The Peregrine Omnibus Volume One (86 page)

“They can do anything they want, if they put their minds to it.” Rachel was busy tying her hair back into a ponytail, but her face was taking on a new look, as well. Her eyes were glowing now and a small halo of light was appearing about her head. She noted his stare and smiled wanly. “These are signs that my powers are kicking in. I’m able to sense when danger is—”

“Closing in on you? Got that much, luv.” Nathaniel tapped the side of his head. “When we were shagging, I got a good glimpse into your mind. Most of it didn’t make too much sense… and a fair bit I’m still trying to sort out in a way that fits together in the order things happened to you… but I recognize the glowing eyes bit.”

“Yes. I saw into your mind a bit, too,” she replied, holding his gaze meaningfully. She saw him blush and turned away, her own heart hammering. What had happened between them? She’d never responded to any man like that… so wanton and desperate.

She forced those thoughts away, using her telepathy to instead scan for any people nearby. “There’s a car coming—four people inside, three men and a woman. They’re coming to investigate the rift we opened.”

“Who are they? Do they work for Bane?”

“Can’t tell. Psychic shields. If I push any harder, they’ll know I’m looking and we’ll lose the element of surprise.”

“I wonder what Charlie thought happened to us…”

“Your friend’s fine. A little shaken up, probably, but otherwise okay.” As she spoke, the glowing effects began to fade away. They usually only manifested themselves in times of extreme stress, but Rachel had recently begun noticing them coming forward at even the smallest manifestation of her power. “We need to get out of here, Nat. Get somewhere safe, where we can talk.”

“How did they catch you? I couldn’t quite grasp that in your mind…”

“Always asking questions, aren’t you?” She surprised him by leaning forward and brushing her lips briefly against his cheek. “I’ll answer everything—but not here. You go by anything in particular when you wear that outfit of yours?”

“Like a secret identity?” he asked, both amused and distressed. He hated how Charlie sometimes teased him about his abilities—and the dark green uniform that had begun to appear more and more. “I think so… In my dreams, sometimes I’m called something other than my name.” He ran a hand through his hair, as if dreading saying the word.

“Go ahead. I won’t laugh. I’ve had mental abilities since I was a little girl but they’ve gone haywire since the night the radiation hit London. After that, I decided to become a fighter against the Axis, like all those blokes in America. I was thinking of calling myself Britannia, but I don’t think the costume is patriotic enough.”

“You got captured right away, didn’t you? Before you’d even gone out to try and help. They knew where you were and came for you, in your flat.”

A flash of pain passed over her beautiful features and Nathaniel regretted his words. He’d seen it in her mind… the horror… the way the men had burst into her apartment. She’d sensed them coming but had been unprepared for the reality of it all. She was powerful but untrained. She’d never been in a fight before… they’d gassed her and taken her away. In her half-catatonic state, she’d felt the men taking liberties with her body, touching and pinching. They’d laughed all the while.

“Yeah, didn’t exactly strike the fear into their hearts the way the Black Bat does, did I?”

“Catalyst.”

“What?” she asked, surprised by the sudden turn in the conversation. Then she smiled warmly. “Nice. I like it… Are you interested in chemistry or do you just like causing change in things?”

Nathaniel felt a spike of pain in his right temple and flinched. “The latter but… We’re in trouble. I sometimes get headaches when things are about to go wrong and—”

“Did you get one right before you freed me?”

“No.”

Rachel winked. “Good again. Let’s go—there’s bound to be someplace around here we can hide.” She looked upwards and channeled all of her psychic force into a spike that shattered the roof.

“You’re leaving quite a trail.”

“You haven’t seen anything yet.”

Two minutes later, Catalyst and Phoenix were gone… and a large pile of wreckage was all that was left of the warehouse.

* * *

Three men and one woman stepped from the black sedan, moving towards the warehouse. It was a smoking ruin, brought down through the mental rage of a single woman… and it was obvious proof that their worst fears were about to come true.

The men were all identical in face and manner, each wearing black trousers and shirts, their eyes glassy and unfocused. They moved like automatons, their jaws set grimly in place.

