Becoming Daedalus
My landing by the roof entrance to The Fortress didn't go unnoticed. Even without the improved hearing attributed to most Atlas types I could hear the exclamations from the queue below, and even though I could only see the normal spectrum I did have improved resolution. I could easily read the text on their phones if I tried, even if they'd been blocks away instead of just two stories down. The Google Fu must have been strong with a few of the people in line; even though I'd dressed in the fashion of an obscure fictional hero several of them recognized the outfit. Dark tan slacks and overcoat with a black turtleneck and tinted shades (I could see to my visual horizon in anything but total darkness so sunglasses at night did nothing to restrict my vision). I looked more business casual than super, but even though I'd broken through less than a week ago I really was too old to join the spandex crowd.
I'd called ahead and check so my entering through the roof didn't even rate a raised eyebrow from the staff. One of them led me to an unreserved table in the cafe area and took my order. Bloody Mary with skewers of grilled shrimp, bacon wrapped stuffed mushrooms, and a pair of cheese burger sliders. It wasn't until I added a fruit skewer that I finally got the attendant to give me a look. Giving her a smile I assured her I was serious and paid for my order in advance. Back north Mega Marys had been growing in popularity. One of the lead mixers from Milwaukee had accepted a job here a few months back, and her concoctions had gotten good reviews from the local critics. When my order arrived I was pleased to find them accurate. The skewers were seasoned perfectly to complement the Bloody Mary and they'd used minced peppers and fresh seasonings instead of Tabasco sauce in the drink itself. Rachel would have approved.
My breath caught at the memory, and I carefully put the drink down before I crushed it. Dealing with the loss had been hard. We'd had twenty incredible years together before her cancer ambushed us and took her away. It had only taken seven weeks. I was doing better at facing it but sometimes it still felt like I'd been gut punched. Not for the first time I wondered how those that broke through during accidents and tragedies seemed to deal with it so well. Everything felt like it was made of tissue paper, cardboard or aluminum foil now. I'd managed to come a long way with controlling my grip in the last few days but at times like this what control I had went out the window.
"New Breakthrough?"
I managed to keep my reaction to a twitch but just barely. Opening my eyes, I was greeted by a vision in latex with pink and purple flames. I blinked, "Safire?" She was rated as one of the more popular hostesses at the Fortress, and the lively imp had sneaked up on me. The corner of her mouth twitched in a slight smile as she nodded. I face palmed and shook my head. "Right. I'm at The Fortress. Who else would you be? Sorry. My name's Ben Walker. I got in late and didn't have the nerve to walk in and register after they closed." I rose and gestured to an empty chair, "Would you join me?"
Safire sat down and gave me a look. "Ben. You do know that new breakthroughs don't need an appointment to get in during off hours? What kept you from doing so?"
"Self deprecation? Feeling like an old dog needing to learn new tricks? I'm not entirely sure."
"You aren't running, are you? If there are extenuating circumstances around your breakthrough the Dome has specialists and attorneys available."
I gave her a sad smile. "Thank you but no I'm not running. Well not from legal repercussions. No, I am one of the lucky ones. Not that it wasn't close. The number of wardrobe malfunctions waiting to happen at my wife's funeral was disgusting. Some of the skanks didn't even wait until Rachel was in her coffin." By this point I was snarling and I made myself take a deep breath. "It made it worse that on an average day most of them made a show of how 'christian' they were. Made me a little too glad I'd accepted Rachel's invitation to join the Catholic church. Hubris thy name is Ben."
I took a drink and sighed, "To say I was conflicted would be an understatement. I really REALLY wanted to lay into them verbally with the option of grabbing them by the shoulders and shaking them until the stupidity fell out their ears, futile as that would be. But I didn't want to soil Rachel's memory with my own lack of control, so I ended up storming out. I heard an argument break out behind me but when I glanced back all I could see was Father Michael's shoulders as he blocked the door to give me time. Thanks to him no one saw what happened next."
"I wanted to get away from people so badly I could feel it like a burning deep in my core. Before I knew it I'd taken off for the skies and didn't stop until I landed on the slopes of the volcano. I'm pretty sure that only another breakthrough or someone brought by them had ever been close to where I was. After a while I collected myself along with a couple of rocks to prove I'd been there, and managed to make it back to our house before dawn with no one the wiser. Thankfully I didn't hit anything important on the way out or in."
