The Ascension: A Super Human Clash (30 page)

 

Abby felt Solomon Cord's hand on her shoulder.

“That's enough. She's out cold.”

Abby let go of Amandine Paquette's head and sat up straight. She had lost count somewhere around ten, when the metal floor of the dormitory began to buckle.

What have I done? I could have killed her!

Cord pulled at her arm. “Come on, Abby. Her people will be here for her soon. We need to find the others, figure a way out of this place before the missiles hit.”

They left Paquette's unconscious and bleeding body behind, and made their way back through the dark corridors.

“You OK?” Cord asked.

“Ask me later, when I've stopped shaking.” She looked back. “The teleporter—we were going to the roof to find a way in.”

“Forget it. It'll be destroyed along with the rest of the base.”

“How much time do we have?”

“I don't know. Not much.”

Abby jumped when a voice boomed out all around them. “Hello, hello? Testing, testing…”

“That sounds like
Lance
,” Cord said.

“Hello!” the voice called again. “This is Radio Lance. This next song is dedicated to all you surviving Praetorian lackeys. You're all stupid, ugly morons, and you smell like week-old barf. Thank you, that is all.”

Abby couldn't help laughing. “That guy…”

“Yeah, he's something else,” Cord said.

Lance's voice came again. “Oh, and if any of my friends are still alive, we're having a little get-together in Mr. Remington's office. Me and Josh are already here. Nothing formal, just come as you are. And you might like to know that we have control of the teleporter and we have a really cool plan. Trust me, you're not going to want to miss this.”

 

Outside the base, Brawn stopped in mid-run, turned back to Roz. “Did you hear something?”

“No. Keep going!”

“I just…” He stopped and looked up. “Aw, bats on a bike! Now the Unity guys are joining the party!”

Overhead, swarms of mismatched copters—troop carriers and gunships—were closing in, forming into what Roz was sure was an attack pattern.

Brawn sighed. “A last-minute rescue would be really useful right about now.”

Then a voice right beside them said, “Well, I'll do what I can.”

Brawn and Roz looked at each other.

“Thunder? Is that you?” Roz asked.

“The one and only. Keep watching the skies.”

They looked.

To the north a cluster of eight Unity copters bucked and swayed as though they'd been struck by a sudden and powerful crosswind.

The same force struck the other squadrons approaching from the other directions: Slowly but steadily the aircraft were pushed back.

Roz could hear their engines whining as they struggled against the invisible force, but it was irresistible: The circle of copters steadily expanded.

“Would you look at that?” Thunder's voice said. “Didn't even scratch the paintwork. I've tried talking to them, but they're not listening. But that should buy us some time.”

“Nice work, Jim!” Brawn said.

“It's James, not Jim. Just get inside. I heard Lance say that he has control of the teleporter. He can program it to send us somewhere safe.”

“Where are
you
?”

“North side of the base. The way Abby and I came in earlier. There's a heck of a lot of wounded Praetorians here.”

Roz and Brawn rushed through the main doors—Brawn had to crawl on his hands and knees to fit through—and soon spotted Abby and Solomon Cord running toward them.

“We've been following James's voice,” Abby said. “Are you all right?”

“Where's Suzanne?” Cord asked. “Daedalus?”

“They're dead,” Brawn said. “Krodin killed them. All that time we fought, he must have been just toying with us.”

James's voice said, “He's heading right for you. Lance? You got that teleporter operating yet?”

They heard Lance's voice next: “Uh…Hello? That you, Thunder? Where have you been?”

“The teleporter, you idiot!” Brawn roared. “Get us out of here!”

“Bit of a change of plans, guys,” Lance said. “Only…We kinda need Krodin to not be here. He needs to be…let's see…about two miles directly to the south. There's a nice big swampy area with none of the Unity guys in it. Can anyone think of a way to make that happen?”

 

“I'll do it,” James said. He drifted back out through the hole he'd blasted in the dormitory wall earlier, taking care not to bash his broken leg.

The pain was still agonizing, and it was taking almost all of his strength to keep from passing out.

