Blood ran from fresh cuts in her hands as the heavy steel support structure cut into her palms. She took a shallow breath then gave a sustained push. Striations and fresh growth spread across her arms, chest, and shoulders like ripples in a pond. It was all for nothing. The steel groaned, but the weight didn't stop. It moved with the slow inevitability of a glacier. Her heart raced and she pushed harder, putting every ounce of strength into her trembling muscles. Each separated multi-headed shredded pec muscle looked ready to punch through her flushing skin. The weight halted its slide. Hope replaced fear as she desperately tried to tip the balance away from her, but her strength failed her. Her arms just weren't strong enough and the slide began again. Tears rolled down her head to the icy rooftop as Cassidy Redwine faced death for the first time in her life. Panic consumed her. A thousand little choices had led her to this rooftop, but one misguided thought had been at the forefront of this disaster. A few hours ago, she hadn't understood what sacrifice was, but as the shape of her ribs began to distort from the pressure, she began to understand. Cassie had known, when she'd left the house that morning, that some line might be crossed, but if she'd known the cost of it all, she'd have stayed at home.
….seven hours earlier….
The early morning sky had been a beautiful blue, barely a cloud to be seen. A breeze bent the leafless limbs and whipped up white caps out on Lake Michigan. Cassidy looked out of her bedroom window as two men braved the bitter cold to do a little fishing in a small flat bottomed boat. Cassie chuckled at her delirium. She'd been staring at out of the window since dawn. It had all been so pretty with the lake scattering the first rays of the sun. She hadn't slept at all. She'd lain in her bed for a couple of hours and tried to force sleep, but it hadn't come. She'd only managed a few hours since returning to the US from Tunisia. Usually her trips there were awesome, but this one had been a planning session for a war that Cassie hadn't known was coming. She'd figured out that something was wrong, but as usual she couldn't figure out how serious the problem had turned out to be.
Now her peace of mind had been replaced by worry, and worry was the most insidious thing in the world. It wormed its way into the corners of a victim's brain. Cassie couldn't have three thoughts without coming back to her mother's words. 'There's a war coming'. But this wouldn't be any normal war, fought by regular people with guns and bombs. This war was going to be waged by the gifted against everybody. There would be mounds of dead. If enough gifted people used their abilities for war it would be so horrible that it made Cassie sick to think about. Then she worried about how she would fit into the promised combat.
Cassie had inherited her father's ability to control people's emotions, but compared to other abilities that power was limited. While Cassie had more experience using that ability, it was only a small part of her overall powers. The larger portion she'd inherited from her mother. Every female member of her mother's family shared. It was often called the power of the link, although linking was just one facet of the expansive gift. Cassie was a novice at using most of the linking abilities, and maybe that's why she was nervous. Somehow having the power of the link, put her family front and center in this struggle, and her mother, as matriarch was some kind of general. Hayfa wasn't a soldier. She was her mom. The idea of her mother being in battle made Cassie sick to her stomach. When she thought of her brothers and her sister the nausea came on strong. Cassie, despite her chiseled body, leaned against the wall for support. There were so many things that she didn't know, and yet the worry wouldn't go away. Cassie felt like she was drowning in her own thoughts.
Shah Ali's flight had been long and uneventful. He and three of his men had landed in Detroit, rented a car, and had immediately started towards their destination. The trip to Chicago would take several hours in this expansive country, but Shah was determined. He checked his speed often and was careful to obey all traffic laws. He didn't want this important mission ending before it had really began. Their boss, Karim Azimi was very clear in his instructions. They were to retrieve a very special stone tablet for him. It had to be undamaged and they had to get it out of the country no matter how much of their blood it cost.
The rest of the thirty man team would be landing at airports all around the Mid West in groups of twos and threes. The largest group of five men would meet the cartel men and pick up their weapons. That had been the hardest aspect of the planning. There were plenty of guns in America, but it was hard to get enough in so short a time. Karim had fixed that problem easily. It seemed that Shah and his men would have more guns and ammo than they could carry. That was one worry off of his mind. There were so many others though. He checked his speed again as he passed a sign, reminding himself that this backwards country used miles. He adjusted accordingly. At this pace, he had three and a half hours to drive.
At the very same time, Dr. Jeff Long leaned against his refrigerator for support. He felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach as Benny spoke in rapid fire bursts. The leader of the American Syndicate explained how some guy had taken control of the super soldiers, and Benny, who should have ironclad control, had been powerless. Benny didn't explain how he'd regained control of the situation, and Jeff was too stunned to ask for details. For Jeff hearing this news was like someone telling him that the sun rose in the west. Like hearing that down was up.
This was far worse than X-424's malfunction. This struck to the heart of the super soldier program. There was only man who would be able to diagnose a problem this dire. Jeff was great with other aspects of super soldier creation, but when it came to programming their brains, there was one foremost expert. Unfortunately Jeff couldn't call the man directly.
Moira Kelly was surprised that she hadn't gone stir crazy after being hospitalized for nearly a month. The staff was great though and very accommodating. After Moira's latest scare, they'd restarted physical therapy. Moira liked the sessions early, so she was always first on the list. She felt like she'd done a proper workout when she shuffled back to her room and grimaced while lifting her leg to the bed. The orderly moved in to help, but Ian was already there. Her fiancé, Ian Brooster, M.D. had been by Moira side since the first day, barely leaving the hospital. He smiled as she sat down on the mattress and adjusted herself. The pain in her left leg made her want to scream, or sob, or both, but she held it all in. Moira could lift tons of weight, but now she found it hard to lift her own leg.
"That was a good job, Honey", Ian said and kissed her softly, diverting her mind to him instead of her troubles. "Keep that up and they'll let you out in no time."
Moira rolled her baby blues. "Time is all I've had recently." She motioned towards the side table. She used to keep them in the closet, but had moved them because now her notebooks from Morgen Stern were hidden in there. Most people would have felt overwhelmed by all of the secrets she was keeping, but Moira was just happy to be alive. "I read through some more of those notebooks that crazy super soldier left here while you were gone", she said and sighed.
"Oh, so you don't like her, but you're helping her?" Ian laughed.
Moira blushed, but she didn't otherwise acknowledge his words. "Here I want you to look at this."
Ian looked at the notes that Moira had made in the margins. "I've been thinking about all of this, and I think I might go talk to Freddie when I get back to Chi-town."
Moira frowned. "Freddie Maclemore?"
Ian nodded. "He's Dan's assistant, and if anybody would know what Dan's up to, it would be Freddie."
Ian saw Moira's brain working. "That might work if Freddie's not in on it."
"Freddie!?!", Ian laughed. "Come on now if there was ever a harmless man it's him. Weird, but no criminal mastermind!"