Shaking her head, Safire waved her hands at me in surrender, "Okay. Hold it. Stop. You aren't making sense. What volcano? A A class flier could have made Saint Helens or Mount Hood overnight but dispatch would have gone crazy. Every flier from here to the west coast would have been scrambled to intercept." I didn't miss her glance toward one of the reserved tables. There were currently no big emergencies and it looked like the Sentinels were here en masse.
I flushed. "Sorry but umm, well, when I said I took off for the skies I meant extra planetary. I ended up on Olympus. Rachel and I had made plans for a greenhouse/retirement home on Mars." I shrugged, "Though realistically Arsia or Ascraeus would have been more likely, Olympus was just a bigger target and I still missed the caldera by enough that I almost went over the cliff. Considering the fact that I ended up over Canada on my way back I'm glad I got that close. I also appear to have a 'safety' that slows me down so I don't go splat against the atmosphere or create a Tunguska event by coming in too fast. I kept it under Mach one, and below two hundred feet as I crossed the lake to the peninsula and as far as I know no one spotted me. When people questioned me I bent the truth a bit and said I hiked through the woods to my house to give myself time to cool off. Though once we were alone I told Father Michael the full story. He suggested I come here."
I watched her eyes widen as it registered what I was capable of. I finished off a couple of my skewers as she collected her thoughts. "Oookay, you mentioned potential wardrobe malfunctions? Why would they dress like that? What did you do? Win the lottery?"
"Yup. Twice. Well technically three times now but only the time two years ago was monetary. Until then we were happy with our barely middle class income and dreams of 'what if?'. After we won we moved to up near Marquette to start over. It didn't take long for the local parasites to come snooping around and decide that since I apparently had money I MUST be looking to trade in for a newer model. As if Rachel's size and age were detractors and not part of the total package that made her the prize of the first time I won." I smiled at Safire's raised eyebrow, "She had curves that made yours look a bit modest in comparison. Although her style of dress was even more demure." I finished with a wink. I was sure that if she couldn't fly Safire would have ended up on the floor she laughed so hard at the unexpectedness of my statement.
After a while she'd recovered enough to gasp, "Honey, compared to what is this considered 'demure'?" gesturing at her skin-tight spandex.
My answer was in plain view on the dance floor below. I pointed at three young women near the band. They were wearing loose tops so sheer the sparkles on them looked like they were floating and their skirts were so short their thongs were fully visible. "Add a strategically arranged shawl and an open knee -ength vest to what they are wearing and take away the underwear. THAT is what I faced that night." I finished off my skewers and sipped at my drink as she processed that picture.
She sighed in disgust, "Why am I still surprised that there are people out there that make me feel like I have a doctorate in 'Class'? It just seems so wrong."
"While I won't argue with either point, most people don't have the bar your Astra sets as a benchmark. The sad truth is just having half that young woman's class sets someone far above the average person and I'm willing to bet your heart is at least as big as hers." Seeing her blush I continued, "On that. Thank you for taking an interest in making an old noob's transition easier. For everyone involved," I finished, raising my drink in a toast before draining it.
She looked like she was about to say something when a disturbance by the street entrance caught her attention. Following her gaze I could see a bouncer arguing with someone at the door. Whoever it was, he was posturing, showing off his outfit as he got in the bouncers face. Focusing on the colors,I felt my blood suddenly ran cold. "Awww crud." I got up while taking off my jacket, "Please tell me you have your team dispatch on speed dial."
Safire gave me a puzzled look, "What is it? We get idiots in villain wear all the time." She tapped her earpiece and waited for me to explain.
Holding up my jacket ask, "Do you have someplace safe I could put this?" At her nod a server took it from me. "Thank you." I started moving towards the roof entry. "I don't think that was villain wear. Those are Formorian minion colors. If I'm right they sent down an initiation posse from Milwaukee."
Before we exited onto the roof she took my arm and pulled it across her waist. "We don't want to arouse suspicions."
Given the situation I forced myself to relax into it. I had watched enough procedurals that I had an idea of what she was doing. If there was a posse, rushing out and openly scanning for them might spook them. They could bug out but it was more likely they'd jump the gun and just do as much damage as possible. A lot of civilians could get hurt. If they thought Safire was just feeling out a new prospect while avoiding the crowd inside it would hopefully buy us some time.
