The Wearing of Masks

Chapter 7

Three days later Nova was really starting to worry.

The first day she'd woken up here, Sam and Micah had been with her almost all day. The day after that, they'd left for most of the afternoon and come back briefly in the evening. Today it was coming up to evening and she hadn't seen them at all.

The doctor had discharged her the day before, but, unsure of what she was supposed to do, she'd stayed in the room she'd been given. Now, bored and worried about her team, she was venturing out.

She passed several people in the corridors, though no one she recognised. Considering she knew all of four people here she wasn't surprised; but she didn't even know where she was. She didn't want to just stop people and ask; the way her luck was going lately, she'd probably wandered into the restricted sections or something.

Eventually she found her way out of the building. Outside the sun was just starting to set, where it could be seen through the now-constant cloud of smoke and ash. Nova shielded her eyes, searching for anyone she knew. There.

"Sam!"

Sam and Micah, hurrying across the open space between two buildings, altered course to come greet her. "You shouldn't be wandering around," Sam told her.

"Where are we?"

"Angel Grove…you really should go back to your room."

"What's going on?" Nova frowned when Sam avoided her gaze. Micah was busy with a PDA and hadn't acknowledged her yet, although that wasn't unusual when he got caught up in something.

"Just there's a lot of people who don't know who you are. This is not a good place to be wandering around."

"I'm still SPD," Nova reminded him. "If Bridge and the others are running this place…"

"No one knows that," Sam said again. "It's just…" He glanced at Micah for help. Micah didn't look up, either ignoring or genuinely not seeing him. "I guess you can come with us. Micah needs to talk to Bridge."

"No," Nova said slowly. "I'll just…go back to my room."

"Yeah," Sam agreed distractedly. "We'll see you later, ok?"

"Yeah," she murmured as they headed off. "Later."

Waiting for them to disappear from view, she headed away from the building.


It took almost two hours to find a working phone, and Nova was deathly afraid that New Tech might be in worse shape. She knew the DMA centre and the Observatory had both been hit early, and she was just hoping that the town might have calmed down.

"What?" someone demanded into the phone, and she sagged against the wall of the booth in relief.

"Is Jack there? Please, I need to…is he there?"

"Jack!"

There was a long pause before the phone was passed off and Jack said, semi-warily, "Yeah?"

"Jack." Nova pressed one hand against her cheek, realising distantly that she was crying. "Oh god, Jack, something's wrong with them."

"Nova." Distantly, she heard him yell "Someone get Boom!" and then he was back with her. "Nova, tell me where you are."

"Angel Grove. I'm…I found a phone."

"Good. Where?"

"Some kind of old restaurant, or gym or something. The sign's gone."

"Ok. Tell me what's happening…Nova, Boom's here. Do you want to talk to him?"

"Boom's alive?" Nova said in surprise.

"That's what he's saying about you."

"Yes please."

As soon as she heard Boom's voice she all but fell apart, and it took him several minutes to coax her back into coherency.

"We're in Angel Grove Tech," she told them finally. "Bridge is…he taught there."

"Yeah, he did," Jack agreed. "That's where he's holed up, huh?"

"Makes sense," Boom murmured. "Housing for everyone, loads of space, and the Tech College has some of the best sensors short of SPD. Bridge can watch anything anywhere with those."

"Nova, go on," Jack urged her.

"The others are…Sam, and Micah…they're wrong."

"The girls were wrong as well," Boom told her. "Syd and Z, when they came to Boston."

"We left you behind," she murmured. "I'm sorry."

"No. It's good," Jack said suddenly.

"Sorry?" Boom said sharply.

"It's good because now they think you're dead. And we have a man on the inside."

Nova stared at the phone. "You want me to spy on Bridge?"

"Can you do it?"

"Maybe," she said doubtfully. "As far as I can tell everyone in power is Meta. But I can try."

"Good," Jack said approvingly.

"Ranger Nova," Boom said formally, "As senior representative of SPD on Earth I am issuing you with new orders. You will return to the headquarters of the AAS and proceed to learn as much as you can about their methods and plans. The moment you feel you are in danger you will extricate yourself and report back to us."

"How will I find you?" Nova asked.

"We'll have someone in town," Boom promised.

"Nova? You need to be very careful. Bridge isn't wearing his gloves anymore."

"He's not?" Boom said in surprise. "Why not?"

"No idea. But it means he can read you if he's in the same room."

"There's ways of blocking him, right?" Nova said.

Jack's next words were muffled, as though he'd lowered the phone. "Boom, this is nuts, she's too young…"

"We can't get anyone else in, Jack, not that we can trust. We already know Bridge isn't bothered much about her." Boom's voice became clearer again. "Nova? Stick with Sam or Micah whenever you can. How'd you get off the base?"

"Dumb luck." Nova laughed, semi-hysterical. "The guard tripped."

"Ok. Be really careful getting back on. If they catch you, tell them you're lost. Anything. And if Bridge gets near you…the easiest thing is to sing something inside your head. Think about the song. It'll confuse him…or it would have before. I don't know about now."

"Boom," Nova said quietly, "what happened to Claire and Isaac?"

"They weren't there when I woke up. I don't know. I'm sorry."

"Ok. I'll try and call again in a couple of days, ok?"

"Someone'll get to you, Nova. Just…be careful, ok? Don't take risks. We need you now."

"Congratulations," Jack added dryly. "You've just become the most important person in our effort."

"Your effort," Nova repeated.

"Our effort to end the war. Nova, it's getting dark. You should go."

"Yeah," she agreed softly. "I'll talk to you soon."


Getting back on base was easier than she'd expected; a blonde woman was causing a disturbance at the gates and most of the guards were there. She was able to sneak past the fence easily, and she'd been back in her room for twenty minutes when Sam came looking.

"We're going to eat. D'you want to come?"

The invitation was perfunctory, and any other time Nova probably would have turned it down. This time, she pasted a smile on her face and nodded.

"Sounds great, thanks." As they left she added, as casually as she could, "Will Bridge be there?"