Heroes Lost and Found (3 page)

“Within a mile.” Outrager seemed relieved to be able to answer a straight question. “Beyond that it’s not likely to work.”

“Likely?”

“It was never tested beyond that.”

I snorted. “We’re not done talking about this. Not by a fucking long shot.”

Hunter took a ragged breath, blinking rapidly for a few seconds before eyeing the screen. “We will talk. And I will have answers.”

Outrager didn’t flinch under our combined attack. He stood still, waiting.

“I want every one of those special attachments accounted for. Every last one,” I snapped at the Agency representative. “All of those caches as well.”

“We have one already,” Outrager answered. “We weren’t prepared for this.” The last few words came out in a whine.

I chewed on my bottom lip, knowing he defined “this” as being the alien invasion, the death of supers and Guardians, and the continued existence of an Agency working for us instead of the other way around.

“None of us were. Get used to it.” I bit back a series of curses dying to break free. “Okay. So he’s got this device. Why the hell is he gathering supers around him? Why not come back to the Agency? I’m sure you’d be able to find him a job sweeping floors or something.”

Outrager looked even more contrite, sending my internal organs into spasms. “Nick had a very…basic disagreement with the way the Agency was run. Thought we were babying the supers too much, thought we should be tougher with you.”

My mind raced back to the training I’d suffered through while learning how to use my powers and the part I’d been assigned in the Agency’s ongoing charade. Military boot camp had nothing on the routines we’d run, the physical tricks and training we’d endured.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“He kept most of it to himself during orientation. A private security expert, we recruited him away from one of the best companies in America. A few grumblings and minor complaints in his file but not enough to send up alarm bells.” Outrager glanced at the clipboard again. “He was due to be moved away from Kit in a few more months and reassigned to another job. One without contact with supers, a demotion of sorts.”

“You couldn’t get him away sooner? How long were you going to let him abuse Kit, among others?” I nodded towards Rachael, who was still curled up in her chair despite her previous brave words. “What were you thinking?”

“Using our resources to the best of their abilities,” Outrager replied. “We couldn’t just yank him off the front line and leave Kit out of the rotation. It would be too suspicious. We had another Guardian in the wings just clearing training and about to take over.”

“Would have, should have.” I pointed at Rachael. “She suffered for your incompetence. And God knows how many more will before we take this bastard down. So stop making excuses and start working for us, not against us.”

Outrager stood up a little straighter, fumbling with his tie. “I’ve got a preliminary list here of what was taken, along with the known caches he raided. It goes without saying that we’ll be very happy to see him taken off the market.” He handed a piece of paper to Jessie.

“Taken off or killed?” Hunter asked. Blood coated his fingers. I didn’t know if we had a first-aid kit in our suite.

Outrager shrugged. “Whatever works for you. And, of course, the Agency’s resources are on call if you need us.”

“Of course.” I tried not to sound sarcastic. “As always.”

“Dude, what’s a 3S?” Jessie turned to Outrager, waving the paper in the air. “Got it here in large red letters like it’s something important.”

Outrager wiped his forehead before addressing me. “Yes, well, it’s a special piece of equipment. Not all caches carried it, thankfully.”

“Thankfully, as in ‘oh, it’s just some bells and whistles’ or thankfully as in ‘oh, shit, the apocalypse is upon us’?” I asked.

“It’s technically known as a Super Suppression Suit. Three S, you see.” He tugged on his tie again. “Specialized equipment,” he repeated.

“And what does it do?”

“It’s basically power armor,” Outrager said. “Turns anyone into a super, in layman terms.”

Chapter Two

My head felt as if it was about to split down the middle like a fat, overripe strawberry. “What?”

“The Agency needed some way to deal with supers in the field if they got out of control, aside from pulling the plugs. So they created a set of power armor that could be put on without help, an automated system instead of human help. Sort of a stripped-down version of Metal Mike.”

I walked over to my chair and sat down again, the headache vanishing into a numb void as I closed my eyes.

