Disclaimer: Again, I don't own the characters, except maybe General Ryder and Major Boyer. Boy, do I feel lucky.
Author's Note: Argh! Curse you, Terra, for bringing up the white magic/zombie thing. I hadn't even thought about that… Now I had to think of a way to make that make sense… It's hard, but I did it, though I won't explain until later.
OUT OF THE ASHES
Chapter Nine
Return of an Enemy
No one could sleep after Jane's return, or Ryan's manifestation of powers of his own. Aki left the Deep Eyes soldiers in the main room to talk, and she slipped off to her terminal and uploaded the scans she'd made of the team.
She ignored Neil's and brought up Ryan's and Jane's to compare them. She studied the patches of green in their spirits, wondering what it was and why it made them different. They seemed to have equal amounts of green, but it was distributed differently through their bodies. Was that why one healed and the other froze? Could the sequence of the green decide their powers?
And what was Project Ash? And how was it stronger than Jane? And why had they abducted Dr. Sid for the project? If he'd known about this, he would have gladly given aid!
Aki yawned and sank back into her chair. What was she going to tell the Council? Would they even do anything? With the return of the Phantoms in their living forms, they had a lot on their mind.
The return of the Phantoms. The strange powers. They had to be connected, somehow. But with the military playing games like this, would she ever be free to find out how?
"Hey, Dr. Ross?" Neil's voice called. "Come here."
Aki shut off the computer and rejoined the others. Ryan had his hand clutched to his chest, his eyes shut and face twisted in pain. "He tried to heal himself," Neil continued, "but he only made the wound worse."
"I'm feeling better now," Ryan interjected. "The pain's fading."
Aki frowned as she examined the wound in Ryan's ribs. It was still raw and bleeding, but it looked smaller than when she'd last seen it. "Are you sure? I think it looks better."
"It does, but it started bleeding when he touched it," Jane
said, puzzled. "So he can heal me but
not himself? Why's that?"
Another mystery… While Aki enjoyed scientific puzzles, this was starting to become overwhelming. She was finding one anomaly after another, and Dr. Sid wasn't there to help her. He'd been kidnapped by the people who should have been on her side!
Aki wanted to scream. If only Gray were here to help her, to keep her sane. The Deep Eyes kept looking to her for guidance she just couldn't give them!
"We need to find Dr. Sid. Then we need to examine the New York populace so we can figure out these powers. But until then, I don't know what to do! Please, don't ask me to try to explain your powers anymore. It's just too much!" Aki dropped onto her couch and leaned back in the cushions. "I can't think of anything right now," she said, more calmly. "This is very frustrating." She shut her eyes, pressing her hand to her forehead. "With Phantoms on one side, the military on the other, and erratic powers in between, it's starting to seem like the whole world is against us."
The others watched her silently for a few moments, clearly shocked by her outburst. Then they wandered off, gathering into a little group again to talk. Aki was sorry she'd lost her temper, but the stress was finally getting to her.
Would life ever be normal again?
* * *
The next morning, they began tracking down the Council members. Because they were basically the city's governing body, there were usually two or more members in the offices near the Council chamber at all times.
It was Councilman Drake from New York they found first, and Aki was both dismayed and relieved. He was a big supporter of the military, she knew, but he wasn't stupid. And, thanks to General Hein's actions aboard the Zeus, he'd developed a wariness towards military officers.
He listened to Aki's tale with surprise, but accepted the evidence she and the Deep Eyes offered.
"We were aware that Chicago's USMF forces were handling the situation, but you make it sound far more serious," Drake said grimly. "Wait here; I'll gather as many members as I can find."
The waited in Drake's office for nearly half an hour. The Deep Eyes members were tense, and Jane looked ready to spring at the first sign of trouble. Aki didn't think the military would risk an abduction in the middle of the Council's building, but she wouldn't have thought they'd invade her ship, either.
When Councilman Drake finally returned, it was with two of the Houston members and General Ryder. The four stiffened at the sight of the military commander.
"General Ryder has been searching for you, Dr. Ross. He has something he needs to tell you," Drake said by way of explanation.
Ryder curiously eyed Jane, then turned to Aki. "I have reason to believe Dr. Sid has been abducted," he said without preamble. "I had received no communication from the squad with him, so I sent out another to locate them, in case they had encountered Phantoms. My men found no signs of any sort of struggle, or any sign of the missing men at all, for that matter."
"We know, sir," Aki said. At Ryder's stunned look, she gestured towards Jane. "Corporal Proudfoot has had an… encounter."
Should we tell them? Ryan mouthed. Aki nodded, motioning for Jane to come forward. The soldier did, haltingly telling her story to the general and Council members.
"Shit," Ryder hissed, then quickly composed himself. "Could you find the base again?" At Jane's nod, he whirled and strode towards the door. "I'm assembling my squads; meet me outside this building in forty-five minutes."
* * *
Jane couldn't wait to return to the base. She wanted to personally see to Major Boyer's punishment. If no one stopped her, she was going to snap his neck…
Assuming, of course, General Ryder wasn't leading them into a trap. But the general, seated in the front of the troop transport they all shared, was wearing a look of smoldering rage. She doubted he'd let himself be trapped very easily.