The woman, however, was alive with emotion. She wore a black dress that was cinched tightly around a trim waist. The hem of the dress came to just above her knee, revealing enough leg to make it clear that hers were shapely and enticing. Her blond hair was worn in such a fashion that it hung over her right eye and cascaded about her shoulders.

“We’ve got a breach,” she said aloud. The three men all nodded as one. “Check around. See if the people who did this are nearby.”

The three men split into different directions, moving through the rubble and down the nearby alleyways. The woman—whose name was Theodora Sturm—stood directly facing the place where once the front door would have been. She closed her eyes for a moment and relaxed, calling upon the powers that had made her so valuable to her master.

Images danced across her mind’s eye, playing themselves out in a silent montage. She saw a man and a woman, both dressed in the green attire that marked them as Gifted Ones. The red-haired girl looked familiar and Theodora realized with a start that she had been the one powering the Un-Earth. With her gone, the link between worlds was unfiltered and potentially dangerous. The girl’s power had been initially used to start the transfer of psychic energy between worlds… and had as of late been used to stabilize the same.

Theodora jumped as a man cleared his throat right beside her. She turned to see Lamar Bane, her employer, watching her carefully. He wore a long coat over a well-tailored suit. He was handsome with dark hair and a trim beard, but his eyes were cold and full of malice. Theodora wasn’t used to seeing him dressed like this… like many in their current circle, he sometimes operated more flamboyantly. “What did you see?” he demanded.

“Mr. Bane! I didn’t expect you to be here…”

“I came as soon as I sensed what was happening. The girl is free, isn’t she?”

“Yes… there was another Gifted here, with her. He wore the green uniform… and he had a cloak.”

“Long brown hair?”

“Yes.”

Bane clasped his hands behind his back and grimaced. “Nathaniel Caine. Our operatives on the other side have been watching him for some time. There are those who believe he’s the One.”

Theodora’s heart skipped a beat and she stared at Bane with concern etched on her face. “I can find him. I swear it! I’ll find him and I’ll let the Trio kill him. He won’t upset the Fuehrer’s plan—I won’t let him!”

Bane reached out and cupped her chin. He smiled at her as if she were a particularly beloved pet. “Calm down, Theodora. If what we know about the One is true, we won’t have to look for him at all… he’ll come to us.”

“And the girl?” Theodora asked.

Bane moved away from her, his feet clacking on the rubble strewn streets. “Just another pawn who’s obviously outlived her usefulness.”

CHAPTER VI

The Warehouse

The Real World

Charlie Gamble had the sudden, inexplicable desire to eat his bar of Flake right away. It was a habit that dated back to his childhood—when he got frightened, he ate. That had led to his less-than-stellar physical condition at present.

Nathaniel and the red-haired girl had just disappeared in a flash of light and the rumbling of what sounded like thunder. Charlie had called out for them and examined every inch of the warehouse… but there was no sign of them. The strange mini-Earth was still there, spinning, and Charlie had the insane thought that maybe Nat had
gone there
but he knew the madness behind such a thing and rejected it outright.

“Bloody hell,” Charlie whispered, running a hand through his thinning hair. He turned around, planning to step back outside and see if he could better order his thoughts in the fresh air. Should he go back to headquarters without Nat? How would he explain what they were doing there?
They know about Nat’s weird abilities,
he reasoned,
they’ll understand.

When Charlie reached the door, however, he discovered that he was no longer alone.

Two men with blond hair, wearing black coats, were approaching. They were stepping away from a shiny new roadster that had no plates. Both men wore gloves and sunglasses.

The first of the two, slighter, taller, and broader of shoulder than other, reached up to pull away his glasses, revealing a set of blue eyes. “May I ask why you’ve just broken into private property, mate?” he asked. Though he tried to use British slang, it was obvious from the way his words were uttered that he was not a native at all… Charlie thought he detected the faintest hint of a German accent.

“I’m an inspector,” Charlie said, choosing to go the honest route. Something in the men’s demeanor set him ill at ease and he took a step back, ready to lock himself in the warehouse if necessary. “We have reason to believe there might be evidence here, related to the death of Neville Burke this morning. This property is registered to Bane Industries…”

“You said ‘we’,” the second man said, interrupting Charlie. “Is your partner about?”

