 
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright ©2012 – 2018 by Wilmar Luna

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing by the author.

THE SILVER NINJA® is a registered trademark of Wilmar Luna.

https://www.thesilverninja.com

Published by: Silver Pencil Books

ISBN: 9781311321251

Artwork Credits:

Front cover: Imaginary Friends Studio | Yin Yuming

Back Cover: John Gallagher

Sapphire Ninja Design: Lorenz Hideyoshi Ruwwe

<http://imaginaryfs.sg/>

<http://uncannyknack.com/>

<http://hideyoshi-ruwwe.net/>

Foreword and Back Matter was added November 29th 2018

Special thanks:

To beta readers: Christine, Kelly, Sarah, and Wayne for providing feedback on such short notice.

To Victoria for linking me to the Snowflake Method.

To Andy, Scott, David, Matthew, Michael, My family, and Zoe for supporting my books.

And to Chrysti who continually encourages me to become a better writer.

One more thank you to Randy Ingermanson for creating the Snowflake Method.
Foreword

Hi.

Have you ever followed your passion only to fail horribly at it? I have.

The book you have now is my first attempt at following my dreams. I wanted to create a female superhero that could stand toe to toe with Batman and crack jokes with Spider-man. Unfortunately, like most of us who try new things, the story I wrote didn't live up to the one in my head.

If you've read the reviews for this book, they aren't great.

I tried my hardest to make this book into a masterpiece. I couldn't. I was too new, too inexperienced. The reviews I read were brutal and honest, but I'm thankful to have received them. Their feedback let me know that I needed to hone my craft and fix my structure.

But in order to do this, I had to make the most difficult decision of them all . . .

I had to start from scratch. Therefore, I removed this book and The Silver Ninja from series canon. It sucked, but the plot and characters were not what I envisioned.

Then I practiced my craft. I wrote at work, four in the morning, on the train, before bed, during lunch, and even on vacation. I read books on craft, sought a mentor for structure, and practiced, practiced, practiced.

From this, I created The Silver Ninja: A Bitter Winter, the official start of The Silver Ninja series. I am extremely proud of this accomplishment and I think you'll like the new direction. I'm also looking forward to hearing from you, the reader. I'd love to know what you think about the new Cindy.

If you want a preview of the changes I've made, head to the back of this book.

Even though A Bitter Winter is my new flagship, I will always have a soft spot for my first two babies. Flawed as they are, they helped me become a better writer. I hope you will follow me on my journey to turn this unknown heroine into a national icon.

Thank you.

Wilmar Luna

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1: Old Wounds

Chapter 2: The Invisible Soldier

Chapter 3: Love's Anathema

Chapter 4: Family Vacation

Chapter 5: Beauty and the Geek

Chapter 6: I Spy

Chapter 7: Catch 22

Chapter 8: Plan B

Chapter 9: Search and Seizure

Chapter 10: A Personal Struggle

Chapter 11: Test Trial

Chapter 12: No Good Deed

Chapter 13: Indoctrination

Chapter 14: Artificial Alliance

Chapter 15: Fire in Her Eyes

Chapter 16: Selfish Love

Chapter 17: Project Sapphire

Chapter 18: Prisoner

Chapter 19: Pyrrhic Victory

Chapter 20: Bittersweet

Chapter 21: The Ultimate Fling

Chapter 22: A Perfect Plan

Chapter 23: Air Rescue

Chapter 24: Super Strength

Chapter 25: Settle The Score

Chapter 26: Into The fire

Chapter 27: Titan Slayer

Chapter 28: Undying Spirit

Chapter 29: Cestus Dei

Chapter 30: I Love You

Epilogue

Special Thanks

Connect With The Author
INTRODUCTION

"Marsden," Alexis St. Pierre said to the new recruit, grateful to give her eyes a rest from the glare of her computer screen. The young woman stood by Alexis's office door, her hair in a tight ponytail, arms curled around a folder pressed against her chest. There was not a wrinkle around Marsden's eyes or the hard lines of disillusionment. Alexis could practically smell the warm plastic from the freshly laminated ID card.

"Yes ma'am?"

Alexis spread out a pile of photos on her bare desk like a deck of playing cards. She pointed to a photo of a woman, whose skin was made entirely of mercury, slicing a tank with a beam of energy.

"What do we know about the Silver Ninja?"

Marsden smiled broadly at the mention of the Silver Ninja. Tales of how she stood defiantly, alone, against a high-tech army, lit the internet on fire. Once the army was defeated, the woman mysteriously vanished and was never heard from again. The people whispered her name and aimed their cellphones at the sky every day, waiting to capture that one heroic moment where she swings above their heads and the sunlight glints off her reflective body.

"Gosh, um. She's a real life super heroine. She saved New York City, what more is there to say?"

Alexis rolled her tongue on the inside of her bottom lip. "Wipe that smile off your face."

"Sorry." Marsden straightened her back and assumed a more appropriate posture for a woman that wanted to scrape off the newbie shine.

"Tell me what the media doesn't know."

Marsden pushed a curl of hair away from her brow and cleared her throat. "Well, we don't have any direct evidence, but our Intel suggests that she may have assassinated Senator Albright and Starlight Industries CEO, Joseph Van Eisler.

"It's unconfirmed, but she may have been employed by the First Continental army. I'm not sure; I still need to analyze the data you recovered."

Alexis sat silently, tapping her pen on the glossy mahogany desk. Marsden shifted uncomfortably.

"That's what I thought. Remember, assassins aren't heroes."

Marsden crossed her arms. "So what does that make you, Ma'am?"

Alexis shot a glare that shriveled the recruit down to a withered flower. "An employee."

Marsden bent the corners of her folders. "Can I ask you a question, Ma'am?"

Alexis leaned back in her chair and nodded.

"Why are you obsessing over a one-hit wonder woman? She's a hero, not a threat."

A grim-faced expression fell over Alexis, ice-cold and passionless. "She killed my father."

Marsden covered her mouth, but Alexis didn't seem to care. To her, the answer was simple. Death was a routine part of her job, and her father was an unfortunate casualty of it. Marsden would someday have to learn this distant and emotionless way of thinking. If not, the lives of many operatives or even whole countries could be lost by placing too much value on an individual life. A lesson Alexis learned all too well, overseas.

"I apologize," Marsden said.

"Why do you think they're transferring me to New York? I'll give you a clue, I didn't put in for vacation."

"Wait. Your father was the CEO of First Continental? I thought your surname was St. Pierre?"

"St. Pierre is my married name. Raymond Levreux was my father."

Marsden's mouth fell agape.

Alexis carelessly tossed her pen on the desk. "Are you more surprised that I'm married or that my father was on the most wanted list?"

Marsden shook her head and looked around the room as if searching for an answer hidden on a post it note.

The leather, swivel chair creaked under Alexis's shifting weight. "Answer."

"Well, you never talked about your family. So I just assumed you were single because—" Marsden's voice dropped, but her jaw was still moving. Empty vowels filled the void with random stutters.

Alexis let out a deep sigh. Marsden wasn't about to tell her anything she hadn't heard a million times before. "I have to leave."

"You're a hardass," Marsden blurted. "Ma'am."

Alexis tilted her head and rolled her tongue around the inside of her cheek. She scooped up the photos of the Silver Ninja, and saw the recruit inching towards the exit.

"Freeze," Alexis said.

She did.

Alexis pointed at the recruit. "I like you."

Alexis packed the photos and a laptop into a worn carrying case. The fresh aroma of leather had dissipated from the case ages ago. She slung the strap across her shoulder and walked up to Marsden with slow, methodical footsteps. The rookie swallowed loudly.

"Let me give you a word of advice. If you want to work here, don't let people like me intimidate you. It's an old boys' club, and they're going to do everything in their power to make you feel like you don't know what you're talking about. So win them over with Intel and shove it up their ass. "

Marsden nodded. "Thank you." She looked at the folders and realized she had crumpled them.

"There's a hard drive on my desk that contains surveillance footage of Jonas Ames. I want you to forward it to the guys upstairs. The op is a go whether they like it or not."

Alexis turned to walk away but Marsden stopped her. "I don't understand."

"Like I said, I didn't put in for vacation."

Alexis left the rookie behind. She approached a security door and swiped her weathered ID card one last time. The stems of her heels clacked on the marble floor and sent echoes to the ceiling of the main atrium. She brushed a hand over the wall emblem of the Central Intelligence Agency and pushed through the revolving exit doors. She dug into her pocket and pulled out a picture of Cindy Ames hugging her husband, Jonas. Alexis gripped the photo so tightly her hand shook.

"I'll be seeing you soon." She crushed the picture in her palm and threw it away.
CHAPTER 1:

Old Wounds

Cindy Ames stared into the reflective, dark lens that had watched her for an unknown amount of time. She couldn't figure out how a camera was installed without her or her neighbor noticing. Then again, this was New York City. People painted like gold statues or a man pretending to be Superman never caught anyone's attention. Installing a camera wouldn't be any different. The device blended perfectly amongst the security alarm wiring and motion activated lights.

Her eyes followed the camera's line of sight and stopped at the front door. The windows could clearly be seen along with the shower curtains in the bathroom and the nightstand beside her bed. Cindy made a mental note to nail down the blinds, even though she would have preferred to just spin the house one hundred and eighty degrees.

Cindy jammed a screwdriver into the metal fastener and twisted a screw loose. She leaned away from the camera to avoid an explosion that never happened. One down, three more to go. Beads of sweat spilled over her brow and trickled into the corners of her eyes. She swiped her sleeve across her forehead and cautiously removed the second screw.

A sudden vibration made her scrape the screwdriver alongside the camera. She ducked and covered her head waiting for the booby trap to go off. Nothing happened. She clutched her chest and took a deep breath before pulling out her vibrating phone.

[Time: 2:15pm | Temp: 88°F | Caller: Mom]

"Hey, Ma." She cradled the phone under her neck and stuck the screwdriver back into the star-shaped hole.

"What are you up to?"

Cindy turned her head and checked the streets to see if any suspicious cars were lurking about. "Just doing some yard work."

"Shouldn't Jonas be doing that?"

"What is this the forties? I can do it myself."

Cindy tried to bend the camera forward, but the mount resisted and jammed back into the wall. It seemed that there were still two screws attached to the bottom of the plate.

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that your favorite author is visiting New York in a few days," her mother said.

The screwdriver nearly slipped out of her fingers. "Are you serious? Zoë Markham is coming to town?"

"Uh huh."

"Tell me, everything."

"I saw it on Impress News. She's visiting all the bookstores in the city this week. I think Litbug's is her first stop but I don't remember."

"That's so cool." Cindy wrenched another screw out with a delighted smile on her face. "I loved her book -Headcase. I wish she would write a sequel." Cindy loved how her mother always kept an eye out for things that interested her. Yet, a gut feeling told her that mom had a hidden agenda.

"So the real reason why I called."

"I knew it," Cindy said.

"Now I don't want you to overreact. It's not that serious," Mom said.

"Me, overreact? Never."

"Well, your father and I are worried about the two of you. I haven't been able to get a hold of your sister for a few hours now."

Cindy removed the final screw and carefully pried the surveillance device away from the house. The unhinged camera mount groaned loudly before it snapped off the wall. No explosion, no alarm, no sudden attack from secret agents. She smirked and bounced the camera in her hand.

"We're fine, Mom. Her phone's probably dead. Is it something you need help with? I'll come over if you need me to."

"Um, it's just for your sister. Don't ask me about what because it's private."

"What? I know everything. I'm the world's greatest detective."

Her mom chuckled. "No, you're the world's greatest busybody. Mind your business. Your father and I agreed not to discuss it."

"I'm not worried. The truth will come to me. Mwa ha ha."

"Are you done?"

Cindy cleared her throat. "Yes, Ma'am. Sorry."

"I swear you act like you're ten sometimes."

"Thank you."

Cindy crossed the empty street and went back inside her house. "Anyway, maybe she's just busy."

Cindy's relaxed her shoulders and allowed her limbs to hang loose. Home, sweet home. The sunlight filtered through the peach curtains and illuminated the entire room. The warm colors and quiet hum of the air conditioning created the cozy feeling of a quiet suburban home. Possessing the camera made her feel like she had an edge over her stalkers. She walked past the leaning recliner that had a sprout of Jonas's black hair poking up around the back cushion. His eyes were fixed on a laptop that rested on his legs, fingers madly typing away on the keys.

Cindy walked up to the air conditioner and untucked her shirt. The cool air from the AC blew under the blouse. The sweat on her skin evaporated from her lower back and left a refreshing chill. She then blocked the ventilation with her body and waited patiently for the bubble of humidity to build up around Jonas. Cindy couldn't hide the grin that started forming on her lips.

He looked up from his computer and smirked. "I was wondering why it got hot all of a sudden."

"Hang on a sec, Mom." She walked over to Jonas and dropped the camera onto his lap. "I brought something for you." She leaned in and gave him a kiss hello.

"We're still talking about the camera, right?"

She rolled her eyes. "This is going to sound weird, but can you put something on the windows so people can't see into our house? I think the neighbors have seen us naked."

"Really?" He scratched his head. "I'll bring something home from the lab."

A distant and electronic "hello? Hello?" repeated from Cindy's phone.

"Who's that?" Jonas asked.

"It's my mom." She took her phone over to the bedroom. The wetness in her clothes and the damp stench of sweat made her cringe. A warm shower sounded wonderful right about now.

"Sorry, I'm back," Cindy said.

"Someone saw you two—"

"Ma, Ma, it was nothing. Don't worry about it. Was there anything else you wanted to ask me about? I need to shower."

"Well, your father and I were thinking of going to see a play and then going to the Empire State Building on July 4th. Do you think it'll be safe?"

"Absolutely. You guys go, have fun, and enjoy the show."

"Okay, good. The last thing we need is your father going . . ."

Her mother's voice droned on and on into typical chatter. As much as she loved her mom, there were more important things on her mind. One, figuring out what to do with the camera. Two, figuring out why Jonas hasn't been intimate for months.

"Mom, I hate to interrupt you, but I need to get in the shower."

"Okay, honey. Tell Jadie to call me. Love you."

"I will. Love you too, bye."

Cindy threw her clothes on the floor in a messy heap and conveniently missed the open laundry basket right next to her. Her feet stepped onto the cold, tiled floor of the shower chamber. The shower had been one of Jonas's earliest prototypes before he started designing weapons. Unfortunately, a plumbing company beat him to the patent. Rather than having a traditional shower head, there were squares strategically placed in an arc, embedded in the ceiling of the shower. Additional squares lined the walls and floor of the shower aimed at the center. She pressed the user presets button on the waterproof liquid crystal display and selected Cindy. The number shot up to ninety nine degrees Fahrenheit and blasted her with a wall of water that put a smile on her face.

Steam rose from the floor along with thoughts of the past that crept into her moment of solace. Cindy's smile washed away with the sweat and grime on her skin. The aroma of body wash and shampoo had temporarily distracted her from the third thing that plagued her mind. The nightmare she couldn't escape. A dream so disturbing, she's kept it a secret from everyone, including her husband.

It was a nightmare of bullet ridden corpses, walls smeared with blood, and bodies split in two by a sword of light. In her dream, she surveys a ruined Times Square in search of the murderer. There's a shard of broken glass jutting out from a collapsed skyscraper and she sees a woman in the reflection. It's a female with glowing blue eyes and metallic silver skin. She glances to her left and right, but she's alone in the desolate, post-apocalyptic street. When she stares back at the fragmented window, it shows Cindy's face covered in blood.

Every night the memories wake her in a cold sweat. Every night she quietly sobs herself back to sleep.

Cindy gently tapped her cheek and snapped herself back to reality. She yelled over the high pressured waterfalls and said, "You know my favorite author is going to be in town this week. Do you want to come with me to go see her?"

"Gotcha," he replied.

Cindy tilted her head, confused. "It was a yes or no question."

"I don't know."

Cindy scrunched her eyebrows together. "Did you find out anything about the camera?" The water continued to rain over her. Steam fogged up the mirror and the frosted glass shower door. Still no reply from her husband. "Jonas?"

"What?"

"Did you find out anything about the camera?" again no reply. Cindy pressed the off button on the touch screen LCD and pushed away the water from her eyes. She wrapped a towel around her torso and ignored the chill from her sopping hair. Cindy walked across the living room and left dark wet footprints on the carpet floor.

Jonas had his hand to his chin and right beside him was the surveillance camera she brought him. He looked up from his laptop. "You're done showering already?"

"You weren't answering me." She tilted her head and kept her tone soft. "Did you look at the camera?"

"No."

"How come?"

He started tapping his finger on the plastic surface of the laptop. The dull, repetitive thud was never a good sign.

"Because it's not going to tell me why the CIA is spying on us." He slammed the laptop shut and threw it on the couch. It bounced off the back cushion and settled precariously over the edge. He put his hand back on his chin and fumed into his knuckles.

"Whoa." Cindy walked up to him and massaged his shoulder with one hand. "Why so melodramatic?" she joked.

"Melodramatic?" he gave her a confused look and went back to scowling on his hand. "You know what, Michael just told me?"

"When did you talk to Michael?"

"While you were in the shower, I was instant messaging with him."

"What did he say?"

He slipped out of Cindy's hand and waved her off. "Nothing. Nothing." He leaned forward and rested his head on his hands. "I can't deal with this right now."

Cindy wasn't sure what to make of his atypical behavior. Jonas was always the calm and levelheaded one, in contrast to herself. It suited his nature for tinkering and building things. To see him in such a random fury, so suddenly, so extreme, it could have only meant one thing.

"Let me put some clothes on and we'll talk. Okay?" Cindy said.

"I don't want to talk."

Cindy ignored his response and walked over to the bedroom. A sudden panic gripped her chest and squeezed tight. It couldn't be what she thought it was, but what else could Michael have said? He had been Jonas's best friend and co-worker for many years, until the incident at Lucent Labs (the R&D company Jonas owns) ended their friendship. If Michael said what she thinks he said, it wouldn't be long before Jonas would come looking for her.

She threw on an old v-neck and whatever jeans she could find then walked back to the living room. The recliner was empty; Jonas had moved to the kitchen. He held a pitcher with lemon wedges in it and poured himself a glass of water. He quickly downed the glass and refilled it again.

"That's my workout water, buddy," she said with a grin.

"It's good." He stared at her and drank the water down to half.

Jonas seemed fine, but over time the slouched posture and defeated gaze in his eyes settled back in. It was as if an invisible weight were pressing down on his shoulders. She knew this, because her shoulders had become huge from carrying that same weight.

Cindy walked up to Jonas and scratched his cheek. The prickly stubble jabbed her fingers like petting a hedgehog.

"You need to shave."

He let out an empty chuckle. "I know, I know."

She pulled him into a hug. "What's the matter?"

"I feel heavy. Like, something bad is going to happen."

"What do you mean?"

He set his half empty glass and pitcher on the granite counter. A small robot appeared with little claw arms and took the pitcher away. Another invention, one that Cindy hated. Every time she would cut up carrots or cucumbers for dinner, the robot would come out and steal all the ingredients behind her back. The counter would be left spotless and Cindy would be left fuming.

"It bothers me that my inventions were used when Raymond attacked the city. It bothers me that the CIA is spying on us and we don't know why. But what bothers me the most is what Michael just told me. What he said brought back all the bad memories that I'm trying to forget."

Jonas pulled away and Cindy's gaze followed him. A sharp sting radiated from the back of her throat like someone snapping her neck with a rubber band. "What did he say?"

"He apologized to me." Jonas stood by the kitchen entryway with his back turned to Cindy. "He told me that Raymond had promised him my job. All he had to do was finish programming project: Sapphire. I just, I thought I could trust him. Michael's gone behind my back so many times now. He didn't even have the guts to talk to me in person."

Cindy deeply sighed. It wasn't what she thought after all. "Well, that's not too bad. At least he apologized."

"Don't try to distract me—" he stared off into a corner. "—you know what you did."

A morbid chill sent pins and needles down her spine. She dropped her head and twisted her toe into the linoleum floor.

"You mean when I kissed, Michael?"

"Yeah." He turned to his side and looked at her. The light of the room illuminated one half of Jonas's face and brought out the gold flecks in his brown eyes. The other half lived in shadow. "I love you more than anything in the whole world, but you broke our trust."

She was tired of discussing this issue. It always led to them sleeping in separate rooms at the end of the night.

"I don't know how many times I can say I'm sorry. I understand why you're still upset, but you know the suit affected my ability to make rational decisions. You're the one who built it," Cindy said.

"The suit only affected inhibitions, Cindy." He pointed to his temple. "Subliminally, you wanted to do it. That's the way the suit worked. Just because you wouldn't have done it without the suit doesn't make me feel better."

A heavy silence sat between them and made itself comfortable. The kiss with Michael was burned into her memories and resurfaced in the ethereal form nightmares every time she went to bed. She remembered Michael's hand on her chest, their lips locked, the feeling of having dominance over him. At the end of the nightmare, Jonas bursts through the door and throws a glass beaker at her head. She wakes up before it hits her, but the feeling of shame and disgust never leaves.

The nanosuit brought out the worst in her: an assassin, a cheater, a person she didn't recognize. That's why Cindy hasn't worn the suit since after the First Continental uprising. She didn't know if she could trust herself.

"I don't know how to cope with it," Jonas said. "How would you feel if I kissed your sister and told you that I wasn't in control because I was drunk? Wouldn't that make you wonder if I had feelings for Jadie?"

His words lit the fuse to her explosive temper, but it wasn't directed towards her husband. All he did was peel back the skin, in order to reveal the raw underbelly of the truth. She was angry at herself and her own inability to resist the influences of the suit.

"You know, I didn't ask to become super powered. I was quite content being a gymnastics teacher and running my gym," she said.

"What are you saying? It's my fault that you fused with my top secret military project?"

"No, I'm saying you never should have created it in the first place."

"You had no business being in the lab!" Jonas pointed at the door. "It's because of you someone planted that camera outside."

Jonas's phone rang from the couch and defused the ticking time bomb that was about to blow up between them. Cindy swallowed her temper, which went down with the grace of a spiked ball. She grabbed his phone and accidentally caught a glimpse of the caller ID.

"Ameera Shudun?" The name was unfamiliar.

He waved his hand and trivialized her name. "She's a new hire," he said, the anger gradually disappeared from his voice.

Cindy pulled the phone to her chest and arched an eyebrow. "She?"

"Nothing to be jealous about." The phone continued to ring.

He held out his palm and Cindy handed it to him.

"Hi, Ameera. You're locked out of the lab? I'm kind of in the middle of something; could you call Dr. Carmack instead? You don't have his number? Okay, I'll text it over. Thanks, I'll talk to you soon, bye." Jonas hung up the phone and quickly texted the number before throwing it back on the couch. He looked at Cindy whose arms were crossed tight around her chest. "She's new in town. Came from out of the country."

"Mm-hmm. I get it. It's your way of getting back at me." She scowled at him, but then a huge smile appeared on her face.

"Aha." He chuckled. "You almost had me there."

It was a small thing, but his small laugh made her happy. Secretly, her heart was pounding at the thought of him working with some other woman. The issue wasn't Ameera. The issue was Jonas and his total lack of desire to touch or even look at his wife. Obviously there were bigger things to worry about, Cindy recognized that. But what would be the point if her husband leaves the bed cold at night? Or worse, if he was no longer there.

She bit the inside of her cheek and suppressed the jealousy from escaping.

"Let's not talk about the past, right now," Cindy said. "What are we going to do about the CIA? We know they're the ones that installed the camera."

Jonas let out a pained sigh. "Cindy, that's just going to stress me out even more."

"I know, but we have to talk about this. We don't know what they want or why they've been watching us."

"If they wanted the Silver Ninja, they could have nabbed you by now."

She put her hands on her hips. "Maybe they want you."

Jonas shook his head.

Cindy paced around the living room and made exaggerated hand gestures. "Okay, hypothetically. Let's say they know my sister is the Ruby Ninja and that Michael is your second in command. Best thing we could do is leave town for a few weeks and come up with a plan."

"Why not plan at home?"

Cindy put her hands back on her hips and shifted her weight to one side.

"Sorry, dumb question," he said.

"You know, sometimes you're so smart, that you're dumb," she said with a smirk.

"I aim to please."

"Anyway, if we leave town, you and I could get a chance to decompress and just get away from all this craziness. No super heroes, no crazy helicopter chases, no armies or gunfights. Just us." Cindy turned away and grabbed her chin, realizing she forgot something. "We'll have to take my sister and Michael with us, just to be safe."

Jonas groaned and rolled his eyes. "Are you kidding me? We almost got into an argument about this."

Cindy gently patted his chest and fixed his collar. "I know. But something could happen to them if they don't come."

"Why do you care what happens to Michael? We established that he's a dick."

"Jonas," she whispered. "It's my fault he's in a wheelchair."

"He deserved it!"

"Stop. I don't want the CIA to grab either of them. Okay?"

Jonas rubbed his temples and sighed. "Where do you want to go?"

"I think we should rent a beach house in Ocean Grove."

"In Jersey? Blegh! I'd rather go to jail."

"Oh, stop. You've never been down there." Cindy leaned in towards Jonas and ran her finger around his neck. "I'll wear a bee-kee-knee," she sang.

"I've seen you naked," he said flatly.

"Not lately," Cindy mumbled.

She turned around and grabbed her keys from the coffee table. "Just think about what you'll be missing out on."

"Where are you going?"

She opened the front door and let in a blast of hot air. "I'm going to get, Jadie. You should take a nap, I'll be back soon."

"You sure that's safe, knowing that we're being hunted?"

She kissed him goodbye. "Don't worry, I'll be alright."
CHAPTER 2:

The Invisible Soldier

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to JFK International Airport. Local time is 3:24pm and the temperature is a warm eighty-eight degrees Fahrenheit. If you're planning on sightseeing, it's a perfect day to do some shopping in Times Square or take a walk in Central Park.

"For your safety and comfort, we ask that you please remain seated with your seat belt fastened until the Captain turns off the Fasten Seat Belt sign. Please turn off all electronic devices at this time."

Alexis's fingers clacked away on the laptop keyboard. Any person walking by or peeking over her shoulder would see nothing but a black screen. But from where she was sitting, all the confidential information of known terror cells, suspects and top secret e-mail correspondences were in plain sight. One document in particular, was a dossier on the infamous Black Rook. There was no photo attached to the document, only a placeholder silhouette in the shape of a man. She minimized the document and put it in the [unfinished business] folder on her desktop. Then she clicked on the folder labeled [Silver] and the screen populated with video thumbnails and documents labeled: [Cindy Ames | Jonas Ames | Michael Dredan | Jadie Brynfire].

"Excuse me."

Alexis caught a whiff of aftershave. A young, male flight attendant leaned in. "I'm going to have to ask you to turn that off. We're about to land."

She reclined in her cushioned first class seat and stared at the attendant with a stoic expression. They stared each other down like two cowboys in a gun duel, until a loud vibration shattered the silence. She slid her hand into the suit jacket and slowly pulled out the ringing cellphone. Not once did her eyes leave his.

"Hello?"

The attendant's hand turned red and wrinkled the leather seat cushion. "Ma'am, I'm serious."

The head stewardess walked up to her colleague and took him aside. "It's okay, she has clearance to use whatever device she wants." She turned and smiled at Alexis. "I'm sorry for the disturbance. Could I get you something to drink before we land?"

"No, thank you." Alexis looked at the male flight attendant and grinned.

He squinted at her and started to collect empty chip bags and soda cans from other passengers. Alexis turned her attention back to the caller.

"Sorry for the delay."

A man with a thick Mandarin accent replied. "No problem."

"Jun?"

"I called to express my condolences on your father's passing. He was a good friend of mine, and I wish I could have been there for his funeral."

"You and me both."

"My apologies, but there is another reason why I'm calling. I need a favor," Jun said.

"Why don't you ask now so I can say, no?"

"Because I would prefer you say, yes. Obviously."

Alexis put her fingers on the laptop trackpad and opened a folder labeled [terrorists at large]. "Haven't you heard? I'm not cooking turkeys for the White House anymore." She dragged a terrorist dossier labeled [Farooq Hassan] into the [terminated] folder. Switching to a different window she reopened the [Silver Ninja] folder. Alexis clicked on the camera icon beside it and saw an error message appear. It read: [Cannot connect to device. Check to see if it is still plugged in.]

"Interesting," Alexis said.

"I'm not asking you to make anyone disappear. I just want you to get something for me," he said.

"Order it online."

"I'm serious," Jun said.

"You know the answer is no."

A female attendant stood at the front of the plane and spoke into the intercom. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have just been cleared to land at JFK International airport. Please make sure your seat belt is securely fastened. The flight attendants are currently circulating the cabin to make a final landing check and pick up any remaining cups and glasses. Thank you."

"I have to go." Alexis hung up her phone and stared out the window into the New York City skyline. The sun cast a haze over the city which blurred the skeletal remains of wrecked skyscrapers. Around each hollowed structure, construction crews worked night and day to repair the damage that her father had caused with his army. It would be years before the city would resemble what it once was.

The damaged skyline reminded her of the horrors she saw overseas. The National Clandestine Service sent her to countries in a constant state of civil war in order to locate and eliminate terrorists. She never imagined that she would see that kind of destruction at home. Her job in the NCS was to protect America from attacks, both foreign and domestic. The bombed out buildings and bowl shaped craters reminded her of the agency's failure.

After landing at JFK, Alexis hurried through the terminal. The open spaces were prime targets for snipers and gunmen, and she didn't want to stay in one spot for too long. Alexis took in her surroundings and noted the arched high ceilings and stone white stairs, not to enjoy the view, but to plan an escape route. Never be complacent, always be aware of your surroundings, and suspect, everyone.

Alexis blended in with the crowd and came upon an advertising kiosk she had never seen before. It was a monolithic, blank pillar that had the text Atlas #567 (Atlas: the advertising company that sells billboard space) etched into its plastic surface. She approached the pillar and saw a stream of light shoot out from an orb sitting at the base. The rainbow colored rays combined to form a holographic video. The image of a beautiful woman's head and shoulders appeared.

"Stuck in a boring marriage? Why not spice it up with someone else's spouse, in another country." Alexis grimaced and walked away. The kiosk continued to speak, but its drone eventually faded into white noise.

Another advertisement appeared before her. This time she stood eye to eye with a digital news anchor.

"Breaking news from Pakistan. The Pakistani government has confirmed that a nuclear capable intercontinental ballistic missile, ICBM, has gone missing. The news has stirred an uproar in the international community and has further damaged relations with the United States. The friendship first soured when the US embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan was attacked by Muslim rioters—"

"Damn," she whispered. "They weren't supposed to know about that. Someone just got a nice payday."

"—resulting in the deaths of several US embassy workers. The question on everyone's mind is, 'Where is the nuke, and who will it be used on?'"

Alexis headed for the exit and muttered, "Your day is coming, Rook."

Alexis stepped outside and was smacked by a wall of heat that enveloped her. She put on a pair of Government Issue dark sunglasses and looked through the sepia tinted lenses. The street in front of her was filled with a sea of yellow taxi cabs. Each one fighting to get in a better position over the other. Gentleman's club advertisements and upcoming movie releases sat atop their blinding rooftops.

An obsidian limo pulled up in front of her. The square jawed driver stepped out of the car and opened the rear passenger side door for Alexis. She sat in the limo, pulled out her laptop and connected a receiver to one of the USB ports. A finger swipe on the trackpad woke the computer from sleep. She clicked on the surveillance camera icon inside the [Silver Ninja] folder which error'ed out immediately. Alexis ignored the error prompt and opened another program. She copied and pasted a number into the IP address box and waited for a connection.

Alexis told the driver Cindy's home address. He leaned forward and aggressively accelerated in front of a taxi fighting for his spot. Tires screeched and horns blared along with a few curse words yelled out the window. Alexis ignored it all and turned her eyes back to the laptop.

[Connected]

An image of a stark white ceiling with a recessed track light came into view. Then a diagram of a miniature security camera appeared on the lower left corner of the screen. Outlines of legs unfolded from the camera diagram, and the screen wiggled at almost the exact same time. The camera tilted down, and Alexis was able to see a recliner located within a medium-sized living room. She pressed a key on the laptop and the camera moved in response.

[Spider-drone calibration complete]

Alexis panned the camera and saw an air conditioner sitting on the window. She continued to rotate the camera and saw wedding photos of Cindy and Jonas on the mantle. On the wall was a master's degree from MIT and a picture of men gathered in front of a sign that read Lucent Labs. On the couch was a laptop sitting upside down on the cushion.

She commanded the drone to hop onto the couch and crawl to the laptop. The computer was a nice find but the cell phone would be even better. The drone leapt to the floor and skittered across the carpet until it came upon a small hallway. There were doors to the left, front, and right. Alexis peeked under the lip of the door on the right. There was bathroom tile and clothes left in a pile next to the laundry basket.

Alexis reversed the drone and moved to the opposite door. A peek under the crack revealed a pleated valance and a parade of shoes that sat inside the bedroom. The drone crept under the door and stood at the foot of the bed. It was amazing to see the world when being the size of a bug. The bed and nightstand towered over the rumpled tents of lingerie and clothing.

"This woman is such a slob," Alexis muttered.

She guided the drone up the valance and climbed to the top of the bed. Upon reaching the mattress a huge lump of blanket blocked her view. It slowly inflated and deflated with each passing second. Alexis ignored the sleeping giant and checked the nightstand. There was the cell phone.

The spider-drone scaled the mountainous blanket and avoided contact with Jonas's skin. There was an open space on the mattress near his hand, it jumped down and drew closer to the nightstand. The bed began to shake and Jonas rolled over like a toppling tree. The drone leapt onto the nightstand before Jonas could crush it with his body. Alexis clicked in the trackpad mouse and commanded the spider-drone to insert a cable into the cell phone power jack.

A prompt appeared on her screen with a progress bar and read: [Installing tracking device].

The phone's screen illuminated.

Alexis clenched her jaw and counted down the seconds.

The phone rang and rattled atop the artificial wood of the nightstand.

Alexis retracted the cable into the drone and panned the camera to the right. She saw Jonas's eyes staring directly into the lens.

"What the . . ." Jonas raised his hand and covered the screen.

[Error - video feed lost]

Alexis closed her laptop and slipped it back into her carrying case. She looked out the window and saw the front facade of a two story suburban home, Cindy's home. The driver held the muzzle of a pistol in his hand and offered it to Alexis. She stared at the gun for a second, and then exited the limo without taking it.

***

Jonas picked up the fragments of the camera and poked the miniature gears and servos in his palm. The slam of a car door caught his ear. He grabbed the ringing phone and walked over to the window.

"Cindy?" He pushed the blinds and saw a woman in a black suit jacket and glasses walk up to the door.

The phone made the grating sounds of beeps, static, and distorted audio.

"Jo . . . ear *static*—me? —lo?"

"Cindy? My signal is breaking up, I can't hear you."

"*static*—as? Jo—"

Silence, the call dropped.

Jonas checked his phone and noted the lack of bars. How was that possible? He had installed a signal booster to his router years ago. He turned on the TV and saw that the channels were coming through clearly, so service wasn't down. Something was interfering with the signal, he was sure of it. Jonas turned off the TV and peered out the window again.

No sign of the woman, just a black limo parked out front.

He heard a faint ticking and rattling.

"What is that?" He put on a pair of sneakers, thankful that he napped in his clothes. Jonas leaned against the wall and peeked out of the doorway. The house was quiet and empty, except for the gentle hum of the air conditioner. He stepped into the hallway and heard the sound of ticking again, like coins jingling in a wallet.

He followed the sound to the front door and watched the door knob jiggle up and down as if possessed by a poltergeist. His eyes widened and his heart thumped furiously against his chest. A glint of light caught his eyes and led them to the key rack hanging beside the door. He glanced at the rattling door knob then back to the keys.

He exhaled and his breath trembled. Jonas ran for the door and yanked the keys off the rack. The key ring caught on the hook and dropped everything to the floor. He cursed at himself and dropped to his hands and knees.

Tik, tik, tik, the doorknob went and his fingers couldn't distinguish which key was which.

"Where the hell is it?"

The door burst open and slammed into Jonas's arm, knocking him to his side. A woman's leg stepped through the gap and Jonas kicked the door against it. She kicked back and pushed her way into the living room, towering over Jonas. He grabbed all his keys in a tangled heap and bolted for the garage. The woman reached out for his collar, but the fabric slipped out of her fingers.

Jonas entered the garage and slammed the door shut behind him. He stared into the jumbled mess of keys and pried them apart, searching for the ones to the garage. The door opened behind him and he quickly slammed it shut. He jammed the key into the lock and twisted hard until it clicked.

Jonas found the rectangular keys to the Saleen S7 sports car and pressed the unlock button. The lights flashed and he jumped into the driver's seat and locked the doors. He pressed his index finger into the remote garage door opener, then started the engine. The woman crashed through the house door and stomped her way into the garage.

As the garage roll-up continued to rise, Jonas panted and watched the woman. He felt like a trapped cow waiting to be branded by a farmer. She grabbed a leaf blower from his rack of lawn tools and quickly walked up to the driver's side window.

"C'mon, c'mon!" Jonas tapped his hands furiously against the steering wheel.

A sliver of sunlight crested at bottom of the roll-up, but the woman was already next to his window.

She raised the leaf blower to her shoulder, reeled it back, and smashed it through the window. The glass shards exploded in his face and rained down his lap. She reached through the shattered window and clawed at his collar. Jonas threw the car into drive and blindly gunned the accelerator to the floor.

The tires squealed and filled the garage with smoke before catapulting him forward. Jonas covered his eyes and crashed through the roll-up door, sending a burst of splinters flying in all directions. A chunk of wood cracked his windshield and slowly danced its way to the roof of the car before shooting off in an unseen direction. He jerked the wheel left and skidded onto the suburban street. The steering wheel fought him for control, but he managed to tame the wild beast before hitting a parked car. Jonas hit sixty miles an hour in four seconds and watched the glare of a black limo quickly shrink in his rearview mirror.

He turned onto the main avenue leading to Brooklyn and wiped the burning sweat from his eyes. He called Cindy on his cell and said, "You were right after all. I need a vacation."
CHAPTER 3:

Love's Anathema

Alexis massaged the bruise on her leg and entered the lobby of an apartment in Brooklyn Heights. There was a row of lockers along the wall with names written on little strips of paper. Alexis glanced at the one that read "St. Pierre" and instantly forgot the throbbing pain in her leg.

The lobby was dimly lit like a dark movie theater with stale air and dusty wood. The close quarters reminded her of the caves she slept in only a week ago, in pursuit of the Black Rook. She found it peculiar that after two years spent abroad, that this city, this apartment, seemed more alien than squatting in a country where being born a woman was a sentence to slavery. Too many times did her skin suffer the marks of someone who defied a male dominated society.

While climbing the stairs, Alexis reminded herself that she wasn't in the Asian Middle East anymore. She focused her thoughts on the smile of her daughter and imagined what she would look like now. The thought caused her CIA hardened shell to crack, revealing the soft woman within.

The keys jingled in her hand, but before she could unlock the door, a shriek pierced the silence. Alexis took a step back and felt the floor vibrate from the rapid-fire slap of bare feet against a wooden floor. The door creaked open and a little girl standing on her tip toes looked up at her and screamed.

"Mami!"

Alexis hefted her daughter into her arms and kissed her cheeks over and over until Felice burst into laughter.

"Look at you. You've gotten so big." Felice was much heavier than the little two year old she had left behind. Before, she was as light as a doll, now she was heavy like a sack of potatoes. Her hair which used to be tight around her scalp had grown into long, beautiful raven curls that flew in all directions. Alexis smiled and carried the four year old into the living room. She threw her workbag (and the remnants of her stoic mask) on the couch.

"Mami, how did you make it? How did you make it? I missed you a whooole whole lot."

Alexis winced. "I missed you too, baby. I won't go anywhere."

Against the doorway, her husband Henri sipped from a coffee mug and observed them both with a smile. He adjusted his horn rimmed glasses and pointed to himself. "What about me?"

Alexis walked over to him and gave him a big kiss on the lips. The prickle from his five o'clock shadow tickled her nose and pushed her away. She smiled and scratched the tip of her nose.

Felice scrunched her face. "Ew, that's gross!"

Alexis scoffed. "What do you mean gross, huh? What do you mean gross? You're gross."

She dove into Felice's belly and nibbled on her skin with playful growls. Felice squealed and giggled loudly, trying to push her mother's head away with her tiny hands. Felice coughed a phlegmy cough and Alexis stopped. She touched her daughter's forehead with the back of her hand and noticed a slight warmth to it.

"Is she sick?" Alexis asked.

"She has a little bug. I give her cough medicine every night before bed." He leaned in and pulled Felice's finger out of her mouth. "But you do not like to take your medicine, do you?"

Felice whined and rested her head on her mother's shoulder. Alexis kissed her daughter on the forehead and set her down on the floor.

"Go play for a little while," Alexis said.

"Why?"

"I need to talk to your daddy."

"Okay, you're not gonna go nowhere, right Mami?"

"Right." Felice sauntered off to the living room and sat down to play with some colorful blocks. Alexis turned to Henri. "What have you been teaching her? She talks like an adult sometimes."

"I read to her every night. The school teachers her Spanish, I teach her French."

Alexis fell into Henri's chest and hugged him tightly. "I missed you."

They stood by the doorway and held each other quietly. The only thing keeping the silence at bay was the squeaks and sounds of Felice's toys. Alexis entwined her fingers between his tattoo-covered hands and sighed.

"I have bad news."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her shoulder. "What bad news?"

"They transferred me to." He popped off the top button of her blouse and nibbled on her neck, effectively derailing her train of thought. "They transferred me to . . . mm." Henri's kisses made her heart race. It's been so long. "They, they . . ." Alexis wanted to push him into the bedroom and tear off her blouse. "Henri. You have to stop."

He slowly raised his head and stared at her. "You do not want to?"

"Felice is right there," she whispered. "After, when she's asleep. Will you let me finish?"

"Okay." He grinned.

"They transferred me to a desk job here in the city. That means I'm fired," she said.

Henri shrugged his shoulders. "Good. Now you can be home with us."

"No, you don't understand. They think I helped my father with the coup. I have to leave soon."

Henri stepped back as if someone pushed him. "What? You just got here."

"I know, and I want to stay. But I have to prove my innocence."

Henri placed both hands on top of his head and slowly dragged them down to his face. "This is a joke."

"I'm sorry. I promise, I'll be back."

Alexis looked past her husband's reddening face. Felice's toys and blocks were scattered all over the floor rug.

"Where's Felice?" Alexis said.

Henri called out to her. "Felice? Where are you?"

Alexis stormed into the bedroom and tore blankets and pillows away from the bed, nothing; she dropped to the floor and lifted the valance, empty; she peeked into the bathroom, vacant.

"Allie!"

She ran back to the living room and saw Henri place Felice's motionless body on the couch.

"What happened? She was fine just a few minutes ago," Alexis said.

Henri placed his ear on her chest and listened for a heartbeat. "Allie, she is not breathing!"

Alexis pushed him aside and started CPR. "Call the ambulance, now!"

***

Jadie carried a stack of gift wrapped toy boxes through an automatic door. The tags on each box read: Brooklyn Medical Center - children's ward. The receptionist looked up from her computer and greeted Jadie with a smile.

"Hey Jadie, back for another delivery?"

"Hey Sarah." She grunted. "I think I overdid it this time."

"You know you don't need to bring toys. I think the kids are just happy to have you around."

"I don't mean that." She balanced the wobbling boxes.

Sarah rose from her chair. "Do you need help with that?"

"No, I'm fine." She pushed the boxes until they were aligned straight. "I meant that the bartender made my drinks too strong. I'm feeling a little light headed."

Sarah sat back down and scooted herself into the desk. "It's a little early for drinks isn't it?"

"It's happy hour." A box started to protrude but she pushed it back in time. "Everything was half off, it was great."

"Wish I could go for drinks."

Jadie suddenly fell backwards and threw her boxes in the air. Something strong and heavy had pushed her. She covered her head and watched the cardboard thunderstorm of toys rain all over the floor. A man with a faux Mohawk and horn rimmed glasses bent down and offered his tattooed hand. She took it and was lifted to her feet as if she weighed nothing.

The man bowed his head and nodded repeatedly. "I am so sorry, are you okay, miss?" he said in a thick French accent.

Jadie's eyes enjoyed the journey of running up and down his body. "I'm fine, thank you." She smiled.

The man knelt down and picked up the boxes that had fallen. Again she found herself staring at the tattoos that ran over the muscles in his body. He stood up and quickly handed the boxes to her.

"Here you are," he said. "So sorry again."

"Thank you so much. I'm Jadie by the way."

"Henri, Henri St. Pierre." He peered over his shoulder. "I apologize, I am in a hurry."

A statuesque woman with emerald eyes walked up to Henri. Jadie noticed the twin wedding bands on each of their fingers. The woman turned towards Jadie and stared at her blankly. She arched a brow, then turned to Henri with a questioning look. "Qui est-ce?" the woman asked.

He waved his hands and shook his head no. "Juste une amie."

"Un amie?" the woman turned to Jadie and gave her a forced smile.

"I'm sorry, I accidentally bumped into him," Jadie said.

The woman continued with her fake veneer and said to Henri, "Vous ne m'avez jamais dit à son sujet."

Henri shrugged. Jadie didn't have a clue what they were saying, but it was obvious who they were talking about.

Henri turned to Jadie and said, "Jadie, this is my wife, Alexis."

Alexis's eyes lit up. "Your name is Jadie?"

Jadie put her boxes down and properly introduced herself. "Yeah, pleasure to meet you." She held out her hand.

Alexis smiled and gripped Jadie's hand tightly. "No, the pleasure is all mine."

Jadie's hand was starting to hurt. She had never met a woman with a vice grip quite like hers. It was a little intimidating.

"Hopefully we'll meet again someday," Alexis said.

Alexis turned to Henri and said, "We should go." She spun on her heels and made her way down the corridor. Henri ran up to his wife and followed behind her, but before leaving, he walked backwards and said, "Sorry. Was nice to meet you." He clasped his hands together and bowed in a sensei-style before leaving with his wife.

Jadie looked at Sarah whose mouth was held wide open. "That was weird," Jadie said.

"I can't believe I just saw that. I give you credit, you handled that well."

"He was kind of cute, wasn't he? Jadie said.

"Yeah he was. Too bad he's married to that piece of work."

Jadie chuckled and picked up the tower of boxes on the floor. Before she could stand, a shade cast over her in the shape of a woman.

"Cindy?" Her sister looked like a shadow against the bright light from the glass doors. "What are you doing here?"

Cindy moved away from the light and the coloring returned to her face. "I've been looking all over for you. Why aren't you answering your phone?" she whispered.

"Sorry, I've been all over the place today. I left my phone at home by accident."

"That's okay." Cindy looked around and then quietly said, "We need to talk."

Jadie turned to the receptionist and placed the stack of toy boxes on her desk. "I'm sorry to bother you, but would you mind dropping this off for me? I'm not going to be able to make it."

"Sure, no problem." Sarah stood from her rolling chair and hefted the boxes.

Jadie turned towards Cindy and saw her waiting by the open hospital door. She walked up beside her and asked, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

***

Alexis listened to the emotionless drone of an ECG monitor. She stood next to Henri, fingers tangled with his, hands sweaty and warm.

"You okay, Allie?"

"I'm fine." Her words betrayed the truth.

Alexis stared at the hospital door and wondered why the doctor hadn't come in yet. Didn't he understand that her daughter was sick? Every second that passed were like drops of acid on her skin. The wait was unbearable and the incessant beep from the monitor reminded her of her daughter's critical condition. She looked at Felice, then let go of Henri's hand.

"Where are you going?"

"To find the doctor."

The doctor walked in and she froze by the door. He walked over to Felice; placed the disc of the stethoscope on her chest; checked off something on his chart; then gestured for Alexis to stand by Henri.

"Well." The doctor's gaze shifted between the couple.

"Well what?" Alexis said.

"We found growths on her heart."

"Is it cancer?" Alexis said.

"I don't think so. It looks like cancer, but not any I've ever seen."

"Then I want another doctor," she said.

"I've consulted with several other doctors. You can get a second or third opinion if you want, but I'm skeptical that they can give you more answers. We don't know where this came from or what it is."

"What do we need to do? Open heart surgery? Transplant?" Henri said.

"A transplant could certainly work, but finding a donor would be difficult."

Alexis cleared her throat. "Our options, doctor, give me our options."

"Well, if you want to wait for a donor, there are about two hundred and fifty one children on the list. I can't tell you when a heart will become available or if it will even be a match. Your second option is to try a pacemaker. She won't be able to do certain things, but at least you won't need to wait for a donor."

Henri shook his head while repeating the word, "no." He rubbed his hand all over his face and carried a look of death about him. "She is only four. No one in our family has a history with cancer."

"I'm sorry. We're trying our best to figure out what's wrong."

"Is chemo an option?" She grimaced the instant she said it.

"Only if it's actually cancer, then we can consider chemo treatments."

Alexis looked the doctor in the eye. "I'll get a heart, what do you need?"

"Mrs. St. Pierre, a child would need to pass away for your daughter to get a new heart."

Alexis turned to face her daughter and listened to the beeping of the machine. "I'll do anything."

"Doctor, I need a moment to discuss this with my wife in private."

Henri held onto Alexis's forearm and gently led her out of the hospital room. They walked over to a more private part of the hospital where there wasn't any foot traffic.

"What do you want to do?" he said.

She looked at him with a stoic expression. "Kill someone," she whispered.

"You're not serious, Allie."

"Accidents happen."

"Allie that is horrible. You are talking about little ones."

She stroked his arms and looked at him with a dead serious expression. "Let me handle this. You won't have to worry about anything except making sure that Felice is taken care of."

"You are frightening me, Allie. This is not the woman I married."

"Henri, get a grip."

"No. Allie, this is—this is crazy! Killing a child . . ."

Alexis's cell phone rang and she growled under her breath. She checked her phone [Jianjun Dingxiang].

Henri tapped his forehead with his fist and flared his nostrils. "Just take it."

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

He threw his hands in the air and walked away. Alexis wanted to feel terrible for what she said to him, but there was an emptiness inside. No emotion, no regret. Maybe he was right, maybe she had changed.

Alexis answered the phone. "Yes?"

"Have you thought about what I asked earlier?" his Mandarin accent carried a certain educated classiness to it.

"The answer was no," she replied.

"Instead of saying, no. What do I need to do to get a yes?"

Her thumb hovered over the red end call button but she couldn't press it. If there was anyone that had the resources and the power to make a difference, it was Jun. He was after all, the CEO of one of the most successful pharmaceutical companies in the world, Zhu Feng Medical. Alexis thought about his question carefully, as if asking a genie for a wish without a catch. "If you had asked me earlier, it would have been to wipe the slate clean with my employer; but I don't care about that anymore. All I care about, want and need, is for my daughter's sickness to be cured."

"I might have something for that."
CHAPTER 4:

Family Vacation

A folded up wheelchair sat atop a stack of luggage in the back of Jadie's SUV.

"Okay." Cindy checked the inventory in the car and muttered quietly to herself. "I called the substitute teachers to handle the gym while we're away. Luggage is packed, Michael is here, Jadie is driving, the house is . . ." Cindy yelled to Jonas before he could get in the rear passenger seat. "Jonas what's going on with the house? Is someone going to fix the garage door?"

"I called Sid from Lucent Labs to take care of the house for me."

"Okay, then I think we have everything." She clapped her hands like a giddy little school girl. "Yay, I'm so excited."

She boarded the passenger seat, leaned back, and watched the SUV drive through the morning mist. An hour and a half later the SUV turned off of the tree-lined highway and into Neptune, New Jersey. At first glance, the style of architecture seemed similar to the ones she had already seen back home: middle class dwellings of two floors or less; meticulously trimmed lawns; and bushes of several varieties decorating the foundations of each house. What set this place apart was space. There were fields, and forests, and parks, and lush greenery wedged between each building. No one was on top of each other and nature was allowed to bloom alongside civilization.

"Does anyone mind if I open the window?" Cindy said.

"Go ahead," Jonas said.

Cindy rolled down the window and stuck her hand out to feel the draft push her arm back. The wind blew on her skin and tousled her hair in all directions. Cindy stretched out, smiled, and inhaled the scent of ocean breeze that filled the cabin of the car. The SUV veered left and passed two brick pillars guarding the entrance of the little community.

The black asphalt transitioned into a bright tan color and the avenue shrank into two lanes. The buildings transformed from dumpy dwellings into idyllic Victorian homes out of a painting. There were sunset decks decorated with American flags, white railings accented with scrolled trimming, and cushioned wicker chairs strategically placed in the shade. Bunting striped with red, white and blue, adorned window sills in preparation for the upcoming July 4th celebrations.

As they cruised down the main ave, Cindy saw several young girls in bikinis with towels wrapped around their waists; their boyfriends tagged behind them like pack mules, dragging water coolers, parasols and fold out lawn chairs along the sidewalk. The only thing that was missing (which was practically a requirement for any beach town in Jersey) were ice cream shops on every corner. Instead, there were just two. An old apothecary converted into a cafe called Nagles, and a family restaurant with the best ice cream in town called, Day's, also known as "The Starving Artist". The line for both of these restaurants wrapped around the block with more people joining by the minute.

"Wow, that place is packed. We should definitely stop by and grab a few drinks," Jadie said.

"I hate to break this to you, but this is a dry town," Cindy replied.

"What, no alcohol?"

"We're trying to keep a low profile," Jonas said. "We don't need drunk college kids attracting police attention to us."

"Guys," Jadie said, "I'm going to be bored out of my mind."

"You can go to Belmar or Asbury Park if you want to get drinks and party, okay?" Cindy said.

Jadie looked in the rearview mirror. "You wanna go, Michael?"

"I'll break dance with my wheelchair," he said.

Jonas rolled his eyes and told Jadie, "You should keep going straight."

Scents from the ocean grew stronger and wafted into the car. At a distance, she could see white sparkles glittering over the horizon. A rectangle of dark green and blue stretched from the beach sand to the end of the world. Voluminous white clouds created puffy shapes of marshmallows that floated over the water.

Cindy's smile grew large. "That is beautiful."

"What's up with the boardwalk?" Jadie said. "It looks all . . . plasticky."

"The original boardwalk was damaged by a hurricane," Michael said. "When the town tried to rebuild it, the government basically said, 'No, we're not paying for that, it's your problem.' The church which owns the boardwalk didn't have money for repairs, so they sold a chunk of it to media advertisers."

Jonas leaned his body between the sisters and pointed at the boardwalk. "You see all that black on the floor there? It's a plastic-like polymer that let's an advertisement pop up wherever it is. If you were to touch it, it'd feel like a kneepad. Not exactly as charming as a wooden boardwalk."

They drove past the polymer boardwalk and saw one of the advertisements flash to life.

"The ministry of the Four Journals invites you, tortured soul. To find peace and happiness with your fellow brothers and sisters through the words of Bill Dean. The path to salvation lies within the journals."

"That's obnoxious," Cindy said.

"Have you been to JFK lately? It's even worse there," Jadie said.

"Better get used to it. Those kinds of advertisements are going to start showing up everywhere," Jonas said.

Finally they arrived at a house that stood out from the rest. It was a beautiful three story home with a tower attached to the main structure. The American flag decorations complemented the blue-gray siding and white accented windows. There was a spacious deck on the first level of the house, shaded from the sun by the second floor. There was another deck on the second level of the building with patio furniture strategically placed for the best ocean view. On the uppermost level was an additional balcony and a third deck that gave a bird's eye view of the sea and surrounding town.

"I bet you could do all sorts of things on the third floor deck, right Jonas?" Cindy said.

"You mean sleep? Yeah, absolutely."

Cindy frowned and waited for Jadie to park the SUV. Cindy unlocked the doors and went to the trunk in order to start unloading the luggage.

"Can someone help me out of the car, please?" Michael asked.

"I got it, don't worry." Jadie joined Cindy in the back and unfolded the wheelchair from the trunk. She helped Michael to his seat and walked behind him as he pushed himself to the steps of the Windamer House.

"Did you guys check to see if this place was handicap accessible?" Jadie asked.

Michael smiled. "Actually, I think now would be a good opportunity to test the prototype, right, Jonas?"

Jonas pulled a cylindrical object from his pocket and pressed a small button on the silver tube. A little mechanical head the shape of a piston popped out. He set the tube upright onto the base of the steps and moved away from the object. Within seconds, streaks of blue light shot out from the head and made a rapid ticking sound. The ribbons of light fused together and formed a solid ramp.

"Ready to test it out?" Jonas said.

Michael rolled his wheelchair onto the ramp, causing it to illuminate a milky white color. A loud hum vibrated from the light and slowly pushed the wheelchair up and over the stairs. Michael smiled and clapped his hands, enjoying his ride up to the deck. Once he was on the porch, Michael spun around and gave Jonas a thumbs up. Jonas deactivated the ramp and handed the cylinder to Michael, along with a tethered magnet.

"I'm really glad the ramp didn't launch me into the stratosphere," Michael said.

Jonas pushed his tongue into his cheek. "Yeah."

Cindy watched Jonas and sensed the ticking time bomb within. She patted his shoulder and said, "This is an awesome invention. You did a great job."

"Mhmm." Jonas heaved the luggage and seemed oblivious or willfully ignorant to Cindy's compliments. She followed after him into the hotel.

While Jonas, Michael, and Jadie took a tour of the vintage building, Cindy excused herself from the group. She took her luggage to her room on the third floor and unpacked her suitcase. She rummaged through her hairspray, flatiron, and jeans, until she found a bikini. Cindy held the tiny strip of pink fabric in her hands and sighed. She looked down at her belly and saw a pudge of fat that didn't exist. "Knock it off, Cindy. You know you're not fat," she whispered. Cindy set the bikini aside and went to the third floor deck where she spent several minutes setting up a parasol and outdoor seating.

When she was done, Cindy went downstairs to find Jadie. She followed the plastic scent of nail polish to a door that was left ajar. She peeked inside and saw Jadie putting on makeup in front of a mirror.

The floral pattern on her sister's dress caught her eye. It seemed to compliment Jadie's skin tone and blue eyes rather nicely. "I like your dress."

Jadie looked at Cindy through the reflection in the mirror and applied her lipstick. "Isn't it cute?"

"Yeah, when did you get it?"

"Last week, it was on sale for fifteen bucks at Sasne's."

"That is a really good deal."

