The Ascendants: Genesis (6 page)

Without hesitation, Susan jumped off the ground, brought both her legs to her abdomen and leveled Julian with a front donkey kick to his chest. Most men would've fell flat on their backs, but not Julian. While falling, Julian quickly contorted his body and did a side somersault flip to regain his balance. In a fluid motion, Julian turned back around and took up a defensive position just as Susan followed up with another attack.

“Shame, we almost made it without incident,” Commander Sullivan said to Dr. Connors.

“We still can Commander, call your agent off.”

“Too late for that, besides, those two need to hash out their differences.” Commander Sullivan turned his back on the doctor and began to walk away.

Susan aggressively swung with a closed fist right-hand punch aimed for Julian's face. This time Julian was ready. He brought his hands up in an X motion and blocked the attack.

He countered, grabbed Susan's arm, swiftly twirled behind her and locked his hands around her waist. He attempted to use a belly to back wrestling move on her, but Susan broke free of the hold and nailed Julian with an elbow to the face.

“I'm better than you,” Susan said.

“You're good Susan, you're really good, but you aren't better than me.”

Julian ran hard directly at Susan. He started to move to his left, but in mid stride he pivoted and changed directions. Julian left the ground, twirled his body in the air and kicked Susan in the side of the face.

Susan fell to the ground but quickly recovered. She got back to her feet and anxiously waited for Julian to make another move. Julian started forward, but had to change course when he saw Cayde approach from the corner of his eye. Julian swung, but Cayde moved faster than Julian could see. In the blink of an eye Cayde went from Julian's left side to his right side. He hit Julian with a flurry of punches with seemed to have minimal impact at best.

“A speedster, so that's your contribution to the team. Okay, good to know,” Julian said.

Cayde went for another attack, but Julian caught Cayde's left arm before he could connect. Julian nailed Cayde with an elbow to the abdomen and followed up with a closed fist to the face.

Cayde stumbled backwards and fell to the ground. He slowly made his way back to his feet and hesitantly took up a defensive position.

“Cayde, I've got it. Get Dr. Connors out of here!”

Cayde looked at Susan with defiance.

“Now Cayde!”

Begrudgingly, Cayde left the fight and ran over to check on Dr. Connors.

“You always were a good partner. He doesn't even realize that you just saved his life,” Julian said.

“Perhaps I just saved yours.”

Julian laughed. “Oh please, he might be fast, but he's no match for me. You know as well as I do that punk isn't even in the same league as me.”

Susan knew what Julian said to be true, but there was no way she was about to give him that bit of satisfaction.

“Come on Susan, what are we doing here? I don't want to fight you, even more so, I don't want to hurt you.”

“How did you think this was going to go? We aren't about to be subjected to any of the interrogation tactics you all have planned. I was with you guys for years, I know how this goes. I won't let you do to Dr. Connors and Cayde what we did to those we captured for all those years.”

Susan kept her defensive stance as did Julian. The two danced around one another while they tried to figure out their next move.

“You know I can't let you leave, not this time,” Julian said.

“Then you better stop me, because leave is exactly what I'm going to do.”

Susan ran forward and caught Julian by the head with her legs. She pushed forward and released her grip in midair. Julian went flying but managed to land on his feet. He gritted his teeth and stared hard at his former protégé.

“The Syndicate, did Dr. Connors mean what he said about them?”

Susan, who was about to advance once more stopped and let her guard down slightly.

“Yes, he meant every word. They are the real threat out there not us. I don't know what all your organization is about, but if you want to protect the public, it's the Syndicate you need to focus on.”

“Dorian Granier, do you really know where he is?” Julian asked.

Susan was about to answer Julian but before she could, the sound of gunfire bellowed through the park. A single bullet was fired, and it lodged itself right between Susan's eyes.

“Susan!” Julian shouted. Julian jumped on top of Susan to shield her from another attack. He looked around the area for the shooter but saw no signs of one.