Once we were outside she turned to me, "So what are we looking for?"
"Other than their colors the Formorians are big on body modifications. Mostly branding and scarification along with liberal piercings. Some of it is so intricate that the MPD thinks they might have a breakthrough that can fleshsculpt." Glancing around I realized we needed to get a broader view. "Do you slow dance?" I asked her as I lifted from the roof.
That got me a laugh, "Depends on the company." She gave me a wink but rose with me, placing her hands on my shoulders. She felt me tense as the rooftops surrounding the club came into view. "Talk to me."
I could see Formorians on at least three different rooftops and up several streets I made out a number of SUVs and vans that were missing their plates and had minions leaning up against them, including a large moving van. I described everything I saw while Safire relayed it to her dispatch. The temperature in my veins dropped further as it hit me. "Crap. This isn't a posse. It's a raid." Suddenly the door on the moving van opened and a figure in an armored battleframe stepped out, pointed at us and fired.
I didn't even realize I'd move in front of Safire to shield her until the shell hit me in the chest and detonated. I did have the presence of mind to lurch back and "fall" towards the roof of the club. When we got undercover Safire tried to corner me so she could check the impact for the extent of the damage. I grabbed her wrists. "I'm fine. Non-Newtonian defense field."
To her credit she just blinked and shook her head, "Say what?"
"He hit me with too much velocity. Unless they close for melee don't worry about me."
"Well then don't melee. Shield the other civilians but do not engage unless they're on top of you."
"Understood." With that she handed me and earbud and took off. I got it turned on and seated while she called orders to the doorman and chewed out someone on the other end of her link. The minions on the rooftops opened fire but it looked like a few of the bouncers could make shields or could take a good hit as they started moving the queue into the building to get them under cover. I rose in the air and hesitated, trying to figure out how to draw fire without further endangering the people below. Apparently getting back in the air after taking a shell that would probably have holed a tank and glowering was enough.
All three teams concentrated their fire on me. It was a good thing my defense field seemed to rob projectiles of their velocity. Instead of ricocheting dangerously they just bounced a foot or two before falling. Down in the street below people started disappearing as speedsters pulled them out of harm's way. I looked back down to the roof of The Fortress as the door banged open and the Sentinels exited followed by a couple of rubberneckers with their phones out. They got a real good shot of me taking an energy blast to the face. Well hell. The blast had melted a couple of rounds and I had to peel my shades off so I could see. As a side note vaporized lead stings the eyes a bit.
A voice came in over my earbud, "Hey newbie this is Dispatch. Do you mind telling us who and what the hell you are?"
"A 50 year old, newly widowed breakthrough who's wondering just what possessed him to play target so the people that know what they're doing can take care of business. For now call me Daedalus." Below more CAI teams were arriving and pushing the Formorians away from the clubs and into an abandoned area. But something was bothering me.
"Okay Daedalus, move forward towards the action as they clear the area beneath you, and do you want to explain why you told Safire this was a raid?"
"This is too big to be and initiation Posse. Those are maybe a dozen minion fodder, with a hand full of C and D class and one or two A or B class heavies. Formorians pick their targets with the intent of losing a quarter to half of the group. It's all on the Milwaukee PD website. Other than the projectors and the Vern that took a potshot at us I haven't seen anything that could even be considered a C." Hold on. Looking up I could see two figures against the sky. "Dispatch be advised. Unknown Atlas type and winged A class Ajax designated Iron Goyle at about four thousand feet elevation northwest of my position."
"Roger that, Daedalus. Targets are confirmed. Good eyes. Atlas is confirmed as Void. Not particularly strong physically but considered A class for his ability to create a hard vacuum and intense cold. The Vern calls himself Pulsar and his battle armor has an A class rating." Everything chose then to go dark. "Crap looks like Umbrum is there as well; we just lost visual on you. The entire block just went black and Iron and Void are moving in."
"Okay no sound, so Void has a good range but it's not a complete black out. I have grayscale visual out beyond one hundred feet. I need to find Umbrum and shut him down." I crouched, put my hand to my chest and started drifting down towards the fight. There. I could see a Formorian in what should be lieutenant colors following my movement. That must be Umbrum. I tracked Iron Goyle on her final approach. "Okay buddy, just hold still and I'll send your partner to say hello". I did take a second to enjoy the view as the Umbrum realized I was faking it. Too late.
