Vanguard: The Complete Second Season: A Superhero Serial (Vanguard: The Collected Seasons Book 2) (26 page)

“We expose them to a variety of drugs of my own design and then subject them to intense physical trials,” said Azarov. “Most of the studies I’ve done indicate that special genes tend to activate under extreme circumstances. Of course there is no guarantee that duress will lead to activation, but it is one area of research we are pursuing.”

“And the harvesting?” asked Bak.

“Yes, that is another area. Genetic treatments on pregnant women and harvesting the fetus. This has led to some new applications and we have made some progress here. But nothing conclusive as of yet.”

“What of the specimen you recently acquired?” asked Bak.

“Right, follow me.” Azarov gestured with his hand and continued down the tunnels. He took them to a cell isolated from the others. The cell was larger than most, with heavy iron bars preventing escape.
 

J’Karra sat inside the cell, her legs crossed and her eyes closed. Around her neck was an inhibitor collar. The entourage all studied her strange features closely—the reddish-orange skin, the bright yellow hair, the pointed ears.

“We know nothing about her yet,” said Azarov. “She’s been deprived of food and yet she shows no adverse reaction. The inhibitor collar seems to do its job, but studies on blood drawn from her have brought to light some very unusual results.”

“Results such as what?” asked Bak.

“Her DNA is unlike anything on this planet. It is completely different from humans and any other living creature we have on record. I have seen almost nothing like it before.”

“What are you saying, Doctor? Is she an alien?”

“Whatever she is, she is not of this world,” said Azarov.

“You said you have seen
almost
nothing like her before. Elaborate on that.”

“There is one aspect of her that is similar. At first we believed her to be a special, as she did trigger our sensors. And the inhibitor collar succeeded in suppressing her abilities,” said Azarov. “But when examining her DNA and finding how different it was, it made me wonder. Her genetic code also holds the special gene—almost identical to the one found in our own specials here on Earth.”

Bak blinked at the revelation. “How is such a thing possible? If she is not of this Earth…”

“Then perhaps the special gene itself is alien in nature,” said Azarov. “There is much we still have to learn about the Event that transformed the world. I believe she could be the key to unlocking those secrets. And I believe she can provide us with the answer to the question we seek. She can show us how to activate the special gene.”

“It had better,” said Bak. He studied J’Karra through the bars, perplexed at her calm. “Is she sedated?”

“No, she’s been like that ever since we put her in the cell. We’ve been monitoring her, but she has neither said nor done a thing since awakening.”

“But you say she is a special? What sort of abilities does she possess?”

“As near as we can tell, she can generate some sort of bio-energy into projectiles. She used a bow and would create the arrows from nothing. Perhaps she needs something tangible in order to focus the energies. Follow me.”
 

Azarov led General Bak into a small room with computer consoles and monitors lining the walls, keeping tabs on their various prisoners. He pointed to one of the monitors, which had a scan of a brain with various colored overlays.
 

“This is her mind. We’ve been running scans on it, and she has some kind of heightened brain activity. Her powers could be psionic in nature,” said Azarov. “We cannot know for sure unless we remove the collar.”

“And we will not be doing that,” said Bak.

“Of course not.”

“Finish your work quickly, Doctor.” Bak turned his back, but his words piqued Azarov’s interest.

“General, has time become something of an essence now?” he asked.

Bak turned on his heel. He took a deep breath and sighed. “Cerberus is asking questions. The new director has uncovered some evidence that links us to General Callus. Our friends in China have managed to stonewall Zukov’s efforts for now, but I do not believe it will last long. The Supreme Leader has ordered our efforts to be sped up.”

“I will do what I can, but you must understand, General. This work is very delicate and very, very experimental. There is no guarantee that I can do what I have been tasked with, especially on such a timeframe.”
 

“You
will
do it, Doctor. Or you will be punished for your insubordination.” The General fixed his cold eyes on Azarov’s. “Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, quite,” said Azarov. “Just make sure you keep the power running to this facility.”

The General nodded. “Very well. Back to work, Doctor. These super soldiers will not create themselves."

