The Ascendants: Genesis (8 page)

“Lucas wait!” Mia was about to chase after Lucas on the ice slide, but before she could slide down, James lifted her by the waist and stopped her. “What are you doing James? We have to go after him!”

“There's no time Mia, Lucas made his decision.”

“He's just scared!”

“That may be true, but we have to leave. We can track him down later, but we have to get out of here.” James and Mia could hear the footsteps of officers coming up the stairs. Begrudgingly, Mia had no choice but to let Lucas go his separate way.

“Tommy, get the ship ready!” James said into his earpiece.

“Already on it, you guys going to make it?”

“Yeah we got it, be there in a minute.” James looked around the room for a way out. He could hear the police closing in on their position and feared there was no way to avoid a confrontation.

James sighed. He could hear police officers down on the first floor inspecting the ice slide while several more cautiously made their way up the stairs. “Come on Mia, grab the staff weapon and let's go.”

Mia angrily grabbed the staff weapon and walked over to James. She jumped into his arms and rolled her eyes. “I feel like such a cliché every time we do this.”

“You're more than welcome to do this on your own. Although I don't think your particular skill set will work as effectively.”

“Just shut up and get us out of here, will ya?”

“Stop right there and place your hands in the air!” the first officer to reach the room shouted. James and Mia turned towards the door where the officer stood with his weapon pointed.

“Mia,” James said.

“On it.” Mia flicked her wrist and with the force of her telekinesis, knocked the officer's weapon out of his hand.

With Mia still in his arms, James jumped through the window and shattered it into several pieces. The first two officers to make it to the room ran towards the window to see the results of James' jump.

“No way, that's impossible!” one officer said.

He looked down and saw that James and Mia landed safely without so much of a scratch on them. “The impact of that jump alone should've broken his legs!” The officers watched in complete shock as the Ascendants' cloaked ship slowly shimmered into visibility.

“Let's go Christine, get us out of here!” James shouted.

Christine needed no prompt from James or anyone else for that matter. As soon as James and Mia boarded the ship, Christine placed her hands back on the throttle and navigated through the skies.

“Lou, did you see that? What the heck did I just see?” one officer asked.

Lou swallowed spit and watched the plane vanish out of sight. “Our worst fears... Post Humans with enough power to destroy us all.”

Chapter 7

Presidential Address

“Yes sir, I understand,” Christine said. Christine ended the phone call and slid her phone back into her pocket.

“What is it?” James asked.

Christine did her best to hide her concern, but James could see right through her.

“Christine?” James said.

“Dr. Connors said there was trouble. He didn't elaborate but from his tone, I can tell it's bad, it's really bad.”

James and Mia looked at one another with troubled expressions.

“I shouldn't have left them alone. A mission as risky as that, I should have gone with them.”

“Well, at the risk of sounding selfish, I'm glad you didn't. I don't think Lucas and I would have made it out of the school if you weren't there with us.”

“I'm sure you two would've gotten out all right.”

“You could just be thinking the worst James, after what we encountered today, it's not so hard to imagine that you might be on edge. We don't even know what happened yet.”

“Christine and James are right, something terrible did happen,” Tori said suddenly.

Christine, Tommy, James and Mia whipped their heads around to face Tori, who emerged from her private quarters.

“Tori, what's wrong?” Tommy asked.

Tori's face was pale and she could barely stand up straight.

“Tori?” James said.

James rushed over towards Tori and grabbed her before she collapsed to the ground. Tommy ran over on the other side and helped James get her back to her feet. Even though James was more than capable of lifting Tori himself, Tommy still felt it was the right thing to do.

“She's dead,” Tori moaned.

James and Tommy walked Tori over a seat in the control room while Mia fetched her a bottle of water.

“Who's dead?” James asked.

“Susan.”

The room fell deadly silent. Everyone looked around at one another but no one knew what to say.

“Tori, what are you talking about? What happened to Susan?” Mia asked.

Drained from the strenuous telepathy she had used, Tori moaned and grabbed her head.

“Tori, what happened?” James asked. He snapped his fingers to get her attention.

“I don't know; I just know I can no longer read Susan's mind. I've searched and searched but I can't read it.”

“What about Dr. Connors, what about Cayde?” James asked.

“Both of them are overcome with grief. Both of them are trying to process what happened. They're in shock.”