Neurology was Dan Horowitz's passion, and his greatest talent. It was the first thing on his mind when he woke up in the morning, and the last thing on his mind when he went to sleep at night. He had standing offers from some of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the world to develop new products for them, to make them loads of money, but Dan was overjoyed to be back at the institute, under Zach Warrmer's umbrella. It was a welcomed change to how Dan's life had been only a year earlier. He and his family had been on the run and had nearly died in the West Virginia mountains if not for a strange young woman with amazing skills. Dan had killed a man during that altercation, and at the moment he pulled the trigger he realized that while neurology was his passion, he didn't love like he loved his family. He wouldn't kill for his science. That's why he'd stopped working on that super soldier program all those years ago. He didn't love neurology enough to destroy minds. He did love it enough to get to work two full hours early this morning though.
He sipped from his mug of decaf and turned on his computer to go over the test results from the previous week. He saw that Freddie had already organized most of the data. Freddie wasn't as dedicated as Dan was, but he was pretty good when he put his mind to it. Dan imagined Freddie just now waking up to start his work day. In reality Freddie was nowhere near his Oak Park home. He was at a hotel reaping some of his ill gotten gains.
Freddie lay on the bed staring wide eyed at the woman strutting towards the foot of the bed. She went by Honey Fire, or Fire Honey, or some such. Either way, Freddie didn't care. Her hair was dyed blood red and contrasted with the pure white corset. Her face wasn't gorgeous but when she swung her arms up, clenched her fists and flexed up the biggest, meatiest biceps he'd ever seen, he forget all about her face. She relaxed her flex only to bear down again, harder, adding mass to her already overpowering muscles. She extended her left leg then tensed her quads and calves. Freddie was out of his mind. Her legs were even thicker and harder than her arms. The separation of her quads and hip flexors was laser etched. She made the muscles quake and dance when she slowly swayed her leg back and forth, all while pumping her biceps. She rotated her arms forward, bringing them down across her waist and cranking out a most muscular pose that made Freddie bite his lip as lust flooded every bit of him. Her taps rose like mountains, wreathing and striating as her face flushed with the mad flexing. The pec muscles lifted her huge teardrop shaped tits until her nipples overtopped the straining corset. Freddie didn't care if she'd gotten those tits from nature or from a catalogue, they were spectacular. His hands rose as if on their own, reaching for her tits. She came closer, slowing, agonizingly slowly as dots of sweat formed on Freddie's creased brow. When she was almost in reach, she stopped and raised her knee towards her chest only to gently plant the toe of stiletto heeled shoes onto Freddie's chest.
His eyes bored in on her thick, bulbous calf meat. Honey slowly bent her ankle and flexed her calf, the muscles fanning out just inches from Freddie's passion filled face. He leaned forward to touch the calf like the muscles were precious jewels. She allowed him to pull her leg towards his face so he could kiss it, worshipping her double headed calf muscle with his lips and tongue. She cooed and arched her back. The corset straps groaned from the strain of containing her powerful physique. Freddie's manhood was already hard, but when she put her fists akimbo and unfurled her lats, he got the hardest erection of his life. Her tits completely spilled out as the corset shrunk into insignificance as her upper body swelled. Freddie drooled as her tits jiggled while her muscles were stone hard. She kept up her flex as she turned her back to him giving him a view of her hard ass and more importantly the corset strings. Freddie didn't need instructions. He quickly untied then began unlace the corset. He only had to remove the strings from the first row of eyes because her unfurling lats did the rest. "Oh shit", he breathed as he saw her lat spread in all of its glory. It was the equal to any female bodybuilder he'd ever even heard off. The smile on her face said that she knew how awesome her muscles were. The corset fell away and Freddie got to see her entire body. It was spectacular. She stepped onto the bed, towering over Freddie as he looked up at her powerful body.
He'd loved muscular women since he could remember, and she was fulfilling his every desire. She bent down and moved the covers aside before sitting on his chest. Even the weight of her muscled body was a turn on. She leaned back and stroked him slowly, and Freddie felt like he'd gone to heaven. That was before she slid backwards and took him inside her. This time it was Freddie's turn to moan.
It had been a long time since he'd been able to afford an escort of this caliber, but the new head of the American Syndicate ran a quick operation. Freddie had already received his first payment. That money had been well spent. He'd put down a deposit on a new apartment; paid off his credit cards, and then he'd called one of his old contacts. All the girls he'd frequented before had left the business, but Honey was a more than able fill in. With her body, Honey's clientele probably wasn't large, but like Freddie, it was dedicated. She curled his toes, and put a smile on his face, which was all Freddie could ask for. Money was never discussed as Honey finished and got herself prepared to leave. The money was already in her agency's hands. Freddie had paid extra to get Honey here at an early hour, and she'd been worth every dollar.
"You were great", Freddie called as she opened the door.
"Thanks", she said. "And umm, your phone's buzzing like crazy."
"Shit", Freddie muttered and jumped up from the bed. "Thanks", he said but the escort had already closed the door. "Hello."
"Good grief Freddie. I've called you fifteen times!", Jeff nearly screamed.
"I was… umm… busy."
"Well this isn't going to work. My boss told me some serious news, and I need Dan to work on it, and I can't get you on the phone! I don't know why Dan wants an intermediary, but he's going to have to realize that sometimes I will have to speak with him directly."
"No!", Freddie exclaimed then took a calming breath. "Look. I understand. I'll answer the phone next time."
"There can't be a next time", Jeff said. "This arrangement's going to have to change or I'll have to talk to my boss."
Freddie let out an exasperated breath. He couldn't believe that all of this was happening because he'd wanted a little female company. What guy wouldn't want that? "Okay", he finally said. "Get up to Chicago in the next couple of days I'll explain the set up and we can go from there."
"Next couple of days?!? I'm catching the next flight to Chicago!"
After standing at the window until her left leg had fallen asleep, Cassie was ready to crawl into her bed to see if the rest of her could do the same. Her un-slept in bed looked so comfortable as she took one step away from the window before turning back quickly when she heard the driveway gates opening. She frowned as a taxi pulled up to the front door. Cassie didn't have to leave her bedroom to figure out who the taxis was for. She felt that her father was asleep in the master bedroom suite down the hall. Elsie, the maid was awake, but cleaning in the kitchen. That left only Hayfa, and Cassie wouldn't dare touch her mother's mind with her powers. She'd have felt Cassie right away. Instead Cassie threw on some clothes, grabbed her coat from behind the door, and ran down the stairs.
