The Indestructibles (Book 2): Breakout Page 6

  Kate knew the pathway from memory. Even though the first time she followed it there had been relentless enemies to fight, and the gnawing worry that Titus was on the other side of the rig dying, she remembered every step. Down three flights, to the underbelly of the rig, just yards above the water. A small doorway into a small room hanging off the rig like a parasite.

  Wegener's office. Where the scientist died, and where Kate released all of Wegener's experiments. She kicked the door open.

  "It looks like a grenade exploded in here," Emily said.

  "That's because a grenade exploded in here," Kate responded. She tested the floor and shook her head. Even where the ocean did not show through, the floor felt unsteady and untrustworthy.

  "I'm going to try to get over to the desk," Kate said. "Float me if I fall."

  "I could just float you to wherever you want to be," Emily said.

  Kate ignored her and danced her way across the room. She found steady spots on the floor, places where support beams showed through, and skimmed over thin and cracking places, jumping from section to section. She arrived at Wegener's desk, or what was left of it, a brutalized hunk of wood with a smashed computer monitor.

  "What are you looking for?"

  "Do you remember the list?" Kate said.

  "Yeah. With all the horrible names on it."

  "Well I'm looking to see if there was anything left of his research we could use."

  Emily floated over to Kate utilizing none of the acrobatics the older girl had used to get to the far side of the room.

  "You blow this room up?"

  "I had a little help."

  "Well you blowed it up good," Emily said.

  "Blew it up."

  "Blowed it up."

  "Stop."

  "Either way," Emily said. "Two thumbs up. You did some damage."

  She was right, bad grammar aside — the room was a disaster. Huge chunks torn from walls, pieces of furniture and papers strewn all around, the sickening smell of burnt plastic and moisture damage pervaded the room like a living creature. Agent Black had wanted Wegener's work destroyed, and Kate had been happy to oblige. Together, they didn't leave much behind.

  "What about that?" Kate said.

  Emily followed her eyes to a filing cabinet, an old metal casing that had withstood the damage relatively well.

  "Kicking it old school?"

  "Well," Kate said. "Between the water damage and getting blown up I don't think we're going to find much by way of electronic records."

  "You brought me all the way here to float a filing cabinet back to the Tower," Emily said.

  "Apparently."

  "I feel so used."

  Chapter 12:

  Meet and greet

  The dog who ran to greet Billy and Jane when they arrived back at the Tower was not the same one Billy left behind. For starters, he was gray rather than brown. In addition, he didn't stink from ten feet away. He also had a bow in his hair. Regardless, the dog bounded into the landing bay and all but jumped into Billy's arms.

  "This is not my dog!" Billy said.

  Biologically this is the same canine you brought here, Dude said.

  "I'm being facetious, Dude," Billy said. He picked the dog up and examined him. "Look at you, little man. You don't reek!"

  "So now you talk to an invisible alien and your pet," Jane said. "This just keeps getting better. "

  Jane gestured that she was headed up to the control room to deposit the sensor and left Billy in the landing bay. He proceeded to play chase with the dog, running back and forth through the open space.

  "Neal, what happened to my dog?"

  "Designation: Straylight. I took the liberty of engaging in a decontamination program."

  "Does the decontamination program also include bows as standard procedure?"

  "I took the liberty of adding a personal touch, Designation: Straylight."

  I do not understand your need for a pet, Billy Case, Dude said. I would think keeping an eye on Emily was enough of a responsibility.

  "Clearly you never had a pet growing up, Dude."

  I do have you.

  "Bite me."

  Billy noticed the dog had come to stand stock-still and stare at something around the corner.

  "Watson? What do you see, guy?" Billy asked.

  He crept toward the spot where Watson had locked his gaze. Ready for an attack, Billy spun around the corner, a light blast waiting in his hand.

  A woman stood facing him. She had metallic pink hair, red sunglasses not unlike Doc Silence's, and wore an olive green tee shirt with an orange star emblazoned on the chest. Garish tattoos ran up both arms and disappeared into the high sleeves of her shirt.

  She flickered like a hologram, raised an eyebrow — also metallic pink — and reached out for him.

  And then she was gone.

  "Dude?"

  I have no idea.

  Billy looked at Watson. Watson seemed to almost shrug, then hopped up on his hind legs to beg.

  "Okay then," Billy said. "Pink haired girl. Why not. Jane!"

  * * *

  Jane heard Billy yelling for her long before she saw him come charging in, dog bounding at his heels. She waved him off.

  "Quiet," she said and gestured at the communications in the control room where she'd been waiting for Neal's analysis of the samples they had brought back.

  "Jane, there was this — "

  Jane cut him off again.

  "We have an incoming call."

  "We also have a pink haired ghost in the landing bay wearing Doc's sunglasses."

  "What?"

  "We have a — "

  "Wait," Jane said. "I'm answering this."

  Billy nodded and picked up his dog again, looking ludicrous in full costume with a ten-pound critter cradled in his arms.

  "You've reached the Tower. This is Solar speaking," Jane said.

  The woman on the screen was remarkably ordinary, with a plain but strong face and dark hair cut short and slicked back.