"Sir," Aki began tentatively, "Who is Major Boyer? You seemed surprised to hear he was involved." Aki had jumped aboard the transport with the rest of them, and no one had told her she didn't belong there.
Ryder's face hardened. "Yes. Our paths have crossed before. He was General Hein's second for about a year. The problem was, Boyer was a lot like Hein. He had the same uncaring, ambitious personality, and the two united made an imposing opposition. He was replaced by Major Elliot a year ago because the duo was too powerful, and the Council didn't like that. Hein was furious, of course," Ryder smirked.
"He was Hein's man?" Aki repeated, eyes narrowing. "Why am I not surprised? What happened to him afterward? Could he be behind the abductions?"
"To be honest, I have no idea," Ryder admitted. "He seemed to drop out of sight once he was separated from Hein. Now we know what he's been up to."
"Forming a secret army," Aki murmured. "That takes power."
"Who cares?" Jane said crossly. "The man had me tortured! I want to return the favor!"
Ryder looked amused. "You'll have your chance. If you're correct, then that should be the base over there. According to our records, it's been abandoned for years."
"Perfect place to set up an illegal operation," Ryan commented.
They stopped, and the armored soldiers disembarked. Jane shouldered her weapon, thankful for her own armor. Let's see them get to me now! She could just feel something, a faint chill on the edge of her perception. I have my powers, too, she thought smugly. Boyer wanted to see my powers. Well then, I'll show him personally.
Jane's eagerness was short lived. The base was empty.
* * *
"Disappointed?" Neil asked, coming up behind Jane. He thought about placing a hand on her shoulder then, remembering how she'd froze his arm before, decided against it.
"A little. I'm kinda relieved, too," she added quietly. Admitting that she was afraid of something had always come hard to her. "This could have been a trap. Or a disaster; I saw more soldiers here than we brought with us. There's no guarantee they'd respect Ryder's authority. But this means we lost them!"
"Ryder's techs are checking out the computers. All the files have been dumped, but they're hoping to recover something useful." Neil felt slightly sulky; they hadn't wanted his help. Didn't they trust him? Surely Ryder remembered his talents!
He turned to where Aki and Ryan were watching with General Ryder as the tech worked on the computer. Aki had gone through the lab, but all the equipment that couldn't be carried had been smashed into unidentifiable pieces.
Jane had been annoyed by that, too. Clearly, she'd wanted to smash the lab herself.
"I'm sorry about what they did to you," Neil said, his voice suddenly soft.
"It's nothing," Jane said, her face becoming a cold mask. Neil sighed; she'd been more open to him, once. A part of him had hoped, when he'd returned to life with her in his grasp, that things had changed between them…
But it was just the strangeness of the situation. And Neil didn't think he'd want to start another relationship when his mind wasn't quite his own any more.
There was a shout, and Jane and Neil turned as one to face Ryan and the others. The sergeant was beckoning them over.
"Look at this," he said quietly.
There was a document on the holoboard, which Aki and General Ryder were staring at with almost identical looks of anger and horror.
"What is it?" Jane asked, moving closer.
"A memo," General Ryder said tightly. "Dated two days ago, regarding New York. See who it's from?"
The message had been sent by General Douglas Hein.
* * *
"Where are we going?" Dr. Kessler's voice was thicker than usual due to her broken nose, but Major Boyer could hear the fear in the woman's voice.
He tightened his grip on the woman's arm, leading her down the dimly lit corridors. "You're getting your wish," he answered flatly. "You're going to be involved with Project Ash."
The doctor's face had been one of perpetual misery since they had evacuated their facility after the subject had escaped. Boyer hadn't expected otherwise; after all, Kessler had failed, seriously underestimating the situation and resulting in a major setback. But at the realization of where she was, Kessler finally smiled.
"You get to actually meet the Project," Boyer continued, his voice falsely pleasant. "Not even Dr. Sid has managed that."
Kessler's body relaxed in his grip, and he released her. She followed him willingly to the large, locked metal door at the hall's end. Boyer keyed in the entry code and let the doctor to a second door set several feet behind the first. "In here," Boyer gestured towards a small window in the thick titanium door. She peered in, then turned to the major, a frown on her face.
"I don't see anything," she said.
Boyer unsealed the door, then led her inside. In the shadows sat a large metal chair framed by several monitors. Seated in the chair was a slumped figure, tubes connecting it to the monitors.
"That's it?" Kessler sounded disappointed. Then her eyes were drawn to a 3D scan on the figure's left. "It's green… His entire spirit is green!"
She was so engrossed in the readouts that she didn't notice the figure's eyes, shimmering a faint green, slit open.
Boyer did, however, and gave the figure a slight nod in Kessler's direction. "How would you like to see what Ash can do?" he asked, giving Kessler a sickly smile.
"Oh, yes," she breathed.
"Well, you've seen the ice powers… How would you like a little fire?" Boyer began to back away, slipping quietly towards the door. Kessler didn't notice.
"When?" she asked, finally turning towards Boyer.
"Now," he said flatly. Behind Dr. Kessler, Project Ash lifted a hand, and Boyer turned away as a bright flash of light lit the room, and a scream assaulted his ears. He stepped through the door, sealing it behind him. He didn't even glance back at the small pile of oily ashes that had recently been a scientist.
After all, that was the price of failure.
To Be Continued…