Mohammed had been on duty for nearly 10 hours. He knew that he shouldn't have been pulling another double, but his family needed the money since his wife was pregnant with their fifth child. He took a sip from his energy drink then stuffed it beneath the seat when he saw the house's double front doors open. Mohammed perked up when he saw a beautiful young woman jogging towards him zipping her coat. Her hair was pulled back showing her face starkly. She had glowing skin, wonderful hazel eyes that shifted from greenish to brownish to bluish with each step, and a pretty, disarming smile. If she was going to be his fare then this double shift was worth it. She didn't go to the back door though, instead she came to his side and squatted down next to his window.
"Salamu alaykum", Cassie greeted him with a smile.
"And peace be unto you, sister", Mohammed responded, even more startled that this woman had said the greeting so comfortably. He was even more surprised when she continued in his native Arabic.
"I think you'll be driving my mother today and… I'm sort of protective. I just wanted to come out and meet the person who will have her life in his hands."
"Oh, I will take very good care of your mother, sister. I will treat her as if she were my own mother", Mohammed replied earnestly.
"Thank you so much", Cassie said and then took the man's hands in hers. Her skin was soft and her hands warm even in the frigid air. Mohammed felt a tingle travel from her hands into his and then through his entire body. It went away so quickly that Mohammed almost thought he'd imagined it. Maybe the touch of this beautiful young woman was magic.
Hayfa Redwine came out of the house just as Cassie stood up. Hayfa gave her daughter a quizzical look. Cassie just smiled and came around the car. "Have a good day, Mommy", Cassie said and gave her mother a hug. Hayfa looked at her daughter again as Cassie ran into the house. By the time she turned around Mohammed had gotten out and was holding the door open for her.
"Peace be unto you, mother", Mohammed said with a big smile. Hayfa greeted Mohammed back, and wondered what her daughter had said to this man.
Cassie was in the shower by the time the cab left. She was in a hurry, but didn't need to rush. She'd put a little piece of her emotions inside of him. That was how her brother Russell had tracked down the love of his life. Their father said never to do it, but Russell was engaged to Amaris now, so it had worked out for him. It was going to work for Cassie now, because she wanted to know where her mother was going. If she was making preparations for this war, then Cassie wanted to be a part of it. Her mother was about nine miles away when Cassie ran through the house to the garage and started up the '04 Mercedes-Benz SL that she hardly drove. Her brothers had gotten it as a graduation present, but parking was usually terrible in the city. This was perhaps the first time that car would have a chance to come in handy. Something strange was going on this morning, and Cassie decided to be proactive.
Down in the city, Lisa Sanchez sat inside the glass office at the center of her advertising and marketing firm looking out towards the Chicago skyline, but not really seeing it. She was listening to a good friend tell a story that she could hardly believe. She narrowed her light brown eyes as Jan Caufield explained the Aceros.
"Wait", Lisa interrupted. "You said they have metal skin? Like armor?"
"No", Jan replied emphatically. "Metal skin. It was banded, but it moved freely not like plates of armor. And these things had these glowing eyes. At first they were yellow, but then they turned red. After they turned red those things went completely crazy. Started killing anybody they could and tearing the building down around us. It was wild!"
The more Lisa listened the angrier she became. Some of her employees stole glances through the windows at their boss wondering what had happened to make her seem upset. Lisa was so easy going, which was the opposite of the way people expected her to be. Lisa was young, successful, brilliant, and utterly gorgeous. Her exotic beauty had transfixed people ever since her teenage years, but somehow, it hadn't gone to her head. Lisa always worked hard and had earned everything she had, although she wasn't above using her looks to open doors.
There was another side to Lisa though, a side that she hoped none of her employees ever found out about. Lisa had already been a vice-president at a huge advertising firm when she'd found out about her super strength. Sometimes her power felt like a burden rather than a blessing, but over the last couple of years Lisa had learned to incorporate her special gift into everyday life.
"You know, you could have called me", Lisa said into phone. It hadn't been half a year since Lisa had helped rescue Jan from a horrible situation in Oklahoma. Lisa and Jan were bonded, or rather linked.
"I know", Jan replied with a long sigh. "But there was this guy named Robert Joelstine there and he wouldn't have let you come. I mean he was almost as bad as the Aceros."
"Does he work for the bad guys?", Lisa asked.
"No, he works for the government, but he is the very definition of an asshole. I mean doctors study him in medical school as an anus."
Lisa laughed and grimaced at the same time. "That is so gross."
"You didn't meet him", Jan deadpanned.
"And now I'm sure I don't want to", Lisa said with a chuckle that relaxed the rest of the office a bit.
"So", Jan began to change the subject. "Have you talked to Cassie recently?"
"I did. She just got back from Tunisia. School starts for her in a couple of days. Sometimes I think University of Chicago does stuff just to be hard on purpose."
"Hey, better her than me", Jan said with a laugh. "How's Zo?"
"He's fine. He hasn't gotten back yet", Lisa answered and leaned back in her comfy office chair. "He said he hadn't been to Tunisia in a while and he doesn't want his cousins to be strangers."
"Makes sense", Jan agreed. "Well I was just asking because my cousins haven't been linked and they have no idea what they're missing."
"Amen to that", Lisa said and felt the warm tingle come over her just thinking about linking. Suddenly Lisa sat forward in her chair and put an elbow on her desk. It was her turn to shift gears. "So Jan, you said that your cousins look like you, right?"
Seven hundred miles away Jan rolled her eyes. "Lisa, they aren't interested in modeling. I mean people like us like to keep a low profile."
"What about the boy, Brice?" Lisa didn't give up easily.
Jan sighed and surrendered. "I'll give you his number."
Lisa wasn't even sure what Brice Matthews looked like, but if he came from Jan's gene pool then he was probably hot and Lisa could always find some way to use hot. "You're a good friend, Jan."
"Uh huh", she replied. "Well I gotta go. Me and Alisha have to get some party stuff, then I've got to get to the gym. I'm teaching my first class of the new year. There's a novice tournament coming up and I think some of my ladies are ready to roll with folks from other schools."
"Cool. Hey, you should compete yourself", Lisa said.
Jan groaned. "You know why I don't compete."
"You have better control over your abilities now, Jan. You aren't going to rage out and squash somebody's head. Besides you deserve a black belt and you already told me that you can't get past brown if you don't show your skill against people from other Brazilian ju-jitsu schools."
"I know", Jan whined.
"Think about it. Okay, I'll talk to you later." Lisa smiled as she placed the receiver on the cradle. Every now and then even someone like Jan needed a little prodding. Lisa picked up her Blackberry to check her e-mail when it started ringing.
