Already, I was not in the best of moods. A large group of my - and I say my with utmost embarrassment - GS agents had fallen prey to Mulwray's baiting, and he and Kilmartin had sent a number of them to the medical bay. Perhaps the worst part was that none of them were hit by Kilmartin's molecular powers, and only one man was electrocuted by Mulwray. Just what were they teaching them in the academy? How best to fall for dirty tricks and schoolyard tactics?
Then I heard the Proxy Blue report about the kidnapping of Joshua Valentine. Of course I knew of his father Corbin Valentine, the astronaut touted as a national hero. But there was something that Proxy Blue was unaware of, or chose not to report.
My newest lieutenant, Wendy Stone stood beside me and watched the report with me again.
"Kidnappings happen, it is a cross the rich and famous must bear. But there is a slight complication in that Corbin Valentine chose to marry a new mutant," I said.
"And the kidnapped son is also a new mutant?" said Miss Stone.
I nodded. "Thermal powers, reportedly. He is only ten years old, but we cannot afford to underestimate even young new mutants. It goes without saying that this could create untold problems for us. I can see the headlines now, astronaut's son is a superpowered freak. And with a telepath for a mother, who knows what the full extent of his powers will be? I would rest much more easily with him in our custody," I said.
"I completely understand. I propose to take a team and pose as investigators. That way, if the boy was to use his powers, we can contain the situation," she said.
That seemed a reasonable course of action. "I'll use my influence to ensure our investigations are not intruded upon by other agencies. I'm putting my trust in you, Miss Stone. Do not disappoint me," I said.
"Leave this to me, sir," Miss Stone said. She nodded curtly, and left my office.
A few days passed, and I did not receive a report from Miss Stone. It was a welcome change from other agents who saw fit to inform me when somebody sneezed or ate breakfast, but nonetheless it was concerning. Miss Stone could be dead, or trying to cover up a catastrophic failure. I called her to report to my office to make sure, and found that she was alive but had very little to report.
"The assignment was simple and straightforward, but as of yet your investigation has turned up nothing. It took a great deal of effort to convince the FBI to back off and let us carry the ball. The mother is a telepath, she must have some kind of connection with her son. I suggest you use that connection to your advantage," I said.
"Absolutely, sir. We'll deal with Mrs Valentine," Miss Stone said.
"You do what you have to. She's of no interest to me whatsoever. The boy is a priceless commodity. Bring him to me, Miss Stone. And make it soon."
Somehow, Mutant X beat us to kidnapper's hideout and took the boy. I made a note to myself to personally check the security of our communication systems. Again. I had been thorough in my checks after they broke in and destroyed all of our systems, but it appeared there were still some holes.
Mutant X had returned the boy to his parents. That was not the plan. Wendy Stone and her team did however succeed in bringing in the kidnapper. Miss Stone needed no help in restraining the man. Seeing her use her powers to flatten him to the floor of my office dampened my frustration a little.
"Who hired you?" I asked.
The man simply gasped for breath. "Please stop," he spluttered out from under Miss Stone's boot as she used her power to place him under enormous pressure.
"There's only so much G force the human body can take, Mr Burke, before it simply explodes like a crushed grape," I said, watching in fascination at the gruesome sight of his head bulging and warping under the pressure. I did wonder what it would look like to see a human being explode. If I didn't get answers, we would find out. Perhaps I would instruct Miss Stone to finish the job somewhere other than my office. The mess would be incredible. The thought of entrails splattering all over my clean suit filled me with horror.
"Lisa Valentine hired me," he gasped out.
I crouched down to get closer to his level. "She had her own son kidnapped?" I said.
Miss Stone met my eyes. "Should I bring her in?"
"There's no need," I said. "Why would Mrs Valentine do that?"
"To keep him away from someone. I don't know," the kidnapper said.
I got to my feet and said, "I think we're finished here." I walked around the other side of my desk, out of the way. Some dreadful noises were coming from the kidnapper as Miss Stone increased pressure on him. I avoided the splatter, but Miss Stone was just fortunate she was wearing leather. I'm not sure which memory will stick with me longer, the noise or the smell. Miss Stone met my eyes once more and gave me the sly smile of someone who has done this before.
"We'll need a clean-up crew in here," I said.
"Of course, sir," she said, and headed for the door.
"Ahem," I said, watching the growing trail of bloody footprints leading away from the body. "Please don't make it worse."
Miss Stone stopped and saw that she was tracking blood out of my office. She stopped and sighed, leaning against the wall to unzip and remove her boots, before walking off barefoot.
My office and Miss Stone had been cleaned up sufficiently just in time for the arrival of Joshua Valentine and his father.