“I have to do
everything
around here,” he muttered.

Then he heard Lance say, “You do know you're still broadcasting, right?”

To his right he could hear Krodin's running footsteps, the steady beating of his powerful heart. He could also hear Krodin shouting orders into his communicator, demanding to know where his missiles were.

James rose over the building, turned toward Krodin. He directed his voice so that it would appear right in front of the Fifth King. “I don't know what Lance has planned, but I'm guessing you're not going to like it much.”

He lowered himself into a sitting position on the edge of the roof and took a moment to focus.

Then he let loose with the most powerful shock wave he could generate.

The blast threw Krodin a hundred feet into the air.

Before he could fall back, James hit him again, knocking the Fifth King on a high arc that carried him out of sight, on a southern trajectory.

James directed his voice back inside the building. “That's never going to work on him again, you know.”

Lance replied: “We're never going to
need
it again. Keep watching. Josh? Hit it!”

Something appeared in the sky to the south, something so large that for a moment James couldn't fathom it: a roughly spherical rock, but bigger than any rock he'd ever seen before.
If it's two miles away…Good Lord, it's got to be half a mile across!

The rock crashed down and it felt like the whole world was trembling.

The shock wave rippled out from the fallen rock, scattering the fleet of Unity copters, sending thousands of tons of dirt and water into the air.

“Splat!” Lance said, laughing.

James was still staring at it a minute later when he heard the voices of Roz, Abby, and Brawn at the base's main entrance. He slipped down from the roof and drifted in their direction.

He arrived just as a ten-year-old boy came running out through the entrance and skidded to a stop beside Roz. “Oh, that is the coolest thing
ever
!”

The enormous rock protruded above the treetops, the dense cloud of dust and water slowly settling around it.

Roz took the boy's hand. “Josh, what…What is that?”

But Josh was laughing too hard to speak.

James dropped down next to him. “What did you
do
?”

Josh contained his laughter long enough to say, “We used the teleporter.
That…”
Josh pointed to the enormous rock. “That's an asteroid.”

JAMES DRIFTED ALONG the corridor, floating a few inches off the ground so that he didn't have to put any weight on his broken leg.

He found the small office and saw Lance sitting back in the swivel chair with his hands laced behind his head. Remington was standing next to Lance, looking nervous.

“Saved the day again,” Lance said.

James laughed. “You dropped an asteroid on him.”

“Yep.”

“An asteroid.”

Lance grinned. “Sure did.”

“But…” James shook his head. “Man, you're something else.”

“Yep.”

“He's not dead,” Remington said. “He can't
be
killed.”

“I know,” Lance said. “But that'll keep him busy for a long time. He's strong, but it'll take him years and years to pound his way out through a half-mile-wide asteroid.” He straightened up and pointed to the screen. “Look, we picked a heavy one too. It has a nickel-iron core. Probably worth a few bucks.” He turned away from the screen. “You look like you lost a fight with…well, everyone.”

“It's been a crazy couple of days, that's for sure.”

“I hear your real name is James.”

James glanced at Remington. “Oh great. Tell everybody.”

“And I notice that your legs no longer go all the way to the ground.”

“Yeah. Broke my leg when Brawn threw me. But I can fly now, which is handy. So. Slaughter was here. That must have been weird for you.”

Lance stood up. “She…What do you mean ‘was'? Don't tell me she escaped!”

“She's dead, Lance. He killed her. In the end, one punch was all it took. Same for Daedalus. Krodin was toying with them the whole time.”

“Oh man…She didn't deserve that. She wasn't Slaughter, you know. Not here. When I first saw her…You heard about my folks?”

“Yeah. But they're alive in this reality, right?”

“They are. And I'm probably grounded again.”

“Who isn't?”

Lance beckoned to Remington. “Follow.”

They left the office and soon found the others in the corridor.

They were all covered in dust and grime, scratches and bruises. Brawn was crouched next to Max Dalton, his massive blue hand holding Max upright. “He's broken a few ribs,” Brawn said, “but, sadly, he's going to make it.”