Ian hated leaving his fiancée at the hospital, but he had to get back to Chicago for at least a day. He'd been getting torn three different ways ever since Moira had been serious injured. She'd been mending from the internal injuries Spencer's sick torture had caused, but only about twelve hours before she was due to be released, a scan had discovered a blood clot in her left leg that had traveled towards her heart. The situation didn't require surgery, but it had caused Moira great pain. Ian felt like someone was sucking the oxygen from his lungs as the doctors had explained the situation in a conference room. As a medical doctor himself, Ian didn't even have the comfort of false hope. She was out of the woods now. The blood thinners made her weak, but that was the least of Ian's concerns. She was again nearing release, so Ian had to tie up some loose ends at work because he expected to be in Atlanta for a while once she got out.
"Lisa! Hey, I'm turning in my rental car as I speak and catching the next flight. Could you pick me up please, please, please?"
Lisa smiled. "Ok James Brown. I'll be there, but you're going to owe me lunch at least."
"Deal. I think… depending on where you want to go."
There was a twinkle in Lisa's eyes when she said, "Well there's this place down by the Board of Trade..."
"Stop please stop. All I see are dollar signs."
Lisa laughed. "Hurry up and get on the plane. I'll see you when you get here." Ian put his phone back in his pocket and hurried to the tram at the world's busiest airport.
"Hold it!", a man called and picked up his rolling bag and hurried. Ian stuck his hand through the automatic doors and the man was able to jump on.
"Thanks", the guy said.
"No problem at all." Ian got off at the correct terminal in the sprawling airport, and ended up at the same terminal as the late tram guy. Both were a little early so there was some time to kill. Normally Ian might have made conversation, but he wasn't in the mood. He was too preoccupied with work, with Moira.
The plane ride was bumpy. The captain said something about a Canadian high and a Bermuda low. Ian was just glad they hadn't crashed in the backwoods of Kentucky. He and the guy from the tram got off within seconds of each other. Neither went towards O'Hare's baggage claim area, instead both walked towards the exits.
Jeff walked out into the brutally cold Chicago air. Between that and the terrible flight, he realized why he hated traveling. He would have rather been at home eating some of his wife's special oatmeal. He just shook his head and headed for a taxi. Before he turned he saw the woolly headed guy who'd held the tram door open for him heading towards a Mercedes. Before he got too close the driver's door opened and a breath taking beauty stepped out to greet him. 'Lucky bastard', Jeff thought before sliding into the backseat of his cab.
"How's Moira doing?", Lisa asked before Ian had even put on his seatbelt.
"She's better", he replied as the seatbelt clicked. "She'll be out soon. Oh, she appreciated your gift. Wanted me to tell you that she says thanks."
"She's welcome. To be honest I'm guilty that I didn't go see her. Sending something was literally the least that I could do", Lisa said with a sigh.
"Don't beat yourself up. Moira didn't want visitors. She didn't tell her family how serious it all was because she didn't want them to come down. You know she hates seeming helpless."
"Yeah", Lisa agreed and gave her big sedan some gas before merging onto the Kennedy Expressway.
"Hey, could you take me to Warrmer's? There's something I want to check out."
"Let me take you home so you can pick up your car. I have to get back to work", Lisa complained.
"Wait a minute! You want that lunch at that restaurant you were talking about. You have to earn that", Ian said and smirked. Lisa shook her head and checked the rearview mirror. She had to cross three lanes if she wanted to get Ian to Warrmer's.
Cassie was already there. She'd parked just down the block from the guarded building. Her mother had gone inside about half an hour earlier after making stops at a bakery and a bank. Cassie had seen movies with stake outs in them and she had no idea how people could do this. She was bored out of her mind, but her need to be a part of her mother's plans overrode the boredom, so she sat right where she was. She saw another taxi come up to the front door. The man who got out rushed up the stairs, pulling his coat tighter against the freezing wind. "That doesn't help", Cassie said to no one, but laughed anyway. Out of towners were always so easy to spot.
"The pace of discovery has slowed since Ian's fiancée was injured", Zach Warrmer told Hayfa as she sat opposite his desk sipping rooibos tea.
"You can't expect a man to keep his mind on work in this situation."
"No of course not", Zach said quickly. "Ian's a good man and a great scientist. He's been sidetracked, but I didn't think it would be a quick process in the first place."
Hayfa sighed and leaned back in the seat. "I hope we won't even need Ian to finish. I'd rather head off a war than fight one."
Zach squirmed in his chair. "It would still mean killing, targeted killings, but blood would still have to flow", he said to gauge Hayfa's reaction.
She sipped some tea before she spoke. "A smart soldier once said that success is when I complete my mission and all of my guys come home." She let her words hang for a moment before continuing. "Besides Zach, there are people on our side who are more than willing to do what needs to be done."
"I just wish we had a better handle on who the players are going to be!", Zach exclaimed and pounded his fist against the desk.
"All we can do is assemble our side. Make sure they're as ready as they can be. Don't worry, we'll have enough firepower if there's a battle to be fought. We already have some heavy hitters, and I don't think our side is even filled out. There are still more gifted people who haven't joined us yet."
"What if there aren't, Hayfa? What if the gifted people we have now are the gifted people we're going to have when the battle starts?" Hayfa smiled and Zach bit the inside of his jaw.
Hayfa smiled again. "You have to have faith, Zach."
"Hurumph", was his reply.
Freddie met Jeff in the lobby. The two men pretended to be friendly acquaintances and chatted while Jeff signed in at security. Jeff had thought of using an alias, but decided that a ruse might cause more problems than it solved. He did eye Freddie while he received his visitor's badge. Dan's assistant was unremarkable, unassuming was really the right word. His eyes never stayed in one place for long, like a man who expected something bad to happen at any moment. Nothing did happen as Freddie lead Jeff to the elevators.
"Where's Dan?", Jeff asked. "Is he mad that you botched the contact this morning?"
"It's not like that."
"So he doesn't care either?", Jeff asked, getting annoyed.
"Just come with me. You'll understand soon", Freddie said and slid his id card to open the door to Dan's laboratory suite. Everything inside seemed normal. There were magazines for the test subjects to read while they waited. There was a television on a stand on the far side of the room, and even a newspaper. They went through two more rooms before Jeff saw a man in a white lab coat seated on a stool in front of a computer monitor. The man didn't even acknowledge that the door had opened, so Jeff decided to approach him.
"Hello, Dr. Horowitz, I'm Jeff Long", he said and extended his hand. "Dan", Jeff tried again, but there was no reaction. The man hadn't even looked up. Jeff threw a look back to Freddie. "Can he hear me?"
"Not really. This is what I couldn't really explain until you'd witnessed it. Dan is programmed to work on your projects for about two hours, three, sometimes four days a week. He doesn't have independent thoughts or desires during this period. He doesn't interact with people. He doesn't do anything except work. Then when the scheduled period is over, he goes back to normal."
Jeff couldn't believe it. "So how does he explain the missing time in his memory?"
