Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Looking in the rear view mirror, Sophia frowned. 'I could swear I've seen that semi before,' she thought uneasily.
The huge truck rumbling along a quarter of a mile behind her was a dark green color, twin chrome exhaust stacks trailing a thin plume of barely visible smoke. It was nothing out of the ordinary, thousands just like it plied the roads of the US constantly, and indeed she'd passed dozens of them since she'd fled Brockton Bay. Yet, there was a definite feeling that this one was the same one that she'd seen four times now since that diner.
This was more than a little worrying, considering that she'd changed vehicles twice since then. She was somewhere in the middle upper part of Indiana by this point, heading in the rough direction of Chicago, although she had no intention of actually going there. It was far too large a city to risk, the local law enforcement and Parahumans might well be, probably were, on the lookout for her. Her random back and forth last-minute decisions on direction meant that she'd driven close to six hundred miles to cover the more or less two hundred or so since she'd stopped for a break at the roadside place, and a few hours of cautious sleep.
Nothing amiss had happened there and she'd allowed herself to relax a little, although that hadn't stopped her leaving as soon as she felt up to it, and lifting another car when she was far enough away not to have it linked back to the diner. She'd hidden the pickup in a wooded ravine half a mile from the cabin she'd located, then stolen the old SUV that had been parked under a tarp, presumably for a backup vehicle of whoever owned the property. That had been sometime around ten the previous morning, some twenty hours ago.
As she'd pulled out onto the main road again, a truck that looked an awful lot like that one back there had gone past, turning off onto a side road a dozen miles later. At the time she'd vaguely registered it as one that had been in the parking lot of the diner, presumably due to the driver having stopped there overnight just as she had.
A couple of hours later, she'd again seen what could well have been the same vehicle in her rear-view mirror, glinting in the sunlight a couple of miles back as she rounded a curve. At that point not concerned, she'd ignored it, and it had disappeared again shortly afterwards.
Now, though, three hundred and fifty miles further on, having dumped the SUV in a deep ditch and stolen a small hatchback from someone's garage, she was looking at a very similar vehicle some distance behind her. Was it possible that, somehow, someone was tailing her? If so, how? And why in such a large and indiscreet vehicle? And for that matter, why? She highly doubted that her description had been publicly circulated yet, and she'd been listening to the news regularly to check. How could they keep finding her, after changing vehicles? She was certain that no one had been around to see her steal the new ones, or dump the old ones. And she had carefully checked all her belongings for any hidden trackers as soon as she was clear of the city, not to mention it was very unlikely that anyone could have bugged her in the mean time.
Resolving to check as soon as possible, just in case, she retrieved the road map she'd grabbed at the last supply stop, unfolding it one handed and glancing at it while trying not to drive off the road. Finally locating where she was, she checked ahead and found a small turnoff on the right a mile and a half ahead, around a sharp bend to the left.
Dropping the map into the passenger seat, she sped up slightly, checking the mirror as she did so. The truck kept moving at a steady speed, not reacting to her at all that she could see. As soon as she rounded the corner and lost sight of it, she floored it, slammed the brakes on when the turnoff came into sight, and fishtailed around the ninety-degree bend at forty miles an hour. Swearing under her breath as she nearly lost control, she wrestled with the wheel until the car was going in a straight line again and headed down the slight dip in the track, wishing that Indiana wasn't quite so flat. The dirt road curved around a copse of trees which she slammed to a halt behind, before opening the door and getting out.
Looking back, she saw to her satisfaction that the light rain that was falling had suppressed the dust nicely, so there was no obvious trail leading to her. In dry conditions you'd have been able to track her progress from miles away. Peering through the trees, she could just make out the big rig as it came around the same corner and trundled past the turnoff without slowing, although she waited until it was completely out of sight before she got back in.
'No idea if that was following me or not, but no sense taking chances,' she thought as she started the car again. Doing a three point turn and nearly ending up in the ditch, she retraced her path, coming to the main road and turning left. Better to have to go back for ten or twenty miles than risk anything. Pleased that her quick thinking had possibly saved her, presuming that she really was being followed, she accelerated back up to a sensible speed and went on her way.
