Blackjack Dead or Alive (The Blackjack Series Book 3) (42 page)

“See?”

Apogee pushed me aside and fast searched events taking place at the university and found that Dartmouth was celebrating the event with a huge rally on their campus lawn. They weren’t just commemorating the discovery of the supers, but also the discovery of the quantum energies they brought back with them. These energies were the focus of the Barrett Ashbourne Physics Wing, named for Senator Ashbourne’s son.

Pulsewave.

“That’s it,” I said, moving away, intending to get dressed.

“Hang on,” Apogee said, and a second later, she had the Senator’s itinerary on-screen. “He’s not appearing at the event, Dale. He’s got some fundraiser at his home.”

“What?”

“Look,” she said, working the screen with quick swipes. She was right, according to his schedule, the Senator was slotted that entire day and night for an event at his Rockville, Maryland mansion, including hunting in the nearby woods with several big money donors to his party. He might’ve been retired from public service, but Ashbourne was still as politically active as ever.

“Fine,” I said. “So we go there, instead.”

I walked away and threw on some slippers.

“Are you sure?” she said, leaving the computer, which faded back into a normal solid-light wall. “Why don’t you let me handle this one?”

I shook my head, “Brutal’s going to hit him today. I know it.”

“Let me go to the White Council,” she pressed. “I’ll talk to them.”

“What’s a White Council?”

Apogee grinned, “It’s what Superdynamic is calling it. It’s a meeting of all the bigger names. Let me go, you’re not yourself yet.”

“White Council,” I said, fighting the urge to laugh.

“I know,” she said, still smiling.

I drew a pretend sword, “Lord Blackjack’s coming to see the White Council.”

A pair of guards flanked the White Council’s door, unarmed, but wearing the standard issue Tower uniform, a less advanced version of the one Superdynamic had gifted to me. Theirs were blue, a little darker than mine had been, marking them as security, but they stood watch over a collection of the most powerful beings in the solar system. One of them actually smiled as I came within proximity of the door and nothing happened.

Like the hard light hospital room, and the computer, the door didn’t recognize me as a friendly. I looked from one guy to the other, but they stood impassively as I gouged my fingers into the door deep enough to get a grip and wrenched it aside. It didn’t buckle or even bend sliding backwards on its rolling mechanism, a small grinding whir and a puff of smoke the only signs it was being forced at all.

A chorus of hushed conversations stilled as I entered the room. I wore the gown Apogee had forced on me, with a thin white robe over it, my bare feet clomping gracelessly over the floor the only sound in the room for a second. Then, as one, the assembled group of heroes took loud exception to my presence, a thunder of voices, merging into a singular bolt of lightning meant to smite me.

Superdynamic had spared no expense with his Tower of Babel, and this room was the central hub, the nerve center of the whole place, located just above the command center and open to the sky through a glass domed cupola that, by itself, was a marvel of engineering. The room was wide and vast, an amphitheater from the 24th century mixed with the practical utility of the UN's Security Council, with a similar open horseshoe table seating the primary members of the body and chairs radiating outward to accommodate others, stopping at a sloped wall that rose to a gallery that would fit about a hundred other spectators.

The walls were glass panels past that, circling the whole room, allowing passersby on multiple levels to look down on where all the council's business took place. A cylindrical hard light display floated above the central horseshoe table, rotating with various readouts and video footage, including a list of the top ten villains - conspicuously missing my name. What I found interesting was the name that topped the list, Lady Jayne.

She and Global were the only remaining members of the Original Seven. All of them returned from Shard World with abilities that challenged the imagination, and though there were thousands of us out in the world, few could boast anything approaching their level of power. Lady Jayne’s psychokinetic powers were world ending, but she showed little inclination to use them as such. All I had seen and read implied that she was motivated by loyalty to Retcon and a deep belief in what he had been trying to accomplish.

Her only crimes, really, were being too close a friend of Dr. Retcon and being wealthy and detached. Oh, and the fact that no one alive could possibly catch her made her a potential uncontrolled menace. I laughed at the idea, having met the woman once.

Most of the people in this room understood on one level or another that Retcon had never been interested in world domination or wealth or status. All of his madcap schemes had been efforts to protect Earth from the Lightbringers and the destruction that followed them. His methods were extreme and misguided, but understandable given the threat the Lightbringers represented. Lady Jayne had been at his side for most of those escapades, but when faced with conflict, barely scraped her full potential.

