][Friday, May 27,1988
Three Kings Public House
St. Louis Lambert International Airport
10701 Lambert International Blvd
St. Louis, MO
It is around eight in the evening when Cloris Armstrong, Bruce Stacey and Phil Kinkaid sit down at a table in the airport lounge. “I’m still confused why we are in an Airport bar,” Bruce comments.
“Because this is where Mr. Alameda asked us to meet him,” Cloris answers as a waitress approaches the table. “What Mr. Alameda wants he gets.” “I’ll have a whiskey, neat,” she tells the cocktail waitress.
“Just water for me, thank you,” Bruce says.
“I’ll have a bourbon on the rocks,” Phil orders before the waitress leaves the table. “I’m not clear on why he wants me here.”
“I get the feeling that whatever he wants is so important he needs to do it on a layover at the airport, it can not be good,” Cloris comments, not feeling at all relaxed.
“I think you two are much too afraid of Mr. Alameda, he has never been anything but nice to me,” Bruce says, getting angry looks from both of his companions. “I would bet whatever he has to tell us is good news.
“I’ve never known Howard Alameda as a man who brings good news,” Phil comments as the waitress arrives with their drinks. Phil takes a large sip of his bourbon as Cloris slugs her whiskey down in one gulp.
“Cheers to that,” Cloris says, sitting her empty glass back to the table.
While his associates numb themselves for bad news, Bruce’s attention is drawn to the bar. It is one woman in particular that he notices. She is a brunette with her hair pulled into a bun on the top of her head. She wears a silk blouse with the top three buttons open and a knee length skirt that is rather tight with a slit up the side that shows off her thigh as she crosses her legs. She gives off a kind of sexy school teacher look. But there is something else familiar about her that he can not place. Maybe it is the color of her hair throwing him off. It really doesn’t go with her features. Then he looks at the man sitting with her. “Hey, isn’t that Mr. Alameda at the bar with that brunette?” he asks the others at the table.
“Leave it to him to find a hot woman at the airport,” Phil comments, taking another drink of his bourbon.
“I’ll let him know we are here,” Bruce says, getting up from the table.
“What an idiot,” Cloris comments as Bruce walks to the bar to step between Mr. Alameda and the woman he speaks with. “He is just asking for trouble!” It takes only a few minutes for Bruce to return to the table with Mr. Alameda.
“Well it is nice to see that you are punctual at any rate,” Mr. Alameda says standing at the table as Bruce returns to his seat. “It has come to my attention that there have been several gaps in communication.”
Cloris feels instantly defensive but does not react to Mr. Alameda’s accusation. There is no way he could know what she has been doing or what has been going on at the office without someone telling him behind her back.
“Make no mistake, my plan is to make this young man a household name in the next two years and if anyone stands in the way of it, heads will roll!” Mr. Alameda states with no hesitation. “I want this book signing tomorrow to go exactly as planned with no deviations!” “And public displays will not be tolerated.” His attention is fully on Cloris and Phil. It is almost like Bruce isn’t at the table with them. “Ms. Armstrong I have known you to be the most professional and accomplished editor on my St. Louis staff and I expect that to continue being true!” “Any personal conflicts you have with Mr. Stacey are to be left at the door when the book signing starts.” “And you Mr. Kinkaid are know to be the most detail oriented personal security money can buy.” “I expect that you will identify and follow up on any and all suspected risks to Mr. Stacey’s safety!” “No matter how small.” Before Mr. Alameda turns to leave the table he says, “I hope this is the last time we need to have this conversation.”
“Excuse me, Mr. Alameda, before you go I would like to say one thing,” Bruce says standing up. “Cloris and Phil have been nothing but helpful to me.” “I could not have gotten this far without them.”
Mr. Alameda grimaces, “I know that is what you think and I appreciate you standing up for them.” “The problem is that everything must go exactly as I have instructed or events will fall out of place.” “I, all too well what can happen if events don’t fall in place correctly.” “Perhaps you should give them some time to think over what I said.”
