Unity by Carl Stubblefield (epub read online books TXT) 📕

“I’m sure you have heard by now—but Mengele is here, and he has my wife. Who knows what other supers are in his little house of horrors. As much as I would like to bring everyone out of there, that may not be possible. Gwen is top priority, but if we can bring anyone out with us without compromising her extraction, then I say we do it. Because this is Mengele, I do not want to go head to head with him. I would prefer we sneak in and sneak out, completely undetected if possible.

“To that end, we need to pick up Prime, as she will have the most experience with this type of mission. The Aslan HQ is in the opposite direction, so we need to hurry. I don’t trust Kenway, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s in league with Mengele. He knew where Gwen was a little too easily for my tastes. I may be wrong, but we need to be prepared for anything.”

“Let’s make the bastard pay!” Darik cheered.

“As much as I want to do that very thing, I’m afraid we’re outclassed. We have no knowledge of what he has been doing here, who is working for him, and how he has evolved in the past decade he has fallen off of everyone’s radar. There’s just too many unknowns and we don’t have the time to investigate them thoroughly. I do not want Gwen to get transferred anywhere else or… worse.”

Tempest cleared his throat before continuing. “For now, the plan is to check out these coordinates without being detected, determine when the best time to extract Gwen is, and then be in and out as quickly as we can. I want to kick some ass, but we have to save that fight for another day. Let’s get Prime and get going. How are we in terms of our shrouds?”

“Shrouds are running low on power; we will probably only have another 8 hours,” Aurora reported, checking the suits.

“Power them down until we absolutely need them. Seneschal will let us know when we are close. Let’s finish this and get the hell out of here.”

Chapter Forty-Two

Hellcat

“Since our new friends know about the Aslan clan’s HQ, I’m going to be dropping you off nearby, then circling back. I don’t want to have to shake them again and waste any time,” Seneschal told the small group as they crammed into the small cockpit. “I’ll sync this timer so you can meet me at the drop off coordinates. Be there or it will reset and I’ll have to make another circuit and come back around. Do not make me do that, if at all possible.” A timer with twenty minutes popped into life in the lower left of Gus’ display.

With the plan set, they headed for the cargo bay, ready to jump out as Seneschal made the brief stop near the Aslan’s alcove.

“Are you okay, Gus?” Aurora asked.

He self-consciously stopped massaging the base of his skull. “I would be if these headaches would go away.” He stretched his neck back and forth, forward and backward, trying to relieve the tension and pain. “BoJack couldn’t find anything wrong.”

“You think it’s from, you know, the crystal? Didn’t you say that’s when the headaches started?”

Gus nodded as he fell in step with Aurora. “I thought they were going away for a while, but they’ve recently started getting worse. Some things help but then the rebound seems even worse.”

“Still not sleeping?”

“I don’t dare to, that’s when Leech kicks in and assimilates any absorbed abilities. I just know there’s too much in the buffer that I can’t risk it. At least until we get Mom. She needs me until then, so I’ll tough it out.”

“Don’t try to be too strong on your own for too long. That won’t serve anyone. You have to communicate when you’re on a team; we need to know if you’re on the edge. I still think you should tell the group about everything.”

“Noted. But let’s wait until we finish this op. We don’t need any distractions—we’re almost in the end zone. Don’t worry about me, I won’t let you or the Crew down.”

“It’s not about disappointing us. We can’t help you if you aren’t honest about your status.”

“I can pull my weight. Don’t worry about me. I’ll get the job done. I’m just looking forward to some downtime when all of this is over.”

Aurora gave Gus a sidelong glance. “Alright…” she said, letting the issue drop.

“Are you guys in position for the drop and dash?” Seneschal asked as the ship began to slow and rotate.

“We’re good,” Tempest confirmed as the gangway began to open, its noisy hydraulics whirring as the roar of engines and whipping wind intruded on the relative peace of the cargo bay. As the gangway yawned open, buildings were revealed as they zipped by in the mists. They were still moving at quite a clip, and a chill wind circulated into the room through the open hatchway. Tempest made a motion for the others to activate their shrouds.

“Get ready to go in three… two… one,” he indicated with hand motions.

The ship did an abrupt spin and the bottom of the gangplank oriented a couple of feet above a familiar alcove. Everyone slid down the gangplank and the ship shot off again as soon as Gus’ feet were clear, even before he had touched down on the alcove. They rushed to the doorway as the ship disappeared into the darkness and the countdown timer began ticking down.

Sir Rhino reluctantly let them in, muttering under his breath as they were led back to the throne room.

The throne room was darker than before and the primal, animal scent was more evident. The thrones were backlit by an orange glow, and they were allowed to wait there while someone conversed with the hybrid sovereigns in the shadows. With a gesture, the figure left, opening a doorway to the side of the thrones, leaving it open.