Standing in the middle of the room, holding court, was Superdynamic. His costume concealed the top half of his face, but I could imagine the surprised look on his face when I strolled in. They were talking about Lady Jayne, the file open in the top display for all to see, including all available video of her in action in thirty second loops.

"Hi everyone," I said, noting that a few of the heroes were activating powers, closing armor facemasks or reaching for weapons. Barefoot and dressed in a hospital gown, half the council saw me as a threat. Epic remained seated, shaking his head with a sheepish grin. Others that I knew making up the primaries were Coach, Damage, Dominus and Mirage. Damage and Dominus were on-and-off again members of Apogee's team The Revolution, Coach and Mirage I was well acquainted with. The others in the inner ring included famous heroes like Paladin, Atom Lad and Brigade – a dude I had some history with.

The last person I recognized was none other than my old buddy Atmosphero. I was honestly impressed by his presence among the most important members of the chamber. He stood and summoned up his powers, about to fire a stream of lightning at me, checked by Paladin - who sat as patiently as Epic. Paladin was an old timer in the council, powerful and respected. He had little to fear from me. He was a guy in the same category of Lord Mighty and Black Razor.

"Dale, you can't be here," Superdynamic said and I understood his reasons for using my real name. They all knew me, and if the amount of raw data displayed in Lady Jayne’s dossier was any indication, their files were extensive. I was a villain, encroaching on their secret meetings. Superdynamic was trying to defuse any potential violence by humanizing me, a tactic that had been used against me in court where the prosecutors had referred to me only as Blackjack.

"I don't have time to explain," I said, looking around. I waved at Atmosphero.

"Apogee," Superdynamic said, as she approached behind me. "I asked you to keep him occupied."

"Jeff, this is serious,” I said. “You have to listen to him."

Things escalated quickly. Superdynamic held his arms out wide, vying for quiet as several fliers took to the air. The guards from outside hurried behind me, their suits augmented by plates of hard light armor and helm giving them a whole anime mecha look that took them from unimpressive to amazing in seconds.

"Everyone relax," I said. "I'm not here to start a fight or show off. I'm here because I know where Brutal's going to hit next."

"Brutal?" Epic said, finally standing. "Our Intel on Brutal is that he's off convalescing after a fight with you."

I shook my head, moving past Superdynamic. He whispered, "Not now, Dale," but I strode on.

"I never got into a fight with him," I said, leaning on the railing. "That was my doppelganger and Haha's team. You saw them, man. Tell them."

Epic looked at me, with the same empathetic anguish he had in the Cretaceous room. “It’s true. Mr. Haha copped to the whole thing. It wasn’t just a clone, it was some lobotomized, cloned puppet.”

“Well, that’s convenient,” Atmosphero said. “His old team mate cloned him? What does that even mean?”

"It means he didn't attack Banco do Brasil," Apogee said. "It means he didn't destroy the Russian pipeline, or blow up the refineries in the Arctic."

"So you say," Atmosphero said.

"That's right," she shot back, and I think it was at that moment that I most realized how important - how influential - she was. Some might have accused her of suffering from Stockholm syndrome after our getaway, falling for the villain or what not. But few would stand up to her, not even Epic, once she got a head of steam going. In particular, I noticed a change in demeanor from her Revolution team members, Damage and Dominus.

"Just forget all that, okay? We don't have time to do a play by play," I shot in, before the meeting went farther off the hinges than I wanted. "Brutal is going to kill Senator Ashbourne and he's going to do it in..." I paused, looking at Apogee.

"Today," she said. "He's at his home in Maryland, along with dozens of other innocents."

"Four hours," I said, punctuating how little time we had. If we flew in the Cicada, it would still take several hours to traverse the Atlantic and reach the east coast of the United States. Factoring in wind conditions, we'd probably have to burn out her engines to get there on time. "We don't have time for debate or discussion," I went on. "We need to get ourselves out there now."

"Why do you care about the Senator," Atmosphero said. "You murdered his only son, Blackjack and there's no redemption coming for you."

"Dude, fuck you," I said. "I don't have time for your-"

"Wait a second," Epic interrupted. "Why suddenly so much concern for the Senator?"

The council was silent; all eyes were on me, even Apogee's.

"I'll admit - I don't really care about him. It's not about him at all. It's about Brutal, that guy is the biggest threat."

Superdynamic stepped in, "He’s not the only one," he said sweeping his hands up to the board.

