Trainee Superhero (Book Two) (2 page)

“Are you deaf as well as stupid?”
Pet
Shark
asks.

“I’m not deaf,” I say.

“He’s earned his place here,” calls out
One Trick
, “he’s been on a mission.”

“I heard
The General
wants you dead,”
whispers
Pet Shark
, “and I wonder how long you will
last.”

I finish my food in silence and then stand to
leave.

Never Lies
is walking in as I walk
out.

“Enjoying yourself?” she says.

“I guess so. I don’t think I’m supposed to be
here, none of the other trainees are.”

“Trainees are allowed up here after their
first mission. You can stay, if you want.”

I sit back down and she hands me a thin book
called ‘Tactics’.

“Read that. It might keep you alive.”

I spend an hour reading it in the sun, but
every time a new operator walks onto the deck they give me an odd
look. Eventually I retreat to my room and keep reading until a
quarter to six.

I find a steward and ask her to point me to
the canteen, so she leads me right to it. I try to strike up a
conversation, but her answers are monosyllabic. It seems like
technicians and supers don’t mix much.

Other supers are already waiting outside the
canteen. I walk up to
Bad Day
and
One Trick
. They’re
watching two small groups of supers who are arguing loudly. One of
the belligerents pulls off his slipper and throws it across the
room. An alarm rings out and he falls, clutching at his neck.
Everyone else laughs.

Pet Shark
snickers from right behind
me. I didn’t hear him arrive.

“A shock just for throwing a slipper?” I ask
in surprise.

“It didn’t use to be that way,” says
Bad
Day
, “we used to have slipper fights all the time.”

“What changed?” I ask.

“I filled my slipper with iron filings and
used it to knock a guy cold out,” says
Pet Shark
matter-of-factly.

“What? Why would you do that?”

“He asked too many questions.”

Right.

The canteen doors open and we enter. I sit
next to
Bad Day
, and
Pet Shark
sits down next to me.
A handwritten menu stands on the center of the table. Everything
sounds delicious, but my appetite is somewhat spoiled when
Firestorm Commando
sneaks in and sits at a table on the
other side of the room.

“I was hoping it would be lasagna,”
Pet
Shark
says loudly, “Chef makes the best lasagna in the
world.”

“Not true! My mama makes the best lasagna in
the world!” yells someone from across the table in an Italian
accent.

Everyone turns and stares at the operator,
who shrugs.

“Perhaps Chef makes the second best lasagna
in the world,” he concedes.

Dinner is a seven-course meal, each course
more expensive and delicious than anything I’ve ever eaten
before.

“You guys eat like this every day?” I ask
through a mouthful of cheese and grapes.

“Just five days a week. Chef won’t cook on
Monday or Tuesdays, so on those days we barbeque or have pizza. Not
bad, right?” says
One Trick
.

She laughs as I wash my cheese down with
sparkling water.

“Save some space for dessert.”

Dessert is glazed pastries and ice cream. It
looks amazing and smells even better. Chef brings it out himself,
serving the twenty or so diners and accepting compliments as he
walks between tables. Chef stops in front of
Pet Shark
,
offers him another glare and holds out a plate.
Pet Shark
reaches for it, but Chef changes his mind and snatches the plate
back.

“I am French, sir, and I serve French food.
If that is not good enough you may satisfy your hunger
elsewhere!”

Bad Day
laughs quietly to himself. I
get the impression that he doesn’t particularly like
Pet
Shark
.

Then
Past Prime
walks in through the
doors and stands at the front of the room. There’s something in his
manner that shuts the room up quickly. Every eye turns towards
him.

“Your attention, please,” he says, “a saucer
approached New York this morning. It was large enough that we were
requested to send a team.
Ice Blood
and his crew were on
call. As some of you know,
Ice Blood
’s brothers live in New
York. Unfortunately the saucer was an omega-class battleship
escorted by two large saucers.”

The whole room groans.