James turned to Remington. “I remember you. In our reality you were a soldier. You practically tortured me and Lance. Try anything and you'll spend the rest of your life believing that you're falling. Understand?”

He nodded. “Yeah. Look, I was only following orders! I had to—”

James threw a cocoon of silence around him. “I don't think we need to hear his excuses.”

“Thunder, what about the fleet?” Roz asked.

“They're panicking,” James said. “They're not sure what's going on. They've been called back. Unity's sending a bunch of bigwigs in to talk to whoever's in charge.” He looked around. “Um…Which one of us
is
in charge?”

Lance raised his hand. “Oh! Oh! Me! I'd be
brilliant
at being in charge!”

“Not a chance,” Max began. “I…” He stopped when he saw that everyone was glaring at him.

“Looks like it's you, Thunder,” Cord said. “Because there's no way I'm doing it.” He turned to Lance. “An asteroid.” He raised his eyes. “Man, that's going to take some explaining.”

“To whom?” James asked. “With Krodin gone the country's power structure has been completely wiped out. It'll be years before everything's back to normal.”

His voice weak, Max Dalton said, “We need an interim government. We can't just dismantle everything at once—the country would fall into chaos. I hate to say it, but for now it might be best to leave the Praetorians in power. Just until we can reestablish the democratic process.”

Lance said, “Tch! Politics is so boring!” and walked away.

Abby limped after him. “Wait up!”

James felt a slight twinge in his chest as he watched Abby put her arm around Lance's shoulders.
Doesn't mean anything
, he tried to reassure himself.
He's just holding her up.

Cord said, “Krodin will get out from under that asteroid. And it won't take long. He'll dig. It might only be a matter of months. We need to set up something to monitor his progress. And we need a plan. A way to get rid of him once and for all. Anyone got any ideas?”

They looked around at each other.

After a long moment, James said, “So it's not over? We're going to be fighting Krodin again and again? I can't accept that. There has to be a solution.”

 

Lance lowered Abby into the chair in the small office. “So
that's
it? That's your big secret?”

“Well, yeah.”

“It's not a big deal. I'm cool with it.” He leaned back against the desk. “Listen, I…I have an idea for getting rid of Krodin. It'll work—it
should
work—but…There's a price, and I'm not sure I'm willing to pay it.”

“What is it?”

He shook his head. “No, I'm not going to tell you. You might try to talk me out of it. But you trust me, don't you?”

“Of course.”

Lance felt tears welling up in his eyes and angrily brushed them away. “OK then. Go…” He sniffed. “Go back out into the corridor and wait with the others, OK? And send Remington in. I need him.”

“Lance…What are you planning?”

“It really is better if you don't know.” He helped her out of the seat and led her to the door.

Then he sat down again and started typing on the keyboard.

Remington came in a moment later. “You lied—you're not Pyrokine!”

“I know. Sit down. Help me with this. You know everything about Krodin, right?”

He told Remington what he wanted to do. It took them almost fifteen minutes to set it all up.

“It'll work. When you're ready, hit the Execute key,” Remington said. He stood up, and clapped Lance on the shoulder. “If the situation was reversed…I don't know if I could do it. You're a braver man than me, McKendrick.”

“Thanks. Close the door, huh?”

Remington pulled the door shut behind him, and Lance reached for the telephone. He dialed a number from memory, and the call was answered after three rings.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Mom.”

“Lance?”

“Yeah, it's me. I'm sorry, Mom. It's my fault that you got killed. If I hadn't gotten involved…she never would have come for you.”

“You're not making any sense, Lance! Where are you? The TV said the country's been invaded!”

His tears were spilling freely now, but he didn't care. “Mom, I…I love you, Mom. I'm going to miss you. All of you. I'll be thinking of you every day, forever.”

“Lance, what are you talking about? You're not coming home?”

“No, Mom. I can never go home again.” He reached his hand out to the keyboard, his index finger hovering over the Execute key. “Good-bye.”

He hit the button.