"Yeah, like me," I said. "I was number one on your list, right? Now you have me here, neutralized."

"Or neutered," Atmosphero said to a fellow sitting behind him.

"Say that shit again, fucker," I said, lowering my jaw and glaring at the man. “Or do you forget what happened the last time you got wise with me, huh?” I looked around and saw Superdynamic’s head lowered in disgust. I was fucking it up. “Sorry,” I said. “Shit, I’m working on it, okay? But seriously, SuperDee, I have good reason to think he’s going to hit the Senator today. Besides, you can't be serious about going after Lady Jayne next."

He laughed, "I don't operate as a dictator, Blackjack. We vote on things here."

"And you voted her next? You’re fucking kidding me?"

"Maybe you can check your language at the door, son," Coach said, and I suddenly felt vulnerable. She could neutralize me in a second. So could Dominus, whose mind-control powers were even greater than hers. So could Paladin, so could half the council. Then they could put me away and continue the meeting uninterrupted. But my blood was pumping, and these clowns were playing their tricks again, weighing the risk/reward ratio on their threat scale and moving with the plodding care of a sleeping water buffalo. I had to do something or Brutal was going to waste the Senator, and who knew how many more.

"Do you know why you were first on the list, Blackjack?" Superdynamic said, switching the screens above to display my info and highlight reel. "It's because of how volatile you are." I noticed he didn't go on about my energy emission problem - maybe it was something he hadn't shared with the others. "That's a big deal here, how much of an immediate and viable threat you are, and when we sat down to do this the last time, guess whose name floated to the top?"

I lowered my head, realizing I had lost before the fight had even begun. I was surrounded by enemies. The council was made up of too many people I had pissed off or injured in the past. They were beyond listening to my mad rantings and calling it reason.

"And look at how he's behaving now," Atmosphero said. "He's an endorphin junkie or something."

FTL raised his hand, allowing the clamor to die down before he spoke. His voice was heavily modulated, with an odd accent that I couldn't place. "I have encountered Blackjack on two separate occasions. Once he was an opponent, a true villain. The other he saved the lives of several members of this body - me included. I don't know his motivations, but I do recommend we listen to him - at the very least."

"Right," I said, emboldened by the surprise assist. Having Apogee with me meant the world, but I had to convince the council. "Thank you, very much. You don't have to believe me. Hell, you don't even have to do anything about it. Just give me a plane and I'll take care of it."

But I saw Superdynamic shaking his head next to me.

"That's a terrible idea, Blackjack," Epic said. "Brutal is an energy leech of unprecedented levels. I wouldn't recommend you be there in your present condition," he said, pausing long enough for me to understand that he knew of my emission issue.

"I can't believe we're even listening to this clown," Atmosphero said, pounding his fist against the desk. "This guy's is as reformed as Stalin on a Sunday afternoon. Are we totally washing the slate clean on every murder on his rap sheet? And listen, buddy, sending you to save the Senator - whose son you
murdered
- is the new World's Record for worst ideas in history."

He paused, looking around, enjoying the sound of his own voice.

"Maybe you forgot, but I was there. I saw my friend fall to his death. I don't know what the hell you did to the Apogee we all love and respect, but Pulsewave was important to her as well."

"I forgave him, Atmosphero."

"Well, I didn't! Why the hell are we still talking about this? Cage the animal, let's end this circus and get on with real business."

"I'd like to say something," Coach said, clearing her throat. It was enough to quiet the murmurs that followed Atmosphero’s rabble rousing. "Blackjack, son, I'm not sure what to make of you. I'm thankful to you for what you did in D.C., which, as FTL has already mentioned, included saving my life, and that of a few others here."

I looked around as she spoke, and saw a couple of them sitting further back, including two heroes I had fought before, Captain Miraculous and Bad Karma, but my attention fell back on Coach, and in particular someone sitting right behind her. It was Pummel, the tough guy hero I had beaten back in Romania while trying to escape. He glowered at me, his wounds still not fully healed. The guy wanted a shot at me. I scanned a few others and saw several shared his sentiments and intentions. If Superdynamic, Apogee and Epic were to leave - maybe Coach and FTL as well - this place would quickly turn into a charnel house.

"It's not like we can't see a change in you. I think it's clear to everyone here, and believe me, to see you this enthusiastic about something that doesn't involve hurting someone is a big deal. But you've done what you've done, you understand? Atmosphero is right; we can't wipe your slate clean. That's not how life works."