Charlie glanced from one man to the other. “He’s inside,” he lied. “And he’s three times the size of both of you… combined. Big bloke. Now, what say you boys give me your names, eh?”

“Certainly,” the bigger fellow said. “I’m A and this is B.”

“A and B?”

“Works for us,” B said. The two men moved towards Charlie, advancing with such purpose that he knew he was in trouble.

Charlie ducked back inside the warehouse and pulled the door shut, bolting it quickly. He could hear A and B cursing and striking the door but it held tight, at least for now.

“Sounds like trouble outside.”

Charlie spun about, heart skipping a beat. Did A and B have a friend who’d snuck inside? C, perhaps?

Two people were standing there, a man and a woman. The woman was staring up at the spinning globe. She was lovely, though the presence of a mask on her face disrupted Charlie’s enjoyment of her form just a tad. The male stood close to her but not quite touching. Charlie recognized him immediately, having seen the movie serials based on his adventures.

“The Peregrine!” Charlie exclaimed, momentarily forgetting A and B’s presence outside the door. He moved towards the American vigilante, eagerly reaching out to shake his hand. “I’m so relieved! We need your help more than you know!”

The Peregrine glanced over at his wife, who smiled prettily. “You’re popular here,” Evelyn said. “Maybe we should relocate.”

Max’s only response was to wink at her. He freed his hand from Charlie’s grip and pointed towards the door. “They’ve stopped trying to get in.”

“Maybe they’re giving up?” Charlie wondered, though in the pit of his stomach he knew that wasn’t the case. Whoever they were, they were dangerous goons and those sorts never gave up easy.

“I doubt it. Evelyn, please stay with the inspector here. I want to get up close to that globe up there.”

“Of course, dear.” Evelyn moved towards Charlie, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder and steering him towards one of the far walls, away from all windows. “The Peregrine and I came here because we’re investigating the activities of a man named Doctor Satan. We knew he was involved with the murders of several Bane executives, and when we heard about Neville Burke’s death, we snuck into his office and—”

“You got past all the officers still posted there?” Charlie blinked, not even realizing that Evelyn had successfully given him something new to worry about besides the men outside.

“It wasn’t that hard,” Evelyn said and Charlie accepted her word at face value. Looking up at the Peregrine nimbly climbing up into the rafters and then jumping to balance on a railing just beneath the false Earth, Charlie could believe these two could do just about anything.

Max stared at the spinning globe in growing wonder. It looked so…
real
… though there was an odd barrier of some sort in places, outlining the Axis nations, which appeared to have spread throughout Europe. Through his natural mental abilities, Max thought he could sense thoughts and emotions coming from the other Earth, as if there were people living on it.

Just then, the creaking of a door filled the air. Max looked down, knowing that the two men from outside must have found the same rear entrance that he and Evelyn had. The Peregrine locked eyes with Evelyn, who nodded in understanding. She pulled Charlie behind what remained of the holding tank and gestured for him to stay quiet.

A and B entered the main area of the warehouse, pistols in hand. “No games, inspector. Come on out.”

The Peregrine dropped from above, landing between them. He used just enough telekinesis to slow his fall, allowing him to land almost gently. He grabbed both men by their collars and slammed their heads together. Before they could react, Max pulled one close and delivered a powerful roundhouse punch that knocked him out cold.

B staggered, seeing his companion now lying on the floor. He raised his gun but the Peregrine was too fast for him, knocking the weapon free of his grip with a well-placed kick. Max then grappled with the villain, finally pushing him tightly against the wall.

“Who do you work for?” the Peregrine demanded. When the man did not answer, the Peregrine increased the pressure he was exerting on the fellow’s arms.

“The Fuehrer,” B wheezed.

“Not Bane?”

“Bane is just another tool of the Reich.”

The Peregrine glanced up at the globe, still spinning above. “That thing up there… is that the Un-Earth?”

“Yes…”

“Tell me what it is.”

“I don’t know all the details. It’s a mirror of this world… but far more than that.”