Broken (21 page)

"Okay," he said finally. "You were nice to me, and I don’t think Wayne is going to care."

"Nah," Michael said. Banner opened the door, and Monica, holding Ian, sprinted out, making sure to keep Michael and Broken between her and Banner.

"Thanks," Michael said, putting out a hand. Banner shook it. "Hey, when you’re on board the hopper, remember, don’t arm the bomb until it’s in the air. Okay?"

Banner smiled. "I always had trouble with that in training. Thanks."

"No problem. You can sound the alarm whenever you like. Let’s go."

Banner sat back down in his chair and waved as they ascended the staircase. "Goddamn, that was easy," Michael exhaled.

"Never easy," Broken reminded him, shaking her head. Overhead, they could hear the whine of a hopper’s engines.

They burst through the door into an empty room. Everyone had rushed outside at the sound of the incoming aircraft. Broken still had her pistol; she checked the clip and held it at the ready.

Michael led the way. He poked his head out  the front door of the cabin. A gray, beat-up hopper settled gingerly onto the lawn. The anarchists had already been tied to the tree; their weapons were in the hands of the American Liberation Army and the UNP women, who had begun to climb into the hulking hopper.

"We can sneak away," Michael said, grateful for the convenient distraction. "They won’t see." They trotted lightly away from the house. They were halfway to the forest edge when Ian decided  to let out an ear-piercing shriek.

Crap.

All heads turned their way. "Hey!" Michael could hear Wayne shout.

A white-hot bolt sizzled past him, detonating at the treeline. Several sharp cracks followed.

"Stop!" called Wayne. "I won’t miss next time!"

They froze. Wayne had already covered most of the ground between them, running full tilt. The plasma rifle he was carrying was trained on Michael.

"Fucking ungrateful son of a bitch!" Wayne screamed. "I take you in and
feed
you, and you
run away!
" He slowed to a trot and carefully aimed the plasma rifle. "You’re dead. Got anything to say before you become a cinder?"

Michael had never seen this moment before.

Broken’s head jerked up. Her mouth formed an ‘O’.

"Wayne!" several of his comrades were calling, panic in their voices. "Wayne! Come back! Hey!"

Wayne looked up at the sky and started back. "Oh, fucking shit!" he said, eyes wide. He took off at a dead run towards the hopper.

Michael scanned the vast blue sky, squinting against the weak winter sunlight.

He finally made out what they had seen. A man, flying without any vehicle, bearing straight towards them.

"Sky Ranger," he breathed.

Someone grabbed his arm. He turned to find Broken staring, horrified, up at the approaching figure.

"Oh, no," she whispered. "No, no. No. Please."

"Come on," Michael urged. "The woods. He can’t see us there."

"No ," Broken said, her voice shaking. "He always finds who he’s looking for."

"Run
anyway
," said Michael , pulling her.

 Monica clutched Ian. "Oh, Jesus, I see him," she wailed. "Let’s go!"

"No," murmured Broken. "I’m staying." She walked forward.

"B!" Monica called.

"Come on!" Michael made up his mind, grabbing Monica and bolting towards the woods.

The trees were getting closer. He felt like his lungs would burst. Monica clung to his hand with the arm that wasn't cradling Ian.

A
whoosh
of air almost knocked them down. When they managed to look up, a huge, powerfully built man, black cape swirling around him, blocked their path. Under the cape, he wore the uniform of a Black Bands commander.

"Your government needs that baby," he said, pointing a gloved finger at Ian.

Monica held him close, falling to her knees.

"No," said Michael . "You’ll turn him into a monster."

"You don’t understand, son," Sky Ranger said, not unkindly, "He’s special. He can do great things. He can be such a boon to humanity. He’ll be our strength."

"I know that," Michael told him. "He’s going to save humanity from
you
."

Sky Ranger shook his head. "I don’t have time for this. I need to take him now. I won’t hurt you, and I don't need you. You're free to go."

"Maybe… maybe you should go away," interrupted Broken, walking forward. Her face had a strange expression on it, glazed and faraway, as if she was looking at a different scene entirely.

 "Go away," he commanded, barely glancing at her. "This doesn’t concern you."

"Little Hawk," she whispered. "It does."

Sky Ranger’s eyes grew wide as he took her in. After a long moment, he began, "You,... and broke off, studying her intently.

 She stood there, subjecting herself to his scrutiny, her face unreadable.

 Sky Ranger forced a smile. "Hey… so it
was
you! Silverwyng."

Broken looked stricken. "Yeah," she managed. "I don’t go by that name anymore."

"I’ve missed you. Did you know that?"

A light gleamed in her eyes. "…Really?"

"Of course! We all did. It was terrible. First Crim died, then you vanished, then Lucky left… Do you remember?"

She nodded, speechless.

"You shouldn’t have gone, Sil. You should come home to the Tower. Come back with me now."

"No. I don’t think I want to…"

"Well, you have to," he said, voice low and persuasive, almost beguiling. Michael himself wanted to do what he said, go where the imposing man commanded. "You’re in violation of the law, sweetheart. Both of you are." He glanced at Michael. "You’re a Prescient, I’ve heard."

"I’m a what?" Michael asked, stunned. "Broken…"

"Is that what you’re calling yourself? ‘Broken’?" Sky Ranger laughed. "Sil, you’re not broken."

"I can’t fly," she said, close to tears. "I used to be able to fly."

"I bet Doc can help. He’s still there, you know. He was so worried when you left, and then Lucky went away not long after. Were you with her?"

Broken looked at the ground. "Jane’s dead."