His words sound like something his father told him all his life. “I’m not sure I understand what you are saying,” Bruce replies, following Mr. Alameda back to the young lady at the bar.
Cloris and Phil watch as Bruce tries to talk to Mr. Alameda at the bar. But clearly the business man has other plans as he takes his suitcase and leaves. Both Bruce and the woman who was sitting with Alameda look confused as the man leaves. Bruce speaks with the woman from a few minutes until she too leaves.
Bruce returns to the table where Phil asks, “So who was she?”
“What?” Bruce replies still lost in thought. “Oh she was just someone Mr. Alameda met at the luggage claim.”
][Saturday, May 30, 1988
The Webster Groves Bookshop
27 N Gore Ave
Webster Groves, MO
First time author Bruce Stacey prepares for his first book signing at a local bookstore. His editor Cloris Armstrong really does not expect that much of a turn out, seeing as Bruce’s book has only been on the shelves for a few weeks. But her boss Howard Alameda insisted on having the signing on this date, at this place, and time. Seated at a table at the front of the book store Bruce tries to calm his nerves at the thought of being out in public like this for the first time. He spent most of his life living in a cabin with only his father. Talking with more than a few people at a time is completely a new experience to him. Behind him is a large sign reading; “Meet the author of Lost Boy Found.” On the table in front of Bruce are several pens and a stack of his books.
Bruce tries to take his mind off of his situation by looking to Cloris who stands nearby. She stands chatting with Phil Kinkaid, his bodyguard who has become more of a personal assistant. Although Bruce really has little need for a bodyguard. He gets the feeling that neither of them likes him too much. Bruce has made Phil’s job much harder than it should be because of how often he seeks out, giving him good reason to not like Bruce. Cloris on the other hand is because of the events that took place involving her son a few months ago.
For months now Phil has acted as something of a go-between for Bruce and Cloris. This is actually the second time Bruce has been in the same room with Cloris in months. It has been even longer since he has heard from her son Derek Armstrong. When Bruce first arrived in St. Louis Deke was eager to be his friend. Now Cloris actively keeps her son away from Bruce. “How is Deke doing?” he asks Cloris casually when she approaches him. The mid-aged woman appears to have not heard Bruce’s questions so he repeats it. “I asked, how is Deke doing?”
Cloris Armstrong glares at the man whose book she has been forced to edit under threat of losing her job. “I would prefer not to discuss my son with you,” She replies sternly. A man like Howard Alameda can do things much worse than fire her too. He could make it so she never gets another job in publishing. So she must endure this indignity. But she does not need to allow this man to harm her son any farther.
“I know you blame me for what happened, but it was not all my fault,” Bruce tells his Editor who has not had a kind conversation with him in months.
“Let it go, Bruce,” Phil tells him. Phil has come to hate this job but would hate it more if Cloris were to confront Bruce about the bad-blood between them in public. “We just need to make it through another three hours.” “You know what Mr. Alameda told us last night.” “Public displays will not be tolerated!”
“We’ve been here for an hour and I have signed one book,” Bruce states. “I don’t understand why we are even here.”
“Neither do I!” Cloris asserts before walking toward the door to step outside. The two men watch her as she lights a cigarette on the sidewalk out front.
“I’ve told you before not to push her,” Phil whispers, stepping up behind Bruce as a beautiful young woman approaches the table. She is tall, thin, and curvy with large breasts. Dressed in a tight maroon mini-dress she brushes her long dark hair back over her shoulder as she smiles at Bruce. “Just sign the books and we’ll get out of here soon.”
Holding Bruce’s book in her well manicured hands the young woman looks at his photo on the back cover. “You are much hotter in person,” She comments, giving Bruce a wink.
“Thank you miss,” Bruce says, not sure how to react to the young woman’s blatant sexuality. Growing up alone with his father in the mountains he has had little interaction with a woman like this previously. He knows he shouldn’t stare at her, but she is such a knockout he finds it hard not to take in every inch of her body. “Who should I make this out to?” he asks as Phil instructed him earlier to make the inscriptions personal.