Jadie put on her earrings and smiled. "I know! We should go shopping together."

"But you hate shopping," Cindy said.

"For you, I'll make an exception." Jadie fixed her hair so that it wouldn't be in her eyes. "Besides, you need to stop wearing those boring turtlenecks and jeans. I mean, you work out and you're constantly covering up. Show off the muscles once in a while, jeez."

Cindy crossed her arms and slowly rubbed her hands against her sleeves. Jadie never had to deal with being a fat kid growing up.

"Where are you going all dressed up?"

Jadie inched up to the mirror and penciled on her eyeliner. "I'm going on a date."

"Oooo, I didn't know you were seeing someone. Who are you going with?"

Jadie paused with half her eyelid covered in black eyeliner. "Michael," she blurted. Jadie quickly ran the pencil across the rest of her eyelid.

Cindy groaned. "Michael? Oh, tell me you're kidding."

"Have a little compassion, Cindy. He can't walk anymore." Jadie brushed mascara onto her eyelashes, making her eyes appear even more radiant. "He had the guts to ask me out in person when he could have texted me. Why not give him a shot?"

"Because he kissed—"

"Ew, just stop." Jadie applied bronzer to her cheeks hiding the paleness of her skin. "I don't want to think of myself as sloppy seconds."

"That's gross," Cindy replied.

"Exactly." Jadie pivoted her head in front of the mirror and checked for any spots she may have missed.

Cindy crossed her arms. "Are you going somewhere nice at least?"

"We're gonna try a new restaurant that opened up in Asbury Park. I think he might have left already, actually."

"What do you mean he left? I thought you guys were going to ride together."

"He took a cab up so that it was more like a date. I don't know, I told him I didn't mind driving, but he insisted to go off on his own. Probably because it's not very far."

"That's very . . . impractical."

"Stop." Jadie flipped her hair and turned towards Cindy. "How do I look?"

"You look cute. I'm sure the creeper will be really impressed." Cindy rolled her eyes.

Jadie had no reaction to Cindy's snide comment. "Cute? I want to be sexy." She faced the mirror and tugged her dress down. "Do I need to show more cleavage?"

"What? No, no, no, no, no, no. Stop acting so desperate." Cindy walked over and pulled the dress back up to cover Jadie's breasts.

Jadie wrestled herself away from Cindy's hands. "I do not, act desperate."

"Yes, you do." Cindy brushed a lock of hair away from Jadie's eyes. "Stop worrying about your looks and just be your usual, bubbly, dumb-ass, annoying self."

Jadie laughed while Cindy flattened out the wrinkles in her dress.

"Besides, it's a date with Michael."

Jadie grabbed her purse and pointed at her. "Will you knock it off? I know you're just trying to antagonize me."

Cindy grinned.

"I'm going. I'll see you later."

"Have fun."

Cindy stood alone in Jadie's room and listened to the sound of waves crashing in the distance. The house —aside from the ticking of a cuckoo clock—was silent. She and Jonas were all alone in this big house with no one to walk in on them and no CIA spies to hunt them down. She ran upstairs like an excited child and snatched her bikini off the bed.

"Jonas!" Cindy slipped out of her jeans and threw off her blouse as if it were on fire.

"Coming," he said.

She ducked into the bathroom and in her rush, nearly crashed into the wall trying to get her bikini on. Cindy stared at the mirror and saw a fat girl standing in front of her. Flabby arms that flapped like wings, a gut that hung over her crotch, and enormous thighs that were riddled with jagged blobs of cellulite. She called this woman in the reflection, Ms. Pressure: pressure to be an athlete, pressure to eat right, pressure to be pretty, pressure to not be fat. Ms. Pressure was the sickness that followed her through gymnastics and high school. The longer she stared at this obese woman, the more Cindy considered purging into the toilet beside her.

"Stop, Cindy. You're fine," she whispered. There were two ways to get rid of Ms. Pressure and they involved techniques she learned when she a sickly ninety pounds. The first step was to pinch her skin in order to collect a miniscule amount of fat. This small sample would contradict the size of the woman in the reflection. The second step was to tell herself that even if she were fat, with a huge gut and double chin, that it was okay to be that way. As long as she was healthy, happy and loved herself, it didn't matter what her dress size was.

Ms. Pressure shrank down into a normal sized, lean, muscular, gorgeous Cindy. She threw on a semi-transparent camisole, put on a tweed hat, a pair of ridiculous bug-eyed sunglasses, and strutted her way out the bathroom.

Jonas sat on the lawn chair she had set up on the deck. Cindy pressed the outfit against her skin until hints of her body could be seen behind the camisole. She paraded past him and showcased her toned, muscled legs in front of him. He didn't even pass her a glance. Worse, the bikini chafed and created an uncomfortable wedgie. She ambled awkwardly and tried to pick it out without him noticing.

"That's real sexy honey," he said.

"Sorry." A flush of embarrassment reddened her face. Rather than give up, she leaned her back against the railing and puffed out her chest. She flaunted her ample endowments in front of his eyes. "Nothing?"

He looked up at her like a cat who was semi interested and then looked back down.

Her chest sank along with her self esteem. Ms. Pressure lingering in the back of her mind. "Should I just put my clothes back on?" she asked.

Jonas rose from his chair and held her by the waist. His eyes were bloodshot and baggy, yet empathetic and warm. His mouth moved aimlessly, unable to find the words. "I'm not really feeling it right now."

"Jonas." She took his hands off her waist and moved them to her chest. "We haven't been together for months. Don't you—want me?"

He took his hands off her body and let them fall to his side. "I do and I don't. I'm too stressed to think about that now. Besides, having Michael around isn't helping me forget what you did."

"I wish you could let that go." She caressed his neck. "I'm starting to think you don't love me anymore."

"Cindy, the CIA is after us."

"I don't care. In fact, the world could end in the next hour and I would still want this for us. You know why? Because I'd rather spend my last moments being with you, than worrying about things that haven't happened yet. But if you don't want me and you don't love me, then we should talk about it."

"Of course, I love you."

Cindy took off her hat and glasses and threw them on the floor. "Are you sure?" she gently pushed up against him. "Prove it."

Cindy closed her eyes and leaned in for a kiss.

Jonas grabbed her hand and pushed Cindy back. His eyes darted from side to side. Normally she'd welcome him gazing at her body, but this was uncomfortably different. She looked down to see what he was staring at and saw an unsteady red dot sweep across her chest.

Jonas put one hand behind her head and tackled her to the floor. Her eyes fluttered, and a loud crack whipped above them. A quarter sized puncture erupted from the seat cushion and spewed stuffing from the hole. The smell of gunpowder and burnt fabric lingered in the air.

"You, okay? Did you hit your head?" Jonas said.

"I—I'm okay."

"We need to get inside, now!"

Jonas grabbed Cindy's arm and carefully pulled her up to her feet while watching the rooftops. He took her hand and ran through the bedroom until they entered the hallway. Cindy barely kept up with what was going on, everything happened so quickly. When the fog of confusion finally cleared from her thoughts, she recognized what the sound was—a gunshot. Jonas held her hand and ran down the steps. Once they reached the bottom, away from all windows, Jonas let go and keeled over, panting.

"Did you get hit?" he asked.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." She ran her fingers through her hair, still in shock by what happened. She turned to Jonas and hugged him tightly.

"You just saved my life."
CHAPTER 5:

Beauty and the Geek

Michael was surrounded by French sculptures, stone pillars, glittering chandeliers and tables covered in white linen. The menu was leather bound with the words Ciel Blue written in elegant calligraphy. He fixed his collar and brushed his hair, all to distract him from the wait which was driving him mad. Though he knew it was the right decision to take a cab, there was no way to know if Jadie would actually come. He wanted to prove to her, but mostly to himself, that he was not incapable of doing things alone. He ignored the urge to text her and settled down in his chair.

Michael wondered how he was going to pass the time. There was no point in looking at the menu anymore. He had all the appetizers memorized and decided on the chicken pot stickers. He grabbed a fork and knife and clanged them into a dissonant melody. The constant ching, ching attracted the ugly stares from his fellow diners, so he set them back down.

"Oh no, the waiter's coming again," he whispered. Michael looked at his empty glass and watched the waiter refill it with water for the third time. Going to the bathroom was another level of headache he didn't want to deal with tonight. He checked his watch and then noticed an aroma of pineapple and coconuts waft to his nose. He heard the click of bracelets and the sound of a leather purse being slid off a shoulder.

Jadie had arrived.

His heart bounced inside his chest and made his head hurt. Michael's fantasy had turned to reality and the excitement sent sharp pains to the back of his neck. (Am I going to have a panic attack?) He took another look at her. (Yeah, I think I am.) She had on a baby blue sundress that was decorated with a golden floral pattern and a plunging neckline. The color really brought out the beauty in her eyes, but he made a resolution to focus only on the ones up top and not down below.

Michael remembered his manners and wheeled himself over to Jadie's seat. He pulled out the chair and gestured for her to sit. "You didn't have to do that." Jadie tucked her dress under her legs and sat down.

"I wanted to."

Michael returned to his seat at the same time the waiter arrived. The server filled her cup with water and the ice cubes plopped out in a line, clinking against the glass. Michael ignored his own full glass and watched the waiter lay a napkin atop Jadie's lap. He handed her a menu then walked away as quickly as he had arrived.

"I'm glad you came," Michael said.

She looked up and smiled. "Thank you for inviting me."

"You look gorgeous."

Jadie covered her mouth and batted her fake eyelashes at him. "Well thank you, handsome!" (Handsome, she called me handsome!) The five o'clock shadow and ivy league haircut paid off after all. Though he probably didn't need to measure the exact inches when he cut his hair.

For once, Michael was actually proud of himself. He never in a million years would have approached Jadie if he had been able to walk. Somehow, being handicapped has turned him into an individual who wants to grab life by the horns. The risk-averse computer geek with lack of social skills was no more. Regardless of the consequences, he would pursue the things that scared him and avoid things that didn't challenge him. Clearly, with this beautiful woman sitting in front of him, the new philosophy was paying off.

Unfortunately, he still had to hide his trembling hands and sweaty palms from Jadie.

"So," she said, with a grin. "What made you decide to ask me out?"

Michael fiddled with a fork and focused his eyes on the tablecloth. "Uhh." (Keep it together man.) "Well, truthfully, when Cind—"

"Wow just ten seconds into the conversation before my sister gets mentioned." Jadie scoffed.

"Hey." Michael raised his hand and waved his imaginary white flag. "Don't worry, calm down. I just want to talk about you."

"Sorry," she took a sip of water. "You know my sister gets all the attention."

"I know, but we're not here for her." He pushed up his glasses. "You want to hear something kind of funny?"

Jadie relaxed her shoulders and set her elbows on the table, but then jumped back remembering her manners. He smirked.

"I was so nervous to ask you out that I wanted to pace around the hotel at least a hundred times. Well obviously, I can't 'pace' so I wheeled myself around instead. Turns out, it's really hard not to knock something over when your wheelchair fills a quarter of the room."

Jadie stifled a chuckle and cleared her throat.

"That was a joke. It's okay to laugh."

Jadie covered her mouth and shook her head no. She dropped her hands on the table and said, "I'm sorry, this is new to me. I'm not sure when I'm supposed to laugh. I don't want to make fun of you."

"It's okay, I want you to laugh. What happened, happened, and I need to learn to live with it. I'd rather take it in stride than be super uptight about it."

Jadie raised an eyebrow and narrowed her eyes.

"That is a very—positive attitude," she said with a grin. "I like that." She rested her head on top of her hands and leaned on the table again. "So what's it like?" Jadie paused, then realized where her elbows were. She sat up and put her hands on her lap. "I keep doing that. I don't even know why it's considered rude."

"Something about spreading germs. Quite frankly, I don't care. Feel free to put your elbows on the table."

She giggled and put her elbows back on the table.

"So, to answer your question, I'm still getting used to the fact that I can't just get up and go to the bathroom or pick something off the floor. It's uncomfortable and awkward, but it's not who I am."

Jadie nodded.

The waiter walked over with a notepad in his hand. "Are we all set to order, can I start you off with something to drink? Perhaps interest you in our wine list."

Jadie looked at Michael. "You mind if I order a drink?"

"Have whatever you want."

Jadie clasped her hands and chewed on her lip. "I would like to have—" she touched her chin and looked up at the ceiling. "—a Dirty Martini with Grey Goose on the rocks please."

The waiter turned to Michael and asked, "And for you sir?"

A drop of sweat ran down his forehead. The only thing he knew about alcohol was what he'd seen in movies. Screwdriver, Mimosa, White Russian, Bloody Mary, what does it all mean? What if he picked a drink that wasn't manly enough? He read the drink menu and picked something that looked macho. "Uh, give me a whiskey and coke."

"What type of whiskey would you prefer? We have Jack Daniels, Royal Crown, Old Charter, Jim Bean."

"Isn't Jack Daniels a barbecue sauce or something?"

Jadie took the drink menu from Michael's sweaty palms. "Michael. Do you drink?"

"Not really."

"Do you want to?"

"Sure."

She turned to the waiter and said, "Give him a Harvey Wallbanger with Ketel One vodka."

"Very well. Are you ready to order any appetizers or dinner?"

Michael was too embarrassed to think about food right now. "I think we'll need a few more minutes."

The waiter bowed his head and walked away. When the waiter was gone, Jadie smirked at Michael. "Were you trying to impress me by ordering a man's drink?"

"There is a ninety five percent probability that you are correct."

"You're cute, but I have a friendly word of advice. Don't lie on a date, seriously. Just be yourself—" Jadie slapped her forehead. "Oh God."

Michael looked around thinking she saw an ex-boyfriend or something. "What? What?"

"I just repeated exactly what Cindy told me." Jadie looked up at the ceiling and pleaded to the heavens. "Why, why can't I escape her shadow? She didn't even want me to go on this date with you tonight."

Michael was not surprised. The scent of Cindy's perfume still lingered on his skin. He decided that it was time to put his past with Cindy to an end.

"Do we need to talk about what happened between me and your sister?" he said.

"I guess we should, shouldn't we? Just get the awkward crap out of the way, right?"

"No, we shouldn't. There's nothing to talk about. I made a mistake, a lot of mistakes. I could have said no to her when she was acting strangely, but I didn't. I accept that what I did was wrong and I am eternally shamed by it. If Cindy and Jonas want to hate me for what I did, then so be it. But I'm not that man anymore and I'm not going to let the past dictate who I am now."

"That's deep," Jadie said.

Michael was taken aback. Her response was so out of left field that he couldn't help but laugh. His laugh was contagious and infected Jadie with the giggles. "What the heck, I was being serious."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. I didn't want our date to get all serious and depressing. I think what you said is very admirable."

Michael's cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

"You're not the only one that can joke around," she said.

"You are something else." He chuckled and cleaned off the condensation that formed on the lens of his glasses. "So where in Brooklyn do you live?"

"Ah, just a little ol' place. Spearman Courts apartment complex."

"How is it there?"

"Some plumbing issues, but it seems fine. The real pain is when the living room light bulb goes out. The ceiling is so high, I need a ladder just to change a bulb."

"Ha, you could probably use the suit to cling to the ceiling."

Jadie placed her finger by her lip. "I actually tried that, but then the ceiling started to crack."

Michael chuckled. "Okay, I wasn't serious about that part."

"I was." Jadie had a look of deception about her. She was clearly having fun toying with him and he kind of liked it.

"So what did you do before you started teaching gymnastics?" he said.

"I was a rescue swimmer in the Coast Guard."

Michael's scoffed. "No way, I don't believe you."

"No, I'm serious, I'm not kidding this time. I am one in six women to be qualified as a rescue swimmer. Technically, Cindy should be calling me Lieutenant Brynfire."

"Wow! That's pretty bad ass. Did you travel a lot?"

"I've been to a few places. I even did a few tours in Alaska. Ya ever heard of the Bering Strait?"

"Isn't that where they shoot all those fishing shows?"

Jadie nodded. "Ohhh yes, and it's way colder than you can imagine."

"You're a lot tougher than you lo—I mean, uh . . ."

Jadie giggled and said, "It's okay. That just means I don't look like a gorilla. Unlike my beefy sister." Jadie hung her arms like a silverback gorilla and did her best Neanderthal impression. "I'm Cindy, derp, derp, derp."

Michael laughed and played along, even though her grunts were quite embarrassing.

While Jadie was still hunched over, the waiter returned to the table with drinks on a serving plate. He glanced at Jadie, turned up his nose, then placed the liquor in front of them. "Are you ready to order?"

Jadie jumped at the waiter's sudden appearance and hid her hands between her legs. Michael grinned and noted the flushed coloration in her cheeks.

"I'm sorry. We still need just a little more time," Michael said. The waiter muttered to himself and walked away.

Michael stared at his alcoholic beverage and chewed on his lip. "Before we continue, I kind of want to talk to you about something important. You know, get the awkward stuff out of the way, like you said."

"Is it going to be depressing and upsetting?"

"Yeah, I think so."

Jadie shook her head no. "Save it for later. I'm having a good time right now."

He sighed. "Okay."

Jadie took a sip of her dirty martini and uttered a loud, "Ahh."

"You like it?" he said.

"It's okay."

(Well that was unexpected.)

Jadie leaned back and pulled the olives off the toothpick with her teeth. "Tell me if you like your drink, and don't lie."

Michael took the glass into his hands and took a little sniff. "Smells nice."

"You're not supposed to smell it, drink it," Jadie said. "Slowly."

He lifted the glass to his lips and took a small sip. Jadie's eyes stared at him intently. He smacked his lips and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Is there alcohol in this? I can't taste it."

"Oh yeah. A few of those and you won't be able to walk—" she slapped her mouth shut.

Michael crossed his arms and stared at Jadie with an angry scowl. She hid her face in her hands and shook her head. When she looked back at him, he smiled and began to laugh.

"I think what you meant to say is you'll be wheeling me out of here." Michael laughed. "You should have seen the look on your face!" Michael reached for the glass again. "I think I like it by the way."

Jadie crumpled a straw wrapper and bounced it off his forehead. "You made me feel like such an ass," she said with a smile. She took another sip of her drink and was hit by a fit of the giggles mid swallow. "See what you—" she coughed into her hand "—did?"

"I'm sorry that I am not sorry," Michael said.

She squinted at him and took in another mouthful of alcohol. When she opened the menu, Jadie's eyes widened.

"You have no idea what you're looking at do you?" Michael said.

"It's all in French. I barely understand the ingredients in the translations," Jadie replied.

"Aha! I may not know drinks, but I know languages. Now it's my turn to impress."

Jadie's purse began to vibrate and chirped a melodic tune. She rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry, it's Cindy, I'll just ignore the call."

"That's okay, don't worry about it."

Jadie pulled out her phone and pressed the reject button. Michael pointed to the menu and was about to say something when the phone rang again. She growled. "I can't believe this. She's totally trying to sabotage our date."

"Just answer it," Michael said. "She wouldn't call this much if it wasn't important."

"Yeah, no. You don't know her like I do. I'll just turn off my phone."

The phone went black and she threw it into her purse. Michael shrugged his shoulders and re-opened the menu. The thought that he was a priority to Jadie made him smile. He skimmed over the entrees and was interrupted by a loud chirp that rang from his pocket. Jadie slapped her forehead and said, "It's her, it has to be her."

Michael looked down at his smart phone and saw the name [Cindy] in bold white letters. He raised his eyes to Jadie and asked, "Should I answer it?"

"No."

"She'll just keep calling."

Jadie let out an exasperated sigh. "Just find out what she wants."

Michael lifted the phone to his ear. "Hello?"

"Could you please put my sister on?" Cindy said.

"She wants to talk to you."

Jadie yelled across the table. "What do you want, Cindy?" The diners in the restaurant looked over with angry stares, and Michael just wanted to bury himself in a hole.

"She's asking what you want?" he said into the phone. The silent pause was filled with the sounds of forks clanging on plates.

"Michael, this is serious. Put her on the phone."

"You're the one that called my phone," he continued.

Jadie reached across the table and nearly knocked over the flower filled centerpiece. Her beaded bracelet clacked as it dangled on her wrist. "Here, give it to me. I'll get rid of her."

Jadie lifted the smart phone to her ear, the black honeycomb background projected light onto her amber tinted cheek. Michael gazed at Jadie, put his hand in his pocket, and searched for his wallet.

"Cindy, why are you ruining my—what?"

Michael watched Jadie's face go from anger to disbelief. He could hear Cindy's chatter from where he was sitting but couldn't understand the words.

"What do you mean you're going to throw up?" She listened intently. "Someone shot at you?"

"What!" Michael yelled. The patrons dropped their utensils and looked over at him. He pretended to scratch the back of his scalp and settled back in his wheelchair.

The waiter returned with a look of fake concern on his face. "Is everything alright? Are you ready to order?" he asked.

Jadie looked up at the waiter with the phone still clinging to her ear. "I'm sorry, family emergency. We actually have to leave."

The waiter raised his eyebrow and sighed through his nose. "Of course."

Michael handed his credit card to the waiter. "Sorry for the inconvenience."

"I'm on my way." Jadie handed the cell phone back to Michael. She folded her arms across the table and sighed. "Cindy thinks we've been found."

"By who? The C—"

"Shh. We can't talk about that here. I shouldn't have even said anything. Anyway, I had fun. Let's reschedule for another time, okay?"

The waiter returned with Michael's receipt and the end of what could have been a wonderful date.
CHAPTER 6:

I Spy

"I see her. She's by herself," Alexis said into a radio.

She turned off her laser sight and moved the sniper rifle until Cindy's head was between the crosshairs. She curled her finger around the trigger and waited. The magnified scope showed Cindy eating ice cream from a cup, sitting outside of Nagles. Alexis debated pulling the trigger, but there were crowds of people waiting in line to eat at the cafe.

The radio clicked. "Where's Jonas?" Jun said.

Alexis checked the GPS tracker. "He's back at the hotel."

"It's a shame you missed that first shot."

"I didn't miss, she moved. Besides, if she's the same Silver Ninja who survived getting shot at by a helicopter. It's going to take more than one bullet to kill her, or at least a headshot."

"Remember, I don't care about Cindy or her sister. I just want the technology from Jonas."

"Understood. Have my daughter's cure ready."

Alexis slid a pair of goggles over her eyes and zoomed in on Cindy. She then aimed the directional microphone until she could hear the scrape of plastic against Styrofoam. A tall, blond woman walked up to Cindy and sat down beside her. Alexis recognized Jadie from their meeting at the hospital and compared the two siblings against one another. Jadie was the tall, thin, blond and blue eyed Hollywood starlet; Cindy was the short, brunette, brown eyed, Olympic athlete. Both attractive women, but the family resemblance wasn't really there. Alexis rotated the dial by her microphone and increased the volume.

"You're braver than me. Wearing a bathing suit while you scarf down a bowl of ice cream." Jadie said. Cindy swirled around the melted mess of vanilla, her eyes distant and inattentive.

Jadie leaned in and whispered, "What's going on?"

Cindy set the spoon in her cup and leaned back. "I'm bait," she whispered.

Jadie clutched her purse and looked in all directions. "Is someone—"

"Probably." She sat motionless. "Just relax."

Cindy looked with her eyes, making sure her head didn't move. She pushed her ice cream cup over to Jadie. "I don't want anymore."

"Yeah, that's melted. Do they have chocolate bananas or something?"

"Ugh, I hate chocolate bananas," Cindy said.

Jadie shook her head and picked up the spoon. She dug in and slurped the liquefied dessert.

"I'm pretty sure your six pack is going to be gone after having eaten this," Jadie said. The spoon scraped along the edges of the cup and grated on Alexis's nerves like nails on a chalkboard.

Cindy rubbed her belly and said, "I feel bloated. Like an angelic cherub."

"You're no angel." Jadie threw the empty cup into a garbage bin a few feet away. "Nothing but net."

Cindy slowly clapped her hands. "Do you have a pen?"

"Sure." Jadie rummaged through her purse and handed a pen over. Cindy then scribbled on a napkin and covered what she wrote with her other hand. Alexis couldn't see anything, so she focused on Jadie's reaction instead.

"Why me?" Jadie asked.

"I don't trust myself."

"You need to let that go," Jadie said.

Cindy flipped the napkin face down. "So are you going to do it?"

Clever, it seemed that Cindy was not as dumb as she looked, Alexis thought. She muted her comms with Jun and pulled a cell phone from her harness. She speed dialed a number with a Virginia area code.

"Marsden," the woman answered.

"Marsden, Alexis."

"Ma'am."

"Did you give the hard drive to the guys upstairs like I asked?"

"Yes. The Director made a few phone calls and established a recovery task force. They've got teams on standby outside of Ocean Grove per your instructions."

"Does this mean I'm back in good standing with the Director?"

"Not necessarily. They want the HVT before they consider reinstating you."

Alexis pulled out her GPS tracker and dialed in a series of numbers.

"I just sent you the coordinates to the high value target. Tell the Director I want my job back."

Alexis hung up the phone and unmuted her radio. She went back to listening in on Cindy's conversation.

"So whose brilliant idea was it to leave Jonas alone at the hotel?" Jadie asked.

"He's not at the hotel,' Cindy said.

A shiver ran down Alexis's back. She pulled out the GPS tracker and saw the orange circle still blinking over the hotel address. It didn't make any sense, if Jonas wasn't . . . he knows. Alexis rolled her tongue inside her cheek. "I'll give you that one, Cindy."

Jadie angled forward. "If Jonas isn't at the hotel, where did you—?"

"I can't say. Someone might be listening." Cindy stood up from her chair and grabbed her things. "Are you going to do what I asked? I have to meet up with Jonas."

A cop car blared its sirens and flew past the sisters creating a suction of air pressure. The sleek interceptor squealed around the corner and disappeared behind the building.

"What was that all about?" Jadie said.

"I don't know. Could be a medical emergency."

Another squad car zoomed past and then a convoy of unmarked, black SUVS followed behind with blue lights flashing from the grill.

"I take that back. Someone's getting busted," Cindy said.

Alexis knew exactly where those SUVS were going and cursed under her breath. They weren't going to find anything at that hotel. She took aim for Cindy's head and waited for her to get in the car, finger on the trigger.

Cindy walked up to the SUV and tried to open the passenger door, but it was locked.

The roof of the car blocked Alexis's line of sight, Cindy was too short. She angled the rifle towards the window and took aim for her heart. It wasn't a clean shot, but she put her trigger finger at the ready. Alexis had no intention of missing this time.

Cindy looked over at Jadie who had frozen in place. "What's wrong?"

Jadie continued to stand there like she had seen a ghost.

"What are you doing? We have to go, unlock the door," Cindy said.

Alexis held her breath and steadied the scope. She began to squeeze.

"I left Michael at the hotel," Jadie said.

Alexis froze her finger just before the bullet could be released. Michael was also an HVT, maybe not as high as Jonas, but one nonetheless. Alexis realized that she may not have fed the agency bad Intel after all. Though it was difficult to let Cindy go, Alexis didn't want to be messy and unprofessional by shooting her in front of all those people. She pressed a button on her sniper rifle and started packing up her gear.

The sniper rifle folded into a thin, rectangular shape that snapped securely to her harness. She climbed down a rain gutter and dropped to the ground. From there, she could engage the chameleon camouflage on her sneaking suit. The black suit morphed into the green color of grass blades and formed striped patterns across her body. She still had to be cautious though, she wasn't exactly invisible.

Alexis carefully crept towards the beach while keeping an eye out for any spectators checking out the police activity. Her foot pressed into the sand and a tan, chocolate chip pattern spilled over the top of her suit. She lowered herself to a crouch and threw her body into the sand. Alexis reached for her binoculars and slid them over her eyes. The flash from the police lights illuminated the walls of the hotel. Agents, wearing government issued jackets with FBI in bold, yellow letters, exited the hardened, black SUVS and stormed into the hotel.

The sisters arrived and parked a few feet away. By the time they got out of the car, the FBI agents were already coming out of the hotel. One agent carried out a folded up wheelchair while another waved a smartphone to his commanding officer. Alexis checked her GPS and saw that the circle had moved to where the agent was standing.

She looked back at the front entrance and saw two agents carefully walking down the stairs, holding Michael aloft in their arms. His legs dangled like a marionette, while his upper body squirmed to break free. One of the agents looked at him and said, "Knock it off or we're gonna cuff ya."

"Let me go, I didn't do anything!" Michael screamed.

The agents looked at one another and released Michael from their grip. His body ricocheted off the few remaining steps and fell into a clump at the base of the stairs. His head smacked loudly on the pavement floor, and his glasses cracked and skipped across the sidewalk in front of him. Jadie ran up to the yellow "DO NOT CROSS" police line and was shoved back by an officer. "Ma'am, you can't go in here."

Cindy grabbed Jadie's arm and pulled her aside. She walked up to the officer and looked up at the towering man. "Keep your hands off my sister."

Alexis raised an eyebrow and zoomed in on the action. "Well this is getting interesting."

The agents cuffed Michael and picked him up off the floor. A contusion near his forehead had swollen tremendously, and blood from a laceration ran down the right side of his face. The agents opened the door and stuffed him into the SUV, while another agent said, "Grab the glasses."

"Michael!" Jadie cried out. She turned to Cindy and pleaded with her. "Please, we have to do something."

Cindy walked closer to the police line and looked at the officer. "You can't arrest him. Let me see the warrant."

The officer gave her a stern look and said, "Ma'am, you need to keep your distance."

He shoved Cindy just like he did Jadie and found himself immediately regretting it. Cindy grabbed his wrist and gave it a good twist. The officer who had loomed over her was now crippled down to her level. "Show me the warrant," she said.

Another officer wrenched Cindy's hand off of his colleague. "Touch him again and you're coming with us," the officer yelled.

"What, a big, burly police officer can't handle a fight with a girl? He needs to call back up?"

Jadie grabbed Cindy's arms and tried to pull her away, but her sister fought her with the strength a mad bull.

"Come on, we don't want to go to jail too," Jadie said. She patted Cindy's back and tried to calm her down, but the adrenaline kept her limbs shaking. "We need to get Jonas."

Cindy nodded and went back to Jadie's SUV.

"Perfect." Alexis turned on her radio just as the cars were pulling away.

"Jun, do you copy?"

"Yes, what's happening?"

"I'll have the technology by tonight."
CHAPTER 7:

Catch 22

The atmosphere of the courtroom was stagnant and humid. Only the dull spin of a single ceiling fan kept the air circulating. A small crowd of photographers and journalists were sitting in the benches, whispering amongst themselves. A gavel pounded on the sounding block and silenced the room.

"This meeting will come to order. Mr. Ames, please state your name and your position for the committee."

"Yes, Senator Montez. My name is Jonas Ames. I am the president and chief executive officer of Lucent Labs. This is my co-worker Michael Dredan, lead programmer."

"Please state your role at Lucent Labs."

"I am the lead designer for all products created within my company. My role is to develop software and hardware solutions for military and civilian utilization. In addition, I acquire licenses from vendors, and am also responsible for acquisition and evaluation of qualified personnel."

Senator Alvaro Montez shuffled the papers in his hands and read from the top page.

"Can you please confirm with the committee that you and your colleague were employed by First Continental during the assault on New York City?"

"Yes."

The audience murmured quietly behind him followed by the sound of laptop keys clacking. A cold moistness pressed into Jonas's skin by his armpits and neck. He glanced at Michael and saw him wipe away the sweat away from his eyes and then looked back to Senator Montez who stared him down.

"Do you know why you're here?"

"Let's see. You guys sent the CIA to chase after me, put a tracking device on my phone—" he could hear the crowd start to murmur loudly behind him. "—and almost killed my wife. You either want me dead or you want my technology." The calm of the room exploded into loud, uproarious chatter as journalists started arguing amongst themselves. Thousands of keys clicked in unison and the walls flashed white from photographers taking their pictures. Jonas grinned at the buzz that filled the room. "That sound about right, Senator?"

Senator Montez crumpled the edges of his papers, grabbed the gavel, and hit the sounding board until it nearly fell off the table. "Order! Order!" He pointed the mallet at the door and said, "This meeting is adjourned. All non-committee members are asked to leave as we are holding an executive session, which is not open to members of the public."

"Did we just dodge a bullet?" Michael asked.

"Well, we're members of the public, so let's get out of here," Jonas replied.

"Not so fast, Mr. Ames." The Senator pointed downward.

As the journalists shuffled out of the meeting room spouting off about their First Amendment rights and OPRA laws, someone was trying to push through the crowd and into the courtroom. One of the guards overseeing the migration stopped the person and said, "It's closed to the public ma'am, you're going to have to leave."

"My husband is in there. This is my sister."

"You're both going to have wait till after the meeting."

Jonas recognized the voice. "Senator, that's my wife and her sister out there."

The Senator yelled over to the guard. "Let them in, but no one else."

The guard stepped aside and both Cindy and Jadie walked up to the table where Jonas was standing.

Cindy placed her hand on his lower back. "Sorry, I'm late," she whispered. "I had to get dressed."

"It's okay."

Jonas faced the Senator and waited for him to continue.

"I saw what you did there, Mr. Ames. Don't think that stirring the media into a frenzy will get you out of your situation."

"I still want to know why you guys sent the CIA after us and why you shot at my wife."

"Mr. Ames, we had nothing to do with that."

"Are you telling me, that the CIA acted on its own? Or do you expect me to be an idiot and take your words at face value?"

Senator Montez folded his fingers together and sat forward in his seat. He looked to the other senators and received a nod from each of them. "We did receive information from the agency on your whereabouts. However, this committee: the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; did not request that your home be put under surveillance. The agency believes that you are a threat, but we are not in the business of assassination."

"Yeah, sure."

"Regardless, the reason we have called this special meeting outside of Washington, D.C. is not for a trial. We actually want to negotiate with you, but if you don't comply, we can and will arrest you."

Jonas pointed his thumb over to Michael. "If you just wanted to negotiate, my friend wouldn't have this bruise on his head."

"We have nothing to do with how the agents run their procedures."

Cindy spoke up. "Sir, I'm sorry to interrupt, but you have no proof that my husband is a threat to this country. Your agents didn't even present a warrant when they brought Michael in. I'm pretty sure lawyers would have a field day with this."

The Senator looked at the guard who was by the door and nodded his head. Jonas turned around and watched the guard approach his table with a stack of papers in his hand. He bent over and carefully laid out the pages in front of them. A photo of the Silver Ninja; a photo of a tank with the name Lucent Labs stamped on it; a photo of military-grade armor, again with the words Lucent Labs and First Continental stamped on it. On a separate sheet was a list of employee names for First Continental and what they did for the company. Circled in red was the name Jonas Ames - Weapons Designer. A second circle was just below his name, Michael Dredan - Weapons Programmer.

Cindy peered over Jonas's shoulder, and skimmed the document laid on the table. She gasped and pointed at a name on a separate page. Jonas followed her finger to a list that had the words "Security" in the header. In that list was the uncircled name of Jadie Brynfire - Security Detail.

He took the evidence in his hands and scanned for the words Silver Ninja or Cindy Ames. There was nothing there except for third party expenses listed under Miscellaneous.

"Is that proof enough for you?" Senator Montez said.

Jonas set aside the documents and put both hands on the table. "Is this what it's been all about? My work at First Continental?"

The Senator pointed his gavel at Cindy as if it were just an ordinary pen. "You look very familiar."

She leaned over the microphone. "Your daughter Priscilla is my student," her voice boomed through the loudspeakers. "My sister Jadie is also a teacher."

"Ah, yes. Now I remember. You were the one that walked my daughter to the hospital when I was injured."

"Correct."

"She really looks up to you. I am sorry that you and your husband are in this situation, please know that it's not personal."

"Please, let him go."

"That's up to your husband."

Jonas cleared his throat and spoke into the microphone. "What is it you want? I'll do anything for you to leave me and my family alone."

The senator took a sip of water and wiped his forehead with a handkerchief. "The committee would like you to surrender all of the technology and weapons that were created by Lucent Labs."

"What?" Jonas said. "That's absurd. I can't give you my technology, are you crazy? It was a mistake to create those weapons in the first place."

"Well now you can make amends and give your technology to the United States government."

"I don't think you understand, Senator. These weapons are too much power for one country to have. You think a nuke is destructive? First Continental locked down New York City without even a quarter of the manpower the U.S. Army possesses."

"No, Jonas. I don't think you understand. If you don't give us the technology Raymond used, we'll ship you out of the country to a detention camp where you'll be treated as an enemy combatant. I've seen these prisons, Jonas. At the end of the day, even the toughest criminals go crying home to their mama." He cleared his throat and fixed his tie. "I am giving you the rare opportunity to not be prosecuted."

"Excuse me, sir." Michael's voice was barely audible. He moved over to the mic and leaned in as far as he could without falling out of his chair. "Does this mean we'll get a full pardon if we hand over the technology?"

"Michael, stay out of this," Jonas said.

"I could end up going to jail too, you know? I want to hear our options."

The Senator clasped his hands together and rested them atop the oak conference table. His gold wedding band glinted in the light. "You will absolutely have a full pardon. No one from our agencies will bother you again."

Jonas slid the microphone away from Michael. "What do you think you're doing? This isn't up for negotiation."

Michael got into Jonas's face. "Oh, so you're just going to decide whether we all go to jail or not?"

Jadie grabbed onto Michael's shoulders and pushed him back in his seat. "Guys, stop."

"Jonas." Cindy tugged on his sleeve. He looked over to her and she shook her head no.

"You do realize what's at stake here, right?" Jonas said.

"Mr. Ames." The Senator's voice rang loudly through the speakers. "I understand your hesitation and I do not envy your position. I can assure you, your technology would be in good hands."

"To bully other nations? No, I'm sorry I don't agree."

"Jonas, come on!" Michael said.

"You want to be responsible for more deaths?"

Michael fell back in his chair.

"I can't give you the technology, Senator."

Cindy pulled his arm and whispered, "Jonas, what are you doing? You can't let them take you away."

He looked into her eyes, they were soft and pained like someone who was saying goodbye. His hand trembled inside of hers and he tried to pull away, but her grip grew even stronger. "Jonas."

"I'm not letting another massacre happen," he whispered.

She dug her nails into his skin. "After all we've been through, you expect me to just let you go to jail?" Her whole body started to shiver. The shimmer of light becoming more pronounced inside her eyes. "Don't force me to get her involved."

"Don't you dare."

Senator Montez rubbed his eyes, his patience fading in unison with the light outside the windows. "Jonas, I don't think you're taking this seriously. You will be extradited to a jail in a foreign country. We will all forget about you when you become yesterday's news, but you will still be living in it." Senator Montez ran his hand across his receding hairline. "And if you think you can escape from prison, let's say you try something crazy and that Silver guardian angel of yours shows up." He brandished his finger at him. "We will hunt you down and find you."

Michael forcefully grabbed Jonas's sleeve. "I don't want to go to jail. I won't survive one day."

Jonas removed Michael's fingers from his arm and faced the committee. "The answer is no."

Senator Montez sucked on his teeth. "Okay. I'm going to ask you one last time to surrender your tech to us. If you refuse, the guard back there will cuff you and arrest you until a trial can be scheduled. Then we'll vette the list in front of you for anyone we've missed and throw them in jail also."

"The answer is still no."

Michael tore at Jonas's sleeve, nearly popping the seams on his shoulder. "Jonas Goddamnit! You're going to ruin everyone's lives."

Cindy clawed into Jonas's flesh and pulled him in the other direction. "Just give them what they want!"

Jonas turned towards Cindy in a snarl. He whispered with a quiet anger, "That means you'll go with them. Did you think about that? I'm doing this to protect you, understand?"

She let go of his arm.

"Mr. Ames, are you an idiot? You would be throwing your life away."

"I can't let you do this," Cindy whispered. "I'm going to suit up and get us out of this mess."

"Cindy. Don't."

Jonas knew he was doing the right thing. He had spent too many nights counting the spots on the ceiling; so that he wouldn't see the faces of the people who died when he closed his eyes. He remembered watching the footage of the tanks rolling through an abandoned Times Square; and First Continental soldiers forcing the citizens into prison camps located in the subway underground. All accomplished with the things he created from his own imagination.

Yet, Cindy and Michael made him question his choice. It reminded him that the decision he makes won't affect just him alone. If he continues to say no, then he will condemn the men who work for him at Lucent Labs and Cindy's sister, Jadie. Neither of these options were appealing, but maybe there was a third option, reason.

"Senator, just hear me out. What will you do if some rival country steals the technology from you? Could you even begin to comprehend what would happen? It would start World War III."

Alvaro leaned into the microphone one last time. "Jonas, let me make something clear to you. I don't give a damn what you think will happen if we have your technology. Do you know who wants your technology? Because I'll tell you right now, it's not me. It's the people of New York.

"They saw firsthand what it was like to be trapped in Penn Station waiting for a train that would never come in. They watched the soldiers, carrying your weapons, kill their children and relatives in cold blood. They saw tanks created by Lucent Labs roll through the boroughs and blast away their homes. They looked up at our jets and cheered when the military came in to save the day; only to have that glimmer of hope blasted away by a First Continental missile shooting them down.

"They don't want to be caught with their pants down, again. They want someone to protect them."

Cindy stepped away from Jonas and walked in front of the table. There were splotches of silver forming atop the skin of her hands.

"Then I'll prote—"

"Cindy!"
CHAPTER 8:

Plan B

Jonas grabbed Cindy's hand and covered the silver splotches forming across her skin. He pushed in front of her and stood before the senators, chest puffed, chin high. "I'll do it."

"Good, I'm glad you decided to see reason," Senator Montez said.

Cindy squeezed Jonas's hand and forced the silvery metal to dissolve back into her skin. She listened to him deliberate with the senators as he told them where to pick up the hardware and when it would be ready.

"And remember Mr. Ames." Senator Montez called out to Jonas before he could close the conference room door. "If I hear even one quote about what we discussed here today in tomorrow's paper, website, whatever. The deal's off and you disappear."

Jonas nodded and shut the door behind him. It didn't take long before the media vultures swooped down on him and his wife outside of the Asbury Park City Hall.

"Mr. Ames, Mr. Ames! What happened? Did you agree to hand over your technology to the committee?" A reporter waved a microphone over the sea of heads vying for attention.

"I can't discuss that." He held onto Cindy's hand and pushed through the mob of reporters. But the media were like the heads of a hydra, you cut one off and another takes its place.

Another microphone shot out like a spine from a sea urchin and nearly hit Jonas in the mouth. "Is that what you said to Raymond before he attacked the city with your creations?"

"Actually, I think I said screw you," Jonas said.

A path finally opened through the horde of reporters, and the couple walked swiftly towards the parking lot. When Cindy and Jonas had broken free, she turned around and saw the reporters converge on the senators like white blood cells to an infection. Cindy cut across the grass and met with Jadie and Michael waiting by the SUV.

Jonas wriggled his hand away from Cindy's and flew towards Michael like a heat seeking missile.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Droplets of spit sprayed out of Jonas's mouth and landed on Michael's cheek. He clenched his fist around Michael's collar and wrung him in his seat.

Jadie pulled on Jonas's shirt, exposing his bare back through the widening gap in his collar. "Stop it, you're going to hurt him!"

Michael threw his hands on Jonas's face and smushed his skin. But Jonas was wild with relentless anger and moved his hands to Michael's neck. "They're going to have everything. Don't you understand? Don't you know what that means? My wife and Jadie are going to be the property of the United States government!"

Michael's face puffed up into unshapely lumps, growing redder with each passing second. "Get off me!"

Cindy stepped between the two and wedged her fingers beneath Jonas's thumbs. She popped them off like tabs on soda cans. "Enough!"

Michael ran his fingers over his collar and rolled his neck. He pushed his cracked glasses up the bridge of his nose and stared back at Jonas. "You've been wanting to do that ever since we got here."

"Yeah . . . yeah I have, and you know exactly why." Jonas caught sight of Cindy and looked at her with a hideous rage. "And what the hell were you doing? I was trying to protect you, and you almost told them who you are." He turned back towards the group and threw his arms out. "Don't you guys get it? The world's going to end."

Cindy grabbed his arms and shook him. "Get a grip. We'll figure something out."

"Jonas." Michael's voice cracked. "I'm sorry."

Jonas turned to Michael and pulled away from Cindy.

"I mean it. I don't want you to hate me anymore. I know what I did was wrong, but I'm still your friend, regardless of how you feel about me," Michael said.

"This is the first time I actually believe an apology from you." Jonas offered his hand to him. Michael glanced back and forth between Jonas's eyes and his hand, and firmly shook it.

"I'm sorry for the way I acted," Jonas said.

"I just want this to be over," Michael replied.

"Well, I'm willing to put the past behind us, but we've still got a huge problem."

"I have an idea," Michael said.

***

They drove back to the hotel and chased after the setting sun. For the first time, there was no tension in the air. Though the ride was short, Cindy could tell by the subtle changes in Jonas's demeanor; that the cloud of depression was finally clearing away. They convened in Michael's room on the first floor and pushed the furniture against the wall so Michael could have room to maneuver.

Cindy settled on the couch. "So what's the plan? I think Jonas made it very clear that an army of me and Jadie would be a bad idea."

Jadie flung her hair back with the attitude of a supermodel. "Speak for yourself. I'm amazing."

Michael looked at Jadie with googly eyes. "I think you're amazing too."

Cindy clapped her hands. "The plan, Michael."

He rolled his wheelchair to the center of the room. "Well, I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but I think we can get the technology back. The government is going to confiscate the servers and laptops tomorrow evening. If we intercept the convoy, there's a chance we can steal the data back. Then we won't have to worry about them taking control of the nanosuits."

"Wait. What do you mean control of the nanosuits?" Cindy asked.

"Well." Jonas spoke up. "Now you see why I didn't want to hand over the technology. They'll know who you are once they turn on that terminal."

"Can they mind control us?" Cindy said.

Michael held onto his chin. "Mind control? I don't think so, but you saw what one little mistake in my programming did to you."

Cindy grimaced. She hated being constantly reminded of what she's done.

"So what's the plan, Michael?" Jadie said.

"The plan is to inject a virus into the SIRCA terminal after we've copied the data over to a hard drive. I'll program the virus to trigger once they get connected to the servers."

Cindy frowned. "Okay, but isn't the government going to be suspicious when they find a virus on the computer?"

"I can make the virus look like it came from their own network. It's a little complicated, but I'm pretty sure I can make it work. Once the servers connect to the SIRCA control terminal, the virus will mimic the server's local IP address and make it seem like they're the ones who introduced the virus."

"How are we supposed to do this against an armed military convoy?" Jadie asked. "Am I the only one seeing the big problem with this plan?"

Jonas rubbed his hands together. "You both have to suit up."

Cindy jumped and nearly knocked a lamp over. "Whoa, what do you mean 'we' and 'suit up'? Can't you just upload the virus remotely?"

"The computer's not going to have any internet or Wi-Fi access. There's a lot of forest between here and wherever they're going," Jonas said.

"Cindy, why are you freaking out? You were about to suit up at City Hall," Jadie said.

"That was only for a few minutes. This is different." Cindy pointed at her sister. "I almost killed you because of that damn suit."

"And I threw you out of a fifty story window." Jadie shrugged her shoulders. "It's in the past."

"This isn't a joke. I feel terrible about what happened." Cindy turned her back to the group and nervously rubbed her arms. "I can't do this mission for you, Jonas. Jadie can do it."

"You were about to volunteer to protect the city," Jonas said.

"I was desperate to do anything to save you."

"So why is this any different?"

Cindy paced around the room and ran her fingers through her hair. They don't understand, no one understands. "I've killed people because of that suit. I'm scared of it, okay?" She brought both hands to her neck and pulled hard against the skin. "You said the suit lowers inhibitions. Well I said yes every time Raymond offered me an assassination contract. What does that say about me, about who I am? " She lowered her head and stared at the floor. "I'm not as good as you think I am."

Jonas wrapped his arms around Cindy's body and leaned into her ear. "Hey."

"What?" she whispered.

"What happened to my confident, cocky wife?" he said.

"She's dead." Cindy was only half-serious.

"No she's not. You know what your problem is?"

She pointed her eyes to him.

"You're too hard on yourself. So you've made mistakes and hurt people, who hasn't? I don't know if you've noticed, but I haven't been sleeping that well either. I think you forget that I'm the one who created this mess. So I do know how you feel and I understand it, completely. That suit brought out the worst in all of us, but now you have an opportunity to do the right thing. I need that confident woman back, she's the only one keeping us all going."

Cindy nodded. "I'll do it."

__________

Later that night. Cindy was startled awake by the sound of a car door slamming shut. She slapped the nightstand for her phone and only heard the empty thud of old wood. She quietly rolled out of bed and gingerly pressed her feet to the floor. The wooden floorboards creaked loudly beneath her weight. She quickly turned to Jonas and watched his body slowly rise and fall like the rhythm of the ocean. He hadn't heard a sound.

Cindy walked over to the window and poked her fingers through the venetian blinds, creating a small gap. A pair of headlights came on followed by the sound of a truck driving away.

Jadie's SUV was gone.

She slowly released the blinds which swung back like a pendulum on a clock and searched for her cell phone. When she couldn't find it in the darkness, Cindy rubbed the back of her neck and quietly tucked herself back into the blankets.

"She'll be all right, I guess," Cindy whispered.

"What happened?" Jonas mumbled.

Cindy lightly gasped. "Are you awake?"

He didn't respond.

"Jonas?"

His throat gurgled before he went back to sleep. She chuckled and pressed her head into the pillow; her heavy eyelids fell to a close.

__________

The sizzle of fat and bacon stirred Cindy from her slumber. Her eyes burned and a pounding at the base of her skull made it seem like her head would split open. She sat up and buried her face in her hands.

"Jonas." Her voice croaked. She tapped her hand on his side of the bed and felt nothing but an empty mattress. After a quick shower and a change into a fresh pair of clothes, Cindy ambled down the stairs to find the others. But before leaving, she saw an empty vodka bottle and a carton of orange juice sitting in the trash. "That's weird."

She opened the screen door and stood on the first floor deck, inhaling the fresh, sea air. There was a crackling sound coming from behind the hotel and the murmur of people chattering. There were wet towels drying on a laundry line, an unfolded hammock with Jonas lying in it, bikes stacked up along the wall, and a grill still cooking sausages over glowing orange coals.

Michael was by the picnic table scraping up the last of his eggs when he saw Cindy walking towards them. He smiled and waved.

"Grab a plate," he said. "We made plenty."

She reached for an empty Styrofoam plate and took in the aroma of breakfast.

There was only one problem.

"I can't eat this stuff."

"Why not?"

Jonas got up from the hammock and walked over to the picnic table. "Because it's not a cheat day."

Cindy looked at the stuffed French toast, eggs, and bacon just calling her name. Her hunger jabbed at her stomach, goading her to fill her plate. All those calories, all that fat, all that delicious, forbidden food.

"I think I'm gonna cry," she said dramatically.

"No you're not, liar." Jonas took her empty plate and replaced it with a Styrofoam bowl. Inside was a banana stuffed with generous dollops of yogurt. There were sprinkles of granola and dark chocolate chips scattered over diced strawberries and blueberries.

Cindy's mouth dropped. She stared at her serving wondering if she could truly eat this. A strip of bacon fell into her bowl and Jonas beamed. "Because I know you're gonna want it and one piece of bacon isn't going to kill you."

"You made this, just for me?" She snapped a sliver of bacon into her mouth. It felt good to nip that craving in the bud.

"Before you ask. Yes, you can eat it. I know you want to keep your six pack."

"You like it." She put a spoonful of yogurt mixed with the other ingredients into her mouth. The first bite was a crunch of chocolate, followed by the cool soft cream of yogurt, and finished with a blast of juice from the fruit. "Oh my God, this is amazing."

He blew on his fingernails and wiped them on his shirt.

"You should get in shape like Cindy, Jonas," Michael said.

"I would, but I love food too much."

Cindy took another spoonful and looked around. "Have you—" she gulped loudly. "Excuse me. Have you guys seen my sister?"

Suddenly, there was a rattle of metal coming from the front of the house. It stopped and was then followed by a solitary honk. Cindy walked over to the front while the boys followed behind her. She peered past the banisters and saw a woman with dark bug eyed sunglasses, tan skin, and black hair knocking at the door.

"Do you need help?" Cindy said.

The woman jumped away from the door. "Oh! You startled me."

"Ameera?" Jonas said.

"Yes. I have arrived." Ameera took off her sunglasses and carefully walked down the stairs in her high heels. She waved to a trailer attached to a pickup truck and said, "I bring goods for his majesty's secret service. Well, not really, but it sounded stellar."

"Excellent." Jonas shook her hand and waved for Michael to come over. "Michael, have you met Ameera yet?"

"No, I haven't." Michael rolled past Cindy and greeted Ameera with a handshake. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Do I detect a British accent?"

"You caught me. I'm a Brummie."

"Ah, from Birmingham you say?"

"Yes, I'm impressed you knew that."

"I'm kind of a language nerd," Michael said.

Ameera laughed and patted Michael on the shoulder.

Cindy slowly dipped her spoon into the breakfast bowl, watching.

Jonas smiled at Ameera. "It's crazy that you're finally here. We were in the interview process, how long do you think, Michael?"

"I'd say four months."

"Four months we had to wait for you to finally get to America, and here you are." He turned to Michael. "Ameera is going to be our jack of all trades. Medicine, chemistry, networking, and some electrical engineering."

"I'm quite a whiz with numbers as well," she said.

"See, aren't you glad I hired her?" Jonas patted Ameera's shoulder.

Cindy dropped her spoon and pursed her lips. She caught her reflection in the hotel mirror, no makeup, a ratty old t-shirt that had the words "ninja gymnastics" faded on the left breast, hair in a messy ponytail, and then she looked at Ameera. Blouse, skirt, pumps, hair done all pretty. Cindy took in another mouthful, but the flavor was starting to lose its luster, or maybe she was losing her appetite.

Jonas looked at the trailer. "Is the equipment in the back?"

"Yes sir."

"See, Michael? You could learn a lesson in manners from her." Jonas looked over his shoulder and finally saw Cindy, alone, eating her breakfast. "I am so sorry." He waved Cindy over. "Ameera, this is my wife, Cindy."

She dragged her feet along the grass and gave a forced smile, but it was coming off as awkward constipation. Jonas continued to wave her over as if he were landing a plane. She stood in front of Ameera and caught a whiff of her perfume. It smelled lovely, and Cindy felt like she had been punched in the stomach. If her eyes could turn colors, they would be green right now.

"Hi, nice to meet you," Cindy said.

Ameera extended her hand and retracted it when she saw the bowl. "I see your hands are full. Sorry for interrupting your breakfast." She paused and gasped when she looked at Cindy's arms. "Not trying to be cheeky, but my word. Mrs. Ames you are crackin'."

Cindy touched her cheek and felt overcome with terror. "Are you saying I have dry skin? Where, where is it?" She pointed to random spots on her face.

"No, I mean." Ameera shook her head. "I'm so gormless. I'm saying your fit as a bird."

Cindy pointed to her muscles, confused.

"No, as in you're really pretty. I mean, yes you have a body to die for, but. Oh I'm making a mess of everything aren't I? I'm sorry, I've only been here a few weeks. I just wanted to pass you a compliment."

Cindy wasn't sure what just happened, but rather than allow the poor girl to continue suffering, she said, "Thank you."

Jonas yanked on a strap dangling from the bottom of the trailer and guided the folding door to the ceiling. "You're gonna love this, Cindy." He lowered the metal ramp and emerged from the back of the trailer holding onto the handlebars of a silver motorcycle. The brush script font written on its body read, "Ninja" and on the seat in white, bold lettering "Kawasaki." On the back of the seat was "ZX6R" with the "R" a shade of dark red.

"Who's riding that?" Cindy asked.

"You."

"Mr. Ames. I hate to leave so soon but I really must be off," Ameera said.

"Okay, hang on a sec. Do we know if Jadie has a hitch on her SUV?"

"Let me look," Michael said.

He rolled down the sidewalk and looked to the parking spot beside the hotel. "Yep, she's got one."

Cindy saw the cobalt SUV. "She's been here the whole time?"

The screen door opened and Jadie stepped out onto the deck. She stretched her arms to the ceiling and let out a big, exaggerated yawn while holding a glass of orange juice. "I was wondering where you guys were. You left the sausages on the grill."

"Oh crap!" Jonas let go of the strap and hopped off the bumper.

"Relax, I already took them off. They were really good by the way." Jadie took notice of Ameera. "Who's this?"

Ameera held out her hand. "Shudun, Ameera Shudun. I'll be working for Jonas at Lucent Labs."

"Jadie." She shook her hand. "British, huh?"

Cindy stepped in front of Jadie and said, "Yes. You should have come out earlier. Ameera's in a hurry to get back to New York."

"It's true. The boys want me to assist in packing up the equipment."

Jonas released the trailer from the hitch and let the metal frame crash to the floor.

"Okay, Ameera. You should be good to go."

"Smashing. I'll be off then. It was a pleasure meeting you all."

Ameera boarded the heavy duty pickup truck and fired up the diesel engine. The large truck dwarfed her, and Cindy smirked thinking that Ameera was driving this monstrous vehicle in heels. She was relieved that Ameera was finally gone but felt bad for feeling that way. Jadie wrapped her arm around Cindy's neck and pulled her in.

"I bet somebody was jealous." She took another sip of her OJ.

"I was not."

"Yeah, okay." Jadie walked up to the motorcycle and ran her hands along the black seat. "I see these all the time in motorsports and horrific car crashes. What's it for?"

"It's for tonight," Michael said.

Jonas leaned against the trailer, arms crossed. "Actually, we should discuss it now while we're all here and not being spied on anymore. This is not an ordinary motorcycle and you ladies will be using it for the mission. When you use your stealth camouflage to get close, the motorcycle will cloak in sync with your suits. Technically, the government should be confiscating this bike, but they don't know this prototype exists."

"So they're taking everything?" Cindy asked.

"Just weapons related stuff. A few servers, some computers, and some unfinished prototypes. Most of Raymond's stuff was destroyed when the building went down," Jonas said.

"All right. So, with the cloaking can I jump from the bike and stay invisible?" Cindy asked.

"I don't think so. The sudden movement will probably break the cloak."

"We'll figure something out," Jadie said.

"Once you get onto the truck. You need to power on the terminal with the SIRCA command console. Last night, I had the team remotely copy and install the program to the laptop that's here at the house."

"Wait, you could copy the files this whole time? Why don't you just store it off site and get it back after the government is gone?" Cindy said.