"There is no missing time", Freddie said. "His brain fills gaps with stuff that he only thinks he did. Usually I do what he was going to do anyway. I know I'm not brilliant like he is, but I can do most things well enough that he thinks he did it."
"I don't believe this."
"Believe it!", Freddie said forcefully. "Dan hasn't wanted to work on the super soldier program in years. He quit not long after he found out what Mallster was doing with the technology. He wouldn't change his mind, so I found a way to change it for him."
"How… how long… I…", Jeff had so many questions that he didn't know where to begin.
Freddie grinned and leaned against the wall. "The how's not important. I wanted to show you that I've got this under control. You don't have to worry. Since you're here, just tell me what you want Dan to start working on, and I'll promise that he'll start on it tomorrow."
"That's not good enough."
"Tomorrow? I mean his block of time is almost used up for the day. He has to go out because if doesn't follow his routine then other people are…"
"I don't mean that. I want to know how you're doing this!"
Freddie sighed and thought about lying, but thought of the fat pay checks and said, "I know a guy who works in antiquities. Some of the stuff he gets his hands on are things that people believed had magical properties."
"Freddie we're men of science, we don't believe in hocus pocus", Jeff scoffed.
"Doc, you've worked for years trying to program a human brain. I'm here to tell you that some guy a few thousand years ago already figured it out. I used to use pieces of a Persian sculpture, but now I use something even better."
Jeff couldn't believe this. "Assuming what you say isn't complete crap, why did he stop working for Jason and go on the run?"
"Because the pieces of sculpture had a finite power level, and Mallster contacted Dan after the power had run low. That's why I'm a buffer now, in case something like that happened again, although it won't. Like I said, I use something better now. He follows my instructions perfectly."
"You programmed him like what we've been doing to the super soldiers?"
Freddie shook his head. "Hell, Jeff, we wish we could do it with the precision of this thing from China. I mean I played some tones and then Dan's mind opened up. This thing takes a person's brain to the command prompt!"
Jeff rubbed his chin. "So if Dan doesn't know what he's doing then you've been pocketing all the money."
Freddie's face turned guilty. "Look, I'm getting it done for you. Dan doesn't need the money. Old Dr. Warrmer pays his star researchers pretty damn well."
Jeff shook his head. "You're a weasel Freddie, but I need Dan's mind to make my program work. It would fall apart without him."
"See! I told you. I have it under control."
"It's the opposite. What if something happens to you? I mean what if you get hit by a bus, have a heart attack or something? This thread is too tenuous. I need some control… admin access to Dan too."
"But… but… I said I'd answer next time. It won't be…"
"Stop! I didn't say I'd cut you out. You can still be the middle man for all I care and get all the money. But I can't let my entire operation rest on you Freddie, no offense."
"None taken. Look the only way for you to get access to Dan is for the three of us to go to Tony's place. There's a sequence of things you have to do."
"Then call this Tony and tell him we are on the way."
"I just have to tell you that it's going to cost us."
"No, Freddie, it's going to cost you."
Jeff was glad that Freddie hadn't argued. Instead he'd written down the address to Tony's warehouse. Jeff would go in the car with Dan, who could drive even if he didn't realize what he was doing. Freddie would come in his own car. This situation had to look normal. The elevator door opened on the ground floor and Jeff went left towards the front security desk to sign out, never bothering to look to his right. Ian's eyes narrowed as he watched Jeff walking away from him.
"There's that guy again", he muttered.
"Who?", Lisa asked turning to see Jeff standing at the desk.
"I saw him in Atlanta, then we get on the same plane, and now I see him here."
"Well he can't be following you. I guess he's here for some reason", she suggested.
Ian started towards the desk. "Yeah I think I'm gonna see what that reason is." Lisa turned away as the elevator door opened to follow Ian who was already at the desk. "Hey", he began nonchalantly, "who was that guy here to see?"
"The one that just left?", Robby, the desk guard asked. "Well, Dr. Brooster I'm not supposed to…" Robby stopped in mid sentence when Lisa walked up. She didn't glare or even stare, just stood there, but that was enough for Robby. He remembered what had happened to him the last time he'd defied her. "His name is Jeff Long. Freddie signed him in", Robby informed quickly. "You can see he only stayed for a few minutes."
"Thanks Robby", Ian said and slapped the man on the back before heading to the elevators. "All I had to do was charm him", Ian boasted as he pushed the button.
Lisa chuckled. "You didn't charm him. I scared him", she said.
"What?"
"Come on Ian, it was written all on his face. You don't remember when I told you that I had to get physical with a guard back when you were kidnapped. Well that guard was Robby. He got to see me squeeze a five hundred pound plate into a ball."
"Oh wow. Well I guess he hasn't told anybody else about that then", Ian said as they stepped onto the elevator.
"Maybe his shrink", Lisa thought as the stainless steel doors closed.
Dan was already gone to the parking garage while Freddie took a moment to put the super soldier program notebooks away. He had a special locked drawer to hold those. He didn't want Dan to come across them when he wasn't in his trance state. The computer files were protected on a secret hard drive partition that Dan didn't know he knew the password to. Freddie was just about shut the computers down, when there was a knock on the door.
"Hey", Ian called and stuck his head in.
"What's up", Freddie said and picked up his gloves. "I'm just about to lea… leave", he stuttered when Lisa appeared from behind Ian. She was so beautiful that for a moment Freddie's mind slipped off of track.
"Where you going in such a hurry?" Ian's question brought Freddie's mind back to task.
"I'm not in a hurry", Freddie lied.
"Well, I didn't want to keep you. Is Dan here?"
"No", Freddie blurted too loudly then coughed to cover it up.
"Oh okay. I thought he'd be here since you guys had a visitor earlier", Ian pried.
"Visitor… oh you must mean Jeff. Yeah he and Dan go way back. Jeff's trying to get back into teaching, somewhere in California and I think he's schmoozing Dan to get his endorsement. He's taking us out for an early lunch. Like a brunch."
"Nice! Order something expensive!", Ian said and walked out into the hall. Freddie walked past the two and hurried towards the elevator. Ian and Lisa stayed by the door which Freddie heard close. That was enough for him. Ian's key card could get him into most doors at the institute, but Freddie had it set so that only his card, Dan's card, and the security master would unlock that door. Ian had grabbed the knob and turned it at the last moment. The door had closed, but the latch hadn't caught. Ian used his body to block Freddie's view. He didn't even look back anyway. His mind was on something else.
"What are you doing", Lisa asked once the elevator doors had opened.
"Come on over here and open this door", Ian said and moved to the side.
"What?"
"I stopped the knob from catching, but the magnets hold the door closed. I want to get in there", Ian said.
