New Markets - 02 (12 page)

Lance replied, “Huh, I missed those.  They shot me with one of those needle guns, but none pierced me.  Maybe those took him down.”

Agent Dunsworth collected the various weapons and set them on the counter.  “Boss, these aren’t normal weapons.  Bola rifles with custom electrical charges?  Needler pistols?  This guy has a paintball gun, want to bet these have something strong enough to drop a horse … or a super?”

Agent Willman studied the tiny dart in his hand and nodded.  He looked at Lance, “They were expecting one or more supers.”

Dunsworth set one of the canisters down on the counter.  “Want to bet this is a spray form of chloroform?  High potency?”

Willman nodded again.  “That must be what was in that cloud over there.  I noticed one of those canisters back on the other side.  We’ve also got cameras attached on the poles in here, and they don’t look like something left behind.  Tom!  Get a short ladder in here and get those down!”

Lance looked around at the poles.  He spotted six small cameras with a battery pack and a small antenna extruding from them.  They were focused at the entrances.  He said, “I don’t think those were there for internal security.  Someone else wanted to see what occurred here.”

Willman said, “I agree.  I don’t think this is the end of what is happening here.”

They heard groaning from off to the side, and saw Stephanie slowly sit up.  She winced and began stretching out her limbs.  Lance stepped over to her and knelt down.  “Hey, how you doing?”

She looked up at him.  “A bit tight, but generally okay.”  She looked around, taking in the sights of Rael, the downed kidnappers, and the F.B.I. agents searching the building.  Then she noticed Zena and smiled.  She began stretching her arms and legs.

She said, “We got her?”

Lance nodded, “Yeah, I found her in a back room, it had extra locks on it.”

She looked at Agent Willman, “So we’re done here?”

“We need statements from each of you, but the important thing is that Zena is safe, and we can get her checked out and back to her parents.  There’s more to this than just Zena, I’m thinking I’d like you to help us interrogate a few more of these kidnappers.”

“With Zena safe, is there a rush?  Can it be done mid or late afternoon?”

“Well, I suppose so.  Several of them need a doctor’s assistance before we’d do anything anyway.”

Stephanie looked at Lance.  “Good.  Spartan, will you handle any debriefing for me for now?  I’ll come down and see Zena later on when I can, and seek you out, Agent Willman.  Can I get your cell number, please?”

“Sure, here’s my card.”  He pulled out a business card and handed it to her.  “What’s the rush?”

“I’ve already missed a class, I can make the other one if I haul butt.”  She stepped up onto her air step and kissed Lance on the cheek, and then floated back down to the floor.  “Thanks for covering for me, and for finishing this.”

“Sure thing, St … Psystar.”

“I’ll call you later on, Agent Willman, I promise.  I just can’t afford to miss a lot.”

“We’re fine, we’ve got the details from Spartan here, give me a call when you get a chance.”

She quickly stepped out the garage door, and stepped off into the air, then quickly shot up and disappeared from sight.  They heard a boom a moment later.

Lance looked at Agent Willman and shrugged.  “Okay then.”

Agent Willman asked, “Was that a sonic boom?”

“I think so.”

“Wow, I wonder how she breathes at that speed.”

“The magic of superpowers.  I know that she can do it with a passenger being carried along, so it must be a field around her.”

“Hmph.  To be able to fly, read minds, and heal so fast.  That certainly would be useful.”

“There’s always a downside, Willman.  Look at my strength, yet that same strength causes me to damage things all the time.  Being a brick is getting expensive.”

“Hmm.  I suppose so.  She mentioned that she always hears what people think.  That could be annoying.”

“Yeah, she said a lot of people check her out continuously.  She joked the other day that she was glad she’s a little narcissistic.  She kept looking at herself whether she wanted to or not.”

“Now that would be annoying.”

“Sometimes.  At other times I think I’d appreciate the fact that so many people are either interested or like what they see that they keep looking at me.”

“Is that why you wear the costume like that?”

“You mean the skin tight, colorful costume?  It’s what super heroes do, isn’t it?  Since that’s my goal, I want to look the part.  I want everyone who sees me to know that if they need help, I’m here.”

“Hmm, interesting viewpoint.”

“What does your uniform say about you, Agent Willman?”

“It’s a business suit.”

“Right.  You don’t seek to stand out, except perhaps from the average person.  You want to look sharp, yet not proclaim what you do for people.  No one will look at you and cry for aid because it’s more a type of camouflage.  That’s not a bad thing, but it sends a different signal to people.”

“True.  I wouldn’t have realized a brick thought about things like that.”

Lance grinned, “I hope I’m full of surprises.”

Ambulances arrived and took away the injured kidnappers.  A paramedic performed a brief check on Zena and stated, “At a glance she appears to be doing well, though she's been drugged or sedated.  A doctor should do a full exam."