Twenty-three minutes later a dark green semi went past the turning in the same direction, its turbocharger whining over the sound of the big diesel engine and the CB aerial waving in the wind of its passage.
"I think that now Coil is out of the picture, it may be time to begin dealing with Lung," the Varga commented as Taylor showered. "I would prefer to wait until both Sophia and Skidmark were dealt with, I admit, since it would leave us only one thing to concentrate on, but since we have no idea when, or indeed if, either one of them will turn up..." He sighed a little. "It's most annoying. I dislike having problems stacking up in the background."
"So do I," she replied out loud, picking up the bottle of shampoo and squeezing some into her hand, then slapping it on her head. "Every time I think we might have a chance soon to sit back, relax, and maybe just enjoy ourselves, something else happens. I mean, I'm enjoying the hell out of life right now anyway, but it would be nice to have time to plan things out, rather than react to them." She laughed a little, massaging her scalp. "Some days seem like they go on for weeks as it is."
"Indeed," he chuckled. "That seems to be a hazard of our existence. Still, perhaps it's best to deal with Lung sooner rather than later. It would allow Lisa, Brian, and Alec at least to leave the Yard, which I'm sure they'd appreciate. Obviously Lisa can always go out as Metis but she might like the ability to do it as herself."
"Probably. She can check on her apartment as well, which I know is something that bothers her. We know no one has interfered with it, at least to the point we checked last time, but sooner or later something might happen. And the guy's old hideout still has some stuff they may want back."
"Alec's save games?" The Varga sounded amused.
"I think he's having more fun redoing everything now, actually," Taylor snickered. "I have to go and try playing him some time. Half the people in the DWU have so far, and he's kicked almost everyone's ass at everything."
"He does have a lot of practice," her companion pointed out.
"True, that's practically all he does except eat, sleep, and shoot Brian with things." Rinsing her hair, she combed it straight with her fingers, then turned the taps off. Squeezing out the excess water she got out of the shower, manifesting a towel in the process which she wrapped around her head. "Mark said he's an eerily good shot. With practically anything they've tried so far."
"I would still be interested in seeing what he did with one of Amy's bioguns," the demon said with a laugh.
"Horrible things, Lisa said. Horrible things." She brushed her teeth, then finished drying herself. Shortly she was back in her room making sure she had everything for school. Satisfied that her backpack was in order, she pushed it into a pocket that was usefully much larger than it should have been. When she arrived at school she'd make sure she was wearing it normally, but this was much easier to carry. The fractal dimensional technique was useful for all manner of day to day problems, she mused with a smile as she headed downstairs. "If we leave a little early we can arrange things, I think. I know where we can probably get word to him discreetly."
"Agreed. Let's do that, and see what happens. Hopefully we can come to an arrangement that is satisfactory for all concerned."
"That would be good," she smiled, beginning breakfast preparations.
Shortly after she started, Taylor heard the sound of footsteps approaching the door, and a familiar scent met her nose. Glancing towards the doorway she commented, "That's the mail."
The Varga, who was now in the second aspect of a small dragon, sitting on her shoulder as he liked to do, vanished silently as the sound of several envelopes coming through the mail slot and landing on the carpet met her ears. Moments later he was back, appearing as Saurial and leaning back on the counter as he sorted through the mail.
"Several bills, what appears to be a catalog for a company attempting to sell no doubt wildly overpriced roofing supplies, and this," he remarked, putting everything but one item on the table for her father. He held up a medium-sized padded envelope. "Which contains a DVD based on the feel and scent."
"Who's it from?" she asked, cracking eggs into the pan.
He looked at the printed label on the envelope, then took the egg she tossed him and crunched it up. "Thank you. The television company that was filming at the Yard a few weeks ago. Addressed to your father."
"That must be the documentary they were shooting," she said. "I was wondering when that was going to turn up. The reporter said a couple of weeks, it's been longer than that."
