Tag Archives: Rachel

Moon: Part 2

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

Moon: Part 1

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

If Found, Please Return: Part 8

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

If Found, Please Return: Part 6

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

If Found, Please Return: Part 2

“His name?” I asked, “who was that guy?”

Daniel nodded, “Constantine Doukas. He’s Greek. He appears to have been raised in one of the Cabal’s hidden colonies. The Nine had some kind of connection to that colony and he ended up fighting us, but here’s the interesting thing—the Nine have their own power impregnators. He went through one and the ability to do that appeared.”

“No shit,” Cassie pushed back from the table. “I don’t know if I told you this, but the first time I fought the Nine, the time Nick picked me up in Washington D.C., I fought another orange guy. He wasn’t the same. He was more spider-like with glowing orange legs that contained some kind of hot liquid? Think they’re related?”

“No idea,” I said, glancing over at Daniel. Continue reading If Found, Please Return: Part 2

Before Midnight: Part 4

Rachel gave a quick grin, “I hope you’re not blaming it on me, but that’s about right. I still can’t navigate hyperspace on my own. The Cosmic Ghosts dropped me off over Earth and disappeared. I floated down from orbit on my own and as I floated down, I felt something. It wasn’t a hum. It felt more like gathering energy. Then I felt a pulse. That’s when the hum started.”

I looked at her, “I missed the pulse—actually, I missed everything but the hum.” Continue reading Before Midnight: Part 4

Before Midnight: Part 3

Joe restrained his response, hoping that he wasn’t grinding his teeth. The group didn’t need more right now. Something was off about Giles. He couldn’t put his finger on what. If that wasn’t enough, new people with powers were appearing.

Man-machine, of all people, had visited by his office to tell him about it. Wearing a cheap suit, the kid claimed to be starting a business that made auto parts. He couldn’t hide his nervousness, constantly checking out the window. Continue reading Before Midnight: Part 3

Courtesy: Part 65

“Right,” Amy said. “They’re going to set something up for the end of the week. I asked why it couldn’t be sooner and it’s what you’d think. They all live in fear of Magnus. They don’t want it to be obvious that they’re going anywhere and don’t want it to be obvious that they returned. It takes time to set it all up.”

“Huh,” I remembered how far Ruthie Shaw had been from anywhere. “I knew they were on the run, but it makes me wonder how much of a risk it is to get them together.”

Amy met my eyes, “One that they’re willing to take because they’re afraid that not doing it will be worse.” Continue reading Courtesy: Part 65

Misdirection: Part 1

Once the Cabal soldier crossed the street, he stopped, standing on the sidewalk as if he were waiting for someone. It kind of worked. It wasn’t as if he were wearing a purple, orange, or green skintight jumpsuit, the kind of thing that screams, “I’m a supervillain!”

Bearing in mind that many of the Cabal had been Roman soldiers, he wasn’t wearing either a toga or carrying a shield. That would have been out of place in a suburban, upper-middle-class neighborhood. He wore a grey coat and blue slacks that to my eye had the heaviness of materials used for armor. I doubted that a Cabal soldier needed armor, but no one wanted to run around naked and I supposed that was less likely with tougher materials. Continue reading Misdirection: Part 1

Truth and the True: Part 12

In the face of all that, I knew what the first thing I had to do was. Send Lim a message so that he knew that he was right. The Nine had infiltrated the FBI—and by the way, they’d also infiltrated the Engineering Department of my university.

In the grand scheme of things, the FBI was more important to the country, but the university had a more immediate impact on my life. Lim would want to know in any case. Continue reading Truth and the True: Part 12