"Trust me, I thought of that. The problem is that they're going to run a traceroute and check the history of anything we may have transmitted from the lab. They're going to go through all e-mails, uploads, downloads in order to make sure that we didn't make copies of SIRCA. But, since we transferred SIRCA to my laptop, you'll have a chance to follow them.

"When you get inside and turn on the computer, plug in the portable hard drive to the USB port and let it run its script. It'll automatically copy the files and upload the virus. All you have to do is wait for it to finish."

Cindy nodded and turned to Jadie. "You ready for tonight?"

"Born ready."
CHAPTER 9:

Search and Seizure

One by one the vintage street lamps that dotted the road flickered to life. Cindy shifted in the leather passenger seat of the SUV and watched the people slowly emerge from their tents and beach houses. The sea air mixed with the smell of oil-fried funnel cakes and grills cooking hot dogs and hamburgers. The atmosphere on Main Street was electric. Children could be heard laughing uncontrollably, only silenced by the offer of an ice cream cone. The setting sun caused the sparklers to emit a halo on the faces of the people carrying them. Strangers were striking up conversations and everyone was in a jovial mood anticipating tomorrow night's 4th of July celebration. But Cindy had other things on her mind.

"I need to know something." Cindy turned to Jadie. "Where were you last night?"

"In bed, where else would I be?"

"Well, I woke up in the middle of the night and didn't see your car."

"Oh." Jadie leaned forward and rested her chin on the steering wheel. She stared out through the windshield, looking bored. "What do you care where I've been?"

"I don't, but there are people after us. Obviously, I'm going to be a little paranoid."

"I went to Belmar for some drinks."

"You went for drinks?" Cindy stared at Jadie. "Are you nuts? Knowing what we had to do tonight, you went for drinks?"

"It was just to relax, calm down."

"You're starting to sound like dad before he got sober."

"Stop being so dramatic."

A humvee pulled around the corner, followed by another, and another, until a handful of these trucks were barreling down the street, taking up both lanes.

"That's it. They're here." Jadie pointed to the windshield.

One truck in particular stood above the homogenous humvees. It was matte black and didn't reflect any of the ambient light surrounding it. They parked in front of the hotel and a swarm of agents poured out of the vehicles. Some of the men, dressed in all black with assault rifles slung around their shoulders, stood guard at the hotel's door. The rest of the agents quickly zipped in and out of the hotel, carrying the coveted SIRCA laptop.

"I think we're hitting that tank looking thing," Jadie said.

"Piece of cake," Cindy replied.

A few moments later, Jonas and Michael emerged from the hotel and watched the agents board their vehicles. The engines turned over and the headlights flashed on. Cindy and Jadie ducked and watched the white light illuminate the dashboard above their heads. They waited until the rumble of engines was gone before sitting up.

"Okay, show time," Cindy said.

The sisters moved to the back of the SUV and hid behind the tinted windows. Jadie closed her eyes. The liquid crimson pooled atop her skin like drops of water. Cindy watched the suit envelop her sister's body and suddenly heard the sound of giggling come from behind her. She jumped and snatched Jadie's hand.

"Wait."

A little boy peered into the window of the car while a family walked past. "Come on, Patrick" the mother said. The boy pulled away from the window and skipped back to his family.

Cindy let go of Jadie's hand and watched the suit slowly grow. The crimson goo expanded and spread across her skin, taking on an ornate and reflective texture. It ran down to her shoulders and ate away the fibers on the sleeves of her leather jacket, leaving behind a solid shell of ruby over her entire body. Strips of red metal shot out from her neck like a fireworks explosion and wrapped her head behind a wall of shiny ribbons. The streamers fused together into a thick helmet and two hollow sockets appeared where the eyes would be. The holes filled with a brilliant cyan light and the rest of her body turned into a canvas ruby metal, muscles and tendons visible through the armored skin. A loud hiss of oxygen filled the helmet. Jadie turned her head, her eyes illuminating the seats in front of her.

"Your turn." Jadie said in a slightly mechanical voice.

Cindy closed her eyes and imagined herself covered from head to toe in metallic silver. She could feel a wet, thin layer of film atop her skin. It grew heavier over time and started sinking her body into the seat. The flexible film was starting to harden like cured concrete. There was a tightness in her arms that pumped the muscles and made her feel stronger. She opened her eyes and saw the words [loading] float in front of her eyes. The letters faded and a series of diagnostic images flashed before the system loaded up the command interface. A small map, vital signs indicator, altitude, speed, compass, early warning radar, all populated the corners of her heads up display.

She looked down at her silver enveloped hands and saw her helmet and glowing eyes in the reflection.

"How do you feel? Crazy or not crazy?" Jadie asked.

Cindy clenched her fists and exhaled steadily. "Not crazy, so far. Should I be worried that I enjoy this?"

"Hell no. You look strong, it suits you. No pun intended."

Cindy reached into the front seat and picked up the hard drive. Using a bandolier Jonas fashioned out of rubber bands and metal rings, Cindy secured the hard drive around her chest. She nodded to Jadie and opened the car door, immediately falling to a crouch. She scanned the area with her radar and saw multiple white dots scattered along the beach, but none near her immediate area.

"Jadie, do you know how to read the radar?"

"Vaguely, remind me."

"A dot is a person, a square is a land vehicle, a triangle is an airplane. White is neutral, blue is friendly, red is enemy. Orange is the mission objective."

Jadie pointed to the motorcycle hidden behind the hotel on the lawn. "I don't see any white dots near us, we should be good to cross over."

They crept across the street with silent footsteps and pulled the tarp off the motorcycle. Cindy tossed the keys to Jadie and said, "You drive."

"Why do you want me to drive?"

"I have the hard drive."

"That's a lot of drives."

Cindy sat on the far end of the bike seat. "Hurry up, goofball."

Jadie shrugged her shoulders and stuck the keys in the ignition. One turn and the bike vibrated to life. She twisted the throttle and the engine revved loudly in response. They walked awkwardly off the lawn and onto the street. Cindy wrapped her arms around Jadie's waist and lifted her feet off the ground. They slowly pushed forward until Jadie twisted the accelerator. The engine roared to life and the power jolted the sisters backward in their seat.

They rounded the corner and saw the rear truck tailing the convoy surrounded by civilian cars. The radar populated with white squares and red squares in relation to their position. Cindy tapped Jadie's stomach and said, "Slow down, it's too early."

Jadie eased off the accelerator. The numbers on the HUD decreased to match the speed of the bike. Her ruby covered back flexed and moved as she weaved between traffic. Cindy stared at the black cargo truck until a tracking box appeared over it. The red box flickered for a few seconds and locked onto the vehicle. Cindy looked at the radar in the corner of her HUD and watched a red square turn orange, with a secondary rectangular outline circled around it.

She opened the system sub menu and selected [Ruby] from the dropdown, then [Share Data].

"Whoa, why is there a box in front of me?" Jadie asked.

"I'm sharing the tracking data with your suit."

"You can do that?"

"Yes."

"That's handy."

Jadie slowed down further and added more distance between them and the convoy. The tracking marker box shrank in size as the truck traveled further away, but the crosshairs remained locked onto its position.

"When do you want to do this?" Jadie asked.

"I'll let you know," Cindy said.

They merged onto the highway and gained speed heading southbound. A grassy center median lined with trees split the four lane parkway in half, leaving only two lanes for passing slower vehicles on the road. When the traffic became more sparse and scattered, Cindy tapped Jadie's shoulder and said, "Punch it."

Jadie leaned into the passing lane and gunned the throttle to full. The bike shot forward like an excited dog pulling on a leash and the engine gradually whined to a higher pitch. Trees melted into a palette of dark colors smudged together and a strong rush of wind rolled across their skin from passing each car. The needle on the speedometer hit eighty miles an hour and they could see the brake lights of the convoy just ahead. In the side view mirror, Cindy could see the face of the agent driving the humvee.

"Should we cloak?" Jadie asked.

Cindy tapped her shoulder and watched Jadie's body disappear before her very eyes. She looked down at her legs and the motorcycle was gone too, leaving only the dotted hashes on the street visible. The headlights were gone, and the sound of the engine was reduced to that of a remote controlled toy.

"Keep an eye out for any cars behind me, don't want to get run over," Jadie said.

"We're good. Let me look at the map real quick."

She expanded the minimap on her HUD and switched it to satellite view. She traced the snakelike highway south until she saw a bridge overpass. She found two roads overlapping, like a cross, just a few miles away.

"The cloak is about to shut off in a few seconds," Jadie said.

"Accelerate past the convoy."

"On it."

Jadie accelerated beyond one hundred miles per hour, but Cindy's HUD registered at one hundred and sixty kilometers an hour. Cindy rolled her eyes inside the helmet and wondered why it was set to metric. Jadie accelerated even faster and caused the engine to pitch higher than it had ever been. The sensation was like riding a rocket through a paved desert. Cindy held on tightly to Jadie's body and watched the streaks of taillights disappear behind them. At this speed, Cindy was deathly afraid of what would happen if they drove over one misplaced pebble.

When they passed the black cargo truck, Cindy and Jadie were shocked to discover it had no wheels. There was only an undulating, tangerine beam of light.

"It's a hovercraft?" Jadie said.

"I've never seen one like that."

Cindy scanned the truck to see if her library had any data on it. A small box appeared and the image of the vehicle rotated three-hundred and sixty degrees. Blocks of text appeared beneath the picture:

[The XM-15B "Warhorse" is a prototype cargo truck developed in conjunction with First Continental and Lucent Labs. The B is the hover variant of the vehicle, while the A variant features the more traditional large wheels. The XM-15B is capable of carrying up to 20,000 pounds (9,071kg) and is equipped to traverse almost any terrain. This is only feasible by utilizing the land skimmer hover engine located beneath the vehicle. The armor plating makes the vehicle resistant to explosives, but can still be incapacitated if the land skimmer is damaged. The vehicle is still considered to be in the prototype phase and is undergoing active testing by the military and government agencies.]

"Did you get that, Jadie?"

"Can't read right now. Gotta keep my eyes on the road."

"Watch out!"

Cindy yanked Jadie to the right. A cherry red Mustang flew past them and weaved between the two lanes of traffic. Their suits flickered for a moment before the bike stabilized in the right lane.

"Damn." Cindy looked back to see if the humvee driver noticed them. His head was turned, engaged in a conversation with someone in the passenger seat.

"Did they see us?" Jadie said.

"I don't know, they're talking to each other."

"Crap. Are we going to call this off?"

"No, but if I could shoot out the tires on that Mustang, I would. Let's get out of here before the cloak shuts off."

Jadie accelerated away from the humvees until their headlights were mere dots in the darkness. The tracking data displayed their distance from the convoy at approximately thirty-five hundred meters (two miles or so). Jadie deactivated the cloak and her ruby body appeared from out of nothing, like glass mirrors folding into position. Cindy sat up straight and stretched her arms.

"What are you doing?" Jadie said.

"There's an overpass coming up in five miles. Once we can see it, you need to slow down until there's only five hundred meters between us and the lead truck."

"So cloak and get five hundred meters in front, got it. What are you going to do?"

"You'll see."

Jadie slowed her speed and the headlights from the humvee grew into large spotlights. She re-activated the cloak and the stealth countdown timer reappeared. They had only a few minutes to execute the plan before the cloak would need to recharge. Cindy saw the overpass straight ahead, illuminated by the twin rows of orange street lights. She tapped Jadie's shoulder and said, "Keep it steady, I'm going to stand."

Cindy pushed on Jadie's shoulders and slowly straightened out her body, careful not to move too fast or risk breaking the cloak. Cindy lifted her left foot and placed it on the invisible cushion of the bike. Then she raised her right foot and pulled on Jadie's shoulders until she could stand. The bike wobbled from side to side, and Cindy's foot nearly slid off the cushion. She squeezed Jadie's shoulders until the bike stabilized. The cloak indicator started to beep, there were only two minutes left before shutdown.

"Stop wobbling the bike. I only get one shot at this."

"Wait, are you seriously going to jump?"

"Yeah, what do you think I'm doing? Practicing for the circus?"

Cindy focused on the approaching overpass and raised her right arm in its direction. The grappling hook launcher assembled on her forearm and added a heaviness to her limb. Her muscles sustained the added weight and allowed her to aim for the overpass. A rotating circle locked onto the bridge and distance numbers floated above it.

[500 meters] She mouthed the numbers and counted them down.

[300 meters] She tensed her legs.

[200 meters] The sound of a gun being fired snapped the air followed by the warbling of a steel cable uncoiling. The line tensed and sucked Cindy's arm until her body flew off the motorcycle. Her cloak flickered away, revealing the shiny armored body beneath it.

Cindy retracted the cable and catapulted her body beneath the overpass. The g-forces pressed hard on her body and squished all of her organs together. She lifted her knees and tucked her body as tightly as she could, narrowly avoiding her butt scraping into the highway pavement. She twisted and contorted to avoid the cars and saw the taillights of the Mustang that nearly clipped her earlier. The traffic had blockaded him into one lane with no room to maneuver.

This is too tempting to pass up, she thought.

As she swung past, Cindy stretched her leg out and smashed her foot into the taillight. The Mustang's rear lights instantly flashed on and Cindy hid the foot with the red shards of glass still stuck on it. "Serves you right, jackass."

She saw the pavement rolling beneath her legs, but centripetal force and the grapple tether pulled her body up into a loop. Cindy experienced a moment of weightlessness and watched the tree line sink before her eyes with the night sky surrounding her floating body. She neared the end of her rotation and saw the lights of the overpass and a line of cars roll beneath her as she flew over the highway. A literal loop-dee-loop over the bridge.

At the end of her loop, gravity started to pull her back down. The tracking box appeared from the bottom of her HUD and locked to the center of the screen as the Warhorse came into view. Cindy detached the grappling hook and tucked her body into a back flip.

She rolled through the air, like she had done in so many gymnastics tournaments and closed her eyes, praying that the Warhorse would be beneath her feet. She slammed onto the roof and heard the loud clang of metal striking metal. She opened her eyes and saw the plated roof of the Warhorse beneath her. Cindy clutched her chest and made sure the hard drive was still intact.

Jadie called in on the comm-link. "That was awesome."

Cindy chuckled. "Did anyone notice?"

"Hard to tell."

"There's no going back now. Stay close by, I'll be done soon."

Cindy was impressed by the absolute lack of vibration on the Warhorse. If she hadn't seen the trees scrolling past her, she wouldn't have known the truck was even moving. She crouched down and carefully crept to the back of the hovercraft. She spotted the truck following behind and fell into a prone position. She crawled to the edge of the vehicle and reactivated stealth mode.

Cindy stuck her head over the side and noticed the back of the Warhorse was a solid plate of obsidian metal. Cindy could see hydraulic cylinders at the base and a small gap at the top. There was an LCD screen next to the hatch, but Cindy couldn't reach it. It probably opens the door, she thought.

"Jadie."

"Yeah?"

"I need a distraction."

"On it."

Cindy stared at the truck following behind, her HUD dimming the brightness of the headlights against her eyes. Jadie deactivated her cloak and appeared next to the humvee with a brilliant blue sword in her hand. She swiped her sword across the side of the humvee and disappeared immediately after. The tires exploded and spat out chunks of rubber onto the highway. The yellow hazard lights flashed on, and the humvee pulled onto the shoulder.

Cindy looked back down at the hatch and activated claw mode. Her fingers stretched out and developed sharp points at the tips. She wedged her talons into the gap, but her fingers kept slipping out whenever she tried to pry the door open. Sensing that the claws wouldn't work, Cindy deactivated claw mode and tapped the armor plating of the truck. While her fingers shrank down to normal size, the glow of the LCD screen caught her attention. She wondered if she could access it remotely.

The targeting reticule locked on and a little progress bar with the word [accessing] appeared.

[ERROR: Cannot lower ramp while vehicle is in motion].

Jadie's voice crackled over the comm-link. "Cindy, we've got a problem. Did you break Mustang's tail light?"

"Maybe."

A truck horn blared loudly behind her, in the direction where the Mustang would be.

"Well, he's trying to pull over the convoy now. You need to hurry, this guy is crazy."

Cindy looked at the control panel again and selected remote hack from the submenu. The progress bar filled up and then the words [access granted] blinked in front of her eyes. A series of numbers and formulas appeared, but a specific line of code stood out to her.

[Full open = ;lower ramp; 100%]

She changed the value to twenty five percent and waited. A hydraulic whirr emanated from the hatch and it unfolded open. Cindy bit her lip in anticipation and prayed that the plate wouldn't scrape along the floor. When the hatch came to a stop, it created a gap that was barely large enough for her to fit through. Cindy threw her feet over the side and slid between the opening. She gripped the roof of the Warhorse and lowered herself into the back.

Once inside, Cindy looked around. There were gunmetal panels lining the walls and big blocks of servers covered in plastic wrap on the left side. At the far end were various machines and devices with the words Lucent Labs stamped on them. On the right were two laptops, one on top of a bench and another in a crate below it.

Cindy pressed the power button on the first laptop. The screen switched on instantly, and the machine was already booted into the desktop start menu with the SIRCA window open.

She unfastened the bandolier and pulled the hard drive out from the case. She held the USB in her hand and went to plug it in, but there was a thumb drive sticking out from the port. She yanked out the device and scanned it with her suit [Generic USB thumbdrive]. When she looked back at the laptop, there was an error message [Could not finish file transfer, device disconnected].

Cindy froze in place and didn't make any sudden movements.

Someone was here.

She pressed [OK] on the error message and quickly plugged in the hard drive. The drive was recognized and the script automatically triggered. The files began to transfer over, but then something ripped Cindy away from the laptop and bent her body backward.

Cindy clawed at her neck and felt the presence of someone's forearm squeezing tightly around her throat like a snake. The assailant wrenched her neck again, grunting while pressing tighter against Cindy's carotid artery. The suit flashed a warning sign that oxygen levels were dwindling rapidly and sent a blast of O2 gas into her helmet. Cindy gritted her teeth and slammed her foot one step forward. She contracted her abdominals until they cramped and lifted the assailant off his feet.

She threw her elbow back and crashed through the armor on the attacker's stomach. The assailant let go, but the dizziness still lingered in Cindy's head. She spun around and raised her hands into a Krav Maga fighting stance, up on the balls of her feet, both arms close to the body, hands protecting her head. She looked at the attacker and saw that he wore a black sneaking suit: combat boots, a vest with tactical belt and gadgets attached to it, glowing green goggles, and a black mask. But something was off, the curve of the hips, the slender arms, the shape of the chest—

It was a woman.

Cindy charged at her attacker and transferred her weight into the left hip, throwing a kick at the woman's abdomen. She intercepted her leg and threw a punch into Cindy's armored stomach. The impact made a distinct clang and pushed Cindy back, but the suit prevented her from feeling any pain. The woman, on the other hand, unclenched her fist and wriggled her fingers.

Cindy twisted her body and threw an elbow strike aimed for the woman's head. The infiltrator ducked under her elbow and then wrapped her hands between the crook of Cindy's bicep and forearm. She locked the arm in place then wrenched it backwards. The bone-splitting pain caused Cindy to wail in agony, but the woman wasn't finished. She placed her hand on Cindy's shoulder and slammed her to the floor. While Cindy waited for the ceiling to stop spinning, the attacker took a step back, dusted off her hands, and patiently stood watch.

Cindy flipped onto her feet and put her hands back up. She kept her eyes on the woman and took small steps backward so she could keep her at range. It was clear to her that this woman had training.

Cindy tried to scan her, but there were no database entries. She closed the gap between them and lobbed a punch at the woman's head. The assailant dodged to the side and hooked her hand around Cindy's wrist. One painful twist and the tendons in Cindy's forearm snapped painfully. She yelped and tried to regain control of her wrist; but the woman stepped back and led Cindy around like a dog on a leash.

Cindy lunged towards the woman with her free hand, but the woman used Cindy's momentum against her and hurled her to the floor. The weight of her body left her unable to stop and caused Cindy's suit to clang across the floor and skid to a stop. Cindy clutched her wrist and expected a followed up attack, but it never came.

The woman stood near the hatch and waited. Cindy realized that the woman wanted to fight hand to hand, but was it for honor or for pride? "Who are you?"

The woman remained silent.

Cindy shook off the pain emanating from her wrist and raised her hands into a combat posture. The woman charged forward with both hands balled into fists. Cindy ducked beneath the initial punch and rammed her shoulder into the infiltrator's torso. The satisfying crunch of metal against Kevlar reinvigorated Cindy to fight back. She ran towards the back of the truck with the woman on her shoulder and smashed her through the hatch. The ramp burst open and sent the black-clad spy tumbling out the door and onto the highway.

The spy scrambled to her feet and stared at Cindy through her glowing emerald goggles. Shrinking in size as the truck continued to speed away.

Cindy feared the convoy would surely pull over by now. She returned to the laptop and saw that the files had finishing copying over. However, she was paranoid that something might happen to the little hard drive. If for some reason it doesn't boot up or the data is lost, then this mission would have been in vain. Cindy placed her hand on the keyboard and instructed SIRCA to copy the files into her suit. When the file transfer commenced, she noticed that the truck was slowing down and the ramp was still sparking along the highway pavement.

"Cindy what the hell happened? The trucks are starting to pull over and so is the Mustang. You need to get out of there, now," Jadie said.

Cindy remote hacked the control panel and set the ramp to close the open doorway. The download was only at fifty percent and she could hear the shoulder-side gravel being crushed by giant tires. Cindy accessed the control panel again and shut off the interior lighting.

Ninety percent done, and she could hear the muffled sounds of a man arguing. The trucks were closing in, and conversation was surrounding her. She tapped the laptop rapidly.

The transfer was complete. She held the power button on the laptop and tapped her foot while the door slowly came to a close. "Come on, hurry up."

Finally the screen powered off. Cindy ran to the back door, but the door had sealed shut.

"Oh crap." She sat for a moment in darkness, contemplating her next move. She could hear the sound of voices just outside the hatch and combat boots walking over pavement.

"Hey, what's going on in the front?" a voice said.

"Some dude in a Mustang is freaking out because he thinks we hit his car."

"Oh, I gotta see this," the voice replied.

Cindy switched to a thermal view and saw the rainbow colored bodies of agents through the plating of the truck. Cindy waited for them to leave and slightly opened the rear hatch. She engaged her cloak, pulled herself onto the roof, and shut the hatch. "Jadie, pick up," she whispered. "Where are you?"

"In front of the convoy," Jadie said.

Cindy jumped off into the woods and hid behind the trees, still wary of an agent seeing her through the cloak. While navigating through the brush, her HUD glitched and showed her a random series of numbers. It went away and she continued on her route but then it happened again. The interface became garbled and the screen was starting to flicker in short intervals. Then a dull pressure started squeezing at the sides of her head and stung her eyes. She shook it off and continued on her way. When she walked past the front of the convoy, she saw the agents tackle the driver of the Mustang to the ground.

Finally she found Jadie waiting on the side of the road a few feet up ahead. Cindy gave Jadie a high-five and hopped onto the back of the bike.

"Mission accomplished."
CHAPTER 10:

A Personal Struggle

Cindy and Jadie pulled around the corner and arrived in front of the soft cantaloupe glow of the hotel's windows. Jadie revved the engine with gusto, then shut off the ignition, letting the engine click to a stop. The hotel door opened and Jonas came running down the steps like a child chasing after an ice cream truck.

Cindy waved the hard drive and sang with a cadence. "I got it."

Jonas bear hugged Cindy off the bike and gave her a huge kiss on the cheek. He took the hard drive from her and wrapped it around his neck.

Jadie took out the keys to her car and said, "We need to go out and celebrate. Where's Michael?"

Jonas dug his hands into his pockets and glanced at the floor. "He's sleeping. We'll tell him what happened tomorrow." His foot nervously scuffed the pavement.

Jadie rolled her eyes and walked over to the SUV. The car beeped and the lights flashed as she opened the door. Cindy looked over her shoulder and saw Michael's face peering through the hotel window. She glanced over at Jonas, but he was already in the back seat of the car. She took one final glimpse at the hotel and watched the curtain close.

After a short drive, Jadie pulled into the parking lot of a bar called The Mariner Catch. The apostrophe and the S had fallen off. Jonas immediately protested. "What are we doing at a bar?"

Jadie turned to him and said, "We're celebrating. I'll see you guys inside." The interior lights flashed on and off and only the scent of Jadie's perfume lingered behind.

"Not quite what I had in mind," Jonas said. "I thought we were going out to eat."

Cindy leaned on the armrest and turned to him. "What else does go out and celebrate mean?"

"You know I don't drink."

"You don't have to drink; you can just have a soda."

He grimaced and crossed his arms.

"Can I ask you something?" Cindy rubbed her hands, nervously. "I saw Michael in the window, why didn't we bring him?"

Jonas smirked and patted the seat beside him. "Come to the back seat with me."

"Why would I do that?"

"Just come here."

She unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed over the center armrest into the back of the car. She fell into the seat next to him, squealing on the way down, and passed him a curious glance while laying flat on her back.

He rested his head on his index finger and gawked at her with a slight grin. "Why are you sitting so far away?"

"Where do you want me to sit?" She flashed her beautiful smile to him.

Jonas patted his lap.

"I'm not doing that."

"Come on," he said with a smooth, mellow tone.

She sighed and crawled over the leather upholstery. The seat squeaked and groaned as she straddled his lap. "Now what?" she said with a smile.

Jonas untucked her shirt from her jeans and ran his fingers along her waist. "I didn't ask Michael to come, because then I wouldn't be able to do this." His fingers stopped at the button of her pants, and with one fluid movement, he slid the button through the gap and glanced at her laced panties.

Cindy threw her hands down and covered herself. "What are you doing?"

He unclasped her hands and ran his finger along the elastic band of her underwear, caressing her soft skin. "This is what you wanted isn't it? I'm thanking you for being amazing, and brave, and being incredibly sexy."

"Now?" Cindy rolled her shoulders seductively and placed her arms around his neck. "Jadie's waiting inside."

He slid his hand along her smooth back and massaged the nape of her neck with the other. He pulled her towards his lips until they touched, the linger of mouthwash still fresh on his breath. They kissed and a surge excitement flooded throughout her body, making her feel light-headed. She felt his hand trace along the curves of her lower back, fiddling with the strap of her bra, driving her crazy with lust. She unbuttoned Jonas's shirt and ran her fingers across his collarbone. She kissed his neck and then kissed her way up to his handsome face. They kissed for what seemed like an eternity. All those months of not being together came rushing for this one moment. Jonas started to lift her blouse, the chill of air running across her exposed skin. Cindy brought her arms down and pushed his hands away.

"We shouldn't." She buttoned her pants back together.

"What? We're married. What's the problem?"

"It's Jadie's car."

"So what?"

"It feels disrespectful." Cindy grabbed Jonas's wrist and checked his watch. "Oh my God, it's been fifteen minutes already."

She tucked her blouse into her pants. "I'm sorry, we'll do it later, I promise."

"Aw, come on."

She quickly opened the door and stepped into the cool night air surrounding the parking lot. "Are you coming?"

"Nah, I think I'm the designated driver tonight. I'll wait for you here."

"Are you sure? Just for a little while."

"No, you go ahead. Besides you kind of started something . . ." he glanced at his pants.

"Oh." She bit her lip and debated going back in the car. "Yeah, we'll definitely take care of that later. I love you." She pecked him on the lips. "I'll be back."

"Please don't come back drunk, that'll really kill my mood."

"I won't."

Cindy entered the bar and coiled back at the stench of cigars and old bottles. The wall was discolored sea foam green wallpaper, stained yellow from years of cigarette smoke. There was a wooden ship's wheel that hung on the wall accompanied by pictures of Belmar beach during the 1960's. A giant plastic sword fish hung from the ceiling overlooking the bar while the utensils and napkins had fishing rods decorated all over them. Maybe I should have stayed with Jonas after all, she thought.

At the counter was a collection of empty vodka bottles and a hunched over, Jadie. She threw her head back, inhaled the liquid, and slammed the cup down on the counter. The bartender, with his horseshoe pattern baldness and battleship tattoo on his forearm, refilled another glass for Jadie.

"You can have as many as you want." He placed the bottle of vodka on the bar.

"Music to my ears," Jadie said.

Before Jadie could take another shot, the bartender tapped her forearm and pointed to Cindy. Jadie smiled and waved for her to come over. She happily tapped the bar stool beside her, then slumped back in her chair.

"What took ya so long?" she said.

"Jonas and I had to talk about something."

"Jeez. What the heck were you guys talking about?" She took another shot.

"Are these all yours?" Cindy gestured to the empty bottles.

"Which response will get me in less trouble? No, right? The answer is no."

Cindy watched her sister's eyes. They lacked the vibrant, positive aura that they normally radiated. Instead her blue eyes looked lethargic and vacant. "How many drinks have you had?"

"Who cares. Drink something already. I've already got a huge lead on you, like, huge."

Cindy grumbled under her breath and clenched her jaw. She looked at Jadie's deteriorating mannerisms and thought back to all the clues she had seen these past few days: the smell of alcohol on Jadie's breath when she found her at the hospital, her disappearance last night, the empty vodka bottle she found in the garbage next to an empty carton of orange juice.

The bartender walked up to Cindy and asked, "What are ya havin'?"

"Water."

"A water?" Jadie slapped the counter. "Bring her a gin and tonic."

The bartender gave Cindy a glance. She sighed and nodded.

"What type of gin? We have Tanqueray or the house gin."

"Surprise me."

He grabbed an unlabeled green bottle from the shelf and mixed its contents with the bar gun. He slid the glass over the countertop and disappeared into a back room. The rest of the bar was pretty much abandoned, not even the TV was on in the background. Cindy fiddled with her glass and took a deep breath.

"Jadie, I have to talk to you about something."

"Yes?"

"Well, let me try this first." She took a sip of tonic and nearly retched the second it hit her tongue. "Ugh, that's terrible. Tastes like poison."

Jadie laughed and took the glass from her hand. She sipped Cindy's drink and seemed unphased by the flavor. "Tastes like a Gin and Tonic. A very bitter, Gin and Tonic. Anyway, what did you want to ask me."

Cindy leaned in and Jadie backed off. "Why are you getting close to me? There's no one here," Jadie said.

"Get back here. I'm trying to talk about something private and I don't want you to get mad."

"Just say it, " she said impatiently.

"Do you have a drinking problem?"

"Ha! Don't be ridiculous."

"I've seen a lot of alcoholics when I was a cop. You know how daddy was."

"Cindy, I just like to drink once in a while."

"You would drink morning, noon and night if you could."

Jadie didn't even bother to respond. She lifted another shot glass to her lips and threw it back. The bottle of vodka on the bar was almost half gone.

Cindy grabbed her arm. "Let's go home."

Jadie ripped her arm free. "Get off of me!" She settled back in her chair and grasped the bottle. "I'm happy right here. Come on, we just had a great mission. You should be celebrating with me like we used to do in the old days." She put a shot glass in Cindy's hand. "Do one with me."

Cindy put the glass down. "I don't want to drink that much anymore. I got tired of feeling like crap every morning."

"Well the Cindy I remember used to flirt and get us free drinks. You were more fun back then."

Cindy grasped the neck of the vodka bottle and pulled on it. Jadie yanked the bottle back. "Get off. I already paid for it."

"Jadie." She patted her on the shoulder. "How did this happen?"

Jadie jerked away and stared at the bottle label. "How did what happen?"

"You never drank this much, and we drank a lot back then."

"It helps me forget, okay? Just drop it."

"Forget what?"

She didn't say anything.

"Was this before New York?"

"Way before."

"Before the Coast Guard?"

She became still. "No."

Cindy softened her expression and gently said, "Did something happen in the Coast Guard?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Did rescuing drunk, overboard passengers finally get to you?"

Jadie pounded the bottle on the counter and turned to Cindy. "I screwed up! Okay?" Her breath was rank with alcohol.

"Okay, okay, I'm not trying to antagonize you."

Jadie rolled the bottle in her hands and stared at the sloshing liquid. Cindy pulled out her wallet but Jadie stopped her.

"It was during a flood," she whispered.

Cindy threw some money on the bar, never breaking eye contact with her sister.

"I was in Missouri after finishing some tours in Alaska. I didn't think much of it at the time, but all those rescues I did really impressed the higher ups, especially because I was a woman. So they asked me to train some rookies in Missouri.

"Now, that didn't really sound like an exciting job to me. I mean, who wants to train a bunch of newbies when you can be out there saving lives? But they told me it wouldn't be permanent, they just wanted to me to be a role model. I mean, my name was already on the hall of fame, what more did they want?"

"You never told me you were in the hall of fame. Did you tell Mom and Dad?" Cindy said.

Jadie nodded her head. "No, I didn't really care for it."

"What? That's a big deal."

"It's not like gymnastics where you flaunt a medal around. You go in, you do your job, and you don't brag about it. Anyway, I had been in Missouri for a few months and one day, it just poured. I mean, like Noah's ark poured. It was so bad that you couldn't even see five feet in front of you. But it was just another regular day for me.

"After rescuing a few dozen people, my crew and I went back to base and started discussing where we were going to celebrate. Before I could even take my helmet off, the base commander walked up to me and said, 'Sorry, you're going back up. There's a family stranded on the roof of a car and we're fueling up the chopper right now.' So, I said, 'No problem. Just make sure my coffee is hot by the time I get back.'"

Jadie took a break and massaged her forehead.

"It was a mother and two boys," her voice rasped. "One was ten and the other was six, so they were just little babies, you know? The mother was a heavy woman, and I knew she was going to be a challenge, but back then I was in the greatest shape of my life. The car was some kind of generic white sedan, so it wasn't going to last long in the flood. I could still remember that sky when I close my eyes. It was muddy grey with clouds so dark, they almost looked like smoke. As the rain hit my face, I just had this feeling that something was going to go wrong.

"I jumped in the water with the rescue basket trailing behind me, and that's where the first problem started. The wind picked up and made the basket swing in wide angles over their heads. It got so close that the mom covered her kids and ducked. I couldn't risk them getting knocked into the water, so I signaled for my team to hoist the basket back in. I was gonna do the rescue manually.

"The water was a mud brown and smelled like fish. I could feel debris brushing up against my leg and I couldn't tell if it was leaves or someone's clothing. The current was so strong I had to put all my strength into reaching that car. I held onto the roof of the car and gave them the usual speech. 'I'm a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, I'm here to help you. I can only carry one of you at a time, but I will get you all out of here.' The mother looked at me and said, 'Can't you take both of my boys?' I told her that it was too dangerous without the basket. I didn't want to risk them slipping out of my arms.

"So as I was floating there, the oldest boy grabbed his little brother and pushed him to me. 'Take my brother first!'"

Jadie stopped. Her eyes turned red and she sniffled.

"Are you okay?" Cindy said.

Jadie hissed and rubbed her eyes. "I took the little boy and went back up. And when I looked over the edge to jump back down . . . boom. A tree fell from out of nowhere. The mom protected the boy and let herself get pushed into the water by the tree while he stayed on the car. So now I had a choice, grab the boy or grab the mom. The mom was in the most danger, so I went after her first.

"I jumped back in, pushed past the debris, and caught up to the mom. There was a bit of blood on the back of her head but nothing too serious. And then, by the grace of God, the wind died down. I looked up at my crew and signaled for the quick strop."

She paused and looked at Cindy. "It's a safety harness."

"Oh."

"All the mom kept on saying while I was wrapping her up in the harness was, 'Please, get my boy. Don't worry about me, just save my boy.' I said, 'Don't worry, I'll get him.'"

Jadie stopped again. Her chin trembled, and then a tear spilled from one of her eyes. "Damn it." She pressed her fist into her eye let just a few more drops fall.

"I sent her up and went straight for that kid as soon as she was airborne. I started swimming back to the car and my body was just spent. After saving all those people earlier, my limbs were burning from exhaustion. But I knew, I knew I could finish the job. I finally caught up to the car and told the kid that everything was going to be all right. We waited for the harness and then . . . it happened."

"What happened?"

"A rock, literally came out of the water and hit the bottom of the car. I don't know if it floated past, or if we suddenly dropped lower, but it caught the belly and flipped the whole thing on its side. My radio went ballistic and all I heard while I was underwater was, 'I lost visual on the swimmer, I lost visual on the swimmer, I can't see Jadie.'

I swam back up and looked for the boy. And when I saw him, his head looked like a basketball in a swimming pool, flailing his arms because he couldn't swim.

Her voice started to crack. "I knew I could catch him, right?"

Cindy didn't understand Jadie's statement, was it a question? Her sister dropped her head and burst into tears which fell into her glass. Cindy rubbed her shoulders but Jadie was inconsolable.

"I used every—ounce of my strength to catch up to him. I grabbed his wrist and yanked him towards me. He was in my arms, I had him, he was breathing, he was okay. I called for the harness and started swimming backwards, past the cement pillars from a bridge overpass. Then from out of nowhere, all I heard was 'watch it, watch it, debris on your six!' from my flight mechanic."

Jadie slapped her hands together. "Bam. There was a plane floating in the water and its wing—" Jadie tapped the back of her head. "Hit me right here," her voice cracked.

"I let him go." The tears fell from her eyes again. "I let him go." She turned to Cindy, her eyes like crystals. "I'd be dead, Cindy. If I didn't have that helmet on, I'd be dead. How was I supposed to hold on?"

Jadie covered her face and sobbed into her hands. Cindy reached out and patted Jadie's shoulder. "Hey, it's okay, it's okay. No one would be able to hold on after taking a hit like that, no one."

"That's what I trained for!" she yelled. "I swam down the river and the helicopter chased after me. The flight mechanic's screaming in my ear, 'Jadie, it's getting too dangerous. You need to get back on board.' But I kept on swimming even though I couldn't see him anymore. I dove underwater and tried to feel for his arms, but all I felt was water and tree branches.

"Grant, my flight mechanic, said to me in the calmest voice I had ever heard him speak. 'Let him go. He's gone—you can't save him now.' They lowered the trail line over my head and I—I let him go. I let him drown."

Jadie thumbed the label on the vodka bottle. "I had to look at the mother and tell her that I couldn't save her son. To this day, I could still remember how she reacted. She frowned, nodded her head, hugged her last son, and quietly sobbed all the way back to base."

Jadie collapsed into the bar counter and wept.

"You did your best, it's not your fault," Cindy said.

"It wasn't good enough."

"There are two people out there that are still grateful you saved their lives. Don't make those rescues meaningless."

Jadie sniffled and looked up at Cindy. Her blue eyes looked almost white from all the tears. "What do you mean?"

"You're drinking and obsessing over one loss. Yet you've saved dozens of people. It sounds to me that this was your first and only loss."

"Yeah."

"Jadie, a record like yours is not worth getting drunk over. It means you don't care about the people you saved."

Jadie stared at Cindy for a long while. "But they do matter to me."

"Then act like it. You can't always be perfect. Sometimes you have to accept that these things were meant to happen."

"Says the gold medalist. You win at everything you do. You lost weight when you were fat, you won gymnastics and karate tournaments, and you beat me in New York. Don't think I forgot that."

"Well, no I think you forgot something else. I quit my job on the police force because I couldn't look my partner in the eye after I shot him in the back. I was ninety pounds and dying of malnutrition because I wanted to be pretty and popular in high school. Oh and let's not forget how I almost screwed up my marriage. Does that sound like a winner to you?"

There was a loud crash outside of the bar. The bartender came running out of the back room.

"What the hell was that?" Jadie said.

Cindy raised her hand. "Excuse me. We're going to pay for our drinks and leave now."

"Keep the money," he said.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Just get your sister some help. She's a good kid."

Jadie shrugged her shoulders and raised the vodka bottle to her lips. Cindy gently grabbed the bottle out of her hand. "Enough of that." Jadie begrudgingly stumbled off the barstool and Cindy took her money back. Cindy put Jadie's arm around her shoulder and walked back to the car.

A sparkle from the parking lot caught her eyes. There was a pile of translucent rocks scattered on the floor near the driver side door of Jadie's SUV.

"Glass," Cindy said.

Jadie's response was slow. She blinked deliberately like her eyelids were weighed down by bricks. "What?"

Cindy threw Jadie's arm off and ran up to the SUV. She took one glimpse inside and jumped back, covering her mouth with trembling hands. "No."

Jadie ran up beside her. "What, what's wrong?"

Tiny glass shards lined the edges where the window once was. Inside the darkened interior was a slumped over body—Jonas's body. His face ran slick with blood. His eyes were swollen, and his nose was twisted in the wrong direction. There was blood smeared all over the seats and steering wheel. The hard drive was missing and on his chest was a photo. Cindy grabbed the photo and saw the picture of the woman she fought inside the cargo truck. She flipped it over and found a note.

'Better luck next time.' She crumpled the paper and threw it on the floor.

"Jonas?"

Cindy pulled on the door handle and his body lurched out of the door like a corpse. She dropped to her knees and caught his mangled body in her arms. She shook her head, her voice quivering with every repetitive no that she uttered.

"Oh God, no, no, Jonas, not you."

She buried her head into his chest—

—and screamed.
CHAPTER 11:

Test Trial

"Get ready to celebrate the fourth of July with a bang. CEO of pharmaceutical company Zhu Feng Medical, Jianjun Dingxiang, has announced plans to showcase a brand new spacecraft. It's called the Cestus Dei and it will be making an appearance in New York City this July 4th. The aircraft was originally designed by the late Joseph Van Eisler, former head of Starlight Industries. But after his passing, Mr. Ding provided the funding to complete the ship. For the cost of one-hundred thousand dollars, lucky ticket holders can expect a high atmospheric tour that is completely out of this world. To kick off its arrival in New York City, Mr. Ding has promised us a fantastic fireworks display worthy of its Chinese-American heritage."

Jun made a hand gesture to lower the volume on the TV. A woman kissed his neck as he reached for a glass of wine. He took a sip and ignored her affection.

"Want another drink?" he said.

"No thanks."

He turned away. "Don't like it, huh." He took another mouthful and laid the glass beside a picture on the nightstand.

"No, silly. You already got me in bed." She traced his tattoos with her fingers and nibbled around the scars on his neck. The glint from the silver picture frame caught Ling's attention. She laid the picture of the unknown woman flat on the nightstand.

"Don't do that."

"Why? Who is she?"

"Someone you could only hope to be."

Jun rolled out of bed and pulled on his boxers. He took the frame of the woman and set it upright.

"I don't care if you have a wife," Ling said.

Jun rushed the prostitute. His eyes were wild and his jawbone protruded in and out his cheek. He squished her cheeks together and hissed. "Don't talk about her." He shoved her face back. "You take my money, but would you take a bullet for me?"

She rubbed her cheeks and tried to speak through her trembling lips. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it."

Jun walked away to an adjacent room.

"Where are you going, Jun?"

"I need to make a phone call."

He walked into his closet and stared into the mirror. He touched the round scar closest to his heart where the bullet had entered and sighed. "Mai." he whispered. A holographic display appeared in front of him. Different designer suits were composited over his body. He waved his hand and scrolled past different styles of suits. He settled on a suit jacket with an eagle pattern that wrapped over his shoulder.

The icon blinked and the closet began to move. He stretched out his arms and waited for the mechanical hands to come out from the walls. They appeared with a dress shirt held in their robotic fingers and slid his arms through the sleeves. The gizmos whirred and rapidly buttoned up his shirt before throwing an eagle print jacket over his shoulders. A pair of pants was presented to him and he stepped into the pile of fabric. The robot arms slid the pants up, buttoned everything together, and finished with a pair of glossy shoes and a spritz of cologne. He whipped out a comb, brushed his hair back, and walked out of the closet.

His female companion was still in his bed.

"You're not dressed?" he said.

"I thought we were going to spend some more time together." she replied.

"So you can cost me more money? Get out."

"I'm sorry about the picture. I won't mention it again."

He poured himself another glass of homebrewed Chinese wine. "Take the money on the nightstand and get out." He took a sip of wine and didn't bother to look at her. After he heard the door slam shut, he glanced at the nightstand. The bundle of yuan sat untouched. "Should've taken the money."

He walked past his punching bag and into the main atrium of his mansion. The home was a mix of modern Chinese aesthetic and classic Americana style. The hallway next to his bedroom had a rock waterfall that ran along the side of the wall, with koi fish swimming inside the basin. The scroll adorning the top of the rockwall read: "A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows public opinion."

He passed through a pagoda style archway and entered a room that looked like it came out of the Wild West. Wooden floorboards creaked beneath his footsteps and vintage lamps tinted the living room with an amber glow. At the center was an enormous tree illuminated by the overhead light from a glass skylight. At the base was a small pond and pedestal that contained various knobs, switches, and lights.

A chime rang from the pedestal. The holographic screen flashed the words: [Unknown caller]. But Jun knew who it was, it was the Black Rook.

He waved his hand and the pedestal in front of the tree blinked to life. A stream of water shot up towards the ceiling and hovered in place as if suspended by glass. A distorted image of a man's head appeared in the wall of water.

"So?" the man said in a garbled voice.

"I have the files, my techs are building a prototype as we speak."

"And the drug?"

"Works, but needs continued exposure."

"And to trigger it?"

"Advertising. Digital and traditional."

"This wouldn't work in the Middle East. You know that. They can't afford your drugs and won't stop fighting to look at your advertisements."

"I'm not planning on selling the pharmaceuticals to the Middle East."

"Then what is your plan, Jianjun? Why are we wasting time on foolish drugs and not focusing your resources on more practical means?"

"Is money not a practical mean? Open your eyes to the bigger picture. Look at how much money is made in health care. Keep people sick and they come back for more treatments. What if you could control them whenever they took your pill? If I can infect a population center, they will be forced to consume my drug, then you will have an army and the money to support it."

The voice laughed from behind his encrypted screen. "You think Alexis would do that? You are a fool. She would never agree to this. Other places yes, but not her home country."

Jun took another sip of wine and smacked his lips. "I understand that, but I've already given her a sample of my drugs."

"She's a healthy woman. She doesn't need drugs."

"Yes, but her recent overseas trip required her to take Quinine in order to prevent a bout of Malaria. Who do you think provided the medication? Each pill she takes keeps the drug active for one month inside her body."

"Twelve pills could hold the world hostage for one year."

"That's the idea, my friend. But, there's just one problem."

"Continue."

"Alexis is Raymond's daughter. I'm afraid to trigger the drug without knowing the side effects. I don't want to kill her. She's a very valuable asset."

The Black Rook fell silent. The water continued to cascade, but the image didn't move or respond.

"I understand." The Black Rook said. "Very well, run a test and let me know of the results. When do you leave for New York?"

"Tomorrow. I want to make sure the ship arrives in time for the fireworks."

"Shame I couldn't be there. Tell my wife I said hello."

Jun waved his hand and drank the last of his wine.

***

Jadie sat next to the brutalized mess that was her sister's husband and closed her eyes. The effects of the alcohol were starting to take hold, but her adrenaline slowed its progression. The unquenchable, imaginary thirst struck her. Just one sip to wet her lips, that's all she wanted.

Jadie looked around the room and watched it trail into smears of light. She saw her sister talking to the nurse outside in the hallway. She listened in and heard the nurse say that they didn't have the facilities to treat Jonas and that he would need to be moved. Cindy took notice of Jadie and looked at her. Her eyes were red and tears were running down her cheeks. Cindy grabbed the handle and quietly shut the door.

Jadie covered her face and muttered, "Oh man." The world slowed into a delayed mushy slush. There was nothing to get her blood pumping and the depressant from the alcohol was starting to seep into her system. She leaned over Jonas and said, "I'm sorry this happened to you. I shouldn't have asked Cindy to come drinking with me."

Her head dropped and rolled in a circular motion. It was just getting worse. She wished Cindy would hurry up so that they could leave or do something. She needed to move, needed to get her body going.

The door opened. "Hey." Cindy's voice was quiet.

Cindy walked up to Jonas and knelt down beside his bed. She stared at the oxygen mask covering his mouth and then turned to Jadie. "They can't do anything for him here. So I signed the transfer papers to send him over to Brooklyn." Cindy shut her eyes and covered her face. Her chest jerked once and then she sobbed into her hands. Jadie reached out to her, but Cindy smacked her hand away and stood up.

"I have to use the restroom," she said.

Jadie stumbled out of her seat and chased after her. She knew what that meant and it wasn't good. She fell into the wall and waited for the room to stop spinning in her head. A loud cough rang from the bathroom and was then followed by the sound of retching and liquid plopping into the water. Jadie opened the bathroom door and saw Cindy sticking her fingers down her throat. She threw up again.

"Hey! Knock it off!"

Cindy took her fingers out of her mouth and breathed deeply. "Go away. I don't want you to look at me like this," her voice gurgled. She tucked her hair into her shirt and put her fingers back in her mouth.

Jadie entered the bathroom and held onto the porcelain sink for balance. She started to kneel and fought against her wobbling knees on the way down. "Wait. You've beaten this before, Sis. I've seen you do it. Don't do this to yourself."

Cindy looked at Jadie, her fingers still in her mouth.

"I know you're stronger than this."

"I'm not."

"You are, now come on."

Cindy took her fingers out of her mouth and placed her hands on the rim of the toilet seat. She spit saliva then yanked on the flusher. "You're right, I don't want to do this."

"There you go."

Cindy walked up to the sink and splashed water over the mess on her mouth. "Some winner I turned out to be, huh? I get a little bit of stress and uh . . ." her voice started to crack. "Come on. Get a grip, I can do this." Cindy grunted as if she were fighting some invisible monster.

"You're okay. Just take it easy. You know this is no way to deal with your problems." Jadie stood up and nearly fell backwards into the door.

"You're in no position to talk," Cindy snapped.

"Don't turn this on me, you're the one throwing up. I'm trying to help you."

Cindy bent over the sink and slurped several mouthfuls of water. When she finished, Cindy shot Jadie a look that could shatter glass. "We should have never gone to that bar." She squeezed past her sister and took a seat next to Jonas. Jadie followed her out of the bathroom and threw her arms out in anger.

"What's that supposed to mean? You blame me for what happened?" Jadie said.

Cindy brandished her finger in Jadie's direction. "We didn't want to go drink. It was your stupid idea. If we had just stayed at the hotel without having to indulge your habit, none of this would have happened."

"I already feel bad about this, Cindy. You don't need to make it worse."

Cindy exhaled and let the anger suck its way out of her body. "I'm sorry. I'm not thinking clearly."

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a roaring fire and a reporter's voice on the television set.

"A fishing trawler exploded off the coast of Ocean Grove, New Jersey. Plumes of yellow and green smoke could be seen all the way from the beaches of Belmar. The Coast Guard helicopter sent to rescue the fisherman aboard the boat was struck by a falling mast. Now both the helicopter and the crew are in need of rescue. The Coast Guard is preparing to send a second rescue crew out, but there's no telling if the fishing trawler will survive the wait."

Jadie shook her head. "Oh no."

"Are they going to be all right?"

"I don't think so. That boat will be ashes by the time the second crew arrives. I mean, they're probably just twenty minutes away, but that boat is gonna be toast way before then."

Cindy turned to Jonas and rested her head on his hand. She sat there for several seconds then kissed his fingers. "Do you think we could do something if we used the suits?" she said in a somber voice.

"Probably, all this action is sobering me up pretty quickly."

"Then we should go," Cindy said half-heartedly.

"You don't sound like you want to. We should just let them handle it."

"No." Cindy rose from her seat. "I can't just sit here and watch him all night. Those people are going to die and we're the only ones that could do something about it."

"Are you sure you want to leave him?"

"He's stable for now. Let's . . . let's just go before I change my mind."

Cindy leaned in and kissed the bandage on Jonas's head. "I'll be back, okay? You just sleep and take it easy. I'm going to go save the day with Jadie, all right? And I'll get whoever did this to you, I swear. They'll pay for this."

Cindy stood straight and puffed out her chest. A speck of silver appeared on her hand and expanded up into her arm. Reflective metal covered her shoulders and chest and popped out the sinewy, synthetic muscles all over her body. She lifted her head and allowed the helmet to wrap over her face like a closing clam shell. Her blue eyes flared up and stared into Jadie's.

"Let's go."
CHAPTER 12:

No Good Deed

Jadie's stomach twisted and churned in sync with the bumps on the road. She looked over at Cindy who had the accelerator all the way down to the floor. The wind howled as it blew in from the broken window and pushed against Cindy's helmet. Her eyes focused on just the road and nothing else.

They pulled onto the street running adjacent to the boardwalk and stepped out of the vehicle clad in their nanosuits. Jadie was surprised by the amount of people standing around the pier. Fathers carried their daughters atop their shoulders; mothers held onto their son's hands; and college kids recorded the disaster with their smart phones. A news helicopter circled above the burning ship and shined its spotlight on the water. It illuminated the downed Coast Guard crew, but there was no one else that was overboard.

Cindy and Jadie pushed through the crowd and no one knew how to react. Some stared, others looked confused, and some curious onlookers discussed who the shiny suited super heroes could be. Jadie tried to make out what they were saying but only caught bits and pieces.

"That's one heck of a costume."

"Wait, I think I saw the silver one on the news."

"Where are they going?"

As their feet sank into the sand, Jadie felt her stomach clench.

"Ruby," Cindy said.

"What?" Jadie replied.

"I've never done a water rescue before."

Jadie looked out over the horizon and saw a speck sitting at the line where the water and the sky met. There was black and green smoke covering the sky and the glow from the flames made it seem like the sun was rising in the distance. "Well, truthfully we need a boat. Hopefully the lifeboats haven't burned."

"And if they did?"

"I'll figure something out."

"Are you feeling up to it?" Cindy asked.

Jadie scoffed. "Of course I am." But as the white foam lapped at her crimson covered feet, she saw the face of the boy, bloated and pale beneath the waves. She shuddered and licked her lips, desperate for another drink.

"How should we do this? You take the Coast Guard and I take the boat?" Cindy asked.

"Those guys are well-trained. I don't think they'll need our help," Jadie said.

"So we'll head to the boat?"

"Yeah, the fishermen are helpless. We'll check on the water boys after."

"Ready whenever you are."

Jadie took in several deep breaths and then burst into a sprint. Enormous splashes kicked up around her calves as she lifted her feet higher to compensate for the water resistance. Another set of splashes came up behind her, she saw Cindy struggling to overcome the waves. The first wave came barreling towards them like a rolling wall. Jadie dove beneath the wave and her helmet hissed with a blast of oxygen that filled her lungs. Jadie torpedoed forward into the salty depths.

When she emerged from the surface, Jadie turned around and treaded water for a moment. Being in the ocean rejuvenated her and triggered her muscle memory to remember all of her training. She saw Cindy struggling to keep up like a paddle boat in choppy waters, but Jadie couldn't wait for her. She dove under water and swam to the boat at top speed. Once her hand touched the hull of the ship, the gecko technology locked her hand to the surface.

Jadie scaled the metal hull of the enormous fishing trawler and checked on Cindy one more time. Her little metal body continued splashing towards the boat. Jadie kicked her foot over the railing and dropped down onto a deck covered in blood and fish entrails. In the center was a giant container with the words "Zhu Feng Medical" stenciled on the corrugated metal. Fire spewed out of its openings and cast a tangerine glow over the deck. The crew of Chinese men, dressed in yellow slickers, stood around the fire and stared at the billowing inferno like zombies in a trance. They didn't say a word to each other and there wasn't even a hint of panic in their eyes.

Jadie saw a mint condition fire extinguisher sitting untouched against the wall. She leaned over the railing and looked for the wreckage of the Coast Guard helicopter. She spotted the crew drifting one hundred feet away, according to the numbers in her HUD. She tried to scan the crew for injuries, but the words [Out of Range] flashed in red before her eyes.

"Silver. I see the survivors from the crash."

There was no response.

Jadie whispered, "Cindy?"

A thin cord wrapped around Jadie's neck and squeezed the armor around her jugular. Her fingers clawed at the cable but she couldn't get a grip. Her feet slipped on the blood of slaughtered fish and she fell backwards into the man trying to strangle her. Jadie wheezed and threw her elbow backward, connecting forcefully with the fleshy meat of his stomach. He groaned and fell limp over her shoulder, releasing the cable from her neck. She whirled around, grabbed the keeling man, and shoved his head into a freight container. His skull clanged and caused deep vibrations that traveled throughout the structure.

"Silver, where are you? I need help."

Another man came charging at Jadie with a knife in his hand. He thrust the dagger into her stomach, but the knife blade snapped off and fell to the floor. He held the hilt of the knife in his blood covered hand and stared at the broken weapon. When he looked back at Jadie, she spun around and kicked the dazed fisherman square across the jaw. His body spiraled to the floor and sent a terror that caused the fishermen to drop their weapons and surrender.

Jadie spotted the undamaged lifeboats on a crane and yelled, "Get on the rafts. Now!"

The crew scurried to the rafts as the fire spread across the deck and burned a hole in the center of the ship. Jadie picked up the two unconscious sailors and slung them over her shoulders. She jumped over the flames shooting from the enormous pit and threw the fishermen into the raft. She flicked her wrist and triggered the energy dagger to appear. She cut the ropes and sent the lifeboats plummeting to the ocean.

Jadie switched her HUD to detect for life signs, the radar turned up blank. She analyzed the fire and watched the scanning box blink over the blaze. Traces of nitroglycerin and a detonation catalyst were detected in the particles of the smoke. But her HUD also detected something else, an unknown element hiding in the green smoke floating back towards town.

A motor rumbled in the distance, and she instantly recognized the sound. It was the Coast Guard rescue boat pulling the chopper crew out of the water.

"Cindy, where the hell are you?" The floor beneath her began to shake violently. She looked down and watched the wood warp and splinter in half. The bow rolled forward and crashed into the ocean, creating a huge splash that shot thirty feet in the air. Jadie dove over the railing and swam as far away from the sinking ship as possible. Crab cages and pieces of the outrigger were sucked into the ship's deadly vortex and vanished beneath the ocean. Jadie swam to the surface and floated in the waves that bobbed her up and down. Everywhere she looked; there was nothing but water and a smoky sky.

"Cindy!" she yelled. "Cindy, where are you?"

A glimmer of peach color flashed in the water before disappearing beneath a rolling wave. Jadie swam towards the object and picked up the pace when it became clear what it was.

"Cindy?" Jadie cradled her sister's unconscious body in her arms and swam back to shore, following the smoke containing the unknown element. She clawed into the sand and dragged Cindy's body onto shore, causing wet sand to stick onto Cindy's hair and clothes.

