“I have a make on the new Blacksnake members,” Captain Jones announced a few minutes later. “No mention at all of the skeleton-costumed man. He must be new. Not much on Ice Flow, either. Just that he is very strong and can manipulate ice. Does what others tell him. Current analysis has him as a high-powered goon. Little more.
”FORCE has a long report on the dark man, however. Based on your description, his name is Andrew Logan; he calls himself Death Touch. He was a sixth-dan black belt or higher martial artist and a research biologist working in a hospital lab. His last research was on cellular regeneration. Late one night, the security cameras recorded that he injected himself with one of his preparations. Interviews with surviving research assistants indicate that he was a very egocentric man. Cruel. Sociopathic.
“Latest reports say he’s psychopathic and he enjoys killing. When business is slow, he’ll kill on his own just for fun. He prefers female victims. He is wanted, dead or alive.”
Antoinette sat with her face buried in the soft thick fur of Tracker’s brush and shivered.
Tracker stroked her arm. “We won’t let him hurt you any more, Miss Duval.”
Jay nudged Red with a smirk on his face and pointed at what she held across her lap. Red shook his head wryly.
”What will happen to me now?” Antoinette raised her head.
”If you let us,” Scott replied, “we’ll help you learn to control your abilities and we’ll protect you for as long as you choose to remain with us. I hope you’ll elect to join us, but it’s your decision.”
They rode on in silence Antoinette falling asleep against Scott’s shoulder, holding Tracker’s tail as though it were a teddy bear.
”Captain Jones,” Scott said softly, “call ahead and see if Magnum can meet with us when we get in.”
”Yes, sir.”
#
Antoinette woke as the hovervan slowed. The sun shone high overhead, revealing that the trip had only taken a short time. Behind them, the road wound away downhill, disappearing through the wooded mountainside. Ahead, a tall chain link fence surrounded a wide expanse of lawn dominated by a large antebellum plantation house two stories tall, while on the opposite side of the drive lay a lake that looked to be almost a mile across. They drove up to an iron-barred gate and stopped at the call box. Captain Jones rolled down the window and keyed a complex series of numbers into the keypad. There was a brief flash as a laser camera photographed his retinal pattern and compared it to the one on file. “Seven and seven makes three,” he said to the speaker grill. A moment later the gate’s lock released with a loud clack and broke open at the center, swinging away on silent bearings. As the hovervan whispered along the driveway it took a sudden dip and started down a ramp leading into an underground garage occupied by several different cars, including a pair of limousines and a huge motorhome. A large door in the back wall slid down into the floor, revealing an equally wide alcove that proved to be an elevator big enough to carry every vehicle in the garage at once.
When the elevator reached its destination, another door opened into a garage far larger than the one above, filled with vehicles from standard FORCE cruisers to exotic sporters and even military fliers. It looked more like a hangar than a garage with the variety of aircraft visible.
Antoinette gazed around, wide-eyed and silent. Scattered around the garage she could see men working on various vehicles, giving the impression of a busy operation. The van dropped them at a smaller, armored door and the group escorted her to another elevator. This one carried them down another level. The five of them entered a long corridor lined with doors, one of them giving access to a conference room as large as a small movie theatre.
Magnum sat at the middle of a long, oval conference table. A tall, middle-aged man wearing a well-cut business suit over an athletic body, he gave the impression of a corporate leader with a military background. Scott took the seat opposite Magnum. Tracker flanked Scott on the left with Antoinette beside him and Red and Jay flanked him on the right.
“Congratulations on a successful mission, gentlemen,” Magnum exclaimed as they took their seats. “And welcome, Mademoiselle Duval. I’m glad to see you. I hope you’ll see fit to spend some time with us,” he added, shaking her hand across the table.
“I want you to know that this mission didn’t start out with the specific intent of rescuing you. Rather, the local police asked our aid in locating a reported tiger that was a threat to the community. The fact that you are the tiger only exemplifies FORCE’s purpose of protecting both the Normal person and Enhanced Persons. By rescuing you from Blacksnake and bringing you here, we protected an EP from abuse, prosecution and perhaps even death at the hands of a mob. By finding you and bringing you here to a safe haven, we have protected the general population from an inexperienced and potentially criminal EP. Where you go from here will be your own choice.
“We can help you gain control of your abilities. We can help you discover yourself. We can help you find a place for yourself. If nothing else, we can help you gain a sense of peace for a time. Anything you need, you have merely to ask. You are free to leave any time you wish; our resources available to take you wherever you desire. I only ask that you give us the opportunity to give you that aid.”