James and Mia looked towards one another. They both read each other's mind without the use of telepathy.

“Don't do it,” Tori said.

“We have to Tori. Christine, pick up the pace!” James and Mia left the control room and retreated to the armory. Unsure what they would deal with, the two Post Humans equipped themselves with enough armor and ammunition to fight a small war.

Christine was landing the ship when James and Mia reappeared from the armory.

“Don't you think you two should wait for backup?” Tommy asked.

“Tommy, we are backup,” James replied.

The ship landed safely and smoothly. James took the lead and without hesitation left the ship with his gun drawn. Mia followed closely behind him and watched his six.

“See anything?” Mia asked.

“Nothing.”

Mia pulled out her phone and checked the GPS tracker. “Dr. Connors signal tracks him here to this location.”

“Doesn't mean he's in there and it doesn't mean we aren't walking into a trap. Stay on your toes Mia.”

James raised his gun and cautiously moved towards a house in the final stages of construction. “Dr. Connors?” James called out.

“We're up here!” Dr. Connors replied.

James and Mia looked at one another and for a moment were filled with relief. Ever the cautious one, James kept his gun in hand and slowly walked up the stairs. Mia followed closely behind and kept her eyes in the other direction just in case they were still walking into an ambush.

“Up here, hurry!” Dr. Connors said. James whipped inside the room where Dr. Connors voice came from and quickly checked it out. “We're alone son, you can put the gun away.”

James did one more survey of his surroundings before cautiously sliding his gun back in its holder. He looked over towards Cayde and his face suddenly went flush. “No, no, no!” James cried.

Cayde sat somberly in the left corner of the room with Susan's lifeless body cradled across his lap.

James ran over to him and dropped to his knees. He stroked Susan's medium length black hair, and a tear fell from his eye. James turned and looked directly down on Dr. Connors. “What happened?”

“I'll explain back on the ship, but we need to get out of here right now.”

James placed his arm behind the back of Susan's head and lifted her off Cayde's lap. Tears flowed from Mia's face as she watched James pass her by. She bit her lip and did her best not to let her emotions completely run away from her.

“Guys, radio chatter is running rampant. Squad cars will be at our position within minutes. We need to go,” Tommy said over the group's connected earpieces.

“We're on our way out now, be ready to move as soon as we board,” Dr. Connors said.

James carried Susan all the way down the stairs and out of the house. The hangar bay door opened, and the group followed James back to the ship.

Tommy immediately dropped to the ground and cried as soon as he saw Susan. James choked up. He fought back the tears that swelled in the corner of his eyes and walked right passed the group.

“Where is he going?” Tommy asked.

“He's taking her back to her room,” Mia replied. She knew James well enough to predict exactly what he was going to do and why he would do it in that particular way.

Christine pulled on the throttle and ascended to the skies as James left the room.

“What happened?” Mia asked.

“Commander Sullivan is what happened. I knew those guys couldn't be trusted,” Cayde said.

“Now wait a minute Cayde, we don't know that for sure. We don't know what happened exactly,” Dr. Connors said.

James returned from Susan's room after gently placing her in her bed. “What do you mean you don't know?” he asked in a voice slightly deeper than his usual tone.

Dr. Connors was startled by James. He knew James was extremely protective and looked after the group with everything he had in him. He knew James was feeling a lot of guilt in that moment for not being there by Susan's side.

“Who killed her and how did she die?” James asked.

“We don't know who killed her but we do know how. She was killed by a sniper,” Dr. Connors said.

Cayde gritted his teeth. “A sniper on Commander Sullivan's payroll!”

“I knew going there was a bad idea!” James said. James slammed his fist into one of the tables in the control center and completely shattered it.

“James, take it down a notch. I cannot say with certainty that Commander Sullivan had anything to do with what happened to Susan. I refuse to believe a government representing the United States would so callously kill an American citizen without just cause.”

“Who's to say they truly represent the United States? Perhaps this is some shadow group working within the government but not necessarily authorized by the government,” Christine said.

Dr. Connors sighed. “Such groups exist?”

“You better believe it. There are so many agencies within our country alone that technically don't exist. Groups authorized by certain factions within the government, but do everything off books, that way the government can keep their hands clean. This very easily could've been a group acting on orders secretly.”

“Wait, you guys, quiet down!” Mia said.

“Mia, what is it?” James asked.