I saw Mike wearing the metal suit that turned him into a one-man army. A man equipped with a Gatling gun, the ability to fly and a small nuclear reactor powering it all.

The same reactor he’d overloaded for a controlled explosion in New York City.

Outrager kept talking, ignoring my reaction. “We believe he only has one, stolen from the Nevada cache. They weren’t standard issue for most caches. We’ve already accounted for all the others.”

“What sort of weapons are we talking about?” Hunter moved in to take over the conversation.

“Only three weapons on the suit, max. It was meant to capture supers, not hurt them.”

“Define
weapons
, please. Lethal or nonlethal?”

“Combination of the two. Flamethrower fed through a backpack, electrical stun netting and an option for nonlethal handheld weapons such as restraint glue. He’d also have one hell of a punch.”

“Flight capability?” I asked, forcing myself back into the present.

“Only for a short distance. Takes a lot to haul that much power armor into the air,” Outrager said. “He couldn’t go too far for too long. Not without stopping to refuel.”

“I never saw him with any armor,” Rachael offered in a soft whisper. “He was tinkering with stuff, but I never saw him put anything on. He was too busy talking to Lamarr and telling him what to do with the jet pack.”

“How is he carrying this thing?” I faced Hunter then turned back to Outrager. “Mike needed an entire posse to get into his suit. How does this thing work?”

“Suitcase armor. Well, more of a large closet.” Outrager shuffled his feet again. “It’s light and portable. He’d be able to toss it into the back of a pickup truck with a little help. Open up the cabinet, step in and activate the automatic systems to put it on. It was meant to be portable and easy to operate.”

“He might have just taken it to take it,” Steve mumbled. “Grabbed everything he could out of the storage area. Probably doesn’t even know what he has.”

“He knows what he’s got,” I growled.

“I’d say that was a good bet,” Outrager answered.

“Good thing he was a Guardian and knew it was there,” Hunter said, the sarcasm sneaking into his voice. “Get Jessie the stats, everything about this suit. Maybe we can use this to locate him and find some way of neutralizing him.”

“Done.”

I studied the screen. “What’s this thing run on?” I didn’t mention the small reactor in Mike’s suit.

Outrager cleared his throat. He knew what I was asking. “Power cell located on the back. No nuclear option.”

I massaged my temples. “That’s a small mercy. I can do without the threat of another explosion.”

“Wouldn’t need that much power, anyway. This suit was more designed for subduing and punishing supers, not showing off for the public and playing the hero.”

I glared at Outrager, a burst of white-hot rage shoving logic aside. “Mike did his job, died doing his job.”

Hunter’s hand landed on my shoulder. The heat burned through my shirt and warmed the skin, chasing away the cold memories.

“That he did. And did well.” Outrager bowed slightly, conceding the battleground. “I’ll get that information for Jessie. Excuse me.” He stepped out of the frame.

“Let me start this search.” Jessie spun towards the computer keyboard and tapped out a symphony with his fingers.

Silence filled the room for a few minutes. Peter bent down and whispered something to Rachael, encouraging a smile. Hunter gave my shoulder a final squeeze before returning to stand by the screen, his arms crossed as he watched Jessie work.

“We gotta find him soon,” Steve said, breaking the calm. “Guy got a suit like that, he’s going to use it. If not on supers, on civilians. If he gets loose in some place like Vegas, he’s going to do a lot of damage before the cops take him down or we get to him.”

Peter nodded. “He doesn’t need to recruit supers if he’s got that.”

“He will.” Hunter didn’t turn from the screen. “Man like that, he wants someone to control. That’s what he gets off on, having someone under him. He might have replaced Lamarr already.”

“So soon?” Steve asked.

“Might be.” I shifted in my chair. “If we learned anything from Lamarr, it was that there are still supervillains out there. They didn’t all disappear when we broke away from the Agency.” I paused. “Is Outrager gone?”