I snapped out of my crouch and "flew" upward, slamming the heel of my hand into Iron Goyle's chest just above her center of mass, hitting her with enough force to tumble her backwards in a tight spin. My roundhouse kick connected at the base of her wings and drove her down into the breakthrough below. He'd turned to run so she hit him in the legs as she crushed him to the ground. The light levels came back up and I turned to where Void was hovering. His eyes had time to widen in terror before Safire slapped something to his neck and he went limp. I felt the air rush back in and then I could hear the screaming.
"Dispatch to Daedalus, what is your status? Respond!"
"Dispatch, this is Daedalus. Sorry about the lost contact but sound doesn't travel in a vacuum. Iron Goyle and Umbrum are down. Both may need medical assistance." I started taking deep breaths and tried to not look sick. Minions were looking from me to Iron Goyle and either running or surrendering. I was in way over my head.
Hearing a thump I looked back up to see that Pulsar had pulled some kind of mortar turret out of the van and was firing down the street. I heard the shells hit and instead of an explosion everything in a five meter spread collapsed back into the center. SHIT. "Dispatch Pulsar has deployed singularity grenades. Suggest operatives evade at all cost." I started flying at the Vern. I SO did not want to do this. "Do you have anyone besides me that can ignore gravity?"
The pause with open channel did not inspire my confidence. "N- negative Daedalus. You're it. Are you sure you can handle them?"
I managed to body block the next grenade and when it went off it didn't even ruffle my hair. "I am now, dispatch. Closing with target." I was close enough that I was able to crush the next two before they activated. Pulsar screamed something and the following grenades started going off almost as soon as I touched them and firing at a speed that meant the best I could do was knock them down. "Enough!" I charged the last forty feet, slapped my hands over the launch tube and managed to crush it shut before Pulsar backhanded me away. I heard at least two impacts before the whole thing started collapsing in on itself as the grenades did what they were designed to.
For the first time I noticed the ring of debris and the depression around Pulsar. He must have had some kind of repulsion field going to keep the capes at bay, probably gravity-based since it had had no effect on me. However the field functioned, it appeared to react with whatever made the grenades work, and not in a good way for him. His armor didn't bend so much as flow and tear as he was pulled in. I was going to see the cloud of blood as his weapons tore him apart in my nightmares. When it was done only the armored boots attached to pylons driven into what was left of the street remained. At least that explained why no cape had gotten to him from underneath. His field must have been omni - directional.
The downside of having a Non-Newtonian defense was that I was only B class on my low end. Anything traveling less than 200 mph had a good chance of doing damage to me. After getting backhanded, striking the side of a building was enough to finish ringing my bell. Before I could regain my senses I was run through from behind.
I don't think the kid expected me to keep standing let alone grab the blade so he couldn't pull it back out. A tight grip and a pivot broke his grip so I could turn to face him. I reached behind me and gave the hilt a sharp twist to snap it off. Dropping it I made sure the blade had no projections that might gut me before pulling it the rest of the way through and tossing it to the side.
"Are you done young man, or do you want to continue?" To emphasize the point I took a deep breath and "flexed" my healing, doing hours worth of repair in a few seconds. The wound was still an angry red but it was closed instead of a gaping hole. "If you're looking to suicide by cape you've got the wrong guy. I'm just a civilian that got caught in the mix." The kid only had time to piss himself before a speedster slapped a knockout patch (I think the fansites called them Sandmans) to the back of his neck to end the fight. The speedster looked me over before giving me a nod and disappearing in a blur.
"Dispatch, this is Daedalus, what is the status of the fight?" I lifted into the air and rose high enough to see the rooftops.
"Daedalus, this is dispatch. It's all over but the paperwork. They're falling pretty fast after your takedowns. What's your condition?"
"Slightly battered with a side of puncture. Nothing a couple good meals and a night's rest can't fix. I should be fine by morning." Note to self, getting hit by an A class Battleframe Hurt. Healing like I had burned a lot of resources. The skewers I'd just had definitely weren't going to be enough. "How are the bystanders doing?"
