First Mutant
By David D. Amaya
Chapter 9
******************************
Xavier Institute for Higher Learning, Westchester County, New York, 1603 EST. Day 18
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"To recap this breaking story the son of President Parkman, has been kidnapped..."
Agent Nichols face dropped as Professor Xavier, Scott, Jean, and Sean came into the rec room.
"Nichols, Nichols, are you still there?" asked Agent Owens on the other end of the telephone he was holding.
"Is this true?" he asked.
"Yes, they found Agent Williams' body a block away, half his upper torso was missing, they had to ID him through his dental records."
"Where is Kryptonite?"
"She's safe, she's at Castle."
"What about Knight?"
"Knight and Kaleidoscope are in residence and have been briefed. The VP is at Ringside and is headed for Curbside
"Bureau and Justice are combing the streets looking for evidence as we speak, and Ziegler wants you here NOW. We have a Night Hawk helicopter en route from the Ft. Drum garrison. It'll land just outside the Institute and take you to Westchester County Airport, where we'll have a Gulfstream transport from Justice standing by to take you to Acrobat, then a Huntsman that'll carry you to Carpet. Your ETA is 90 minutes."
"WHO WOULD DARE DO THIS!" he bellowed into the phone.
"We don't know, we haven't received any demands or clams of responsibility," said Owens. "It could be any number of groups; Hydra, AIM, foreign nationals, or any number of` mutant terrorist groups, the list is damn near endless."
"Just do what you can at your end."
"Roger that, Nichols."
Nichols hung up the phone and just stared at the television blankly.
******************************
Location unknown.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Cyrus moaned weakly.
His mouth was dry. He opened his eyes, but saw only ...
Darkness.
Pitch black darkness.
"Williams," he moaned.
He reached out with his hands. He felt wood. Like an oak desk.
He ran his hands along the surface. It was small. Only a half-arm length in front, and about a foot over his head.
Like a box. A small box.
Like a coffin. A small coffin.
His coffin.
He was never afraid of the dark. He was never afraid of small enclosures. He was once even stuck in the dumbwaiter in Oz's house back home for hours. But this was beyond creepy.
Was it daytime now, or was it night?
"Pull it together, Cyrus," he tried to tell himself, but his throat was parched.
He was thirsty. So thirsty he wished he could just blow this joint and drink the Pacific Ocean.
Blow... That's it! He thought still too weak to talk.
Reaching out with both hands, he concentrated, like those lessons Jean and Remy had sent, and he would reduce his coffin to toothpicks.
He concentrated. Harder. Harder. Harder.
Nothing.
Nothing happened.
Then he finally noticed the small weight around his neck. Thick, smooth, cold metal.
Then he felt something else around his neck. Thin, with something hanging on the end, round, like a rodeo lasso. A lariat.
Lariat, he remembered. Agent Nichols gave it to him just before he left for Xavier's last night.
At least he thought it was last night.
He had no way of knowing what day it was.
Cyrus drifted in and out of sleep. Dreams came to him constantly. Now another one started.
The scene he had dreaded the most, is taking place in the one room he likes the least.
The Oval Office.
His father is seated behind the desk which used to be part of the HMS Resolute. His mother is seated next to her husband. His cute, 8-year-old brat of a sister is playing with a few dolls behind Cyrus on the Executive seal that is displayed on the carpet.
"Well, son," his father says with a warm grin. "What is it you wished to tell us?"
"Mom, Dad, I don't know the best way for me to break this to you, so here goes. I... I'm a mutant."
"A mutant," his father repeats, his face cannot hide the disappointment.
He can only silently nod his head.
His mother places her head in her hands sobbing. "My son, a filthy mutant!"
Cyrus is now in tears. "I'm sorry!" he falls to his knees, the shame making him too weak to stand.
"But I love you CJ!" his sister puts down her dolls and races to him, throwing her arms around her big brother.
But just as she hugs him, she pushes him away screaming. Her arms are glowing.
"NO! ANDI!!"
His sister's arms explode. Her screams tear his very soul to shreds.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" his mother cries out.
"NO!" He backs away from his mother in fear. "DON'T TOUCH ME! I CAN'T MAKE IT STOP!"
She slaps him, her hand begins to glow.