“Bette,” she says simply. “Bet we could have a lot of fun together.” She giggles, leaning forward over the table to give Bruce a view down the front of her top at her beautiful round boobies. Blushing Bruce turns his gaze to the inside of the book cover where he signs his name with the inscription; Hope you enjoy my book. “Do you do personal readings?” she asks standing back up as she takes the book back from him.
“No,” Bruce clears his throat, suddenly feeling a little horse. “NO, I haven’t done that.”
“Perhaps you could start with me,” Bette says, sliding him a slip of paper across the table. “I like to be read to in bed.” she says, smiling at him.
Bruce takes the slip of paper to glance at it. The paper has her name of a hotel and room number written on it with hearts dotting the “i” Bette Bilison. “You know where that is, right?”
Bruce tucks the piece of paper in his shirt pocket. “Yes, yes I do,” he smiles at her. Bruce and Phil watch Bette’s ass wiggle in her tight skirt as she strut across the store and outside.
Glancing over Bruce’s shoulder into his pocket, Phil reaches down to take the slip of paper saying, “That would not be a good idea.”
Bruce looks up at him replying, “If only you knew just how bad.” “I am fully aware she wants me to do more in bed than read.” “I have no interest in taking her up on her offer.”
Commander Edma’s stronghold
The warehouse District
St Louis, MO
Commander Edma has since discarded her Janet Redmayne persona, having no further use for it. She and the man posing as her husband have spent months reproducing his Celaerian guardian design. Commander Edma’s goal has been to create automatons that will be the best of both Celaerian Fluoro-cyborg technology and that of Spartan programming.
The recent discovery of a mass-murder scene has attracted Anet Edma attention as well. It was the unusual nature of the killer that first alerted the Spartan Commander to killings. Each murder was preceded by a surge in the electro-magnetic field detected by her equipment. With each murder she came closer to tracking the location of the serial killer. It was the killer she sought but not to bring him to justice like she would have as Janet Redmayne, but to discover the truth of its origin.
It was the discovery of the fifteenth murdered people that at last gave her the location of the killer’s layer. Edma and her Fluoro-cyborg slave arrived only after the killer had fled, possibly because of their impending arrival. They found only the many emaciated corpses. Giving no care to the loss of human life, Edma only saw the opportunity to harvest the DNA of the victims. Taking what she wanted from the dead she didn’t bother reporting the crime before going on her way. It would be another week before the bodies of the fifteen would be discovered by the real authorities.
While in St. Louis Edma’s attention was also drawn to the release of a new book “Lost Boy Found.” It was billed as the follow up to another book she read while using her Janet Redmayne identity. Edma was intrigued by the accurate depiction of the Vega-Sirius War. She searched for the author only to learn that he was dead. Now another book has been written by a son of that original author.
When she and her slave returned to her stronghold she studied the samples she took from the emaciated corpses. What she found confirmed what she suspected that they all died through the abuse of alien technology. The energy signatures left behind in their brains could have only been put there by one type of machinery constructed on the planet Damerax. A planet whose technology was believed lost decades ago when it was destroyed. This technology she could put to use as her part in the Vega-Sirius War. Edma also concludes from the existence of this technology on Earth that it did not come here alone.
After Commander Edma finished reading “Lost Boy Found” she could only conclude that it was written by a survivor of that lost world. She would have used the technology employed to murder those people and anyone who came to Earth with it. Using the harvested human DNA she would create her greatest achievement. What better soldiers could there be than one completely obedient and disposable. One that she could be mass produced in a laboratory. The only thing she needed to finish the creation of her new and improved Fluoro-cyborg was to find the right human DNA. The victims of the alien tech gave Commander Edma the final piece to assemble her first automatons.
Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel
11228 Lone Eagle Dr
Bridgeton, MO
Bruce Stacey arrives in the lobby of the Crowne Plaza Airport Hotel. He is surprised to realize that it is the same one that Bette Bilison wrote on the slip of paper she passed him. He has reversed places with his bodyguard by following Phil since the end of the book signing. It struck him as odd that Phil was not returning with him to the apartment after what Mr. Alameda instructed last night at the Airport. Is this why Phil took the slip of paper from his pocket? In the past few days Phil has been acting differently, making Bruce suspicious that something is wrong.
