Annihilation: Love Conquers All (19 page)

“I’m not sure. I was there when he was interrogated and he was very relaxed and at ease. Even the innocent would be worried if they were going to be questioned. There was something else that bothered me.”

“What was that?”

“One of his friends was being interrogated while we were sitting outside, and one of the questions he answered showed he was being dishonest when he was asked how old he was. He had answered correctly.”

“Was that the only issue you saw?”

“No sir. The student questioned after his friend had the interrogator stop the session and call for a technician to repair the truth field because it was not working properly. I noticed that after that Tag seem to be more at ease. I asked the technician later what caused the truth field failure. He said that when he checked it there was nothing wrong. He thought it might be a temporary electrical surge or something else that would throw it off.”

“What do you think, Miss Ash?”

“I don’t want to sound crazy, but I think Tag was practicing on the students before he went in to see if he could manipulate the field.”

“You keep adding to our Superman’s powers.”

“Sir, please tell me if you think I’m wrong. A lot of these conclusions that I come up with seem to come out of nowhere, but they feel right. I can’t tell you half the time how I arrive at them, and I’m not always certain they are correct. If you think I am wrong or headed the wrong way please stop me. I know you have a lot more experience than I do,” Danielle said.

“That’s just it, Miss Ash. There’s no other explanation than what you have deduced. I don’t want to believe that this person is capable of all the things we ascribe to him, but we’re left with no other alternative. What concerns me right now is that if you’re right, you’re about to place yourself in the hands of a very dangerous individual.”

“If Tag is Superman, I won’t be in danger,” she said.

“You can’t be certain of that.”

“I can be as certain of that as I am about any conclusion I’ve made.”

“How?”

“Unfortunately, Inspector Connor, this particular conclusion was not done completely logically. It’s something that I sense about him. He won’t hurt me.”

“Even so, I want you to go armed.”

“Inspector Connor, if Tag is our Superman, he was able to disarm and kill four skilled criminals in six seconds. What chance do you think I would have to use any kind of weapon? And if I go armed and he sees the weapon, he’ll know I’m with security because we’re the only ones allowed to legally carry them. It would blow my cover. Besides, I haven’t even begun my weapons training.”

“Okay, you shouldn’t go armed, but I insist that you have a way to call for help. Go to your mail slot and remove a package you’ll find there.”

Danielle did as he said and then opened the package. She pulled out a new com that looked exactly like the one she normally used. Inspector Connor said, “This is your new com. This one is programmed with all the same numbers you currently have, except that if you press your thumb on the crystal display and rotate it clockwise, it will immediately activate a locator beacon for us to find you. Touching it with your thumb won’t make it work; it has to be pressed down. It will also let us know that you’re in trouble and need help. If you’re out with him I am going to have floaters stationed around the city that can get to any place in less than sixty seconds. That’s how long you’ll have to delay for help to arrive.”

She took the new com and put it on her wrist. “Thank you, sir. I do appreciate your interest in my safety. I might be wrong about Tag, but he seems to have so many things that point towards him that I feel like I need to eliminate him as a suspect before I can move forward.”

“Then by all means, do what you need to do,” Inspector Connor said, “but don’t forget we’re right there if you need us.”

Danielle and Tag were walking through the entertainment section of Central City that evening. The bright lights and crowds out enjoying themselves gave a light and happy atmosphere to the young couple. She had picked him up in her floater even though he had protested. She won the argument when she asked how many floaters his family had. When he told her they only had one, she said, “It’s unfair to your parents to have to stay home when you go out. My family has two so I’ll drive.”

“Boy, she’s hard to argue with,” Tag thought. They had had several discussions during the evening, and though he thought he was pretty smart, he was no match for her skill at putting things together. He was amazed at her insights. But there was still a part of him that wondered why she had wanted to go out with him. Every boy in the school had asked her out or wanted to ask her, and she had politely declined them all. Then she asked him out. “What’s wrong with this picture?” he wondered. He knew he was not the best looking. Shoot, even Eric was better looking. He could still hear Eric on the com before he left home: “All right, Tag. Make sure you take a shower, wash under your arms, and shave that peach fuzz you call a beard. Then go out and buy a mask because none of that will help.” Then Eric laughed out loud and suggested that the mask should be a copy of his face. He finally told Tag to have a good time and that he was lucky to be going out with such a special girl.

“And she is special,” Tag thought. “She knows she’s beautiful but she doesn’t wear it like a crown. She has a ready smile, a quick wit, and seems to enjoy other people.” He normally could not relax around females, but she had him laughing and feeling quite comfortable within fifteen minutes of leaving his house. But that still didn’t answer why she chose him.

“What’s that look on your face about?” Danielle asked. They were walking out of Checkmate Cinema where they had seen an action movie that really wasn’t very good, but the popcorn was.

“I was wondering why you chose me to go out with. You know as well as I that you’ve been asked by a lot of others. You don’t have to ask to be taken out. I guess I was trying to figure out, why me?”

“You have a pretty low opinion of yourself, don’t you?” she quipped.

He looked her straight in the eye and said, “Danielle, I know that I am average in appearance and I’m okay with that. People like me, but I am not among those that are the most popular. There’s nothing about me that jumps out and screams, ‘Date me because there’s no one better.’ Of course, that’s excluding Eric.”

She laughed out loud and said, “That sounds like Eric.” Then she looked at him still looking into her eyes and said, “You’re serious?”

“Yes, I am. You could have your choice of anyone; why me?”

“Because of me,” she answered.

“Now I’m confused,” Tag said.