Agent Willman said, "Bring her to the hospital, I'll notify her parents and meet them there.  Dunsworth, stay with her."

"Sure thing, boss."

A man walked up to us, clearly heading for Lance.  He said, "I'm Agent Pierce of H.E.R.O.  Psystar called in a complete on a task?"

Lance held his hand out and shook Agent Pierce's hand.  He said, "I pushed complete on the task for her, she was late for a prior meeting, I told her I'd fill in her part."

Agent Pierce pushed a few buttons on his own H.E.R.O. phone and looked at Agent Willman.  “Was Psystar able to help with the kidnapping investigation?"

Agent Willman replied, "Yeah, not only with the interrogation, she captured and interrogated the perp that gave us the information, and then came here with Spartan and Black Tiger after the kidnappers and rescued the girl.  The ambulance is loading the girl up now."  He pointed outside the building at the ambulance.

"Was her participation in both captures core to them?"

Agent Willman looked thoughtful a moment, then said, "I'd say so.  Our tactical guys were in a standoff with the first kidnapper.  He had an automatic weapon, and we couldn't chance hurting him or even incapacitating him for fear that we'd be unable to question him.  She took him out, got injured pretty badly during the fight, too.  Could have worked a little better with our teams though."

"How did she help here, if she were badly injured?"

Lance said, "She heals extremely fast."

Agent Willman said, "That also occurred around 3 a.m."

Agent Pierce said, "So all three heroes apprehended the kidnappers here?"

Lance held up his hand.  "Agent Pierce, I want to make sure that any news attributes the F.B.I. with the rescue.  It was just the three of us that assaulted the building, but we agreed that we weren't here to steal their headlines."

"That's fine, Spartan.  We normally don't release much to the press, pretty much just your involvement if asked.  We don't give details."  He looked around at the old vehicle garage, so obviously unused for some time.  He spotted the weapons on the counter and walked over to them.

He said, "Hmm, did they use these on you?"

Lance said, "Yeah.  One of them killed their own partner when he took down Black Tiger with that bola, it lets out a massive shock."

"Silverlash disappeared this morning when she responded to a call at the scene of a new super – a brick with metal skin.  Witnesses mentioned an odd device shooting a weighted cable that hit her when she dropped.  The perps kidnapped her."

"Whoa!  They kidnapped a H.E.R.O. agent?"

"Yes.  We’ve recovered her phone, it looks like they threw it out at the scene.  I believe this tells us that there is an organization involved.  One that is obtaining weapons designed to take down heroes, and using agents likely with a military background."

"That really sucks, she’s a cool hero.  Can we be tagged as being notified of any news?  We'd like to help, and with Black Tiger's senses he might be able to track someone.  Or Psystar might be able to interrogate someone with telepathy."

"Excellent, I'll tag you on her file.  Agent Willman, is there anything else to add as far as the hero involvement goes?"

Agent Willman looked deep in thought for a few moments, and then slowly shook his head.  "No, we appreciate the help.  Psystar agreed to contact me later on to assist further with the case to see if we need to follow any leads deeper."

"That's great news.  I'm glad to hear of some heroes working well with the F.B.I., we could use more of that."

Agent Willman and Lance looked at each other a moment, then back at Agent Pierce.  Lance said, "Well, I hope we can do it more often."

Agent Pierce nodded and left the scene.

Lance looked back at Agent Willman.  "I mean that.  I'm hoping we can turn a, ah, rough start into something positive."

Agent Willman nodded, "I'm willing to try."

"Listen, if you ever get a situation where you are worried about the safety of your men, you're welcome to call me for help.  If I can get there fast I'll come.  If Psystar's around the chances are I'll be able to.  You keep any busts in your name, I don't care much.  Well, I do, I'd rather get news, too.  However, it’s more important to me to keep your guys safe."

"I'd like to avoid deaths in our busts, though.  You three ended up with a dead perp here."

"Yeah, that makes me mad, too.  None of us did the killing though, one of their own did that.  The other two injured guys might be injured, but they'll live."

"Good point."  He held his hand out to Lance, who carefully shook it.

From across the garage Agent Dimmer watched them through narrowed eyes.  Agent Willman's dealings with these mutant freaks was getting out of hand....

Chapter 6 – Back to College

Stephanie's Perspective

I couldn't believe we completed the attack on the kidnappers and rescued Zena just before my next class began. 
If I can make great time flying, I could get home, change, and make it to school right around class start.

I kissed Lance on the cheek and thanked him, then ran out of the old garage.  Without even stopping I stepped up on my "air step" and jabbed my knee up hard.  I really didn't want to miss a second class this morning.

I'd barely left the ground before hitting mach speed.  It was one of the fastest times getting to that speed yet. 
I wonder if they heard it, I was so close to the ground.  Glad I was headed up at the time.  Okay, I just need to get home, throw on a shirt and a skirt, grab my backpack, and haul butt to school.