Both of them looked up as they heard her father get out of bed, the floor creaking a little as he walked across it. "Shall we wait for Danny, or open it now?" he asked.
"Open it, see if there's a letter," she said, checking on the progress of the bacon. Slitting the seal with a claw he popped the envelope open, then looked inside, before extracting a sheet of paper. "What's it say?"
Scanning it, he smiled a little. "She apologizes for the delay, apparently they wanted to include new footage of the Merchant raid and a few other things they found on PHO. She says that she'd appreciate any feedback on any inaccuracies as she has no wish to offend the Family or the DWU. Which is nice."
Taylor giggled. "I think Kaiju made an impression."
"I suspect so," he grinned. Removing the cased DVD he looked at it. "I suggest it would be a good idea to watch this tonight, talk to your father about some of the things that you promised to tell him, and then perhaps go out and see if we can upset any criminals. We haven't done that for a few days."
"It's a plan," she said, putting bread in the toaster. "One I like. We also need to make some more parts for Linda too. And get ready for her power testing, assuming the PRT does want to go ahead with it this week."
"Lisa seems sure they will, and she's normally correct," he suggested, putting the DVD and letter back in the envelope, which he put with the rest of the mail. "I think we can fit everything in. If necessary we can dispense with the patrol, although I do enjoy it."
"Me too." She looked around as her father came into the kitchen, looking at her, then her alter-ego, who was eating another egg he stole from the carton.
"You know, I keep thinking I'll get used to that, but somehow..." Her father shook his head a little. "I guess eventually I will. It's still very weird, though."
She laughed for a moment. "Sorry, Dad, I can't help it. And he doesn't want to." She pointed at the Varga with her spatula, the demon smirking at them.
"It is still a novel experience for me, Danny, having this level of autonomy," the Varga said happily. "You have no idea what it's like to be even slightly independent after so long. Longer than your species has existed on this world, in fact. Your daughter is more generous than I can express to allow me to use this aspect at will in this manner, something I can never repay her for."
Taylor smiled gently, patting her other aspect on one scaly shoulder. "You know you don't owe me anything, my friend. It's the right thing to do. You've given me so much I had to give you something in return and this is so easy anyway."
Her father watched both of them for a moment. "Still weird. But I can't say I don't enjoy it." With a smile of his own he moved to put turn the kettle on. "And it makes both of you so happy it wouldn't matter if I didn't."
Taylor pointed at the envelope on the table. "A DVD came from that TV company in Boston."
"Oh? That documentary, I suppose?"
"That's what the letter said. We looked."
"OK." While the kettle was slowly coming to the boil, he pulled out the letter and quickly read it. "I see. All right, I'll watch that tonight and give her some feedback. Will you be here?"
"I said I would, didn't I?" she asked.
"You did. But you're busier than I am these days."
"Not all the time, and I want to see it too," she replied, shaking her head. "Now sit down and eat your breakfast."
"Yes, dear," he said, grinning and following her order. "Just like your mother."
With a giggle she served three plates of food, then all of them sat and ate, talking about the day to come.
Pouring himself a strong coffee, Pat got ready for opening. It was only just after seven, but he knew that if he didn't have the doors open by eight a number of his regulars would be clustered outside waiting impatiently and Erwin at least would have a very sarcastic comment for him. Generally something about being a typically lazy Irishman, which would annoy him if he didn't know it was meant in good humor. The old bastard was a snarky pain in the ass sometimes, constantly owed him at least a month's worth of bar bills, but was as reliable as a brick and willing to defend the pub to the death. Not to mention quite happy to jump in to any bar fight to protect the beer.
His ability to drink an entire pint of brandy over the course of a morning was still something that left the barman in awe when he thought about it. As was the way he'd greeted Kaiju like an old friend when she'd floated past, something that made Pat pale a little when he remembered it.
In fact, as he thought of it, he also realized something. "That old sot never paid for that brandy yet, either," he muttered, pulling chairs off tables and flipping them the right way up. "How the hell does he keep managing to change the subject whenever I mention it?"