CHAPTER 5

Zenith sat behind the controls of the Icarus and switched over to the auto-pilot. He turned his seat and rose from it. Sentinel, who sat beside him, followed his lead. The two walked around the partition separating the cockpit from the cabin and looked at the team seated before them. The monitor on the partition activated and it showed a split-screen with Thorne on one side and Zukov on the other.

“Stealth mode has been activated,” said Zenith. “We will be entering North Korean airspace shortly.”

“Be careful out there,” said Zukov. “I can only do so much to keep the Security Council at bay. Zenith, I will need you to transmit any proof you record immediately so that we can use it to our advantage.”

Zenith gave a nod.

“Big question is why would Callus bother with North Korea in the first place? Why not go to the Russians? Azarov’s already got an in with them,” said Wraith.

“Did you forget that Vorobiev ordered an airstrike on Virey? The Russians would rather bury Azarov than work with him again,” said Zukov.
 

“If Azarov’s involved in this, it could also mean he’s resurrected his little side project,” said Thorne. “Those things you fought in Russia.”

“The Dreks,” said Gunsmith. “Something has me curious, though. Azarov was able to activate the special gene in the Khagan. Why would he be struggling now?”

“Could have been a one-time thing, something that was only compatible with the Khagan’s DNA, not something easily replicated,” said Paragon. “It’s too bad Dr. McCabe’s not here, we could’ve used his insight.”

“Howard’s unfortunately quite busy with his work at the Human Genome Project, so we’ll have to proceed without him for now,” said Thorne.
 

“He’s also got eyes on him,” said Zukov. “I couldn’t contact him for this operation without running the risk of alerting Ramsey’s people.”

Wraith scoffed. “That’s another one. Why haven’t we killed him yet?” The statement got him some disgusted and surprised looks from his teammates. He rolled his eyes. “Fine, why haven’t we exposed him?”

“We still don’t have anything to link Ramsey with the Red Fist,” said Thorne. “We suspect he was involved, but that’s not proof. Until we can find that proof, we have to just keep an eye on him.”

A beeping noise came from the cockpit. Zenith used his connections to the Icarus’ systems and the beeping was silenced. “We’re approaching the source of the readings.”

“Good luck out there,” said Thorne.
 

“Yes, keep us appraised of your progress,” said Zukov.

The monitor went black as both men ended their transmissions. Zenith and Sentinel returned to their seats in the cockpit and Zenith began the landing procedure. He activated the ship’s VTOL jets and the Icarus slowly lowered itself to the ground.

“First mission, this is kind of exciting,” said Sentinel.

“Just be careful,” said Zenith. “Even with the upgrades you’ve made to your armor, we still haven’t had an opportunity to train you with the others. I will try to monitor your progress, but you must remain on alert at all times.”

Sentinel gave a nod. “Right, I got it. Don’t do anything stupid.”

“For starters.”

The Icarus touched down on the ground in the middle of the night. The rear hatch opened and the team disembarked from their plane. As soon as they were off, Zenith looked back at the Icarus and under his silent command, the hatch closed and microscopic cameras all along the plane’s surface projected an image of the surrounding area. The result was that the ship was almost invisible, although some distortion could be seen. It should work to hide the craft until they could return.

Sentinel brought the visor from his forehead down over his eyes. He activated his jetpack and rose above the ground, scanning ahead. “Looks like it’s a few miles off in the distance.”

“Get down!” barked Gunsmith, keeping the volume as low as he could.

Sentinel looked down at the team’s leader in surprise. “What?”

“It’s the dead of night, we’re in hostile territory, and that jetpack isn’t exactly inconspicuous!”

“Oh…” Sentinel returned to the ground and deactivated the jetpack. “Sorry.”

Gunsmith just sighed and scouted ahead. Shift stepped beside Sentinel and placed a hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her and she flashed a reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry, we all screw up the first time out.”

“Listen to you, talking like a veteran,” muttered Wraith.

“I heard that!” she said, still trying to maintain a hushed tone.

“Don’t care.” Wraith moved on ahead, shadowing Gunsmith.
 

Sharkskin walked up behind Shift and Sentinel. “Man, I missed that guy.”