Jadie panted for breath and scanned Cindy's body. A steady heartbeat was detected, but her oxygen levels were dropping. The HUD traced a green diagram of Cindy's lungs and colored in the negative space with a digitally animated blue liquid. If she was to revive Cindy, she would have to get all of the blue liquid out of her lungs.

She bent over her sister's body and placed her palms on the center of Cindy's chest. She pushed down once and watched the digital liquid undulate like a blob of gelatin. Jadie counted down and administered chest compressions with each count. Cindy's body pumped like a fireplace bellow with each press but remained motionless. The diagram showed the water still refusing to evacuate her lungs. Jadie pressed into Cindy's chest again, carefully timing her compressions with the movement of the liquid. Slowly, it traveled to the top of the lungs until it eventually spilled into the trachea.

Cindy's body jerked and her mouth spewed out salty sea water. She rolled onto her stomach and gagged until she'd vomited the remaining bits of the water. Cindy lifted her head and looked at Jadie through her hair which fell over her eyes like a wet mop. "Are you okay?" Cindy asked.

"Am I okay? I just saved you."

"You did? What happened?"

"We were on a rescue."

"The rescue . . . Something happened, the screen glitched out and then I got a massive headache. I guess I blacked out."

"You don't remember anything else?"

"No."

Jadie looked up at the sky, it was completely covered in the thick green smoke like a soupy fog. A man could be heard coughing in the distance, then a woman, then a child, and soon, like a domino effect, all the bystanders around the boardwalk were overcome by an uncontrollable coughing fit.

Then Jadie heard a hacking cough that was right next to her feet.

"What is that? That smells awful." Cindy covered her mouth and coughed a few more times.

"I can't smell anything," Jadie replied.

"The suit's probably filtering the air." She coughed again and tried to clear her throat. "My throat feels itchy."

"Cindy, I don't want to alarm you, but when I got on that boat I found traces of explosives. And the fishermen we were supposed to rescue ended up attacking me like zombies. I'm kind of worried that this wasn't an accident."

"Why would they light a boat on fire?" She lifted her shirt to her mouth and masked another series of coughs behind the wet fabric.

There was a sudden high pitched whine followed by the chatter of a voice. Jadie looked to the boardwalk and saw strange flickering lights start to appear. She zoomed in on the glowing pixels and saw that the boardwalk had come alive with hundreds of advertisements displaying the same ad. A video of an Asian woman facing the viewer with the words Zhu Feng Medical stamped on the bottom right corner.

"Have you or a loved one been affected by cancer? Are you tired of constantly undergoing debilitating chemo treatments just to be told that your illness is terminal? If you are one of the millions of Americans affected by cancer, there is hope. New from Zhu Feng Medical. A brand new vaccine that prevents and destroys cancer cells, is finally available. Indocrex is a new tablet that you take once a month to—"

A crack like someone hitting a bicycle helmet with a baseball bat, smacked against the back of Jadie's helmet and jostled her head. She gritted her teeth and whirled around, hands up, ready to throw the first punch. But when she saw who threw the punch, Jadie dropped her fists to her sides. It was Cindy. Blood dripped from the open gashes between each knuckle on Cindy's hand. Her pupils were dilated and she bared her teeth like a vicious dog.

"What are you doing?" Jadie said.

A cacophony of jeers and yells began to grow behind her, until the sounds were surrounding her in a one hundred eighty degree arc. A series of scattered red blips appeared on Jadie's radar and were closing in on the white dot in the center. Jadie looked over her shoulder and saw a mob of people yelling and screaming obscenities. One individual, a teenage boy, picked up a rock and threw it at her, missing completely.

The crowd jumped from the boardwalk and lumbered towards her like a village lynch mob. All that was missing were the pitchforks and torches. Jadie faced Cindy and watched a blood covered fist come charging towards her head. She took a step back and watched Cindy's fist whiff in front of her face. The blips in her radar blobbed together in sync with the growing number of people. They chanted in unison, "One republic, one nation." The mob burst into a sprint and rushed towards Jadie like a zombie stampede.

Cindy threw another right hook and Jadie blocked the blow with her forearm. She slid her hands up to the back of Cindy's neck and squeezed tightly. "Sorry, Sis."

She rammed her knee into Cindy's stomach and surprisingly, knocked her unconscious. Jadie rested Cindy on her shoulders and stood up, wrapping one hand around her legs. The roars from the mob were upon her, everywhere she looked a sea of people besieged her. The lights of the now empty boardwalk twinkled in the distance.

Jadie took a breath and angled her body to face the crowd. She raised her arm parallel to the ground and aimed at the wooden post supporting the boardwalk. The liquid metal of her suit began to shift and morph into an angular canister atop her forearm. A hook appeared from the tip and the command to fire blinked in front of her eyes.

A teenage boy grabbed onto her arm and swung a skateboard to her head. Jadie ducked and nearly tipped over from not compensating for Cindy's added weight. She lifted her leg and gradually pushed her foot into the boy's chest without actually kicking him. The boy flailed his arms and lashed at her, but couldn't reach beyond Jadie's long leg.

She fired the grappling hook over the heads of the mob. The cable spiraled forward and snapped straight upon impacting the wooden pillar. She squeezed onto Cindy's legs and engaged the grapple. A loud whirr emanated from the grapple gun as it spooled the cable back into the housing unit and sent Jadie airborne. She curled herself as tightly as she could and bowled over each person that got in her way.

As she neared the end of the line, Jadie threw her arm down and shot up into the sky. The hook detached from the wooden post and snapped back into the housing like a tape measure. Jadie flew over the polymer boardwalk, pushed her legs together and braced for landing. Her feet slammed into the plastic-like surface and sent vibrations up her shins and knees. She spotted a nearby bench and laid Cindy across it.

Jadie surveyed the area and tried to figure out what to do next. The mob was on its way back to the boardwalk and the Zhu Feng Medical advertisements were still playing on a continuous loop. Jadie stared into one of the billboards and scanned it with her suit, ignoring the growing clamor of the crowd approaching her.

"Have you or a loved one been affected by cancer [buy]? Are you tired of constantly undergoing [more] debilitating chemo treatments [indocrex] just to be told that [kill] your [the] illness is terminal? [Silver] If you are one [and] of the millions [Ruby] of Americans affected by cancer [ninjas], there is hope. [support] New from Zhu Feng Medical. A brand [Chinese] new vaccine that prevents and [policies] destroys [one]cancer cells, [nation]is now finally available [one]. Indocrex [republic] is a new tablet that you take once a month to get rid of your cancer, once and for all."

Jadie reeled her arm back and balled her hand into a fist, but something grabbed hold of her forearm. There were thick fingers clasped tightly around her wrist. A sudden heaviness walloped her across the back and rattled her ears with the sound of hollow plastic. She put her free hand in front of her and fell into the advertisement billboard. Jadie looked at the floor and saw crumpled wax paper, crushed soda cans, and rotten ice cream leaking out of broken cups. Beside the refuse was a garbage bin with a human sized dent on its body.

Two arms hooked below her underarms and lifted her up. She kicked her feet out into the empty air and tried to worm her body free. Jadie reached back and patted what felt like a long, thick head of hair. She slipped her fingers underneath the coarse mane and felt a neck as thick as a beer keg. She crept her fingers lower and felt the beginnings of a leather vest. Jadie grabbed onto the vest and catapulted her body forward. The man rolled over her spine and crashed into the floor in front of her. With the tatters of his vest still in her hands, Jadie threw them to the floor and slammed her fist into the digital billboard.

"Indocrex, the cure you—" The LED exploded into an electrical storm of indigo and violet, smoke hissing from the ruptured capacitors and power supply. She turned around and raised her hands in preparation to fight through the crowd, but they stopped. They weren't yelling and screaming anymore, they merely stood there with a look of confusion on their faces.

She opened the weapons menu in the HUD and activated the rail gun weapons. Twin cylinders formed over her forearms like two swords made of crimson liquid metal. The shapes morphed into that of a gun and glowing lights appeared near the muzzle of the weapons. A targeting reticule spun clockwise and locked onto another set of Zhu Feng advertisements. | Weapons Command: [Fire.] |

Jadie sent a series of lightning fast slugs into the screens that surrounded her. Billboard after billboard shattered into thousands of pieces without even one bullet missing a shot. The only thing left after her billboard massacre was the heavy, burning tire stench of electrical smoke. She withdrew her weapons and observed the crowd. Their eyes blinked in unison and then their deranged, contorted faces fell into a soft look of confusion and serenity. They dropped their rocks, stopped snarling, and just stared at each other blankly. Jadie saw the flash of police lights in the distance and hurried to Cindy's side.

A wave of panic rolled through her as she watched Cindy's body shake violently on the bench. Jadie slipped her fingers underneath Cindy's back and carried her body back to the hotel.
CHAPTER 13:

Indoctrination

Michael folded one of his v-neck shirts and carefully placed it into his carry-on bag.

"I can't believe this. Why would they beat Jonas until he was unconscious? We should have never gone after that convoy, never," he whispered. He grabbed his phone and checked for messages, but the only one was from Cindy from earlier in the day.

[Cindy: Jonas has a concussion that knocked him unconscious. Please get packed we're going to NY.]

He zipped his carry-on and tapped his fingers on the armrest of his wheelchair. He looked down at his phone and waited for it to ring.

A loud crash made him jump in his seat. He scrunched his shoulders and turned to see Jadie burst through the door. "Michael, help me!"

He wheeled himself around and saw Cindy shaking in Jadie's arms.

"She's acting like she's having a seizure, but I don't think that's what it is."

"I'm not a doctor, Jadie. We should take her to a hospital."

"How's a hospital supposed to treat something related to the suit?"

"You think it's SIRCA?"

"It has to be. She was complaining of headaches and glitches before she started doing this."

Michael grabbed the strap of his carry-on and cleared the bed. He patted the mattress and Jadie laid Cindy atop the blankets. She flailed in Jadie's arms like a drug addict going through withdrawal and smacked her hand into the headboard, leaving a streak of blood. Jadie climbed atop Cindy and restrained her arms and legs. Michael watched Cindy's eyes roll into the back of her head. The white eyes and pouring blood from her nose scared Michael into thinking she was possessed by a demon. He coiled back and covered his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Jesus. I can't fix this."

"Michael, the seizure will kill her if it doesn't pass."

"You don't even know for sure if it's the suit. Scan her and tell me what it says."

"Okay." A few seconds passed. "It says data corruption. Is something wrong with my suit?"

Michael gasped. "I think she's infected with the computer virus I made. Where's the SIRCA data you retrieved from the mission?"

"Didn't Cindy tell you? Someone stole the hard drive."

"What?" Michael rolled backwards and ran his hands through his hair. "How am I supposed to access the suit data? They confiscated my laptop."

"Michael, we have to do something. How else can you access her suit?"

"I have no idea. Jonas could figure something out."

"Well he's not here right now, Michael. You're all I have left."

"I've got an idea." Michael brought out his cell phone. "Touch this."

Jadie placed her ruby enveloped finger on the device. "Now what?"

"Hack my phone with your suit."

The phone lit up into a bright blue screen, similar to the ones when a computer suffers a fatal crash. Several lines of code scrolled across the screen, but the one he was looking for was user: SIRCA. Finally it appeared at the bottom of the screen and he thumbed the digital keypad.

"What are you doing?" Jadie asked.

"I'm reverse hacking your suit." The screen flickered and switched to a white background with black text. The words SIRCA command console was squeezed into the narrow screen. "Grab a hold of Cindy."

Jadie waited for Cindy to have another convulsion and snatched her hand in mid-air. Her hands shook in unison with Cindy's shivering body. The cellphone showed a screen of Cindy's vital signs but he ignored that. He typed in [/SIRCA.dir] and dropped his jaw when he saw a flurry of garbage data scroll across the screen.

"We've got a problem," he said.

"If I need to take her to the hospital, tell me now."

"The programming on the nanomachines was corrupted by the virus. They're attacking her body like an infection. Somehow, I think Cindy absorbed the virus from the hard drive."

"She didn't connect to any servers though!"

"Your suits connect to secret servers we have outside of the country. Anytime you do calculations, access a database, all that stuff has to go through a server. I didn't program the virus to distinguish between government servers and our own servers, I didn't think I'd need to."

Michael thumbed the screen and continued to see thousands upon thousands of lines of garbage data. He swiped his thumb in an upward motion and searched for his virus. He looked up and saw blood spilling out the sides of Cindy's mouth.

"Damn it. Just give me a few seconds." Michael moved his thumbs faster and cursed with every failed attempt to reverse engineer the virus. Horrific bubbling sounds came out of Cindy's mouth, her body thrashing even harder than before. One by one he erased the toxic lines of code and replaced them with words like "null" or "deactivate".

Then, there was silence. No gurgles or movement atop the sheets, just the tick from his button presses. Cindy lay flat on the bed, mouth agape, staring at the ceiling with pure white eyes.

"Cindy?" Jadie shook Cindy's arm and wobbled her back and forth. "Oh, God."

"Don't let go of her." Michael said.

He darted his eyes back to the phone and frantically scanned through the lines of code. Finally, out of sheer luck, he stumbled upon the parameters that controlled the virus. He isolated the parasitic program and erased it from the system. Then he quickly accessed Jadie's suit data and copied the essential files back into Cindy's suit.

"Come on," he said.

"I need to do CPR."

"Don't, you need to hold onto her or this won't work."

"She's going to die, Michael. I need to do CPR now!"

He tapped his hand against his chair, her dead eyes still staring at the ceiling. "Come on, Cindy, I've seen you come back through worse."

Her eyes blinked and a swatch of hazel rolled into where the white had been. Cindy jerked her head to the side and spit blood in between her hacking and retching. Michael and Jadie both sighed with relief.

"Thank God," Michael said.

Jadie got off the bed and went to the bathroom to retrieve a first aid kit. She returned and let the helmet melt off of her head, revealing dried lanes of tears atop her skin.

"Lie down while I wrap your hand." Jadie gently held Cindy's hand and wrapped bandage tape over the fresh wounds.

"My head is killing me," Cindy whispered.

"I'm gonna go get an ice pack. Just take it easy, okay?" Jadie said.

Cindy nodded and rested her arm on her forehead casting a shadow over her eyes. She closed her mouth and breathed deeply from her nose.

"Are you feeling better?" Michael asked.

She nodded and started smacking her lips. "Why does my mouth taste like blood?"

"You were bleeding."

"What?" Cindy brought her hand to her mouth, but Michael caught her wrist.

"You don't want to do that, trust me. We'll get you cleaned up, I promise."

Jadie came back with an ice pack and a moist towel. "Can you hold onto this?"

Cindy grabbed the pack and pressed it firmly against her forehead. Jadie blotted Cindy's skin and wiped away the blood that was drying near her mouth.

"What happened?" Cindy asked.

"Jadie saved your life," Michael replied.

"You don't remember anything?" Jadie said.

"I thought we were at the beach."

"We were, and then you tried to punch me." Jadie pointed at Cindy's bandaged left hand. "Then the locals tried to kill me and suddenly, you had a seizure."

Cindy sat up against the headboard. "I hit you? Why can't I remember this?"

"Wait, she tried to hit you?" Michael said.

Jadie slapped her thighs. "Okay guys, I'm only going to tell you once." She stood up and paced in front of the bed. "The boat was on fire. A weird, green smoke came out of it. Cindy hit me, and then the townspeople went crazy."

"What caused the fire?" Michael said.

"Who cares about the fire? Why was everyone going crazy?" Cindy asked.

She stopped pacing and looked at the both of them. "Okay, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think that unknown element was some kind of mind control agent. Everyone that was by the beach, including Cindy, started coughing as soon as they inhaled the smoke. Then one of the advertisements came online and that's when all hell broke loose."

"Mind control? That's crazy," Cindy said.

"There was a shipping container in the middle of the boat that I think was set off by explosives. I don't know if the words Zhu Feng Medical mean anything, but it was on the burning container. I tried to scan the smoke, but the suit couldn't identify what was in the particles."

"That's odd. We have a full database on all types of explosions: chemicals, electrical, gas. There should have been an entry," he said.

"Right." Jadie nodded.

"Wait, one thing, why was the virus in your system, Cindy?" Michael asked.

"I was worried something might happen to the hard drive. You said the virus only turns on when it connects to servers, so I thought I'd be safe."

"Your suit connects to servers when it does calculations. You should have never copied it while the virus was installed."

Cindy tried to sit up from the bed, but Jadie pushed her back down. "It was a last minute decision. I would have copied it earlier if I had thought of it."

"Dumb question," Jadie said. "If the suits have computer code in them. Why did we need to copy the files from the laptop in the first place? I mean, I get the virus, but why not just use the data from our suits?"

"Think of it like a video game," Michael said.

The sisters groaned in unison.

"When you go to play a game, you can control the characters, do quests, and save the princess. That's your nanosuit. However, since I am the developer of the video game, I can reprogram your character, change your quest, change your story, change your entire world with tools that only I can access. Those are the files you copied."

"Basically, the suit is just part of the whole," Cindy said.

"Precisely," Michael replied.

"Am I fixed?" Cindy asked.

"No, your suit is older than Jadie's so not everything I copied works. The virus did a lot of damage, so who knows how much will need to be rebuilt from scratch."

"I'm not sure I like the fact that our brains can be infected by a computer virus. If that's the case, I don't want this thing anymore," Jadie said. "Don't get me wrong, I like what I can do with the suit. I just don't want some freaking malware to make me brain dead."

"I saw what happened, I promise I'll fix this," Michael said.

"So, I didn't finish what I was saying about the mind control. If it's what I think it is, then we've got a way bigger problem than the CIA," Jadie said. "I found subliminal advertising hidden inside the billboards surrounding the beach. I think the smoke, combined with the ads, triggered something that made everyone crazy. If I wasn't wearing the suit, we'd probably be shambling like zombies right now."

Michael scoffed. "No way, that's nuts. Who would be crazy enough to try something like that?"

"I know how it sounds, but Michael I really think that's what's happening," Jadie said.

"Why would they do something like that?" Michael asked.

Cindy sat up and swayed from side to side. Jadie tried to steady her, but Cindy declined her offer and sat up on her own. "To have an army, to keep me and Jadie out of the way, to get money. You could do whatever you wanted with someone being mind controlled."

"What does this mean for us?" Jadie asked.

Cindy's lifted her body from the bed and her limbs shook like that of a feeble old woman. "We're going back to New York."
CHAPTER 14:

Artificial Alliance

Jun swirled a glass of wine under his nose and inhaled deeply. He took a sip and swished the liquid in his mouth before swallowing. He offered his glass to the distorted image of the Black Rook and then retracted his arm with a grin. He poured the rest of the wine into his mouth and set the glass down on a nearby console.

"You know, my uncle Huizhong used to tell me 'If you have money, you can make the devil push your grindstone.' But I learned that there are a rare group of people who can't be bought by money. You saw what happened to our friend Raymond. No matter how much money he threw at her, Cindy decided not to kill Senator Montez. Raymond lost the bid for senate seat and decided to take the city by force."

"You don't need to remind me about New York. I know what happened. What's your point?" The Black Rook said.

"The point is, Raymond and his First Continental army failed to take over New York City, because he depended on people following his money. That's why my plan, my approach, will be different. Indoctrination removes all possibility of betrayal."

Jun paced around the command center of his aircraft, the space-worthy Cestus Dei. A holographic map, located in the nexus of the bridge, showed that the position of his ship was somewhere in the Atlantic. A dotted hash that originated in China led to a marker on the map. From the marker a solid line pointed to New York with an ETA blinking beside it that read [July 4th.]

"What are the results of the test you've conducted in Ocean Grove?" the Black Rook asked.

"It worked. The people who were affected by the enzyme followed the commands. Unfortunately, my spies tell me that the Ruby Ninja destroyed my broadcast triggers," Jun said.

"Those two are going to be a problem."

"Yes, they could complicate things."

"And how are you going to deal with them?"

"Alexis."

"You're making the same mistake Raymond did," the Black Rook said.

Jun paced in front of the display. "No, her daughter is sick. As long as I have the cure, she will do anything I say."

The Rook chuckled. "You can only use a knife a certain amount of times before the blade becomes dull. I would wager that she will want the cure before she does anything else for you."

"That's why I have Indocrex. People can breathe it; ingest it; consume it. Alexis is already exposed; she only needs to be triggered. Can you imagine if we could infect the ninjas? Nothing would stop the plan."

The command center fell silent. The beeping of consoles and the hum of glowing monitors filled the room's ambiance.

"You're too dependent on your drug. Artificial servitude will not engender you an army."

"So what? Countries are dependent on medication. My drug gives them a cure to the worst sickness the world has ever known."

"Someone will discover your charade."

"Then I'll say it proved inefficient and that we're working on a new drug. By the time anyone figures out what's really going on it will be too late. They'll be addicted, and they'll be forced to buy it."

"Remember why you're doing this." The Rook said.

"It's not about the money if that's what you're worried about. Everything I do will help you achieve your goals."

"Your reliance on this drug worries me. Did you consider the side effects?"

Jun picked up the wine bottle and refilled his glass. "No."

"Drooling lunatics are useless to me, Jun. The more you tell me of your plan, the more I believe you should have the Silver and Ruby Ninja killed."

"Alexis won't do it."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Something about not cooking turkey's for the White House anymore."

"What does that mean? Is that an American saying?"

Jun chuckled. "It just means she doesn't do assassinations anymore."

"Then what good is she? I assure you, somehow the Silver Ninja will catch on to your plan. She's the reason Raymond failed and he had an army."

Jun tapped his foot and took another mouthful of wine. "I have a contingency plan. My engineers are almost finished with a brand new weapon. We built it from the data Alexis stole from Lucent Labs.

"Very well."

"I do have a plan to get Alexis back into assassination and you're going to help me."

"Oh?"

"I want one of your zealots."

The command center fell silent. The warped image of the Black Rook stared back at Jun with empty eyes.

"That is a very high price you're asking," the Rook said.

"Alexis is a very expensive woman."

"I have no men to spare," the Rook replied.

"You have zealots in every country. I seem to recall that she almost caught you in Pakistan."

"Almost, but still failed."

"As someone who has had the pleasure of being pursued by Alexis. You know she's worth ten of your zealots," Jun said.

"Message me if she doesn't co-operate."

Jun grinned and stared at the orb which broadcast the Rook's message. He walked over to a group of men, in military uniform, hunched over a line of computer terminals. Jun patted the one man's shoulder and asked him, "Is the weapon almost finished?"

The Chinese man saluted Jun and replied to him in Mandarin, "Yes sir. We will have the weapon ready before we reach New York."

"Good, give it to Alexis when you're done."

The computer technician saluted Jun again and went back to typing on the holographic keyboard. Jun walked to the bridge of the ship and looked out the window. The ocean was like a sheet of glass without a single wave in sight. Jun's ship was carried by The Sailfish, a high-tech cargo boat that hovers over the water and could reach speeds of over six hundred and ninety-five knots. Breaking the world record by an astonishing one hundred and eighty-four knots.

Jun took out his cell phone and dialed Alexis.

"What?" she said.

"Just checking in."

"I got you the hard drive and stalled Cindy. Where's my medicine?"

"I have to manufacture a new ba—"

"Don't try that with me. Where is the medicine?"

Jun found himself on the defensive. "I just need one more thing."

"No, that wasn't the deal."

"Alexis. I don't think stalling Cindy will be enough. She needs to be taken out of the picture."

"I want the medicine for my daughter."

"I told you, you'll get it."

Alexis snarled. "I want it. Now."

"I just need Silver and Ruby eliminated," he said.

"No. Quite frankly, I'm starting to wonder if it's you that I should eliminate."

Her words sent a chill of fear down his spine. He clicked his tongue and asked, "Have you been taking your Quinine medication?"

"Why do you care?"

Jun played the Indocrex advertisement through his phone. He listened through the earpiece and could still make out Alexis's breathing on the other line.

"Alexis. Will you kill the ninjas?"

"I . . . I don't . . . know."

Jun growled. Alexis was resisting the effects of Indocrex. If he wanted her to carry out his task, he would need to do something to cement her loyalty to him. Something so drastic, so personal, that Alexis would want to do as he commands with or without the drugs.

"Alexis, I want you to go to the hospital and visit your daughter."
CHAPTER 15:

Fire in Her Eyes

Alexis held onto her head as if her brain were being cut with a serrated knife by the distorted voices speaking all at once in her head. She tried to focus on an object or a wall, but the image would rotate and sway in all directions. She ignored the dizzying world and followed her impulse to go to the children's ward and see her child. She entered through the glass doors of the Brooklyn Medical Center and looked at the female receptionist sitting at the front desk. The clock behind her read 1:30pm.

The receptionist was typing on her computer and looked up from her screen to see Alexis pass by. She met Alexis's eyes and moved her lips, but it was hard to tell what she was saying. It looked like she said, "one nation" but she wasn't sure because it didn't make any sense. Alexis turned away and was blinded by the starburst of the fluorescent lights above.

Something heavy landed on her shoulder. Alexis whirled around and grabbed hold of a young man's wrist. She twisted his arm until the bones were ready to snap. The young man yelped in pain and tried to wrench his arm free. She let go of his arm, realizing that he was just another employee of the hospital and leaned against the wall.

"Jesus, calm down lady. I was just trying to help!"

She couldn't speak, the skin on her lips felt glued together. Alexis slid her fingers along the wall and smacked the handicap access button which opened the double doors to the hallway. She tripped into the corridor and continued on her way to the children's ward. Alexis wondered why everything looked all bowl shaped, like staring down a fisheye lens. The buzz of electricity and muffled voices of doctors were magnified by hypersensitivity, like she could hear and feel everything. She even thought she may have heard someone say, "I am so sorry I let this happen to you."

Alexis gritted her teeth, straightened out her blazer, and forced herself to walk straight even though the hallway was spinning. She peered past the criss cross wires embedded within the glass door and saw the number 8117 outside Felice's room.

Alexis grabbed the door handle and pulled it back.

A tremendous force pushed into her chest and rattled the bones of her ribcage. Her hair blew back and a searing heat cut into the front half of her body as she went airborne. The back of her head cracked into the checkerboard floor and her body slid across the slick surface. A high pitch tone rang in her ears and slowly dissipated to the rumble of fire and the incessant blare of fire alarms. The air was saturated with the smell of gunpowder, dusty and steely.

She opened her eyes to a world of blurry out of focus images. But the snaking movement of the bright glowing light that crept along the walls was unmistakable to fire. Alexis sat up and felt a sharp pain in her chest and spine. She wiped her hand across her blouse and brushed the wood splinters off her clothing. When her vision came back into focus, she noticed the charred ash on the floor and walls of the hallway.

A loud snap knocked her foot off balance and sent her into the wall. She looked down and saw that the heel of her shoe had broken off. She kicked off her shoes and ran barefoot into the fire ridden corridor. Each step felt like a sharp spike being nailed into the bottom of her heel. Her arms felt disconnected as if they were sloshing around beneath her skin.

The door to Felice's room was nothing but a jagged, gaping hole. Alexis ripped the wood from its hinges and stepped over the splintered threshold. When her eyes rose to survey the room, she bit her tongue and did everything in her power to stop from screaming.

Her husband was standing in the middle of the room, shrieking at the top of his lungs. His entire body engulfed in flame.

Henri collapsed to the floor, the fire eating away at his skin. When he fell, Alexis saw a woman in silver emptying a red container over Felice's head, drenching her bed sheets and body in a clear liquid. Felice's skin and hair glistened in the light with an oily sheen. Alexis tried to move, but she couldn't feel her limbs. The woman slowly turned her head and stared at Alexis with those glowing cyan eyes.

The Silver Ninja threw the container to the floor and stared at Alexis as she put her middle finger and thumb together. She placed her hand by the bed sheet and snapped her fingers. A spark shot out from her metal digits and created a narrow streak of fire that burned its way up the blankets and spread across Felice's bed, creating a ripple of fire. Felice shrieked as the fire consumed her little body.

Alexis fell to her knees and was blinded by salty tears of rage. She screamed until the vein in her neck nearly burst.

"That's for what you did to my husband," Cindy said.

Cindy ran up to the window and dove through the glass, creating a vacuum that sucked the smoke and flames through the opening. Alexis's daughter fell silent while the still burning corpse of Henri stared at Alexis with lifeless eyes. The room started to collapse all around her and a wooden beam nearly smashed into her spine. But she didn't care—

—all she wanted was to burn.

***

"What time is it?" Jadie asked.

Michael checked his watch, a simple, digital one. "1:26."

"Jeez, most of the day is gone already," she said. "I kind of wish we didn't waste the morning dropping off Cindy's blood sample at Lucent Labs."

"We had to, Charlie can't work on a cure without it."

"I know, but I would have rather spent that time stopping whoever is behind all this."

"We'll stop them." Michael took the stuffed teddy bear out of Jadie's hand and put it in front of his face. "I still can't believe you spent over a thousand dollars bringing toys, like me, to the hospital," he said in a cartoony voice.

Jadie smiled, but it didn't last long. Michael put the toy down and rolled himself closer to her. "What's wrong?"

"I've never seen Cindy this upset before. You weren't there, but when we took Jonas to the hospital . . . there was just a look in her eyes, man. I think she blames me for what happened that night."

"You don't think she was just scared?"

"Well." Jadie leaned back and crossed her arms. "She said it was my fault we went to the bar and called me an alcoholic."

"Hmm." Michael fixed his glasses. "I don't know, we've all been under a lot of stress. With the CIA, plots of mind control, people trying to kill us, I'm not surprised she reacted the way she did. Let's just stay out of her way and let her cool off."

"Yeah." Jadie rubbed her hands together and stared at the floor. "I don't know, I don't like any of this."

Michael took her hand and stroked her knuckle with his thumb. "We'll figure it out."

Jadie glanced at Michael's hand. "Trying to make me feel better?"

"What?" Michael looked at his hand and pulled it away. "Oh, I didn't even realize."

"No, no," Jadie reached for his wrists and pulled him back. "You didn't have to move." She caressed his hand and said, "You help keep my mind off my sister. Not that I'm trying to be selfish, it's just—"

"I understand. You're selfish."

She tapped his hand. "I'm being serious right now. I'm really worried that we're in over our heads."

Michael held Jadie's hand softly. "All we can do right now is be there for them."

"Yeah."

"Why don't we talk about something else."

"Let's see." She touched her lip and stared up at the ceiling. "Something happy." She grinned and looked at Michael. "After our date in Jersey, I think I like spending time with you."

"Wha—me—really? I—I—uh—" he cleared his throat and made a big, toothy smile. "Ahem. We never did finish that date."

Jadie leaned in and lowered her voice to a whisper. "This isn't exactly the most romantic place."

Michael's grin turned to a frown. He let go of her hand and rolled backwards.

"What's wrong? I'm not being serious," Jadie said.

"No, it's not that. I remembered that I've been meaning to talk to you about something important."

"Okay. Why don't you come back? You don't have to go all the way over there."

He shook his head no. "Remember when you said that we should get all the awkward stuff out of the way on our date? Well there's something I've been afraid to tell you."

"Why? Is this going to be some weird fetish or something?"

"No, no, nothing like that, but it might change your opinion of me."

Jadie leaned forward and grabbed onto the metal pipes supporting his armrests. She craned back and rolled Michael until their knees touched each other. She leaned in with a big smile and said, "What—is it—you want to tell me?"

His lips trembled, blood rushed to the surface of his skin and changed the color of his complexion. "Besides the fact that I think you're gorgeous and you smell nice?"

"Yeah," she leaned in even closer. "Besides, that. Flatterer."

She held her mouth slightly agape and craned closer to Michael's trembling lips.

A loud crack of thunder rippled through the floor and violently shook the medical equipment. The odor of gunpowder instantly filled the room and set off the fire alarm.

"Oh my God. Was that a bomb?" she said.

Jadie jumped from the bed and ran up to the door. The air was rank with the stench of burning drywall mixed with gunpowder. The door was warm to the touch and there were faint sounds of a woman crying nearby. She opened the door and saw a pillar of fire along the walls of the hallway, black smoke everywhere.

"The hospital's on fire. You need to get out of here. I'm going to see if anyone needs my help," Jadie said.

"Hell no, I'm going with you."

"Michael, what can you do?"

Michael rolled forward and brought his wheelchair to a stop in front of Jadie. "Just push."

Jadie took hold of the rubber grips on the back of his wheelchair and ran with Michael into the fire filled children's ward. The smoke gathered on the ceiling as if it were thousands of spiders climbing over top one another, a hideous mess of toxic fumes. The wall flashed white in short bursts, illuminated by the emergency lights of the fire alarm. Jadie followed the sound of a woman weeping to a room marked 8117.

"Stay here, I'm going to check it out."

Jadie opened the door and saw an inferno of flames spread across the entire room. The furniture had turned black and the plastic was slowly starting to melt. On the floor was the weeping woman she had heard earlier. Her blazer had been torn, her stockings ripped, and the soles of her feet were black as coal. Her purse was beside her and had spilled her personal effects all over the place. Jadie checked to see if anyone else was in the room, but it was empty.

Michael entered the doorway and yelled her name frantically, "Jadie, you need to suit up, this is too dangerous."

"She's going to know who I am."

A loud slap stung Jadie's neck and squished her vocal cords together. Jadie tilted her eyes down and saw a fiery glow reflected in the emerald eyes of the woman in front of her. The woman squeezed her neck even tighter and made it almost impossible to even swallow. Mascara ran down the woman's cheek like melted gothic makeup, ending near her mouth where her teeth were fully bared. Jadie could barely hear Michael's yells over fury of the flames.

"You," the woman said.

"I just—" she gasped and felt light-headed "—want to help." Her head felt like it was going to explode.

"Help me? Look at what your sister did to my family." The woman dug her nails into Jadie's neck. "You burned them alive!" she screamed into Jadie's face and blew her bangs back.

"What are you . . ." Jadie groaned, ". . .wait. I recognize you." She gasped. "Alexis."

Jadie flailed her feet and hit empty air. She banged her fist on Alexis's arm but all it did was tighten the grip against her neck. Alexis stuck her leg behind Jadie's foot and tripped her to the floor. Jadie tried to get up, but Alexis had already crawled on top of her chest. The crazed woman took a handful of Jadie's hair and yanked hard.

"Finally figured out who I am did you?" She pulled Jadie's hair again until she screamed. "Look at me. Look—at—me." Jadie looked up, still in pain from the sensation of a thousand needles poking her head. "Is this what Cindy planned for revenge?"

Jadie's eyes grew wide. "You're the one that's been following us."

Jadie wriggled her fingers and inched her way to the leather strap of Alexis's purse. Alexis smacked Jadie across the face and pushed her purse to the doorway.

"That's mine."

'Why are you doing this?"

Alexis smacked her across the face again and pressed her knee into Jadie's chest. She screamed and squirmed under the sharp, descending pressure of Alexis's bony knee. Jadie noticed out of the corner of her eye that Michael quietly bent over and picked up Alexis's purse.

"We had nothing to do with this," Jadie said.

Alexis yanked Jadie's collar and smashed the back of her head into the floor. "My family did nothing to you. Why didn't you come after me instead?"

Jadie glanced at the doorway and Michael was gone. "Why would we go after your family?"

A loud crash boomed behind Alexis. A massive ventilation duct fell through the ceiling and damaged the tiled floor. The agent looked over her shoulder and Jadie freed her hand. She folded her fingers into an L shape and struck Alexis's throat. Alexis fell back and clutched her neck. She coughed violently onto the floor and sent spit flying from her mouth. Jadie kicked her ribs and scrambled to her feet. She closed her eyes and desperately summoned the suit.

A glimmer of the ruby armor began to form on her wrist, but stopped when something sharp, like a nail being driven through plywood, struck Jadie's sternum. She clutched her chest and the ruby armor disappeared under her skin. Alexis stood before her with a melted pen in her hand. She tossed the pen aside and pushed Jadie into the flames of a burning medical monitor.

The jacket caught fire and Jadie screamed. She quickly ripped off her leather jacket and threw it at Alexis. The agent smacked it away and took an IV stand to the chest from Jadie. Alexis grabbed hold of the pole and whirled the stand in an arc, dragging Jadie with it. The ceiling tiles fell all around her like a shower of brimstone and Jadie found herself being pushed backwards to an open window.

She tried to grip the metal pole but the sweat on her palms made it slip between her hands. Suddenly, the jabbing pressure from the IV stand disappeared. Alexis threw it to the floor and stared at Jadie while cracking her knuckles. Jadie threw her arms up in defense, but Alexis pounced on her like a lion to a frightened gazelle. She grabbed onto Jadie's blouse and lifted her onto the windowsill. Her butt smacked onto the moulding, but that didn't stop her from trying to kick her legs in order to escape Alexis.

"Good-bye."

Alexis pressed her hands against Jadie's chest and pushed her through the window. Jadie clamped onto the sides and pushed her body forward. She desperately held onto the sides of the window, but her stomach and fingers cramped horribly. Alexis pounded Jadie's hand and caused a finger to slip. Her hand turned red and Alexis pounded on it again.

Jadie's hand slipped and half her body dangled out of the window. She looked down and saw the street swivel all around her in a dizzying motion. Alexis pried Jadie's other fingers off the window moulding and shoved her chest.

Jadie fell out of the window and was gripped by the horrifying sensation of freefall. The windows scrolled past her in a blur and her body reacted by electrifying her with the sensation of terror. She looked down and saw that the parked vehicles which looked like toy cars quickly grew into giant automobiles.

She closed her eyes and let gravity take her.
CHAPTER 16:

Selfish Love

Cindy just wanted to see his brown eyes again which were hidden behind bruised and swollen eyelids. She stroked the black hair away from her husband's bandaged forehead and leaned in next to Jonas's ear. "I am so sorry I let this happen to you." The doctor had told Cindy that Jonas had woken up earlier, but they needed to keep him sedated with meds due to the excruciating pain he was under. She gently rested on his arm and lightly scratched his bandage with her fingernail. A distinct clack, clack, clack passed by the door, a woman's high heels.

Cindy took out her phone and checked the time: [1:32pm]

She put her phone away and went back to resting on his arm.

"I should go, but I don't want to." Cindy rubbed his chest and sighed. "I have to confess something to you."

Cindy got up from the bed and closed the door to the room. She returned and sat down on the chair beside him, hands tucked between her legs.

"I know this won't make sense since I'm always complaining about the suit." She took a moment and stared at the floor. "But the truth is, I actually like it, a lot." Cindy exhaled deeply. The weight of her dark secret finally lifted away from her weary shoulders. "It would be crazy not to. Who wouldn't want to be able to bounce bullets off their body and swing through the city like it's a playground. I might have never quit being a police officer if I had the suit with me. It takes away the fear of being in a bad situation and makes you feel . . . powerful."

She leaned back and rubbed her hands across her face.

"I lied when I said I was afraid of the suit turning me into a killer again."

Cindy massaged her forehead slowly and closed her eyes.

"I just didn't want to encourage, Jadie, you know? She'll do things with the suit that she shouldn't. Things she would end up regretting, like I did. I didn't want her to end up tortured like me. Of course, now that she told me about the Coast Guard, that plan went out the window. The point is, I don't want her to go through anything that I've experienced. If she kills someone, I don't think she'd be able to handle it. She'll probably kill herself with alcohol."

Cindy scoffed.

"Not that I'm one to talk. Anyway, I feel that when it comes to you and my family, I'm afraid I might be too selfish to . . . I don't know. If someone asked me to choose between saving the world or saving my family. I'm not sure I would make the best choice for everyone."

Suddenly, a loud explosion shook the hospital and nearly knocked Cindy out of her chair.

"What the hell was that?" She ran over to the door and looked outside. Dozens of people were running to the exits. An odor filled the air and she instantly recognized the smell: explosives.

"I have to get you out of here."

Cindy ran into the hallway and waved her arms to the security guard down the hall. He didn't see her through the swell of people converging into the main atrium and ran with patients that were still in hospital gowns.

She ran up to Jonas's bed and kicked the brakes off.

"Cindy, Cindy," a voice called from behind.

"Michael?"

Michael wheeled towards her and frantically waved a woman's purse above his head, just stopping short of crashing into her leg.

"What are you doing?" she said.

He ignored her and dumped the contents of the purse all over his lap: a small flashlight, lockpick, a miniature camera, an audio recording device, and a leather bound ID holder with the CIA logo imprinted on it. He picked up the ID holder and handed it to Cindy.

She opened the case and saw a CIA emblem imprinted on the cover. Inside, a laminated ID card bared an iridescent CIA logo over a photo of a woman. Beneath the photo, there was some writing :

This is to certify that Special Agent Alexis St. Pierre-Levreux whose photograph and signature appear hereon is authorized to engage in investigations and other special matters in support of official business of the Central Intelligence Agency. Top Secret-SAP-TS/SAP NCS

Cindy's eyes opened wide. Shock chilled her veins like a river of slushed ice. "Do you know who this is? I killed this woman's father." Cindy looked around to make sure no one heard her.

"She's trying to kill, Jadie—right now! Let's go, let's go."

Cindy went for the door but stopped in mid step.

"What are you doing? We have to go," Michael said.

"I want you to get Jonas out of here while I go help Jadie. Can I use the suit?"

"It's risky. There's no telling what it would do to you."

"Wouldn't be the first time. Where's Jadie?"

"Children's ward."

She nodded.

"Cindy, the whole place is on fire."

"Okay, I'll handle it. Michael, I'm counting on you to take care of Jonas."

"Cindy, I can't walk. How am I supposed to get him out of here."

The suit began to envelop her skin and filled her with a surge of strength that electrified her limbs to full alertness. When the HUD powered on, the loading text jumped up and down on the screen. She sighed, the shifting text was not a promising start.

Cindy placed her silver plated hand on Michael's shoulder and said, "You'll figure something out. What room?"

"Eighty-one, seventeen."

Fully dressed in her body armor, Cindy sprinted to the children's ward and followed the smoke trail. She weaved between the flood of people running in the opposite direction, ignoring the terror in all their faces. The HUD image wobbled in front of her eyes, but a few taps on the helmet temporarily stabilized the video feed.

She passed a corridor leading to the CT scan and MRI wings and stopped when she felt a rumble beneath her feet. Metallic moaning surrounded her until the loud crash of falling pipes and people screaming filled the burning corridors. A voice cried out from behind the newly blocked hallway. "Help us, please, somebody help us! We're trapped!"

Cindy stood at a crossroads. Torn between helping her sister or saving the people trapped behind the debris.

"Damn it!" Cindy turned to face the rubble. "You better hold on, Jadie. I'll be there soon."

Cindy ran up to the wreckage composed of rebar, ventilation ducts, concrete and ceiling tile. She cupped her hands by her mouth and yelled "Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah, we're alright, but there's fire coming up behind us," a voice said.

"Do you see any other exits?"

"They're blocked off. A water main broke and there's a live wire electrifying the water. I have kids and elderly with me," the voice said.

"Okay, sir. What's your name? I'm going to get you guys out of here."

"My name's Wayne, I'm a security guard here. What's yours?"

"Silver, who are you?"

"Silvie? All right, 'ppreciate the help."

"No it's Silv—nevermind. I'm going to bust open the wall, so stand back."

"Watch out, this building is old. Some parts of it have brick walls dividing the rooms. Unless you have super strength you won't be able to get through it."

"Okay Wayne, just ask everybody to stand back."

"All right everybody, get back from the wall." His voice was muffled behind the pile of debris.

Cindy could feel the power fluctuations within the suit as she activated the infrared and saw the heat signatures of dozens of people. The flames were colored bright pink and red, while the guards and people were orange and yellow. She could see the sparks of electricity crackling into a pool. It was supposed to be a dark blue color, but the electricity was turning it bright red.

Cindy activated her railguns. She waited for the blobs to form on her arms but nothing happened. She tried again and the words [ERROR - weapons driver missing] flashed in front of her eyes.

She bellowed a furious growl and punched the wall next to her. A pain that snaked from her knuckles to her forearm shot back and made her wriggle her fingers. That wasn't supposed to happen, not while she was wearing the suit. Cindy looked at the wall and noticed the deep spider web crack that formed where she hit it.

Cindy took a breath and curled up into her fighting stance. She told herself it was another day at the gym, that she was just hitting a punching bag. A really thick, solid, hard as a rock,—I would never use this for training—punching bag. She went up on the balls of her feet and let loose a punch with all the weight of her body behind it. A chunk of the wall exploded and bits of dust ticked against her armor.

She hissed at the hurt pulsing from her hand as if the bones in her knuckle had split open. Cindy checked her vitals in the HUD: no broken bones or hairline fractures, just agony. She looked back at the wall and was disheartened to see that only the outer shell had been pierced.

"Silvie, are you all right? Something made the walls shake over here," Wayne said.

"Yes, just keep your distance."

She curled her fingers and went back into the attack posture again. "Just follow through," she muttered.

Cindy punched the wall again and sent another chunk of debris flying off. She clutched her hand and held it down by her legs as if it had shattered. Cindy switched feet and readied her right hand.

She punched with her right, winced, then again with her left, even worse. She gritted her teeth and started pummeling the wall. Each strike made her hands feel like ruptured meat sacks, but the wall was steadily crumbling before her. Then, a pink tuft of insulation popped out of the hole surrounded by wood. Cindy put her hand through the hole and held onto a section of brick. She wrenched her arm back and brought an enormous chunk of wall with it.

The gap came out bigger than she had expected. Cindy pulled out the fiberglass insulation and then busted through the wooden beams and drywall in front of her. Her hands felt numb as if she had been out in the snow for too long, but she was glad it was over. Cindy stepped into a room with a giant CT scan machine and saw the security guard through the glass window. He was hefty and towered over the children and elderly people he had with him. A few female nurses were helping tend to the patients.

He took out his keys and opened the door to the CT scan room. Wayne ran up to Cindy and said, "You're not Silvie! You're—you're—"

"In a hurry. Come on, let's get these people out of here."

Wayne waved his escort to come into the room. A nurse took a little boy's hand and encouraged him to crawl through the hole. The boy smiled, revealing a missing tooth. "This is the other side," he said as if entering some magical land. Wayne followed behind the boy and waited for the others to pass through.

Cindy ran up to the nurse and said, "I'm sorry. I need to pass through next, I have to help other people."

"Of course, of course." The nurse gently stopped the rest of the patients and let Cindy through.

"I need you to help out a friend of mine," she said to Wayne. "His name is Michael, and he's in room eighty-four one four, watching over a patient. Please help them evacuate for me."

"I'll get on it right now." He turned his head and spoke into the radio on his shoulder. "Hey I need two guys down by ICU."

Cindy bolted into the inflamed children's ward. Lights dangled from the ceiling like burning torches; the end of the hallway, a wall of flame; and gaps were forming on the floor with fires spewing out of them like a fire pit. Cindy ran to room 8117, but it was empty.

"Jadie!" she yelled. Cindy was half way into a turn when she heard a muffled voice cry for help, followed by furious knocking.

Cindy switched to infrared and was blinded by fire. She shut it off and listened for the sound. Nothing, just the roar of flame. She continued down the corridor and saw something red and out of the corner of her eye.

It was a limb charred down to the bone.

She scanned the limb and did an analysis with her suit.

[Name: Syed Ahmas | Cause of Death: Explosion | Associations: The Black Rook]

"The Black Rook? Was this a terrorist attack?"

The sound of knocking could be heard again, louder this time. She turned to the hallway and saw a hole separating her from the door where the thumping was coming from. She leapt over the gap, past the fire, and removed a cluster of steel pipes that were blocking the entrance.

"I hope you're in here, Jadie," she said.

She opened the door and was greeted by a man with glasses and a faux hawk haircut. He carried a little girl in his tattooed arms.

"Mon Dieu! I thought no one was coming. We were trapped when the fire started. Please, can you help?"

Another crash thundered just a few feet down the corridor where chunks of ceiling fell to the floor. His daughter screamed and buried her head into his shoulder and started to cry.

"Merde! How are we going to get out of here?"

Cindy pushed the man back into the room before a massive fireball could torch them.

"We're going to be trapped in here," he said.

Cindy ran up to the window and busted it open with her elbow. Behind her, the man tried to cover his daughter's mouth from the smoke, but she cried even harder. "Baby I need to cover your mouth." Cindy climbed up to the windowsill and waved the man over. She stared out into the Brooklyn neighborhood and tried to see where she could grapple to. Unfortunately, most of the buildings were small bodegas and shops that were dwarfed by the towering hospital. The man followed her to the window and Cindy lifted his heavy body up to the windowsill with one hand.

"We are very high. Very, very high," he said while covering his daughter's mouth with his shirt.

Cindy grabbed onto his waist and he yelled, "What are you doing?"

Cindy raised her arm out the window and formed the grapple gun. She looked to the man and said. "Hold on tight. You might want to put your glasses in your pocket."

"Seriously? Are you crazy? My daughter, no. No, no."
CHAPTER 17:

Project Sapphire

The wail of sirens and the flash of emergency lights packed the street in front of the hospital with emergency vehicles. Firefighters scrambled to unwrap their heavy fire hoses while police officers cordoned off the street with wooden barricades and police tape. Above the scene, in the monolithic hospital. Cindy stood on the precipice of a window holding a man twice her size by the waist. A helicopter flew overhead, but there was something suspicious about it. It didn't have any markings of a news chopper or a police helicopter, so Cindy scanned it.

[Registered: Z4U 3%ng M3d!c4L] the text was too garbled to understand.

The man coughed into one hand and kept his daughter's mouth covered with the collar of his shirt. The smoke was pushing at their backs and it wouldn't be long before the flames caught up to them. Cindy pressed the man tightly into her body and prepared to jump.

"Merde, merde, merde!"

The little girl covered his mouth. "Daddy those are bad words."

Cindy jumped from the window and the man screamed, "Merde, merde, merde!" The wind filled the man's shirt like a parachute catching wind but did nothing to slow their fall. She twisted her body and pointed the grappling hook to the roof of the hospital. Nothing happened, no lock on, no fire command, nothing. She continued to fall with the man and daughter screaming in her ear.

Cindy manually aimed the grappling hook and fired into the lip of the hospital rooftop. The cable uncoiled from her arm and snapped straight from the hook embedding itself into the brick. She circled around the building and extended the wire, gradually lowering herself to the ground. When they flew above the overhang of the ambulance drop off area, an error message blinked across her eyes. [Error: The grappling hook driver has unexpectedly shut down, please restart].

The hook detached from the building and wormed itself back into its silver housing. Cindy straightened her body and spread her feet apart, bracing herself for the inevitable crash landing. She clenched her jaw and crashed onto the roof, feet first. The impact shot up from the soles of her feet all the way up to her thighs, but the father and his daughter were unharmed.

The man looked at her with wide eyes and tried to catch his breath. "Wow."

Cindy looked at the little girl and pinched her chubby cheeks. "You okay, sweet pea?"

"Yes," she said.

"We owe you our lives, thank you." the father said.

Cindy hid a smile behind her helmet and turned around. His hand gently tugged her forearm.

"I am sorry, I know you are in a hurry. Do you know if my wife is okay?"

"Who is your wife?" Cindy said.

"Alexis St. Pierre-Levreux, she has black hair, green eyes, kind of tan skin."

His words punched Cindy in the chest. "I'm sorry, I haven't met anyone matching that description. I'm sure she's okay. What was your name again?" she said.

"Oh, I am Henri, and this is my daughter, Felice." The little girl smiled and waved, then rested her head on his shoulder. "If you do see her, could you please let her know that we are safe."

Cindy nodded and turned to face the hospital when a voice came through her comm-link.

"Cindy, can you hear me?"

"Oh thank God! Jadie, are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Did everyone get out?"

"I think so." She walked away from Henri and spoke more softly.

"Did Michael tell you who the CIA agent is?" Jadie said.

"Yeah, Raymond's daughter."

"She threw me out the window," Jadie said. "Now I know how you felt."

Cindy smirked. "Where are you?"

"I'm on the roof. I saw a helicopter drop something off earlier."

"I saw the helicopter too, what did it drop off?"

"It's a suitcase, might be a bomb."

"I'm on my way, don't touch it."

Cindy walked up to the hospital tower and stuck her hand on the brick wall, waiting for the suction to kick in. She pulled herself up and began to climb, but something slipped and a burst of sparks popped from her hand. No good, her hand wasn't sticking. She looked to the top of the towering building, flames pouring from every window, and grumbled. No grappling hook, no gecko, she would have to climb the old fashioned way.

Cindy walked up to one of the windows and placed her foot on the window sill. She bent at the knees and jumped straight up to the next window. With a quick reposition and another leap, she began jumping from window to window like a frog on a pond. She grabbed onto the ledge and did a quick, painless pull up onto the rooftop. Amidst the blazing inferno and smoke blackened skies, she saw Jadie standing next to the briefcase.

Cindy ran over to Jadie and took her in a big hug that lifted Jadie's feet off the floor.

"Okay, let's calm down now," Jadie said.

Cindy placed her back down, then looked over at the suitcase. It was an aluminum suit case with bulbous ribbing jutting out the sides; it would blend in perfectly on a luggage carousel. Cindy knelt down beside it and tried to switch vision modes, but the suit refused to comply. She'd have to open it if she wanted to see what was inside.

"Jadie, can you give this a scan?"

"It's telling me it's just a regular suitcase."

"Maybe it is a regular suitcase." Cindy popped open the latches. "Keep a look out. I'm going to try to disarm this."

"Do you even know how to do that?"

Cindy looked at Jadie. "I took a class."

"That's not funny, Cindy."

She turned back to the suitcase and opened it. "I took training so that I could transfer into the counter-terrorism unit. I wasn't too shabby at the bomb disposal part."

"If you blow us all up—"

"—I won't blow us up."

Cindy peered inside the suitcase and saw a strange cylindrical holder, almost like a bracer for your hand. It was grey in color and the words Sapphire were etched in navy blue around its circumference. She pulled out the foam padding that surrounded the bracer and found nothing. There were no triggers, no wires, timers, or explosives.

"It's not a bomb," Cindy said. "It says Sapphire on one of these metal cuffs. I don't know what that means."

Cindy looked over her shoulder. "Jadie?"

There was a shiny, navy blue boot pressing down on Jadie's neck. Her fingers wriggled, reaching, clawing as hard as they could to get Cindy's attention.

"Stay where you are or I'll break her neck. Slowly turn around and face me," the woman said.

Cindy's eyes traveled up the woman's boot: past her black armored knee pads; past the thick navy blue leg armor that had geometric lines running through it; past the reinforced chest armor that had red accents on the ribs and Chinese hanzi stamped at the breast; and stopped at the helmet. It was almost insectoid in shape, alien in design, with hexagon shaped eyes that glowed an eerie gold.

"So it's true," Cindy said.

"What's that?"

"They did create a Sapphire Ninja."

The woman shrugged and pressed down on Jadie's neck.

"Stop it!" Cindy screamed.

"Why?"

"She did nothing to you."

"You're right."

Sapphire lifted her boot and Jadie squirmed out from under her. She scurried back to Cindy's side and rubbed her neck.

"You OK?" Cindy asked.

"I'll be fine."

Cindy took a step forward. "Alexis?"

"I didn't think a washed up ex-cop like you would have figured that out."

Cindy walked forward, expecting Alexis to fall into a defensive posture, but she simply stood there and watched.

"You were the one in the truck." Cindy's body trembled with anger. "You almost killed my husband."

"And I know more about you than I wanted to find out."

"What the hell for?"

"At first it was just business." Alexis stepped closer to Cindy and looked down at the adversary who barely reached her neck. "Now it's personal."

Alexis grabbed Cindy's wrist and wrenched it in the wrong direction. Cindy jerked away, but Alexis followed her and continued to pull on Cindy's arm until the tendons felt like they would snap. Cindy clamped her lips together and held back a scream, but the excruciating pain gurgled a carnal sound from within her chest. She writhed in Alexis's hand, then fell to the stoned rooftop.

"Cindy!" Jadie screamed.

Alexis let go of Cindy's wrist and turned her attention to Jadie. "Stay back or I'll do the same to you."

"Try it," Jadie said.

Cindy groaned and wobbled back up to her feet. "I just saved your family, why are you doing this?"

Alexis turned on her heels and stomped towards Cindy. "You've got some nerve to say things like that."

Jadie grabbed Alexis's shoulder and said, "Leave her alone."

"I warned you." Alexis spun around, bent Jadie's arm until the bone nearly popped out of the skin, then struck her sternum with her thick, padded gloves. Sparks exploded from Jadie's chest and sent her crumbling at the knees. Sapphire looked over her shoulder, her glowing amber eyes staring at Cindy. "Here comes the next contestant," Alexis said.

Cindy roared and charged forward with her fists ready to fly. She threw a punch with enough force to shatter someone's jaw, and missed. Alexis ducked out of the way and clamped her fingers onto Cindy's forearm like a claw. With Cindy's arm locked in place, Alexis smashed her knee into Cindy's stomach, then punched her underarm which sent shockwaves across Cindy's armored skin. Unable to resist Alexis's strength, Cindy was dragged in a circle by the arm and thrown into Jadie, knocking them both down.

She rolled off of her sister and rested her back on the jagged, uncomfortable rooftop. "This sucks."

"Get up," Alexis said.

Jadie clambered to her feet and Cindy followed after, ignoring the dull ache radiating from her arm. Alexis took an Aikido stance: knees slightly bent, open palms, one in front of the other.

"Unbelievable," Cindy said.

"What?" Jadie said.

"Look at her stance." Cindy gestured to Alexis. "She knows Aikido, that's why we can't hit her."

Alexis continued to stare at them, unmoving, watching.

"So what do we do?" Jadie said.

A light shot through the billowing smoke followed by the sound of a helicopter approaching. Cindy looked up and saw the logo of Impress News painted in black across the white fuselage. The searchlight cruised across the rooftop and snapped to a stop over the ninjas.

"Great, looks like we're gonna be on the ten o'clock news," Cindy said.

Cindy set up a link with Jadie's suit and triggered a countdown timer. She looked at Jadie to see if she got the message. She nodded.

[Three] Cindy lowered her body like a runner positioning herself at a starting line.

[Two] Jadie clenched her fists.

[One] Alexis goaded them with her fingers.

Cindy bolted from the imaginary starting line, but it was Jadie's long legs which allowed her to reach Alexis first. Her sister threw the first, head splitting punch, into Alexis's alien-like helmet, and in that same instance, was flipped on her back before anyone could blink. Cindy activated her speed boost and leapt in the air, chambering her legs for an explosive jump kick.

Alexis caught Cindy's leg and threw her on top of Jadie like a sledgehammer. Their bodies collided and sent sparks shooting out from their chest. Cindy's HUD flickered for a few seconds; the image scrolling up and down in front of her eyes. When the image stabilized, Alexis was looming over them.