  "Solar. I'm with the Department," the woman said.

  "The Department of What?" Jane said.

  Billy laughed, hiding slightly off camera.

  "Glad to see you have a sense of humor," the woman said. "I've been hoping to speak with you."

  "You've got me," Jane said. "But you've got an edge on me. You have my name."

  "I'm Agent Prevention," she said.

  "I take it that's not your birth name," Jane said.

  "We started using code names a while back," she said. "It helps keep our families safer."

  Jane nodded.

  "What can we do for you, Agent Prevention," Jane said.

  "I feel like we haven't done enough to work together," Prevention said. "I know you've been in contact with one of our retired agents, but we've been neglectful in getting in touch with you directly. In the old days, super-powered heroes working in the States had a good working relationship with the Department."

  "I've heard," Jane said.

  She found the woman slightly unnerving. Her tone was friendly, but there was something about the way she made eye contact through the monitor that set Jane's internal alarms on edge.

  "I was hoping we could have a sit down," Prevention said. "Maybe talk about how we can help each other."

  Jane looked at Billy out of the corner of her eye.

  He shrugged.

  "I thought the Department was shut down," Jane said.

  "We always retained a skeleton staff in case things needed to be amped up again. A few agents locked away in an office park in D.C. With your team's emergence, it was decided we needed to escalate, get back out on the beat," Prevention said. "We've also maintained a liaison with the Labyrinth over the years. Those old super-villains in lockup don't just disappear after a while."

  "And you don't exactly send out a press release that your department of superhuman affairs is back in business," Jane said.

  "Exactly," Prevention said. "Look, I can see you're
doubtful. Just meet me for a cup of coffee. We'll talk shop. If you don't like what you hear, no hard feelings."

  Nothing about this feels okay, Jane thought. But what do you do, turn down a meeting with the superhuman FBI?

  "Done. We're not promising anything, but I'll meet with you. You'll understand if I bring backup."

  "Of course. I'll have another agent with me as well," Prevention said "Just an extra set of eyes and ears."

  "Right," Jane said. They exchanged details about the meet and Jane rung off.

  "She seems pleasant," Billy said. "Reminds me of a principal I had once in school. She hated me."

  "You're coming with me," Jane said.

  "Me? You should bring Kate."

  "I want you there."

  "Why?"

  "Because you're a con artist, and I think you'll get a better read on her than I will," Jane said. "I trust your judgment on dishonest people."

  "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

  "That and if things go wrong you and I will blow them out of the water," Jane said. "We're bringing our big guns to this meeting."

  Billy grinned.

  "And call Sam," Jane said. "I'd like to get the low down on this Prevention woman before we sit down with her."

  * * *

  Jane found meeting in Ishmael's — the same place where Emily had a latte named after her — to be more than a little tacky, but it was public, it was open, and it was unprotected, allowing Neal to scan for bugs and traps as well as monitor the conversation. She and Billy circled the store a few times before entering, waiting for Prevention and her fellow agent to settle in.

  Sam hadn't returned Billy's calls. His voicemail said he was out of town for the weekend. A benign message to be sure, but the Indestructibles had never had trouble finding him before, even when he was on the road. The timing was either awful, or questionable. Or both.

  Jane and Billy walked in together. Billy smirked at the agents and walked up to the counter, waiting in line for coffee as if he weren't dressed head to toe in spandex. Jane watched him flirting with a girl behind the counter before she sat down across from Prevention, her expression neutral.

  "Glad you were willing to talk with us," Prevention said. "This is Agent Lock, my associate."

  The other agent was as blandly handsome as Prevention was blandly pretty, a face that was pleasant to look at but not memorable. Jane wondered where Sam got so much character in his face, with his signature mustache and fedora. Maybe he worked for the Department in a different era, with fewer rules.

  "We're curious," Jane said. "It can't hurt to have good communication with the government."

  "Especially since you're operating in U.S. territory," Prevention said.

  "Depends on how high up in the sky that territory extends," Jane said. "What's the Department's jurisdiction in terms of stratospheres? If we're breaking any rules we can just have the Tower set its orbit higher."

  "Oh, that's unnecessary," Prevention said. "I think the City likes knowing you're there."

  "Good," Jane said.

  Billy joined them, sliding a cup of coffee across the table to Jane. She could see he was letting his eyes glow white, something that often happened when he amped his powers up. Jane wasn't sure if Billy was doing this right now simply to be a pest or for some reason he didn't want to reveal at the moment.

  "So what I was hoping to do was maintain an open dialogue," Prevention said. "We have in-roads with law enforcement, we know what's going on at the scene when something happens. We can be a resource for you."

  "And in return?" Jane said.

  "We just want to be able to count on you to be there when bad things happen we can't handle," Prevention said. "Which you're doing already."

  "Our predecessors had a good relationship with you," Jane said.

  "They did," Prevention said. "But we'd like to amp it up a bit. Make sure we're not duplicating efforts."

  "And that we're there when you need us," Jane said.

  "Exactly."