“Let me try to help you. When I was in school…” She stopped, paused, and said, “The school I was in before I transferred here, I had a huge crush on a boy named James. It started in my middle levels and quite frankly I felt like he was way out of my league. He looked great, he was one of the most popular, he was athletic, he moved gracefully, and I felt he was the most wonderful thing I had ever seen.”

“What happened?”

“In my middle level, I was not much to look at. I wore glasses and had a very small body. I’ve been described at that age as looking like a twig with a head on it. I really felt like I had no chance with James, so I never told him how I felt.”

“I find that hard to believe, Danielle. You’re beautiful, easy to talk to, nothing like what you’re describing.”

“Well that’s how it was, Tag. That is until I entered my higher levels. I developed fast and no longer needed glasses. Then one day James asked me out.”

“Boy, I’ll bet that made your day.”

“You have no idea. The day seemed like it would never get to the time he was going to pick me up. All my dreams were coming true. And then he was there and we left to go out into a world that now seemed like paradise.”

“You had to be on top of the world,” Tag said, feeling somewhat jealous.

“I was. We met a group of his friends at a fast food place and just sat around and talked. I was having a great time. Then one of his buddies came over and talked about how he had gone through the worst experience in math class. James asked him what the problem was, and he said he just couldn’t figure out the answer to one of the questions.”

“Then what happened?”

“Well, James asked if he remembered the question and his friend had written it down on a piece of paper. He showed it to James and his friends and they shook their heads and said, ‘No way, man. No one can do this.’ I thought I’d impress them, so I took the paper and answered the question. It really wasn’t that hard.”

“Big mistake, Danielle,” Tag said.

“I know that now, but James dropped me faster than a bad habit. I was heartbroken. But I learned from that experience.”

“What did you learn?”

“I learned that although James was great to look at, his conversation was boring and he was shallow. I learned that boys don’t like their women smarter than they are. I learned that when they find out you are smarter, they leave skid marks trying to get away. And lastly, I learned that beauty, true beauty, comes from the light that emanates from a person’s inner fire. It’s that glow that makes a person beautiful to be around. To answer your question why you; I wanted to confirm to myself that you really are as smart as Leila said you were, and I wanted to see if the fire behind your eyes was real.” Suddenly, Danielle realized that looking for Superman was not the real reason she had asked Tag out. It was a good reason, but not the real one. At some level, she was drawn to him.

“So shut up and have a good time,” she said to Tag, “or you want I should tag ya one?”

Tag laughed and said, “No, that won’t be necessary, I’ll behave.” And Tag suddenly realized that for the first time since second level, Leila had not been in his thoughts. “Danielle is special,” he thought. As they continued to walk toward her floater, she placed her hand in his and felt that little shock again.

Neither said anything all the way home. When she dropped him off she said, “Tag, you’re it. You have to ask next time.” The she left.

Danielle thought, “Girl, you’re a chocolate mess. How did he get you to open up like that? He’ll probably just mark this up to a bad experience.” Then her com beeped. “Hello,” she said.

“How about tomorrow at seven?” she heard Tag ask.

“I look forward to it,” she said.

“Like you did with James,” he said with a twinkle in his voice.

“Don’t press your luck, Tag master, I can catch you and pop you a good one.”

He laughed and said, “See you tomorrow, and good night.”

She thought about what she was going to tell Inspector Connor, and decided that she really didn’t know anything more now than before she went out. She determined that she would tell him that it would take more time than she thought and that he just doesn’t open up easily. She smiled at that.

T
ag and Danielle had been going out for four weeks and each of them had come to better know each other, and out of their time together their respect for each other had grown. So had their feelings of affection. Even an outsider could see that they were falling for each other. Even though Danielle was older, she was surprised by the maturity of Tag’s views. On their last date Tag had kissed her goodnight, and that little shock she had been feeling each time they touched could be felt throughout her entire body. It started her heart beating faster, and she lost herself in his arms. Tag saw the psychic field go multicolored when he kissed her, and he felt the small current that passed between them. He wanted to be with this girl every waking moment. Danielle had even convinced herself that Tag was not Superman. The problem was that no progress was being made in finding just who was Superman. She knew it was a waste of time to continue in her undercover role. She had talked to Inspector Connor and he agreed that there was nothing else they could do and that this would be her last week at Tag’s school. Tonight she was going to have to tell him who she really was. She wouldn’t blame him if he ended their relationship, but in her heart she hoped he wouldn’t.

That night found them in the central entertainment district again, sitting in one of the game rooms, drinking sweet drinks, eating snacks, and enjoying each other’s company. The room was full of young students laughing and enjoying the various games that tested their skills. Suddenly they heard, “Hey you two love birds, why don’t you come over here and let me show you how weak you are?”

There was Eric standing beside a game called pool. With him was Leila. “Why don’t you step up here and let us show you how it’s done?”

“Eric!” Tag said. “I didn’t know you were going to be here tonight. Hi, Leila, you know Danielle. What are you doing with this bum, Leila? I understand they don’t let him out very often.”

“He asked, I laughed, and I said yes. So far it’s been fun. How are you doing, Danielle?” Leila asked.

“Great, Leila,” Danielle replied. “What is this game you’re talking about?” Danielle noticed that Leila had on a one-piece, jade colored jump suit that showed just how beautiful she was, and Eric stayed close to her. She had a moment of jealousy because of Tag’s former fixation on her, but she need not have worried. She was wearing a red, form-fitting top with a matching short skirt that that had every male in the game room staring at her, and Tag only had eyes for her.