"Nothing serious. We alerted Rush and Crash when Safire first called it in. Since you were nice enough to draw the majority of the heavy fire they had plenty of time to get civilians under cover. How are you holding up?"
"Honestly? I don't know. I got down late and decided to try and have one more night to be normal before I came in to be tested. Your guess is as good as mine as to why I picked the Fortress for it. I'd planned on applying to be a lifter for the orbital stations and lunar colony. Not take part in a super brawl with street villains announcing their intent to encroach on the local turf by doing a shock and awe raid." I looked down at the street and the series of craters made by the Vern's mortar fire. Towards the end they were close enough together to form a trench. Surprisingly it didn't appear that any of the buildings were damaged.
"Well then I'm the bearer of bad news. You're to report for testing soonest. Safire will be your escort."
Safire swung up and hovered near me, "Understood dispatch, Report to Dome ASAP. Safire to escort. FYI unless Safire insists on us flying them in I'll be driving a Custom Express van and towing a trailer. They have my resume in them."
"Understood. Now get here so you stop adding to my paperwork."
Safire glowered at me, "Ready to go?"
"Yes ma'am." Looking at her face I sighed. "You might as well get it over with….It will make you feel better."
Safire slugged me in the arm, "I told you to NOT melee." she groused while dragging me along.
When we swung by the Fortress for my jacket a bouncer was having words with someone for trying to bully the server into letting him "look" at it. Safire had to threaten him with permanent banishment before he backed off. I thanked them both and tipped them each a fifty for their troubles. From there we flew to where I left my van on the top level of a parking structure. Safire did most of the talking on the drive to the dome. She questioned me about my plans, both current and future, and directed me to what appeared to be a reserved entrance.
I grabbed my overnight bag and then handed over my keys when they asked. If they were worried they did a good job of hiding it, so I assumed I'd been scanned when we drove in. Other than the big rock and smaller samples in the trailer nothing I had with me was really unusual.
The first place I was escorted to was medical. They gave me time to shower and change. I just shook my head as I looked in the mirror. I looked like I'd startled a flock of metal pigeons. I was covered in splatters of (formerly) molten metal. My defense field had kept my cloths from burning but they were essentially destroyed. I stripped everything off and stepped in the shower. Of course the shock picked then to catch up with me. I spent the next twenty minutes kneeling under the spray until the shaking passed.
At least they'd have time to review my medical history from data card I'd given them . With the plans we'd been making for emigrating to Mars, quarterly checkups were standard procedure. Hopefully the resident headshrinker didn't freak too badly when they saw, "High functioning autistic with elements of Asperger's and disassociative personality syndrome." If I was lucky, forewarning them would make things run more smoothly. I'd had fifty years to develop a hodgepodge of breathing, thought exercises and meditation to help me mitigate my responses. Now it took either the totally unexpected or persistent stupidity to fully trigger me.
I finished cleaning up and dressed in the jumpsuit they gave me. The poke and prod with Dr. Beth wasn't much different from what I was used to just more thorough as he tried to nail down where my testable abilities fell in relation to known breakthroughs.
That it seemed no matter how much physical effort I put out, I couldn't get physically tired intrigued him almost as much as that I was totally comfortable in both a hard vacuum and at the bottom of the ocean and could go between them in minutes without any noticeable effect on my biology. He finished by having me down a protein drink and demonstrate my healing.
Wrapping up, he declared me perfectly healthy for a twenty-something year old breakthrough. His raised eyebrow told me they were likely to check and make sure my biometrics matched the archives. I shrugged. Until my breakthrough the only gray I'd had was shaved off every three or four days. Now? My facial stubble was coming in dark and my laugh lines were almost gone. When I looked in the mirror my face was one I hadn't seen in thirty years. It was a good thing that for the last thirty-five I'd appeared mature enough that I'd never been carded. Ever. My low end baritone had probably helped with that.
He handed me an e-pad and let me go. I changed into the clothes I'd brought. Denim jeans and over shirt, steel-toed boots (I hadn't bothered with new ones) and a t-shirt that Rachel had picked out for me at a game con. It depicted a gear with different "scientific" icons in different quarters and the logo, Mad Scientists Union, Local 42. The over shirt was about the weight of a flannel which, like any clothing since my breakthrough, I wore more for looks and modesty than anything else.