"Get up."

Cindy scrambled to her feet and pulled Jadie up with her. But Alexis didn't move. She stood in her combat stance and waited. Jadie rolled her shoulders and circled around the Sapphire Ninja. Alexis turned her head like a robot and kept her eyes on Jadie who crept all around her. Jadie went into a Pencak Silat fighting stance, placing one fist under her chin and one in front of her body. She waved her hands in a circular, dance-like motion and continued to orbit Sapphire.

Cindy balled her fists and shook her head no. "Jadie, don't."

"She's just one woman, Sis. We can beat her."

Alexis beckoned with her hand.

Jadie shot forward, her long legs pumping back and forth like a track star. She readied her fist and charged in for the strike, same tactic as before. But before she could hit, Jadie dropped her fist and threw a kick instead, faking out Alexis. For a moment, Cindy felt a tinge of excitement that her sister had finally broken through. The moment was short lived. Alexis grabbed Jadie's leg and dropped her elbow into her knee. Jadie's leg shook like a plucked guitar string and bellowed a sickening crunch. Jadie tried to hit her with a jab, but Alexis slammed her open palm into Jadie's elbow.

The loud snap was followed by an ear piercing shriek that made Cindy's blood curdle. Alexis pushed Jadie's shoulder and threw her on the floor while still restraining her arm. Alexis looked up at Cindy and slowly bent Jadie's arm back until the sounds of her screams filled the air.

"Let her go!" Cindy yelled and charged at Alexis like a linebacker. The Sapphire Ninja let go of Jadie and held out her hands in front of her, ready to grab the bull by the horns. Cindy reached for Alexis, but the woman pushed Cindy's hands together and slammed her to the rocky surface.

Cindy's helmet clanged against the rocks, causing the video signal on her HUD to flicker uncontrollably. The vitals had changed from the healthy blue color to a sickly green from her suit taking on more damage. Then, the bony plate of Alexis's kneepad pressed into Cindy's spine and grew heavier with her increasing weight. Alexis yanked Cindy's arm behind her back and caused her biceps to stretch with a horrid burning sensation. Cindy tried to move, but her arm was locked in place.

Alexis leaned over Cindy's ear. "This is pathetic. Get up."

She released her hold on Cindy and allowed the injured woman to rise. Cindy's muscled arms strained to lift her weakening body but they did. A sharp sting cut through her legs and she fell back down to the floor, gasping for breath. She hadn't landed a single hit on Alexis and already she felt drained from the battle. They needed a new tactic if they were going to beat her.

"Jadie," she whispered.

"Yeah?"

Cindy sent a text message through their HUD: [Blitz].

The sisters rose to their feet and flanked Sapphire from the front and back. Cindy raised her hands into the Krav Maga attack posture, while Jadie did the fluid movement of Pencak Silat. The Aikido master stood in the middle, unphased from being surrounded. "This is your last chance." Alexis shifted into her combat stance. "Show me what you got."

Cindy and Jadie both rushed Alexis at matching velocities and she didn't seem to care. They both closed in, readying their bodies for the inevitable clash of armor against armor. Cindy launched a kick and Jadie threw a punch, simultaneously into Alexis's body. The Sapphire Ninja jumped in the air and back flipped over Jadie's head. When she landed, she put her arms around Jadie's neck and squeezed her in a choke hold.

"Why don't you sit this one out?" Alexis tightened her grip on Jadie's neck and kicked Cindy away. Jadie grunted and desperately clawed at Alexis's arms and helmet, her head bobbing wildly in all directions. Cindy stumbled back and caught her breath before going in again, but it was too late. Alexis's gloves started to glow and shot out bolts of lightning from her hands. The surge of electricity traveled through Jadie's body and made her seize violently in Alexis's arms. She slumped to her knees and smoke hissed from the ruby suit. Her head lolled to the side and took her body with it.

"Jadie!"

Cindy lunged at Alexis and aimed her fist at her helmet. If she was going to land a hit, she wanted her hand to burst through those yellow eyes and into Alexis's skull. Sapphire reached for Cindy's wrist, and for once, she was ready. Cindy spun around and struck the side of Alexis's helmet with the back of her leg. Alexis's head jostled back and forth and sent her entire body stumbling backward.

She shook her head. "Lucky," Sapphire said.

Alexis lowered her head. She tightened up her shoulders and curled her fists closer to her body. The new stance made Cindy breathe heavy out of fear. Her heart thumped hard against her chest and then Alexis closed in, fast. Sapphire threw a right hook. Cindy blocked and threw a counter punch with her right.

Alexis grabbed her blocking hand and ducked away from the counter. She slipped behind Cindy and started punching her in the kidneys. Cindy's chest popped forward with each hit, the armor crunching into her lower back. Then, after landing blow after brutal blow, Alexis turned Cindy around and hammered her stomach. Every strike became more forceful, more devastating, and soon Cindy found herself unable to breathe. The armor dented inward, and the vitals flashed yellow.

Cindy wobbled at the knees and gasped for air, but Alexis continued hitting her. She made her way up to the helmet and pounded on the hardened shell. It crumpled inward and cracked the plexi-glass in front of her right eye. The video feed turned to static and the growing cracks let smoke seep into her helmet and burn her eyes. Cindy careened back and forth with each consecutive blow, her stamina draining from her battered body. Alexis threw a roundhouse kick that smashed across Cindy's helmet and sent her spinning down to the floor. She landed face first, but Alexis wasn't done. She grabbed Cindy's arm and pulled it back until she screamed.

"You're a sorry excuse for a fighter. I couldn't even enjoy beating you."

Cindy turned her head as far as she could and looked into Sapphire's gold, demon eyes. "Are you going to kill me?"

"Kill you? Oh no, that would be too easy. You're going to wish I did though." Alexis looked up at the smoky sky and raised her arm to the news helicopter still circling above. "I think we need a little privacy." An energy charged bullet shot out from her wrist and destroyed the searchlight. She fired a second bullet and shattered the camera lens beneath the chopper. The helicopter rolled to the left and flew away from the scene.

She stuck her fingers under Cindy's jaw and ripped off the helmet. The roar of fire and blare of sirens overwhelmed Cindy's senses. She took deep, poisonous gulps of smoke and hacked violently. Cindy tried to kick free but was pinned down. Alexis raised her fist and a high pitched squeal emanated from her gloves. A river of energy filled the hidden lines inside her bracer and sent bolts of electricity to her knuckles. She laid Cindy on her back and buried her fist into Cindy's soft, fleshy cheek.

Black.
CHAPTER 18:

Prisoner

Cindy opened her eyes to a waffle pattern of squares. Everywhere she looked there was a veil of black disrupting her sense of time and space. Her head hurt and her breath was hot and moist in front of her. The smell of mold and stagnant water overpowered her sense of smell. There's a drip of water, somewhere, echoing when it hits a puddle of some sort. There was also a deep rumble like water pouring out of a storm drain. She moved her hand and a cold strip of steel cut into her wrist. A cord snapped taut and a jingle of chains rattled by her hand. She tried her other arm, same cutting sensation, same jingle. She tried to move her legs, but they were stuck together, maybe . . . tied together.

Then Cindy heard a loud click, followed by a heavy slab of metal scraping along stone. She realized then what was happening.

She was a prisoner.

Again the distinct clack, clack, approached her, it was wet and gravelly in sound. Cindy started to hyperventilate; the fear of the unknown was very real. The bag around her head sucked into her nose and obstructed the airway with each panicked breath. The footsteps grew louder and made Cindy tense her muscles until every limb in her body cramped.

She spasmed and thrashed in her seat, afraid of the unknown. A hand gripped the back of her neck and ripped the blackness away from her eyes. Cindy blinked rapidly and swiveled her head around. Her pupils contracted and helped to reduce the sting of light. The fuzziness was clearing away and the room was coming into focus.

The metal strips that had been cutting her wrists were handcuffs secured to a decrepit wooden chair. The drips of water came from a leaky stone ceiling and pooled in a puddle with bits of paint and dirt floating on its surface. The room was no bigger than a studio apartment. It had no windows and was very damp and humid, a rusty metal door serving as its only entrance. A single light bulb illuminated the room and the rocky texture of the walls.

A shadow walked in front of Cindy and leaned into the light. It was Alexis.

She held a glass of water in front Cindy's eyes. "Thirsty?"

Cindy nodded.

Alexis grabbed a knife from the table and pointed it at her lips. Cindy stared at the glimmering steel and breathed rapidly through her nose. The knife plunged into her mouth and very slowly cut a small hole through the duct tape covering her mouth. Alexis withdrew the knife and stuck a straw into the glass, aiming it into the hole.

The water splashed across her tongue and into her throat, burning its way down to her stomach. Cindy jerked away and retched until the salty sea water spilled back out.

"That's rude." Alexis dumped the glass over Cindy's head.

Cindy thrashed in her seat and screamed into the duct tape until her skin turned red. Alexis disappeared into the shadows and then re emerged with two wires in her hands, one red, one blue. The tips consisted of frayed copper, and when Alexis combined them together, electricity would pop and dim the light bulb for a split-second. Alexis looked at Cindy and smirked.

"You should feel lucky. You'll get to see firsthand how the CIA extracts information. There's only one problem. I don't need information from you."

Cindy stared at the wires and felt her whole body tense. She closed her eyes and attempted to activate her suit. A shock hit the side of her head and broke her concentration, but Cindy never saw Alexis move.

"You didn't think I'd tie you up without deactivating that suit of yours, did you?"

Alexis leaned over Cindy and tapped the ends of the two wires together in front of her eyes. The electricity popped and caused Cindy to flinch. She flared her nostrils and shook in her chair as Alexis drew closer, the smell of burnt copper overpowering her sense of smell. Cindy craned her head back and closed her eyes, panting heavily and rapidly.

Alexis jammed the wires into Cindy's ribs and wracked her with painful convulsions. Cindy's face twitched and her muscles contracted from the surge of electricity that shot through her body. Her shrieks were muffled behind the grey electrical tape and she drifted in and out of consciousness. Alexis removed the wires, and the stench of burnt flesh, Cindy's flesh, lingered in the air.

"How was that? Did you enjoy it as much as I did?" Alexis said. "You know what would be better? If I could hear you scream. Then you'd remember what it sounded like when you burned my family."

Alexis ripped the tape off Cindy's lips and she started to scream as loudly as possible. Alexis poked her with the wires again and seized her body until Cindy's voice shook. "Shut up."

Cindy panted, practically on the verge of tears. "I didn't kill your family."

"I'm sorry. I think you're under the impression that I gave you permission to speak."

Alexis stuck the wires into Cindy's chest and electrified her into violent spasms. Cindy thrashed on the chair, her body involuntary twitching, moving, flailing in all directions. But Alexis didn't stop; Cindy continued to quake savagely, burning with electrical energy. She gritted her teeth and suddenly felt a warm rush of disgustingness soil her panties and jeans.

Alexis removed the wires and stared at the growing pool of water between Cindy's legs. Alexis smiled and said, "Aww, do you still wet the bed? My four year old doesn't even do that anymore."

Cindy picked up her head and snarled with an involuntary twitch pulling at a corner of her lip. "You know what, Alexis. You're right; she doesn't." Cindy paused, knowing that what she would say next could get her killed, but it was her only chance to escape. "Because she's dead."

Alexis bellowed into Cindy's face, spit flying all over and stabbed the wires into Cindy's chest. "You bitch!"

Cindy shook violently and watched the light bulb flicker over her head.

Alexis threw the wires to the floor and raised her hand. "I'm going to kill you."

Cindy waited for Alexis's hand to come down and leaned back in her chair. Alexis's hand flew past and jostled Cindy's hair. She sat back up and grinned.

"You missed."

Alexis returned with the backhand and hit empty air. "Come on, you can't even hit a woman who's tied up in a chair?"

Alexis slowly clenched her fists together and roared through wolfish teeth. She kicked Cindy's chair over and sent her crashing to the concrete floor. The wooden chair exploded into pieces, freeing Cindy's hands, but Alexis jumped on top of her and raised her fists. Cindy grabbed the broken armrest and smacked her across the head. Instantly knocking Alexis unconscious.

Cindy sat up and unknotted the rope tying her legs together. She ran out of the room, cuffs dangling from her wrists, and locked the metal door behind her.

As she stumbled down the hallway, Cindy tried to activate the suit and received another shock. She tried again, this time forcing herself through the pain. The static shock grew into an electrical burst and knocked her into a nearby wall. She touched her left temple and felt an odd bump sticking out the side of her head.

Cindy traced her fingers across the bump. It was circular and had a protrusion in the center. It felt like plastic and was raised enough that she could wedge her fingers beneath it. She had to find out what it was. Cindy continued into the hallway and smelled the stench of sewage and river water nearby. A glint of light caught her eye inside a door that was left ajar. She pushed it open and found a bathroom with mirrors affixed to the wall.

Cindy walked up to the mirror and looked in the reflection.

"Oh my God." Her left eye was bloodshot; her lips were puffy; her cheeks were black and blue; and blood dripped from her nose. But what was most disturbing was the strange device attached to her head. It was matte black and looked like a high-tech suction cup with a white light that intermittently blinked every couple of seconds.

Cindy kept her eyes on the device while she tried to imagine the suit coming over her. The light blinked rapidly and sent a shock to her temple. "What the hell is this thing?" She gripped the device, but the blood made her fingers slip. Cindy entered one of the stalls and found a twin toilet paper dispenser. Cindy took a few squares of toilet paper and jammed them up her nose before ripping the plastic cover off the holder. She walked back to the mirror and saw the dark stain in her jeans. She groaned and said, "I can't believe I peed myself."

Cindy folded the plastic together and cracked it open. With a shard in her hand, she leaned against the sink and wedged the plastic underneath the device. Already, she could feel sharp stings jabbing at the side of her head like an army of bees stinging her. She clenched her teeth and continued to push through the pain. Telling herself that she needed the suit now more than ever. The dull throb turned into a sharp slice from a razor blade as if someone were pinching her skin and ripping it off simultaneously. Her cries echoed throughout the corridor.

The moist adhesive ripped from her flesh and in the mirror she saw a thin, bloody needle slowly come out of her head. She kept going even after her eyes felt like they were going to pop and yanked the needle completely out of her head. The toilet paper shot out from her nose and she collapsed to the floor. Once the twitching of the electrocution passed, Cindy caught her breath and prepared herself.

It was time to suit up. Cindy focused her thoughts and imagined herself in the suit. Her vision faded to black and the little micro organisms skittered all over her body. The cool, smooth liquid ran over her flesh like a refreshing bath. Her purplish, bruised skin became coated in reinforced armor and padding. Her chin gently lifted up as the helmet structure began to encase her head. She could feel her strength returning and ventilation circulating throughout her helmet. Her injuries were numbing and her body began to re-shape into its new, rebuilt form. She opened her eyes and saw the words SIRCA online fade into the tiled floor.

Cindy rose to her feet and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. The outside of her nanosuit was in pristine condition, but the HUD's image continued to flicker and scroll across her eyes. She locked onto Jadie's coordinates. The Ruby Ninja was nearby . . .
CHAPTER 19:

Pyrrhic Victory

Cindy twisted the rusted handle and pushed open the heavy, metal door. Her suit shouldered all the weight; giving her muscles a much needed break after still throbbing from the electricity. A gust of wind rushed through the opening and was followed by a burst of sunlight. Her artificial eyes recalibrated and dimmed the bright light until she could see a chimney stack in front of a sunset sky. There was a steel, grated catwalk in front of her that led out to a crane. There were criss-cross struts jutting out from the crane and wire cables that sustained two glass containers. A stench of garbage filtered through her helmet like sewage and ruptured garbage bags.

As Cindy stared out into the East River and searched for clues to where she was; something moved inside one of the containers.

"Oh my God."

Inside the glass prison, bound in shackles, was her sister, Jadie. On the other side, sitting with his back facing Cindy, was Jonas. The temptation to panic was strong and very real. She took a breath, calmed down and analyzed her surroundings: to the front was FDR drive; to the right, the Williamsburg Bridge; and to the left, the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. Again the pungent odor of sewage wafted into her helmet. She peered over the railing and saw numerous ships moored at the dock with garbage being loaded onto their decks.

Cindy pieced the clues together and figured out exactly where she was. It was the Red Hook water pollution control planet just a few minutes north of the Brooklyn Medical Center. The plant, with its bright red brick construction, smoking chimney stacks, and industrial factory like motif, served as the perfect unassuming place for a trap.

Several hollow knocks brought Cindy's attention back to the containers. Jadie's hands were pressed up against the glass, tied together by cuffs. No sign of her suit anywhere, just a t-shirt and jeans. Jadie turned her head and revealed the black suction cup protruding from her temple. It was identical to Cindy's.

"Are you okay?" Cindy yelled.

"I can't turn on my suit, something's wrong."

"It's the thing on your head. Alexis put it there so we couldn't suit up."

"Then how did you—nevermind. Get me out of here."

"I'm coming." Cindy took one step onto the grated catwalk, but then an intercom squawked. She stopped dead in her tracks.

"Cindy." The voice was cold and tinny.

Cindy kept her head on a swivel and searched for Alexis. Nothing, just the sound of water lapping the sea wall, a distant foghorn, and her family dangling precariously over the Hudson River.

"I'm impressed that you managed to escape, but the same can't be said for your loved ones. I called in a few favors and had this special trap set up just for you. There's a release on the clamp sustaining each container. I won't tell you if the trigger is pressure-based, time-based, or motion-based. All you need to know is that there's not enough time to save the both of them. Understand?"

Cindy whirled around and yelled in all directions. "Leave them alone, I surrender! Take me instead."

"No. I watched my family burn at your hands. So now, I get to watch you kill your family with yours."

"They're not dead, I was lying!" Her voice echoed across the vacant river. "Alexis I was lying! Do you hear me? They're still alive!"

The intercom clicked with a loud squeal. Cindy wanted to go back into that cell, to be tortured and beaten, maybe even to death; she would give anything to save them. Cindy hesitated to walk further. She stared at every grate, every rivet, every bolt, looking for some anomaly that would set off the trap. Cindy continued to creep forward, afraid of sending Jonas and Jadie to their deaths with every hazardous step.

Jadie banged her hands on the glass and yelled, "Cindy, let me help you!"

"How?"

"Get me out of here and take this thing off me."

"What about Jonas? You heard what Alexis said."

"We'll save him together." Jadie's breath fogged up the glass.

Cindy snapped her fingers. "I got it. I'll use the grappling hook to grab the both of you."

Jadie nodded and watched Cindy raise her arms to the containers.

[Error: Grapple_driver.dll corrupt]

"Damn." She shook her head. "It's not working. My suit's still bugged." Cindy smacked her hand against the railing. "Why did I download that stupid virus?"

"Does anything work?" Jadie said.

The HUD flickered as if the power were going out and sent garbled text across the screen. One by one the menus in her HUD turned from a neutral blue color to a damaged bright red. An X appeared over the grappling hook, then cascaded all the way down to the railguns. Each X that appeared made Cindy's anger rise but was then followed by a terror that shrunk her into helplessness.

"Nothing's working, Jadie. I—I don't know what to do."

"I already told—"

"Jadie." Cindy pointed to Jonas's container. "He's drugged up on pain meds. If the container drops when I rescue you, he's going to die."

Jadie stuck a thumb to her chest. "I'll die!"

Cindy held her fingers in a gnarl and slowly dragged them over her helmet, scratching the silver skin. "Just give me a second to think."

"You need to hurry."

Cindy placed her hands on the railing and stared at the river waves rolling under the catwalk. Her brain was overwhelmed with stimuli, processing different thoughts in less than half a second. Pros and cons, cost to benefit ratio, the value of someone's life over the other—

"Augh!" she yelled. Cindy crumpled the iron railing and left permanent impressions on the deformed tubing.

"What the hell do I do?" her voice trembled. "I can't choose. How do I save them both?"

There was one solution that kept recurring in the back of her mind, but she didn't want to share it with her sister.

"Jadie." Cindy continued down the catwalk, still cautious of every step she took.

"Be careful, don't set anything off," Jadie said.

Cindy scanned the glass capsules for a weakness. The data came back an illegible garbled mess. The glass must have been made out of some kind of polycarbonate material, otherwise Jadie would have kicked her way out by now. She looked up at the caps sealing the tops of the enclosures. They were similar to the discs found on magnetic cranes, except instead of a construction yellow, they were gunmetal grey.

"Jadie, I have an idea, but you're not going to like it."

"You're not going to let me drop, are you?"

Cindy arrived at the end of the sky bridge, looked to Jadie, and nodded her head.

"No, Cindy. That's a terrible idea. I'm your sister!"

Cindy raised her hands and moved them in a calming motion. "Listen to me. I love you both equally. I can't choose."

"You're choo—"

"Let me finish! Jonas doesn't have a suit and he's unconscious. If he drops, he'll die. You have a suit, you can survive the fall. There's a better chance of me saving both of you that way."

"Cindy . . . I can't turn the suit on. How is that supposed to work?"

"I . . . I don't know."

A klaxon alarm blared through an unseen loudspeaker. Orange lights flashed atop the cranes and then the mechanical arms began to move. The cranes rotated and caused the floor to shake, swinging the capsules further out into the river. The capsules swayed in mid-air and sent Jonas and Jadie sliding about within the containers. Cindy ran down the catwalk with complete disregard for setting off the traps and jumped onto one of the moving cranes.

"Cindy, I'm begging you. Don't let me drop. I'm scared." Jadie pressed her hands against the glass.

Cindy deactivated her helmet. She looked at Jadie through her human eyes, clouded by tears running down her cheeks. "You'll be okay. Trust me, all right? Just trust me."

"No, Cindy. Please don't do this."

Cindy climbed onto the struts leading to Jonas's capsule and felt the bars shake from a sudden gust of wind. She jumped off the crane and landed on top of the cell which jostled under her weight. There was a hatch with a lock that could be released by pulling on the rusted ring. Cindy placed her index finger through the hole and looked at Jadie.

"Get ready, I'm going to open it now."

Jadie placed the palms of her handcuffed hands onto her eyes. "I don't believe this."

"I'm open to suggestions."

Jadie nodded her head and stepped away from the glass. "Just do it."

"I love you."

Jadie looked at Cindy and lied down flat on the floor. "Yeah. I'm sure you do."

"I'm sorry." Cindy yanked the ring out of the hatch and in that same instant, the cable snapped over Jadie's capsule.

"Cindy!" Her voice faded with the plummeting prison. A loud splash sent water towering into the air and then silence. The capsule wobbled like a buoy in a lake and then sank beneath the waves, leaving hundreds of air bubbles behind.

Cindy swallowed the urge to cry and told herself, "I have to hurry." She ripped open the hatch and dropped through the opening. Jonas was still unconscious on the floor and didn't seem to respond to her presence.

"We've got to make this fast, let's get you out of here." Cindy reached for Jonas and her hand passed right through him.

"What?" Her voice shuddered. She reached for Jonas again and her hand went right through his head. Underneath her palm appeared a gathering of rainbow colored streams of light. His body started to flicker and then disappeared, leaving behind a black orb where he had been sitting. It was the same orb she had seen used for holographic advertisements at JFK airport and the Ocean Grove boardwalk.

There was a yellow post it note laying beside the orb which read: Better luck next time.

Better luck next time. Better luck next— Cindy's eye twitched and a gradual prickling sensation came over her fingers and kidneys. Her body trembled for a just a second and then . . . she exploded with tumultuous rage. Cindy screamed at the top of her lungs and smashed her fist into the orb. Glass splattered all over the capsule and then Cindy went on a rampage. She ripped the note to shreds and then punched the glass enclosure. The strength of her punch was so great that it cracked the glass and caused the prison to sway.

A loud hum filled Cindy's ears and lifted her body up to the ceiling. The armor clanged against the iron roof and she found herself unable to pull her arms and legs free, crucified with no hope of escape. The lid was a magnet. She played right into Alexis's hands and felt like such a fool. She tried to turn on the energy blade. Again the words [ERROR] flashed in front of her eyes.

"God—mmmm."

Cindy's tried to pull away from the magnet and caused her bicep to bulge, but the attraction was too strong and shot her arm back up to the ceiling. The urge to scream and yell was great, but Cindy took deep, calming breaths and cleared her head. There was no time to be blinded by anger. Cindy told herself that she would put Alexis's head on a spike once she was free. Randomly, Cindy wondered if she could turn off the suit.

[ERROR: Obstruction detected].

The error message was discouraging but Cindy refused to give up. She thought of another way to escape, but it was untested and something she had never attempted before. Cindy imagined her armor split in half, leaving the front half of her body exposed without any silver plate. The armor began to melt off her chest and arms and she could feel herself start to slip. The armor cracked open like an eggshell and Cindy fell out. She smacked her face on the metal floor, but she was free.

The armor was stuck to the ceiling like remnants of snake skin, along with her powers. No time for gawking, Cindy told herself. She rammed the glass wall with her shoulder and felt the capsule shift under her feet with a subtle tilt. Cindy ran to the other side and shouldered the opposite wall. The floor tilted again, this time, a little bit steeper. Cindy continued to run back and forth, hitting the wall harder than the last. The container lurched higher as if sliding against a bowl and nearly knocked Cindy off her feet. She charged the wall one final time and pushed with all her might.

On the final push, the prison soared into the sky. Cindy lost her footing and fell to the opposite end. Her back smacked against the glass and created a spidery web that shot out under her aching back. The hook which was connected to the container, came loose. The electrical wire snapped and the hum from the magnet ceased. The capsule slid off the hook and dropped into the Hudson River.

Cindy pushed off the floor and jumped into the silver glob that was her suit. The capsule crashed into the water and flooded the chamber through the cracks in the glass and the open hatch. Cindy swam through the opening and began her search for Jadie. Her radar switched into sonar and pinged the water for Jadie's whereabouts.

A circular dot appeared in her radar scope and she immediately swam in its direction. Though the water was murky and almost pitch black, the enhanced vision mode increased the ambient light and allowed her to navigate more easily. Cindy only wished that the suit could have made her into a stronger swimmer, so she could reach Jadie faster. Then, from out of the murkiness, she saw the capsule making its slow descent to the sea floor.

Cindy zoomed in and looked inside the glass. Jadie was floating in the capsule like a specimen preserved inside a jar. Cindy swam harder until her shoulders burned, frustrated that she couldn't move any faster. Jadie looked deader than dead but she couldn't give up hope. Cindy swam to the top of the enclosure and released the lock. She pulled open the hatch and a puff of air bubbles shot up to the surface. Jadie still hadn't moved. Cindy stuck her arm into the hatch and pulled her sister out through the opening.

Jadie's body floated upward and undulated with the current. Her blond hair billowed and swirled in front of her face like seaweed, her skin, pale white with a tint of blue. Cindy shook her arm hoping for signs of life, but she didn't respond. It was too late. Cindy broke Jadie's chains, then wrapped her arms around her and swam to the surface while dragging the motionless body in her hands.

Cindy broke the surface of the water and hugged her sister.

"Jadie . . . no." Her voice whimpered. "This wasn't supposed to happen like this."

As she started to swim back to shore, Cindy felt a movement in her arms. Jadie's eyes snapped open and she started flailing inside Cindy's grip.

"You're okay! You're okay, I got you."

Jadie slipped out of Cindy's hands and smacked her hand against her helmet. "Get off me!" Jadie kicked off of Cindy's chest and swam to shore. When they finally made it back to dry land, Jadie pulled herself out of the water and wrung her hair out like a used sponge. Cindy climbed out of the river and caught up with her sister.

"Jadie, wait."

Jadie walked away and raised her middle finger over her shoulder.

Cindy grabbed Jadie, but she slipped out and pushed her in the chest.

"After everything we've been through together, you turned your back on me," Jadie said.

"There was nothing else I could do. I didn't have a choice," Cindy said.

"And where's Jonas? Where's the man you chose over your own sister, your blood, your partner, your teammate!" She screamed into Cindy's face, "I was always there for you!"

Cindy coiled back and couldn't find the words. She stared at the floor and whispered, "It wasn't really him." Cindy deactivated her helmet. "Don't you see what Alexis is trying to do?"

"Yeah." Jadie said. "Yeah I see what she did, perfectly. She showed me how much I really meant to you. That even after all the times we protected each other in high school, hid together when daddy was drunk, worked together teaching students. You chose a replaceable husband over me."

"That's not fair. I told you why I made that choice."

"Except there's one problem. I remember what you said to me back in Ocean Grove. You blamed me for what happened to Jonas."

"I was just angry," Cindy said with pleading eyes.

Jadie shook her head and continued to walk away. Cindy's comm-link chimed and a familiar voice came through the transmission.

"Cindy?" Michael said.

"What?" she snapped.

"Oh thank God I finally got a hold of you. Everyone's been worried sick, are you two okay?"

Cindy glanced at Jadie who was still walking away."We're alive," she muttered.

"Come down to the lab as soon as possible," Michael replied.

Cindy called out to Jadie. "We have to go to the lab."

"Fine." Jadie turned around and stomped her way back to Cindy. She got up in her face and pointed her finger to Cindy's chin. "I want to make something very clear. When we put a stop to Alexis and this mind control scheme. I never want to see your face again. Do you understand?" Jadie shoved Cindy in the shoulder.

Cindy stared at her blankly. "You don't mean that."

"Do you understand?"

Cindy couldn't believe what she was hearing, it was too awful to be true. After twenty-eight years of being the enforcer, the protector, the guardian, the leader of her sibling. It was Jadie, the little sister who was about to turn twenty-seven in a few days, who was calling the shots. Cindy felt shame, not from Jadie's scolding or her threats, but from the failure of her decision. If Jadie had died . . .

"Yes, I understand," Cindy whispered.

"Let's go."
CHAPTER 20:

Bittersweet

Cindy rode with Jadie to the Latini building in Midtown Manhattan and was escorted by Ameera to the underground Lucent Labs facility. It had been ages since Cindy stepped foot in this place. The last time she walked these corridors was when she had that incident with Michael. The walls still had a sleek, silver shine to them, illuminated by an LED track light that cut through the center.

"I believe you ladies will be quite impressed with what we're creating here." Ameera pointed into one of the rooms. Inside was a car elevated by an arc of light, identical to the one Michael used to scale the steps of the hotel. "This is an interesting project. Dr. Carmack our lead projects manager, is overseeing the development of what they're calling a 'light bridge.'"

"Looks like what Michael used for his wheelchair when he couldn't climb the steps," Jadie said.

"Correct, that was the original purpose of the project. However, Jonas believes that it could do much more. It's difficult to explain, but essentially, he wants to create a street on top of a street."

"So, it's like a bridge." Cindy said.

"Yes, exactly. But unlike say an overpass or an onramp, anything that's organic can pass through the bridge as if it were a wall of light. Unfortunately, these devices would need to be installed on all vehicles, but could you imagine the possibilities? Lorries and cars could travel on separate lanes without blocking the other. In a place like New York or even London, it would do wonders to alleviate congestion."

"What's a lorry?" Jadie said.

"Oh. What do you call them here? Trucks? Delivery trucks."

They continued down the hallway and saw dozens of diverse employees tinkering and building new inventions. Inventions that were supposed to be confiscated. "I thought the government took everything?" Jadie said.

"They only took weapons technology. The wankers didn't much care for the things that didn't blow up or make them indestructible."

They walked past a chamber where a group of scientists were huddled around an enormous glass wall that was filled with dirt, like an ant farm without the tunnels. On top of the wall was a cylinder that looked similar to a jackhammer but without the actual hammer bit. A scientist pressed a nearby switch and several lights turned on inside the device. A loud hum filled the room and shattered the earth inside the glass container as if it had dissolved into water. It created a hole that would have taken a shovel hours to create.

"What are they using that for?" Jadie asked.

"I have no idea. Dr. Wright and Jonas are being very secretive about that project. If you will follow me, please."

Ameera stopped in front of a gigantic door. Huge plates of armor protruded from its surface and the familiar yellow and black caution stripe surrounded the words "Restricted Access."

There were four unlit green lights over the keypad next to the door. Ameera entered a code and a light turned on. She stuck her thumb on a scanner and another light turned on. "SIRCA," Ameera said and another light turned on. Then she stood in front of a small glass lens and a red laser scanned her eye. The last light turned on and four distinct clicks rang from the door.

It creaked open and inside was the test chamber where Cindy had first touched the mercury-like material.

"You should feel right at home, shouldn't you, Mrs. Ames?" Ameera smiled.

"There's no place like it."

Cindy looked around the lab to see what had changed. The main test chamber seemed relatively untouched. It was still the size of an aircraft hangar and the scorch marks from previous tests still stained the floors. The giant gun that was once near the glass pane observation window was noticeably absent. It really hadn't changed much, except for the addition of the four lock security door which was a much needed upgrade.

The scientists took notice of Cindy's presence and one by one they lifted their eyes from their personal projects and walked up to her. The first was an older, slender man, with round spectacles and peppery hair that came over his eyes. He held out his hand and carried a warm smile.

"I don't think we've been formally introduced, Mrs. Ames. I'm John, Doctor John Wright."

She shook his hand and waved for Jadie to come over, but Jadie didn't move.

"I think my husband mentioned something about you being the mechanical expert. My sister has a device attached to her head that prevents her from turning into Ruby. Would you mind taking a look at it?"

"Jadie?" Dr. Wright waved her over and she reluctantly stepped forward. "What happened, what device is she talking about?"

"Hey, John. It's been a while." She turned her head so that the electrode would face him.

"Fascinating. It looks like this nub here—" he pinched the tip of the electrode, "—probably has a capacitor and a battery in it. What happens when you try to turn on the suit?"

"It electrocutes me."

"Hey Sid! Come over here. You need to take a look at this."

A short, slightly rotund man with dark mustard colored hair, came out of an adjacent lab. Dr. Sid Carmack looked to Dr. Wright and said, "Is this important? Charlie is . . . Subject Zero! Cindy, Jadie, when did you arrive?" Dr. Carmack snapped off his latex gloves and rushed over to them with a look of excitement about him. "Jadie, good to see you again." He turned to Cindy and extended his hand. "It's an honor to finally meet you in person. Doctor Sid Carmack, but everyone just calls me Sid."

Cindy shook his hand. "May I ask you a silly question? Who is Subject Zero?"

"You are. You were the first to wear the Stealth Infiltration Reconnaissance Armor, the one who proved that it worked. If I may be allowed to confess something. I was quite envious of Charlie, Michael and Jonas. They all got to see the suit before I did. I know, it's petty."

"It's okay. Where is Charlie anyway?" Cindy replied.

"Dr. Hudson? He's still analyzing your blood in the Bio Lab. Whatever was in that gas you inhaled has him stumped, and I've never seen that happen before. I am absolutely confident he will figure out a solution, though. He is a genius in the biochemistry field."

"Sid," Dr Wright whispered. "I know you're excited to see SIRCA, but you need to help me with this device on Jadie's head."

"Of course, of course, my apologies. It was a pleasure to finally speak with you, Mrs. Ames."

The doctors took Jadie to a work bench that was littered with tools. Cindy looked around the lab and sighed. There was no sign of Jonas anywhere. A door, with the words "examination" over it, opened. Michael rolled through the door with a smile on his face.

"Michael." Cindy ran up to him and gave him a hug. "Are you all right? What happened at the hospital? Where's Jonas?"

"He's okay. A security guard named Wayne and some staff helped get him out."

"But where is he?"

"He's safe. Come into examination with me. We're going to fix your operating system with a new one."

She followed him back through the door and entered a part of the lab that she only vaguely remembered. There was an examination bed tucked away in the corner and a cushioned metal chair in the center of the room. Above the chair was a circular ring of fluorescent lights, similar to the ones used in operating rooms. On the outer ring was a pair of dangling robotic arms that had various needle and soldering attachments.

"What the heck is that?" Cindy asked.

Michael chuckled. "That's a diagnostics chair. Jonas and I wanted a way to recharge, repair and update your suit without having to use electrodes or any of that other outdated crap." He rolled up to the chair and tapped the cushion. "Have a seat, get comfy."

"Yeah, comfy." Cindy sat down and placed her feet on the footholds. Though the chair was surprisingly comfortable, the silence in the room made her anxious. She sat up from the seat and looked for Michael.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"What are you doing? I don't like these robotic arms over my head. I feel like I'm going to get probed or something." Cindy rubbed the back of her neck. "I, I don't like this, Michael. I'm just, I don't know."

"Just lean back, turn off your helmet, and relax. It's been a long day; take it easy for a while."

She nodded and pushed herself back into the chair. The ventilation fan spun to a stop and the white noise of the helmet's electronic beeps faded into ambient room noise. Her hair fell across her forehead and lightly touched the bruises on her head.

Michael's mouth gaped wide open, his expression reflecting that of sheer horror."Jesus, what happened to you?"

"It's a long story."

"It wouldn't be related to the fact that you dropped off the radar for several hours, would it?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now."

Cindy closed her eyes and let the sounds of beeping and computer fans lull her to sleep.

Her breathing slowed into deep, heavy breaths and her cells took advantage of this reprieve. They rushed to the bruises and injuries on her body and gradually started to repair the damage. Then, a pair of warm hands softly touched her chin and neck. They gently pulled her face upward towards the fluorescent lights and held her there. Something tugged on her lip and caused it to ache, but it wasn't an instrument of any kind. It was soft, moist, and once she got past the throbbing ache, oddly pleasant.

It was almost like . . . a kiss?

"Jonas?" She lost her breath and threw her arms around him. Savoring the touch of his skin against hers.

They didn't exchange words, they didn't smile, they were frozen like an ice sculpture centerpiece in the middle of a mansion.

Several minutes passed and Cindy refused to let go. Jonas pulled away from Cindy and allowed her to get a good look at him. There were still a few bandages on his forehead and a couple of bruises, but he looked better. He took his thumb and pushed away the tear that was racing for her swollen lips.

"What are you cryin' for?" He said.

"I'm just happy," her voice trembled.

Jonas combed his fingers through her tangled hair. "You okay? You look like you've seen better days."

Cindy deflected the question. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I woke up in a hospital that wasn't the Brooklyn Medical Center and saw Michael. He told me there was a big fire and that I got transferred, yadda, yadda. You know what was the first thing I asked him? I said, 'Where's my wife?' And when he told me, 'I don't know.' I signed myself right out and came to the lab."

"You're an idiot," she said half-serious.

Jonas chuckled. "I had to make sure you were okay."

"That's my job. Are you sure you're okay?" Cindy said.

Jonas paused and looked into Cindy's eyes. "I'm okay," he replied.

Cindy playfully leaned towards him. "I'd kiss you again, but my lip really hurts."

He chuckled. "I can see that." Jonas continued to run his fingers through her hair and tickled her scalp.

She stared into his eyes, unable to decide what she wanted to say next. The happiness she felt was beyond overwhelming, it was so strong that it even let her forget what happened with Jadie. Only one thing came to mind that she really wanted to say. "I thought I lost you."

"You're not getting rid of me that easily."

Cindy peered over Jonas's shoulder and saw the unattended computer console. "Are we alone?"

"I asked Michael to hang out with Jadie while I was sneaking up on you. It's just you and me."

"I'm such a mess," she said bashfully. "I didn't want you to see me like this."

"Welcome to the club."

Jonas placed his thumb beneath Cindy's chin and she hissed from the pain. He slowly turned her head and carefully examined her face, making sure not to touch any of the purple spots on her skin. The longer Jonas looked at her, the more concerned he seemed to get.

"Did you and Jadie get in a bar fight?" he asked.

"No." She looked away with a hint of regret. "It's been a horrible, horrible day."

"What happened?"

Even though her body hurt all over, Cindy sat forward from her seat and held the back of his neck. She leaned into his ear and made sure he could hear every word. "There's a Sapphire Ninja."

"A what? We never created a Sapphire Ninja."

"I know. Listen, Jadie and I found out who our stalker in the CIA was. It's Raymond's daughter and she was looking for revenge against me. She's the Sapphire Ninja."

"Got it." Jonas tried to pull away, but Cindy held onto him.

"There's also some kind of plot to spread a mind control gas throughout the country. A lot of evidence suggests that the Zhu Feng Medical company is directly involved. I don't know if they're working for Alexis or if she's working for them. I just have a hunch that the two are related."

He tried to pull away again, but Cindy wasn't finished. "Wait. I also think the Black Rook is involved somehow."

"Cindy, do you realize how crazy this all sounds? You're saying that the world's most wanted terrorist is potentially working with the CIA and one of the wealthiest pharmaceutical companies on Earth. The motives don't make sense."

Cindy let him go and sunk back in her chair. "I know, I'm still trying to figure it out. The only thing I do know is that Alexis thinks I killed her family."

"Well, you killed her father by blowing up his helicopter. I watched you do it."

"Yeah, but she seems to think I killed her husband and daughter too. Alexis wants revenge, but I don't know what Zhu Feng or the Black Rook gain from any of this. Zhu Feng has to be involved because people seem to turn into zombies whenever their advertisements turn on." She punched her knuckles together. "I need to figure this out."

"Wait, you're not seriously thinking about going out there again, are you? You haven't even told me what happened to your—"

"You what?" Jadie screamed from an adjacent room. A second later, she burst through the door looking ready to explode on someone. She pointed to Cindy and said, "You and Michael, are the most despicable, disgusting, disloyal human beings I've ever met. Do you know what Michael did, Jonas?"

"I'm not sure what—" Michael rushed in the door behind Jadie. She turned and pointed at him. "Michael did create the Sapphire Ninja."

"What?" Cindy said.

"Michael's been trying to tell me his dirty little secret since we went on that date in Jersey. Apparently, he lied and actually did finish coding for Project Sapphire. So when that hard drive got stolen from us that was apparently when Alexis became a super-powered lunatic.

"But wait, it gets better. The reason he finished the code on Project Sapphire was because Raymond promised Michael that he could have Jonas's job." She turned to Michael who was cowering in his chair. "And why did you want Jonas's job, Michael?"

"I already apologized to him."

She smacked him in the back of the head. "Why did you want his job, Michael?"

"Because I wanted to feel more important."

She smacked his head again. "No! Tell them the real reason why you wanted the job, Michael."

"Jadie, stop it," Cindy said.

"You keep out of this. Don't think I'm going to get over what you did. Spit it out, Michael."

He rubbed the back of his head and took a deep breath. "I wanted to impress Jadie."

"Because a guy who's responsible for the death of thousands of people is so impressive," Jadie said.

"You never mentioned that, Michael," Jonas said.

"Yeah well, I figured that would just make you angrier with me."

Jadie turned to him. "I always felt bad for you. I hated the way Cindy and Jonas treated you, but apparently you deserved it. I regret all the time I've wasted with you."

Jonas waved his hands, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, stop. Just stop. We can't keep fighting like this. I don't understand, what did Cindy do that got you so angry?"

Jadie looked at Cindy with disdain. "Oh, her? I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you didn't tell him."

Jonas scrunched his eyebrows. "Tell me what?"

"I told you why I made my decision, Jadie!" Cindy yelled. "Alexis put her in a trap and used one of those damn advertising holograms to create an image of you. She forced me to choose between saving you or my sister."

"And she chose you, obviously."

Cindy charged from her seat and Jonas held her back. "You survived didn't you? If the situation was reversed, I would have picked you."

"Calm down. What happened after you made the choice?" Jonas said.

Cindy touched her forehead and turned away. "It dropped her capsule into the Hudson. Probably ten or fifteen stories high."

"What she's neglecting to mention, is that I couldn't turn on the suit. There was no guarantee I would have survived," Jadie said.

Cindy turned to Jadie. "Do you want me to beg for forgiveness? Because I will."

"It won't mean anything," Jadie said.

"Enough." Jonas stood in the middle of the room with one hand in front of each sister. "You two are both grown women. Act like it." The room quieted down and all eyes turned to Jonas.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but we're all a family here. We've been through more crap together in these past few days than families go through in a lifetime. These are extraordinary times that have, quite honestly, ripped our relationships to shreds. Forget Alexis, forget Raymond, forget the suits. We're falling apart.

"And I don't want that. I realize now, how much you all mean to me. We have to stop fighting because we need each other. Right now, some maniac is going to try to mind control a large chunk of the population. We need to put our differences aside and focus on the bigger picture."

Jadie stepped forward and pointed to Cindy. "Jonas, I will never forgive her. I can be professional and work with her to stop Alexis, but when it's all done, I'm gone."

Jadie stormed out of the room and slammed the door shut. Michael readied his hands to chase after her, but Cindy stuck her foot in front of his chair.

"Leave her alone, she needs to cool down for a bit. Talking to her will only make it worse, trust me."

Michael slumped his shoulders and let go of the handrims. "I think our family is broken for good."
CHAPTER 21:

The Ultimate Fling

Cindy collapsed back into the diagnostics chair in the exam room. She touched her lip and winced from the pain. Every part of her face throbbing with a current of hurt.

"I'm going to go get Ameera, see what she can do about those injuries," Jonas said.

"I'll be fine," Cindy replied.

"This isn't up for discussion." Jonas peeked his head out to the test lab. "Ameera, could you come here for a second? Bring some of Charlie's first aid compounds with you."

Ameera entered the lab and approached Cindy wearing off-white latex gloves. She snapped them around her wrists before opening a small medical kit and an unlabeled brown bottle.

"Can't the suit just fix me?" Cindy whined.

"No. It'll regenerate skin and fix your bones, but it won't bring down swelling. The good news is, if Charlie's new compounds work, we can install it to your suit," he said.

"Let's get you back in proper order, shall we?" Ameera said.

Ameera tilted Cindy's head into the light and dipped a cotton swab into the bottle. The swab emerged with a clear liquid-like mucus that had dozens of little air bubbles within the gel. It dripped over the nanosuit before Ameera could brush the syrup over Cindy's purpled skin.

Cindy jerked back and covered her lip. "Ooh, that burns."

"Don't worry, it'll cool down in a second." Ameera swabbed Cindy's skin with ointment. "So, how did you and Jonas meet?"

"Oh great," Jonas muttered.

Cindy suspected that Ameera was trying to distract her from the pain, so she played along. "If you asked me in high school if I would have dated a guy like Jonas, the answer probably would have been no." She looked at Jonas and smiled. "Ow!" A sharp pain stabbed at her cheeks.

Jonas laughed. "See what happens when you talk crap?"

Cindy playfully rolled her eyes. "To answer your question. I pulled Jonas over."

"I don't understand. You were on the pull, Mrs. Ames? You don't seem like that kind of girl," Ameera said.

Michael burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?" Cindy said.

"Ameera." He continued to laugh hysterically until tears were coming out of his eyes. Michael caught his breath and said, "She thinks you were cruising for sex."

Jonas laughed.

"Wow," Cindy said.

Ameera closed her eyes. "This is so embarrassing."

"Just tell her," Jonas said. "Give the poor woman a break, she's not from around here."

"Ameera, when I said I pulled him over, that was for speeding. I used to be a cop."

Ameera dolloped another helping of ointment onto Cindy's brow. "Oh, well. That makes sense."

Cindy smiled. "Guess why he was speeding."

"Don't tell her, Cindy, please," Jonas said.

"It was patch day for a video game called 'Scottcraft.' He was running late to a LAN party with his lab buddies."

"That's a good game," Michael said. "Hey Jonas, you know they updated the game so you can communicate with an alien species? But guess what? The aliens are other players."

"Really? I've been waiting four years for that," Jonas said.

"Guys, really! Can I finish?" Cindy said.

"Muppets," Ameera said.

Cindy gasped. "I just realized something. Have you heard of my favorite author, Zoë Markham? She's British too."

"Did she write that vampire book -Blood Bank? Can't say I'm a fan," Ameera replied.

Cindy was crushed. (But I love Blood Bank.)

"But I did enjoy her book, -Zanno, with the psychotic clown."

Cindy started to like her again but wasn't sure if she should.

"Please, continue with your story," Ameera said.

Cindy cleared her throat. "Well, I walked up to his window and asked him for his license and registration. He said to me, 'No hablo inglés,' in fluent Spanish. So I said to him, 'No importa, yo hablo Español.'"

Ameera laughed. "You speak Spanish, Mrs. Ames?"

"It was helpful in my line of work. Anyway, I did think he was cute, but I wasn't going to let him off the hook. So I wrote up the ticket, handed it to him, and he said, 'This is probably not the best time to ask this, but screw it, I would love to take you out to dinner.'"

"That is quite ballsy. He could've ended up at her majesty's pleasure."

"What does that mean? Prison?" Cindy shook her head. "Anyway, I didn't know how to react. I didn't think anyone was crazy enough to ask out a police officer while getting a ticket. So I said, 'Are you trying to bribe me, sir?' and he said, 'No ma'am, I'd just like to have your digits. You've got a beautiful smile.' So he got the ticket and my number."

"It was worth the one-hundred and sixty bucks," Jonas said.

"That's cute," Ameera said.

"So cute." Jonas rolled his eyes. "Cindy, let me update you on what we did to the suit while Ameera finishes up. We swapped out the operating system because the virus did too much damage to your programming. The good news is, the data you copied from the laptop was left intact and we were able to rebuild SIRCA rather quickly. I'd talk about the new operating system, but that would probably bore you."

"Maybe some other time, when things are calmer."

Jonas smiled at her response. "So, first thing I did was personally install a new grappling hook for you. It's smaller, thinner and uses modified gecko tech to latch onto objects. It's still just as strong as the giant hook, but now you don't need big guns sitting on top of your forearms.

"Next, I modified your boots with some jump booster tech. Basically, if it's smaller than four stories, you could probably jump over it. The only minor cosmetic difference is that you'll have tiny lights embedded in the soles."

"Ow!" Cindy yelled.

"Sorry, Mrs. Ames," Ameera replied. "You're almost done."

"That sounds cool. Anything else?," Cindy said.

"We've also added some new options to your railguns; L-T-L is less than lethal and will give you the ability to just stun someone as if you were hitting them with a beanbag. Lethal for when you want to kill someone, but don't want to explode them into chunks like your old guns did. Finally, high-explosive puts your guns at full power, the name is self-explanatory. Just be careful, it'll rip through almost anything, including buildings. I wouldn't recommend shooting a human being with this setting.

"Finally, I uploaded something that I've been working on for a few months now. I've given you the ability to enhance your punches by adding an extra 'kick' to it, a concussive blast if you will. Once you trigger it, the punch will rock the shi—bang out of anyone stupid enough to go toe to toe with you. It won't kill them, but it'll send them flying for sure."

Ameera placed the brown bottle back in the kit. "All done, Mrs. Ames, how are you feeling?"

"Much better, thank you." She turned to Jonas. "I'll definitely put these modifications to use."

"One last thing." Jonas stepped out of the room for a few seconds and came back with two cylindrical objects in each hand. Keyrings dangled from the metal clasps at the neck of the objects as he handed the items to Cindy. "I had Michael program your suit to be able to carry some gear. I didn't get to fully test it, but I want you to take these with you."

"Are these grenades?"

"Not really. They're chaff grenades with an extra twist."

"What the heck is a chaff grenade?"

"When it blows up, pieces of aluminum come flying out. It'll really mess up your HUD, or someone else's, if you catch my drift." He arched his eyebrows at her. "A direct hit will disable any electronics for several minutes, so don't let it go off in your hand."

"I see," she said. The grenades melted into her hands and disappeared.

Ameera stepped back and took one last look at Cindy's face. "Well, it's not perfect, but the swelling has gone down significantly. There's still some discoloration and a few bumps but nothing noticeable." Ameera turned her back to Cindy and addressed Jonas. "This skin balm Charlie created might be very profitable, Mr. Ames. You should get it patented."

"Michael, why don't you go with Ameera and have her treat that bump you got in Jersey? Then you guys can tell Charlie the good news."

"Come, Michael," she said cheerfully.

Michael followed after Ameera and closed the door. Cindy sprang to her feet and walked up to the entrance, locking it shut. Jonas chased after her and said, "What are you doing?"

He reached for the door handle, but Cindy caught his hand.

She pulled herself onto him, grabbed his neck, and pressed her lips against his. She kissed him, slowly, softly, speaking to him without words. There was an energy, a deep-rooted love that had been buried for months finally being unearthed. Cindy pulled away and caressed her thumb against his cheek, but Jonas wanted more. His breath blew hot against her skin as he kissed her jaw and made his way back to her lips. An emotion stirred inside of her, so strong, so impulsive, she placed both hands on his cheeks and kissed him deeply, beyond lips, without thinking. The two becoming as one.

They pulled away from each other and found themselves breathless. "Wow," Jonas said. "I don't remember you kissing me like that in the car."

"That was before I almost lost you." She stared into his eyes. "I love—"

Jonas took Cindy in his arms and kissed her again. She fell into him and allowed herself to be vulnerable and weak in his embrace. His hands grazed over her breasts and waist, their kissing escalating beyond just a simple "I love you." He stopped kissing her and gently pressed his forehead against hers. "Do you still have that bikini?"

"Under the suit?" She touched her lip with her index finger and pondered the question. "I don't think I have anything on." Cindy grinned and batted her eyelashes at him.

Jonas grazed his hand in places she hadn't been touched in a while, and they both got excited, very excited. "We've got a bed if you want to . . ."

Cindy unbuckled his belt and let the suit slide off of her body, showing off her naked but bruised shoulders.

"Right here is just fine."

***

Dr. Wright connected the wires to the dashboard of the silver motorcycle Cindy brought back from Ocean Grove. Dr. Carmack was beside him on the computer installing the new programs. There was a loud thump and he looked up from his screen.

"What was that?" Dr. Carmack said.

Dr. Wright looked up from his wires. "I didn't hear anything."

Another thump was followed by the sound of something squeaking, like a squeegee against glass.

"There it is again, you don't hear that?"

"Sid, with all due respect, we need to focus on getting this motorcycle finished. I am certain Mrs. Ames and her sister will need it."

"You're right, you're right."

The lab fell quiet again. Dr. Wright secured the new dashboard in place and connected it to a battery. The display lit up in a brilliant blue and started to fill with lines of code. Dr. Carmack typed away. The screen began to populate with grids, numbers, bar graphs and gyroscopes. Dr. Wright started to put away his tools when they heard another thud. This time it repeated itself over and over, growing louder and stronger until a woman moaned between each thud.

"I know you heard that," Dr. Carmack said.

Dr. Wright turned to Dr. Carmack and adjusted his glasses before speaking. "Sid, I don't hear anything and neither do you. Why don't we go help Charlie in the biolab?"

Dr. Carmack nodded his head. "I see." He gathered his things and walked over to the biolab with Dr. Wright following behind him. Before leaving the test chamber, Dr. Wright turned his attention to the exam room and heard a very faint "I missed you." He smiled and quietly shut the door.
CHAPTER 22:

A Perfect Plan

The beating of drums and cacophony of vuvuzela horns filled the New York City corridors as night fell across the skyline. The streets were near bursting with thousands of people clogging the arteries of the city. Drunk college guys sporting Uncle Sam top hats, lit illegal fireworks. Children with their faces painted in patriotic colors, drew invisible words in the night air with their sparklers. Homeless beggars conned gullible tourists for their change. The crowd was a mix of people from all walks of life: an immigrant from Ethiopia, a Chinese foreign exchange student, a young actress from the farmlands of Nebraska. All were here to celebrate the birth of a nation.

Jun watched the people whoop and holler like idiots from the command center of his ship. He imagined one of his gas bombs detonating in the middle of the crowd; thousands, maybe even millions, would be instantly infected with his Indocrex drug. His spacecraft, the Cestus Dei, pulled into port at the West River and lit up its lights. The crowd cheered.

"Let's give them a show." Jun snapped his fingers. "Anyone care for a glass of wine?"

The hatches atop the Cestus Dei slid open and a burst of energy shot out from the opening. The streak of fire projected high into the air and exploded in a glittering umbrella of violets and magentas. Soon the sky was a lit with patterns of hearts, flowers and smiley faces. When the fireworks' radiant colors fizzled out, a sickly green smoke lingered behind. It grew into an enormous cloud and drifted over to the crowd of spectators.

Jun watched the fireworks light up the sky and thought back to distant memories.

(It was Chinese New Year in Hong Kong. The puppet dragons were dancing on stage, drums were beating loudly, and sparklers were shooting up past his grime covered apartment window. Jun was laying on his mattress that didn't have a bedspread and listened to the sound of a ratty old air conditioner hanging from his window.

There was a gentle knock on his paint chipped door. "Come in."

Mai entered the apartment with Styrofoam containers and chopsticks. The smell of pork buns and roasted duck masked her perfume.

"Hungry?"

Jun sat up from his bed and rubbed his hands together. "You know it."

Mai brushed aside a roach from the counter and set the trays down. "Jun, you're supposed to leave the windows open so that you don't keep in the bad luck. Look at all this dust, you haven't even swept."

"You know I don't believe in that Feng Shui nonsense."

"Well you should." She sat on his bed and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You know why?"

"Why?" He smiled.

"Because you're going to be somebody one day. You'll need all the luck you can get so you can learn how to cook for yourself."

Jun laughed. "I'll think about it.")

Jun snapped out of his daydream and watched the spectators inhale the Indocrex gas.

Microscopic nanites hidden within the particles of the gas descended from the sky and flew in through the mouths and nostrils of the overjoyed on-lookers. The nanites flew down the trachea and scattered throughout the lungs and heart. From there, the machines deployed thousands of spores which attached to the lining of the organs. Slowly the spores expanded into a fungus that sucked the nutrients from the body. The nanites then flew up to the brainstem and waited for the trigger.

One woman attempted to clear her throat, but a deep, dry hacking sound erupted from her lungs. A man waving an American flag, coughed quickly, then banged on his sternum and continued to wave his flag. A photographer, taking a picture of the carrier sized Cestus Dei, coughed and then coughed again. He put a bottle of water to his lips, but before he could swallow, he coughed again and spattered water all over a woman next to him. Within minutes the crowd was overcome with convulsions.

Jun stared at the citizens from the safety of his ventilated command center and took a sip of wine.

"Play the advertisements."

The Chinese spokeswoman for Indocrex flashed onto the digital billboards strategically placed throughout the city for maximum exposure. The nanites were activated via a remote signal received from the advertisements and began zapping the brain stem with tiny electrical bursts. The revelers stood up straight and stared blankly at the river. The city famous for never sleeping slowly grinded to a halt.

A red light flashed on one of the consoles near Jun. He slowly lowered his glass and stared at the blinking beacon. Suddenly an ear splitting alarm thundered throughout the ship. Jun covered his ears and dropped his glass, smashing wine all over the steel paneled floor. He rushed over to the technicians fumbling at the controls and grabbed the man by the shoulder.