Cayde, who had just finished getting Dr. Connors out of harm's way returned to the scene just in time to see Susan fall to the ground.

“Susan!” he shouted. Cayde sped over and attempted to punch Julian, but Julian caught Cayde's fist and showed mercy on him. Julian simply pushed Cayde backwards instead of seriously hurting him.

“Don't test me Cayde.” Julian's eyes seemed to penetrate through Cayde's soul. The young man did not want to test Julian and smartly backed away.

“Julian, let's move!” Commander Sullivan shouted. Julian gritted his teeth as he took one last look at Susan's lifeless body.

“I'll find whoever did this and make them pay!” Julian said to Cayde. Julian kept low and made his way down to the end of the street where an unmarked SUV waited for him.

A tear fell from Cayde's face as he gently lifted Susan's body off the ground. He looked high and low for the shooter but saw no sign of one. Defeated, Cayde placed Susan's body over his shoulder and sped out of harm's way.

Chapter 6

Unwanted Encounters

“We're entering visibility Tommy, how’s the cloak coming along?” Christine asked through her earpiece.

“Enabling cloak in 3,2,1.” Tommy locked the cloaking device into place and watched as it turned and positioned itself comfortably in its slot. It took about five seconds, but the cloaking device activated and was ready to be used. “We're good to go Christine.”

“Roger that, landing in the parking lot now.” Christine eased off the throttle and guided the ship down gently. She had become a bit of a pro at piloting. She was easily the best pilot of the group. Dr. Connors and James were the only others in the group that had flown the ship. Tommy had developed a pretty advanced autopilot system in the event that there was no one available to fly the plane, but he hoped he'd never have to use it.

“What time is it?” James asked.

“12:45 which means we have about fifteen minutes before Lucas' lunch break is over,” Mia said.

James stared at her.

“What?” Mia asked.

James shook his head. “Nothing.”

Mia stepped in front of James and placed her hand on his massive chest. Seeing the two so close to one another really displayed the ginormous difference in size between them. Mia looked like a small child compared to James' tall and muscular stature. Nevertheless, with Mia's telekinesis and training from Susan, not even James wanted to mess with her.

“It's something, spill it.”

“I'm just trying to decide if this is a good idea or not.”

“Decide if what's a good idea?”

James looked at her as if she should know the answer to her own question, but she pretended as if she didn't. “You know good and well what I'm talking about Mia. You know the man's lunch schedule. How much more obvious can you be?”

Mia shook off the subtle accusation. “I know his lunch schedule because I talked to him for a few minutes last week. It's a detail, and Susan's been training me to pay close attention to all details. No matter how big or small they seem.”

“Mhm, whatever you say Mia.”

“Oh, whatever James!” Mia rolled her eyes and looked around the hangar bay room. She noticed an empty water bottle and smiled mischievously. Mia flicked her left hand forward and sent the water bottle flying in James' direction. The playful attack caught James by surprise and hit him in the side of the head.

“Really Mia? Real mature!” James shook off the bottle attack and focused his attention to the outside. He looked to see if the coast was clear and when he was confident it was, he had Christine open the hangar bay doors.

“Alright, let's do this,” Mia said. She strutted passed James and made her way to the sidewalk.

“Hey, you want to slow down a bit?” James said.

Mia huffed. “With those long legs of yours, you should have no reason not to be able to keep up.”

“You know Mia; you can be a real brat at times!”

Mia flashed her gorgeous smile and batted her long eyelashes. “Maybe, but you still love me anyway.”

“Yeah, yeah, let's just get this over with. It's been a long day already.”

“Yeah, it has. How do you think things went with Dr. Connors?”

“I'm sure everything went okay,” James said as he used his long strides to catch up to Mia. The two approached the front door at the same time. Mia tried to open the door, but it was locked. “Attention to detail huh?”

“What?”

James pointed to the small circular gray button that rested on the right side of the brick wall. “You have to be buzzed in silly.”

