed. I hadn’t expected to see anything more than an airlock, but there was no airlock here.
Instead, what appeared to be glass with a hazy golden sheen blocked our view of the inside. Between experience with alien technology and years of consuming science fiction, I felt sure it wasn’t glass.
“Walk through the golden force field,” Rachel told us over the comms. “There’s an atmosphere in there. The Artificers usually set it to be similar to the atmosphere of the nearest planet with intelligent life, but it might have adjusted to the Abominators’ preferences. Those weren’t always breathable.” Continue reading Waning Moon: Part 8
I let the jet drop toward the ground, landing on the red dirt of Mars, thinking again that I could have visited purely to visit at any time, and that I was now only here because of this.
Behind me in the cabin, everyone set their suits to full coverage, helmets reforming over their heads.
I checked outside. The circle-shaped structure that ascended from the ground, seemingly made of Martian dirt, felt taller now that I’d landed. It wasn’t quite a mesa, but it was at least 20 feet taller than it appeared when we sat inside the jet. Continue reading Waning Moon: Part 7
“Sorry,” Cassie threw the picture from her implant onto the feed for screens in the jet.
I slowed the jet down further because now that we were no longer working at the speed of thought, we needed a second. I already had cloaking on. Hopefully, Rook hadn’t figured out a way to detect it.
He’d figured out how to block Cassie’s blade and Grandpa’s monomolecular tech before our last fight. The cloaking tech wasn’t on full display, so he might not realize we had it, but you never knew. Continue reading Waning Moon: Part 6
“Look,” Rachel said, “Accelerando said that my vitals aren’t showing anything unusually wrong. If we’re going to go to Mars, let’s go. I’d rather take my chances with alien tech. Except maybe for Magnus, we may be Earth’s greatest alien tech experts now. We’re not the greatest experts on the Nine. Let’s go. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we meet with Paladin.”
“That,” Marcus said, “she’s right.”
Jaclyn shook her head, “I don’t like it, but you’re making sense. I’d still like to look at Rachel before we get to Mars.” Continue reading Waning Moon: Part 5