Safire met me in what turned out to be the Sentinels assembly room. If I remembered right the four people front and center were Blackstone, Chakra, Dr. Mendle and Tommy Brannigan, Legal Eagle. Astra, Grendal and other Young Sentinels were behind them at the table. Further back a slightly less young man (Seven?) was talking to Merida. She was second only to Wifflebat for acceleration as a lifter for Boeing Aerospace. Rachel and I'd met her while applying for slots on the Mars colony
Blackstone extended his hand. "Welcome, Daedalus. I trust Dr. Beth wasn't too invasive?"
I shook the offered hand carefully and shrugged, "Less invasive than being run through by a sword. Though I must say I didn't expect you to have a chamber capable of such differences in pressure on site. But otherwise nothing far off from what I expected." I nodded to Dr. Mendle and Brannigan. "How bad is it Mr. Brannigan?"
"Call me Tommy. Daedalus is it? It could be worse. All three of your take-downs had general warrants. Pulsar had supplied weapons for and participated in multiple killings. Umbrum was an up and coming lieutenant in the Formorians that got there over the bodies of a lot of villains and cops. He's in surgery. Getting hit by Iron Goyle essentially pulverized his legs. The doctors think they may have to amputate. Iron Goyle is in traction recovering from a crushed sternum, broken wings and a severed spine. She's a transforming Ajax so she'll heal but until she does she's a paraplegic. She has more confirmed kills than the other two but hers are all against street villains and minions. Void is facing several counts of aiding and conspiracy. The last kid is new so other than assault on you and illegal possession of a weapon we have nothing on him." He paused here to run his hand through his hair. "Even the street was scheduled for repair. The damage done not only moved the schedule up but should cut construction time by a third, saving an undisclosed amount of taxpayers dollars. The only pressing legal issue is to use your civilian name or push your Cape name through the registry first thing in the morning and use it to open the necessary accounts for deposits."
"I think I could use a chair." I sat before my legs gave out. Deep breaths. This was going too smoothly. I looked over at Seven. He had a reputation of being a charmer and a flirt and Merida would certainly be worth an effort. He was currently doing neither. Wait. I turned to Blackstone, "Why is Merida here?" She wasn't in civilian clothes and she definitely wasn't relaxing.
Blackstone looked grim, "The Mars vessel was hit by a meteor shower earlier today. Maneuvering is at ten percent and life support is damaged, they're running out of air. To make things worse, their gate is down and if they can't get it working we can't send them the parts they need. Wifflebat's been sent ahead on the chance the breakthroughs aboard will manage to last the two weeks it will take her to get there. Even if she makes it the best they can hope for is to not crash the ship into the planet. Merida has family on board so she came looking for Seven's help about six hours ago. But I don't think even his luck can help them from here."
I looked at my watch. Weeeellll CRUD. "I wouldn't be too sure of that."
Safires eyes went wide, "Wait. You mean?"
I nodded, "Just before then I used the public area's closing to back out of registering yesterday. And instead of checking into a hotel I decided to go to The Fortress. Everything that happened, happened because I was needed here. And since I'm in a gravity well with an atmosphere there is one aspect of my breakthrough that Dr. Beth can't test." I was NOT ready for this. "Can you bring up my numbers on the screen here?"
Blackstone nodded to a freckled woman "Shell if you would."
She blinked and my numbers came up on the screen. She gave a whistle, "Wow, not as strong as Atlas was but Dang. Talk about winning the lottery."
Despite the situation I smiled, "Just wait. You haven't seen what I got for the multiplier." Okay. No turning back now. "Add entry to speed. Effective extra planetary travel velocity equals or exceeds one c."
Her eyes goggling, Shell made a choking sound, "Seriously?" She looked at Blackstone. "He can't be able to. We're not suppose to see this for…." she stopped herself by slapping her hand over her mouth and stared wide eyed. What was that about?
Blackstone looked like he was about to say something until he put his hand to his ear. "What? Patch him through to the assembly room." The screen split and an iconic for Mad Scientist looked back out at us. "Daedalus, this is Vulcan, our resident Vern. He has been examining the samples from your trailer. Vulcan, Daedalus, new breakthrough. What have you found?"
