Blackjack Wayward (The Blackjack Series) (36 page)

“They’re coming back,” she said, moving back from the bay, using her arms to herd me back toward the cockpit.

“They just threw away the key, didn’t they?”

Focus cocked her head, studying me for a moment, but before she could say anything, Superdynamic flew into the ship, followed by the rest of his crew, slamming the hatch closed and strolling forward toward the cockpit. His rage was a palpable thing.

“Sonofabitch,” he spat, sitting in the pilot’s seat.

I looked at Moe and Ruby, who were wet from the rain, but Moe just shook his head, as if to say they hadn’t found anything. Ruby moved past me to her spot beside the pilot, and everyone else took their seats. This time I was the odd man out.

“Everyone strap in,” Superdynamic said.

Moe shook his head as Superdynamic maneuvered the ship on a hard bank.

“The whole place is gone,” Moe said, shaking his head. “Down to the foundations. And everyone’s dead.”

Focus shook her head.

“Who could have done it?”

Ruby shrugged, “Someone big.”

Before I could start narrowing down the list, Superdynamic snapped at me to open up a spare seat in the back and put the safety belt on.

“What now?” I asked him as I split the simple seat from the wall and sat down.

“That was our forward outpost,” he said, throwing the throttle wide open. The high speed pressed me back against the seat. “We’re headed back to our home base.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

We flew and I dreamt.

A real dream, not the jacked-in, mind-wipe bullshit from Utopia. And there were two reasons I knew the difference. First, I woke up with a jolt just as it began, as the dark swirls in my brain started a pattern, and I noticed I was standing before a castle, dressed in heavy plate mail armor and wielding a sword and shield like some knight from the round table. The very second I had full realization of where I was and what I was doing, my mind snapped me back, as if reminding me that we weren’t in a fake dream, that I could bow out of this one whenever I wanted.

“Dude, you snore like whoa,” Ricochet said once my eyes had focused. I was still sitting in the uncomfortable chair in the back of Superdynamic’s plane.

“Fuck you,” I muttered, and let the stillness of sleep come back over me, washing away the exhaustion and frustration that had my body twisted into a knot.

The second reason I knew it was a real dream was that Apogee was in the castle. Not a wannabe, or a construct or homunculus, or a crazy witch along for the ride to get her jollies; the real Apogee was in that castle, waiting for me to rescue her. I didn’t know how I knew for certain, but she was there, in danger, and I was the only person who could save her.

Lining the ramparts were dozens of men at arms with crossbows, two massive cauldrons of boiling oil overlooking the heavy drawbridge and portcullis that I would have to beat down to save Apogee. The walls were too treacherous and tall to climb, and I had no ladders to help me anyway. I had no battering ram, either, to knock down the gates, nor army to help me wield it. It was me versus a roaring horde in a strong defensive position.

I didn’t hesitate, rushing forward the first moment I could; for my courage, the archers rewarded me with a tidal wave of crossbow bolts. The first couple bounced off the heavy plate, but one stuck deep into my thigh, and I knew I was in trouble. But wait, I had a shield! It was a round wheel of thick wood surrounding a heavy metal boss, and when I angled it over my head, the steady stream of bolts was no longer a problem.

The crossbowmen jeered as the portcullis rose and the drawbridge came down, revealing another host of men at arms marching toward me from the castle entrance. These guys were longbowmen, wielding English yew bows much like my original one. They didn’t wait long before drawing back and firing at me.

I couldn’t defend both the high arcing attacks of the crossbows and the lower, straighter assault of the longbows, so I crouched low and continued my forward assault, trying to ignore the painful strikes that breached my defense.

The men ahead of me suddenly parted, halting their attack, and the men on the walls followed suit, giving me a momentary reprieve. Through the gap rode a dozen knights, armored like I was, riding heavy destriers and leveling long lances in my direction. They formed a wedge around their leader, the most formidable of the bunch. They spurred their horses to a full gallop and each rider tightened up the formation so that they rode knee to knee with the man on either side. It was a wall of flesh, armor, and death that I knew I couldn’t overcome.

Freed from the harassment of the archers, I took a moment to compose myself, noticing the dozens of arrows and quarrels jutting from my shield and armor. Many of the missiles had punctured through the mail and padding beneath to tear into my flesh, but I felt no pain. I felt no fear. Only the cold comfort of knowing that nothing would betray my cause, nothing would stop me from entering the castle, freeing Apogee, and riding off into the sunset.