"What's going on?"

The technician stared at him with his mouth wide open. His body was trembling and beads of sweat stood on his forehead. Jun pushed him aside and looked at the holographic screen.

"What is this?" He grabbed the technician's collar and shook him until his head wobbled back and forth. "Why are you arming the missiles?"

"It wasn't us!" the technician replied in Mandarin.

"You're the only ones at the controls!" Jun threw the man into the console and his colleague turned away, pretending to focus on his monitor. "Abort the launch, immediately!"

A disembodied voice emanated from the speaker system. "Don't bother."

"Alexis?"

An image of her helmet appeared within the holo display.

"I wish you had given me this suit when I was in Pakistan. I might have been able to catch the Black Rook."

"What are you doing with the missiles, Alexis?"

"Launching them, obviously."

"Cut off her access," he said.

"Go ahead, cut off my access. It's too late anyway."

Jun picked up a chair and threw it at the spineless technician who had previously averted his wrath. He turned to the ghostly display of Alexis's helmet and said, "Why are you doing this? Everything was going perfectly."

"I want—Cindy."

"What? I thought you killed her in that trap we assembled for you."

"She escaped."

Jun threw his hands in the air. "Well, you missed your chance. Don't mess up my plans because you want revenge."

"I don't care about your plan."

Jun looked over his shoulder, towards his crew. "Turn on the advertisement, make sure she hears it."

Alexis's helmet disappeared from the holodisplay and only static radiated from the speakers. Jun tried to reconnect but the request was denied. "She's going rogue," he whispered.

Jun rubbed the back of his neck and exhaled deeply. He realized now that he had no choice.

He bit his fist and said, "Hit the kill switch."

The technicians returned to their terminals and flipped open a glass box with a red button in the center. They pressed the switch simultaneously and watched Alexis's vitals. Nothing changed. Everything from brain activity to heart rate remained stable and in the green. The vitals screen disappeared and was replaced with four words.

Jun read them aloud. "Better luck next time."

He grabbed the wine bottle off the top of a nearby console and smashed it into the screen. The liquid splattered over the terminal and sent bolts of electricity screaming from the monitor. The technicians jumped away from the computer and ran for cover. The alarm for the missile launch triggered and sent the yellow warning lights into a rotating frenzy. Jun walked up to one of the terminals and tried to cancel the launch.

[Access Denied] [Access Denied] [Access Denied]

A puff of steam hissed inside the missile launch bay. The platform which held the missile slowly began to rise from the depths of the missile silo. The struts holding the missile in place decoupled one by one and exhaust began to pool at the bottom of the engines. The silo doors bloomed open and paved a clear line of sight to the gas covered sky. An explosion of fire erupted from the engines and rocked the ship as if it were tunneling through the earth.

Jun grabbed onto a nearby railing and stared at the security monitors. The head of the missile emerged from the hatch, and then its long, tube-shaped body followed right after it. The flames from the booster rocket blinded the camera momentarily, and when the white screen cleared away, two giant stars could be seen heading straight for the city.

***

Cindy held Jonas's hand tightly and followed him out of the examination room and into the Bio Lab. Words couldn't describe the amount of ecstasy she was feeling, and no matter how hard she tried to hide it, she couldn't keep the silly grin off her face.

Jadie covered her eyes and whispered, "Oh—my—God."

Michael spun around in his chair. "What?"

"Don't be dense," Jadie said.

"Hey." Dr. Carmack called out. "Is that our suit on the news right now?"

Everyone turned their attention to the flat panel display mounted on the wall.

"Turn it up, Michael," Jonas said.

"—disturbing footage of what locals have been calling, 'The Silver Ninja beat down.' Here you can see the Silver Ninja and a red ninja being beaten to death, by what appears to be a blue ninja. The attack happened earlier today at the Brooklyn Medical Center where the Silver Ninja rescued hospital patients and staff trapped inside the burning building. After the rescue, the Silver Ninja went to the roof and was joined by the red ninja. Our helicopter crew captured footage of the fight between the three women before the blue ninja opened fire at our helicopter and destroyed the camera."

Jonas and Michael turned to the sisters. "Is that what happened?" Jonas asked.

Cindy looked away.

"She's on a whole different level," Jadie said.

Everyone grew quiet. Only the sound of computer fans, a spinning centrifuge, and the news broadcast filled the otherwise dead air.

"Impress News, telling you what you need to know: The July 4th celebrations are in danger of being shut down as several attendees have been rushed to the hospital. It all started when a male in his mid thirties and his two children suddenly started vomiting on the streets. When the paramedics arrived, at least five more people started to vomit as well.

"The situation escalated even further when a group of men displayed their support for the people's republic of China. A few intoxicated participants threw a bottle at one of the supporters and hit him in the head. The group retaliated and what started out as a simple argument turned into an all-out brawl in Battery Park. The mayor has said—"

A sudden, powerful vibration shook the floors and walls of Lucent Labs like an earthquake. It dissipated as quickly as it had arrived and then it was silent. Everyone looked at each other and stood there, waiting. A rumble, like the sound of thunder, rolled over the ceiling and shook the lab until glass beakers began to clink against one another. The light flickered for a few seconds, and then a distant explosion rattled the entire floor, followed by another secondary explosion.

"What the hell is going on?" Jonas said.

"Breaking news." The television cut to a split screen of the Empire State Building and the Queensboro Bridge. The Empire State building was surrounded by black smoke, and at the source of this smoke was a fiery maw of steel and rebar where a wall had once stood. On the other screen, the Queensboro Bridge's struts were blown inward like an armor piercing bullet through wood. The smoke was so thick that it was impossible to see if anyone was hurt.

"Two unidentified objects have struck the Empire State Building and the Queensboro Bridge. Police and firefighter response teams have scrambled to respond, but are stretched thin as they try to control the increasingly belligerent crowd. The police have said that the Empire State Building, which is reported to have thousands of visitors on its observation deck, is a priority."

The camera from the news helicopter zoomed out from the Empire State Building. In the corner of the shot was an advertisement for Indocrex—

—Cindy felt a sharp pain at the back of her skull. It jabbed her over and over until everyone's voices distorted into a deep pitch with a very slow motion. She covered her eyes and felt a very strong itch, scratch at the back of her throat. It made her cough and think of strange thoughts all at the same time.

She blinked once and saw everyone staring at the television screen.

She blinked again and was now up on her feet, compelled to move forward against her will.

Cindy blinked once more and saw her hands reaching for Jadie's throat.

"Jadie," she uttered through strained breathing. Her sister turned around and jumped back when she saw Cindy's hands coming after her. "I'm trying . . . to fight it. The mind control. It feels like . . . someone is sticking a knife in your head . . . and twisting it . . . when you try to resist."

"Turn off the TV," Jadie yelled.

"Not good, not good," Dr. Wright said.

"Charlie, we need that cure, now!" Dr. Carmack hollered.

Cindy shambled forward and fought against the cutting sensation that sliced through her nerves and into her brain, causing an indescribable amount of pain. "I won't." Jonas reached for Cindy's shoulder, but she smacked him away. "Get away."

Michael turned off the TV, but Cindy was still under the influence of mind control. The only way to stop the pain was to kill the Ruby Ninja; so she did the only thing she could do. Cindy forced her trembling hands to her own neck and choked herself. The mind control would settle for the death of the Silver Ninja. Her strength augmented fingers slowly began to crush her larynx. "I won't . . . hurt you. I've already done too much."

Jadie reached out to Cindy.

"Don't!" Cindy fell to her knees. Her face turned red and her vision started to fade.

"She's killing herself," Jonas yelled. "Where's that goddamn cure? Charlie!"

Cindy couldn't breathe and she could feel the bones in her neck start to crunch. Her body quaked under the power of indoctrination.

Cindy's head suddenly jerked back as a hand lifted her jaw. A sharp prick dug into her neck and pushed through the muscle fibers and veins until it practically touched the bones in her spine. The liquid spilled into her body and the thoughts of murder began to slowly dissipate. Cindy fell backwards and was caught in someone's arms, her body still twitching.

Everyone huddled around Cindy and stared at her for what seemed like an eternity. Cindy blinked her eyes a few times and tried to sit up, but a woman's hand stopped her.

"Don't move, Mrs. Ames. There's still a needle in your neck." Ameera pulled the syringe out and held onto her. "How are you feeling?"

Cindy blinked for an extended amount of time and said, "I don't know."

"Do you still feel a compulsion to attack?" Ameera said in a nonchalant manner.

"No."

Ameera turned to Michael. "Are you detecting any traces of the drug in Cindy's system?"

Michael typed away on a nearby computer terminal. "I'm not seeing anything here."

Cindy started to get anxious in Ameera's hands. "Jadie, Jonas. Are they okay?"

Jonas knelt down beside her. "We're all right, you didn't hurt anyone."

"I—I don't know what to say," Cindy said. "I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize Mrs. Ames. None of us expected that bloody Indocrex commercial to be on the telly."

Cindy looked at Jadie who was keeping to herself.

"I'm fine," Jadie whispered.

"Mrs. Ames, if I let you go, are you feeling well enough that you won't attack?"

"Yes."

Cindy stood up and lumbered over to a corner of the room away from everyone else. "What was in that needle?"

Jonas walked up to Cindy and placed his arms around her shoulders. "I'm sure Charlie would love to explain, but he's got that whole vow of silence thing going on. Right, Charlie?"

Charlie nodded and put down a vial full of liquid.

Jonas continued. "Ameera injected you with the cure to the mind control drug." He nodded to Ameera. "Could you give us a brief rundown please?"

"Of course. Cindy's blood had traces of nanites and fungus in it. The nanites are dormant for the most part, until it recognizes one of the Zhu Feng advertisements. Then they come alive and shoot electrical bursts into the brain.

As for the fungus. Charlie seems to think that it is intended to provoke an allergic reaction in certain individuals. And in worse cases, it could create a growth or tumor that is similar in appearance to the symptoms of cancer. So when the advertisement says it can cure cancer."

"It doesn't do crap," Jadie said.

"Well, it temporarily cures the artificial one, but another ailment takes its place. Charlie created a compound that will kill the fungal infection and disintegrate the nanites. With Michael's help, the nanomachines in SIRCA will search and destroy Zhu Feng Medical's nanites."

Cindy moved away from Jonas and started heading for the door. "Okay, let's go."

"Whoa, hold on. I think we need to make sure you're fully cured," Jonas said.

"There's no time. Jadie suit up."

Jonas grabbed onto Cindy's shoulder. "Hang on, Cindy. I know we've got a situation in the city but—"

"My parents are at the Empire State Building."

Jadie jerked her head. "What?"

"Dad took Mom to a play in the city. They told me they were going to go to the Empire State Building after the show so they could watch the fireworks."

"Oh hell no, then we're going." Jadie rushed for the door and activated SIRCA.

"Wait," Jonas grabbed Cindy's arm and pointed to Dr. Carmack. "Sid, is that motorcycle ready to go?"

"Wright and I have one more program to install, but we can do that remotely. The high-speed collision avoidance system is ready to go, Dr. Wright?"

"Yes. I finished installing the new dashboard a few minutes ago. When you use the avoidance system, the motorcycle will automatically turn to avoid collisions with any obstacles on the road. Theoretically, you can speed through Manhattan at over one-hundred miles an hour without hitting a single car or civilian. We're fairly confident it will work."

"Fairly?" Cindy said.

"Well, we haven't driven it."

"What about the cure?" Cindy looked to Jonas.

"You let us worry about that." Jonas pointed to Ameera and Michael. "Let's get that nanotool packed up and ready to go."

Jadie pushed on Cindy's back and said, "Let's go, let's go, let's go."

Dr. Carmack and Dr. Wright grabbed onto the handlebars of the motorcycle and pushed it to the loading bay attached to the test chamber. When the garage door began to rise, the doctors gestured for Cindy to take a seat.

"We're going to get started on installing the rest of the programs for the motorcycle. Jonas, if you need our help, just ask," Dr. Wright said.

Jonas walked up to Cindy and tugged her chin to face him. He kissed her and said, "Be careful." He looked at Jadie who had finished becoming the Ruby Ninja. "You too, Jadie." He turned around and made his way back to the test chamber.

Jadie sat down at the back of the bike and tapped Cindy's shoulder.

Cindy started the ignition and looked over her shoulder. "Jonas."

He stopped and turned around.

"Don't do anything stupid."

He smiled and mouthed the words I love you before leaving.

Cindy activated her helmet and saw the words [SMART LINK v1.0] followed by [Loading...] Jadie wrapped her arms around Cindy's waist and held on tight. Cindy rolled her right hand on the accelerator and revved the engine. It roared inside the garage and caused the walls to rumble. The automatic lights switched on along with the dashboard LCD. A 3D wireframe of the city settled into the display. The words [Set Destination] appeared at the very top.

"Who's going where?" Cindy said.

"I'll get Mom and Dad."

"Fine. Midtown is closer, so I'll drop you off first."

"Okay."

Cindy stared ahead and pushed the kickstand with her heel. She held onto the brake and twisted the throttle until the RPM needle hovered between seven and eight. The tires spun in place and created a smoke that billowed between the rubber and the asphalt. Cindy released the brake and launched forward like a catapult on an aircraft carrier. The bike jostled up and down and climbed the steep incline with continually accelerating speed. The lights morphed into streaks of motion and the open exit grew larger with the elevating pitch of the motorcycle.

Cindy gunned the accelerator, Jadie tightened her grip, and the bike flew through the opening and jumped into the air.
CHAPTER 23:

Air Rescue

The motorcycle landed on the street and skidded to a stop. There were police blockades at the end of every street. The officers stopped each car and sent in their K-9 unit to search for explosives. A police van drove by and a recording boomed through the PA system. "Terror alert: red. Get off the streets. Terror alert: red. Seek shelter."

"They're putting the city on lockdown," Cindy said.

"Not exactly the best way to reduce panic," Jadie said.

"Yeah . . ." Cindy's voice trailed off. She seemed distracted for a moment, but then she set the destination for the Empire State Building on the LCD screen. It showed a video feed of the street in front of her covered in tracking markers. Each crosshair stuck to an object or vehicle that would potentially block the route in front of her. Cindy's HUD updated and a purple path appeared in front of her.

[Please follow the highlighted route.]

"Hey, listen. I'm sorry about what happened," Cindy said.

"It's okay. I—you know what, let's not talk about it. Just try not to drive all crazy."

"Don't worry, I'm a professional," Cindy replied half-seriously.

Cindy twisted the accelerator and peeled out, smoking the tires of the bike. She popped the bike into a wheelie and caused Jadie to scream. Then Cindy forced the motorcycle back on two wheels and steered it into the traffic jam. The tracking markers locked onto the vehicles blocking the road, and the LCD flashed the words [Collision Avoidance Engaged].

"Let's hope this works." Cindy said.

"What do you mean, 'let's hope this works?'"

"Lucent Labs isn't known for getting it right when it's fresh out of the oven. You might want to hold tight."

"If I held you any harder, I'd crush you."

Cindy approached the congested three lane avenue. "Here we go."

The odometer needle rose to thirty-nine miles an hour and continued to climb. The LCD blinked and the motorcycle veered to the left, perfectly squeezing between an SUV and a moving truck.

"It's working," Cindy said.

"Oh thank God."

"Don't get too comfortable, red light's coming up."

Cindy leaned to the right to avoid another vehicle, but the steering was heavy and slow, as if it were fighting against her. They passed the red light and were greeted by the blood curdling sound of a blaring truck horn. The bike juked left and narrowly avoided impact with the massive grill of a semi-truck.

"Did you feel that?" Jadie asked. "I could feel the vibrations of the engine on my skin."

"I know, I thought we were going to be wearing that truck."

Cindy sped down 9th avenue. The odometer now read eighty miles an hour. The bike calculated complex algorithms to update Cindy's HUD with the ideal routes in nanoseconds. She crossed over dotted lanes and weaved between the hundreds of taxis that filled the streets. A woman stuck her head out a cab window, staring at the chaos of shattering glass and shooting flames from the Empire State Building. Cindy and Jadie sped past and caused the woman's hair to fly into her face.

They turned left onto 34th street, and the three laned street narrowed into two.

"We're going to be passing Herald Square soon," Cindy said.

As they sped down the street, giant ads of half naked women and billboards for college enrollment littered the street from end to end, building to building. The popular clothing stores, that normally held hundreds of people, were completely deserted. They approached the intersection that led to the Empire State Building and saw the smoke billowing into the sky. Cindy and Jadie saw the flashing lights of fire trucks and a wooden police barricade ahead. She pushed the accelerator even harder, ninety-miles an hour.

"Jadie."

"Yeah?"

"You need to jump if I'm going to get to the bridge in time."

Jadie squeezed Cindy's shoulder in acknowledgment.

"I'll let you know when," Cindy said.

Cindy sped past a row of commercial buildings and saw a multistory complex that would give Jadie the boost she needed. "Now," Cindy said.

Jadie's fingers pressed down onto Cindy's shoulders, her legs swaying with the movements of the bike. Cindy centered the motorcycle and kept it steady while Jadie prepared to dismount. She fired the grappling hook and leapt off the bike, swinging her way up to the towering inferno. Cindy faced forward, eyes on the wooden barricade, and accelerated towards the roadblock.

A firefighter saw her approaching and frantically waved his hands in the air. He yelled for her to stop, but Cindy didn't slow down. Rescue workers scattered and dove out of the way as Cindy laid the bike flat and slid under the wooden beams. The tires squealed and the body of the bike scuffed against the street, clearing the orange striped caution planks. She kicked her body upright and sped past the fire trucks.

The purple path made a sharp ninety degree turn to the left onto 3rd Ave. Cindy leaned with the bike until her knees practically scraped the ground and swerved into the turn. The rear wheel slipped right, independent from the front, and skidded across the asphalt with rapid fire thumps. The bike continued into the slide on a collision course with an MTA bus. Cindy jerked the bike straight, the horn wailing on her right, and gunned the accelerator. The engine's roar echoed and bounced off the building walls.

Cindy continued uptown and saw the taillights of hundreds of cars and an enormous crowd crossing 42nd street. The purple path flickered rapidly between civilians and was unable to calculate a solid route. At her current speed, there wouldn't be enough time to avoid hitting someone. Her comm-link chimed: it was Jonas.

"Cindy," Jonas called.

"I'm about to crash into a hundred people, suggestions?"

"Fly."

"Be serious, I don't have time."

"I am serious. Sid and John just finished installing the program."

She was closing in fast on the mob.

"Find a ramp and hit it as fast as you can; the bike will take care of the rest."

The crossing was just a few feet ahead. Cindy spotted a cluster of metal pipes resting on some scaffolding on a nearby sidewalk. She pulled the bike hard to the right, grunting as she fought the machine and managed to pull it into the bike lane. The bike immediately leaned back the other way and continued down the path, straight for the human stampede.

Cindy looked at the LCD and disabled the guidance system. The steering loosened and she threw her body right, narrowly slipping between the columns of metal pipes and drove onto the sidewalk. She pulled the throttle as far as it could go, and the rims on her wheels began to glow a bright cyan. LED's on the bike's edges glowed as her speed increased to over one hundred miles an hour.

She aligned with the ramp and pulled back on the handlebars. The bike reared back like a bucking horse and the back tire hit the bundled steel pipes. The pipes split apart and clanged against each other as Cindy drove up the ramp and jumped. The engine revved loudly and shot up to an incredibly high pitch, wheels spinning in mid-air.

Cindy looked under the bike and saw people pointing up at her and covering their heads. Cindy looked back at the LCD and saw the words [flight mode engaged]. The bike began to expand in width and length, stretching out Cindy's legs until she was laying flat on her stomach. Struts shot out from the sides of the bike like outriggers and folded out into glider wings. The sound of a jet engine powering up rang out from the wings and blue flames shot out from the turbines.

A joystick and a throttle emerged from the dash, small enough to be manipulated with a thumb. The windshield of the motorcycle folded over Cindy and formed an armor plated shell. The LCD displayed the altitude, altimeter, engine thrust, and a GPS.

"Jonas, I don't know how to fly this thing!"

"Relax, move the joystick in the direction you want to go and pull back on the stick with your thumb."

Cindy cautiously pushed the joystick, and the converted bike rolled on its side and banked a hard right. She flew vertically into an alleyway that was barely large enough to fit her. A fire escape was closing in and Cindy was about to hit it. She clenched her teeth and nudged the joystick, making small adjustments to the flight path. She flew past the fire escape and nearly clipped it with her wing.

Cindy rolled out of the gap and aimed for the night sky, flying up and over the buildings.

"How do I turn this thing without rolling upside down?" Cindy said.

"You mean yaw?"

"What does that even mean?"

"Yaw just means steering the plane. Use the rudder pedals by your feet. Push down on the left or right to turn the bike without rolling it."

"Got it."

She pressed her left foot down and felt the bi-plane turn slightly to the left. She continued to fly up to the sky and noticed a red stall warning appear on her screen. The bike started to lose speed and drop altitude even though the engines were at full blast.

"Jonas, it says I'm stalling. Help me."

"Reduce your angle of attack."

"What the hell does that mean?" Cindy yelled.

"Stop pointing the plane to the sky."

Cindy yanked the joystick and accidentally rolled upside down, spinning wildly back down towards the city. The street lights swirled around like the lights of a Ferris wheel and grew larger with each passing second. Cindy pulled on the joystick again and leveled out the plane, nearly scraping the roofs of the cars below. After her head stopped swimming from the dizzying rolls, she smiled and increased the throttle.

"Okay, I think I have the hang of it," she said.

"Are you level?" Jonas said.

Cindy looked at the LCD display, she could see a white V surrounded by lines and numbers. At the ends of the V were straight lines that were hovering around the 0 mark in the display.

"I think so, the lines are at zero."

"Good," Jonas said.

"Why didn't you tell me the bi-plane could fly," Cindy said.

"Bi-plane?"

"Yeah, it's a mix of a bike and a plane. Bi-plane," she said casually.

"Sounds better than F/L-V. Congratulations darling, you just named one of our gadgets."

"I'm thrilled," she said sarcastically.

"I didn't tell you it could fly because I knew you'd say that you can't do it. Unlike a real plane, we made it very easy for someone with little experience to fly it."

"So flying for dummies?"

"Something like that, but you're no dummy. Let me give you a quick rundown. There's an auto pilot built into the bike that will do almost everything for you. It'll land by itself, orbit an area, and even drop you off. There's also an easy mode setting which limits your fancy maneuvers and slows your speed but will be easier to control."

"I think I'll leave it on easy mode for now. I'll talk to you soon."

"Okay. I'll see you soon, be careful."

Cindy flew back up to the tops of the buildings and followed the plume of smoke rising from the Queensboro Bridge. She pitched the nose down and saw red and blue lights reflecting off the support beams with several officers blocking off the bridge. An unknown chatter vibrated in her ear, she tuned to the frequency and picked up the police radio.

"This is Unit 23, Officer De Los Santos is 10-23 at a 10-50 in progress on the west side of the Queensboro Bridge. I need a 10-52 to respond on the double. Copy?"

"Unit 23, 10-4, all 10-50's are reporting to a 10-34 in Battery park, and a 10-70 at the Empire State Building. Will send one over as soon as it's available, copy."

"10-4, Unit 23 is 10-33."

Cindy recognized the name of the female officer: Kirsys De Los Santos. Cindy knew her when Kirsys was just a trainee on the force.

It had been a while since she heard cop lingo, but Cindy still understood the basic gist of what was being said: The cop was requesting an ambulance at the scene of a traffic accident, but the dispatcher said all ambulances were responding to a riot at Battery Park and a fire alarm at the Empire State Building.

Cindy scanned the bridge with her HUD. The Queensboro Bridge is known as one of the more mechanical looking structures of the city. It was a functional construction project, an enormous skeleton of struts and metal beams. The HUD picked up something on the scanners, and a red targeting reticule highlighted a blown out section of the bridge.

The front half of a school bus was jutting out of the damaged area of the bridge. Its front wheels spun lazily in mid-air. She zoomed into the windows of the bus and saw dark silhouettes of teenagers. One of the windows slid down and a teenage girl stuck her head out of the window. "Help!"

Cindy watched the fire trucks blare their horns at drivers who refused to pull over, but there was nowhere for them to go. In the water, an empty barge pulled into the river below. The workers waved their hands to the ship captain until they were under the bus and dropped anchor. The bus seesawed over the edge, and the shriek of terrified girls echoed throughout the mechanical bridge tunnel.

Cindy set the bi-plane to autopilot and opened the scalloped shell. The sudden change in air pressure created a loud sucking sound and the wind beat against her body like a skydiver in freefall. She waited for the bi-plane to pass by the bridge and jumped off.

She landed on the bridge and walked beneath the rear wheels of the tipped bus. Cindy fired the grappling hooks into the rear bumpers and retracted the cables to pull the bus down. But the gears grinded and strained against the weight. Cindy quickly realized that the new miniaturized grappling hook design wasn't as strong as its predecessor. She wrapped her arms in the cables and pulled her entire body down.

Cindy groaned as her biceps bulged and the cables shuddered under the immense weight. The rear of the bus came down over her head and Cindy grabbed hold of the bumper. But something was wrong, something -felt- wrong. She could feel a burning sensation coursing through her limbs and fingers. Cindy saw her flexed arms tremble. The bus was getting heavier with every passing second.

"What's wrong with me? Why can't I—"

The bus inched forward and Cindy's feet slowly slid across the floor. She dug her heels into the asphalt and threw a foot back, her legs tightening in response. The bus continued to lurch forward and her strength waned in response. Cindy flexed all her muscles and pulled back harder than before, the steel undercarriage grinding on the bridge edge. The burn traveled from her arms to her chest all the way down to her lower back. She grunted in response and bit down on her teeth.

[Critical failure: Enhanced Strength - ERROR.]

The synthetic muscles and reinforced bones that gave Cindy her strength started to dissolve. One by one each synthetic fiber detached from her organic muscle tissue. She atrophied with every passing second and could feel her tendons stretch to their limits. She stared at the crumpling metal between her fingers and noticed that the entire right side of the HUD had vanished, but she could still see numbers and vitals on the left.

The buzzer from the emergency exit door went off. Cindy looked up and saw the faces of Priscilla and Natalie, two teenage girls who were students of her Ninja Gymnastics school.

"Mrs. Ames?" Priscilla yelled.

(How did she . . . oh my God. My helmet's melting off. The suit's shutting down on me.)

"Girls, get off the bus now," she said while gasping for air.

"The bus driver and Nat's father got hurt in the crash. We can't leave them," Priscilla said.

Cindy became furious. "Where are the adults? Get—" the bumper slipped out of her hands and made the bus lunge forward. The girls screamed in terror.

Cindy grabbed hold of the bumper again.

"Mrs. Ames, I'm so sorry—"

"Girls, I need the weight off of the bus. I can't hold onto this much longer. Get everyone to the exit."

Her body slid forward with the bus. Weakness ate away at her body. "I—I can't—I can't hold it much longer."

"Please hold on, Mrs. Ames. We'll try to get them out. Come on, Nat," Priscilla said.

"Wait, Priscilla! Give me something to cover my face," Cindy said.

Priscilla unbuttoned her cardigan and dropped it over Cindy's head.

"Hurry."

A man's head poked out through the emergency exit door. His wavy grey hair flapped in front of his eyes and his glasses were on the verge of falling off. He stuck his arm out and gripped the side of the bus. The girls pushed him towards the door, but when he saw the steep drop, he hesitated.

"Dad, you have to jump!" Natalie pushed against his back, and he hit the ground hard.

Priscilla and Natalie's friends started slowly emerging out of the rear hatch and took turns jumping to the floor.

"Just hold on," Cindy told herself.

Priscilla's head poked out of the exit door. "One more left."

Cindy's entire body shook. The last of the enhanced fibers were dwindling down to just a few strands, and she couldn't feel her fingers anymore. Cindy tried to get a better grip, but the suit didn't respond. She looked up and saw a large man being pushed towards the exit door.

"Almost there," Priscilla said.

The girls pushed as hard as they could, but he didn't budge. The bus driver was completely unconscious, and Cindy saw blood smeared across his forehead.

Suddenly, Cindy lost her grip. The bus catapulted upward and the girls shrieked at the top of their lungs.

"No!" Cindy screamed.

She reached to grab onto an axle, a tire, anything, but it was out of her reach. She tried to yank the cables from the grappling hook, but the super strength was gone. Cindy had no choice but to release the lines. The tail end of the yellow school bus catapulted over the edge.

Without thinking, Cindy jumped off the bridge. During freefall, the words [system rebooted] flashed, and the right half of her HUD reappeared. A surge of energy filled her body, and she fired the grappling hook into the back of the bus. She twisted and fired another grappling hook into the bridge and braced herself.

The cables pulled taut and nearly split Cindy in two. She screamed loudly into her helmet and watched the girls and the bus driver smash into the front windshield, cracking it into a web of glass.

No one was moving inside the bus. Then Cindy saw Priscilla's hand twitch. She opened her eyes and looked up at Cindy.

She yelled down at Priscilla, "Is everyone okay?"

Priscilla gave Cindy a thumbs up, and Cindy began to extend the line down to the barge waiting below. When the front of the engine hit the deck, the workers rushed to the door and pulled everyone out to safety.

"That was too close," Cindy said.

She brought up the bi-plane command menu in her HUD and signaled for a pick up. Jonas contacted her on the comm-link.

"Cindy, Michael detected an issue and rebooted the system. Are you okay?"

A thunderous blow crashed into the side of Cindy's helmet.

"Surprise."

Cindy's body spun in wild circles, and when the revolutions slowed, she saw the azure colored armor of the Sapphire Ninja hovering in mid-air.

"You've got to be kidding me. A jetpack?" Cindy said.

"Cindy, everything all right? It looks like you took some damage," Jonas said.

"Can't talk right now." Cindy twisted her body and shot another grappling hook underneath the belly of the Queensboro Bridge. She checked the rearview camera in her helmet and saw Alexis fly forward. Cindy grappled faster and faster, but she mis-timed her swings and broke the momentum.

Cindy could hear the sound of Alexis's jet engines approaching and tried to swing faster, harder, but it was like outrunning a speeding train. Cindy opened the weapons sub menu and selected [railguns | high explosive]. The guns formed on her forearms and started to charge. When they were ready, Cindy released the cable and spun towards Alexis.

She aimed her guns and waited for the [Lock]. Cindy almost pulled the trigger, but the bridge was right behind Alexis. If she missed, her weapons would tear right through the structure and destroy it. She switched it to [Lethal] and fired everything she had at Sapphire.

The sky lit up like a night in Baghdad during Desert Storm, tracer rounds firing blindly into the air. The sound was so loud that it echoed beneath the bridge. Alexis rolled and looped through the air jinking left and right to avoid Cindy's barrage of high velocity slugs. The bullets flew past Alexis and ricocheted off the bridge's metal struts.

Alexis raised her arms and fired back. Cindy jutted her arms above her head and launched the grappling hook. Her heels skidded across the water and the bullets popped in large splashes in front of her. Cindy flipped beneath the arches of the bridge and contorted her body as much as possible to avoid Alexis's gunfire.

Alexis was fast, but awkward in the air. Cindy looped around the arch and approached Alexis from behind. She raised her arm and followed the contrail of smoke to Alexis's jetpack. She fired a barrage of slugs that ripped into the right engine and detonated it in a splatter of cobalt shards. The engine sputtered for a few seconds, trying to stay alive, and then finally died in a puff of smoke.

Cindy aimed for the final engine, but Alexis flew out of range and circled around behind her.

Cindy's picture in picture display showed Sapphire's body clang into the brick arches, causing an explosion of dust with each impact. The one engine strained to keep Alexis airborne, puffing and firing at random intervals. Cindy smiled and grappled her way out of the bridge underbelly and into the city.

Her HUD notified her that the bi-plane was approaching. She checked her radar to see if Alexis was tailing her, but she was nowhere to be found. She turned her head from side to side and saw nothing but high rise buildings and her own reflection in the glass windows.

"There's no way I got rid of her that easily."

The radar beeped rapidly, a red triangle closing in fast on her position. Cindy tried to turn around, but Alexis's armored body crashed into her back. Her steely arm wrapped around Cindy's neck and squished her vocal cords together. Cindy aimed for the grapple point, but the reticule disappeared. She spiraled out of control with Alexis pulling hard against her neck.

Cindy drew out her energy sword and swung it over her back. Alexis dodged out of the way, but Cindy's sword cut open the second jet engine. The detonation wracked their bodies forward and sent them spinning. The altitude in her HUD was at five hundred feet and dropping fast. Cindy fired the grappling hook into a nearby building and picked up her legs just in time to avoid smashing into the ground. They slipped past the parked cars below and flew upward.

They struggled back and forth, Cindy jabbed with the sword, but Alexis pushed her wrist away. The HUD read [300] meters before impact.

"You're not getting rid of me that easily," Alexis said.

Cindy turned her head. "You sure about that?"

Cindy kept her eyes on the numbers in her HUD [100 - 50 - 10 - 0]. Her body crashed into a car and rang her head with the sound of crumpling aluminum and shattering glass that deafened her hearing. She opened her eyes and saw the remains of a crushed car surrounding her body, the car alarm wailing ad nauseum. Cindy pulled herself free from the wreckage and rolled off to the side. She held her lower back and crawled away from the squashed automobile.

Cindy looked over her shoulder and saw that Alexis was regaining consciousness. She limped away from the car and fired the grappling hook into the bi-plane as it flew past. By the time Alexis had climbed free of the wreckage, Cindy was already on her way to the Empire State Building.
CHAPTER 24:

Super Strength

Jadie climbed through the jagged hole ripped into the side of the Empire State Building. Dust and debris fell from the ceiling, littering the floor with chalky dust piles. Flames fed on the remains of computer desks and monitors and turned everything into blocks of ash. The suit picked up a radio transmission from the fire department first responders. The New York accents came through thick and heavy.

"Command, this is Little Boy Squad one. Elevator seven on the eightieth floor is packed with civilians. Smoke and fire's starting' to come down the shaft, and we busted one of our tools trying to get the doors open."

"Copy Little Boy, will radio in."

"Command, this is Waterboy from Rescue One. We are trapped on the western stairwell of the eighty-fifth floor. There's fire coming up from eighty-four, and we have two civilians with us, a husband and a wife, late fifties. The stairs to eighty six are gone and the floor's collapsed outside eighty five. Our equipment is still functioning, but we need assistance getting outta the stairwell."

"Copy, Waterboy."

"Command, this is Captain North of Ladder Three. There's a big freaking hole where eighty through eighty-five used to be. The building's gonna collapse any second now. We need to get everyone out of here, pronto!"

Jadie cut the comms and switched channels.

"Cindy, where are you?"

"I'm by the East River, I'm coming as fast as I can."

"Not fast enough. It's going down any second now. I think mom and dad are at the western stairwell on the eighty-fifth floor. I'll grab them, but you need to help the people in the elevator."

"Okay, be there soon."

Jadie dashed through the fire and climbed over the collapsed rubble blocking the west stairwell. Before passing the elevator core (where all the elevators were housed), she heard a loud metallic thud. "I can't get this damn door open," a man's voice yelled.

"Command just called. They want us out of the building, now."

"And leave these people here? I can't let 'em die in this elevator."

"More people are gonna die if we stay."

Jadie stopped in front of an enormous pit several feet wide and saw the open entrance to the western stairwell across from it. She glanced at the elevator core again and listened to the firefighters continue to argue, and then she looked back at the stairwell. The scenario was painfully familiar. Choose between saving her parents or complete strangers. A part of her finally understood a piece of what Cindy went through and reconsidered how she felt about her decision.

"I guess I'm no better than you, Sis," she whispered to herself. Jadie waved her hands over her head. "Hey, over here!"

A firefighter came out of the stairwell door and smiled widely when he saw Jadie. He cupped his hands by his mouth. "What are you doing here? Are you real?"

"Yeah, I am. Go get everyone together."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Jadie scanned through the HUD menus and selected [grappling hook]. She fired two hooks into the wall and watched the cables uncoil through the air. Two offset impacts pierced through the wall and made the cables bounce like a trampoline. Jadie sat down and leaned back until the cables were pulled taut, creating a double rope bridge.

The firefighter re-emerged and saw the rope bridge she had created. "You gonna be able to hold it?"

"Would I be doing this if I couldn't?"

"Okay, we'll send the civilians over first." He ducked into the doorway and led a woman out to the rope bridge.

Jadie chewed on her lip and waited to see if her gamble was about to pay off. (If my parents aren't on this stairwell), she shook her head and decided not to think on those things. The firefighters led a woman out of the stairwell and showed her how to place her hands and feet. The woman's hands were visibly shaking as she grabbed onto the top rope. Jadie zoomed in on her and saw that the woman was short, had blonde hair, was a little overweight, and looked nothing like her mother.

"Eff, me."

***

Cindy circled the perimeter of the Empire State Building and heard the deep rumble of its dying breath. She leapt off the bi-plane and ran straight to the elevators where firefighters were smashing their axes into the melted doors.

"Out of the way!"

The rescue workers nodded and immediately stepped aside with a desperate look in their faces. Cindy drew out her energy blade and quickly sliced through the fused art deco style doors. She stuck her fingers into the still burning gap, and with one swift movement, ripped the doors from their hinges and handed them to the firefighters.

"Hold this."

Cindy climbed onto the roof of the elevator cab and popped open the hatch. Dozens of people, a mix of young and old were crammed inside the elevator like a can of sardines. They stared up at Cindy like frightened pups and huddled together.

"Everyone all right? I'm going to get you out."

"Oh thank God," one of the passengers said.

"That was amazing," a firefighter said. "I think we can take it from here Ma'am."

Cindy nodded and prepared to dismount, until the cab shuddered and sent a rattle throughout the shaft. Everyone turned to Cindy and fell silent. Another tremor echoed metallic moans throughout the tunnel. Cindy looked at the walls and saw an odd concave shape, as if the walls were expanding outward. The metal beams supporting the cab started to flex and bend, loosening its grip on the elevator emergency brakes. The cab shuddered again and dropped an inch lower.

Cindy pointed to the firefighters and said, "We need to get everyone out, now."

There was a loud, steely twang, and the cab jolted up and down. The riders trapped inside started to scream. When the movement stopped, Cindy noticed that the rails that supported the elevator emergency brakes had completely separated. She bent down and stuck her hand through the open hatch.

"Let's start getting you guys out of here."

The crowd lifted an older gentleman up so he could reach her hand. Cindy grabbed hold and began to pull him up, when a massive shockwave ripped through the elevator shaft. The man slipped from Cindy's hands and the air pressure suddenly changed. There was a horrible sound of a dull roar over top her head. She looked up and saw chunks of debris being chased by the tumbling, gigantic, pulley that moved all the elevators.

"Get down!" Cindy drew out her energy sword and cut the cables.

The elevator dropped as if someone had opened a trap door beneath it. It screeched down the shaft at a blistering pace and was chased by the pulley leviathan clattering against the walls above. The riders shrieked and practically floated in mid-air from the intense speed. The rails were too warped to allow the brakes to engage, and just touching the metal beams would likely rip Cindy's hand off.

Cindy dropped onto her back and activated her railguns. She selected [High Explosive] and fired one shot from each gun. Her arms shook from the recoil and sent the slugs piercing through the pulley. The massive machine detonated into a fireball of shards and steel, creating a metal storm that ticked over Cindy's body. Her bullets continued to fly upward, past the destroyed pulley, and broke through the roof of the shaft, reminding Cindy of the power her weapons possessed.

She rose to her feet and grabbed the disconnected steel cables with her one hand. The other, shot the grappling hook into a passing elevator door and connected. She closed her eyes, tensed her body, and waited. The cables jerked with the force of a cannon and nearly ripped the muscles in Cindy's arm. She cried out in agony and absorbed the immense weight of the elevator.

The elevator came to a sudden stop. Cindy's arms were stretched out like those strapped inside a medieval torture device. She hung there for several agonizing seconds, feeling her flesh separate from bone. Cindy looked inside the dangling elevator and saw everyone huddled together, embracing each other, from what would have been an inescapable death.

Cindy groaned with exhaustion. She started to unspool the grappling hook, the line lowered barely an inch before the elevator thudded to a stop. There was a giant number one painted on the wall.

"Whoa," she whispered.

A man looked up at her from inside the elevator. "Are we safe?"

She nodded her head. There was a pause, a moment when reality hadn't yet sunk in. Then the riders erupted into a loud cheer and started hugging each other. Cindy smiled beneath her mask, but was bothered that she hadn't seen her parents yet.

"I hate to interrupt, but I'm in a hurry." Cindy waved her hands like the tail end of a fish and dropped into the small gap between the riders. She pulled open the elevator doors to the lobby and everyone came rushing out, cellphones already pinned to their ears. Cindy followed after them and scanned the crowd for her parents. She saw a small-framed woman with shoulder length salty brown hair. Cindy pushed through the ocean of people and touched the woman's shoulder. The woman turned around and the words [Joanne Brynfire] flashed over her head.

"Mo—Ma'am, are you alright?" she said.

The woman stared at her for a few seconds, her eyes still running with tears.

"Cindy?" she whispered.

Cindy's eyes grew wide behind the helmet. She shook her head no and kept quiet.

"I've raised you for twenty eight years, I think I know what my daughter sounds like."

Cindy yanked her mother's wrist. "Shhh! How do you know? Why is everyone discovering my identity today?"

Joanne hugged Cindy and looked up at her with desperation in her eyes. "Your father is still upstairs."

"What?" Cindy shook her mother's shoulders. "Mom, where's Daddy?"

"He stayed behind to help everyone evacuate." She grabbed onto Cindy's hands and pleaded with her. "I didn't want to leave him. He made me go."

Cindy stroked her mother's shoulders and tried to calm her down. "Get to safety, I'll find him."

Cindy hugged her mother and spun her around to face the door. Her mother walked off to join the rest of the crowd but looked back to wave goodbye. Cindy nodded and ducked back into the elevator shaft. She fired the grappling hook as high as it could go and ascended the now, smoke filled tunnel. She traveled through the mine-shaft looking elevator tunnel and heard the building make unsettling moaning sounds. Her body jolted in mid-flight and nearly made her crash into the wall. She opened a comm-link frequency.

"Jonas, I need help. The building is about to go down."

"Michael and I are still dispersing the antidote. We'll be over to you in a few minutes."

"I don't have a few minutes."

"Okay, let me think," he said. "Try to use the suit as a support column. You can make the nanosuit harden until you're like a statue. That should buy us sometime to get over to you and use the nanotool."

"The what? Nevermind, just get here as soon as you can."

Cindy shut off her comm-link and climbed higher and higher until she reached the floor where the missile had hit, somewhere between eighty and eighty-one. She climbed through the elevator door and before she could even take one step, the ceiling dipped and the building creaked with the sound of bending steel. "Oh my God, it's coming down right now." Cindy bolted for the hole in the wall that had a clear view of the New York skyline and stood along the jagged edge. She raised her hands to support the damaged wall, but she was too short to reach.

The building started to tip over.

Cindy scrambled off the edge and searched for a smaller spot in line with her height. The ceiling sunk over her head and the shadow of the Empire State Building loomed over the city. Cindy watched the building fold over like a broken graham cracker and wedged herself into the shrinking gap. She lifted her hands over her head and hardened the nanosuit until she was frozen like a statue.

The weight of the Empire State Building sank into her hands and bent her arms. The suit began to absorb the load and the building stopped falling . . . for a moment. Then, the full weight of the landmark fell upon her. Several tons of metal, rock, and glass caused her to kneel down with the weight of a giant pressed upon her shoulders. The windows loomed forward, ready to take the building down with it.

"It's not working." She gritted her teeth and strained to even breathe. "You can do this, come on."

Cindy unlocked her legs and pressed her foot deep into the crumbled limestone. She pushed against the crushing weight and began the hopeless battle to save the iconic landmark. Her organs felt like they were going to explode as she fought to gain every excruciating inch. Cindy kept her eyes focused on the windows and told herself that all she needed to do, was make the windows disappear.

She pushed and barely moved a centimeter.

She pushed again, already tapping her super strength to max. The building lurched upward, but only half an inch was gained.

Sweat poured over her brow and burned her eyes. She strained, blood rushing through her body, muscles ready to burst, and pushed again. The limestone shifted inside of her hands and the building rose one more inch.

The windows were still there, but she kept fighting and fighting, unwilling to believe that the building was lost. It may have been just an inch, but it was something. If she could just get one more . . . Cindy pushed again, groaning and feeling light-headed from the exertion. The building moved, but created an intense tightness around her chest, her heart cried out in agony.

"One more, one more."

Cindy bellowed a carnal scream that echoed inside her helmet and pushed her body up until she couldn't feel her limbs anymore. The building moaned and rose higher in sync with her straining arms. She couldn't push anymore, her body wasn't letting her. Cindy looked out into the Manhattan skyline and noticed that she couldn't see the windows of the Empire State Building anymore.

Cindy took a deep breath and switched the suit back into lock mode. Her body trembled under the incredible mass that, once again, pushed down into her small body like an ant holding up a human foot. She knew this wouldn't last. Already she could sense her body sinking under the enormous pressure. All she did, was buy a short amount of time, and even then, she doubted it would be enough.

"Don't worry, Sis. I'm here."

"Jadie? Thank God."

Jadie stepped into the closing gap and pressed her hands into the ceiling. Though the building continued to lean with its brick walls splintering at the grout. Just having another pair of hands gave Cindy much needed relief.

"Cindy?" a familiar voice called out. She looked over her shoulder and saw her father, Karl Brynfire. His shirt was stained with sweat and there was ash smeared all over his glistening forehead. He coughed into his hands and caused his big belly to shudder.

"Daddy, what are you doing here?" Cindy replied.

"Found Dad by the way," Jadie said.

"How does he know?" Cindy asked between strained breaths.

"He didn't until you said my name."

The combined strength of the sisters seemed to have an effect on the building. The world famous landmark slowly rose back to its upright position but not fully. Even with Jadie's help, the weight was unbearable. The sisters plateaued around their neck and couldn't seem to lift any higher. They groaned and grunted, straining themselves to push harder, but the building refused to budge.

"Cindy, I can't." Jadie's entire body was trembling.

"How was the play, Daddy?" Cindy said.

"This is not the time," he replied.

"We need the distraction."

He rested his hands on his stomach. "It was wonderful."

Cindy and Jadie sank to their knees, but not before fighting for every inch lost.

"What . . . was it, about?"

"I ca—I can't hold it much longer," Jadie said.

"It was about family." The building cast a long shadow over the city buildings below. "And how, they unconditionally loved one another and drew strength from each other, even after life tried to wedge them apart."

"That's nice." Cindy saw the Playbill sticking out of her father's pocket: "Les Misérables."

"That doesn't . . . sound like any play I've heard of," Jadie said.

He waved his hands and hid the playbill deeper inside his pocket. "It was some off broadway show. Don't worry about it, just stay focused."

Cindy looked out into the city, hoping that Jonas would just magically appear out of thin air. When she saw nothing but an empty night sky, she turned to Jadie and said, "Get daddy out of here, I'll stay."

"You need me," Jadie replied.

"Don't worry about me, just keep fighting," Karl said.

"Yes, Dad," they said in unison.

A blood curdling scream suddenly shocked their ears. The sisters looked up and saw a man plummet right in front of them.

"Oh my God, he jumped!" Jadie's voice started to crack. "They're killing themselves."

"I need to grab him," Cindy said.

"No!" Karl yelled. "You can't leave your post for one man."

A cable suddenly shot up past the gap and dangled in front of the sisters. It swayed from side to side as if someone were pulling it from the roof. For a split second, Cindy saw the man who had jumped, being lifted in the air by a blur of sapphire.

Jadie turned to Cindy. "Was that?"

The cable returned with Alexis attached to it. She swung through the gap and landed behind the sisters.

"Daddy, get back," Cindy cried.

The Sapphire Ninja paced back and forth and sighed.

"Kill you now or later? Decisions, decisions."

"Go to hell," Cindy said.

"Don't touch my daughters."

"Daddy, no!" Jadie yelled.

Alexis slowly turned her alien-shaped helmet to the man. "Daughters?"

She took a step toward him and Cindy screamed, "Don't you dare touch him!"

Alexis stared at him and said, "You wanna go, old man?"

"No. Just leave them alone. They're trying to save lives."

"Really? I just saved a poor slob trying to kill himself. I don't see how they're saving lives."

"They're doing all they can," Karl said.

"Don't pay attention to her," Cindy interjected.

Alexis stood in front of Cindy's father and stared directly into his eyes. Cindy twitched, half tempted to leave her post and charge. She looked over to Jadie who stared back at her, probably thinking the same thing.

"Please, help them," Karl said to Alexis.

Alexis quirked her head. "What?"

"What?" Cindy and Jadie said in unison.

"Even enemies know when to lay down their arms in times of need," Karl said.

Alexis took another step forward. The sisters fell to their knees and the building quaked in response.

"I've been in the military, Miss. Two decades wasted fighting one another. I know what it's like to hate your enemy down to the essence of their existence, but innocents shouldn't suffer because of it. If you truly did save that man's life, then you already know what you should do."

Alexis stared at the man and balled her fist. "You should be more like your father, Cindy." She turned around, walked into the gap, pressed her hands up, and took her place alongside the sisters, shoulder to shoulder. "On three, we lift together."

"We already gave it all we got," Cindy replied.

"Do it again." Alexis faced forward and began to count.

"One."

Cindy unlocked her suit.

"Two."

She braced her body and took in a deep breath.

"Three!"

The women pushed into the ceiling with all of their might combined. Slowly, the building rose, but each push was a battle all on its own. Their bodies quaked under the immense pressure, grunting feeble cries of agony as they tried to, once again, lift the building. Cindy stood up, her legs and arms fully extended as far as they could go. She locked her suit into position and turned into a human Atlas. The impossible had happened, the Empire State Building was standing upright.

Then, she heard the sound of spinning rotors in the distance. Green and red lights surrounding a white orb approached quickly. When the object drew closer, Cindy could see Jonas and Michael inside the cockpit of a helicopter. On the nose of the chopper was a gun and beneath the belly was a white container.

Jonas and Michael waved to the sisters, but their faces turned sour when they saw Alexis.

Jonas twisted the headset receiver to his mouth and spoke through the loudspeaker, "We're about to use the nanotool to repair the damage. Step away when it aims for you, okay?"

The women nodded. Jonas flipped a switch and the gun fired, making the sound of a buzz saw cutting through wood. Sparkles of light hit the wall and started to reform the obliterated windows and fractured limestone wall. Alexis moved away and watched the nanotool continue to reconstruct the damaged building.

The head of the nanotool selected another random target and began firing in Jadie's direction. She moved away from the wall and like magic, the interior floors stitched themselves together. The sprinkler system pipes were reconnected and doused the interior with water. When the flames started to die down, Jadie suddenly tackled Alexis and jumped through the still repairing hole in the wall.

Cindy and her father cried out, "Jadie!"

Jonas finished repairing Jadie's section of wall and started work on Cindy's. She stepped away and screamed into the comm-link. "Why didn't you finish my section first?"

"Sorry, Cindy. The nanotool doesn't have any manual controls yet. It was on auto," Michael said.

Cindy took her father by the waist and said, "Come on, Daddy. We're getting you out of here." She jumped out of the closing wall and plummeted from eighty stories high. Her father screamed in her ear and tightly wrapped his arms around her neck. Cindy grappled her way down to the ground level and softly landed near the paramedics.

She held his hands and whispered, "Call Mom and go somewhere safe, okay? I need to go help, Jadie."

"I don't want anything to happen to the two of you," he said. "I'm sorry I brought your mother here. I didn't mean for this to happen."

"Dad, it's okay. Just go somewhere safe." She hugged him goodbye.

"I love you, and I'm very proud of you," he said.

Cindy shot the grapple and flew up to the top of the Empire State Building. Her father's words echoed in her mind and caused her heart to swell. She had never heard him say, "I'm proud of you" ever in her life, not even to Jadie. She continued her way to the top of the building and intercepted a radio transmission from the fire department.

"All fire personnel, this is Command. Stand by for a status report."

Cindy made her way to the antenna and took a moment to catch her breath. She looked at the observatory deck and watched the firefighters escort everyone inside, including the man whom Alexis had saved. The radio transmission from the fire department continued.

"You're not gonna believe this. The Silver Ninja and her friends just saved the Empire State Building. There's still some scattered fires, but nothing that'll cause the building to collapse." There was a pause followed by a shuffling of papers. "I've also just received the casualty report for civilians and fire personnel." Another long pause.

"There were none."

A thunderous cheer crackled in the background of the radio transmission. The fire chief laughed into the radio and proceeded to give final clean up instructions. Cindy switched off the comm-link and leaned her head onto the antenna of the—still standing—Empire State Building. She surveyed the city and saw that the green smoke that had poisoned the air, was almost completely gone. The aches throughout her body pulsed in sync with the beating of her heart, but she couldn't help but smile. Two catastrophic disasters that could have cost thousands of innocent lives and an iconic landmark were averted today.

Cindy engaged the repair function on her suit to—at least temporarily—numb the pain in her body. The repair bar filled across the HUD and Jonas's helicopter rose to greet her.

He spoke into his headset. "You okay?"

"I just need a minute," she whispered into the comm-link. Cindy looked at the helicopter and tilted her head. "When did you learn how to fly a helicopter?"

"Remember all those flight sim video games I loved to play and the thousands of hours I sunk into them? Yeah, it's a lot harder in real life. That's why we took so long," Jonas said.

"It wasn't my idea. I screamed for fifteen minutes while we were taking off," Michael said.

She chuckled. "How did you even get a helicopter?"

"Michael pretended to ask for help using the bathroom and we locked the pilot in," Jonas said.

"Not my proudest moment," Michael replied.

Cindy smiled and shook her head. "Why didn't you just ask the pilot to help you?"

"Because he didn't want to get shot down by the military. I had to call Senator Montez and tell him what we were doing so that the military wouldn't fire on us. We probably could have persuaded the pilot but we just didn't have time," Jonas said.

"I'm sure you just wanted to fly," she said. The repair progress bar filled to the max, and Cindy pushed off from the antenna.

"Going to get Jadie?" Jonas asked.

"Yeah." She rolled her shoulders and neck.

"I analyzed the trajectory from where the missiles hit. It came from the ship that pulled into harbor a few hours ago. Guess who it's registered to?" Michael said.

"Zhu Feng Medical." The blip from the bi-plane drew closer to Cindy's location.

"We're going to finish repairs on the city. Do you have Jadie's coordinates?" Jonas asked.

"Yes, but I already know where she'll be." Cindy looked at the city and saw knocked over water towers, scorched walls, and damaged apartment complexes all leading west. She leapt off the building and landed inside the bi-plane.

Destination: The Jacob K. Javits convention center.
CHAPTER 25:

Settle The Score

Cindy cruised over the city skyline and followed the red dot with the Ruby label on the radar. She approached the west river and could see smoke dissipating from the top of the massive ship, Cestus Dei. Cindy marveled at the sheer enormity of the colossal ship. One-thousand feet long, five-hundred feet high, the spacecraft was easily as big as an aircraft carrier. Throughout its hull and at the ends of the ship were enormous engines that could propel the ship into space.

It sat patiently inside the harbor, less than two miles away from Jadie's location.

The Jacob K. Javits center is a massive, multi cube-like structure that serves as the nexus for conventions and big events. Up close, the cubes were composed of criss crossed industrial pipes that were overlaid by a sheet of black glass. Jonas loved to come here for events concerning superheroes and new technology developments, but Cindy only remembered this place as the most boring security detail in the precinct. They even had a phrase for it back on the force: "Time to babysit the geeks."

On top of the convention center was the crown jewel discussed on Impress News and dozens of tech blogs, the eco-friendly, energy efficient roof. It was hailed as the "synthetic paradise of green energy efficiency," and was claimed to have the capability to power the entire building on a bright sunny day. Amidst the rooftop, Jadie's red armor stood in stark contrast to the deep green circles that covered the roof. Sparks illuminated the floor from Alexis's armor clashing against Jadie's in hand-to-hand combat.

Alexis pummeled Jadie's head with thunderous blows and caused her to buckle at the knees. Jadie raised her hands to block, but Alexis delivered quick blows to her chest and helmet. Jadie's armor dented and blackened, and sent her stumbling around like a drunk at happy hour.

Cindy pushed the throttle to the max and started a dive bomb into the rooftop.

But it was too late.

Jadie fell to her knees and her upper body swayed in unison with her head. Alexis spun around and kicked Jadie's helmet, delivering the final blow.

Cindy slammed the joystick forward and pitched the bi-plane into a suicidal course with Alexis. The Sapphire Ninja looked up at her and waited. Then, after Cindy was close enough, Alexis drew out her railguns and fired. The sound of hyper accelerated slugs shattered the air like thunder. Cindy careened to the right and tried to avoid the barrage.

The slugs were too fast and ripped through the bi-plane fuselage, setting fire to the engine. Cindy hit the fire extinguisher button and sent a hiss of compressed air through the engines. The fire turned to smoke, but the bi-plane couldn't sustain altitude. Cindy ejected from the seat and summoned her railguns, setting them to lethal. She dove towards Alexis and fired her weapons.

The Sapphire Ninja held out her hand and opened her palm. She activated an amber shield and disintegrated the slugs that crashed into the field of energy. Flakes of ash floated to the floor and left Alexis completely unharmed. She dropped her shield and walked away from Ruby's motionless body. Alexis knelt down in a seiza position and watched Cindy land next to Jadie.

Cindy tapped Jadie's helmet, but received no response. It was crushed in, dented, and the glowing eyes had gone black. She scanned Jadie's body with her suit and checked the vitals. She detected some bruising and a concussion, but nothing life-threatening. Even though she knew Jadie would survive; Cindy was unable to hide the trembling anger that grew inside her body.

She pressed her hand into the green eco-friendly floor until it started to crack like thin ice. Her heart pumped hard against her ribs and sharp pains traveled from her kidneys up to the back of her neck. She gritted her teeth and stared at Alexis who was still kneeling on the floor, waiting.

"It's strange," Alexis said.

Cindy kept her silence and dug her fingers into the floor.

"I hate everything that you are, everything that you stand for, everything that you've done. But for some strange reason, and I can't quite understand it myself, I respect you. Not because you can fight, because you can't; not because you're smart, because you're not; but because you tried to save the Empire State Building when you knew it was impossible. Your actions today, confuse me."