Vulcan shook himself, "What? Oh yes, of course. The large meteorite was incredible. Only the very surface was contaminated with terrestrial micro fauna and then just barely. It did have and interesting pattern of fractures. I'd think it just crashed but it was cold. Was it picked up in the arctic? The ejecta samples were even more fascinating. Where did they come from?"
I shrugged, "I picked up the volcanic ejecta on my first trip when I touched down on Olympus. The shocked quartz I pick up in Hellas crater on my second trip, along with the asteroid I crashed into not two seconds after dropping out of the slide."
Shell looked at me, "Slide?"
I shook my head, "Sorry. It's the best way I can come up with to describe the experience. It's like diving down an enclosed slide or through a tunnel."
She looked stunned, "No, no we're good. Very good actually."
Blackstone raised an eyebrow at us, "Vulcan, is your data consistent with Daedalus's claims?"
"Yes, yes it is." Vulcan blinked a few times. "Is he going back soon? Is he taking requests?"
"I'm afraid I have pressing business with the Mars vessel, so we'll have to schedule for later." Hmm. Wait. "Unless of course you have lightweight communications gear capable of keeping contact during light speed travel or faster?"
He brightened, "I can have it ready in twenty minutes. Don't go anywhere." and disconnected.
I blinked, "Okay, Honestly that was a shot in the dark but I'll take it. Still, why do I feel I should be worried?"
Blackstone smiled, "I suspect that is just a natural reaction to engaging a Vern in their natural environment. Nothing to be concerned about I'm sure."
"Mr. Walker?" Merida had come up, flanked by Seven. "We missed you at the last meet and greet. What are you doing here? And where is Rachel?" She asked, looking around.
"Sh-she's gone Merida. Stage four cancer. It tested as benign up until three months ago. We buried her Friday." Deep breath. "And it's Daedalus now." I nodded at my numbers.
She took one look at my durability rating and came in for a hug. "I'm sorry. We're all going to miss her." she let me go. "Uncle Dae then?" I smiled and nodded. Seeing the looks everyone was giving us she laughed, "Didn't you tell them that you and Rachel were investors at Boeing?"
I shook my head, "I haven't really had the time. Mentioning the plan to front the funds for the Mars colony hydroponics was kind of back burnered, so no reason to mention that Rachel and I had socially adopted you and several other lifters."
She looked back at the data and did a double take, "Wait one C? Y-your not kidding?"
I shook my head, "It's real. We just need to have Seven give us the maximum mass for lift and prep a gate in a launch crad.. Urk..!" It was a good thing my base toughness was class B or her second hug would have taken my head off. I peeled her loose and turned to Seven, "So. What's our number?"
He looked at us, "21 metric tons. That.. that can't be right. That's your normal max lift. How long can you maintain that effort?"
I shrugged, "According to Dr. Beth? All day long. Due to some quirk of my healing ability I no longer get physically tired. Noooot likely to be very maneuverable though."
Merida nodded, "True but we won't send you up alone. Old enough to be our father or not, you're still a newbie. The cradle and gate are only half your rating so we'll take everyone we can fit." While pulling out her cell she looked at my shirt and smiled, "Local 42 huh? Providing answers to questions that haven't been asked now?" I smiled and gave her a bow with a flourish. She laughed, "Okay, go get the communications gear and see if they have a hardsuit that will fit you." Who ever picked up on the other end must have been waiting with their finger over the accept call button and Merida started giving measurements and direction to the other end of the line.
Since vacuum and pressure differential didn't matter to me they only needed to pressurize the communications helmet Vulcan had come up with. What that meant was a fresh shave so the Vern tech silicone gasket could maintain a seal around my head and neck. Oddly that wasn't the strangest part. That came when we were getting ready to leave for the airfield and a living doll with faerie wings flew in. She handed me a pair of fingerless gloves and solemnly informed me that Her Majesty said I would need these and to not take them off until I got back. They were heavy fabric of some kind with a symbol embossed on the back of each and lined with a substance I couldn't identify. It didn't really look like paint or dye. The others told me to just go with it and they'd explain when the mission was done.
