Super: Origins (35 page)

“I know this may be considered rude, but as I mentioned I’m new in these circles, so I’d like to ask what your special talents are,” Lex said, continuing to watch the two of them.

Neither of them appeared to be bothered. Kate moved to speak first. “I can take on different characteristics of any animal I’ve closely observed.”

Lex looked at her for a moment, trying to absorb the implications. “Does your body change at all?”

“Not usually. Well, not much, anyway. But, for example, if I’m mimicking something with strong claws my own fingernails sometimes get much stronger and then I can use them like claws.”

“Excellent! OK, I know this is probably a stupid question, but can you fly?”

Kate sighed, but didn’t look annoyed. “No, I’d actually need wings to do it.”

“Sorry, I had to ask. Can you crawl around on walls like a gecko?”

“That I can do,” said Kate with a smile.

“That's really cool. I wish I could do that. Can you get a lot stronger?”

“Definitely.”

Lex just stood for a moment, looking into the middle distance and digesting what she’d just learned. Finally, she nodded and turned to Victor, the question in her eyes.

“I’m an inventor,” he said without further explanation. Lex smiled, realizing what he’d just said had been the most he’d said so far, and began to question him to get more information.

“What did you bring along today?” she asked. “Anything that you can use to fly with, or that’s good against fire and smoke?”

“I did bring my flying equipment,” he said with a nod.

“Can you carry someone with you when you’re flying?”

“I did once. It seemed to work, but I’d want to test it a few more times before carrying anyone else.”

“OK,” Lex said, her thoughts falling into place. “That sounds like a good idea, but could you wait a little bit? I want to talk to the firefighters about borrowing some gear– “

“What do you need?” Kate interrupted as she gestured with her head at the van behind her, a sly smile on her face.

“Do you have any self-contained breathing masks like firefighters wear?” Lex asked excitedly, grinning back at the other woman.

Kate nodded and headed into the van, gesturing for Lex to come with her. Lex followed the other woman, stopping by what looked like an equipment chest, and stood back as Kate began rummaging through it. Lex raised an eyebrow as she looked around both at the extensive equipment the Alpha team carried and the spacious, finished look of their van, compared to the rather utilitarian one she’d arrived in.

A moment later, Kate stood back up with breathing masks in hand. “How many do you think we’ll need?” she asked.

“If you have four, that would be perfect,” Lex said, now smiling from ear to ear.

“Yeah, it actually looks like we have more than that, which is good, because that means we have extra air.”

“Excellent! Can you get them and bring them to where my teammates are standing in front of our van in five minutes or so? I want everyone to meet so that we can discuss the plan. If you want to give me some, I can carry them over now.”

Kate shrugged. “No, we’ll bring them over for you, and the extra air, too. See you in five.”

“See you then!”

Lex bolted out of the Alpha team’s van, smiled at Victor as Kate leaned out to call to him, and nearly ran over to the van she’d arrived in. Serena was leaning against it looking bored, watching the sun as it threatened to appear over one of the nearby buildings.

“Serena! I’m tired of sitting here waiting, and I’ve got some ideas about what we can do to help get the people up there out of the building. I have to tell you, though, what I have in mind will test your abilities to the utmost and will probably mean you being felt up by a number of strangers. Are you game?”

Serena glanced over at Lex with a raised eyebrow and smiled wickedly. “You sweet talker, you. Sounds like fun; count me in.”

“OK, we’ll be meeting here in a few minutes. Let me go get everyone else.”

Lex leaned into the M Agency van, caught Riss’ eye, and nodded. The other woman nodded in return and Lex could see her rearranging her laptops as she got ready to get up. Turning around, Lex walked a few feet to where Joan still leaned against a tree.

“Joan, those of us without an assignment are going to meet to talk about a few things. Could you join us, please?”

Joan didn’t answer, but rose to a standing position and followed Lex over to where Serena and now Riss were standing. Lex looked over with a smile to see Kate and Victor heading in their direction with breathing gear and air tanks. They left them in a pile on the grass a short distance away and joined the group. Lex waited until everyone had gathered in a close circle before speaking.

