Chapter One:

Marias

It was several days later, almost a week, when I was finally able to get that damned IV out of my body. That was when the old man realized that I didn't like needles.

After he took every needle out of my body, he held out his hand. "My name's Dr. Sebastian Wolfe. My friend, Lucy Kuo, helped me get you here."

I took his hand and shook it. "Joan. Joan MacGrath. Nice to meetcha, Doc."

He took his hand back, giving me a curious look. "MacGrath? That's strange."

"What's so strange about it?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Never mind. Work stuff."

I nodded. Coincidence? I think not. "Where am I?"

"You're in New Marias. You floated here on a piece of debris. We don't know where from, though."

I nodded again. "That sounds about right." I forced myself out of the bed and stood, stretching. "Ugh, my back!"

"Should you really be getting up?" Wolfe asked, wondering whether-or-not he should try to force me back into the bed.

I waved him off. "I'm fine. I just need some food to re-fuel, and I'm heading back to Empire City!"

His expression suddenly turned mournful. "I'm sorry, but Empire City's gone."

"What?" I gasped. "Oh, no, I've travelled into the future!"

"No, you haven't!" Wolfe said, quickly reassuring me. "Empire City was destroyed by the Beast a few days ago. He's stronger than we anticipated, but we have a way to bring him down."

"The Beast…" I muttered. "Oh man, it's too soon for him to be here!"

Wolfe gave me a "look". "You know about the Beast?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I only heard Kessler talk about it a few hundred times."

"Kessler?" Wolfe took a good look at me, studying me. "Ah, now I know why you felt familiar to me."

"Yeah?"

"You must be Kayce, the girl Kessler had around his facility when I was undercover in the First Sons with the NSA."

My eyebrow arched. "You knew Kessler? And me?"

"Yes, I did, though I never really got the chance to meet you. I only glanced you a few times, as you were trying to escape." Wolfe smiled. "You were very well-practiced."

"Yeah, thanks."

Wolfe could tell I was a bit uncomfortable, so he decided to change the subject. "What happened to you?"

"I blew up a DARPA facility outside of Empire City and found myself stuck full of needles in New Marias," I answered, smirking.

"You blew it up?" Wolfe repeated.

"Yep. They had someone I knew inside, and I got shot a few times, so I stayed behind to blow it up."

Wolfe nodded. "Yes. When we got you here, Lucy and I could tell that you had lost a lot of blood, and we had to operate to get those bullets out of you. Thankfully, you made a full recovery. And in no time flat."

"It's a talent." I put a hand on my gut absently, where I'd been shot three times with bullets infused with quicksilver. Ouch.

For the next two days, Wolfe showed me around New Marias while keeping us away from these anti-Conduit guys called the Militia, led by Joseph Bertrand III. I noticed almost immediately that the people of New Marias were not only afraid of the "deviants" (Conduits), but the Militia themselves. Random people were accused of being deviants and arrested by the Militia, or worse. Wolfe explained that the cops were imprisoned or too chicken-shit to come out of hiding and do anything about the Militia.

Wolfe let me stay with a friend of his, a guy named Garrett, because he didn't really have much room for me at his lab. I got along with the guy, but mostly avoided him. I was healed, but I needed my strength back, and it was best people stay away from me until then.

Okay Militia, I thought, smirking. Get ready. You're gonna be burnt to a crisp when I'm done with you idiots.