Bruce approaches the front desk where three confused men argue with the clerk. The smallest of the men must stand about five feet, eight inches tall but he is clearly the angriest. “How the hell can it be that you have no idea who any of us are?” he shouts at the bewildered clerk.
“Because none of you are registered guests in the hotel,” the clerk explains. “None of the staff even remembers seeing the three of you enter the hotel.” “Nor are you on any video!”
Bruce watches from a few feet away as the man’s anger escalates out of control. The clerk has been nothing but polite to the men but this little guy is not having it. Bruce spots the gun the moment the man lifts the back of his shirt to reach for it. Bruce knows he could easily disarm the man with his Null-force power. But spotting the cameras mounted around the lobby that the clerk mentioned, he is aware of the importance of keeping his powers hidden. It is much safer if he moves up behind the man at normal speed.
“I demand that someone do something!” the man shouts drawing the weapon from the back of his pants. The other two men with him shout for him to stop. “Someone here must know something about us!” He points the gun at the clerk behind the reception counter.
“I know something about you,” Bruce says, coming up behind the man to grab his arm and force it behind his back. “You are a dangerous man.” The gun suddenly goes off firing a bullet up into Bruce’s chin. There are screams from all over the lobby at the sound of the gunfire. The slug drops to the floor at Bruce’s feet leaving him completely unharmed.
The sight of the bullet’s effect on Bruce triggers something in the other two men who up until this point have been acting rationally. It is like a deep seated hatred has been awakened in them as they attack Bruce. He tries not to laugh as their fist bounces off of him. He really doesn’t want to draw any more attention than he has already. As the four men struggle the desk clerk flees to dial 911 on the phone.
Bruce has no idea what this is all about but he knows he doesn’t have time for this and he doesn’t want to be here when the police arrive. A few well placed punches and elbows knock the men unconscious onto the floor of the lobby. Bruce looks at the number of people standing around watching them but they are not as much of a problem as the cameras that have recorded his actions. He had been doing some reading up on magnetic bursts and video recording and he hopes that a low level release of his Null-force power will have the same effect. He focuses his Null-force to release a low power pulse over the whole surface of his body. It goes completely unnoticed by everyone in the hotel lobby. Except for the computers at the desk that blink off and then reboot. In the next second Bruce is gone at superspeed past the arriving police.
Meanwhile, several floors up from the lobby, Phil Kinkaid arrives outside the door of room 722. In his hand he holds a copy of the book, “Lost Boy Found.” Slightly nervous he knocks on the door. It takes only a few moments for the door to be answered by the attractive Bette Bilison. She is dressed in even less than she wore to the book shop. The thin pink silk robe makes it clear to the man that she wears nothing underneath it. She invites him in by taking hold of his jacket.
Closing the door behind him she pulls his jacket down over his shoulders. Bette guides him into the room. She wastes no time getting the jacket over his hands and the book before she starts on unbuttoning his shirt. She pushes him back against the glass balcony doors to kiss him passionately. It is only minutes before she moves to open his pants.
Phil is both nervous and excited at the thoughts of what comes next. Moving down his body she has his pants and underwear to his ankles in one smooth movement. His eyes are already closed when he realizes that nothing else is happening. He opens his eyes to see that Bette is now standing across the room facing the wall. Apparently she is talking to herself in a low whisper. “What is going on?” he asks, standing there peeled like a banana.
Bette turns back to him to say angrily, “You are not the one.” “Who are you?”
“You seemed to think I was the one when you opened the door,” he grins.
“I said who are you!” she demands this time.
“I’m Phil Kinkaid, Bruce Stacey’s personal assistant.” “I was going to apologize that Bruce could not read to you.”