"Oh." Sky Ranger sighed. "I see. Look... I have to take the baby. And you, Sil, you can come with me, too."

"Um," Broken stammered, torn. "I…"

Michael looked at Sky Ranger, and saw cold calculation behind his bright eyes and loving smile. He opened his mouth to speak, but the leader of the Union beat him to it.

"Sil.” He reached out to her. "Come back to me. Fly with me again."

She looked into his ice-blue eyes, and walked to him, as if in a trance. He took her arms.

"You’ll come home with me," he said softly. "You were always welcome to come home."

Michael shook his head. "This isn’t fair," he said simply. "Broken…"

She detached herself. "I’m sorry. Michael, I’m sorry. I want to go home. I… I’m sorry." She gently took Ian from Monica’s arms.

 "Don’t listen to him, Broken," Michael warned, but he knew it was too late.

"Traitor," Monica hissed.

"Sorry," Broken repeated. Ian wiggled, but did not cry. He trusted Broken. She carried him to Sky Ranger’s waiting arms. He cradled the child in one arm and took her in the other, then, with visible effort, lifted himself off the ground.

"Hold on," he told her.

"Broken!" Michael called desperately.

She didn’t look at him. Instead, she looked across the sloping lawn at the hopper, still idling and ready for takeoff. The American Liberation Army had fled inside it, hoping not to be noticed.

 "Goodbye," she called, still not looking at Michael. Instead, she gazed up into Sky Ranger’s handsome face. He smiled down at her.

"You did the right thing," he said. "Good for you."

He lifted up into the air, and moved off towards the east.

"No!" cried Michael. "No! Come back!"

Broken looked back at him as Sky Ranger sped into the distance… and, finally, he saw what she was planning.

Monica was crying. "How could she? I don’t understand!"

Michael looked around wildly. There, far across the lawn, the hopper still idled. He ran towards it, waving his arms and shouting.

"Hey!" he called. "Hey! Open up!"

A hatch popped open. Wayne, Parker, Banner, Kent and the others glared at him, weapons pointed at his head.

"Fuck off," Kent said.

"Please, you need to help," Michael said. "That baby is the best chance we have for the future. He’s the only one who can take Peltan down. Please! Please, help me!"

Monica ran up behind him, wheezing.

"We’re going to Australia," Wayne said, voice shaking a little. The close encounter with Sky Ranger had rattled him.

"To do what? Die? No one will remember you when you spill your blood out on the sands,
no one
. It won’t matter. You help me save Ian, you’ll have saved the entire fucking world." Michael stared defiantly at them. "Please," he said again. "Please."

They looked at each other hesitantly. "I don’t know," said one of the UNP women.

"Yeah," agreed another. "This is stupid. We should go."

Michael pointed. "
They’re
planning to run away the first chance they get. Don’t trust ‘em."

"You rat!" said one of the women.

Wayne glared at them. "Is that true?"
Their leader pulled a pistol and pointed it at Wayne's men. "Shitheads." She and her compatriots carefully backed out of the hopper and were gone.

Wayne turned to Michael. "You’re sure about the kid?"

"Yes!" Michael pleaded. "They’re getting away! We don’t have much time!"

"What is it?" demanded Monica. "What’s happening?"

"Broken is planning something. We have to go
now
, though, or it won’t work."

Wayne looked at his troops.

"We should," Banner said. "It’s the right thing to do."

"Damnit, Banner, you—" Wayne cursed. "So fucking naïve!" But he was smiling. "All right!" he yelled. "Lift the fuck off!
Let’s bring down Sky Ranger!
"

He ran to the cockpit and strapped himself in. With a sickening lurch, the hopper leapt into the sky.

"Towards the city," Michael instructed.

"Yahooo!" shrieked Wayne as the hopper sped off in hot pursuit.

* * *

The wind whipped through her hair, the cold breeze chilled her face and hands… Sky Ranger’s strong arm was wrapped solidly around her.

"Hey," she called, the air carrying her words away. "Hey!" She looked up at him.

"Hold tight," he said, grimacing.

"I’ve missed you," she said.

"Yeah."

"Did you really miss me?"

"Sure."

She struggled with herself, plans coming and going. "Well… if that’s true… why didn’t you ever come looking for me?"

"Can we talk about this later?" he grunted. "It isn’t easy to do this."

"It was for me," she said. He pretended not to hear.

She had carried him, when they made love in the sky. He lost control, and she held both of them up. She did it without thought, without effort.

"
Did
you come looking for me?"

"Well, sure. But you were hard to find."

"How did you find us this time?" she asked.

He said nothing.

* * *

"Hey, I see them!" Parker pointed. A little speck floated off in the distance, zipping towards New York City.

"Yeah, that’s gotta be them," Kent said, clutching his rifle to his chest. "We’re gaining."

"Where’d you get this thing?" Michael asked.

Wayne laughed, high and shrill. "Kent
stole
it from a
hospital!
" He giggled uncontrollably.

* * *

"What are you going to do with the baby?" she asked.

"Huh?" Sky Ranger seemed incredibly distracted.

"The baby. Is he coming to live with us?"

Sky Ranger shook his head.

"I have to take him to Australia. Orders." He sighed. "You don’t need to know about that."

"Okay," she said.

Below, she spied the coastline, and the sea…

The sea.

She looked at Ian’s huge black eyes. He stared back at her, and she saw the future reflected there.

She glanced back. A small dot showed against the sky. A hopper?

The sea
.
A tide pool…

Memory seared her, leaving foresight behind.

Sky Ranger never loved her. He never would. He’d lock her in the Tower for the rest of her life. She’d never be free again.