The five black clad figures moved silently through the night, each footstep carefully placed to avoid disturbing the undergrowth. Crickets chirping, mosquitoes whining, and the swish of the breeze through pine needles were the only sounds in the forest. A full moon provided enough light to make night goggles unnecessary. The irregular silhouettes of the four bulkiest individuals indicated they carried extra gear and weapons. The fifth, more slender member carried nothing. As they got closer to their destination, they dropped to the ground crawling on hands and knees. All thoughts were carefully controlled; visions of their surroundings, not their objective were firmly fixed in their minds.
The five fighters moved in single file until they were in range of their target. One of the larger figures eased up next to the slender one. He put his lips to his companion's ear. "Hey superboy, can't you use your magic powers to get rid of the mosquitoes?"
"Ponzi." A low warning growl from the biggest form silenced him. His next words were directed to the slender figure. "You ready?"
A quick nod to indicate he was set and the four grabbed onto John and three of them onto each other. John pushed up the sleeve of his black jersey revealing a blue suppression cuff.
Kane slipped a hand into a pocket and tapped on a tablet. He caught the cuff as it opened, pocketing it and then grabbed a team member. John immediately teleported them inside the deceptively simple home.
The four commandos landed with guns ready, shooting as soon as they landed.
The two Tomorrow People present in the sparsely furnished living room weren't completely taken by surprise. They must have sensed John as soon as the bracelet came off. That split second of warning allowed one of them to deflect the bullets. The other one gestured at a home security panel, triggering an alarm. He then turned towards a wall unit, but John teleported between the man and his target. A kick to the stomach sent the man flying, but he was far from out of commission. He gestured with both hands sending John into the wall.
The man scrambled up trying to reach the wall unit, but John rebounded to teleport behind him. He drove an elbow into the man's back while tripping him up, crashing both of them to the floor. The heavier man flipped John off, jumping on him, punching him in the face. John rolled with the blow the best he could. The man tried to teleport to the wall, but John clung to him catching a ride.
John managed to hit him with a strong blow to the chest forcing a pain filled grunt from the TP. "John Young, you're a pain in the ass."
John didn't allow the mental communication or the knowledge that the man knew who he was distract him. He punched him hard in the stomach and then hit him with an upper cut that knocked him to the floor. He turned to attack the man who was holding his teammates at bay when another TP teleported behind him. A quick blow to the back of John's head stunned him. The man took the opportunity to flip him to the floor holding him down with a foot on his chest, leveraging his arm in a lock that would break bones if John moved the wrong way. John was set to teleport when the first man recovered and reached the wall panel. A few quick jabs with a finger, and he turned to help his comrade sending the Ultra team slamming into the wall.
"Out," John clearly heard the mental call just before the three adversaries teleported away.
As the team regrouped, John dashed into the next room. There were three stations with LED screens counting down numbers. Kane and the others piled in stopping short at the sight of the bombs.
Kane barked only one word. "Assessment?"
"In relay. Disarm together or boom." John clipped out the facts.
"We leave. You try." Kane decided immediately. "Teleport out if it gets to three seconds."
Maritza argued with her boss. "He can do this. Why leav—"
Kane just pushed her to follow the others. As they exited, Jim shot out the still blaring alarm.
"That alarm could be a problem," Ponzi said to no one in particular. Everyone already knew it, but he enjoyed the sound of his own voice.
Kane spoke on a secured line. "There's tandem bombs. We're waiting for resolution."
A disembodied voice responded immediately. "You must move quickly. The alarm from the home unit was intercepted before it reached the monitoring company and the police station, but an anonymous call tipped off the police about a home invasion."
Kane was clearly unhappy with the news.
"Hey, shouldn't he be done? There wasn't a long count down on those bombs. Do you think he did it or teleported out?" Ponzi asked. As he finished speaking they each heard a faint. "Come back."
Kane let out a pent up breath while Jim shook his head, slapping his ear. "That tickles."
"It can't tickle your ear. It's in your mind, not your ear. Your mind's tricking you." Maritza disagreed in a superior, mildly scornful tone.
Jim shrugged. "Whatever. I like it. Saves time."
Ponzi disagreed. "It's not natural."
Maritza punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Don't be such a baby."
The banter in no way impeded their dash back to the house. They cautiously entered the empty living room. Jim doused the lights and stood guard intently peering through the window.
"Downstairs."
They saw an open door and crept down the stairs to see John examining a sophisticated computer setup. Maritza quickly joined him.
A stream of profanity escaped Kane as he saw three stations that looked all too familiar. "Maritza?"
She was able to answer his question in moments. "Computer's linked to the stations. Try to remove it, and it will fry. Do the stations wrong, it'll fry."
Kane sighed looking at the floor. He raised his head to John. "We'll have company soon. You think you can do this?"
John didn't hesitate. "I do. I know what went wrong last time. I'm stronger." He paused. "Problem is I won't be able to teleport for awhile. Not sure I can make it on foot either. You may have to leave me behind."
Kane frowned and reached for the phone.
While he spoke John walked over to the screens and retraced his steps calculating distances. He stood in the middle mentally preparing himself.
Kane disconnected. "Go for it, John."
He turned to Ponzi and Maritza. "We try to avoid detection, but if we can't then we have kill orders."
Ponzi whistled while Maritza's eyebrows rose. "These are cops. This will be a big mess to cover up."
