Powerless (Book 1): Powerless (29 page)

“Ericson
it’s
your
job
to
check
in,
not
my
job
to
ask,
over...”

Again
Ericson
murmured,
“Yeah,
yeah,
yeah…”

Lee
composed
himself
and
reached
his
hand
slowly
across
his
belt
and
removed
the
tranquiliser
gun
from
where
it
was
sitting
on
his
belt.
Taking
it
up
to
his
chest
and
pausing
for
focus
, he took
a
few
slow
deep
breaths.

Beginning
to
position
himself
to
neutralise
any
threat
posed
by
guard,
he got
to
his
feet
while
remaining
crouched
and
hidden
behind
Ericson.
Raising
his
body
up
over
the
desk,
gripping
and
stretching
out
the
gun
in
front
of
him,
he
held
Ericson
in
his
sights
and
slowly
pulled
down
on
the
hammer.
As
he
did
this
the
TV
fell
silent
in
a
lull
of
activity
and
the
noise
was
plain
for
Ericson
to
hear.

Spinning
around
in
the
chair
he
was
sitting
in
he
saw
a
startled
Lee
looking
back
at
him.
Lee
fired
one
round
straight
at
him,
thinking
there
was
ample
time
to
hit
him
before
he
could
react.

To
Lee’s
confusion
all
he
hit
was
an
empty
chair
and
Ericson
was
nowhere
to
be
seen.
A
flabbergasted
Lee
stood
up
and
looked
down
over
the
desk
to
see
if
Ericson
had
sought
coverage
behind
the
chair,
he
had
not.
Lee
instantly
grabbed
the
radio
from
off
the
desk
and
slipped
it
into
his
pocket,
and
turned
around
to
search
the
area
to
see
where
Ericson
went.
As
he
turned
around
he
found
Ericson
standing
in
front
of
him
with
a
menacing
look
in
his
eyes
. He quickly
surmised
that
Ericson
had
one
of
three
abilities. Either
Ericson
was
a
teleporter,
had
the
gift
of
speed
or
he
could
turn
invisible.
Quickly
Lee ruled
out
invisibility,
as
the
dart
he
fired
at
him
would
have
still
hit
him
even
if
he
had
been
able
to
bend
light
around
his
body.
So
he
was
either
a
teleporter,
which
was
very
rare
or
possessed
the
capability
of
speed.

Ericson
just
stood
there
and
waited
for
Lee
to
make
his
move.
He raised
the
tranquiliser
gun
from
his
hip,
but
by
the
time
he
raised
it
to
shoulder
level
an
immense
impact
landed
on
the
side
of
his
face
and
he
fell
to
the
ground.
Stunned
he
looked
up
again
at
Ericson
who
was
in
the
exact
same
position.
Ericson
smirked
back
at
Lee
and
simply
stated,
“Faster
than
a
speeding bullet,
and
certainly
faster
than
you...”

No
sooner
had
the
words
reached
Lee’s
ears
than
yet
another
tremendous
blow
impacted
on
his
face.
This
time
Lee
was
left
dazed
by
the
blow
and
looking
onto
the
ground
below
him
he
saw
a
steady
stream
of
blood
flow
from
his
face.

Tom
had
been
watching
these
events
unfold
from
inside
his
cell
and
as
soon
as
he
saw
that
Lee
was
in
trouble
he
stood
back
from
the
door,
clenched
his
fists
and
with
a
grimace
upon
his
face
he
planted
his
right
foot
on
the
ground.
He
leaned
back,
raised
his
left
foot
and
with
all
his
might
kicked
the
steel
door
that
was
in
front
of
him.
With
one
colossal
wallop
he
kicked
the
steel
door
clean
off
the
wall
,
taking
a
large
chunk
out
of
the
wall
as
well.

He
stuck
his
head
out
through
the
door
and
Ericson
was
quick
to
stick
it
back
in
by
landing
a
blow
square
on
his
chin.
But
as
the
strike
landed
and
Ericson
went
to
move
away
from
him,
Tom
gripped
him
by
his
arm
and
as
soon
as
Tom’s
fist
closed
around
Ericson’s
wrist
there
was
nowhere
for
Ericson
to
go.
Tom
pulled
back
his
arm
to
hit
Ericson
a
blow
with
all
his
strength
that
would
surely
kill
him. Seeing
this
Lee
quickly pulled
up
the
tranquiliser
gun
and
fired
a
dart
into
Ericson’s
neck.
This
stopped
Tom
from
killing
him,
as
Lee
feared
the
act
would
steal
a
little
bit
of
his
brother’s
humanity.

Before
Ericson
passed
out
Lee
whispered
in
his
ear,
“You
are
fast,
but
not
fast
enough…”

Tom
stood
up
and
turned
to
his
brother
in
utter
disbelief,
grabbed
hold
of
him
and
embraced
him.
Tom
released
him
from
his
grasp
and
exclaimed
worriedly,
“How
are
you
here?
How
did
you
find
me?”