"Right on time," was how Miss Stone greeted them. "You're goggling, Mr Valentine. I would have assumed a man of your reputation could handle any surprise that might come along."
"Why didn't you tell me you were-" he began.
"We maintain a firm need to know policy at the GSA," she said, and quickly turned her attention to the boy. "Do you prefer Josh, or Joshua?" She held out a hand to him.
"Josh," he said, gingerly taking her hand. Miss Stone easily dragged him into her grip and pointed a sub-dermal governor gun to his neck.
"Hey, what is that thing?" said his father, attempting to move towards his son but restrained by the security staff.
"A necessary precaution, Mr Valentine," Miss Stone told him. "He's not in control of his abilities yet. We don't want any unfortunate accidents." She pressed the trigger, and the boy made a show of crying out in pain.
Miss Stone released Joshua, and the boy backed away from her, almost colliding with me.
"So this must be Joshua," I said. I was not one to humour people's insistence of using nicknames. Even first names were a little too casual for most situations. Adam was the polar opposite of me in that respect, he insisted on being on first name terms with everybody. It was infuriating.
The boy didn't reply. His eyes darted around nervously, and he rubbed the back of his neck. I bent down to his level, employing my talking-to-children voice. "Have you any idea what a special little boy you are?" I said, putting on a false smile. "Not very talkative, is he?" I looked up at his father, whose mouth twitched upwards slightly.
I turned back to the boy and asked him, "What do you think of my world?"
Joshua looked right at me and said, "I think it sucks."
I stood up and looked again to his father, still trying to maintain my false smile. It was beginning to make my jaw ache. "It's a credit to the gene pool when a father's heroic nature finds its place in his son. But it can be terribly disturbing when these genetic anomalies create such a turmoil in the family."
"I've tried to explain that to Joshua. He's got a little glitch in his genetic make-up, that we can fix. It's why we're here, right?" Mr Valentine said.
"Right," I said, looking at Joshua. The boy continued to regard me warily.
I had Miss Stone transfer him to one of our clinics for further tests. I wanted to learn more about this boy and the spontaneous appearance of his elemental power. He was not a psionic like his mother, and that was unusual. Perhaps he would develop psionic powers later. That would give him the potential to be a phenomenal GS agent.
"So am I right in saying that Mutant X broke into the clinic and walked away with the boy?" I said, staring down a remorseful looking Miss Stone.
"I tried to stop them, Mr Eckhart," she said, looking at her badly burned hands.
"The boy's work?" I asked.
She nodded.
"Remarkable. And only ten years old," I said, smiling. "A shame you were unable to keep hold of him."
Miss Stone's brow creased. "With all due respect, sir, the security arrangements for that facility are not under my remit," she said.
"So I hear, the Valentine family have now completely disappeared," I said.
"If you would allow me I could-"
I waved a hand, cutting her off. I had no more time for her false promises. "I think we're finished here," I said, nodding to the security staff to take her away.
The security staff had no time to react before she had them both pinned against the wall. Miss Stone turned to me and smiled as the men began their futile struggle.
"I invite you to reconsider, Mr Eckhart," she said.
"And what did you think was going to happen to you, Miss Stone?" I said, trying to hide my shock. Her eyes darted towards the window, and the stasis pods. "That was, ah, not my plan for you," I said. "I had a new position in mind for you."
"Yes?" Miss Stone moved her hands subtly, and the flattened guards squirmed even more.
"You are very good at getting information out of people, Miss Stone. I think you would do much better in interrogation than out in the field."
Miss Stone looked at me, still not releasing the pressure on the two men. "This new position, Mr Eckhart, does it come with a pay rise?"
The sheer audacity! My gut reaction was to point blank refuse. But the thought of her turning her powers against me was unbearable. She could squash me like an insect. So, I chose my words carefully. "That is negotiable," I said.
She released the men, who collapsed to the floor, coughing and gasping. I could finally breathe again.
Miss Stone left, and eventually the security staff got back to their feet and made their way out of my office, looking rather embarrassed. I stood and turned to look out of the window. I was once again in a terrible mood. Even though the Valentines were unlikely to cause any more trouble for us, I hated that I had lost a valuable research subject. I detested that Mutant X persistently laughed in the face of our state-of-the-art security systems. And Miss Stone's little manipulation of me had put the icing on the cake of annoyance.
Now I had two options. I could remain in my office and silently seethe, snapping at anyone who dared speak to me for the rest of the day. Or I could stalk the corridors and glower at my employees. Nothing like a little discomfort and the feeling that the man in charge knew something they rather wish he didn't to increase the productivity of a workforce.