“Other teams of superheroes were gathering
for the defense, but there was no consensus of command.
Ice
Blood
and his team attacked while the saucers were still over
water. They were not supported by the other teams, but they damaged
the omega-class and it retreated before it reached the city.”

He pauses.

“
Ice Blood
,
Violent Behavior
,
Card Thief
,
Green Six
and
Blue Twenty
died in
the attack.
Punch Up
survived but is badly wounded.”

The room is silent. People look stunned. Only
Pet Shark
and
Firestorm Commando
don’t seem moved by
the news.
Pet Shark
uses the distraction to steal my
dessert, and
Firestorm Commando
is actually smiling.

“If they had followed orders they would still
be alive. Idiots,” says
Firestorm Commando
loudly enough for
the whole room to hear.

That causes uproar and riot. Someone hits
Firestorm Commando
on the side of the head with a dessert
plate, and
Firestorm Commando
uses the controls on his arm
to shock us all through our collars.

“ENOUGH!” roars
Past Prime
.

He grabs
Firestorm Commando
and
marches him out of the room before returning. The ruckus settles
down, but the mood is ugly.

“The funeral is tonight at sunset. I know
this is a shock for us all.
Ice Blood
and his team were
excellent supers, and their loss will be keenly felt. But
Ice
Blood
would also be the first person to remind us to focus on
the mission.”

Past Prime
turns to walk away, but
stops.

“This loss means we are shorthanded,” he
adds, “please check your timetables for new squad scheduling. That
is all.”

I wonder how many times
Past Prime
has
made a speech like that, and whether it gets any easier. I didn’t
know
Ice Blood
, but his death seems like a big deal.

“Not
Ice Blood
,” whispers
Bad
Day
, holding his head in his hands.

I remembered
Violent Behavior
from my
first day as a trainee. He hadn’t looked much like a hero, but it
sounds like he died like one. We trickle out of the room. I stick
close to
Bad Day
as he walks up onto the main deck. He’s
shaking a little, so I find him a plastic seat to sit on.

“Not
Ice Blood
,” he says again.

Others join us, including
Never
Lies
.

“He was one of our best. One of the best
ever,” adds
Never Lies
, shaking her head.

“Why did he do it?” I ask, “why didn’t he
wait for help?”

“Saucer shields are vulnerable over water. No
one has ever brought an omega down, and
Ice Blood
knew that
once it reached land it would be impossible to stop.”

“All the supers knew that,” interjects
Bad
Day
.

“But our shields don’t work well over water,
either.
Ice Blood
knew that whoever flew out there wouldn’t
be coming back. His team provided him with support but only he made
it all the way to the saucer. None of the other superhero teams
would even leave land.”

“He must have been a hell of a superhero,” I
say.

What kind of a person takes on the largest
saucer ever seen and wins? What kind of a super convinces his team
to follow him against those kinds of odds? That’s the kind of
superhero I want to be.

“He never failed a single mission. He was
only sent here because his original team was intimidated by him.
They said he was dangerous because he couldn’t feel fear,” says
Bad Day
.

“He felt fear,” says
Never Lies
.

They start telling stories about
Ice
Blood
and the other named superheroes. The trainees like me
barely get a mention, which is a stark reminder of my place in the
order of things. I leave them to it and start walking back to my
cabin.

Pet Shark
is waiting for me at the
stairs.

“
Bad Day
is taking this pretty badly,”
I say.

“Oh,
Bad Day
idolized
Ice
Blood
. He was really something, you know. He must have
overloaded his suit to hurt the omega,” says
Pet Shark
, “but
the other suits were recovered. Looks like you are about to get
promoted,
Red Five
. Good for you.”

“What is wrong with you?” I ask, astonished
at his callousness.

“Why should I care if
Ice Blood
dies?
Why should you?”

I don’t really know what to say to that, so I
push past and walk to my room. I lie down on my bed and start
counting how many times
Simon Smith
has been carved into the
ceiling. I’m up to one hundred and twenty-seven when I get
bored.