“Oh yeah, I saw it.” Mia did her best to play the oversight off. “The school has a no guns allowed sign right here. You probably should've left your side arm on the plane.”

“Yeah, I don't think so. I don't like to take any chances.”

The secretary buzzed the two Ascendants inside the building.

“Let me do all the talking,” Mia said. She stepped forward and waited for the secretary to buzz her inside the junior high office.

“Hi, can I help you?” the secretary asked.

“Umm yes, we're here to see Mr. Morgan.”

“Is he expecting you?”

“No he isn't, we wanted it to be a surprise.”

“I see, and you two are?”

Mia and James looked at one another as if they shared a telepathic link, but unfortunately the link only worked when Tori was around to establish a connection. “I'm his sister Mia and this is his best friend James.”

A bright smile appeared on the secretary's face. “Oh, well that's wonderful, I'm sure Mr. Morgan will be delighted to see you two! I just need you guys to sign in really quick for me.”

“Delighted to see us isn't the word I would use,” James mumbled.

Mia stepped a bit closer to James and stepped on his toe. James grimaced slightly and smiled through the pain. He glared at Mia, but she refused to meet his stare. James and Mia finished signing in and waited patiently for the secretary to give them visitor passes. She instructed them on how to reach the teacher's lounge and sent them on their way.

“You think we should've used fake names?” Mia asked.

“Oh now you’re worried about giving out your real name?”

“I'm serious, after today, that government organization is going to be looking for us.”

“Well it’s too late now. They already know our names thanks to you.”

Mia rolled her eyes. “Let it go James, I'm not that used to going up against potentially hostile government agencies.”

“Yeah, that much is clear.”

As the two passed the first hall, and made their way up the stairs, Mia noticed a stapler lying on the ground. She looked at the stapler and then at James and smiled.

“Don't even think about it,” James said in a deep voice.

“I have no idea what you are talking about.”  

Mia batted her eyes playfully and pretended to look all innocent. It was an act she intended James not to fall for.

“There.” James pointed to the room with the red door on the right-hand side of the hall. “This must be it.”

Mia concurred. She fought back the smile that formed on the edge of her mouth, took a deep breath and walked inside. James followed closely behind her.

So I walk down to the elementary side of the building and I head on over to Ms. Marquette's room. Jimmy sees me and immediately runs up to me. He looks at me, smiles and says I like you, you're a good man. So I smile back and I say thanks Jimmy you're a good boy. He laughs and says yeah I know,” Lucas Morgan said to his fellow coworker Samantha Meyers.

Samantha laughed emphatically. “These kids are absolutely adorable.” Her laughter quickly turned to curiosity when she realized that Lucas was no longer laughing with her.

“Mia, James, what are you doing here?” Lucas asked. His reception for the two was less than warm.

“Hey Lucas,” Mia said with a wide smile.

“Well hello there,” Samantha said. She completely disregarded Mia and focused all her attention on James. She gave her best seductive smile as she stared at the handsome man. “Lucas, aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?”

Lucas did his best to hide his anger, but Mia and James could see pass the facade.

“Hi, my name is Mia, Lucas' sister, and this is James, Lucas' best friend.” Mia extended her hand for Samantha to shake. Samantha had a perplex look on her face. She had come to know Lucas pretty well and not once had he mentioned a sister or a best friend in any of their conversations.

“Hi, I'm Samantha Meyer. Fifth grade science teacher.” Samantha gave Mia a respectful smile before moving passed her to greet James. Samantha extended her hand to James which he politely shook. She wore a big smile on her face as she stared into James' dark brown eyes. She let her hand linger in his just a tad bit longer than most do on greetings. James could sense her attraction to him, and had it been any other day, he probably would've explored the possibilities.

“Hi Samantha, it's nice to meet you,” Mia said before turning back to Lucas. “Surprise.”

Lucas was less than amused. “Mia, what are you doing here?”

“Lucas, you've been holding out on me. You never told me you had a sister, and you definitely didn't tell me you were friends with such a handsome man.”