Mia pointed to the television and stared at it.

“Tommy, turn it up,” James said.

Tommy positioned his hands on the keyboard, and turned the volume up.

“Good evening my fellow Americans.”

The Ascendants’ eyes and ears were glued to the television. They waited nervously to hear what the President had to say.

“Today is a day that many of us feared for a while now. As you know, it's been a little over a year since the existence of Post Humans became public. Immediately the world became fascinated and terrified with this revelation. For decades the world has wondered is there life beyond the stars. Never had we imagined that the truly extraordinary existence that would change our way of life was right here on our own planet. Since that fateful day, many have wondered and worried about the state of our nation and the security risks in which these Post Humans pose. With each day that passes, more and more individuals seem to pop up with the extra gene in them.”

Dr. Connors and Christine shared an unspoken but definitely recognizable worried look.

“My administration has been very proactive in monitoring Post Human activity and as such we've learned various ways to handle Post Humans that break the law. And believe me when I say, Post Humans will be held at the same degree as those without abilities. If a Post Human breaks the law, they will pay the price just like any one of us.”

James cracked his knuckles and looked as if he was ready for a fight.

“They're going to declare war on us,” Cayde said to James.

“Let them try!”

“Quiet down you two,” Dr. Connors said.

An image of the scene that took place early that morning involving Cooper Barrett and the government agents flashed on the screen. The image prompted the President to speak on the matter.

“Within the past few months, we've seen an uptick of criminal activity within the Post Human community. Just this morning, a Post Human terrorist by the name of Cooper Barrett sought out to cause serious harm to the citizens of this great nation. His attack this morning killed one and injured twelve. His attack pushed the fears many of us have regarding the Post Humans’ presence. I am here to address those fears.”

The President looked over to his left and nodded. A large man with slick gray hair and biceps the size of tree trunks walked up to the podium and joined the President.

“Well the plot certainly thickens. That's Commander Sullivan,” Cayde said.

“Due to the risk Post Humans pose and the alarming number of cases involving Post Humans abusing their abilities, I have authorized the creation of a very specific organization.”

The President looked over to Commander Sullivan and nodded. The Commander nodded back. “To my left is Commander Sullivan. A highly decorated veteran who has given well over thirty years of his life serving this great nation. I have given this man the incredibly challenging task of policing Post Human activity. Government, Units, Against, Radical, Danger, or simply G.U.A.R.D. will keep these criminals in line. Rest assured that if a problem occurs within your community and a Post Human is behind the disturbance, Commander Sullivan and his agents will be there to stop them.”

“G.U.A.R.D., what kind of name is that?” Cayde asked.

“The kind of name someone uses when they really want their acronym to be catchy,” Tommy replied.

Cayde chuckled slightly and turned his attention back to the screen.

“In addition to the situation involving Cooper Barrett, it has been reported that another Post Human attacked a school killing three individuals.”

“That's not true, it wasn't a Post Human,” Mia said.

Dr. Connors looked at Mia concernedly. “What school, what is he talking about?”

Mia shook her head. “We’ll have to fill you in on that later.” She looked over to James, who looked over to Dr. Connors and nodded.

Dr. Connors sighed heavily. His heart and mind were already feeling the weight of the world; he didn't know how much more he could take.

“Some of these Post Humans have taken our kindness for weakness. Some of these Post Humans believe their abilities make them better than the rest of us. I am here to remind them that we are the people of the United States of America. We the people can overcome any obstacles and challenges thrown our way. We will not be intimidated and we will not be submissive. If you abuse your abilities, we are coming for you. We are one nation and we are one people, and we will not be afraid!”

The President paused to let the thunderous applauds take place. For two minutes he stood there and smiled. “Thank you all and God bless America.”

The President did not bother to take any questions from the media. As soon as he concluded his speech, he turned around and walked back through the double doors, leaving the entire world to digest his powerful words.

Dr. Connors adjusted his glasses and frowned. “Turn it off.”

Tommy pressed the corresponding button on his keyboard and the big screen in the center of the control room went blank.

Cayde looked around the room anxiously. He hated awkward moments and an entire room of people saying absolutely nothing was about as awkward as it got for him. “Well this certainly wasn't the way I pictured the day going when I woke up this morning.” Cayde hoped for a response from the group, but they were too filled with concern to react to Cayde's obvious need to eradicate the awkwardness in the room.