Lisa looked up and down the hall before putting her hand flat on the door. "I can't believe I'm doing this", she mumbled as she pulled up her sleeve. That simple motion had become a habit for Lisa when she was about to do something that shouldn't be possible. Her forearm flexed with severe definition. Muscles seethed and boiled beneath her copper colored skin like liquid in a caldron. Veins and tendons stood out on the back of hand while even thicker veins coiled around her flexing forearm like startled snakes. The door gave a little groan while striations sped down from her sliced up rear deltoid all the way to the bottom her flexing tricep. Her elbow started straightening and just that easily the powerful electro-magnets began to lose. She pushed the door as if was unlocked. She only went slowly so the three inch thick fire rated door wouldn't splinter like dry twigs under her might.
The neckline of her stylish business blouse was forced open as her pecs joined the tight, hyper defined flexing. Her face didn't register the least amount of strain as steel plates welded to the doorframe and door began to warp as they tried to keep the door closed. The locks had been designed to withstand police battering rams, but they couldn't begin to stand up to Lisa's left arm. Ian remembered a time when opening that door would have at least provided Lisa with a challenge, but she was so much stronger than she used to be. She said that her power grew as her understanding of her power grew. Ian would have been frightened if that sort of power was in the hands of someone who didn't have as a good a heart as Lisa did.
Her arm was almost straight now and Ian let go of the doorknob as her arm crossed his face. He could feel the heat coming off of her hyper shredded muscles and see the individual fibers firing faster than should have been humanly possible, but this had become normal for Lisa. He couldn't take his eyes off of her arm as she pushed door open wider and wider until finally she took a step forward and simply pushed the door open all the way. Ian ducked under her arm and went inside the waiting area to look for something to prop the door open. He slid a chair against the door and wedged it under the knob, but as soon as Lisa let off the magnets began dragging the chair and closing the door.
"Damn", Ian exclaimed and looked around for something heavier. "These magnets are stronger than I thought." He tried a trashcan, but the magnetic force began to bend it.
"Look just go find what you're looking for", Lisa urged. "I'll hold the door." She didn't want to be in this room any longer than necessary. She didn't even bother to tell Ian that even with the door fully open, the magnets were still pulling with about three hundred pounds of force. That gave her an idea.
While Ian disappeared deeper into the lab, Lisa stretched her body out and extended her leg, stretching and stretching until she got the toes of her high heeled shoes under the front of the sofa against the far wall of the waiting room. With several careful tugs from her gorgeous legs, she'd pulled the sofa close enough to grab it and drag it between the door and the doorframe. The sofa wasn't nearly heavy enough to keep the doors from closing. She just hoped the couch was strong enough to resist the force.
Ian looked high and low in this laboratory suite, feeling worse with each passing moment. He was violating a colleague's space. He already knew how that felt. The guilt wasn't enough to stop him though. Freddie was acting weird, and that super soldier's notebooks were rattling through his brain. "Is anybody coming?", Ian called to Lisa.
"No, and if there was, they'd have heard you."
"Well, I just want to make sure nobody comes in here while we're snooping."
"We're?!? You're the one snooping", Lisa said with some exasperation. "Besides, what am I supposed to do if someone does come this way?"
"I don't know. Use your super duper strength to knock them out", he suggested with a snicker.
Lisa shook her head. "I'm gonna knock you out", she muttered.
"I heard that!", Ian called from the next room. "Oh bingo!", he called out after a while.
"What?", Lisa called back and left her post at the door to join him. "Don't worry", she said when he looked at her with the unasked question on his face. "I've got a couch holding the door against the wall. It'll work." Or get crushed to splinters, she didn't bother to add.
Ian shrugged and turned back to a computer screen. "You remember those super soldiers that you fought when you had to rescue Jan?"
"How could I forget?" Her voice had a slight quiver as she spoke. She'd been forced to kill some of those super soldiers. She didn't think about often anymore, but for weeks, it had been almost all she'd been able to think about. She'd moved past the bad feelings, but hadn't quite gotten over them.
"Well one of the latest generation of super soldiers is somehow regaining some consciousness. She brought Moira and me notebooks full of code that is used to program humans… and it looks just like this", he pointed to the screen. "As a matter of fact I recognize this bit right here. We promised to help that girl. All she wants is to be normal again."
"So those super soldiers can think?", Lisa asked with a fair amount of alarm. She felt the anger and sadness from having to kill those soldiers return. She hadn't even been able to properly celebrate Jan's safe return home for thinking about what she'd been forced to do. The super soldiers were mindless, relentless, and had tried to kill her, but those facts had only soothed her feelings rather than eliminating them. Now those she heard that those soldiers might actually be able to think. That idea was short lived though.
"There's only the one", Ian said and thought back to what X-424 had said. "She's unique."
Lisa nodded and looked around the tidy lab. "So is this Dan guy involved?"
"I don't think he knows about this", Ian replied after a moment's thought.
"But this is his lab, isn't it?"
"Yeah", Ian agreed. "This is his lab, but that's his computer over there." He pointed to the next table over. "This is Freddie's machine."
Cassie ducked behind a light pole when her mother came down the front stairs of the institute. Mohammed moved the taxi from the side of the building and once again got out to hold the door open for Hayfa as she slipped into the back of his taxi. Cassie had bought some hot chocolate from the market down the street and was glad her mother hadn't seen her. Cassie only got to take a sip of her beverage as she got behind the wheel and took off after her mother's cab. They got on the expressway heading south. Cassie wasn't very good at tailing another car, but it didn't take a genius to realize after a mile or so that Hayfa was heading to her old South Side neighborhood, besides Mohammed wouldn't be able to get away from her.
"Hey, find me a pencil", Lisa called out.
Ian snatched one off of Freddie's desk. "What do you need this for?"
"I think I found something", she said and began to gently brush the side of the lead over the indentions on a sheet of paper. "It's an address", she said after the image began to appear.
"Wow", Ian said as he looked over Lisa's shoulder. "You missed your calling."
"Huh?"
"You should have been a detective."
Lisa chuckled. "I read a Nancy Drew book or two as a kid", she said and finished her sleuthing. "Hey I know where this street is. It's on the way to Alonzo's metal yard. Do you think this is where that Freddie guy went?"
"I'd bet on it. I think we should go find out."
Lisa sighed. "You are so lucky I don't have any meetings set for this afternoon."
Freddie was really happy that Ian and his hot friend hadn't delayed him for too long. He got to Tony's warehouse just has Jeff's cab was coming to a stop. "Stay behind me", Freddie ordered Dan once they'd met up on the sidewalk. Two of Tony's guys opened the door. The group was expected and Tony wanted to get this over with. He was always up to make some money. He didn't like Freddie, but he always paid his debts. That was good a good enough reason for the annoyance.
