Designed with a Destiny (27 page)

“
Cat tells me you’re interested in
learning how to sail?”
Chord interrupts my thoughts with a
telepathic message letting me know he’s found my radio frequency. I
turn around and smile.

“
You bet,”
I reply, and he nods
confirming that he hears me too. It’s always a relief when members
within our group learn to communicate via telepathic energy waves.
It’s come in handy more times than I can count.

“
I’d be happy to teach you some day,”
he eagerly offers, giving me every reason to believe that he
recognizes me as a permanent part of his family, eliminating the
tiny seed of concern I had that he might not. It’s exactly the type
of offer I was hoping to get from him, and I’m about to take him up
on it when Lieutenant Colonel Malcom—already at his car—impatiently
hollers, “Guys—let’s go!”

“Is he always this uptight?” Natalie
murmurs. Kennedy shrugs her shoulders unconcerned.

“Not always, but we should get going before
he has us on the ground doing push-ups,” she says with a carefree
laugh.

“Wait,” Cat stops abruptly, furrowing her
brows as she glances uneasily over at the Lieutenant Colonel on the
other side of the parking lot. I know the look well, and
immediately exit my body to remotely travel the parking lot,
looking for anything suspicious. I’m jolted back when she screams
“NO!” just as he opens his car door—but it’s too late. The action
detonates a car bomb planted on his vehicle, killing him instantly,
and sending the six of us to the ground. My hands are embedded with
gravel from sliding with such force, and there’s a high-pitched
ringing in my ears that muffles the sounds around me. The explosion
elicits a massive response from the military and we watch them
swarm the parking lot like bees. A warning siren blasts overhead
drowning out the shrill cries of Kennedy who goes berserk trying to
make a run to the burning vehicle.

“Did anyone get hit?” I ask calmly, as my
eyes meet Cat’s through a veil of thick smoke. Natalie and Zane
report minor injuries, otherwise everyone escaped the deadly
shrapnel that caused extensive damage to the cars around Lieutenant
Malcom’s. Chord was quick to grab Kennedy, pulling her to the
ground with him, where she now has her face buried in his chest,
her body shaking violently with shock. I nod to Cat and she places
a hand on Kennedy’s back. I’m a complete hypocrite asking her to
influence Kennedy with a tranquilizing energy force, but right now
not only is Kennedy in no condition to escape, she’s also in no
condition to use her powers to help. Almost instantly the tremors
stop and she slowly looks up, wiping smeared mascara from her eyes
with the sleeve of her shirt. With calm resolve, she announces out
loud what the rest of us already know, “That was meant for us too.
We need to get out of here.”

***

Cat and I crouch behind the last row of cars
near the edge of the parking lot, standing guard while the other’s
make a run for the adjacent forest of Cheyenne Mountain. I use my
remote travel abilities to identify anyone coming or looking our
way and she influences them to do otherwise. Lucky for us, the
nuclear complex is within mountainous terrain and Kennedy tells us
that the Cheyenne State Park is only five miles from here. We
determined that trying to leave by vehicle, while not impossible,
will most certainly get the attention of the military who are
preoccupied with securing the complex against further attacks—so we
opt to slip away quietly by foot, figuring if we split up we’ll
blend in easily with the hikers on the nearby trails. Zane needs a
head start, being the only Non-Designer, and given that Chord and
Kennedy are uncertain of their animal DNA abilities, it only makes
sense to send them with Natalie and Zane.

“
Do you see anything suspicious?”
Cat
asks, gripping my hand tightly. I’ve remote traveled over the
entire complex and am about to tell her no when something catches
my eye. Parked on a ridge overlooking the north parking lot, is a
uniformed officer standing outside a military vehicle. At first
glance, he appears to be nothing more than someone guarding the
area, but then I notice that he’s wearing a two-star silver
insignia of a high ranking Major General. Given the high state of
alert of the complex for possible terrorist activities, it seems
odd to me that he isn’t within the protection of the bunker. He
raises a set of binoculars and slowly scans the parking lot full of
empty vehicles stopping in the vicinity where the Williams' vehicle
is parked.