"ARIEL!" His father screams. "MAKE THIS STOP!!"
"I CAN'T MAKE IT GO AWAY!!
He grabs his son by the collar of his shirt and begins to hit Cyrus in the face.
"NO DAD!! PLEASE DON'T!!"
His father bursts into flames.
Someone was pounding on the door to his coffin.
Somebody WAS out there!
Was somebody robbing his grave? Was it the police, the FBI, mom & dad, finally?
The sudden flood of light blinded him.
"Who's there?" he whispered into the light. "Who's up there?"
Cyrus strained his eyes to focus. He couldn't see much of anything, he just kept blinking.
"Please help me," he tried to call out, but his throat croaked.
"Shaddup!" Shouted a gruff voice. Cyrus could smell the bad breath, cheep after-shave and BO.
"Please help me," Cyrus begged in a whisper.
"Damn little mutie! Who do you think you are?"
A fist rained down and connected with his jaw. It felt like a bomb had gone off in his head.
He tried to raise his arms to protect himself from another blow but he was too weak.
"I bet you wanna know why this is happening! Well little mutie, let me tell you a secret, our little secret. You're gonna die, mutie. And you are gonna do it for your country!"
******************************
Xavier Institute, 1618 EST.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Agent Nichols was numb.
He couldn't feel his feet, even though he was pacing along the Xavier Institute rec room.
He couldn't feel his hands, although he was wrenched them together.
He couldn't feel his chest. Although his heart was pounding in anxiety.
And although the thought echoed in the back of his head loudly, he couldn't feel the emotion.
Jean felt it though, as did Charles. They felt the Secret Service agent's feelings of ...
Failure! Thought Agent Nichols. I failed to do my duty to protect the President's son! In ten years I NEVER used any of my vacation days before! I gave them the opening! I should have used my old underground contacts back in Boston to contact Dr. Xavier instead of coming here myself! How could I have possibly been so reckless with a young man's life!
"Kordel, you can't be of any help by blaming yourself," Jean inplored.
"Eye, Lad," Seanadded. "You can't be beatin' yerself up like this. It wasn't yer fault."
"Cyrus was my responsibility," Agent Nichols continued to pace. "I abandoned him. I failed to do my duty.
"He trusted me and I let him down, and now he has been kidnapped, and a fellow agent lies dead, all because of me! I should have been there to stop it."
"Believe me, Lad, I know," said Sean, as he looked over towards were Jubilee sat. "I know failure all too well."
"I wonder how the First Family is taking this terrible news." Ororo wondered.
CNN then returned to answer.
"We're now going live to senior White House Correspondent, Wolf Blitzer, who is standing by."
'Thank you. I'm standing in front of the White House Press Room, where in just a few moments the White House Press Secretary, Devin Mahoney is to make an official statement about the alleged kidnapping of Cyrus Parkman, the son of President Anthony Parkman and First Lady Ariel Holden-Parkman.'
'Let's now go live to Sidwell Friends, the site of the kidnapping, where Greg LaFave is standing by.'
'This is Greg LaFave standing outside the main entrance of Sidwell Friends School. The same school that has taught Presidential children Chelsea Clinton and Andromeda and Cyrus Parkman. Now Sidwell Friends is a crime scene, as the Secret Service and the FBI, as well as Metro DC Police, are scouring the area and have now started a door to door search for the son of President Parkman."
"Let's go to exclusive videotape of an eyewitness account of the kidnapping."
The screen then showed a man in his late 30s dressed in a spandex bike outfit with several microphones shoved in his face.
"I was peddling northbound on Idaho, when I saw this kid in a red blazer getting shoved into a large newer blue colored Cadillac. Then this guy comes running out and leaped onto the car. They tried to speed off when they pass me. I hear this big *BOOM* and the guy falls off the back of the car. The guy's whole upper body from his neck to his gut was blown off. It looked like one of them mutants done this."
"He's lying!" exclaimed Jean.
"No, he is telling the truth, Jean," said Nichols. "Owens informed me over the telephone, Agent Williams' upper torso has been blown off."
"No Agent Nichols, he did not see the agent getting killed, nor see the kidnapping," said Xavier, his eyes closed in concentration. "He is in league with the kidnappers."