“OK,” Lex began, “just in case everyone doesn't already know each other, this is Victor and Kate from the Alpha team. Kate, Victor, these are my teammates Joan, Serena, and Riss.”

Everyone exchanged glances and nods along with some handshakes, and then looked back at Lex. She took a deep breath, fighting the urge to cough due to the amount of acrid smoke in the air, and continued.

“All right. I realize that George–”

“Who's that?” asked Serena, squinting in confusion at Lex.

“George is the Alpha team captain. Anyway, I realize that he and Casey are busy trying to get people out of the building, but I was thinking that there’s no plan for us. I don't want to take anything away from what they're doing, but I thought that since the medics seem to have handling the injured well under control that we could do something to support what Casey and George are up to. Is everyone interested?”

Lex looked around the circle, happy to see that everyone looked intrigued. The only one she hadn’t been certain about had been Joan, but to her surprise, Joan nodded in agreement. Sighing in relief, Lex went on.

“Speak up with suggestions at any time, but what I was thinking is this: Victor and Joan, since you two can fly and it sounds like you should be able to carry people with you, I figured you could start taking people off the roof. It looks like there are only a couple of places where the flames are shooting up over the roofline, so you could just avoid those areas when you carry people down to the ground. Does that sound good?”

Joan shrugged while Victor nodded, smiling a bit.

“Joan, Victor was going to do some tests beforehand to be sure he can carry people safely with the equipment he brought, so you can join him, if you think you need to,” Lex continued.

Joan shook her head. “No. My suit was designed to be able to do things like that, so it shouldn't be a problem.”

“OK. Do you know how much power you have? Especially related to how long you can fly?”

“I'm not sure. Clara might know. I do know that I'll get warnings if my power starts to get low.”

“Do you know how it works? Can I ask for more batteries or rocket fuel, or whatever else it uses to be brought for spares if your power gets depleted?”

Joan looked at Lex for a moment. Although she could only see a blank faceplate, Lex got the impression Joan hadn’t liked what she’d asked. “It's classified. Talk to Clara and see what she says. At any rate, I should be able to fly and carry people for at least a couple of hours.”

Lex nodded, and then looked at Victor. “Do you have spare fuel for your equipment, or could you request that more be brought?”

He shook his head. “No, but I should be able to go for a few hours on what I have.”

“All right,” Lex continued, turning towards Serena, “I remember that you're able to get to the 22nd floor, right?”

“Right, shouldn't be a problem,” Serena said, showing confidence in the set of her shoulders.

“Can you go to a central location, say the elevators, or can you just get to Seth's old apartment?”

“Let's find out,” said Serena with a sly grin, and then vanished.

Lex started, then her shoulders slumped. “Crap. I didn't mean right now,” she said to no one in particular, worried about Serena’s safety, but then brightened as her friend reappeared. She smelled strongly of chemical-laden smoke and burning wires, and she began coughing.

“It's nasty smelling in there!”

“I didn't want you to go in without a mask,” said Lex, trying to hide a smile. “So, could you get to a central location?”

Serena shrugged. “I showed up in Seth's old apartment. The new tenants have pretty bad taste in interior decorating, but they did leave the door open. I could see the elevators from there, so I should be able to go there now.”

“Excellent. I know you can take people along with you when you travel. Do you know what your limit is?”

Thinking it over, Serena shrugged. “I'm not sure. The most I've even taken before was three people, but it didn't seem like much of a stretch.”

“Then that's the first thing we'll test. Were there any people on that floor?”

“There did seem to be some out in the hall, but they didn't pay me any attention.”

“We'll start there, then. Kate, you and I are going to provide security for Serena when she first starts, and anytime afterwards when the crowd starts to get too crazy. Sound all right?”

Kate replied, “Yeah. Way better than sitting around and doing nothing.”

Lex turned to Riss next. “Riss, please keep trying to find out the number of people who live in the building, and see if you can find anything out from Clara about whether we can get additional supplies for Joan's suit so she can continue flying. If any of the rest of you can think of any information we need, please let Riss know, since she's the best person to get it. OK, Riss?”