“
Cat, can you open the driver’s door of
the William's car from here?”
I ask. It’s just a hunch and I
don’t bother explaining it to her at this point. On the count of
three we combine our thoughts to create a stronger energy force and
she uses telekinetic object manipulation to unlock and open the
driver’s door on the car. We only need to open it a few inches to
activate the IED attached, and the whole thing explodes, knocking
the unprepared General backwards.

“Was that another bomb on our car?” Cat asks
out loud.

“Yep,” I reply wryly, tracking the Major
General as he scrambles into his vehicle and lights a cigarette,
picking up his cell phone after a few minutes of intermittently
surveying the scene below with binoculars.

“The device was detonated but I don’t see
any signs of the kids,” he says with undeniable disappointment.
“They must still be inside, but I’ll have choppers search the area
just in case.”

***

It takes Cat and me only a few minutes of
running top speed to make it past the herd of elk and into the
shadows of the thick ponderosas pines but not before a large
military chopper flying overhead spots us. The pilot hovers above
us for a few tense seconds then dips the aircraft as if turning to
fly away. Without superior eyesight, I never would have seen the
long-range scope of a rifle pointed at us from a crew member lying
on the floor near the open door. I react instinctively, tackling
Cat to the ground, just as shots are fired. I’d think I’d be used
to the idea that someone wants us dead, but with each attempt on
our life I’m astounded at the ruthlessness of such acts. Even
though we have the power to crash the helicopter into the side of
the mountain, killing everyone on board—we don’t. Instead, Cat
simply points a hand at the beast, and with an energy boost from me
gives it a minor, but forceful telekinetic jolt. We play so much
nicer than they do. At the very most we bang the unrestrained
sniper up a little bit, rattle the nerves of the pilot, and have a
little fun in doing it.

“Nice job,” I compliment her, as we watch it
fly away. I’m not in any hurry to move from my position on top of
her, and judging by the way she rolls over and wraps her legs
around me, she’s not letting go anytime soon either. Such moments
of privacy are rare and I take advantage of the situation, stealing
possession of her mouth like the way she does my heart. When she
arches her body, and pulls me closer, squeezing her legs around my
waist, a warmth of pleasure pulsates through me. I completely
forget about bombings and shootings, devoting my entire attention
to the piece of paradise lying beneath me.

“Ugh—they’re coming back,” she finally
groans, as the sound of the helicopter gets closer and closer. I
sigh heavily at the inconvenient interruption.

“You contact Chord and I’ll let Natalie
know,” I say, reluctantly getting up off the wet ground, and
helping her up as she hurries to reassemble her clothing.

“Hey, Callahan—you know they’ll be looking
for us on the ground, what do you say about taking it to the trees?
After all we are part monkey,” she quips, hunching over like a
chimpanzee, making ooh—ooh sounds, before running and leaping for a
nearby branch, easily swinging herself up. I know she’s just trying
to lighten the mood and ease my frustration. Her wild hair tumbles
around her face as she crouches on all fours, looking down at
me—continuing to make goofy monkey noises, until I laugh in spite
of myself. Banging on my chest, I make my own loud Tarzan yell
before chasing her straight up to the canopy of the tree where we
continue playing like primates until the sky darkens with a shadow
of a helicopter.

“
What are they doing?”
she anxiously
asks a few minutes after the chopper lands in the clearing where
the elk once stood, only thirty yards from the tree we’re hiding
in. Suddenly I realize we’re in a much more precarious situation
than anticipated, and no doubt she senses the sudden change as my
whole body tenses up. It’s not just the helicopter with ten men
carrying machine guns piling out of it that we have to contend
with. After extending my remote travel search to find Natalie and
the others, I come across a whole lot more. There’s a convoy of
military trucks coming up the road that cuts between us and the
state park. We are essentially surrounded on three sides and if
Natalie and the others don’t change course soon, they’ll end up
right in their laps.