  Sounds like they want us at their beck and call, Jane thought. They were already responding to almost everything they could help with, so the request didn't seem too far-fetched, but at the same time, the idea of a formal agreement set her teeth on edge. We should be able to do the right thing without having it in a contract, she thought. The more she mulled the entire conversation over in her head, the more it confused her. Her head felt fuzzy, a growing ache crept its way across her skull.

  It was Billy's voice that brought her out of her own thoughts.

  "You really shouldn't poke around in there," he said, smiling at Prevention. "It's rude."

  "Excuse me?" Prevention said.

  "I excuse you this once, but twice is just not neighborly."

  Jane stood up.

  "Clearly I can't speak for the entire group," she said. "I'd like to take what you've said back to the rest of the team for us to discuss. I might do most of the talking to the press, but I'm not in charge."

  "I understand," Prevention said. She reached out and shook Jane's hand, but kept a sidelong look at Billy. "You know how to reach me if you have any questions."

  "Of course," Jane said. "We'll be in touch."

  Jane and Billy were five hundred feet in the air heading back toward the Tower before he explained.

  "What was that all about?" Jane asked.

  "She's a telepath. She was poking around in my head," Billy said. "Yours too, probably."

  "How did you know?"

  "Dude told me," Billy said. "He also put up some kind of psychic barrier, which I didn't know he could do. I think it made her mad. She tried pushing harder before I said something."

  "Well this is alarming," Jane said.

  "Psychics working for a secret government agency?" Billy said. "I don't see how that could be alarming at all."

  Chapter 13:

  The whereabouts of

  Doctor Silence

  They sat together on a steep green hill beneath a lavender-colored sky, watching whales with the wings of moths drift overhead like lost balloons. The air was damp and cool, with a strange flavor to it, an alien taste on the tongue.

  "I hate this place," the Lady Natasha Grey said.

  Travel had been both good and bad for her, Doc noted. She looked healthier and younger than she had in years, with a warmth to her cheeks and a strength to her movements he was not used to seeing. She had also been an awful companion at times, unhappy with days sleeping under an open sky, miserable whenever they found themselves unsure of where in space and time they found themselves.

  "It's an improvement from the last world," Doc said.

  An understatement to be sure, the last world had been covered in black and gritty stone, rivers of lava flowing freely, a strange magic in the air that made it hard for them to hold onto their own shape. They both grew wings the moment they arrived there, the Lady's black and batlike, Doc's more reptilian with a silvery, scaled look, and they used them to ride thermals of air over the molten landscape. It was a nightmare, that place, but it had been beautiful as well, something out of a bad dream you couldn't quite let go of.

  They passed through a break in reality, an old scabbed over wound in time where another magician had passed through badly. That opening led them here, to this idyllic place, with its strange creatures and wind that sounded like music.

  "I hate not knowing where we are," Natasha said.

  "I think we're in the Dreamless Lands," Doc said.

  They had that feel, the waking hallucination, the senses overlapping and crossing signals unnaturally. He'd only been to the Dreamless Lands once, and then only briefly.

  "I'll trust your judgment on that," Natasha said. "I never had much reason to go to the higher planes. No business for me there."

  "Not much business for me there either," Doc said.

  "What were you doing here, then?" Natasha asked.

  Doc raised an eyebrow.

  "You're asking me about my life."


  "Silence, I've told you a million times. You fascinate me," Natasha said. "Just because I think you're a nostalgic fool doesn't mean I don't like your stories."

  Doc smiled, nodded, fixed his glasses on his face.

  "Have you heard of the Lady Dreamless?"

  "I thought I was the only Lady you know."

  "Am I the only Doctor you know?"

  "Not even close, Silence."

  "I came here to help a friend out of an arranged marriage," Doc said. And then he began to recite:

  "Have you heard of the Lady Dreamless?

  Promised to a nightmare Prince,

  Raised to the sounds of the songs of the Damned,

  Queen of the Citrine Tower,

  Heir to an empty throne?

  Have you heard her story?

  Trapped for a millennium in a black gem,

  With only the whispers of passing nightmares

  To keep her company?

  Have you heard of her escape?

  How she crossed the black and starless paths

  Of faded lands, armed with only her wits

  And a wisp of fire to guide her?"

  Natasha roared laughing. She fell onto her back and held her belly and laughed until tears poured out of the corner of her flame-filled eyes.

  "That was you? You're the idiot who got the Nightmare Prince's bride out of her contract? I thought that was the other guy, the fox-spirit guy. Renard."

  "I just helped get her out. We had to. If the Lady Dreamless and the Nightmare Prince got married nobody would have slept in any reality for a hundred years. We did it for everyone's mental health."

  Natasha sat back up again, brushing the hair out of her eyes,

  "And people say I'm a meddler," she said. "So what does this mean for us?"

  "I don't know," Doc said. "But maybe she can help point us in the right direction home."

  Chapter 14:

  Show and tell

  Well, at least they aren't keeping me in a cell, Sam thought. He was being held in one of the suites where agents would crash and set up shop if they needed to work with one of the prisoners or pursue an investigation in the old days. Like a studio apartment, it had a desk, a bed — even a couch, with a small private bathroom. It was also locked.