Shaking his head, he kept working, finally getting the bar area ready. As he was going back behind the bar to clear the beer lines, there was a knock on the front door.
"We're not open yet!" he shouted, carefully pulling on one handle and allowing the stale beer to run into the drain. The knock came again, three firm raps.
"Damn it, Erwin, can't you wait for your alcohol another ten minutes?" he snapped, releasing the handle. Grabbing a bar towel he dried his hands from the splashes, flipped it over his shoulder, and stomped towards the door. Unbolting it, he swung it open. "You are a right pain in the backside, you crazy old… eep!"
A very recognizable reptilian face grinned at him. "Hi."
"Ah… Hello, Saurial. Sorry, I thought you were someone else."
"No problem. Say hi to Erwin when he turns up, Kaiju says he's cool. Sorry to bother you, but I was hoping I could ask a favor?"
Trying not to think about the fact that an eighty-foot-tall sea creature from his nightmares thought one of his regulars was 'cool' he nodded a little jerkily. "Of course. Anything for the Family. Come in."
"Thanks." She followed him inside the building, looking around with interest. "Nice place."
"Thank you," he said as he retreated behind the bar, staring at the armored reptilian creature standing in the middle of the room. "How can I help?"
"I need to get a message to one of your patrons and this seemed a quick way to do it." Walking over to the other side of the bar she produced an envelope from somewhere, putting it down on the polished mahogany surface. It was made of a heavy cream paper, he saw when he picked it up, and there was writing on it in Japanese characters. "I expect you'll recognize the description. Japanese guy, tall, very strong, tattoos, doesn't talk a lot?"
Pat knew exactly who she was talking about. "Oh. Yes, I know him."
"Could you give him that when you next see him, please? Along with anything he wants for his first drink." She put half a dozen twenties on the bar as well. "Keep the change. It would be really helpful to me. He'll probably have an answer, I'll swing by tomorrow morning and pick it up if there is one."
"I can do that," he nodded, wondering what was in the envelope but quickly thinking it probably wasn't his business.
"Thanks very much," she smiled. "Oh, by the way, can I get a can of Coke?"
"Of course." He put the envelope down again then turned and opened one of the under-counter fridges, quickly retrieving a can, which he handed to her. She dropped another dollar bill on the counter and nodded her thanks.
"Great. See you around, Pat," she said, giving him a jaunty wave, then heading towards the exit, her talons clicking faintly on the floor. Seconds later she was gone, the door swinging closed behind her.
Pat looked at it, then down at the envelope and the cash, then around the now-empty room. Finally he picked everything up and stared at it. "Well, that happened," he said in a weak voice. "Tiny Ring Wraiths, lizard warrior girls, what next?" Shaking his head, he opened the till and put the envelope under the cash drawer, the money into the relevant section, then slammed it closed.
"This city is..." He couldn't finish the sentence, not knowing which words would do it justice best. Sighing, he went back to getting ready for the morning rush.
"There's Taylor," Amy said, waving at her friend as she parked. Vicky looked to see the Hebert girl standing next to the unmistakable figure of Saurial, both of them talking to Mandy and Lucy. They glanced over, waved back, then resumed their conversation. She pondered the pair, still not able to come to any solid conclusion about them.
Her paranoia had diminished somewhat over the last few days, partly because she recognized full well it was paranoia to an extent, and partly because she'd made a deliberate effort to try to suppress it. The Family, while weird, were definitely friends, both personally and of her family and the city as well. Taylor was a good friend, Saurial was very close to her, and also a friend, Amy was very close to both of them as well as the others…
She suppressed a sigh as she got out of the car, her sister prodding the remote locking fob as they walked towards the school. She was desperately curious to figure out where they came from, how the Heberts had met them, whether Saurial had actually grown up in the city with Taylor, or anything else about the situation. But she couldn't see any way to find out more. All the reading she'd done had led her down a number of rabbit holes with no signs of bottoms, and no indication that any of them were remotely correct. Sure, there were some very weird similarities between current events, things that one or other of the reptiles had casually said, and some extremely disturbing stories and movies, but did that actually mean anything? It could just be a whole string of coincidences.