“Then you have made a fatal mistake,” Bette replies, taking a strange looking weapon from the desk drawer. “You are not the man I need!” She raises the weapon pointing it at Phil Kinkaid who stands motionless with his pants around his ankles. Then instinct kicks in as he bends down to pull his pants up. His bare ass pressing against the sliding glass door as she fires the weapon sending a beam that shatters the glass. Startled Phil backs out onto the balcony. Bette steps forward preparing to fire again. Terrified, Phil unexpectedly finds himself falling back over the railing.
Bette approaches the rail as Phil falls off the seventh floor balcony. “Not tonight, Miss Bilison,” a costume man in a red hood says, floating up from below holding Phil in his arms.
“How did you get here?” Phil stammers.
“I followed you,” Olympian replies as Bette moves to aim at them again. “I could tell there was something not right going on.”
“So masked man, are you the one I seek?” Bette questions her attitude turned much more serious than the seductress they met earlier. “Are you the key to the end of everything?”
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Olympian says, raising his right hand toward her. “But that weapon has caused enough damage tonight.” He commands a swirl of wind in the open balcony door room sending her back into the hotel room. Lowering himself to the balcony he drops Phil’s feet to the floor. Olympian follows Bette inside using the Null-force to pin her to the wall. Phil Kinkaid scrambles to finish button his pants then moves to put his back to the building out of the view of the door.
As he steps into the room Olympian alters to allow her to talk. “There it is, that sweet Null-force!” Bette purrs with a seductive grin. “But, it can do more than you know.”
“What?” “What did you call it?” Olympian says with surprise as he steps closer. She does not reply or try to resist. “How do you know that word?”
“I am not the only one who seeks you,” Bette grins defying reason as she lifts her arm within the glow of his pulsing powerbeam. Olympian knew from the moment he met this woman that something was not right about Bette Bilison. He watches as she brings her arm into position to aim the weapon at him. Never did he suspect that she would be capable of resisting his Null-force. On her wrist she wears a silver and gold bracelet with amber stones that glow brightly.
Olympian changes the focus of his power to the bracelet making it vibrate on her arm. Bette cries out in pain as she drops her weapon to the floor. She grabs her left forearm with her right hand as the stones on the bracelet glow brighter. Bette screams out a final time as the bracelet explodes, blowing her hand off. Her blood splatters against the wall.
“Oh shit!” Olympian exclaims stepping toward the injured woman to release her from his power. “I didn’t mean to do that!” “Hell I didn’t even know I could do that!” “Let me help you.” Bette crouches down over the end table from which she drew the weapon. Strange dark blood drips to the floor at her feet.
Phil stands peeks out the balcony door in shock at what he has just witnessed. “Oh my God!” he gasps. “How could you do that?”
“I don’t know, that isn’t how my power works,” Olympian says, turning away from Bette. Behind his back Bette’s hand completely restores itself. She reaches for a knife that lays on a board of cheese. She lunges forward at Olympian’s back.
“Watch out!” Phil shouts as the crazed woman lunges for Olympian’s back. Her strength is like nothing Olympian has ever known as he tries to fight the woman off his back.
Bette swipes the knife over Olympian’s shoulder across his throat. “Die Damerite!” she shouts, hanging from his broad shoulders. Bette slices at his throat again expecting to feel a gush of blood from a gaping wound.
Finally, Olympian is able to shrug his shoulders back, casting the woman to the floor. He turns with not even a scratch on his neck. “Who or what are you?” he asks looking down on the woman on the floor. “How do you know these things about me?”
Bette moves to crawl around the floor in front of him like a cat on the prowl. “Foolish man, you wrote it all in those books,” she growls. “I needed to only trick you out into the open.” “You are a threat that must be dealt with as quickly as possible.”
“Then you have failed,” Olympian responds, raising his hand at her. Bette floats up from the floor to hover helpless in front of him. “You will not touch me again.” “Tell me who else seeks me!”
Bette struggles to resist his power, but without her bracelet she is trapped in his thrall. “It tries to retrieve you but finds only weak humans,” she giggles. “There have been fifteen so far, find the bodies and it will find you.” “When that happens, you will wish that I killed you.”