“
We’re surrounded. Tell them to head
east.”
Natalie and Chord stop as soon as she gives them the
telepathic message, but Kennedy challenges the instructions
pointing out that there’s nothing but thick forest to the east. If
I could figure out her radio frequency, I’d tell her to shut the
hell up and do as I say. As it stands right now though, we have our
hands full and it’s going to be up to the others to convince her to
listen. The group of military off the chopper disperses into pairs,
and the unlucky ones that happen to walk below get it first. I
still don’t possess strong telekinetic abilities so I do what I
can, donating energy to Cat, and calling on Alisha and Claire to do
the same. Straddling a tree branch with her in front of me, I hold
her tight around the waist, and wait to see how she uses it. She
chooses to be a lot more gentler than I would, simply stripping
them of their weapons, than bashing them once over the head with
just enough force to knock them out cold.

“
Eh, not bad, but how about a little more
action,”
I prod. She proves she’s no sissy when we target the
next two. Snapping a large tree branch above their heads, they move
out of the way just as it falls to the ground. But she doesn’t stop
there. Several more decent sized branches from nearby trees crash
to the ground as well, then she picks a total of three up at once,
and begins swinging them like swords around the two wide-eyed
military that look like they’re ready to piss their pants. One
actually thinks it might be helpful to shoot at the floating
branches and in doing so, signals two other’s nearby to come
running to the area. She picks up a few more branches to even out
the odds and somehow manages to keep them all synchronized in a
swinging pattern, cornering the group in the middle. The ones dumb
enough to try and make a run for it, are instantly stopped by a
blow to the gut or legs—compliments of ghostly flying branches. One
by one, they toss their automatics on the ground then proceed to
drop their pants, proving that Cat definitely is the queen of
multitasking, using the power of suggestion while continuing a
telekinetic assault. I can’t say that I’m a hundred percent on
board with her having a group of men undress themselves in front of
her, especially seeing the amount of enjoyment she seems to be
getting from the situation. But given that they are successfully
detained and three more are approaching our location, I let her
have her fun, jumping from the tree to handle them in my own way.
I’ve already contacted Natalie and Chord letting them know there’s
been a change of plans. There’s no need to become refugees, hiding
in a cold, dark forest, being hunted like a pack of animals—not
when a military helicopter with a pilot sitting in it is waiting
nearby.

Ronan is much more about taking care of
business in a physical manner and moves with such speed and power,
that I can’t help but find it beautiful in spite of being opposed
to the level of violence involved. Even with weapons, the three
trained military fighters are out of their league with the
half-man, half predatory animal. In a flash he has them all
disarmed, leveling the playing field. Then he uses such force when
he delivers a blow to the chest of one, that I can hear the man’s
rib crack from several yards away, making me holler at him to stop.
Spinning and kicking with perfect balance and grace, he dislocates
the jaw of another who screams in pain as blood gushes from his
mouth. I finally have to look away when the third one makes the
mistake of coming after Ronan with a large branch. The tree I’m
sitting in actually shakes from the impact of his body slamming
against it.

“What in the hell?” Chord utters, arriving
on scene just as it ends. He stops near the group of military
men—and one woman—huddled together in their underwear and pushes
with his finger on one of the floating branches, testing to make
sure it’s real. “This is the kind of thing you see when you’re
tripping on drugs,” he admits to Ronan as his eyes follow a trail
of blood leading to the three men lying on the ground.

“Where’s Cat?” he suddenly asks, anxiously
looking around for me. Ronan walks over to the tree and holds his
arms out, and says in a teasingly soft voice, “Come on and jump
little kitty, kitty,” as if I’m in need of being rescued from my
perch. I wouldn’t mind showing off a bit in front of Chord with a
Designer dismount, but I let Ronan catch me instead, falling
confidently in his arms. For now he manages to effectively switch
from being a fierce warrior to a gentle giant in a matter of
seconds, but I worry that he’ll lose that ability. The same arms
that can crush a man’s bones, cradle me protectively until I squirm
free, feeling slightly awkward in front of my brother who’s staring
at the two of us with curiosity.