James smiled and thanked Samantha for the compliment. Mia, who had witnessed a similar stare from a number of women directed towards James rolled her eyes. Sure, she couldn't deny herself that James was quite pleasing to look at, but the way some of these women threw themselves at him made her sick.

“Yeah, somehow throughout all the conversations we've had, it must have slipped my mind,” Lucas said.

Due to the secret life he lived, he had no choice but to go along with Mia's lie.

Samantha looked up at the clock and frowned. Her break was over and she needed to get back to her class, but she found herself wanting to stick around James just a bit longer.

“Well it was really nice meeting you,” Samantha said to Mia.

“Yeah, you too,” Mia replied.

Samantha moved closer to James and shook his hand again. “Don't be a stranger, come by more often!”

“Yeah, I'll definitely try,” James said.

Hesitantly, Samantha headed for the door and left the three Post Humans alone.

“Are you two out of your mind?” Lucas hissed quietly. His face was red, and it took everything within him not to yell.

“We need your help,” Mia said.

Lucas shook his head and gestured that he wanted no part in anything they were up to. “You guys need to leave, I've really made a life for myself here and I don't need you two screwing things up for me.”

“Really? Screwing things up for you, is that what you think of when you think of me?” the tone in Mia's voice indicated that she was hurt by Lucas' words.

“Don't do that, don't stand there and try to make me feel bad for leaving,” Lucas said. His attention shifted back and forth between the two.

“Oh don't look at me, I don't care at all that you left. I've said from the start we didn't need you around.”

“Right, you discover you've got incredible strength and now all of a sudden you're a tough guy.”

James laughed. “Long before I ever developed these abilities I was a tough guy. Playing college football, doing construction work, being a bouncer. These abilities simply enhanced an already developed muscle.”

“Yeah whatever man. Look, I respect what Dr. Connors is trying to accomplish with you guys and I wish you all the best of luck, but I can't be dragged back into that world. Call me selfish, call me scared, but the climate between Humans and Post Humans is heating up, and I want no part of it. I just want to live a normal life. I just want to live a peaceful life and give these children the gift of knowledge.”

“That's the whole point Lucas, nothing will be peaceful if we don't make a stand,” Mia said.

Lucas shook his head. “You see, I bet you a lot of these radical groups and terrorist groups started out simple like you guys and over time they became more and more fanatic with their mission. You guys are creating an army of Post Humans. You're playing with fire and it's just a matter of time before that fire ignites, and when it does, I don't want to be anywhere near it.” Lucas grabbed his containers and placed it back in his lunch bag. He proceeded to throw out his trash and waited for James and Mia to leave.

“Lucas?”

“I mean it Mia; you need to leave. There's nothing you can say or do that's going to make me come with you. You guys have your agenda and I respect that, but now I need you to respect the fact that I have no interest in returning.”

Lucas headed for the door but James stood in front of it and refused to move. “Really man, you want to go this route with me?” Lucas asked.

“I don't want to, but I'm not letting you leave, not until Mia is done talking.”

Lucas chuckled. “That's right, you're her bodyguard or something correct? Tell me, how does it feel knowing someone half your size could take you out with the simplest of ease?”

James gave a fake smile and before Lucas could react, James lifted Lucas off the ground by the throat and held him in place. Lucas tried to free himself from James' clutches, but he struggled to break free. James tossed him in the air like a sack of potatoes. Lucas landed awkwardly on the couch inside the teacher's lounge. “No enhanced strength needed to kick your behind. You really don't want this fight Lucas.”

Lucas hopped off the couch quickly and ran straight for James. He attempted to hit James with a right cross, but James ducked low and tackled Lucas right back into the couch. James was about to follow up his attack with a punch to the face, but an invisible force held his arm in place. Lucas took advantage of the situation and kicked James off of him.

Both men got back to their feet and attempted another attack, but Mia intervened and sent both men flying in opposite directions with the use of her telekinesis.

“Enough! I didn't come here to see the two of you fight.”