"Why?" her voice seethed with anger.

"You put yourself at risk and saved the lives of thousands of people. So why . . . why would someone who tries to play the hero destroy an innocent family, my family?"

Cindy smashed her fist into the silicone and shattered the astro turf colored solar panels. "I didn't kill them!" Cindy rose to her feet and curled her body into an attack stance. "I'm sick and tired of you not listening to me. You want to fight me so bad? Then come on, let's end this, you and me."

"They say that if you go looking for revenge, you should dig two graves. Looks like they were right. I'll dig one for you and your sister." Alexis beckoned Cindy and remained in her kneeled seiza position. "Come on."

Cindy drew out her energy blade.

Alexis wagged her finger. "Ah, ah, ah. There's only one rule."

Cindy dropped her arms, the energy blade still crackling in her hand.

"Don't. Cheat. Hand-to-hand only."

Cindy turned off the energy blade and let it absorb into her suit.

Alexis tilted her head. "I think I would have liked you if we weren't enemies."

"Can't say I feel the same way. You ready?"

"Ready."

Rather than allow herself to be blinded by anger, Cindy took several deep breaths to calm her nerves. Cindy balled her fists and took a step forward. Then another, and another, until she was running across the rooftop at lightning speed. Her legs and arms became a blur of silver strips, the distance closing ever so quickly.

Cindy was within striking distance and as expected, Alexis hadn't moved an inch. She threw the first punch aimed for the Sapphire helmet and was caught between Alexis's hands. She rolled Cindy over the shoulder and slammed her into the floor.

Cindy slapped her hands on the rooftop in frustration and flipped back up to her feet.

She turned to Alexis and threw a cyclonic roundhouse kick. Alexis blocked the attack, then wrapped her fingers around Cindy's calves. With Cindy immobilized, Alexis launched a battering ram of a kick into Cindy's stomach and sent her rolling backward across the floor. Alexis followed her tumbling body and then grabbed Cindy's ankle.

She twisted Cindy's foot and sent shooting pains throughout her shins. Cindy rolled onto her back and kicked Alexis with her other foot, forcing her to block with both hands. Cindy somersaulted out of the way, then knelt down and rubbed her aching ankle.

"I thought you would have learned by now," Alexis said. "You can't attack me head-on."

Alexis rolled her head from side to side and cracked her neck. Then she raised her hands into an Aikido combat stance and rushed Cindy. She ran across the rooftop with incredible speed, no yelling, no screaming, just calculated, emotionless movement.

Alexis reeled her fist near her shoulder.

Cindy blocked high anticipating a punch to the head.

It was a feint. Cindy's chest was left wide open.

Alexis rammed her knee into her solar plexus and sent Cindy doubling over. Then she grabbed hold of Cindy's neck and pummeled her torso over and over with her suit's reinforced kneepads. Each blow crumpled the silver armor and made Cindy grunt with each hit. With Cindy unable to defend herself, Alexis dropped her elbow onto Cindy's spine and splayed her onto the floor.

Cindy rolled onto her back, expecting Alexis to be on top of her. Instead, she was pacing back and forth in front of her.

Alexis offered her hand to Cindy. "Get up."

Cindy smacked her hand away and stood up under her own power. But when she did, her legs suddenly felt like spaghetti and nearly gave out from beneath her. She steadied herself and noticed the Cestus Dei floating behind Alexis's head. It was airborne and seemed to be moving closer to the convention center. When Cindy saw the Zhu Feng Medical ship and Alexis side by side, she was hit with a sudden revelation.

"I'm waiting," Alexis said.

"I'm not fighting you anymore."

Alexis cocked her head to the side. "Excuse me?"

"You're being mind controlled." Cindy pointed to the ship. "That ship released mind control gas through the fireworks."

Alexis stared at Cindy for a few seconds and then walked over to Jadie's unconscious body. She stepped on her neck and drew out her golden energy sword.

"Fight me or I'll kill her."

"Listen to me, damn it! I swear your family is alive. I can show you proof."

Alexis stood there and considered her words. After a few moments passed, she stuck the tip of her sword into Jadie's helmet.

"No!" Cindy drew out her energy sword and swung it with all of her might. The kinetic energy extended the blade like a whip and crashed against Alexis's sword. When it shrunk back to normal size, Alexis dashed forward and started her attack. Golden flashes of light blinded Cindy's vision and made it difficult to block the relentless barrage.

Cindy found an opening and rammed her shoulder into Alexis. The Sapphire Ninja stumbled back and now Cindy went on the offensive. She slashed at Alexis and caused bolts of electricity to appear from the swords crashing repeatedly into each other. Cindy raised her sword over her head and threw it down with the intention of cutting Alexis's helmet open like a watermelon. Alexis blocked with her sword and held Cindy's blade back. Cindy tapped into her incredible strength and forced Alexis down to her knees.

"You're making a mistake," Cindy said. "I know what you're going through."

"You have no idea what I'm going through," Alexis replied.

"Yes I do. You want to make the world feel your pain so that you aren't suffering alone."

"No." Alexis kicked her in the stomach. "Just you."

Alexis sheathed her sword and went back into the Aikido stance. Cindy did the same and attacked the Sapphire Ninja with a series of kicks and punches. Alexis weaved, ducked and dodged past every punch, every kick, and then exploited the opening between Cindy's attacks. Alexis threw a volley of rapid-fire punches that traveled from Cindy's stomach up to her chest. Her body rocked violently as if it were pelted by a hailstorm of bullets.

The HUD armor display turned into a sickly, yellow color. Cindy stumbled and strained to catch her breath. The disgusting taste of copper had returned to her mouth and her eyes saw two ghosted images of her enemy.

Alexis walked forward and then jumped in the air, throwing a spin kick. Cindy caught Alexis's leg just in time and smashed her fist into her kneecap. The armored kneepad dented from the blow and refused to break.

The Sapphire Ninja threw a kick with her opposite leg and sent Cindy's head spinning. She stumbled backwards and watched the world swirl all around her. Alexis pulled Cindy's arm towards her and with her other hand, slammed her palm into Silver's elbow folding it backwards. The joint popped forward and a sickening crack rattled her bones. Cindy cried out in agony and fell to her knees.

"This is just pitiful," Alexis said. "I'll give you credit, you tried your best. Not that it was good enough."

Cindy's vision drifted into a cloudy haze. Her arms felt like stretched putty and breathing in caused a broken rib to jab at her lungs. The armor display of the suit had turned into an orange color, just one step away from the dangerous red. Cindy grabbed onto her forearm and wrenched the joint back into place. She screamed and collapsed to the floor in a whimper.

"Get up," Alexis said.

"Why don't you just kill me?"

"I have to defeat you, before I kill you. Are you defeated?"

The Sapphire Ninja drew out a new energy weapon, one Cindy had never seen before. It was a chain-like whip with a cleaver attached to the end.

"Well?" Alexis said.

Cindy placed her hands on the floor and pushed herself to stand once more.

Alexis twirled the whip in her hand. "That's what I thought."

She threw the blade at Cindy and cut open the armor shielding the arms. Cindy's peach skin split open and bled. Alexis threw the whip again and nicked Cindy's leg before she could dodge, cutting open her thigh. Cindy drew out her energy blade and tried to block the next attack, but a second whip flew out from Alexis's other hand and sliced across Silver's bicep.

Cindy let out a battle cry and charged forward with the sword overtop her head. She swung her blade at Alexis and pummeled into her with everything she had. But with every swing, her strength would be sapped, and soon she swung the sword in feeble, lethargic motions. All failing to hit Alexis.

Cindy raised her hand over her shoulder and slowly dropped it towards Alexis, stumbling forward.

Alexis spun behind her and wrapped the energy whip around Cindy's neck.

Alexis yanked the battered woman to the floor and dragged her around like a ragdoll. Cindy grasped at the chain and struggled in vain to free herself. The sparks flew out from under her body and made her feel so humiliated, so embarrassed, but none of it compared to feeling . . .

Defeated.

Alexis stopped in the middle of the rooftop and put her hands underneath Cindy's chin. She ripped the helmet off and exposed the soft woman underneath. Alexis released the whip from Cindy's neck and shoved her away like a homeless beggar.

The sound of jet fighters flew overhead and lit the night sky with the flames from their engines. Cindy looked up and saw several bombs drop from the wings of the jets and onto the massive shell of the Zhu Feng Medical ship. The bombs exploded across the surface, but when the smoke cleared, the Cestus Dei was unscathed from the bombing run. An array of defense turrets emerged from the ship fuselage and illuminated the sky with red hot lasers. The jets were shot down, instantly.

Cindy sighed and dropped her head.

"You put up a good fight, Cindy. But you and I both know this is over." Alexis walked forward with the energy whip sizzling in her hands. "It's a shame to kill someone as persistent as you." She stood behind Cindy's back. "Get on your knees."

She did and rested both hands on her lap. Cindy closed her eyes and lifted her head to expose her neck.

"Who saves the hero when she's about to die? No one."

Cindy swallowed hard and heard the crackle of energy pop next to her ears.

"Alexis," Cindy whispered.

"Yes?"

"I can save myself."

Cindy stood up and pulled a chaff grenade from her suit. She slammed the cylindrical explosive into Alexis's helmet and detonated it on impact. A bright flash blinded the two of them, and when the white snow cleared, there were thousands of aluminum strips floating in their air like ticker tape. Alexis screamed and covered her head, staggering backwards from the energy that erupted atop her armor.

Cindy re-activated her energy blade and cut into Alexis's armor. The thick, sapphire plates split open and gushed fountains of blood from the skin underneath. She threw Alexis to the floor and hammered the sapphire helmet with her fists. Cindy's anger grew with every blow until it transformed into psychotic rage.

Sapphire's helmet began to collapse unto itself and bloodlust clouded Cindy's vision. The glowing cybernetic eyes, which had once filled Cindy with dread, shattered and revealed the green eyes within. The helmet barely had any form left and looked like a misshapen blob of clay, but Cindy still wanted more. She ripped the helmet off Alexis's head and punched her face with her metal fists.

The first blow swelled Alexis's lip; the second, made her eyelid bulge; the third, cracked her nose and splattered blood across her face. She was defenseless, but Cindy didn't care, Jonas had been defenseless too and Sapphire left him a bloody mess. Alexis tried to lift her hands to protect herself, but Cindy shoved them aside and continued punching. She pummeled the woman's pretty face until it became deformed with bruises and broken bones. Cindy reeled her fist back for the final blow and stopped.

She looked at her hands and saw the stains of sticky, fresh blood smeared all over her knuckles. It reminded her of the woman she was afraid of becoming. She glanced at Alexis who was mangled to a near pulp and then back to her hands again. Just one more hit would end the nightmare Alexis put her through.

Cindy unclenched her hands and rested them by her side. "It's over."

Alexis picked up her head. "You cheated."

Cindy shook her head and slumped her shoulders. "I had to."

"Just kill me already."

"Alexis, your family isn't dead. I'll show you proof that you're being mind controlled. You think your family burned at the hospital, right?" Cindy touched her forearm and an auxiliary screen similar to her HUD appeared in the silver skin. "Jonas, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, we just finished repairs on the bridge and are going to do another antidote run by the river. Are you okay?"

"I'm holding up. Question, how much video does my suit record?" Cindy said.

"Everything. It's backed up to offsite servers."

"I need to show video to someone, how do I do that?"

"If you hold out your hand, a little holographic display should pop up," Jonas said.

"Thanks. I'll be in touch soon."

Cindy touched her forearm and searched through the menu driven archival footage. When she found the hospital thumbnails, Cindy opened her palm and caused little streaks of light to appear.

[1:50pm. Cindy finds Henri and Felice trapped inside a burning hospital room.]

Alexis's eyes darted around rapidly and followed the video.

[1:52pm. Cindy takes Henri and Felice into her arms and jumps out the window, landing to safety.]

"This isn't real," Alexis said.

"Keep watching."

[1:54pm. Cindy asks Felice, "You okay, sweet pea?" Henri thanks Cindy and asks if she's seen Alexis. - End of Video -]

Alexis twitched and a drop of emotion spilled from her glassy eye.

"You swear this is real?"

"Let me ask you this, didn't you feel strange when you supposedly saw me burn the bodies? Like a bunch of voices were talking in your head at once? That's what happened to me when I was affected by the drug," Cindy said.

"But the fire was real, wasn't it?"

"A terrorist attack by the Black Rook."

"Rook?" Alexis covered her eyes and revealed blood stained teeth as she spoke. "What have I done?"

"Where's your cell phone? I'm sure Henri called," Cindy said.

"I lost everything at the hospital."

Cindy turned Alexis's jaw so that their eyes could meet. "Who are you working for?"

"Jianjun Dingxiang. He's the president and CEO of Zhu Feng Medical. He was friends with my father."

"Is he working for the Black Rook or is he finishing what your father started?"

"I don't know," Alexis replied.

Cindy lifted her thumb over her shoulder and pointed to the Cestus Dei. "Is he in that ship?"

Alexis nodded her head.

Cindy rose to her feet and turned to the ship with a sigh. Her body felt as though it were pushed through a meat grinder and stuffed into a silver sausage casing.

As the ship continued to hover over the river, more military units started to bombard its hull with tank and mortar shells. The ship deflected the attacks and activated all of its weapons systems to return fire. Cindy brushed her tangled hair away from her eyes and tapped her bottom lip. She looked at her finger and saw fresh blood on her digit.

"Hey, Sis."

Cindy turned around and smiled at Jadie. "You okay?"

"I guess. At least, I feel better than you look." She glanced at Alexis who was splayed out on the floor. "So you beat her, huh?"

"Not really. I had to cheat," Cindy said.

"Whatever, at least you won. What are you going to do about her?" Jadie asked.

"Nothing right now, she's done."

"She almost killed us."

"I know, just leave her be."

Jadie grumbled under her breath. She stood next to Cindy and pointed at the ship. "Are we attacking that next?"

"Actually, that would be a very bad idea," Jonas's voice transmitted through the comm-link.

"Why?" Cindy asked.

Michael chimed in, "That thing is equipped with the most devastating cannons we've ever seen. One hit can melt a tank instantly."

"It's also equipped with anti-air guns. So you're not going to be able to land on it by helicopter," Jonas said.

"Could I grapple to it?" Cindy asked.

"It's too far from the coastline. Your hook won't be able to reach."

"We might have to swim over or take a boat to get close enough," Jadie said.

"They already blew up the boats that tried. There's no way you can get close," Jonas said.

"I could jump to it." Cindy pointed to a cement dock that had the sign: "World Yacht" above it. "That dock is lined up perfectly with the ship. If I run as fast as I can, I might be able to make the jump."

"Cindy. That jump is impossible, even with the boosters. They'll shoot at you before you even get halfway down that dock," Jonas replied.

"I can make the jump," she insisted.

Jadie walked up behind Cindy and tapped her shoulder. "Then let's do it."

Cindy rubbed something in her hand and asked Jadie a simple question. "Do you still hate me?"

"What kind of a question is that?"

"Just answer it."

"I don't know. Maybe. I don't want to talk about that right now."

Cindy pulled out a pin with her thumb. "Are you still wearing your helmet?"

"Why are you asking me these questions?"

Cindy turned around and threw the last chaff grenade into Jadie's face. The grenade exploded and sent debilitating power surges across Jadie's suit. Cindy picked her helmet off the floor and jumped off the convention center rooftop.

"Cindy, what the hell did you do that for?" Michael said.

Cindy put on her helmet and enabled the suits quick repair function.

"I'm not going to risk losing her if something happens. She still hates me anyway, so I have nothing to lose if she gets even more pissed at me."

"You're not going for the ship, are you?" Jonas said.

Cindy's voice shook with each rapid footstep she took. "Yes. I am."
CHAPTER 26:

Into the Fire

Cindy ran across the tops of cars sitting on the West Side highway. Each aluminum roof clanked and dented under her armored foot. The drivers who futilely honked at traffic, stopped and stuck their heads out of the windows, ready to curse out whoever jumped on their car. When they realized who it was, they cheered and waved their hands while yelling, "Go! Go! Go!" Jonas followed Cindy from above in his helicopter.

She arrived at the entrance of the dock and saw the ship at the end of the cement pier. It hovered in place and practically boiled the water below with its engines. Now that she was at ground level, Cindy realized that the distance between the pier and the ship was much larger than she thought. The ship continued to fire at the military jets and lit up the night sky with bursts of white, yellow and red.

"Cindy, don't do this. You won't make it," Jonas said.

"I'm getting on that ship."

"I'll pick you up, we'll go in together."

"No. No one else is risking their lives tonight. I'm doing this alone."

"Why? We can help you," Jonas said.

"Just stop, Jonas. I don't want you or anyone else to help."

"Why?" he asked.

"I don't want to choose between you or Jadie again. If Jadie had died . . ." Her voice quivered. "I never want to go through that again, ever."

Cindy stared at the ship. Her ears took in the sounds of the rotors, police sirens, and the silence between her and Jonas. She hoped he would understand why she had to go alone.

"I'm going," she said.

"Then we're gonna go distract the guns." The helicopter pitched forward in the direction of the ship.

"No, you won't."

Cindy fired the grappling hook into the tail rotor of the helicopter.

"Don't hate me for this," she whispered. Cindy gripped the synthetic cable and yanked the helicopter with a downward motion. The main rotor blades snapped off and sent the tourist chopper spinning wildly out of control. Cindy fought with the cable like a kite in the wind and guided the helicopter onto a nearby rooftop.

"Are you OK?" she said through the comm-link.

There was labored breathing on the other line. "Yeah, we're fine," his voice rasped with a hint of anger.

"Sorry."

Cindy walked into the dock and followed the lights along the edges of the pier. They would serve as the runway for her suicide run.

She took in a deep breath.

Crouched down.

And launched into a sprint.

The image of the ship bounced up and down her HUD as she picked up speed. Her legs pumped hard and kicked up gravel from running across the dock. The ship turrets emerged from the hull and aimed their cannons at her. [Danger: Entering High-Risk Zone, turn around!] Cindy shut off the warning and continued forward. One of the cannons fired and sent a blast of electrically charged fire over Cindy's head. It whistled through the air like a mortar shell and obliterated the Midtown Ferry Terminal into a storm of bricks and glass.

That was the warning shot, Cindy thought. She ran even faster knowing that the next shot might not miss. Her heart pumped hard against her chest and she filled her lungs with as much oxygen as humanly possible. A volley of blasts fired in sequence across the hull like a Navy destroyer from World War II. The sky filled with the whistles of the flying projectiles and exploded the ground all around her. She ran through the billowing dust clouds and little fragments of concrete ticked off Cindy's armor.

Past the fog of smoky concrete, Cindy saw the muzzle of a cannon energize. The energy grew into a sphere and shot a bolt of plasma that sizzled the air. She ducked out of the way and was nicked in the arm by the bolt of white-hot plasma. A burst of blood shot out from her shoulder and pushed her arm back, nearly knocking her off balance. She stumbled forward and regained her footing, still heading straight into the hail of gunfire.

Cindy couldn't hear the sirens or the city anymore. Everything was blocked out by the buzzing sound of a million bullets coming for her like a swarm of locusts. Thousands of targeting reticules populated her HUD and tracked the lethal projectiles that were flying towards her. The words [DANGER] flashed over and over in bright red.

Another plasma blast rolled through the air and crashed in front of Cindy's legs like a meteor. Her leg waded through the fading current of ions and blew off a chunk of armor. Blood squirted from her wound and splattered over her silver shielding, causing her to lose precious momentum. The armor indicator of her suit flashed red, in sync with the excruciating pain. Still, she continued to run, her body literally dying, but she doesn't stop, she won't stop. Finally the water's edge was near, the end of the dock was just a few feet away.

The ship had no intention of letting Cindy through and aimed all of its weapons at the dock. One by one the cannons and turrets fired their weapons and created a wall of firepower. The floor exploded and cratered all around her while blasts in the water created curtains of rain that drenched her silver body. Cindy felt as if she were storming the beaches of Normandy and activated the speed boost which moved her legs at inhuman speeds, daring to do the impossible. Her boots flashed a blue light before she leapt into the air, her arms and legs flailing without any grace.

The remaining turrets turned to face her and the HUD warned that all weapons were locked onto her. She flew through the air, a sitting duck to a firing squad the size of a battle ship.

"Cindy please don't do this!" she heard in her comm-link, it was Jonas. She shut off the comm-link and prepared for the first volley. She twisted her body in mid-air and listened to the hiss of bullets that zipped past her body. The plasma cannon fired again with a perfect shot to hit Cindy. She rolled out of the way and watched it continue to the highway where it exploded on a bus terminal parking garage. The building collapsed and sent dozens of tourist buses crashing down to the street.

The inertia from her jump dissipated and now she was falling. She tried to reach out with the grappling hook, but the ship was out of range. A missile bay slid open from the hull and red tipped rockets emerged from the holes. [WARNING: MULTIPLE MISSILES LOCKED] The rockets fired out of their canisters and left curls of smoke in their wake.

Cindy twisted and rolled to avoid the initial rocket salvo, but one caught her by surprise and detonated on her stomach. She shrieked. The rocket ripped open her armor plates and scorched her skin beneath. But the suit kept her alive, kept her going. Her exposed stomach poured streams of blood while another salvo of missiles readied for another attack.

The first rocket ignited its fuel and launched from the tube. Cindy leaned to the side and hit the body of the missile with her foot. It gave her a small boost in altitude and sent the rocket spiraling wildly into the water. The next missile came and Cindy twisted to the other side. She kicked off that rocket and continued to defy gravity. One by one she used the rockets as a crumbling staircase, climbing higher and higher towards the ship. When the last missile came, she leapt forward and extended her arm as far it would go. She waited for the targeting reticule which still hadn't appeared and fell to the river.

The green crosshair suddenly blinked in front of her and she fired the hook. Cindy's feet skimmed the surface of the water before she zipped towards the fuselage of the massive ship. She raised her hands and latched onto the hull with her gecko gloves.

It was time for payback.

Cindy scaled the ship and searched for the turrets firing at the city. She found the first one attached to the side of the ship along with its clone brothers. Cindy drew out her energy blade and sliced it across the neck, detaching the gun from the hull. "Guess it's not immune to my weapons." The turret fell into the river below and created an enormous splash. Now she had to do the same for the rest. She swung across the ship with her grapple and held out her blade cutting through each turret that got in her way. The turret heads tumbled into the water and gradually reduced the sound of gunfire.

Cindy climbed to the top of the spaceship and went after the anti-aircraft batteries which were still firing at the military jets. She watched the guns swivel and light up the sky with a thunderous barrage of gunfire. Before she could take one step, several hatches on the ship flipped open and released heavily armed Chinese mercenaries. They had glowing red goggles, assault rifles, and thick bullet proof armor that covered their bodies from head to toe.

Cindy heard several loud clicks from the rifles being simultaneously loaded and saw green laser dots appear over her armor. Cindy raised the energy sword over her head and charged towards the mercenaries. They fired their weapons and shattered the air with loud gunfire. The muzzle flash illuminated the floor with strobes of yellow and orange. She continued her charge and twirled the sword in front of her, deflecting the bullets that came.

Cindy leapt into the air and drop kicked a mercenary. He stumbled backwards, and then Cindy spring boarded off his armor and back flipped in the air. She threw her sword out in mid-flip and cut his rifle in half. When she reached the end of her roll, Cindy aimed the grappling hook at another mercenary and waited for the HUD to lock on.

[Lock] She fired the hook into the soldier's chest and cannonballed into him. He stumbled back, dropped his weapon and clutched his chest. He crouched down to the floor and reached for his rifle, but Cindy grabbed his neck and put him in a chokehold. She then held the energy blade in front of his jugular and took him hostage. The mercenaries slowed to a walk and kept their rifles aimed at her.

They raised their hands and yelled, "Ràng tā qù, Ràng tā qù!"

She didn't know what the hell that meant, but assumed they wanted her to let him go. Cindy's HUD analyzed the surroundings and brought up multiple targeting boxes on each soldier. She watched the red dots on her radar slowly close in around her position. Her PIP display suddenly appeared in the corner of her HUD with video feed of a mercenary trying to sneak up behind her. Cindy whirled around and threw her hostage into him. She then back flipped between the two groups of soldiers and forced them into a crossfire.

The soldiers held their fire and kept a bead on Cindy. The squad leader waved his hand and a soldier ran up to Cindy. He took on a Kung Fu stance and threw several punches into her. She weaved between each punch and then struck him in the underarm where there was no protection. He clutched his side and then Cindy fired a kick that sent him flying into his teammates, knocking them all over in a heap.

Another mercenary snuck in from the side and threw a roundhouse kick. Cindy ducked and punched him in the groin, breaking through the cup that protected it. The soldier covered his manhood and collapsed to the floor, writhing from side to side. [WARNING: UNDER FIRE]

She turned around and felt a sharp pop hit her in the chest, where the armor was missing. It was the same exact spot that Alexis had cut open with her weapons.

Cindy yelped and applied pressure to the bullet wound. Her blood spewed from her vein and dripped all over the floor. She turned to the mercenary who shot her and walked up to him with slow, methodical steps. His knees shook and his gun trembled, unable to take another shot.

He was alone, the rest of his team had either retreated or was unconscious. Fear made him pull the trigger again, but Cindy deflected it with her sword. He set his rifle to burst fire and fired several bursts. Cindy blocked every bullet until she was face to face with him. She grabbed onto his gun and bent the muzzle downward, then struck him in the chin with the butt of his own rifle. His jaw crunched and the mercenary fell to the floor.

She dropped the rifle and turned her head to scan the area. All of the mercenaries had been defeated and not a single fatality. Cindy panted heavily and tried to get precious oxygen into her lungs, but every breath stung worse than the last. She wiped the blood off her chest and proceeded to destroy the rest of the ships defenses with her railguns set to high explosive. The sound of gunfire fell to a dead silence and all that remained were the crackles of electricity from the wrecked anti air defenses.

Cindy deactivated her weapons and entered the open hatch to the Cestus Dei.
CHAPTER 27:

Titan Slayer

[Warning: SIRCA failure imminent, commencing emergency repairs].

The disturbing text flashed in front of Cindy's eyes. Emergency repairs, unlike standard ones, go to the deepest levels to repair the system. When dormant, the suit is capable of repairing its armor and Cindy's injuries at the same time. Cuts on her skin would be fused, bleeding would be stopped, and any broken bones would be mended. The only catch is that she has to surrender all of her super powers and the suit itself. She would have to wait several hours before she could turn into Silver once again.

"Override," Cindy said.

[Warning: Canceling this process will reduce armor efficiency].

"Override, damn it!"

[Emergency repairs canceled].

"I lost protection a long time ago anyway," she muttered.

Cindy leaned against the pipes running along the walls and turned off her helmet. The shell melted away and spilled her long wavy brown locks over her eyes. Dirt and ash were embedded in the pores of her skin, and she could hear the wet slaps of her own life hitting the floor. She wiped her hand across her cheek and accidentally smeared blood all over her face. The smell of copper and iron lingered all around her and made her nauseous.

She glanced down the corridor and saw that it was covered in a dark haze. She blinked her eyes and the hallway sharpened and lightened, but it was only for a moment before it drifted back into foggy darkness. Cindy ran her hand through her hair and rubbed the back of her neck. She took shallow, slow breaths to avoid the sharp, cutting pain in her stomach. She looked down at her abdomen and saw a gaping wound drooling out blood over her navel.

Cindy commanded the suit to repair her injuries. It error'ed out and refused the request. She had already forgotten that she overrode the emergency repair protocols. Cindy commanded the suit for an injection of painkillers. SIRCA refused the request and told her that she had already reached her max dosage. Cindy rested against the walls of the ship and listened to the only thing that kept her company, her breathing. It was cold, dark and lonely. She missed listening to Jonas encouraging her and even Jadie's smart ass remarks, but she knew it was better this way, to be alone.

She stood up from the piped walls and reactivated her helmet. The nanomachines tied her hair back in a ponytail and enveloped her head in its armored shell. Cindy walked down the crosshatched catwalk and searched for the bridge. The deeper she went, the more sleek and sophisticated the ship became, completely opposite of the industrial motif in the hallways.

Cindy opened a hatch and entered a huge atrium. Inside was an expansive garden that spanned for what seemed like miles. Dandelions sprouted between grass blades, fruits dangled from tree branches, and an artificial sky was illuminated by an afternoon sun.

She held onto the railing and felt a gentle breeze touch the wounds on her skin. "What is this place?"

Cindy felt a strange coldness in her chest, as if part of her body were succumbing to frostbite. She looked down and saw a gushing bullet wound. She applied pressure to the injury and continued walking. Cindy entered an office area, or rather, it seemed like an office area at first glance. There were pearl white couches, a ping pong table, a kitchen, and gym equipment scattered throughout the comfy living space. There were plastic coverings on all the furniture, unused and untouched. Cindy continued forward and entered an elevator.

She looked at the elevator floor options and saw nothing but Hanzi text.

"I don't know how to read Chinese," she growled.

Cindy stared at the text and tilted her head when the HUD started to translate the Chinese into English. The bridge was listed at the very top. Then there was crew quarters, main cannon, engineering, hangar, and reactor. Before she could press bridge, the elevator doors closed and started moving downward. The automated voice spoke in Mandarin, but the suit translated the words. "Now transporting to hangar."

"No, not the hangar. The bridge, take me to the bridge." She banged on the button with her palm.

The translated female elevator voice spoke again. "User controls locked by President Dingxiang. Please remain calm."

"Damn it!" The elevator stopped at the hangar and opened its doors to a pitch black room. She stepped off the elevator and heard her footsteps echo into the dark void.

A loud clack thundered throughout the room like someone pulling a giant lever. Then the sound of a spooling jet engine filled the room, followed by a sharp hiss of hydraulics. One by one the lights flickered on and lit up the hangar. Her eyes followed the flashes of light until a cluster of machines were revealed from under the veil of darkness.

The machines were a row of gigantic robots sitting idle along the riveted wall of the hangar. The last group of lights turned on and beamed down against a gigantic, humanoid mech. It had two arms, one with a black cannon attached to its right forearm; the other, a regular arm with a powered hand that could manipulate its fingers. The legs were bent backwards like the hind legs of a dog and were reinforced with a thick armored shell. The chest protruded outward and had numbers and colored accents painted across its surface. On its shoulders rested a rocket launcher system, a radar antenna, and a tank with the words "flammable" written in Chinese. She scanned the mech [No Data Found].

The chest opened up like a mouth and inside the pilot seat was President Jianjun Dingxiang. "So you're the Silver Ninja? I thought you'd be taller."

"I get that a lot," she replied.

Jun pushed a joystick and caused the mech to rise from its seated position. It took one step forward and shook the floor with a loud thud. The vibrations were so strong that Cindy wobbled on her feet.

"Do you like my ship?" Jun asked.

"I don't understand what you're using it for. I thought it was a warship, but then I saw, I don't know what to call it."

"The garden. It's an artificial ecosystem that would replicate life on Earth."

Cindy shook her head. "Why? None of this makes sense."

"The ship was originally designed for inter planetary travel by Starlight Industries. The Cestus Dei would be able to travel to Pluto and beyond."

"Cestus Dei means hand of God. Is it meant to destroy or create?"

"I'm impressed, you know some Latin. The Cestus Dei is the only ship of its kind, so naturally it needs to be able to defend itself in deep space. You can imagine that the firepower contained in this ship would make the superpowers very interested to have it."

"You promised them weapons." Cindy rubbed the top of her helmet as if it were her forehead. "They don't even care about going into deep space, do they? That's why they let you park the ship in the harbor; you used it as a Trojan horse.

"You're a sharp woman. I'm sure the designer of this ship would be disappointed by the news, but then again, you killed him when you were working for Raymond. So I guess it doesn't matter."

"Joseph Van Eisler," she muttered. "My second contract."

"So you do remember the people you've killed," Jun said. "You'll never be able to wash your hands of the sins you've committed, you know that right?"

"I've accepted what I've done, can you say the same?"

"I never planned to attack the city. Alexis fired those missiles."

"I know she did, Jun. I'm referring to your insane mind control scheme," she said.

"I see Alexis told you who I am," Jun replied.

Cindy nodded. "We don't need to fight anymore. The cure for your mind control is already being spread across the city. Just turn yourself in."

"And what? Be thrown in prison or executed for my crimes? No. My plan was perfect, no one would have even known that they were indoctrinated. I had no intention of hurting anyone."

"You poison people and brainwash them, tell me again how you're not hurting anyone."

"Your country is already poisoned. Turn on any media news channel or even Impress News. What will you see? They'll show you the things that they want you to think is important, like a pop star stripping naked on stage. Yet, at the same time, the government will pass a law that forces you to pay tax on something you don't want. Or, if a powerful agricultural company wants you to eat their genetic vegetables, they'll tell the media that there's a strain of mad cow disease going around.

The media has brainwashed your country to believe their reality. That the world is out to kill you."

Cindy took a step forward. "It's not the same and you know it. Besides, what would a rich man like you need with an army of zombies? It wouldn't make sense for you to want more money, or are you just that greedy?"

Jun laughed. "Looking for motive are you? Okay, I suppose I can give you a nugget of information. You're right, it's not greed. It's the Black Rook." The cockpit closed around Jun's body and the mech powered up. "It's either you or me and I have no intention of dying here," his voice boomed through the loudspeaker. The mech's turbines spun to life and the machine slowly began to rise.

The mechanical monstrosity armed its weapons and caused Cindy's heart to jump up to her throat. She knew she was in no condition to fight, her body was weak and her armor was damaged to critical levels. Speckles of light gathered around the muzzle of the mech's cannon like a star burst. She ran forward and tripped, her helmet smacking on the floor. The gun stopped charging and the sound of Jun's laughter filled the hangar.

He laughed hysterically. "You've got nothing left do you?" Cindy wanted to curl into a ball and die, she was so humiliated. The injuries in her body and the lack of oxygen were more severe than she thought. Just trying to crawl on the floor sapped the energy out of her blood starved limbs.

"Well this'll be easy," Jun said. He stepped forward in his mech, and the floor quaked with each massive stomp. Cindy scrambled to her feet but fell on her back from the intense tremors. The mech raised its fist in the air, the servos and motors grinding under the weight of the arm, and fell on Cindy's head with the force of a hydraulic hammer.

Cindy got up on one knee and threw her hands over her head. The mechanical fist slammed into her bloodied hands with the force of a tank. The robotic hand rested uncomfortably on the top of her helmet, causing her shoulders to shake.

"You know. I just held up the Empire -freaking- State Building. Is this the best you've got?"

Jun cursed aloud and fiddled with the controls, compelling the machine to press down even harder. Cindy trembled under the weight of the machine and lifted one knee off the ground. The mech groaned and pressed even harder, but then she lifted another knee. Her body trembled as she slowly rose to the upright position. The gears in the mech churned and clicked trying to resist her strength. Her arms shuddered and exhaustion snaked through her tired limbs.

Jun screamed and slammed on the controls. The arm pressed even harder and Cindy couldn't bear the weight any longer. She let the fist slam into her shoulder and fresh blood splashed onto the robotic fist. She screamed into the metal fingers and pushed her entire body forward, launching the fist into the air.

The mech's arm flailed backwards with a mechanical roar. But the other arm pointed forward and started sucking rays of light into its particle cannon.

[DANGER! ENERGY WEAPON FIRING!]

Cindy ducked and saw a blast of iridescent light shoot past her head. She followed the beam and watched the wall disintegrate into a blob of molten lava with heat waves dancing around the surface. A glimpse into what would have happened to her head.

The rocket launcher folded out from its shoulder and yellow tipped warheads popped out of its holes. Her HUD calculated the trajectory of the rockets and created a dotted hash. The broken lines led to a red circle that grew around her feet. Cindy bolted for the gap between the mech's legs and could feel the ground quake from the pelting of rocket fire. She dove past the legs and tumbled across the floor.

Cindy spun around and activated her railguns, setting them to high explosive. [Locked] She fired her weapons and let loose a swarm of supercharged slugs into the monstrous titan. The mech turned around and was pushed back by powerful impacts that riddled its armor. The mech raised its hand and activated a force field. The slugs pierced the shield, then slowed to a stop and floated inside the bubble. The bullets spun around and faced Cindy, still charged with energy. Jun released the shield and fired the projectiles back at Cindy.

"Oh sh—" Cindy cart wheeled into a back flip and sensed the bullets screaming under her back, exploding into the wall behind her. Cindy clutched her chest and fell to the floor. Every breath she took felt as though she were inhaling through a straw. She struggled to get back on her feet and continued to hold her chest. [DANGER! ENERGY WEAPON FIRING!]

Cindy turned her head and watched the iridescent particle beam cut through her silver plated shoulder. The armor grew molten hot and sent a sizzling pain that rolled across the left side of her body. She screamed and clutched her shoulder as the horrifying stench of burnt flesh filled her nostrils. The wall behind her was scored with her own blood surrounded by blackened scorch marks.

Her head felt warm and heavy, and as the blood drained from her body, Cindy's body temperature began to drop. Every time she blinked, her eyelids became more difficult to open.

A slideshow of images rapidly fluttered past her eyes: teaching Jadie how to ride a bike; bowing down as she was awarded a gymnastics medal; skipping class to go to the beach; cuffing her first criminal under the watch of her training officer; walking down the aisle and getting a ring on her finger.

She gasped and opened her eyes, fear and panic jolting through her body. A gigantic fist came forward like a battering ram and crumpled the front of her helmet. She flew backwards and skidded across the floor, sparks flying everywhere. Cindy slid to a stop and saw a set of wheels pop out from the soles of the mech's foot.

She scrambled to her feet, but the mech rolled over and slammed its fist into her helmet. The blow was deafening and made the room spin all over. She tried to stand, but another blow flattened her into the steel floor. The helmet continued to crush inwards and stabbed her cheeks with jagged corners.

Cindy raised herself to her knees and . . . Slam! [Critical Damage!]

She put her hands on the floor and pushed herself up . . . Crunch!

The helmet eye glass shattered and sent sharp fragments into one of her eyes, cutting it open. [Critic—] Half of the HUD disappeared.

"This is too easy," Jun said. "Unlike Alexis, I don't mind kicking someone when they're down."

Her lip curled and she let out a feeble groan. She blinked and a little sliver of glass, covered in blood, fell out from her eyelid. There was static all over the remaining bits of HUD, and the video feed scrolled up and down like a bad TV signal. She spread her hands on the floor and pushed up into a crawl position one - more - time.

"You're still getting up?" Jun dropped the mech's claw-like foot onto Cindy's back and squashed her. "Don't be an idiot." She shrieked as her entire body sank into the floor. Claustrophobia quickly overwhelmed her. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move. She wheezed and tried to suck in as much oxygen as possible but it wasn't working. Cindy didn't have any more strength left in her to push the foot away.

She looked at the elevator and yelled, "Jadie!"

"What?" Jun stepped away from Cindy and charged his particle cannon at the elevator.

No one was there.

Cindy threw off her broken helmet, leapt on the mech's back, and plunged her sword into the armor plate.

"You tricked me!" he screamed.

"Time to get rid of your stupid little toy." Blood spilled from her mouth and stained the mech's armor before she twisted the blade.

The armor plate cracked open and exposed the bundled cables and color coded guts of the machine. She threw her hand into the components and ripped the machines intestines out. Rubber snapped, sparks flew, and circuit boards exploded into electrical balls of flame. Cindy jammed her sword into the opening and pushed it as far as it would go. The mech flailed wildly out of control and Cindy's legs swung from left to right as she desperately held on.

Bolts of electricity started to cripple the machine and sent it into violent seizures. Cindy back flipped off its shoulders and swung her blade into the fuel tank. The liquid ignited inside the container and exploded into a massive fireball that knocked Cindy into the wall. She held up her arms to protect her face. A flurry of shrapnel flew out like miniature flechettes and bounced off her armor.

She slowly pulled her arms away from her eyes and saw the flaming wreckage of the mech. The arms that had pulverized her fell off the torso and hit the floor with a loud clang. Cindy sat up and saw that her entire body was slick with blood. Her indestructible armor had turned into a spider's web of wet silver, scorched black by the battle.

Cindy got up from the wall, her body aching with every micro movement, and grabbed the hilt of her sword. She tried to ignite it, but it flickered and faded away along with the last vestiges of her power supply.

"Great."

She stared at the undulating flames atop the mech and waited. "Come on. Come on, you son of a bitch."

A section of armor fell to the floor, and Jun's tattooed forearm craned over the sides. He climbed free from the mech and spilled onto the floor. His designer suit with the dragon snaking up the side had burns and tatters throughout the fabric. Jun looked up at Cindy with his almond shaped eyes, blood dripping from his forehead and mouth. "I can't believe I fell for that." He spit on the ground and used the wreckage to lift himself up.

Jun coughed up red spittle and slicked his hair back with his hands. He unbuttoned his shirt and jacket and threw them off to the side. His tan skin was inked with detailed and intricate tattoos over his muscular body. On his left bicep was the image of the Chinese hero Yue Fei. His right shoulder had a dragon that snaked from his arm, over his neck and onto his chest. On his right bicep was the image of a vicious pig surrounded by Chinese text. Cindy had seen enough of these symbols during police patrols in Chinatown to know what they stood for. Triad, Chinese mafia.

He wasn't that tall of a man, but he wasn't short either. By Cindy's estimation he was about five-six and probably around one hundred and fifty pounds of muscle. Jun possessed defined abdominals, veins that protruded from his muscled arms, and a slender black necklace that was threaded through the center of a Chinese coin that sat atop his chiseled chest. Dozens of scars littered his body, but the most noticeable one was the circular shaped scar atop his left breast. He adjusted the dark brown prayer beads that hung on his wrist and walked towards Cindy.

"You know, when I was growing up on the streets of Hong Kong, I would get into street fights while being outnumbered twelve to one and win." He stretched his arms towards the ceiling then brought his hands down into a fighting stance.

Cindy smirked. "That's cute. I fought an army."

His grin dissolved into a narrow frown, and Cindy relished watching him slowly realize who he was up against.

"Shouldn't you be speaking Cantonese by the way?" Cindy said.

"What does it matter? It's all the same to you Americans."

A sharp pain wracked Cindy's stomach then shot up to her chest. She doubled over and gasped for air, her precious blood continuing to leak out of her battered body.

A smile returned to Jun's lips. "You're not looking so hot."

She held onto her side and tried to push away the crippling pain that ate into her stomach. Her body grew too heavy for her legs, and she fell to her knees, still gasping for air that refused to oxidize inside her body. She watched Jun's designer shoes approach her and hacked red spittle all over the remnants of her armor. Cindy saw a darkened reflection of her face in his glossy shoes. He tapped his foot on the floor, bouncing her image up and down.

"Well this is a relief," Jun said. "I thought you were going to put up a fight. Turns out, you're already de—."

Her ears filled with liquid and distorted his voice into a rumble of white noise.

The force of four bony knuckles crashed into her cheekbone and made her see a flash of white. Her lips and cheeks mushed into folds across her skin and rattled the brain inside her skull. She moved her mouth and felt a loud pop from the bone shifting back into place. Jun's shadow loomed over her, but the energy to fight, let alone survive, drained out of her body and pooled on the floor.

The specter of death appeared behind Jun and raised its scythe over its shoulder; ready to reap Cindy's soul.
CHAPTER 28:

Undying Spirit

"Pathetic."

Jun punched Cindy's face and triggered her hallucinations to become more vivid, more real.

(She was at the beach, wind blowing through her hair. Jonas was there beside her, smiling and holding her hand. Jadie ran across the sand and caught a Frisbee. She threw it back to Michael who was walking on two legs.

Then the ground opened into a pit of fire. Everyone fell with the sliding sand, except for Cindy who had managed to stay on stable ground. She tried to summon her suit, but nothing happened. They held onto each other and clung to the sliding earth, but Cindy couldn't save them. The idyllic beach town fell into darkness as machines fell from the sky and crushed the town.)

Cindy woke from her stupor and saw Jun readying his fist for the final blow.

Her body had long given up the battle but not her spirit. Jun's fist came crashing down, but Cindy raised her left hand and grabbed his arm. She unfolded her legs and slowly began to rise with the little strength she had left. Cindy emptied her body of all emotions and focused on claiming the life that she had denied for so long.

(I understand now.)

If this was to be her last stand, she wouldn't die on her knees. Cindy coiled her fist and fired a punch into Jun's chest that sent him reeling.

(I died the day I fused with SIRCA.)

Cindy was back on her feet now, slow, but still moving. Just had to keep moving, don't stop, keep going.

Jun looked at her in complete disbelief. "What?"

(I've been chasing a life that doesn't exist anymore.)

Cindy spit on the floor and splattered her essence all over it. "That all you got?"

(If I want to save my family and be at peace with myself.)

Jun punched his hands together and entered a combat stance. Cindy struggled to get up on her toes and winced from raising her arms into a defensive posture. She had to conserve as much energy as possible if she was going to survive this.

"Come on." She beckoned.

(I have to be—I want to be . . . a hero.)

Jun's face contorted into that of a deranged lunatic. He screamed and rushed Cindy with his muscles fully flexed. He threw a right hook with lightning speed and Cindy slid her hand across his forearm, deflecting the punch. He threw another punch from the left, and again, Cindy mis-directed it past her head. His frustration mounted and drove him to be more aggressive. Jun reared his leg and fired a side kick into Cindy's ribs.

She lowered her elbow and blocked the strike, but it didn't stop the sharp pain from radiating throughout her left side. She groaned loudly and trembled from the impact, but she refused to fall. Cindy grabbed Jun's shoulder and pushed him over her foot. He smacked his jaw on the hangar floor and angrily slapped his hands on the ground.

Cindy wobbled from side to side and slowly raised her hands again. She kept imagining that Jadie would come and save the day. Jun rushed in, his wet black hair bobbing up and down as he ran, his face overcome with rage. Jun spun around and smashed his foot into Cindy's stomach.

Her abdominal muscles shook in oscillating waves that sent an intense fire scattering throughout her torso. She screamed and folded over, clutching her stomach tightly. Jun's leg cracked her across her face and smashed her teeth into one another. Saliva mixed with blood and flew out of her mouth, and her hair swished around like a flag in a tornado. Cindy collapsed to the floor and watched Jun wipe his hands as if he had taken out the garbage.

"Stay down," he said with a smirk.

Jun walked up to Cindy and pulled her up by her hair. She grabbed onto his hand and grunted as he lifted her up.

Jun waggled his index finger in front of Cindy's eyes. "No more super her—"

Cindy thrust her palm into his stomach. Streaks of blue lines appeared over her knuckles and fired a concussive blast that seized Jun's entire body. She mentally thanked Jonas for the upgrade and slammed into Jun's chest with her shoulder, picking him up off the floor like a linebacker. She charged into the wreckage of the mech and threw him onto the burning armor plate.

Jun screamed as his skin sizzled and pulled apart like string cheese when she yanked him away. Cindy spun him around, kicked him in the chest, and sent him flying into the charred debris of the robot. She pinned him against the machine and lit Jun's torso with a flurry of rapid-fire punches that rattled his body. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath and Jun stumbled forward. Cindy threw her forearm under his neck and slammed him into the debris again, punching him repeatedly in the face.

Spit and sweat sprayed from his skin, yet she still wanted more. She continued to pulverize his face until the color of his skin began to change. Bruises swelled across his cheeks and blood began to pour from the corner of his lip like a waterfall. Yet she continued to hit him.

Another punch sent his face rolling back and forth and swelled his one eye shut. His knees began to buckle. She let him fall on his burnt back and sat on his stomach. Again she hammered his head, screaming at the top of her lungs with every strike. Jun could do nothing to stop her and revenge gave her limitless fury. She reeled her fist back for the final blow and saw a glimpse of terror in his mangled face.

She stared at him, her fist still quaking above her head from the surging adrenaline. She unclenched her hands and freed the anger from her body. She panted heavily and stared into his bruised eyes.

"Aren't you gonna finish me?" he whispered.

She shook her head.

"Why?"

"I'm not that kind of person anymore."

"Then what are you?"

"A tired woman."

She looked at the elevator and saw a smear of colors where there should have been solid shapes. "Where's the self destruct button?"

Jun chuckled weakly. "You've been watching too many movies. Do you think an aircraft carrier is filled with explosives that somebody could accidentally set off? There is no magic button."

"Then how do I shut down the ship?"

"Jīhuó . . . Cestus Dei." Jun closed his eyes and rested his head against the ice cold floor.

"What did you say?" He didn't respond. Cindy smacked her hand next to his head. "Answer me!"

"What are you going to do, kill me?" Jun smiled.

Cindy sighed and rubbed her fingers across her eyes. She rolled off his body and made her way to the elevator, stumbling every step of the way. The elevator doors opened automatically and a blob of bright red with blue highlights stood before her.

"Cindy?"

"Jadie." She smiled and fell forward as her vision faded to black.

"Cindy. Hey, wake up. Hey—roid rage!"

Cindy's eyes opened, forgetting where she was for a split second. Cindy weakly hugged Jadie and said, "I'm glad you're here."

Jadie pushed Cindy away and quickly looked at her body. "What the hell happened to you?"

She smiled and dried blood cracked on her skin. "I effed them all up."

"I'm not so sure—" Jadie saw the burning wreckage of the mech and Jun's body splayed across the floor. "—you did."

"We've got to blow up the ship," Cindy's voice grated.

"How?" Jadie said.

Red lights suddenly filled the hangar and an alarm went off. A digitized female voice repeated the phrase, "Fǎnyìng qì chōngdiàn."

"What the hell does that mean?" Cindy yelled.

"The suit just translated it for me. Reactor charging. Does that mean self destruct?" Jadie asked.

"No, Jun told me self destruct isn't real. You should go ask him." Cindy pointed her head over her shoulder. "He's right over there."

"Wait, so that's the a-hole behind all this? I think I will chat with him." Jadie walked over to Jun's body.

"He doesn't want to talk to me anymore. Maybe you'll have better luck," Cindy said.

Jadie picked Jun off the floor and dangled him in her arms. She drew out her wrist dagger and held it near Jun's neck.

"What is the ship saying?" she said.

"Maybe you should learn Mandarin," Jun replied.

"That's not going to work," Cindy said. "He's not afraid to die."

"What do you suggest?"

Cindy swallowed hard. Her saliva cut like a river of glass sliding down her throat. "Break his fingers."

Jadie grabbed his hand and pushed on the index finger.

"It's the main cannon!" he screamed.

"What about the main cannon?" She bent his finger further until there was a slight—pop.

"The reactor! The reactor is charging the main cannon."

Jadie let go of his finger. "How much damage will that cannon do?"

"It's going to blow a hole so big, it'll be the size of Central Park." Jun smiled.

"That'll wipe out lower Manhattan and Midtown," Cindy said.

"A little bit bigger and wider than that," Jun said with a grin.

Jadie slammed his head to the floor.

"Okay, I don't care if you're not afraid to die—" She brought the wrist dagger to his neck. "—I'm going to kill you."

Cindy reached out with her hand, but a horrid tearing sensation caused her to pull back. "No."

Jadie held the sword near Jun's neck. "Why shouldn't I?"

Cindy plodded forward. "It won't accomplish anything. Once you kill someone, they never leave. You always remember them in your nightmares."

"I was almost in your nightmares."

Cindy took a few pained steps closer. "Don't start."

Jun laughed with a rasp to his voice. "This is getting interesting. Alexis did a number on you two, didn't she?"

"Shut up." Jadie stuck the dagger closer to his throat. "No one's talking to you."

"It's always sad when family turns on each other, don't you think? I have a drug that will make you girls forget you ever hated each other."

"Oh you think you're funny?" Jadie hovered the dagger over his neck and let the heat slowly cook his skin. A wisp of smoke rose from his neck and caused him to scream.

"Jadie!" Cindy pulled her sister off and stared into her eyes. "He knows what will happen if you kill him. Don't let him goad you." She offered her hand. "Let's just blow up the ship and get out of here."

Jadie nodded and took her hand. She put Cindy's arm across her shoulder and walked with her to the elevator.

"You'll never live up to your sister, little miss. what's your name. You'll always be stuck in her shadow and you'll always be the second stringer riding on her coattails," Jun's voice echoed throughout the hangar.

"Don't listen to him," Cindy said.

"You're nothing! That's why Alexis put you in the trap. Even she knew that Cindy would pick Jonas over you, because you're worthless! You hear me? You're a useless waste of oxygen. You should have been aborted at birth!"

Jadie squirmed under Cindy's arm, but Cindy refused to let her go. She pushed her into the elevator and closed the door.

"You know what you are? A waste of life! You hear me? You're useless!"

***

Jun's labored breathing kept him company in the solitude of the hangar. The sisters had been gone for only a few minutes and the air reeked of burnt gasoline, melted electrical wire, and the smell of his own skin. He stared at the empty ceiling and thought about Mai.

(That summer, a bloody, triad civil war came to an end when Jun killed the rival gang's kingpin with a butcher knife, bringing peace to the Hong Kong families. Jun was promoted to second in command and gained an influx of power and wealth that allowed him to finally ask Mai for her hand in marriage.

As he and his bride stood at the altar, waiting to say "I do," a waiter in a white tuxedo pulled out a gun and fired at Jun. The bullet hit Mai, piercing through her heart, and struck Jun in the chest. Jun fell down with Mai in his arms, blood all over his hands.

With her last dying breath, Mai said to Jun, "Promise me. Promise that you'll do something good with your life and leave the triad. Promise me.")

Thick soled rubber boots approached Jun. He turned his head to the noise but could only make out the silhouette of a female figure through his swollen left eye.

"Can't blow up my ship, can you, Cindy?" Jun said.

The blurry footsteps came into focus. They were a dark navy blue with defined ridges near the calves. His right eye grew wide.

"Not Cindy," Alexis said.

"What are you doing here?"

"You lied to me," she said.

"About what?"

"You made me believe that Cindy killed my family."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Alexis pressed her foot into his neck, creating imprints of the textured soles upon his skin. He choked and flailed his arms.

"Don't play stupid with me," she said.

Jun strained to speak. "I can explain!"

"You switched my malaria medication with your drugs. I don't need any explanation from you." Alexis took her foot off Jun's neck and pulled out a vial. She knelt down beside him and showed him the label: "Indocrex."

"What are you going to do with that?" Jun said.

"Open up." She emptied the bottle into his mouth and pinched his nose. The sticky capsules slowly traveled down his esophagus and caused him to gag. He gulped loudly then gasped for breath. Alexis stood there and stared at him through the broken lenses in her eyes.

"Jianjun."

"Please don't do this, Alexis."

She covered his ears with earbuds and played the Indocrex advertisement.

"I want you to get up."

Jun rose to his feet, unable to control his actions.

"And go throw yourself into the fire."

Alexis let go of his arms and he slowly shambled over to the flames surrounding the mech. His brain was fully aware of what was happening, but he couldn't stop. Jun screamed, "Noooooo!" and threw his body into the flames.
CHAPTER 29:

Cestus Dei

The elevator stopped at the main reactor, but Cindy's felt like she was still moving. Her head lurched forward and her body followed with it. Jadie stuck out her arm in front of Cindy's chest and gently pushed back.

"Maybe I should go alone, Sis. You need to, you know, not die."

"I can make it."

"You can, your body can't."

Cindy pushed past Jadie's arm and entered a dark room. A beam of light flashed in her face and left purple splotches that floated in front of her eyes. Chinese security personnel, armed with flashlights, were evacuating the ship workers to an adjacent room. The guards stopped what they were doing and aimed their flashlights at the sisters.

Cindy groaned. "Not again. You're going to have to fight this one, Jadie."

Jadie cracked her knuckles and walked out of the elevator. The guards jumped back and quickly shoved the remaining workers out the door, then followed behind them.

"Looks like we lucked out, Cindy," Jadie said.

"Yeah, lucky. That's how I feel right now."

Jadie bent down and let Cindy put her arm over her shoulder. Together they plodded awkwardly into the reactor area. The room pulsed with a controlled energy that was locked behind two layers of shielding. In the outer layer, there appeared to be a circular walkway that ran the circumference of the reactor. In the inner layer was a shielded plate with glass port holes overlooking the reactor itself. Chaotic bursts of energy swirled behind the glass.

"How are we going to shut this thing down?" Jadie asked.

"Scan the reactor and then call my husband."

Jadie went off to analyze the reactor and Cindy leaned over a nearby console. She looked at her forearm and activated the auxiliary HUD in the absence of her helmet. [9% repaired].

"So much for getting fixed."

Cindy poked her silver armor which sank into her arm like syrupy goo. She might as well have been naked at this point.

"Yo," Jadie said.

Cindy gasped and covered her chest.

"Feeling a little jumpy, huh?"

"Wouldn't you?" Cindy replied. "What did Jonas say?"

"Well, first he kept asking me if you were all right. I lied and said you were fine, so then he freaked out and started going on and on about how your suit—"

"Jadie."

"He said to turn off the shielding and then shoot the reactor with the railguns."

Cindy glanced down at her own barely covered body and then looked back at Jadie.

"Okay. I'll hit the reactor with my weapons. You just bring the shielding down on that console next to you."

Cindy grimaced. "Uhh . . ."

"Oh my God, fine! I'll bring down the shielding and do everything myself."

"Sorry, I can't read Chinese. Your suit is the only one working right now."

Jadie walked up to the console and started typing away at the keys. Cindy could almost imagine the voices of Jonas and Michael through the receiver, guiding her step by step through the process. During the wait, Cindy caught glance of a shadow that moved past the corner of her eye. She looked and saw the glow of server lights in an empty room.

"I think I'm starting to see things."

"What was that, Cindy?"

"I thought I saw someone in that room over there, like a shadow."

"You lost a lot of blood and took a lot of hits to the head. There's no one over there."

A beacon the color of construction lights flashed in the corners near the reactor. Cindy looked through the glass walls and watched the dark plates bloom open like a robotic flower. She pressed against the glass like a child at an aquarium and eagerly anticipated what the reactor would look like. The last of the shields folded downward and revealed . . . nothing. There were purple flashes of light along the walls, but no actual energy.

Jadie entered the reactor room and followed the outer perimeter catwalk. When she approached the control panel overlooking the empty reactor, Jadie waved Cindy over.

"Cindy, come look at this. It's amazing."

"Is there radiation in there?"

"No, you should be fine. Just watch your step."