She snorted very gently under her breath. Yeah, right. That many coincidences in a row?
No, there was something buried in there, she was sure of it, but she was also sure she didn't currently have a clue what, aside from a number of vague feelings. Every time she went over the evidence again she came to a different conclusion, all of which were crazy. The most reasonable one was that Saurial had been fostered by the Heberts and grown up alongside Taylor as a sister of hers, which explained a lot of things, but left a huge number completely unexplained. And opened up a whole slew of new questions. Everything else made even less sense.
She had a sudden insight into why Director Piggot seemed intent on pretending most of the things the Family did or said hadn't happened. It was probably the only way the woman could get through the day.
"You OK, Vicky?" Amy asked as they walked. She glanced at her sister, who was looking at her with a slightly furrowed brow and a mildly concerned face. The other girl was remarkable perceptive, she thought, she picked up on all sorts of emotional states as if she could practically smell them.
"Yep, I'm fine, Ames. Just thinking about something that was bothering me."
"Want to talk about it? I've always got time for my sister and her petty problems of being too popular," Amy smirked, making the taller blonde put her arm around her shoulder and giggle.
"Such horrible problems they are!" she exclaimed. "So many people wanting to be around me."
"The perils of being tall, beautiful, and blonde," Amy noted wisely. "Luckily I chose otherwise. It must be hard, being you."
"It is. So very hard. But I bear up under the strain, somehow." Vicky sighed dramatically, pressing the back of her free hand against her forehead. "Perhaps one day I can pass on the burden to another, but for now it's mine to bear."
"Poor girl. Perhaps you should talk Dean into buying you another pretty, you haven't done that for weeks." Amy grinned at her.
"You've changed, sis," Vicky snickered. "So much. I'm glad."
"Thanks. You're not so bad yourself these days," the brunette replied, still smiling a bit. "Almost bearable. Meeting Saurial was as good for you as it was for me."
After a second or two, Vicky nodded, conceding the point. Despite the way it had happened and the problems at the time, it seemed to be the single event that had changed all their lives for the better. "You're right. Weird, isn't it?"
"So is she."
"Hey, I heard that," Saurial called from twenty feet away.
"I know. Do I look like I care?" Amy shot back with a smirk.
"Not as such, but you're a cold and heartless human, Amy," the reptilian cape chuckled, making Taylor and everyone else laugh. Even Amy.
"I do my best. Someone has to," Amy replied regally, bowing her head for a moment. Then she grinned. "Hi, guys, how's it going?"
"Fine, thanks," Mandy said with a smile. "We had a PRT lieutenant come by the house last night and talk to us about this Parahuman rogue problem, which made my parents look worried for a while. The weird thing was that when he mentioned that the Family was helping out at the school, they got a lot less worried." She glanced at Saurial who was smiling faintly. "Seems their reputation is growing around these parts."
"Same thing with me," Lucy added. "Dad was pretty annoyed that there was a threat like this, and even more annoyed that it was aimed at a student. When he heard who it was, he looked really pissed. He respects the DWU quite a lot for some reason, and Taylor's Dad too. I don't think they've ever met, though. But he was pleased to hear about Saurial hanging around here." She looked at the tall reptilian figure with a grin. "Maybe you could visit some time, that would be funny to see. I could introduce you to Newell."
"Ah, the very distant cousin," Saurial nodded, looking amused. "Perhaps we can arrange that."
"Did the PRT guy tell him who was involved?" Vicky asked.
"No, I did when he'd gone," Lucy said. "He only said it was the child of a prominent local citizen and that he couldn't say more due to privacy regulations. I didn't think it was something Taylor would mind."
"I don't," the tall girl noted, shrugging. "Everyone in school knows, he'd find out sooner or later, and it doesn't matter."
"Prominent local citizen?" Amy queried, looking at Taylor, who smiled.
"I know, I've never heard Dad called that before," she laughed. "How things have changed recently."