Kane nodded. "That's understood, but those are the orders. Support will come if we need it. But on no account is John left behind, and we do not abort the mission."
John took a deep breath and they watched fascinated. A split second and six lights were green and John was face down on the floor.
A quiet whoop from Maritza, and she was at the computer swiftly unhooking the connections. Ponzi reached into one of the packages he was carrying, extracting a backpack. Maritza slid the computer in and then he hoisted it to her back while she secured the straps in front.
Ponzi lifted John and helped position him over Kane's shoulder. They hurried up the stairs back to the living room.
"Jim point. Maritza next. Ponzi bring up the rear." As Jim departed Kane warned Maritza. "You do not engage. A bullet in that computer will mean The Founder has a bullet put in us."
She nodded and took off. They followed a predetermined route and were soon out of the woods. Landmarks memorized from surveillance photos kept them on track. The faint wail of sirens in the distance drove them on.
They were headed for a safe house far enough away from the target that preparations would have not alerted the TP but close enough for the team to realistically reach it. It was a secure warehouse surrounded by an impenetrable fence. Ultra had an agreement for locked space inside it. A well-known local security company provided gate control. If the authorities questioned the guards on duty, they had no knowledge of Ultra's presence and would vouch that there were no unauthorized entries. Once inside, the team would be safe.
The team had been traveling for an hour now. The last barrier was the security fence surrounding the extensive warehouse grounds. Jim helped Kane lower John to the ground. Ponzi eased his head up out of the culvert they were hiding in.
"Bad news," he reported. "There's a road block right up the road. Doubt we can sneak across without them seeing us."
Kane mentally reviewed the map he had memorized . "If we try to go around to the other side and stay under cover it will be at least twenty minutes."
"Can we contact support to teleport us in?" Maritza asked.
Kane frowned. "That's a lot of people in this small space and I don't know if we can stay undetected."
Ponzi crawled up for another check and hurried back down. "They've started a search along the road. They know where we're coming out. Looks like the TP kept an eye or a mind or whatever on us."
John spoke up. "I think I can teleport us."
The other three team members looked at John and then to Kane. He eyed John and shrugged. "Nothing to lose."
He hefted his machine gun. "They may notice something. If he fails be prepared." The others nodded, ready to fight if needed.
John reached deep within himself and they ended up inside the building in the room he had memorized.
Maritza did a shoulder roll as she landed and ended up knocking three agents down like a bowling ball hitting pins. Ponzi did a painful nose dive. He sat up swearing, blood pouring from his nose. Jim landed with a thump on his butt while Kane slid to land at the Founder's feet. John lay sprawled on his back, breathing heavily.
The Founder looked astonished for a moment and then recovered his usual aplomb. "Not very graceful. I'm afraid I'd have to give you a three."
Jedikiah quickly moved to John, kneeling next to him. "You okay?"
The Founder craned his head to take in the other four. "Do you have it?" he demanded.
Maritza wiggled her way out of the backpack straps. "Here, sir."
"Is it intact?" The Founder made no attempt to hide his anxiety.
She nodded. "Yes, sir."
The Founder turned and gestured to a woman standing attentively behind him. She quickly moved forward to take the pack. When she put it on a table it was engulfed by a team of three.
The Founder, his most pressing concern partially alleviated, turned his attention to John. "Does he need medical attention?"
John reached a hand up to grasp Jedikiah's arm.
"Easy, son." Jedikiah gently reassured him.
He grabbed John's chin and turned his head checking his eyes for either dilated or constricted pupils.
John assured him. "I'm just tired. Just need to rest."
Jedikiah agreed and turned to look up at the Founder. "Let's just let him rest. Keep the witch doctors away from him."
The Founder considered for a moment. "Whatever you say, Doctor Price. He's your protégé."
John squeezed Jedikiah's arm. "Thanks."
Jedikiah smiled and gently slapped his cheek.
The Founder asked Kane, "So he really took care of the three tandem bombs and a three station secured on/off locking device. Six places at the same time?"
Kane nodded.
The Founder's eyebrows rose, his face expressing deep satisfaction. "He did it!"
"That he did. I had to carry him out but when we got here . . . well, you saw . . . it was sloppy, but he got us in."
The Founder turned. "John, I am impressed." He smiled broadly and then spoke more to himself then anyone in the room. "That means it's within my reach."
A tech caught his attention. "The plans are present and intact, Sir."
"Excellent."
Kane was careful to keep his curiosity off his face, but the Founder caught it in his thoughts. "A device that overrides the D chips. I was most anxious to own it."
John struggled to sit up and Jedikiah helped him, supporting his back. Color started to drain from his face and Jedikiah said, "Whoa, let's put you back down."
John shook his head, hanging on to his mentor until he recovered. He sent a thought to the Founder. The man caught it, and amused by John reaching out to him, walked over.
"I want something for this," John demanded.
"My, a little success and it goes to your head. Well, I'm in an agreeable mood. What do you want?"
"Someone goes free."
The tolerant smile disappeared from the Founder's face. "Let me make this perfectly clear. You and the Coburn sister will never be set free. Neither will Irene. I may consider one of the other girls if—" the Founder held up an admonitory finger, "—if you perform a particular mission for me."
He knelt and held John's eyes. "Do this one thing for me, John and I will do what you want."
John nodded and allowed Jedikiah to lower him back to the floor.