Tony met Freddie at the concrete structure his men had started calling the brick house, even if no bricks had been used in its construction. The squat reinforced concrete building had been built not only to protect Tony's prized possession, but to protect people from it. The bianzhong was so powerful that inaudible sounds could affect people's thoughts. That was why only Freddie, Dan, and a reluctant Jeff went inside. Tony gave Freddie his best guess for the musical sequence to add another command voice to a person's brain, but in truth Tony wasn't sure. There were so many things that were unknowns when it came to the bianzhong. Jeff flinched when the heavy steel door closed behind him. Dan stood on one side of the instrument while Jeff and Freddie were on the other. Freddie handed Jeff a mallet and the two got started.
Shah was ashamed that he'd actually felt some level of awe at arriving in this decadent city. It far surpassed anything in his homeland, and it wasn't even the greatest American city. He followed the GPS to a part of town that wasn't so decadent. Many of the buildings were dilapidated and the evidence of crime was all over the place. Shah passed gang members and others simply shuffling from one street to another. He picked up the radio communicator when it started to buzz.
"We have you in sight", Abbas told his leader. "The other groups have checked in. They will be ready soon."
"Very well", Shah replied with a suppressed smile. "How hard is the target?"
"There are guardsmen, but they are all inside the building. It seems that none of these Americans want to be out in the cold weather", Abbas informed with a chuckle. "Three men, probably clients, went into the building several minutes ago."
"Tell the men to assemble. We attack once we are in place, whether those three men leave nor not." Shah parked his rental car and got out. It was time to gather his men.
Hayfa Redwine felt equal parts sadness and nostalgia coming to this part of the South Side. She'd spent her childhood here. The cab had just passed the empty lot where her elementary school had once stood. The apartment building she, her parents, and her three siblings had once called home was long gone too, but the building that had housed their family business still stood, and a dry cleaning business was still there. Hayfa wondered if the new proprietors used some of the same equipment that she and her family had. There used to be a shoe store next door, but that had been turned into an outreach charity for children. The kids needed all the help they could get. The neighborhood had always been tough, even fifty years earlier, but somehow things had gotten worse, almost hopeless, and that threatened to break Hayfa's heart so she stopped thinking about it.
She turned her mind to Tony. They'd met in the sixth grade and he maintained the crush on Hayfa to this day. He'd been an eligible bachelor, but Jeremy had captured her heart while Tony never quite could reel it in. They remained friends though. It was a lucky accident that Tony had ended up getting into the antiquities business, and an even luckier accident that he specialized in obtaining unique artifacts. The tablet that Tony had acquired was much more than a piece of old stone. It was an index, one that would be invaluable during the coming war.
Jeff couldn't believe that all this bell playing mumbo-jumbo had worked. So now in addition to taking Freddie's commands, Dan's mind was open to Jeff's commands as well. He set up a series of tones to be the key to giving Dan commands, and then that was it. Jeff didn't feel odd at getting access to another man's brain. He'd been doing that to the super soldiers for years. He did feel strange since this process had been so easy. It usually took weeks to empty out a person's brain to make it ready to receive super soldier programming. That resulted in the complete loss of personality and sense of self from the subject, but Dan would be normal again soon. He wouldn't remember any of this.
"Yeah… yeah", Freddie said with a deep sigh. "I can pay you a quarter today, Tony. Just give me some time to make payments on the rest." Tony didn't enjoy dealing with Freddie, but he did pay his bills on time, so he agreed on the set up. Freddie nearly pushed Jeff towards the door while Dan obediently followed behind his two masters. Dan and Jeff went back to Warrmer's. Dan had been in a virtual trance for long enough. There needed to be some day left when he fully awoke. Freddie headed to the bank to get some money.
Mohammed stifled a yawn as he pulled up to a warehouse building and came to a stop. "Thank you so much", Hayfa said as she rifled through her purse.
"The pleasure was mine", Mohammed said with a smile. Hayfa finally pulled out a roll of money and handed Mohammed several 100 dollar bills through the window. "Bless you, mother!", Mohammed gushed as Hayfa got out and closed the door.
Tony came out of the building to greet Hayfa personally. Usually he'd have sent some of his men, but not for an important client and old friend. "You are still beautiful", he said and gave her a quick hug. "Come on in. I think you'll like what I've got for you."
Cassie stopped at the corner while her mother was hugging a man in a nice suit. She headed towards the back of the warehouse and parked. With Mohammed gone, Cassie had to stay close to her mother if she wanted to shadow her. Cassie found an exterior staircase and eased her way towards the roof. She hoped that there was a way to get inside the building from up there, but part of her mind thought that she'd probably watched too many movies. She passed a newish heating unit to find a skylight near an old heating unit that looked like it had been on the roof forever. The closer she got to the skylight the more she heard what sounded like static, only she wasn't hearing it with her actual ears. She knew it was her gift reacting to something.
She crouched next to the lattice like support of the old heating unit and looked through the dust covered skylight, adjusting to the dim view rather quickly. Her mother walked into the office below with the guy in the nice suit. A serious looking guy came up the stairs with them, but didn't actually go into the office.
Hayfa took a seat and the man in the suit punched some buttons on a safe. He leaned against mass of the five foot tall safe door to get it to open then reached inside. Cassie leaned forward to get a better view until he pulled out a simple wooden box. That static from before became an earsplitting crash of noise, but when Hayfa opened the box Cassie was thrown back as if she'd been physically shoved. It sounded like a stadium full of voices all screaming inside her head at once, and even worse than that, the sound sucked Cassie's mind and gift towards it. It was like a black hole, pulling in everything around it. To protect herself, Cassie walled up her gift tightly. It was the only way to keep from being overwhelmed. When she could just barely hear the tiniest amount of static, she leaned forward to look through the skylight again.
As hard as it was for Cassie to protect herself from the power of the tablet, it was triply hard for Hayfa. Beads of sweat formed on her brow and her breathing quickened. It gave off power like a nuclear fuel rod. Being so close, Hayfa should have felt her daughter, but with her power sealed off deep inside her, Hayfa couldn't even feel Tony standing next to her. That was why neither of them felt the man on the roof sneaking up behind Cassie.
Shah and his men scattered, keeping their sub-machineguns hidden beneath heavy winter coats. Tony's security was too relaxed to be effective. Tony was a South Side guy, and had shown that although he ran a multi-million dollar business, he hadn't lost his edge. A few dead would-be thieves had done the trick. The guards were mostly for show at this point, just something to show the locals so they remembered how much of a badass Tony way. Shah almost got enjoyment out of the idea of showing this Tony that he was really a nobody.