Cindy grabbed onto the railing and followed the circular path to her sister. She peered into the pit and saw a series of massive, layered, circular rings that moved in a clockwise and counter clockwise fashion. Within each ring, four enormous orbs of energy traveled along the inside of the circle and fired a laser-like beam into the center. That center point contained a gigantic ball of power that shot bolts of electricity out from its circumference.

"I've never seen anything like this," Cindy said. "Then again, I've never seen the inside of a nuclear reactor."

"Jonas thinks it's a modified particle accelerator."

"I don't think this is what they were doing in Geneva."

Jadie looked at Cindy. "What are you talking about?"

"You know, CERN. The guys who built that giant particle accelerator?"

"No clue what you're talking about," Jadie said.

"Nevermind, what does Jonas say to do?"

"Well, he and Michael think we need to destroy the rings."

"Can you hit it from here?" Cindy said.

Jadie drew out her railguns and tried to aim over the catwalk.

"I can, but just barely. I can get a safer shot if we go closer to the middle."

Cindy nodded and followed Jadie to the bridge control panel. Jadie flipped the switch and a hydraulic bridge folded out towards the center of the reactor pit.

Jadie tapped her foot while holding down the switch and looked at Cindy. "So about that grenade you threw at me."

The control panel exploded and electrified Jadie's arm. She screamed and shook violently from the electricity coursing through her body. Cindy tackled Jadie off the console and landed on the newly formed walkway. Cindy saw a flash of golden hair pop out from the top of Jadie's helmet and noticed that her armor was starting to liquefy.

"You all right?" Cindy said.

"What was that?" Jadie's eyes looked in all directions through the melting helmet. "My suit's not working," Jadie said.

Cindy looked at the control panel and saw a crude battery duct taped beneath the controls.

"It was booby trapped," Cindy said.

"I can't turn my helmet back on, nothing's responding."

Another shadow passed Cindy's peripheral vision. She climbed off Jadie and walked further down the bridge to see who was following them. She peered through the glass window and saw a dimly lit Chinese security guard holding a remote with his thumb pressed over a red button.

"Oh sh—"

The walkway exploded and snapped in half. Cindy's slid down into the pit of energy and her skin scraped against the grated floor. She came to a sudden stop and felt a dull pain pull at her arm. Jadie had caught Cindy's fingertips. The catwalk clanged off the walls and fell into the reactor, vaporizing inside the purple mass, leaving only specks of ash behind."

"Aauugh, Jadie. My arm!" she screamed. "It hurts so much!"

"I can't—I don't have a good grip."

"Use your super strength!"

"I don't have any right now!"

Cindy groaned loudly and tried to get a better grip on Jadie's hand.

"Your hand is too slippery. I can't get a grip on you," Jadie said.

"It's your hand Jadie, look at your suit."

Jadie glanced at her shoulder and saw a chunk of fair skin appear where there should have been a ruby plate. The suit was turning into goo that made Jadie's hand feel as if it were covered in Vaseline. Cindy continued to slip and struggled to get a grip on Jadie's hand.

"Damn it, Cindy. Use your other arm," she said.

Cindy threw her other hand over and immediately felt the searing sensation of skin splitting open. She grunted through the pain and grabbed hold of Jadie's arm, squeezing it tight.

"There you go," Jadie said.

"Something's wrong," Cindy replied.

A chunk of ruby armor fell off Jadie's body and caused Cindy to scream. Her hand slipped off and dropped the ruby fragment into the reactor. A small eruption ripped across the surface of the purple energy sphere and made the orb wobble and de-stabilize for several seconds.

Cindy continued to slip out of Jadie's hands, unable to use the grappling hook, unable to reach with her other arm, unable to get a grip on her hands. There was nothing she could do, except for one thing. She looked into Jadie's desperate eyes and frowned.

"Let me go."

"Are you freaking crazy? No way."

"Shí," a digitized voice said.

"What the hell was that?" Jadie said.

"Jiǔ," the voice continued.

"It's a countdown. Let me go, Jadie!"

"Bā."

"I'm not going to let you kill yourself."

"Qī."

"The suit might blow up the reactor."

"Liù."

"And what if it doesn't?"

"Wǔ."

Cindy wriggled her fingers free and fell into the pit.

"Nooooooo! Cindy!"

Cindy plummeted quickly towards the energy orb and closed her eyes.

"Sì."

A loud slap hit Cindy's stomach and pulled hard against her body. She opened her eyes and saw a cable wrapped around her stomach. Cindy was flying upwards, back towards the catwalk at a high rate of speed. She flew over the railing and crashed onto the platform. Cindy turned her head and saw Alexis, the Sapphire Ninja, standing before her.

"Sān."

"Let a professional handle this."

"Èr,"

Alexis leaned against the railing and spread her arms out in a cross.

She tipped over and fell into the reactor.

"Yī."

Cindy scurried to the edge of the catwalk and watched Alexis fire her rail guns into the rings. The supercharged slugs ripped into the structure and caused the massive energy orb to flicker uncontrollably. Cindy waited for Alexis to grapple out of the reactor, but she continued to fire her weapons instead.

Her cobalt armor impacted the surface of the energy sphere as if she had landed on water. Her body sunk into the orb and turned the sphere into a white-hot color. It started to expand inside the pit, touching the sides of the walls.

"Come on, get up." Cindy grabbed Jadie and ran with her out of the reactor room.

The orb reached critical mass and then burst like a popped balloon. The eruption rolled up the pit and shot out a blast of heat that singed Cindy's back and filled the room with violet fire. The lights shut off and the hum of electronics instantly fell silent.

"That was really hot," Cindy said. She rolled off of Jadie's body and helped her to her feet.

"Did you get burned?" Jadie said.

"Almost."

A deep rumble vibrated the ship like the guts of a dying beast.

Jet engines could be heard faintly flying overhead and then silence.

Cindy stared up at the ceiling and held Jadie's hand. "Grab onto something."

The hull of the ship exploded open and jolted the ship violently, causing alarms to sound. A massive fireball pushed through the breach and lit the reactor room on fire. Cindy looked out the hole and saw the Manhattan skyline roll away into the river currents of the Hudson. The sisters held onto the railing and watched their bodies lift into the air and float. The Cestus Dei listed into a crash course with the Hudson River.

"It's the military. The reactor must have been powering some kind of shield," Cindy said.

Jadie looked at the breach in the wall, past their dangling legs. The water was closing in distance by the second. "Jump?"

"Let's do it."

The sisters let go of the railing and grabbed each other, falling towards the hole. The Cestus Dei careened on its side and fell to the river. A series of eruptions rushed across its surface and delivered a sonic boom that shot out from its hull and crashed into the sisters, separating the siblings from each other. They plunged into the cold, depths of the Hudson River with the Cestus Dei following right behind.
CHAPTER 30:

I love you

Cindy awoke to the sensation of water rushing over her head. She was being dragged across a pebbled beach and her heels were kicking up rocks. She saw the Manhattan skyline across the river and in between her and the city, was the burning wreckage of the Cestus Dei. Jadie's ruby covered forearm let go of Cindy's neck, and she collapsed on the rocks behind her.

Cindy watched her sister's chest rise up and down. She glanced back at the city and saw thousands of flashing blue and red lights illuminate the buildings in the distance.

"Did you just swim us all the way to Jersey?" Cindy asked.

Jadie panted. "Yeah, it freaking sucked."

Cindy chuckled at first, but soon that chuckle grew into a full-on laugh.

"What are you laughing at?" Jadie said.

"You swam us all the way out to Jersey. When the city was like . . . right there," Cindy said.

"I was disoriented trying to save your fat ass."

Cindy laughed even harder and held onto her aching sides. Jadie fumed, but the longer Cindy laughed, the more she couldn't help but chuckle herself. "Will you—" Jadie flung a pebble at Cindy and missed. "—stop laughing at me."

Cindy tried to speak between each breath of laughter. "Oh—oh God. I think I'm going to pee myself." Tears fell from her eyes as she continued to laugh hysterically. "You could've, you could've just turned around!"

"You're an ass." Jadie smiled and rested her head on the pebbled beach. "Anyway, I can't believe we pulled it off," she said.

Cindy took several deep breaths. "Ahh. Well, technically, Alexis did." She grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it into the water where it dissolved. "That bitch, I hate that whore."

"Tell me how you really feel."

The sound of a watercraft cutting through the water drew near. Cindy looked up and saw a white speed boat gunning straight for them.

"Cindy, Jadie, wha hoo! You did it, you freaking did it!" Jonas yelled and waved his hands like a lunatic. The boat suddenly swerved hard to the left and Michael grabbed the steering wheel before it could tip over.

"That's embarrassing," Jonas said.

"Just go get the girls," Michael said.

They pulled up to shore and Jonas hopped out to help them aboard. The boat teetered and sank to one side as Cindy and Jadie climbed on. Cindy sat on the cushioned seats and felt relieved to finally be sitting down. She eased into the seat and spread out her arms, waiting for Jonas to fall in between them. He did and he hugged her tightly. His touch aggravated her injuries, but she didn't care.

Jonas looked at her and said, "I'd give you a big kiss, but . . ."

Cindy pinched her fingers together. "Just a little one," she said with an exhausted smile.

He leaned in and softly pecked her lips.

"Alright guys, knock it off. Jonas needs to drive us back to the lab," Michael said. "Besides, I have a little something for everybody."

Michael reached into a cooler next to his wheelchair and pulled out a bottle of champagne. He ripped the gold foil from the top and popped the cork off. Ginger colored foam shot out from the tip and spouted into the river. He grabbed a few champagne glasses and started to fill them.

"None for me thanks," Jonas said, pointing to the steering wheel. He pushed the throttle lever and turned the boat towards the city.

"You can fill my glass to the top," Jadie said.

Cindy shot her a glance and raised an eyebrow.

"I earned it," Jadie said.

Michael offered a glass to Cindy. She took it and sipped the sparkling wine. It burned horribly on its way down, a byproduct of her injuries. Though she wasn't a big fan of champagne, it was a welcome reprieve after everything she'd been through.

"So, where'd you guys get the boat?" Jadie asked before gulping a mouthful.

"And when did you find time to get champagne?" Cindy said.

"We stole it," Michael replied.

Cindy scrunched her eyebrows. "Be serious."

"From Dr. Wright. Apparently, he loves to fish."

"And the champagne?" Jadie wiggled her half empty champagne glass.

Michael topped off Jadie's glass. "He said he was saving it for his wife, but that we could have it instead."

"John's married?" Jonas asked.

"And he's got two kids." Michael pointed the mouth of the bottle to Cindy, but she politely shook her head and stared out over the water. They passed by boats that were circling around the wreckage of the Cestus Dei.

"Navy boats," Jadie said. "Looks like a recovery team."

They zoomed past the ship's debris and Cindy found herself wondering if Alexis had survived the explosion. Just the thought of her brought out Cindy's hatred and anger for Alexis. Yet, when she thought about why Alexis did what she did, Cindy questioned whether she could truly stay mad at her. Rather than deny the truth like she had done in the past. Cindy accepted the fact that she would have done the same if she were in Alexis's shoes.

The wind blew through Cindy's ratty hair and stung her open wounds, but the warmth of the summer night made her eyelids grow heavy. She was lulled to sleep by the hypnotic motion of the boat and let the glass fall out of her hands.

__________

"We're getting off the boat now," Jonas said.

Cindy looked around and noticed that they were docked at a New York pier. The champagne bottle was nearly empty on the floor and the sun had started to rise. The boat jostled up and down as Jadie dismounted the boat and started walking down the pier.

"Where are you going?" Jonas said.

"It's been fun but, I'm going to leave," she replied.

"Go home you mean?" Michael said.

"Yes, and pack my things, and leave town."

Cindy slowly rose to her feet. "What?"

"I meant what I said earlier about leaving town, Cindy."

"You're not serious, are you?" Cindy climbed out of the boat and limped her way to Jadie. "Talk to me."

"There's nothing to talk about." Jadie walked up to Cindy and deactivated the nanosuit, forming a basic t-shirt and jeans. When the helmet melted away, it revealed a deep sorrow in Jadie's eyes. "It'll just be better this way. Don't fight me on this."

Jadie's face started to blur in Cindy's eyes. "Jadie, please. I'm sorry. If this was about the grenade, I'm sorry. Tell me what you want, I'll do anything. I mean, we just saved the day. You should be happy. We did what you always wanted, we worked as a team."

Jadie opened her arms and hugged Cindy. "I know, and I am happy that we pulled this off. But Jun was right. I just need to be alone, figure out who I am. I don't blame you anymore for choosing Jonas, but I'm still angry for some reason, and I don't know why. Maybe I'm not even angry with you, maybe I'm just angry at myself. I need to find some kind of value in my life and not be someone's shadow."

A tear rolled down Cindy's eye. "Are you kidding me, Jadie? You have value to me, you're a part of my life. You're no one's shadow. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. Please don't go."

Jadie patted Cindy's back and didn't say anything. She pulled away, but Cindy grabbed her hand.

Jadie wriggled free of her grip and continued walking down the pier.

"I'll come with you," Michael said.

Jadie shook her head and glared at him. "I just want to be alone."

Michael squirmed in his chair gesturing for Jonas to get him off the boat. Jonas tried to oblige, but Michael grew impatient and threw himself onto the pier. He started crawling towards Jadie, his legs dragging lifelessly behind him.

"Jadie, please. Let me come with you."

She turned around and watched Michael crawl on the floor with his elbows. "Stop that, please."

"You don't have to leave," Cindy said.

"I've made up my mind."

"Here, Michael, stop." Jonas picked Michael off the floor and sat him on the wheelchair. Michael furiously pushed the wheels forward and chased after Jadie.

She turned around and screamed, "Get away from me!"

Cindy stumbled forward and wiped her eyes. "Jadie please! I'm sorry. I love you—I love you!"

Jadie never turned around.

Cindy fell to the floor and covered her face. Jonas knelt down beside her and pulled her head to his shoulders.

"It's okay, it's okay," he whispered.

Cindy blinked away the tears and the cloudiness blurring her vision. When the picture was finally sharp and clear, Jadie and Michael were gone.
EPILOGUE

Days after the Cestus Dei incident, the New York Senator Alvaro Montez, held a press conference on the steps of City Hall and made the following speech to an audience of reporters:

"Due to the recent influx of attacks on our fair city and our inability to defend against them, I, with permission from Governor Giuffre, officially declare the state of New York and all its boroughs, closed to visitors both foreign and domestic. The city is entering lockdown in order to protect the safety of our homes, our families and our children.

"The National Guard will be deploying at our tunnels and bridges, which will now be barricaded against any intruders. Flights into JFK or LaGuardia are going to be re-routed to Newark International Airport in New Jersey. Any commuters who take the Path, NJ transit, and Amtrak trains, will be required to pass through our security checkpoints and show a valid security ID pass. The city will also become a no-fly zone. This means that all air tours will be suspended until further notice.

"The governor will go into much more detail later today, but we wanted to let everyone know what is happening now. We recognize that these changes will affect millions of you, but this is the second time our city has been attacked, and we have been unable to defend ourselves."

A news reporter yelled out from the crowd. "Senator! What about The Silver Ninja?"

"We cannot and will not be dependent on a single woman, let alone a vigilante, to protect our city from invaders. She is not the answer to the problem, the city needs to be self sufficient with or without her.

"In an effort to upgrade our defenses, the city has sent out navy divers to salvage technology from the ship that was destroyed a few days ago. Anything that cannot be salvaged will used as a reef. In addition, we will be using the nanotool technology from Lucent Labs to accelerate the reconstruction of the city and its buildings. Several government approved helicopters are being outfitted with these tools along with blueprints that will upgrade the infrastructure of our city."

Another reporter spoke up, "Sir, when will the lockdown be lifted?"

"When we feel that the city is safe. That is all, no further questions."

Alvaro left the stage and in his wake was the fury of a New York populace. The reporters screamed and shouted not because it was their job, but because their lives would be affected too. The lives of everyone living in or around the city, would be changed forever.

***

Priscilla Montez taped the corners of a newspaper onto the wall of her posh bedroom. The article read: "Armed Robbers Thwarted by Mysterious Silver Ninja." Her cell phone rang from her nightstand. She ran over and jumped on the bed.

"Hello?"

"Priscilla, this is Mrs. Ames."

She gasped. "Mrs. Ames? Why are you calling?" Priscilla smiled excitedly. "Do you need a sidekick?"

"No, no, don't start getting those thoughts in your head. I talked with Natalie."

"Natalie can't be your sidekick. I would do anything for you, you're awesome. I should be your sidekick, not her."

"Priscilla. I know you're excited, but you need to calm down. I asked Natalie not to tell anyone about what she saw on the bridge. I'm calling you because you need to promise me you're going to do the same."

"Why Mrs. Ames? Are they coming after your family? I could tell my father. He has connections."

"No, Priscilla, listen to me. Under no circumstance should your father ever find out what you saw. I want you to promise me that you're not going to tell a single soul. If someone finds out, I won't be able to speak with you anymore. Do you understand?"

Priscilla gasped and stared at a grainy cell phone photo of the Silver Ninja. "You don't mean that do you? You're my hero. I look up to you."

"Then be my hero and keep it a secret."

"Okay Mrs. Ames. I promise I won't tell anyone."

"Good girl."

***

In the Upper East Side, inside the children's ward of New York Presbyterian Hospital, Henri St. Pierre held onto the little hand of his daughter Felice. Tears fell from his eyes as the doctor placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It's a miracle. I've never seen anything like it," the doctor said.

"I know, I cannot believe it. I am so, so happy," Henri said.

"I'll leave you two alone for a bit. I'll check up on her later."

"Thank you, thank you so much."

Henri turned his attention to Felice and brushed the curls out of her eyes. She slept like a little angel, pure and clean of the heart condition that he thought would have killed her. When he didn't hear the door latch, he wondered if the doctor had stayed a little bit longer. He looked up and saw the silhouette of a woman standing in the doorway.

"Allie." Henri walked up to his wife who had been missing for days and extended his arms to hug her. He pulled back when he saw her face in the light. Her eyes and cheeks were swollen.

"Allie." He placed his hand on the only part of her face that wasn't bruised. "What happened to you?"

She didn't reply. Instead, she raised her arms to his waist and gently fell into him. He was shocked and relieved to see her, but very confused. Alexis reeked of river water, dirt and blood. He rubbed the back of her head and carefully hugged her back. She lifted her head off his chest and looked into his eyes. He coiled back and stared at the bloodshot emerald eyes he loved so much. He wanted to lean in and kiss her, but her lips were swollen and scabbed. He gently kissed the top of her head instead.

"I'm so glad you two are okay."

"Allie, where have you been? I tried calling your phone for many days," he said.

"I lost it."

"You did not come home."

"I couldn't." She leaned over his shoulder and looked at Felice. "How is she?" Alexis had a somber look in her expression.

Henri smiled broadly until his teeth were showing. "She is cured."

Alexis smacked his chest hard. "Shut up!"

Henri rubbed his breast where she hit him. "I am serious. She is going to be all right. No pacemaker, no heart transplant, no surgeries, nothing."

Alexis turned away and hid her face in her hands. Her shoulders jerked up and down followed by a quiet sniffling sound.

Henri touched her shoulder, "Are you crying, Allie?"

"No."

Yet when she turned her face, her cheeks were saturated in tears. She knelt by the bed and rubbed Felice's tiny hand. "I can't believe it," she whispered.

Henri rubbed his wife's shoulders.

"How?" she said softly.

"She came."

"Who?"

"The woman. The Silver Ninja."

Alexis's head jerked suddenly. "What?" Her voice grew deep.

"Well, oh man, it is so crazy. First, Felice and I were trapped in the fire hospital in Brooklyn. The Silver Ninja came, broke the door, and then grabbed me and Felice. We freaking jump out of the window."

Alexis remained stoic to his words.

"Felice was still sick after, so I took her here to get away from that crazy ship. I thought for sure we would have to leave town to keep her safe." He paused in the middle of his speech. "Which reminds me, where were you?"

"Investigating the ship for the government."

"You were there?"

"Of course, the ship was a threat to national security. I needed to keep you two safe."

"Is that how you . . ." He gestured a circle around his face.

Alexis took a deep breath and looked away. She kept fiddling with her hands and tugging on her clothes, he wondered if maybe he had upset her. "Finish your story and I'll tell you what really happened," she said.

He raised an eyebrow. "Well, I was asleep in that chair over there." He pointed to the worn seat next to Felice's bed. "And I heard a noise in the middle of the night, like someone opened a window. I thought it was the nurse at first, but when I looked, I saw blue eyes hovering over Felice. The woman looked like a mirror in the night. I heard her whisper something to Felice, 'You're going to be okay, sweetie.' And then she walked past me and climbed onto the window.

"I yelled, 'Wait!' and she looked at me with those creepy eyes. She said to me, 'The tumors were not caused by cancer. I gave her an injection, she should feel better in a day or two.' And then she vanished. I looked out the window and saw nothing, she was gone, like an angel."

Alexis turned away and stared at her daughter. "You did that for me, Cindy? After all I've done to you," she whispered.

"What was that, Allie?"

Alexis paused and held her mouth open while staring at the floor. "I need to talk to you."

He pulled the seat over and crossed his arms.

Alexis rubbed her hands together and couldn't seem to keep eye contact with him.

"Why are you acting so strangely, Allie? You are more like an ice queen, I do not understand."

"I'm acting like this because, I have a confession to make." She fiddled with her fingers and looked in every direction but his. "I wasn't investigating the ship."

Henri rolled his tongue inside his cheek.

"There's two ninjas right? Silver and Ruby," she said.

"Yes, and they were fighting a blue one on the roof, which I think was the bad guy. I do not understand why she would fight a woman that was trying to save lives."

Alexis swallowed hard and hesitated to speak. "I'm . . . the blue one." She stopped rubbing her hands together. "Sapphire."

"What?"

"That's how—" she gestured a circle in front of her face. "—this happened."

"What?" his voice grew louder.

"I've been hunting the Silver Ninja since my father died. Then, something happened and I thought she killed the both of you, which made me try to kill her."

"What!" he yelled. "How could you—how could you think that?"

"Shh, lower your voice," she said. "I needed to tell you the truth. No more lies. I'm sick of hiding things from you."

He vigorously pulled on his beard and gave Alexis a sideways glance. "Have you killed anyone?"

"Yes. Many times."

Her response was chilling. "I see."

Henri paced around the room, unsure of how to feel. Alexis's eyes followed his every step. "I will have to think about what you told me, Allie."

"I understand."

"Mami?"

"Felice?"

Alexis leaned in and held her daughter tightly. She kissed her cheeks until her skin glistened with moisture. Henri's eyes widened as he wondered, what am I supposed to do? But when he heard his daughter's laughter, his expression softened and he wrapped his arms around his family.

***

The nearly empty tea cup clanked as Cindy set it down on the plate. Jonas lightly tapped her thigh beneath the table. Her parents sat across from them, confused by the story she had just told them. Cindy looked around the dining room and saw the knick knacks of her childhood still present throughout the house. Her and Jadie's gymnastics medal, a diploma from Hoboken high school, and a family photo at Bass River State Forest.

The height markers were still etched into the doorway, and photos of her and Jadie graduating high school still sat on the mantle in the living room. The most prominent photos however, were in huge frames in the middle of the living room. They were of Cindy and Jadie in their dress uniforms from the police force and Coast Guard.

"So, you're superheroes," her father, Karl said.

Cindy nodded and felt a tinge of embarrassment in doing so.

"Do you say it's morphin' time when you turn on the suit?" her mother, Joanne asked.

"No, Mom. It's a little less spectacular than TV."

"Jonas too?" Karl asked.

"No, not me. I just designed the suits," he said.

Karl scowled. "You put my daughter's lives in danger."

"No, Dad, he didn't. Jonas never asked me to test out the suit. It was my fault."

"He should have had better security at his lab," Joanne retorted.

"Guys. Leave my husband out of this, it was my fault. The end."

Her father leaned back in his chair and rested his hands atop his belly. Her mother looked down at the table and fiddled with a napkin. An uncomfortable silence shrouded the room, and Cindy didn't quite know what to say. She loathed to imagine how they would have reacted if they knew that she had to choose between her sister and her husband.

"Well." Joanne started to smile. "I have to admit that seeing my girls save the Empire State Building made me very proud of you both."

Karl nodded his head in agreement and smiled. "It was amazing to watch them. I told Cindy how proud I was of them."

"Where is Jadie anyway? I thought she would want to celebrate her birthday today," Joanne said.

Cindy's heart sank into her stomach. She had forgotten it was July tenth. Droplets of sweat began to form around her hairline. She tried to figure out what the best way to word her answer.

She took a long breath and blurted, "We got into a fight."

"I told you girls to stop fighting with each other. She's not the reason why you have bandages, is she?" Karl asked.

"No, not that kind of fight." She rubbed the bandage on her forehead, it itched. "Jadie got angry with me and decided to leave town."

"What?" Joanne didn't need to raise her voice, she only needed to make -the look- to show that she was angry. "Cindy, she's your little sister."

"She's a grown woman, Mom."

"You need to bring her back," her mom said.

Cindy looked at Jonas who was quiet throughout this whole conversation. She realized it was a mistake to bring him along, but he insisted on coming to support her. Now he had to sit there in silence, unable to really contribute anything to the discussion.

"Why would I bring her back? When she went to Alaska, you didn't ask me to go get her then."

"That was because she didn't have a drinking problem then. She's been going to rehab near the hospital in Brooklyn," her mom said.

"What? Jadie never told me that," Cindy said.

"Cindy, you didn't tell anyone about your bulimia when you were doing gymnastics. Why would Jadie be any different?" Jonas said.

"Zip it," she replied.

"He's right." Cindy's father nodded. "Your mother went through hell trying to get me sober when I came back from the military. Alcoholism runs in the family. She came to us in private and we've been helping her cope with her problem. Jadie needs to be here, with us," her father said.

"I don't even know where she's go—"

"Cindy." Her mom's voice became stern and final. "Find your sister and bring her back."

"But Mo—"

Joanne raised her finger and gave her "the look". "I don't care what you have to do or where you have to go. She's very sick and needs our help. Your help."

"Mom, she doesn't want my help."

Her mother crossed her arms and stared hard at Cindy.

"Bring, Jadie, back, home."
THE END

You've read the original book. Now see what it looks like 6 years later.

A Bitter Winter (2018)

Three days ago a member of the Mubarizun of Allah walked into a soccer stadium in France and blew himself up. He waited for the home team to score before pulling the detonation cord on his suicide vest. Thousands of screaming fans were rushed to local hospitals with their limbs lost among the wreckage. Last week, an MOA zealot barreled a van through Times Square. Seven were mutilated and crushed under the weight of the madman's vehicle. It was the age of terror.

This was when she was once human. Before her name instilled fear. Before her body became a weapon. Before she inspired a revolution. She was Cindy Ames, a woman who wore her history through the aged, subtle scars on her left cheek bone and the bridge of her nose.

Tonight the Javits Center was host to a brand new conference called Future Technology Today. All the important political VIP's (except for the governor) were going to be in attendance. The security was so high that even the Emergency Services Unit SWAT team and K-9 unit were on patrol.

Cindy watched the SWAT officers from her security checkpoint near the main entrance. On a normal day, ESU would be all smiles when chatting with fellow LEOs. But tonight, they were severe and quiet with their fingers near the trigger. The threat of another MOA attack was real and everyone needed to be on point. Despite the tension, she was jealous of them. Two years ago, when Cindy used to call herself officer, she had an opportunity to train with the ESU SWAT team. The first time she had tried on a vest and helmet, she remembered being surprised at the heaviness of the gear and how awkward it was to push the stock of an M4 carbine into her shoulder. It was fun though, and made her feel badass whenever she carried it. She missed being a law enforcement officer, being a LEO was definitely better than being a security guard at Javits. Not that there was anything wrong with security, it just wasn't what she wanted.

An officer from the K-9 unit crossed her line of sight. She smiled at the German Shepard being led on a leash with its snout sniffing the freshly mopped floor. She once considered trying out for the K-9 unit but was too afraid of being bitten by police dogs in training. She saw the scars some of the guys had and didn't want to add more to her collection.

A young guy, a hipster type, with the classic horn rimmed glasses, thick beard, flannel shirt, and torn jeans approached her checkpoint. He had a backpack strapped to his shoulders and had willfully ignored a sign which read: _No backpacks, luggage, or bags allowed, no exceptions._ He took out his cellphone and showed Cindy his barcode to get in.

"Sorry, Sir. No backpacks allowed tonight."

"No worries, it's just for my laptop."

"You're going to have to leave your items with us. You can pick it up after the event."

"Um, I work for the press and I need this to take notes."

"What press?"

"It's a new startup in Bay Ridge."

He handed her a business card. She didn't bother to look at it. "Never heard of it. Use your cell phone for notes, leave the bag and your laptop here."

"This is ridiculous. I have a right to free speech. You ever heard of freedom of the press?"

She questioned whether this kid actually worked for the press, if he did, he would know MOA's sick preference for blowing people up with backpacks. There was no way she was going to let herself be blamed for a bomb getting through. The man shrugged off the straps of his backpack. "Hope you're enjoying your power trip." As he crossed the metal detector he muttered, "You rent-a-cop."

"Excuse me, Sir. I need you to come back."

Those waiting in line backed away from the checkpoint. The scrawny young man spun on his feet and looked at her as if she were baseborn.

"What?"

"Could you please repeat what you said?" Despite Cindy's head only coming up to his chest, the hipster seemed to have lost his nerve. "Something about a rent-a-cop?"

"It was a joke."

"You think I'm a joke because I'm a security guard?"

"N—no of course not."

She pointed at the numerous signs at the main entrance, hanging banners, and the security checkpoint itself. "The signs over there, there and there say no backpacks allowed. You know why? Because we don't want terrorists to blow us all up. But you seem to think the rules don't apply to you. So now you get the first class TSA treatment." She clicked on her radio. "Fourteen to Command One."

"Go ahead fourteen."

"I'm sending a guest over to the police checkpoint for a strip search. He tried to sneak a backpack through the south access point."

"10-4 we'll send someone over."

Cindy looked up at the mortified young man and glared at him. "There's nothing funny about backpack bombs. Follow the rules next time." She faced the crowd and shouted, "Next!"

By seven o'clock, there were people everywhere. If they weren't drinking overpriced lattes at the café they were milling about the vendor kiosks on the exhibition floor behind her. She was surprised that so many people had come. She expected this kind of turn out at Comic Con but not a technology conference. While she scanned in guests, a hand reached out from the crowd and tapped her shoulder.

She spun around and mentally prepared her usual speech, _Bathrooms are downstairs to your right, the presentation is_ —her face suddenly brightened. "Hey baby!" She threw her arms around Jonas's neck. "I'm so happy to see you."

"I'm surprised I got the jump on you. You're usually like a motion detector." Jonas flashed his trademark boyish smile. His hair was the color of oil, freshly shaved on the sides, styled with gel on top. His jaw was buttery smooth from a clean shave and he smelled like the night they first slept together. There was something about his smile and calm demeanor that was infectious. She couldn't stay mad or grouchy whenever he was around. Hopefully this will still be the case once the honeymoon phase is over.

"Look at you all cleaned up and sexy like you're going on a date," she said with a smirk. "Who's the lucky girl," she teased.

"My wife." He smiled at her. "Smart ass."

She sighed. "I'd rather be hanging out with you than standing here."

"Having a tough night?"

"Work sucks today."

"You always say it sucks."

"I got snippy with a guest. Wasn't my best moment."

"What'd he do?"

"He disrespected me."

"Uh oh." He gave her a sideways glance. "Did you hit him?"

"They'd fire me if it wasn't in self-defense. No, I just sent him over to the police checkpoint for a strip search."

Jonas chuckled. "Oh well he's lucky then. You hit pretty hard for a little woman."

"If I see the guy I should probably apologize."

"Hell no." Jonas seemed offended she would even suggest that. "You made the right call. No one wants to explode tonight, especially me."

"Thank you." She adjusted the collar of his shirt. "Why didn't you tell me you were going to clean up tonight? I would've—" she leaned in. "—worn a thong."

Jonas raised his eyebrows with interest. "I have to present in front of all these people. The last thing I need is my flag at full mast."

She grinned mischievously. "We've been married two years and I still feel like I can't get enough of you. Working security at night and gymnastics during the day sucks."

Jonas lifted her chin. "That's going to change after tonight. Once I finalize selling my company to Raymond you can quit both jobs and do whatever you want." He rested his hands on her hips. "And we'll definitely celebrate. Do you still have that polka dot thing you bought?"

Her lips spread into a toothy grin. "That's what I would've worn," her voice became sweet like melted chocolate. "Anyway." She changed the subject and opened her eyes wide with amusement. "Did you see your giant photo?"

"The one they plastered on the steps?" He grimaced. "I look like an idiot."

"You don't look like an idiot." She giggled. "You look like you belong in a Hispanic boy band. Eres muy lindo, Papi."

"I can't wait till they take it down."

Cindy laughed. "I took a picture with my phone."

"Oh come on."

She tapped his arm. "You should get going. I don't want you to be late." Cindy went up on her tip toes and kissed his lips. "Love you."

"Love you too."

After Jonas had gone, she continued to dwell on the idea of quitting her jobs. Well . . . maybe not gymnastics. Life would be a little too boring if she couldn't teach her students. It was nice to have a group of young girls who looked up to her and treated her with respect.

The voice from the head of security blasted out of her radio. "Command One to Fourteen."

Cindy squeezed the radio which had a number fourteen label taped on it. "Go ahead."

"Head of security wants you reassigned to the mayor when he gets here. Make sure he and his family have no problems getting where they need to go. If the mayor asks where the bathroom is, you take him there."

"He has a security detail."

"Doesn't matter. You're the point man."

"Shouldn't the shift supervisor—"

"They're dealing with a vehicle situation down at the loading dock. Handle it."

"Copy."

The photographers circled around the mayor's family like vultures eyeing a meal. His security detail, a group of men wearing suits and sunglasses, shoved anyone who got too close. A bored looking teenager shuffled in the middle of the group. Her hair was a collection of black squiggles barely controlled by a scrunchie. Blonde accents shot across the crown of her head to break up the black, a style inspired by a popular musician. Her name was Priscilla Montez, she was the mayor's daughter and also happened to be a student at Ninja Gymnastics.

"Mrs. Ames?" Priscilla jumped with excitement. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm . . . working security," she said with resignation.

"Oh my gosh." Priscilla looked horrified. "Does that mean you're not teaching gymnastics anymore? I thought we—"

"It's just a part time gig. Don't tell anyone okay?"

"Why not?"

"You know how you don't want photographers to bother you when you come to my class to practice your uneven bars? Same thing here. Can you promise not to tell anyone?"

"Of course!" Priscilla waved her family over. "Mom, dad, come here. My coach is working security."

"Great . . ." Cindy muttered.

Mayor Montez approached with a confident stride. He reached across his droopy chest and into his suit jacket pocket. He pulled out a printed ticket with a barcode and held it in front of his barrel belly. The photographers swooped in with their shutters clicking, bulbs flashing. Cindy put her hand over her face and scanned the mayor's ticket.

"Smile for the camera," a photographer yelled.

"No, thank you."

The photographers were caught off guard. Not many people turned down a photo op with the mayor. "Come on. Just a quick one of the two of you."

Cindy shook her head no.

Mayor Montez leaned in with a big, genuine smile. "No need to be shy," he said reassuringly. "The sooner we take the photo the sooner they'll be out of your hair."

Cindy felt sick to her stomach. She didn't want the guys on the force to see her picture on newspapers or social media. She didn't want them laughing at her for becoming a security guard.

"Can we not take the photo, Sir? I have personal reasons."

The mayor nodded and told the photographers they would take a family photo instead. Mayor Montez blocked Cindy from view and held onto the shoulders of his wife and daughter. Once the flashes were gone, he turned around and introduced his wife.

"You remember my wife, Carmen."

How could she forget Carmen? Despite being rich and the Mayor's wife, she was refreshingly down to earth. Unlike most wealthy parents, Carmen did not give Priscilla everything she wanted. All she gave her was a roof over her head and food in her belly. If she wanted new shoes or expensive clothes she had to earn it by working, volunteering, studying, or doing chores. It did not matter if you approached Carmen with holes in your shirt and two dollars in your wallet. She would happily welcome you into her luxurious home with open arms. "Mrs. Ames, it is absolutely delightful to meet you again." She extended her hand. "Where is your sister, Jadie?"

Cindy smiled and shook her hand. "She might stop by a little later."

"Wonderful. Priscilla simply cannot stop raving about the both of you and your class. I knew once she started putting on her father's underwear and tying a towel around her neck that gymnastics would be a perfect fit for her."

"Mom . . ."

"She would lift the furniture and make-believe she had super strength."

"Mom! Oh my God."

Carmen waved her hand. "Oh honey, relax."

"Priscilla if that's the most embarrassing thing you've done, I will happily trade places with you."

"Me too," Carmen added.

Priscilla shook her head. "Please kill me."

Mayor Montez turned to Cindy. "How long has it been since you've left the force?"

She grimaced, hard. "Two years now, Sir."

"That's a shame. I thought the uniform suited you."

"Me too," she said quietly.

"I bet you were a badass cop," Priscilla said.

The mayor's security detail barged into the conversation and informed the mayor they were clear to travel. Cindy radioed command to let them know she had the VIP and led the family to the third floor where Jonas's big presentation was fifteen minutes away from commencement. At the end of the convention hall was the elevated stage where Jonas would make his appearance. Standing near the base of the presentation platform were two men surrounded by their own security detail. Senator James Albright and a man whom Cindy had hoped never to see again. Police Commissioner Patrick Gates.

The mayor waved the men over. She didn't know Commissioner Gates was going to be here, didn't even see him check in. She tailed the mayor's bodyguards and used them as moving wall cover.

"Quite the turn out," Senator Albright said. "I wish this many people would turn up to the polls."

"Then we'd be out of the job," Mayor Montez said.

They laughed.

"You know." Commissioner Gates lowered his voice. "I'm eager to see this new toy I've been hearing about. Have you guys heard about this?"

They shook their heads.

"Supposedly this presentation is about a combat suit; thin, lightweight, completely bulletproof. I would love to get my hands on one."

"Don't come crawling to me with a proposal to increase your budget," Mayor Montez replied.

"Dad," Priscilla whined. "Do you really have to talk about your boring politics right now?"

"It's called work, Muñeca. Zip it."

She watched the commissioner from within the shadow of the broad chested guard. Being short sometimes came in handy, this was one of those times. Carmen walked up to Cindy and touched her shoulder.

"What are you doing hiding, Mrs. Ames? Don't tell me these men intimidate you."

"What? No. No." She stammered. "I don't want to get in the way."

"Nonsense." Carmen took Cindy's hand. "No need to be bashful. These men have the same flaw you and I do. They are human."

She tried to squirm away. "No, Carmen, please. I don't need to speak with them."

As Cindy gently, but firmly resisted Carmen's nudging, a tall, blonde woman shoved her way through the crowd and made a bee-line for the mayor. The guards spotted her right away.

"We got incoming."

The blonde woman stood at almost six feet tall. She twisted and side-stepped through the crowd while calling out, "Sis, Sis," before being tackled by two bodyguards. "Ow. What did I do?"

"Damn it, Jadie," Cindy muttered to herself. She left the shadow of the security guard and told them the woman was her sister.

The guards ignored her and looked to Mayor Montez for the approval.

"Dad, tell your jerk bodyguards to let go of my coach."

Mayor Montez waved his hand. "You don't need to bully my voters."

The security guards released her. Jadie rubbed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Thanks a lot. Jerks."

The guards scattered and left Cindy out in plain view of Commissioner Gates. The man she hated, glared at her with an equal amount of hatred in his own eyes. The reason she wasn't a cop anymore was because of him and the reason his son wasn't alive was because of her.

"I didn't know they were hiring moro—" Commissioner Gates leashed his tongue in the presence of the mayor and his family. "—more personnel. You didn't mention Cindy was with you, Manny."

"She's not technically—"

Cindy cut him off. "I'm with the Javits center, Sir. They requested I guide the Mayor."

"Security." Commissioner Gates's face narrowed into a wolfish grin. "Good for you to still be able to find work befitting of your skills. Being a part of New York's finest is a tough, demanding job, it's not for everyone. I think you've definitely found your calling."

She was amazed by how easily the commissioner was able to call her a piece of shit without anyone noticing. She stared at his smug face and fantasized about cracking him across the jaw.

She took a deep breath and swallowed her emotions. "Well . . . I should get back to my post. Enjoy the show."

"You do that."

"Bye Mrs. Ames." Priscilla waved cheerily. "See you in class later."

Cindy walked out of their line of sight and deflated. She didn't even want to watch Jonas's presentation anymore. She just wanted to go home and crawl into bed. The commissioner had stomped her last scrap of dignity under the heel of his glossy black loafer.

"Hey you okay?" Jadie put her arm around Cindy's waist. "Don't listen to that prick." Jadie waved a middle finger over her shoulder. "You want to hear something ironic?"

"What," she said without enthusiasm.

"Mayor Montez said don't bully my voters, but I never voted for him. Whoops."

Before Cindy could respond, a familiar voice boomed through the convention center loud speakers.

"Standing behind me is a technology the likes of which you have never seen. It is both robotic and organic. And before anyone out there gets too excited, it's not a Terminator."

"Jonas's presentation," Cindy whined. "I'm missing it."

"So let's not." Jadie dragged Cindy over to the presentation stage. "I'm excited to see what this thing is."

Jonas paced across the stage with a small microphone curved around his cheek.

"Imagine a suit no thicker than a hundred page paperback novel capable of being burned, shot, and hit with no damage to the user. A combat suit that you don't need to squeeze into but can still give you the strength to lift a car. You wouldn't believe it exists, but it does because my team at Lucent Labs has created it."

Jonas pointed to a giant capsule standing behind him. The cylinder hissed. Gasses spilled out from its exhaust ports and curled across the stage platform.

"I feel like I'm on a movie set," she said to Jadie.

"Yeah it's like, overly dramatic."

"He loves to make a big show. I wouldn't be surprised if he filled that thing with dry ice."

Jadie laughed.

Jonas strode to the right of the stage and pointed to the awakening machine. "Ladies and gentlemen I present to you, Stealth—" The lights throughout the convention floor went dark. Jonas's voice lost its amplified volume. "—umm, hello? Can anyone hear me?"

The spectators turned on their cell phone flashlights and murmured amongst themselves. The Lucent Labs team joined him on stage and checked the cables to investigate the power outage.

Cindy squeezed the broadcast button on her radio. "Fourteen to Command One." A loud buzzing rang from the speaker, possibly interference from all the cell phones nearby. She turned to Jadie and said, "I'm going to check out the loading dock to see if everything is all right. I want you to get Jonas and his friends out of here, just in case."

"You think it's serious?"

"No, but I don't want to take any chances. I'll call you once I know what's going on."

A sound, like a giant lawnmower sputtering its diesel engine, vibrated the walls of the convention floor and the wooden kiosks. The auxiliary lights powered up and cast dim light over the crowd. Cindy looked up at Jadie and smiled. "Probably just a brown out."

She went down the narrow grates of a stopped escalator and ventured to the locked doors accessible only to Javits personnel. She waved her badge keycard and continued through musty cement corridors where she walked past forklifts and stacks of plywood. The feral cats _employed_ by the Javits Center took notice of Cindy and followed her shadow. After too many complaints from loading dock workers about rats jumping out of boxes, the Javits Center captured and vaccinated a feral cat colony to deal with the infestation.

Cindy found a cat sitting atop a spilled puddle of red paint next to a Javits moving van. She made a feeble smile and gingerly approached the animal.

"Hey there."

The cat stared at her and meowed.

"You're cute," she said in a gentle voice. "You don't care that I'm a loser."

The cat meowed again and swished its tail.

"I'm supposed to check on something down here but you make me feel better. So I'm just going to pet you for a little bit and get back to work, okay?"

Cindy knelt by the cat and noticed red paint over its paws. "Did you knock over a paint can?" She pet the animal which purred at her touch. "They're going to fire you for that. No more free food." A strong, nauseating smell of copper wafted into her nose. She sniffed the cat and didn't smell anything. She smelt the puddle and coiled back. "This isn't paint."

There was a scarlet trail leading from the cat to a parked van. There she found the slain corpse of a woman next to the tires. Her eyeballs were bulging out of their sockets and her blouse was stained with an explosion of red ink. The head of security ID badge dangled uselessly from her chest.

"Oh my God."

CHAPTER 2: A Taste of Death

The cats gathered around and licked the blood off the face of the former head of security. Cindy fell back and landed on her bottom. Her hand patted around the floor and stopped atop a slimy rock. Her fingers had poked into something soft and squishy. She looked down and shrieked when she saw her finger pushing an eyeball inside the skull of her shift supervisor. They were dead, they were all dead.

"Oh my God, Oh my God." Her hand trembled as she spoke into her radio. "Fourteen to Command One. I need—I need police officers at the lower level loading dock. 10-34 Young. Send a—" There was a hole the size of a quarter punched into the shift supervisor's head. She closed her eyes and held the radio with both hands. "—send a 10-54 Union."

The radio whistled and popped over a bed of buzzing noise. "Hello? Command One do you copy?" She couldn't hear anyone over the growling radio. "Are there any ESU units on this frequency? Hello?" She checked her boss and the shift supervisor's body for the master keys but they were missing. A sound of whispering in the windless corridors made her freeze where she was. There were men talking in hushed tones. Cindy pressed the radio to her chest and crouched next to the parked van.

"Did you hear something?" the voice said.

She steadied her breath but couldn't stop the pounding in her chest. Her neck and back ached from the stress flooding her system. She pushed against the driver's side door and listened. Heavy boots thumped over the crunch of loose asphalt. Each step jingled like keys or handcuffs. Was it the police? She leaned past the headlights for a better look.

A group of men, six from what she could gather, stood behind the open hatch of a delivery truck. A man wearing a bullet proof vest and gas mask climbed into the back of the truck and began prying open crates with a crowbar. Definitely not police, but they didn't look like Mubarizun terrorists either. For starters, MOA members were poor and didn't have access to much equipment. These guys were unloading machineguns from the back of the truck. They must have been hired mercenaries, but who hired them?

Cindy tried to call 911 through her cell phone but she had no reception. She was connected to the Wi-Fi but for some reason the call wasn't going through.

"Probably a cat. You see how many are down here? It's like a cat house. Get it? Cat . . . house?"

"I got it you moron. And since when do cats sound like women?"

"Well they are puss—"

Cindy's radio screamed with distorted, ear splitting noise. "—up *static* Rep—me—ge." She frantically twisted the volume knob and shoved the speaker against her jacket.

"I knew there was something over there." The mercenary raised his gun.

Her sneakers squeaked against the floor. There were mechanical clicks of pregnant ammo box feeders being snapped onto their weapons.

"You were supposed to kill all the security guards."

"I did!"

Cindy bolted from the van and ran as hard as she could. She slid around a corner and crashed into the wall leading to the stairwell. The footsteps chased after her but she didn't dare look back. She tore up the stairwell steps and rammed through the heavy doors at the top. She slammed the doors shut and put all her weight against them. Her shirt became wet with fear as she waited for the doors to slam into her back but they never did. Did they stop chasing her?

A German Shepard lunged at Cindy with saliva spraying from its chomping maws; barking as it stood on its hind legs. She screamed and shielded her face. The officer from the K-9 unit yanked on its leash and gave the command to stand down. The dog immediately sat with its ears pointed at full attention.

"Sorry about Bishop," the officer said. "He's been acting weird."

"There's six gunmen downstairs, they've got guns, and—and I think they shot my boss, and they were chasing me—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa slow down, take a breath, and tell me what you saw."

"I-I-I saw shooters at the loading dock."

"Shooters? Are you positive?"

She nodded.

His eyes went wide. "The mayor." The officer called on his radio only to be greeted by the same interference she encountered. "Something's wrong with the radio. Can you lock that door?"

"My boss was down there and she had the master key."

"Damn it. Okay. We need to find the mayor and get him out of here."

"I don't have a gun."

"That's okay, we got Bishop." He scratched the dog's neck. "Right boy? What's your name anyway?"

"Cindy."

"Cindy? Got it. You can call me Yang. C'mon, let's get going."

"We have to block this door first."

Cindy grabbed a nearby table and dragged it in front of the door. Officer Yang joined her and helped create a stockade of upside down chairs and plastic tables.

"Why haven't they barged through? They were right behind me." It was a rhetorical question she didn't mean to vocalize.

"Could be some kind of strategy. Maybe they know that if they come through here the ESU guys can shoot 'em from the upper level. Either way, we're moving out."

Officer Yang went up the escalator and urged her to follow. She didn't want to go, not without a gun, but he didn't leave her much choice. A security officer was supposed to get to safety, call the police, and give them an incident report. But they were also obligated to assist local police if asked. She eyed the exit doors a mere twenty paces away and for a brief, shameful moment, she considered leaving through them.

She had no gun, no badge, and no courage. Her hands were shaking and the sweat on her skin left her cold. Police Officer Ames didn't know what fear was. She would have led the charge instead of Yang. Security Guard Ames lived in fear, knew the kind of screw up Officer Ames was. The older she got, the less invincible she believed herself to be.

A gunshot rang from the floor above followed by the screams of thousands of guests. Their cries sounded almost identical to the people who died in the terror attack in France and those who were run over in Times Square. It didn't matter that she wasn't a cop anymore. What mattered was getting everyone to safety.

On the floor above Officer Yang and Cindy, the people stampeded down the escalator, pushing and shoving each other out of the way. She tucked her head and shouldered her way through the panicked herd. At the top of the escalator was the hall where Jonas's presentation had taken place, and where a massacre was currently underway.

Flashes of light were followed by the crack of gunfire. People landed on their knees and cupped the blood spilling out of their stomachs. Officer Yang drew out his service pistol and fired at a gunman shooting from an emergency exit. The gunman fell through the door with a scattered array of quarter sized holes in his chest. Another exit door thundered open. A gunman stepped through the entrance and aimed his gun at Cindy. All prior training had abandoned her. She froze in place, waiting for the gun barrel to explode. Officer Yang dropped the gunman before he could fire a single shot.

"Don't just stand there, Cindy! You're going get yourself killed."

Another gunman at the far end of the hall readied his light machine gun to fire. Officer Yang tried to take aim but hordes of running people kept getting in the way. He knelt down beside Bishop and unhooked the leash from his collar. "Bishop, arrest!"

Bishop's paws scratched along the carpet as he weaved between the legs of the running guests. The animal lunged at the gunman and chomped down on his arm. Bishop snarled as he savagely whipped the man's arm and tore fabric and flesh like paper. Officer Yang aimed his gun and was sucker punched by a gunman who had been hiding near the kiosks.

Until this moment, Cindy had been in a dream, carried by the whims of her nightmare. The threat to Officer Yang's life awakened her dormant training and reignited her innate desire to protect. She trapped the assailant's gun wielding arm with her hands and stretched it until the limb could go no farther. She delivered a palm strike to his elbow and burst the joint forward. His muffled howls bellowed from inside his gas mask. She tore off his mask and raked his face with her fingernails, kneed his stomach, and smashed his head with her elbows. Staggered and dazed, he fell to the floor.

"Holy crap," Officer Yang said. "You know how to fight. Thanks."

"I'm going to need a gun." Cindy bent down and picked up the assault rifle the gunman was carrying. To her great surprise, the gun spoke to her.

"Security breach, unauthorized user. Weapon is now locked."

"Are you kidding me?" She tried to pump the trigger but it wouldn't budge. "They have gun controls on this." She dropped the rifle and found a flashbang grenade on the unconscious mercenary.

Officer Yang fired at the gunman wrestling with Bishop. With the suspect dead, the dog returned to Yang's side. "Don't worry about the guns. We're getting out of here as soon as we find the mayor."

Officer Yang, in a lot of ways, reminded Cindy of who she had been. Decisive, brave, willing to put his life on the line for others. Fighting by his side reminded her of how much she wanted to be like him again.

Bishop sprinted over to the presentation stage and led Officer Yang and Cindy to the mayor's family and their security detail. Priscilla bawled inside of Carmen's arms. "Why are they doing this? Why are they killing all these people?" No amount of comforting from Carmen could stop her tears. Mayor Montez sat between his guards and nervously rubbed his hands together. He was quiet and isolated, even from his own family. Officer Yang approached the bodyguards while Cindy hung back.

Priscilla saw Cindy and her face suddenly filled with hope. "Mrs. Ames," she said as her cheeks glistened. "You used to be a cop. You can get us out of here right? You can save these people."

"We're going to get you all out of here." Cindy didn't believe her own words. She had lost her edge and had become useless in her time out of action. Deep down she knew their lives were dependent on Officer Yang and Bishop. If those two couldn't lead them through this mess, then they would all be dead. She thought about Jonas and Jadie. Were they still in the building? Did she need to go rescue them? Cindy checked her cell phone but it still didn't have any bars. The Wi-Fi must have been sabotaged.

Officer Yang got in her face. "Cindy? Did you hear what I said?"

"What? I'm sorry. I'm worried about my family."

"You got family here?"

"My husband and my sister."

"Mayor takes priority, then we find your people. Okay? I need you with me on this."

She nodded.

"We're going to move out as a group and make our way to the second level exit. Got it?"

"Yes."

"Good." Officer Yang turned to his dog. "Bishop, c'mere buddy."

The dog's ears perked up. Yang scratched Bishop's neck and tousled his fur. "I need you to keep an eye out for bad guys okay?" He patted Bishop's belly, stood up, and gave the command. "Search."

The group followed behind Bishop. He listened for the sounds of gunfire and kept the group away from those areas. As they walked past acres dead bodies, Mayor Montez grabbed Priscilla and covered her eyes. The expo had become a warzone. Kiosks were toppled over and used as make-shift cover for people who couldn't escape. The carpet was filled with brass casings, wood chips, and made wet squishing noises wherever they stepped. Cindy kicked herself for not having been able to do more to prevent the massacre. She should have known something was wrong at the loading dock, should have acted faster. It was such an obvious red flag. She couldn't believe how dense she was not to recognize the blood sooner.

Bishop stopped in the middle of the floor a mere twenty feet away from the fogged glass exit door. His ears stood on alert, eyes locked in front of him. Officer Yang told the bodyguards to keep an eye out. Though the space looked empty, Bishop could sense something was wrong.

"What does he see," Mayor Montez whispered.

"Trouble," Officer Yang replied. He loaded a fresh magazine into his Beretta; the bodyguard's did the same. The glass door opened. Seven gunmen stormed through the second level entrance with their guns pointed at the group. Bishop and Yang remained resolute and defiant. She wanted to be brave like them but couldn't seem to muster the courage. She stuck her hand into her security jacket pocket and threaded her thumb through the hoop of the flashbang grenade.

The lead gunman took off his gas mask. He had a spider web tattoo over his eye and a bald head. The gunman addressed one of the guards protecting the mayor. "This wasn't a part of the plan, Boss. We shouldn't have lost this many guys."

The bodyguard replied. "Yeah I know." He pulled out a Glock pistol from his jacket, spun around and blasted a hole into the forehead of the guard behind him. He shifted his aim then exploded Officer Yang's stomach. Another bodyguard revealed himself as an accomplice as he turned around and killed the last remaining bodyguard. With the security detail neutralized, the accomplice focused his aim on Mayor Montez.

"Dad!"

Cindy staggered back. Officer Yang and two bodyguards were dead. She had blinked and just like that, they were gone. Her only hope for survival had been taken away and now the mayor was next in line to receive a bullet. Time seemed to slow. Her senses became heightened. She could hear the firing pin slide back in the chamber, could smell cheap cologne, and tasted the salt from her own sweat. It was all up to her now.

She brought her foot back, harnessed the power of her hips, and threw a punch which rippled the accomplice's cheek. His gun popped off and shattered one of the thousands of glass windows surrounding the Javits Center. The rest of the gunmen took aim and she could feel their scopes lining up with her body. Cindy pulled the pin from the flashbang grenade and lobbed it into the group of killers.

"Grenade," they yelled.

A metallic pop blasted her ears. She quickly lost her balance and nausea rose up in her throat. The piercing tone reverberated inside her head. Blind and unable to see, she pushed on Mayor Montez's back not realizing they were next to the stairs. They rolled down the granite steps, groaning and yelling as their bones smacked against stone.

As the effects of the flashbang began to wear off, she could hear the hollering of the criminals on the level above and Bishop barking. "Get rid of the fucking dog!"

A dull thud echoed from the second level followed by Bishop yelping in pain.

"Ruuuun," Cindy yelled.

Mayor Montez huffed as Carmen and Priscilla sprinted for the exit. The mayor, drenched in sweat, wheezed from the burden of his own heavy weight and could run no more. She crashed into the winded mayor and urged him to keep moving. "You can't slow down, you can't slow down."

To which he replied, "I can't breathe."

A sharp, stabbing sensation punched her shoulder, followed by another. Her head snapped back and when she touched her lip, she wondered why there was blood on her fingers. The back of Mayor Montez's suit jacket burst into a wet rose. His face smacked the floor as more gunfire filled the lobby. Priscilla screamed for her father as Carmen pushed her through the doors where Cindy could feel the cold air blowing in. Her legs grew weak and she began to stumble until her palms slapped the floor. She looked over her shoulder with pain haunting her every breath. The bodyguard came down the stairs with smoke rising from his Glock. The rest of his team remained on the second level with their guns ready to fire.

The bodyguard grabbed onto his neck and ripped off his own face which had been a mask. Underneath, the man had a peppery goatee, long, balding stringy hair, and steely grey eyes. She remembered his face from two years ago, burned it into her memory after what he had done to her partner. The man's name was Ned Pickler, a.k.a. Death Dealer. He killed Cindy's partner in the line of duty and was the reason she had lost her job.

Despite the pain radiating from her wound, she dragged herself across the floor and left a smeared trail of her own blood. She crawled on top of Mayor Montez and shielded his body with her own.

"You," she said to Ned.

"Am I supposed to know you?"

Strings of red spittle flicked out of her mouth. "You killed my partner."

Ned shrugged. "I've killed a lot of people, Hon. Especially people who screw up my operations. I don't know you from Nancy." He raised his gun and pulled the trigger once. A hot punch burrowed into her belly. He fired again. Blood spurt from her chest. Her teeth chattered from the sudden chill spreading through her limbs. She wondered if Jonas was safe, wondered if Jadie had . . . if . . . if the lobby had always been this cold.

((Want to read the rest? There is a coupon waiting for you on the next page.))

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