Everyone, even Saurial, nodded at the comment.
Eric and Rich arrived moments later, joining the group. "Hi, everyone," the latter said.
"Hi, Rich," they all chorused in eerie synchronicity, making him take a step back and look at Eric, who looked back.
"Girls are scary," he whispered loudly.
After a moment, everyone started laughing. When the bell rang, they headed inside, still in a good mood. Spotting her boyfriend near his locker, Vicky headed towards him after waving to the others, deciding that for now she'd put her questions about the Family to rest until she could find out more. And that, just possibly, it might be safe to ask Saurial and/or Taylor the truth of the matter. If only to stop her overactive imagination coming up with yet another bizarre scenario.
But not quite yet. She needed to think of the best way to broach the subject, one that wouldn't get her bitten...
Her cellphone rang as the driver parked the PRT SUV outside city hall. About to exit the vehicle, Emily pulled the phone out and looked at the display, then sighed minutely. She prodded the relevant icon and raised it to her ear. "Hello, Mr Hebert," she said. "How can I help you?"
"I just wanted to speak briefly, if you've got a minute? We wanted to arrange to have Vectura come in for official power testing, as we mentioned last week."
"I see." She thought rapidly. "Yes, that can be arranged. I'm just about to have a meeting with the Mayor regarding Sunday and the fallout from that, which I have to admit I'm not looking forward to, but I'll call Miss Militia and have her call you to set up an appropriate time. Probably tomorrow afternoon, I think. Is that acceptable?"
"Certainly," he replied, sounding unsurprised. "We'll fit in around your schedule, there's no hurry. We realize you've probably got an awful lot of work to do because of the operation over the weekend."
"You have no idea," she sighed. "Thank you. Expect her to call later this morning."
"Thanks, Director. Have a nice day. Bye." He hung up, as Emily lay her head back on the backrest for a moment and closed her eyes.
"Tinkers, Lizards, and Dock Workers. God, what a combination..." Raising her head again she fiddled with the phone for a second.
"Miss Militia," the woman in question answered.
"The DWU want their pet cat-woman Tinker to be officially tested, MIss Militia," she said in reply to the greeting. "Please contact Danny Hebert when you have a free moment and arrange that for as soon as possible. Best to get it out of the way, perhaps they'll go away after that."
"All right, Emily, I can do that. Is she going to be bringing her mech? If she does we'll never get Armsmaster away from it." The cape sounded amused.
Emily sighed. "God, I know. Him and Dragon both. But they'll at least be able to assess her abilities. Which, knowing the sort of people the DWU seems to dig up, will be Tinker: Yes."
Hannah chuckled, although it sounded sympathetic. "That wouldn't surprise me. I'll check with the research department and find out who's available and when we can fit it in. Tomorrow sometime, definitely."
"That will be fine." A tap on the window made her look, to see Legend standing there. "Sorry, I have to go. Legend just arrived. Hopefully he can help smooth over some pretty ruffled feathers. Roy is… unhappy."
"Oh. That's not ideal," Hannah said.
"Not really, but it's to be expected. That fucking chemical was a hell of a lot worse than anyone said it would be. I'm minded to pass a regulation that says anyone even thinking of ever doing that again should be shot on sight." She grumbled to herself a little as she took her seat-belt off, while Hannah snorted with laughter.
"I expect the poor Mayor has had a lot of complaints."
"He seemed to think they were a little excessive, yes," she agreed, opening the door as Legend stepped back. "Now we have to go and play nice, since we owe him one. A much bigger one than I wanted."
"Good luck," the woman said. "I'll get right on that matter."
"Thank you." Emily tapped the disconnect icon, then put the phone away. "Let's go and see what we have to give Roy to make him happy," she sighed as Legend offered his hand. The Protectorate leader looked amused, which she felt was a little excessive. He seemed to be having far too much fun these days.
"I'm sure we can come to some arrangement everyone is happy with," the man said as they headed towards the entrance.
"You haven't met him," she muttered, which only made him smile.