Amer was the youngest of Shah's men. What he lacked in experience he made up for with enthusiasm and dedication. He made his way to the rear of the warehouse. It was like Tony's men weren't even looking. He found the metal stairs right where Google Maps said they'd be. He put a hand to the frigid rail to keep from slipping on the ice as he eased his way to the roof. His eyes narrowed when he got to the roof and saw the top of a person's head. His right hand gripped the handle of his gun under his coat as he continued. He wondered if Tony had a man up there, but as he took his first step on the roof he saw that it wasn't a security guard up there at all. Some girl was looking through the skylight. He'd have to dispatch her quickly.
Cassie was only a moment from opening herself up to receive some of the tablet's power when two strong hands gripped her throat from behind. Fright flashed on her face and her mouth opened, but only the smallest squeak escape the man's gag. The man dragged her away from the skylight while Cassie's mind froze from the suddenness of the attack. She never realized how much she'd come to rely on her gift as another sense. Her panic lasted for a couple of seconds before she gathered her emotions and projected calm on her attacker. Nothing happened. Only then did Cassie feel the block inside this man. She probed it with her emotional ability, but it was airtight. She couldn't change this man's emotions.
Cassie gagged as the man stood over her to gain leverage. Her hands went to his wrists like a delayed reflex and she pulled with all of her might. Cassie's hard earned muscles actually pried Amer's hands apart enough for her to suck down a breath. The fresh oxygen and adrenaline fueled Cassie's efforts as she pulled with renewed energy. Amer frowned and tried to keep his grip on this woman's neck, but try as he might, a sustained effort from this little bitch broke his grip. She held his hands out away from her neck for a second before jumping to her feet and pushing Amer away.
He was shocked, but got up. Amer knew that wasn't the strongest guy, but he didn't understand how she could have done that. He glanced at his watch as he chased her. It was too early for the gun. He couldn't shoot her. Instead he pulled out a knife.
Cassie tried to make it to the skylight. All she had to do was bang on it to warn her mother. Amer lunged. Cassie saw his shadow and twisted away from the blade at the last instant. The steel bit into the stuffed sleeve of her coat and sliced it open from the shoulder to the wrist. Cassie jumped away as Amer's arm whistled in the wind, slicing upward. The blade missed, but just barely. Amer used his angle to put himself between this bitch and the skylight before stabbing at her. Cassie lost her balance and nearly fell trying to back away. Amer saw his chance and lunged, reaching with both hands. His fingers wrapped around Cassie's upper arm as she leaned against his tug. He tightened his fingers, but to his surprise something even harder resisted him. Something under the escaping stuffing the sliced coat solidified like liquid iron beneath his grip. Amer felt like he was touching stone rather than the upper arm of some woman. He thought she must have had a weapon hidden in her sleeve because he'd never felt flesh that hard. Cassie curled her arm and the iron inside the sleeve got harder and more importantly bigger, forcing Amer's fingers open against his best efforts. He tried to stab, but she pulled away leaving him holding fingerfulls of sleeve. Stuffing flew into the air and blew away in the wind as the ruined coat tore in six different places at once as Cassie ripped herself from this man's grip.
Amer held the coat in his hands while he looked at the woman's body. He'd never seen one like it. Where he came from the women did not build their bodies like that. He felt an odd mix of shameful lust and deep disgust looking at Cassie standing there in only a t-shirt. He didn't know what perfect symmetry was, or what muscle bellies were, or how hard Cassie had worked to sculpt her biceps and triceps and delts and pecs and abs like a motivated artist. Only Cassie's chiseling tools were weights and workouts. The effect on Amer was similar and despite his disgust was in awe, but only for a moment.
Cassie ran in a big circle trying to make it to the skylight even though she'd had an open path to the stairs. There was only thought in Cassie's mind, and that thought got her caught. Amer waited for the right time and pushed. His shove and her momentum sent her flying through the air. She hit the supports of the old heating unit hard enough to crack two ribs. Rust fell in big heaps while Cassie rolled on the cold roof in agony. Amer gave a small smile as he hurried to finish this, hoping that he wasn't behind schedule. He pressed a knee to the center of Cassie's muscular chest and pressed his weight down before grabbing Cassie by her blondish curls and forcing her head back exposing her throat. Her arms flailed wildly as Amer stabbed. The blade nicked her right forearm and the index finger on her left hand but then as she drew her hands back towards her throat, she grabbed a hold of Amer's sleeve and then his wrist and then his stab stopped. Her fingers cut into his wrist like little vices. His grip faltered as he saw this woman's muscles flex. He bore down and tried to bring his arm forward, but the tip of his knife just vibrated in space. Her arms thickened like bread backing in an oven and all the little insertions of muscle and tendon looked sharp enough to cut him. He was amazed as the three heads of Cassie's deltoids striated into a hundred fibrous eagle talons as she kept him at bay.
Amer cursed and released Cassie's hair only to slug her in the ribs with quick blows that shifted her already cracked ribs. "Leave me alone!", she cried out as Amer hit her again and again. Her arms shook as the pain sapped her strength. The knife began to move forward again. Amer put both hands on the handle and forced it in closer to Cassie's throat. Her elbows were already bent past a right angle and he knew that she had no leverage. He went in for the kill, but as soon as he stopped punching her ribs, Cassie's focus returned, so did her strength. With a mighty shove she straightened her arms and pushed Amer all the way off of her. His face showed open shock when his butt hit the roof four feet from Cassie. The shock morphed to rage when he scrambled back towards her.
Cassie couldn't have gotten to her feet so with no time to spare, she slid beneath the heating unit. She wiggled between and beneath the lattice supports with only inches to spare as Amer trust his arm in to pull her out. He grabbed her wrist and tugged with all of his might. She grabbed hold of one of the supports and a life and death battle of tug of war began. Cassie's biceps were bigger than his would ever be. They peaked majestically as she resisted Amer's full might. "Just leave me alone!", Cassie shouted. Amer was getting more and more desperate to silence this woman when the angled support Cassie was holding began to bend. Everything happened very quickly after that. A fifty year old rivet failed and the horizontal support began to sag which made all angled supports connecting to it began to bend. The old heating unit slid the spot it had occupied for decades while its rust support structure collapsed beneath it. Amer pushed away from the collapsing steel as it began to sink towards the woman beneath it. The unit was sliding right towards her head until she put both of her hands onto the sagging support and pushed with every fiber of her being.
Amer's mouth hung open when he saw Cassie's muscles flex for everything they were worth. Her skin seemed to ripple and boil as her muscles continued to flex. The impressive display was only enough to delay the evitable. The heater kept sliding and the support kept sinking until it pressed against her chest, flattening her ribcage and breaking her already fractured ribs. Amer watched Cassie struggle against her death with some amusement. He could have easily finished her, but snickered at her painful death instead. He got in position. The attack was only moments away.
to be continued....
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