Between us was a charging band of knights, thundering toward me. The beasts’ hooves churned at the earth, leaving an angry, mangled wake like a scar on the ground. The knights couched their lances, aiming them inward in an attempt to get as many of their silver tips into me as possible.

It was hopeless to think I had a chance against such overwhelming odds, but as they neared, instead of spurring their horses even harder, the lead knight lifted the point of his lance and eased his massive horse to a halt, making his companions follow suit. Instead of riding over me, the warriors ringed me, giving me no chance for exit.

So it was to be man-to-man combat? I smiled, hoping it was what the lead knight was discussing with his second in command. The lieutenant swung off his horse, and in a single motion, the remainder of the knights followed suit, leaving their commander the only person still mounted. Their lances disappeared and they wore heavy shields with longswords strapped to their sides – this was a dream; those kinds of things happened for simplicity’s sake. The knights formed a tighter circle around me, but none drew their weapons. Instead, the lieutenant took his helmet off, and I looked into the stark eyes of Epic, his handsome face framed by long curly blonde locks. The others did as well, and soon I saw that it was all the great heroes surrounding me, including Superdynamic and Mirage, whose faces I knew, and even some who I was just projecting random faces for, like Global and Paladin.

“You’ve made a terrible mistake, evil beast,” shouted their leader, still wearing his helm. “Now you are ours! Now you cannot run!” it continued, and in one swift motion, he ripped off the heavy helm.

It was Apogee.

“Time to be slain, foul monster!” she continued, now in a frenzy, and her knights drew their swords in unison, each muttering “monster” under their breath. They closed on me, too many to defend against, and through the mass of men and armor I saw Apogee’s face, smiling, content.

The monster was slain.

On my last leg across the globe, I had flown from Lagos, Nigeria, to south Florida at such a high altitude that breathing was difficult and I could see Earth’s curvature on the far horizon. As we returned on Superdynamic’s gleaming ship, which he called “Cicada,” I couldn’t help but notice how low we were flying, as if we were avoiding radar.

Only Superdynamic spoke during the first part of the voyage across the Atlantic, occasionally asking Ruby to adjust the flaps or help him with the fuel mixture. The others either slept, as I did, or monitored the situation on their consoles. I could tell from the apprehension the rest had that they hadn’t faced a world-ending threat enough times to become as apathetic as Mirage had, who was busy researching some spreadsheets for who-knows-what. He’d look in my direction every fifteen minutes or half an hour and scowl, shaking his head with displeasure. About an hour into the trip, Superdynamic put the ship on autopilot and called for a meeting, gathering all of us around Moe’s main computer.

“What do we have?”

“I think a more pertinent question is who’s hitting supers?” asked Templar, the young guy with the dragon tattoos scrawled across his chest.

“I don’t know,” Superdynamic said. “The Revolution’s AWOL, Global’s AWOL, Paladin’s AWOL. The Sentinels are AWOL.”

“It’s just us, now,” Ruby said looking at me.

“That’s fucked up,” Moe said.

Whatever exuberance Superdynamic and the crew had as we had flown out was now gone, replaced with a dark pall cast over all of us.

“So we go to Washington,” Focus said. “It’s up to us.”

“And do what, Focus?” Ricochet said. “We don’t know who’s good, we don’t know who’s bad. It’s the army beating itself up down there. If we jump in we might make things worse, you know?”

“We have to do something,” she said, as close to exasperated as I think she could possibly get.

“I’m all for that,” he said, “but we have to be real careful here. All the big guys that could turn the tide are gone. Our group is, with all due respect, just a bunch of rookies, two bonafide vets, and a scumbag villain who we’re told is on our side. No offense.”

I laughed, “None taken. You know, this is all fine and dandy, and I wish you well on your endeavors, but I just have one question; what does this have to do with Apogee?”

“What?” Ricochet said

“Apogee,” I said, making it sound like a question. “We were just at her house. It’s the reason I’m here.”

Superdynamic shook his head, waving his arms dismissively as he said, “Blackjack, this is bigger than her and her mom.”

“Don’t tell me that,” I said.

“Think, man. For goodness sakes,” Ruby snapped, unable to contain her frustration with me. “Use your other head for once, you daft prick. People are dying on the streets of your capital.”

“Yeah, and if this goes the wrong way all, hell could break loose,” added Ricochet.

“I don’t care,” I said. “I just want to–”

“How could you not care?” Templar said. “This thing is two days old and already the world markets have lost 35% valuation. The Chinese are mobilizing their fleet and armies, as are the Russians, and all hell’s breaking lose in the Middle East.”