Everything changed.

 

Roz was suddenly knee-deep in the swamp. “What…?”

Abby and James were beside her. Cord, Max, and Brawn were nearby. They all looked as confused as she felt.

“What happened to the base?” Brawn asked. “And the Unity fleet?”

Lance's voice came from twenty yards away. “There
is
no base. There never was.” He started to wade toward them. “And there's no Unity either.”

“What did you
do
?” Cord asked.

“The teleporter. I used it on Krodin.”

Roz whirled around. “Where's Josh? Can anyone see him?”

Lance said, “Roz, he's OK. He's probably wherever he's supposed to be. And I'm sure that Slaughter is wherever
she's
supposed to be. And still alive, unfortunately. Actually, I'm a bit surprised that
we're
still here, and aware of what happened.”

Max said, “Lance, the teleporter doesn't
work
on Krodin. He's immune to it.” He frowned. “Oh. I see. That…That was the right thing to do.”

Cord said, “We can't all read minds, Lance.”

“Krodin's people tested the teleporter out on him, which meant that it'd never work on him again. I found a way past that.” He looked around. “Anyone got any clue which way is home?”

James said, “I'll check.” He rose into the air, and a moment later they heard his voice all around them. “I see what could be a road. A few miles to the north. Follow me.”

Brawn grabbed Abby around the waist and lifted her onto his shoulder. “No sense in everyone having to walk, kiddo.”

“Thanks.”

As Brawn passed Max Dalton, he pushed him over into the swamp, facedown.

Max started to get up, but Brawn put his massive foot on his back. “Give me one good reason not to do it, Dalton. Come on. One good reason.”

Roz rushed over. “What are you doing!? After he saved your life!”

“You nuts or something?” Brawn asked. “This guy put me and James in front of a firing squad! He sold us all out to Krodin!”

“
He
was controlling
me
!” Max said. “You weren't conscious, Brawn—but the others were there. They remember it!”

“It's true,” Roz said. “Max didn't have any choice. Let him go, Brawn.”

The giant reached down and pulled Max free of the mud. “Sorry, dude. No one told me.”

Max wiped the mud out of his eyes. “It's OK. After what we've been through, getting wet and mucky doesn't seem such a big deal.”

“By the way, thanks for the save back there,” Lance said to Max.

Max smiled. “You're welcome.”

Cord said, “Yeah, that goes for me too. If it hadn't been for you…” He slapped Max on the shoulder. “You always come through for us, Max.”

As they trudged on through the swamp, Roz moved close to Lance. “What did you do, exactly?”

“The teleporter could take anything from anywhere and send it anywhere else. I sent Krodin away.”

“But
how
, if he's immune?”

“He only became immune to its effects
after
the first time. But they got the idea of the teleporter from the way Pyrokine pulled Krodin out of the past, right? So I pointed it at somewhere I knew Krodin was before the teleporter was tested on him. Almost six years ago, in Windfield. Right after the battle with us when Pyrokine accidentally sent him back there. Remington knew the exact moment Krodin arrived in the past. I took him from there and sent him away.” He looked back for a moment. “This is why the base and everyone on it disappeared—Krodin never came to power. We're back in our own reality. No Krodin, no Praetorians, no Citadel in Central Park. I don't know why
we're
all here, though. Maybe there's a connection with whatever it was that brought us to Krodin's reality in the first place.”

“So everything's back to normal?” Roz asked.

Lance nodded. “Back to the way it was for us yesterday morning. Except that we're all in a swamp in Louisiana and we can remember a world that never existed for anyone else.”

Softly, Roz said, “Then in this world Victoria and her family are still alive.”

“Who's Victoria?”

Roz smiled. “Never mind. You did a good thing, Lance.” Then her face fell. “But…your parents and your brother…”

“Yeah. That…That wasn't easy. But there was no other way. Krodin would have gotten free and we'd have had to fight him all over again.”

Behind him, Solomon Cord said, “Lance…where did you send him?”

“Somewhere far away. Trust me. He won't be coming back.”