“Search for
Ice Blood
,” I tell my
tat-a-gotchi.

His list of achievements is intimidating; he
must have been one of the most powerful supers in the world. He
took out saucers single-handedly, and completed hundreds of
missions. Under number of kills was written “thousands”.
Ice
Blood
’s rise was meteoric until its sudden, tragic end. He was
only twenty-five.

“Search for
Born Lucky
,” I say.

I’m not surprised to find that
Born
Lucky
comes from a rich, politically connected family. He is a
powerful super, too, although not in the same league as
Ice
Blood
.

“Reason for assignment,” I ask.

The computer seems to think about this one,
then spits out: “Volunteered for the
Cerberus Brawlers
.”

“Search for other volunteers,” I say.

“None found,” the computer says.

I’m not surprised.

“Search
Pet Shark
,” I ask.

“Record classified. Error! Unauthorized
access detected-”

The screen on my arm starts glowing red. I
stop my search and wipe any evidence of my prying with practice
that comes from years of misspent youth. I doubt anyone will be
able to trace the unauthorized access back to me, even if they
notice it. My tat-a-gotchi reappears on my arm and glares at me. I
feed it, and it falls asleep.

I lie back on the bed, but it’s not long
before my thoughts are interrupted by a loud knock on the door.
It’s
Past Prime
, and he does not look happy. I try to look
innocent.

“I’ve assigned you to a team. It’s only
temporary until our roster stabilizes,” he says.

“I’m ready,” I answer.

“You aren’t, but we are desperately short
handed. Be at the armory in twenty minutes.”

He closes the door.

I should be mourning the loss of
Ice
Blood
and his team, and part of me is.

I should be terrified, and part of me is.

I should be worried that I’m not up to
this.

But all I can think of is that I am getting a
chance to fight saucers again, and this time I know what I’m
doing.

Maybe I also have ice for blood.

“We are not arrogant, no, not at all. We
serve the world.”

-
Green Heart
, spokesperson for the
Superhero Corps.

“Arrogant? Yes, and we must be. Humble minds
never overcame the impossible.”

-
Ice Blood
, court martial
transcript.

Have you ever wondered what superheroes do
when they aren’t busy saving the world?

I never have. I just assumed they made a
seamless transition from living the high life to battling the
saucers… and maybe the other teams are doing just that, but the
Cerberus Brawlers
aren’t. The
Brawlers
have a squad
of six superheroes on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a
week. Saucer attacks aren’t that common, and so we spend a lot of
time sitting in the armory waiting for an attack. A part of the
armory has been converted to a waiting room, with bookshelves and
screens to keep us distracted. It’s not very comfortable to sit
around in our armor, but it means we can be in our capsules in
minutes and be anywhere on Earth in twenty minutes.

My first three shifts went by with no attack.
Or more accurately, no attack in our territory. There was a saucer
brought down near Auckland, but we weren’t involved. A smallish
devilserpent was found in the Amazon, but disappeared before anyone
could respond, and a scout saucer shot over Europe without being
intercepted. All in all, it was a quiet time.

I never would have thought being a superhero
could ever be boring. It’s a strange, nervous kind of boredom that
pervades the armory, because it may be the last boredom we ever
live to have. One of my teammates is sitting in silence and staring
at a wall, which is slightly unnerving. Her name is
Bad
Attitude
, and she hasn’t said a word to me since we were
introduced. Another of the team,
Slow Learner
, is reading a
thick history book.
Never Lies
and
Bad Day
are
playing a two-player game of space invaders. Both seem reasonably
relaxed yet alert.
Pet Shark
is building some kind of
three-dimensional holo-puzzle, assembling the pieces in the air
above a console. I can’t quite make out what he’s building, but
there is a lot of red to it. I don’t feel like I can focus on
anything more strenuous than a comic book right now, so I select
one off the rack and walk over to a comfortable leather chair.