The Suns of Liberty: Legion: A Superhero Novel (36 page)

     Revolution said nothing.

     “You’re welcome.”

     “Hunley’s dead.”

     “Yes, I know. But I had nothing to do with that.”

     That was probably true. “Why are you really here?”

     “I am here at considerable risk to myself, would you
not agree?”

     “Considerable.”

     “I’ve come here because, despite who I am, I’m also a
patriot. I believe in your cause, even though I love my husband.”

     Revolution cocked his head, but stayed silent.

     “Media Corp is breaking up,” she said.

     “Tragedy.”

     “It could be. It could give Tarleton a controlling
stake in the Council. If that happens—”

     Revolution bolted upright in his seat. “Iron Fist. A
return to the Purge.”

     “Yes, but it could also provide an opportunity. Many
on that Council think he is too fanatical. They’re not as unified as you think.
And they’re already angry about their stock prices falling. Tarleton will tilt
the budget toward fighting you even more than Howke has. And likely bankrupt
some of the Council firms while he’s at it. Some might even fall from the
Council.”

     “Chaos,” Revolution said with some delight.

     She nodded.

     “And there’s something else,” she added. “I overheard
one of Tom and Bill’s conversations. They’re trying to keep the split from
happening, but they also talked about some kind of action against the Resistance.
In two days. That’s all I know about it, but that gives you enough time to try
and negotiate some kind of settlement. Put an end to this madness.” 

     “How do I know I can trust you?”

     “You don’t. But I’m here, as we’ve already agreed, at great
personal risk. And you can judge for yourself if all of this plays out.”

     Revolution nodded, but Marguerite seemed to be trying
to stare into his eyes. He waited to see what she would do, still not trusting
her one inch.

     Several moments passed.

     Finally, she spoke again. “I’ve got to admit, I came
here for another reason too.”

     Revolution stiffened in his chair.

     Marguerite took a deep breath. “I have a theory...”

     “Go on.”

     “You were on that plane, weren’t you?” she asked.

     “I don’t know what plane you’re referring to, but I
doubt it.  I don’t like to fly.”

     “The one that went down. Air Force One. All those
years ago, during the Purge.”

     Revolution said nothing.

     “It’s okay, I won’t tell.”

     “My identity is not up for discussion.”

     “Where’s your family? Who’s looking out for them? How
do you know they’re safe?”

     “I have no one you can threaten. I have only my mission.”

     “I know,” she said, as if she had proven something to
herself. “That’s why you don’t care, isn’t it?”

     “Don’t care about what?”

     “Whether you live or die. Because your family was on
that plane.”

     Revolution said nothing.

     Her eyes suddenly went wide. “Were you the president?”
Marguerite paused in thought, wrapped up in her convictions. “I know this story
well. Thomas talks about it all the time. There were four men of about your
height, who also had their families aboard. A senator, a general, a military
scientist, and the president himself. It’s one of the saddest parts of the story.
It haunts him.”

     Again, Revolution said nothing.

     Her eyes moistened. “How did you survive?”

     “That matter is not up for discussion.”          

     She nodded knowingly and turned to go. “I wasn’t, by
the way.”

     “Wasn’t what?”

     “Threatening you.” She turned to him again. “I know
what you must think of me, but my information is real. I love my country, Mr.
President—”

     “I’m not the president.”

     “My
true
country,” she continued, ignoring his
denial. “And I also love my husband, and I don’t want to see him crushed by”—she
waved her hand around—“all of this.”

     “Good-bye, Mrs. Sage.”

     She nodded, gazed down at the floor for a moment, then
back into his eyes, as if she was about to say something further—and she was
gone.

     Revolution rose and paced slowly over to the flag, Old
Glory, that was standing in the corner of the room, restored to its rightful
place by the mayor’s office after the Council left Boston. He stared at the
flag for several moments and was silent.

     Memories.

     Finally, he turned and hailed Lantern on his com.

    
“Yes, sir?”

     “We’ve got some new intel.”

CHAPTER 37

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

TWO DAYS LATER

R
evolution
and Ward were alone in the Situation Room watching the video feed from the
shopping mall attack. On screen, Spectral was blocking the bomb blast.

     “What the hell is Lady Rage doing with Lithium? I
thought she used to work for Bailey?” Ward asked.

     “That was a long time ago,” Revolution said.

     “Before the Resistance?”

     “Before there was a Freedom Council to resist. A lot’s
changed since then.”

     “What about that Spectral thing? Doesn’t look overly
friendly.”

     “He is more dangerous than she, in many ways. I cannot
imagine two more formidable enemies. With those two on his side...”        Revolution
did not complete his thought. Instead, he turned to Ward. “Paul, I fear we’re at
a crossroads now. I still believe we can win. I believe the people are still
with us. But this victory...” He searched for the right words. “It won’t come
without sacrifices.

“Now, the Achilles heel of the Council lies in their vulnerability
to financial panic. Always has. Even if they outgun us or overpower us, if we
can sustain the assault, we will begin to build doubt in their investors.  Some
of it will be more than we can stand. But we must.”

     Ward had never heard Revolution speak like this; he
didn’t know if he should feel inspired or scared shitless. But he also understood
the message he was trying to send him.