Phil stands silent in shock not far away listening to the helpless woman’s words. “I read about fifteen bodies being found in the Hillsboro,” he mutters. “Their cause of death is a mystery.”
Olympian looks to Phil then back to the floating woman. “Is that what you are talking about?” he asks Bette. She does not respond. Something else is happening to her as she stops struggling against his power. She does make a gasping sound as her appearance begins to change. Bette’s voluptuous body begins to shrivel like a wilting flower.
“What are you doing to her?” Phil shouts moving to grab Olympian’s arm.
“It’s not me, my power does not work like that!” Olympian releases Bette from his power, dropping her to the floor. Free from his control her flesh still continues to wither like a dying plant. “I don’t know what is happening to her!” he shouts.
“Do something!” Phil insists as the once beautiful woman on the floor now looks like a one hundred year old woman. Phil reaches out to take her hand and it begins to crumble to dust. It takes only seconds from the rest of her body to become nothing more than a silhouette of dust on the carpet.
A Log Cabin
High in the Taum Sauk Mountains
Arcadia Township, MO
Deke Armstrong has been searching to find what is missing in his life for days. The problem has been that he has no idea what he is looking for out here. His overprotective mother believes that he is on a college tour weekend. When she returns home tonight to not find him there, she will know what he told her is not true. But with all he has been through in the past year this urge to return to where Bruce was raised seems irresistible.
Deke found the old cabin in the mountains where Bruce took him by retracing every step they took that day. Unseen by Bruce, Deke had used his penknife to put marks on the trees along the path. At the time he wasn’t sure why he had done it, but now he is glad that he did. The question that remains in his mind now is why does he feel this need to be here?
He stares at the handmade handle on the door. He isn’t sure if he should go inside or not. Inside this old cabin is where everything he believed about his life changed. He learned that his mother was a lair. He learned that his father didn’t die before he was born. His father was here in this mountain cabin all the time he was growing up. The most hurtful thing was that his father had raised someone else as his son. Deke never met his father but, from what Bruce told him he was a good man. Someone who was always encouraging Bruce to keep going when things went wrong. Deke could use that kind of father in his life right now.
Stepping inside the cabin the setting sun shines through the old torn curtains on the windows. The inside of the small cabin is just as he remembers it, smelling of wood smoke and sweat. He walks over to the smaller bed to the right side of the room to sit down on the edge of it. Then he lays back on the stiff wool blanket. This is where Bruce brought him after the Nanny-ship’s programming invaded his mind. The Core Processor showed him so many things at once it took him a while to understand all of it. When he woke up he told Bruce the things he had figured out at the time. But now there is so much more.
Deke read about the war in space in his father’s book but now he feels as if he has experienced it. Just like he did with the events that took place in that Hotel room while he was in Avalon. It has all been a lot to handle in the past months. But now that the trial of the Highroller is over he needs to get back on track. His mother hates the idea of him being around Bruce, she blames him for everything that has happened. But Deke knows that is not true. In a way everything that happened in both that Hotel room and that dungeon cell in Avalon was all Deke’s doing. As hard as it was to do, Deke has come to terms with that fact.
That being said, Deke still feels a connection to the Nanny-ship’s core processor. But this cabin is not the last place he saw it. Deke heads back out of the cabin into the woods up the mountain. He must make the hike in the dark back up to where the Nanny-ship was buried. It was also where Bruce confronted Scarab and the last place they saw both.
Commander Edma’s stronghold
The warehouse District
St Louis, MO
Commander Edma waits patiently for a report from her latest creation. Bette Bilison is completely autonomous even to broadcast communication. The automaton that appears completely human also must communicate completely in human fashion. By now Commander Edma expects that Bette should have completed her assignment and will return here with her reward. To her dismay when someone does arrive at Commander Edma’s secret location it is not the automaton she expected.
Phil Kinkaid enters Commander Edma’s layer, not at all surprised to find the very alien looking woman. “What are you doing here?!” the Spartan Commander shouts at the sight of Bruce Stacey’s bodyguard.