“I can’t tell if you’re being serious or sarcastic,” said Sentinel.

Sharkskin grinned. “Bit of both, really. Feels good to be in this suit again.”

“Keep your voices down,” said Gunsmith, pausing at the front and looking over his shoulder to reprimand the rest of the team.

Sharkskin rolled his eyes and looked down at Sentinel. “Of course, there
are
downsides.”

Zenith took up the rear of the group, using his scanners to keep a watchful eye on their surroundings. Just over the small mountain was a valley where their target was supposedly located. Zenith knew well how hostile this territory was and tried to keep his systems on high alert. He wasn’t quite used to being back in his old body yet, but he couldn’t let down his friends.

Paragon moved a little ahead of the robot. “Does this feel weird to you?” she asked.

“What do you mean?” asked Zenith.

“Working with Cerberus,” she said.
 

“It is a bit odd, especially since Sentinel and I have spent the past several months trying to find evidence that would shut them down,” said Zenith. “But let us not forget that we were willing to support the organization when Colonel Thorne was to lead them.”

“True, but can we trust Zukov? How do we know he isn’t just another Callus, but better at hiding it?”

“Gunsmith seems to trust him.”

She sighed. “I dunno, Zen. After being held prisoner by Cerberus, I don’t think I could ever really trust them.”

They approached the base of the mountain and Gunsmith signaled for the team to stop. He looked at Sentinel. “You picking anything up?”

Sentinel activated his scanners and then nodded. “Yeah, the readings are coming from the valley on the other side of the mountain.”

“There should be a facility there. Judging from satellite imagery, it appears to be a prison camp,” said Zenith.
 

“We need visual confirmation.” Gunsmith looked at Wraith. “Can you teleport me up there?”

“Does the Pope shit in the woods?”

Gunsmith shook his head. “Just get us up there.”

Wraith snickered and opened a portal that transported both him and Gunsmith to the top of the mountain overlooking the camp nestled in the valley below. Gunsmith hit the side of his eyepiece to telescope on the base and get a better look.
 

“We’ve got two guard towers down there. Getting rid of those guards is the priority. Can you handle it?”

Wraith gave no response. But just as Gunsmith was about to turn, he saw something on one of the towers. A black portal opened behind the guard and Wraith grabbed his target from behind, covering his mouth and pulling him to the ground. In the blink of an eye, Wraith had teleported to the opposite tower and took out that guard as well. He vanished again and Gunsmith heard his teammate’s voice from behind him.

“No sweat,” said Wraith.

“Good work,” said Gunsmith. “Let’s get back to the others.”

Wraith created another portal that transported them to the rest of the group. Gunsmith drew his teleforce blasters from the compartments on his armored thighs. He gave a silent nod to his team and then led the way around the mountain and into the valley.
 

Vanguard moved into the valley, with Zenith stepping up to the front and performing scans on the base. “There are several lifeforms present. Many are below ground. Which would make sense if our assumptions of this place are true.”

“Special readings are coming from below, too,” said Sentinel.

“So we’ve gotta go underground,” said Sharkskin. “Any Minecraft fans here?”

“There’s got to be an entrance past those fences,” said Gunsmith. “Zenith, think you can scan from above, see if you can locate anything?”

“I shall try.”
 

“Thought you were worried about us being spotted by flying?” asked Paragon.

“In addition to rebuilding my body, Sentinel also added some upgrades, including the same stealth technology utilized by the Icarus,” said Zenith. He activated his thrusters and rose up from the ground. As he rose higher, his form darkened, like melding with the sky, and he became invisible to the naked eye and any detection equipment.

“What about us, boss?” asked Sharkskin.

“Stay down until we hear from Zenith. We want to try and stay out of sight as much as possible, do not engage unless we have no other option,” said Gunsmith.

Zenith’s voice crackled over the comm-links worn by all of Vanguard. “About that, Gunsmith. I believe we may have a problem. My scans just picked up incoming.”

“Incoming what?” asked Gunsmith. His question was answered when he heard the sound of a helicopter overhead. A spotlight fell on them, nearly blinding the group. “Never mind, I think I know.”