After dinner, Bryce hugged his mom and walked over to the door. He paused to press the button his throat. The Cyberhawk suit quickly formed around him, the cloak flowing down his back to his knees.
"I wish you'd wear that shorter while driving that motorcycle of your," his mother said.
"It's a hologram, mom," Bryce reminded her. "The entire suit is."
"Of course," his mother smiled. "It just looks so solid…"
Bryce smiled back. "I have to go," he said. "The team and I are meeting at Jake's."
"Be very careful," his mother warned him. "And please come back in one piece."
"I'll do my best," Bryce promised.
Network 66's board room was very active. With Network 23 no longer top network since the incident with Bryce Morven,Network 66 had its hands full trying to stay on top.
"We need to increase ratings for the 8PM to 10PM time slot," he told Bartlett. "Last night BreakThru TV got too close to us."
"What if we have the couple on Porky's Landing adopt a puppy?" Bartlett suggested. "You know how audiences love puppies."
"Nice thought," Grossberg told him. "But the lead actress is allergic to dogs."
"What about…"
"Mr. Grossberg," the secretary's voice said on the line. "There is a private call on line for you."
"I don't take private calls during work," Grossberg reminded her politely.
"He said to tell you that he has her and he won't hesitate to kill her if you don't answer him."
Grossberg nodded. "Put him through," he said.
The hooded face of the Piper appeared on screen.
"If this is some stunt to get your show on my network…" Grossberg began.
"Lisa, dear," the Piper summoned. "Come and meet your daddy."
Grossberg had known he was a father, but the chance of scandal had been too great for him to publicly acknowledge her. That didn't mean he didn't care.
"Let her go!" He demanded.
"Mr. Ned?" Lisa asked.
"That's right," the Piper told her. "That's your daddy. And he's going to make me very rich."
"I can't just take it all out of the network funds," Grossberg told him. "If I take that much out all at once, questions will be asked. And it would eventually get traced to you."
"Sleep," the Piper said to Lisa.
The child slumped to the ground and closed her eyes.
"You have four days," the Piper warned Grossberg. "After that, I won't hesitate to kill her."
"I'll have it for you in four days," Grossberg promised.
"See to it that you do," the Piper said, threateningly as he disconnected the call.
Grossberg put his head in his heads. "What am I going to do now?"
"I've heard about this new superhero…" Bartlett began.
Grossberg cut him off, angrily. "I don't need fantasy heroes!" he exclaimed. "This is real, Bartlett! And it's deadly serious!"
"Cyberhawk isn't fantasy," Bartlett said, his voice trembling. "He's real. Some people say he came from London. But his current base of operations seems to be in Swindon."
"From London to Swindon," Grossberg mused, wondering why that sounded familiar. He decided it didn't matter at the moment. Only his daughter's well-being was important for the moment.
"I'll be in my office," he told Bartlett. "You take over in here for the night. Don't even interrupt me if we have a ratings crisis. We'll recover. Understand?"
"Yes, sir," Bartlett answered as Grossberg went into his office and closed the door.
"Cyberhawk…. Cyberhawk… who the hell are you?" Grossberg grumbled curiously. "That sounds like some bad superhero theme song." he kicked the leg of the desk. "I can't believe I'm even thinking about some stupid superhero when my real life daughter is in so much danger."
Grossberg collapsed in his chair. "Even if I did believe a superhero that started in London and is now living in Swindon did exist…" he fell silent as he remembered why it sounded so familiar.
"Bryce?" he wondered.