Jessie glanced up from the keyboard, lowering his voice to a near whisper. “He’s in the corner, cursing into his phone.”

“Good. I need you to get me the local bus schedule from Vegas to Kensington Grove.”

“What?” The four men in the room responded as one. Rachael said nothing but gave me a questioning look.

“Harris Limox sent me a postcard. I’m going to go see what he wants. By myself.” I held up a hand, stalling the inevitable protests. “He stipulated he wants me to be alone. He’s got something he wants to talk to me about and he’s not going to come here.”

“How do you plan to do that?” Peter asked. “I mean, you can’t just hop on a Greyhound bus and head out of town.”

“Sure I can.” I smiled. “I just pay regular fare.”

“Why would he want to see you alone?” Peter mused. “I mean, why not all of us?”

“He’s afraid of Dykovski tracking us, seeing where we go. We’d lead Dykovski right to him and he doesn’t have a jammer.” Rachael’s fingers twitched where they rested on Peter’s. “Maybe he’s watching us now. Lamarr found you two down in the buffet, called you on someone’s cell phone.”

“He could be,” I conceded. “So we need to be careful.” I pointed at Hunter. “You take the team back home. We have to be ready for when he makes another move, with or without supers under his control and with that suit.”

Hunter nodded. “And you?”

“I’m going to see Harris. I’ve got a feeling he’s not interested in catching up on old times. It’s too much of a coincidence, contacting me right after we dealt with Lamarr.”

“Outrager just left. I’ve sent an email to McCarran there in Vegas. The aircrew is ready to go when you are,” Jessie said. “Say the word.”

Peter shook his head. “We can’t go racing out of here like bats out of hell. That’ll look odd. Even if Dykovski doesn’t have eyes on us, the media’s going to notice if we slink out of here.” He looked around the room. “These days every move you make is going to be watched and noticed. If Jo stays behind, it’s going to go viral within minutes and Dykovski’s gonna know something’s up. He doesn’t have to bug our suites or have anyone spy on us, the paparazzi does a good enough job of that. We move, he knows about it.”

Steve grunted. “Had a few reporters bugging me for info on things.” He glanced at me for a second before turning away, his face flushed. “Looking for gossip on us. Told them to shove off and called hotel security.”

Hunter sighed. “They used to follow the Alphas almost exclusively. Now that we’re all they have, the newshounds are going to be sniffing around us nonstop.” He nodded his agreement. “Peter’s right. Dykovski doesn’t need to have spies around. All he needs is a computer connection.”

“Okay, then let’s give them what they want. Or what we want them to see. Let’s start by making it look like we’re finishing up a nice vacation.” I forced a smile. “So you go out and party tonight, ’cause I think it’s going to be the last free time we have for a bit. Tomorrow morning we’ll head out while everyone’s still waking up.”

Peter tapped Rachael on the shoulder. “Want to hit the club again? One last spin on the dance floor?”

She stared at him, her face rotating between confusion, want and fear.

“We’re all here.” Steve cracked his knuckles. “No one’s gonna hurt you with us around. Go have a good time with Peter. Just…” He waved a thick finger in the air. “No men back to the room. Either of ya. I ain’t gonna clean up your sloppy seconds.”

Peter laughed and pulled Rachael to her feet as she blushed. The two of them walked off to their individual suites, leaving Steve, Hunter and myself in the main room.

The muscleman turned to me, suddenly serious. “Do you want me to go with you? I know Harris. We weren’t too tight, but we were buddies. Alone doesn’t mean you have to go alone.”

“Let me think it over,” I replied. “I’m not going to say I wouldn’t appreciate the company, but I don’t want to split the team up too much.”

“Versus you going off on your own. Again,” Hunter grumbled.

I ignored him and kept my attention on Steve and Jessie, who was still linked in from Toronto. “I need you with the rest of the team. If something goes down, they’ll need your muscle.” I addressed the screen, “I’m going off for the night, Jessie. Give David hugs and kisses, but don’t expect me for lunch tomorrow.”