Almost on cue, Moe put silent footage of a column of Egyptian tanks racing across the Sinai Peninsula, under fire from Israeli helicopters. This footage, intermingled with street to street fighting between Israeli regulars aided by some civilians and hooded Arab youths armed with AK-47s and RPGs.

“Yeah, there you go,” Templar continued. “The world’s falling apart and you’re concerned over one person?”

“They’re right, Blackjack,” Superdynamic said. “If this rogue general captures or kills the President, it’ll be chaos. I mean, that’s something Apogee would leave your ass behind for.”

I shook my head. “You don’t know shit.”

“She would,” he snapped, standing and walking towards me. “She’s probably my best friend in the whole goddamned world. I know her better than anyone. Better than you. She would do the job. She would do the job. Even if it meant leaving you, or me, or anyone else behind.”

“Well, I don’t care. Is that what you want to hear? I don’t give a fuck. Those are the same bastards who put me away after I saved the world. That’s right, I saved all your asses once before, and as a reward, they threw me in a fucking mind-prison and tossed away the key.”

I glanced around, standing over them with as much menace as I could.

“Even your boy here,” I shot a finger out at Superdynamic, “he was on the wrong side of things. And you know it.”

He stared back at me, a mixture of rage and shame crossing his face.

“I know she told you, so don’t bullshit me. I know she told you.”

“She said I could count on you,” he said, defeated. Superdynamic was genuinely hoping I would come on his stupid rescue mission to the U.S. capital. To save the world and then go back to Utopia like a good little boy. That’s how he thought, how his Boy Scout mind worked. He wanted me to do exactly what Apogee would do, what any hero would do: save the day, do the mission, everything else we worry about afterwards. Well, I wasn’t built that way. I wasn’t a hero. I didn’t owe these people anything.

Then again, he was right about one thing: Apogee would have run off and risked it all to save her country, and I owed Apogee a debt greater than I could ever repay, regardless of what had happened at the trial. If I was to honor that debt, I’d have to respect her wishes. I had to help Superdynamic and his team to keep the rest of the flaming world from slipping out from under us.

I looked around the ship, feeling the anger in their expressions.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “This isn’t easy for me.”

“Isn’t easy for me, either,” Superdynamic said, looking around at the rest of his team. “But we have a job to do and I don’t know what to do with you. For now we’re headed to our Africa base, only for long enough to figure this whole thing out. Focus, while we’re there, you make sure Blackjack has what he needs.”

“What, a chaperone?”

Superdynamic allowed himself a half-smile, which was as comfortable as he was willing to get with me this quickly. “You’re the nefarious villain Blackjack,” he said, and the smile faded just as fast as it had come, replaced with a toothy scowl. “I’m not letting you out of my sight.”

We approached Superdynamic’s home base as the heavy midday sun beat on the West African plain. My first impression of the Tower was that it was something that should have been in orbit, not in the middle of nowhere. I had slept most of the trip, too exhausted to help the others work on the mystery of what was happening in our nation’s capital, waking only when the ship touched down on a landing platform that floated outside the main structure. Superdynamic’s tower was often referred to as the “Tower of Babel,” though not by its creator and founder. The tall spire stood as a stark contrast to the shattered country that surrounded it.

Located in the middle of the sub-Saharan desert, just fifty miles from Timbuktu in the West African country of Mali, this had been a lawless place, the northern reaches of the country taken over by known terrorist organizations led by ruthless warlords. I’d like to think that was the reason Superdynamic chose it: to stamp out the dark powers from the inside out, striking in their midst with a pillar of justice and freedom to a region overcome with famine and death. The city he was founding sprawled in every direction from the tower, with homes and jobs for everyone who could make the journey here, hydroponic labs to feed all the inhabitants, and the world’s largest university, all with the hope of turning one of the poorest, most undeveloped nations in the world, into a shining beacon of civilization.

The tower was a seamless glass structure, taller than anything else on Earth, surpassing the Burj Khalifa by over two thousand feet. It twisted upward, growing narrower toward its highest point, where a huge dome rotated in place. Surrounding the tower were dozens of small islands of the same glass material, like satellites around their planet, one of them the landing platform where Superdynamic had landed his ship. A light bridge crossed from the floating island to the main structure, engaging only long enough for the whole crew to cross, and then disappearing once again into the ether. I wanted to ask Superdynamic how he had created a structure out of solid light, but he was off too fast for me to find out.