We headed to the field with Merida carrying Seven. He was suited up to come with us and I wasn't going to argue. As we descended I couldn't help but smile at who was waiting. The four men took their jobs very seriously but they would be right at home out on the town next to Seven and Balder. Aramis, Athos, Porthos, and D'Artagnan. Skill and purpose wise they were essentially the lifter equivalent of The Crew; they just did the job with a lot more flair. They were who Boeing Aerospace and the orbital stations called when something went wrong. Looking past them I could see multiple screens, most of them monitoring the lift pod and its secondary modules. The one that wasn't had unoccupied ground crew around it. I didn't know whether to cringe or laugh out loud when I realized they were going over footage from the brawl earlier.
I heard a giggle come over a private channel from Merida, and when I looked at her she was grinning from ear to ear. "They're taking bets on who the new breakthrough is. One of them actually has it and she's bet them each a month's pay she's right."
"Axlandra?" at Merida's nod I had to laugh. To say Axlandra "Axl" Roswell had an encyclopedic knowledge of all things geek associated with breakthroughs would be an understatement. It was also something Rachel and I had thoroughly spoiled her on over the last two years. "How many have taken her up on it?"
"30, including our Musketeers." Her giggle was almost evil.
We deliberately landed with our backs to the ground crew. Porthos took one look at Merida's face and knew something was up. Luckily my helmet was two piece so I could pop the faceshield without having to reseat the seal.
His face fell when he saw me, "Rachel?" I shook my head. He'd been present when Rachel and I had gotten the bad news and had managed to keep it quiet. He grabbed my hand in an overhand grip and pulled me in, gripping my shoulder with his other hand, "Faith man. That is a high price to pay."
I nodded, "May my life be long enough to prove it worth that price. Sorry I couldn't tell you earlier."
He waved that away, "Forgiven, They'd've likely redacted that until the next meeting anyway. And we've seen the footage. Ye have a good start. Beats me how she could tell but it looks like Axl is going to have herself that Vern lift module she's been eye'n." He let me go, "Anyway we're ready to go as soon as we can get you set in the frame and synced with navigation 'Daedalus'."
I smiled, "With my luck if I hadn't picked something I would have ended up The Ooblek man." I quickly exchanged grips with the other three. "Now let's put on my wings."
Turns out the gloves I'd been given worked with the HUD to give me almost clairvoyant sense of the module and somehow extended my defense field to cover it's hull. As far as I could tell getting hungry was the only side effect. That was okay with me; since my breakthrough the only thing that made me feel like I needed to eat was flexing my healing.
Between Shell and Seven, my first slide dropped us just two hundred miles short of the Mars vessel. It took twenty minutes for final approach, and another ten to disconnect the secondary modules from the frame and dock them with the ship. D'Arangnan flew over by piloting his "helm". Basically it was just a sturdy chair and platform with anchor points that workers could attach tethers to to stay inside the 20 meter radius of atmosphere he created. Physics said that the barrier that kept the air in shouldn't work and while it let slow moving objects pass through easily enough, it surprisingly worked like my defense field against fast moving objects. Whether they were moving in or out didn't matter, their velocity dropped to about half the speed of the average fast ball. Aramis, Athos, and Porthos started the process of switching out the damaged gate for the new one while I was sent back out with Merida and Seven to pick up Wifflebat and her module.
Over objections I did that by oversliding her position by a minute, dropping out, spinning a one eighty in place and then revving up for a slide in her direction of travel with a drop out to pick her up on the way back. With Merida's direction and Seven's luck we completed the maneuver in under an hour. Through it all Vulcan's communications set performed well. It had just enough moments of static to keep us alert. Shell tracked my speed during my slides and found out that my speed actually sliding was a matter of On or Off. 1.113 c, with a 0.00001 percent differential between the three different loads.
I spent the next three days doing on the job training with the crew and getting everything repaired and installed. We did one on the spot contract to deliver the mission's survey probes to designated locations on Mars, advancing the time-table by almost two months. And then it was time to go home. Merida and the Musketeers had a wake planned and they weren't going to let me miss it.
The atmosphere in The Fortress could best be described as "Respectful Joy". I'd never known how many lives Rachel and I had touched until now. Memories were shared and laughs were had (some at my expense) as we celebrated Rachel's life. Things had changed in those three days. I'd gone from an adopted uncle to a brother, comrade and friend. I realized that I still had a family. I had people with me to help share the loss I felt with Rachel's passing. I could heal. Instead of just surviving I could LIVE.