Riss nodded, looking out at the others, then at Lex. “All right,” Lex continued, “after we've successfully moved some people off the roof and the 22nd floor, I'm going to ask the fire department to use their loudspeakers to ask anyone trapped on the upper floors to move to the closest of those two locations for pickup. If Serena runs out of people on the 22nd, Joan or Victor can bring her up to the roof so that all three of them can continue with the rescue, for as long as the fuel lasts, anyway. Kate and I can step in at any time for crowd control. Does that sound like a good plan?”

Lex looked around the circle, noting that everyone seemed to be in agreement. “Does anyone have anything else to suggest?” she asked.

“Yes,” Victor spoke up. “Do we have communicators to stay in touch in case of unexpected situations?”

Lex nodded. “Good idea. I'll find out. Everyone, please think for a few minutes and let me know if you come up with any other ideas when I get back.”

She stepped over to the M Agency van to speak to Clara but didn't immediately see her when she poked her head in. Climbing into the van, Lex finally spotted Clara near the back. The other woman turned and moved in her direction, then gave her a handful of squishy, sticky things. Lex untangled one and saw that it was an earpiece with a short extension that stuck to the cheek along the jaw bone.

“There are enough for you, Serena, Riss, and the two Alpha team members you're talking with. I'll be monitoring the channel, as well. Don't worry about Joan; she has communications built into her suit.”

“Thanks,” Lex replied as she climbed back out of the van. Then she handed the equipment to her team members who needed it and showed them how to put it on.

“All right, we'll be able to be in touch, as well. Did anyone come up with anything else?”

There were no further new ideas, so Lex nodded. “Is everyone ready to start?” Looking around the circle showed only positive expressions, so Lex continued. “Let's begin, then. Victor, let us know when you've finished your tests to give Joan a heads-up as to when you'll join her. Both of you let everyone know in case you run into anything strange.”

Lex, Serena, and Kate watched as Joan and Victor left and Riss went back inside the M Agency van, then Lex turned to her two companions again. She began to speak, and then stopped as she saw Casey come out of the building carrying a few children. “Give me a minute,” she finally said, grabbing some breathing gear and running in the larger woman's direction.

“Casey!”

Stopping and turning at Lex's yell, Casey looked at her. Lex thought that Casey appeared tired, charred, and visibly upset. She made a mental note to ask Casey afterwards about what had been bothering her, then stopped in front of her friend and handed over the breathing equipment and a communicator.

“Here, put these on. There are extra air tanks by our van. You'll hear some people besides me on this channel. We're going to be assisting you with the rescue, and we're planning to ask the firefighters to signal the people in the building to move to either the roof or the 22nd floor soon, just so you know. Let us know if you run into anything out of the ordinary or have any problems.”

Casey smiled at Lex, still seeming out of sorts, but glad for the support. “Thanks. I'll be listening.”

Lex smiled and ran back to the M Agency van. After ducking inside to get another communicator, since she’d given her own to Casey, she came back to Serena and Kate.

“Give me a minute to put myself together, and then let's go in,” Lex said, continuing to speak as she put on her communicator and mask. “Serena, I was thinking we could start you with five people, and then try to go up from there in increments of five until you reach what seems to be a working limit. What I mean by that is something you can probably keep up with for hours.”

Serena nodded and gave an excited smile. “Sounds good. Let's try it out.” She reached out for Lex and Kate, both of whom nodded back and hung on.

Suddenly, the three of them had appeared in a long carpeted hallway in front of some elevator doors. Perhaps a foot of smoke hung near the ceiling. They couldn't see any flames from where they stood, but a crackling sound seemed to permeate the air, as well as frequent creaking and crumbling sounds as things within the building walls settled or gave way. Some people had been wandering aimlessly in the hallway, and some had been sitting or lying on the ground as if in shock. Now, everyone that could still move had focused on the three women who’d showed up. Lex, sensing that odd stillness just before a mass of movement, took a deep breath and slipped the breathing mask off her face.