     “So, you’re saying the end justifies the means? What
if those means define what the end looks like?” Ward snatched up his helmet
from the table and locked it onto his shoulders. “We have to win this the right
way.”

     Revolution nodded. “Get in position, then.”

Only
fifteen minutes had passed. The Suns, the Minutemen, the other essential staff
were now all in position.

     Revolution was letting Ward’s warning echo through his
mind. He knew what he meant. In war it is often the case that the nature of the
victory defines the nature of the peace. Paul was still angry at him for not
helping in the rescue of Trenton after
Ana
and the debris from the
Delaware
had rained down on the city. Worse, the Legion had shown up and did what Ward
thought the Suns should have done.

     But could Ward not see? That proved Revolution’s point,
proved his actions were correct. Had they gone down there they would have been
involved in another fight with the Legion. A fight they were not in shape for
after the hurricane. They would have lost. And the Suns would have looked even
worse. Maybe fell captive.

     A voice crackled over the general com, and he blinked,
came back.
“Sir, I’ve got a dozen bogies approaching at high speed. Altitude
ten thousand feet.”
It was Lantern, speaking to him over the general com so
that everyone at the HQ could hear him.

     Finally. “They’re on their way,” Revolution replied to
everyone.

    
“It appears so, yes.”

     Revolution spoke into the general com again. “Everyone
stay in position. We let them make the first move.”

     The Suns hoped they had every angle covered. Lantern
stood atop the John Hancock Tower, the tallest building in the city, and took advantage
of the unimpeded view to scan the Boston skyline. Sophia stood on the roof of
the HQ. If anything came from the air, as they expected, human or drone—it
would have to deal with her first.

     Rachel was waiting in the Hangar near
Stealthhawk-2
.
She had a dozen MagCharges in a backpack, ready to go. If the Council Guard
decided to bring in heavy artillery or set up a command center, the former CIA
spy was ready to blow it to bits.

     Ward was camped out near the front door. All
nonessential staff had been evacuated. But he was there to help protect those
that were still needed.

     The Revolution monitored everything from the Situation
Room’s command center. Drayger was now there with him, ready to be deployed
wherever the main strike occurred. Revolution had expected an air attack, but
he did not know what they would throw at them first. “Do we have an ID on the
bogies yet?” he asked Lantern.

    
“They have digital shielding, but they look like
Viper 700s, sir.”

     “Jets?”

    
“Yes, sir. Coming in fast.”

    
“I can take them out before they ever reach the
city,”
Sophia growled.

     That was doubtful. Vipers were too fast even for
Sophia, given that she would probably be in a dogfight as soon as she launched.
There was a very good chance they’d already locked in on her energy signal.
Lantern was doing the best he could to shield them all, but given his recent
failures, Revolution had no choice but to assume he would be unable to.

     Revolution glanced over at Drayger. “Ben, get up on
the roof with Sophia. Go to the opposite side so we have both flanks covered
and wait for my word. Find Willard, he’ll show you how to get up there.”

     Drayger shot out of the room without a word.

     Revolution scanned all of Lantern’s readouts and saw
nothing other than the twelve Vipers. “We wait for them to make the first move,
but, Helius, be ready to vaporize anything they shoot at the city. They may not
target us right away. They may go civilian to see what we’ll do.”

    
“What
will
we do?”
Ward asked pointedly.
Revolution could hear the bitterness over not intervening in Trenton still in
his voice.

     Revolution peered out at Lantern’s full-city, real-time
image of Boston. “We’ll protect the city,” he said.

    
“If you patch me into their coordinates I think I
can neurolyze them from here,”
Drayger said.

    
“Neurolyze?”
Sophia asked.

    
“Cool term, huh?”
Drayger sounded pleased with
himself.

     No one said anything.

    
“It is cool,”
Rachel said finally.

     “Only if they attack first. They could be trying to
draw us into taking the first shot,” Revolution said.

    
“Wow, I hadn’t thought of that,”
Drayger said.

     Revolution was trying not to get irritated by the
banter. They were all nervous, he told himself. “Lantern, can you read their
missile lock if they go hot?”

    
“Yes, sir.”

     That was important. Lantern had the ability to remote-trigger
explosive devices. He did it all the time with the Hollow, but he could also
send a signal that would ride their missile lock right up into their missile
bays and detonate the bombs before they ever launched. They’d used it before
against Vipers.

     The Council had to know that, so it made little sense
to attack this way. What were they really up to?        

     “Do we know if they could conceal drones in the
Vipers?”   

    
“Doubtful. Unless they are attached to the plane
itself, there’s really nowhere to stow them,”
said Sophia.

    
“What about a Spore?”
Lantern asked.

     There was a moment of silence. “
Yeah, I think so,”
she said warily.

     A spore had killed John Bailey. None of them needed to
be reminded how dangerous they could be.

    
“What’s a spore?”
Drayger asked.

Rookie.
At the entrance, Ward was trying to
stay calm. When he heard Drayger’s voice across the com, he decided to try to focus
on his distrust of the young man. Ward was no psychologist, wasn’t even that good
a judge of people, but Drayger just seemed overly ambitious to him. Reckless,
even. What else didn’t he like about the guy? He tried to think of something,
anything else. Anything to keep his mind off his fears.