"How would you know something like that, Dr. Xavier?" asked Agent Nichols.
"Jean, and myself are telepaths, Agent Nichols," said Xavier. "That statement has been rehearsed."
So Cyrus WAS right about them, Thought Agent Nichols. "Does he know where they've taken Cyrus?"
"No," said Xavier gravely. "They must not have told him the location on the President's son. But I sense that he is most confident, like this abduction has been carefully planned, to the most minute of details."
"Now let's go to the White House Press Room, where Press Secretary, Devin Mahoney is now about to address the Press."
The scene on the television screen changed to a man who on countless times had to speak on behalf of the President to the American public. This occasion though Devin Mahoney looked like he would rather admit he was an enemy spy selling secrets to foreign powers then to have to confirm what he was about to say.
"Ladies and Gentlemen at approximately 1 pm Eastern Standard Time. Cyrus James Parkman, the son of the President, was kidnapped by unknown assailants from the grounds of Sidwell Friends School in Washington.
"Those same assailants also murdered the Secret Service Agent assigned to protect him. The slain agent's name will not be released pending notification of his family.
"No ransom demands have been received as of yet and agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service are conduction a full investigation and search for the President's son."
Then the Press Secretary was bombarded with questions.
"Mr. Mahoney, we have received eyewitness accounts that mutant terrorists are responsible for the death of the agent assigned to protect the President's son. Can you confirm or deny this?"
"We have not received conformation on any known assailants, nor has any group claimed responsibility and we are in the process of questioning all potential eyewitnesses."
"Mr. Mahoney, was the President's Daughter, Andromeda also abducted?"
"No, Andromeda is safe at the White House and was not involved in the incident."
"Mr. Mahoney, what about the First Family? How are they coping with the news?"
"I'll tell you." Said a voice just outside the televisions view.
Despite the horrible news that he had just received, Anthony Harrison Parkman took the Press Room podium with the poise and levelheaded leadership, which had led voters to name him the 45th President of United States of America.
"My fellow Americans. As you know, my son Cyrus James Parkman had been abducted from his school this afternoon here in Washington.
"As can be expected, my wife and I are praying for a swift and safe return of our son.
"I have already received condolence messages from Russian President Ustinov and Prime Ministers Lauder from Great Britain and McLellan of Canada.
"The Federal Government will continue to function and will not be effected by this tragic event.
"I would like to assure the American public that I have the utmost confidence in the Secret Service and the FBI as well as local law enforcement in the save return of our son.
"I would also like to ask that every American, please include Cyrus in your prayers.
"And Cyrus ... were ever you are ... if you can hear my voice ... Cyrus ...
"I love you, son."
Then the most powerful man in the world, like any grieving father broke down.
Many of the X-Men were also moved to tears to hear the heartfelt words of the President, as the sound of an army helicopter could be heard, landing in the front of the Xavier Institute.
"I must be leaving," Agent Nichols said surprisingly calm.
"Kordel, Is there anything we could do?" said Jean still shocked by the news.
"The only thing you can do in this situation is to pray for a happy ending to this nightmare."
******************************
Huntsman 3 Marine helicopter, en route to the White House, 1731 EST.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Captain Dodge, what is our ETA to Carpet?"
"About 10 minutes, Agent Nichols," the chopper's co-pilot replied.
"Settle down Nichols," said Agent Leach who was on board the chopper with Nichols. "I know it's getting to you. It's got all of us jumpy, but you ain't doing anyone any good to go postal on us now."
"I can not help it," Nichols told the agent. "It was my watch and I dropped the ball."
"Hey, we all wish we were able to turn back time, Nichols," said the pilot. "But if you were there it would be you with your chest blown off."
"Maybe you are right, Major."
"of course he's right, besides if you were to have been killed back there," said Leach. "We wouldn't have anyone to be the scapegoat."
"If that is your idea of lightening up the mood," said Nichols. "I do not like it."
"Well then, you're gonna just hate this," he said as he pulled out his Sig Sower and pointed it at Nichols.
"Sure hate to do this, but it's the bosses orders, you understand, don't you Nichols?"
"Yes," He replied as he raised his hands. "I understand."
End of Chapter nine
© David D. Amaya 2007
/kbd