“I am sorry to report that the Bette Bilison automaton was a complete failure,” Phil says as if he has known Edma’s entire plan all along.
“What do you mean a failure?” she shouts in anger. “You were not followed here, were you?” “We have risked too much to replace the Damerite’s companion with you my Guardian!” “We can not risk skinning another human to replace this one!”
“No, I was not followed, the Damerite believes he saved my life,” Phil Kinkaid’s Celaerian Fluoro-cyborg replacement explains. “His power somehow found a defect in the design of your automaton and destroyed it,” “I can only assume it had something to do with that DNA you used from those murder victims.” “Fortunately he still has no idea who I really am or how his power destroyed your creation.” “He also remains completely unaware of the large part he plays in the winning of the Vega-Sirius War.”
Hawk Nest Storage, LLC
11356 MO-21,
Hillsboro, MO
Olympian arrives outside the warehouse where the nude bodies of seven men and six women of multiple races were found weeks ago. The investigation must be ongoing because there is still police tape all around the perimeter of the building. Phil showed him the Newspaper article on the occurrence. All that the police said at the time was it appeared to be a group suicide. Thanks to what Bette Bilison told him, Olympian does not believe that story. There is something strange about this whole scene. Reading over the article he has learned that the real Bette Bilison was one of those people found here.
Olympian strolls around the outside of the building looking for any clue to prove what he suspects. Now that he has perfected flight that is more of a gliding on air currents Olympian has become rather attuned to the flow of air around him. There is something that draws his attention on that level as he makes his way to the back of the warehouse. There is a steady flow of air around a sub-level access panel on the ground. No one else would probably notice it but to him it is a glaring light drawing him closer. The steel louver doors at the foundation of the building have a new lock on them and a plastic tie that is labeled crime scene.
Breaking the lock and opening the door will take little effort for Olympian. It is disturbing a crime scene that makes him question his next move. He has not had much contact with the police department since he began his adventures as Olympian. Breaking that tie would most likely not be a good way to win favor with the police. But to learn what he needs to know to answer his questions he has little other option.
Luckily there is another way for him to get in. A small amount of Null-force on the lock in the right place will do the trick and leave no trace to make him a suspect. Olympian focuses his Null-force power more precisely than he has ever tried to do. It takes several minutes for him to cause the lock to vibrate in such a way, almost as if it is aging. The molecular bond that holds the metal together breaks and the lock crumbles to dust.
Olympian moves to step inside of the warehouse. It is quiet, completely still, and it is dark inside the large empty building. The only light is the moon shining down from the three story high windows just below the roof line. Taking out the flashlight he has tucked in the back of his belt he shines it on the floor. He doesn’t walk that far before he sees the white chalk lines on the floor. There are fifteen in all that outlined the bodies where they fell.
Olympian strolls between the two rows of outlines toward the back of the warehouse where there is another door. It appears as if each of the bodies fell at a greater distance from the back door. There is no way for him to know the order of the arrivals, but clearly it is the largest of the victims that made it the farthest. He can only assume that the smallest outlines closest to the back door were women or the smaller men. In the middle of the rows the size of the outlines are varied as if there was a trial and error phase of the murders. Olympian doesn’t know much about serial killers but he does know that they do not change the type of victims like this if they are not crimes of passion.
He shines the light back over the lines on the floor and then out and around the wide open room where something catches the light over in the corner by the door. The flash draws his attention away from the chalk on the floor. Shining the flashlight on what appears to be a chunk of metal Olympian wonders how it got here. He has no knowledge of this being anything other than a storage warehouse. Shining his light up to look around the ceiling he sees no signs that it was ever a factory that would have needed venting. As he draws closer to the source of the reflection he begins to feel ill. Which is strange because he has never been sick a day in his lift.
A few yards from the chunk of metal on the floor, Olympian’s hand begins to sake as his head begins to throb. Suddenly he is frozen in his footsteps unable to take another step. Feeling dizzy and weak, the flashlight falls from his hand to the floor. It rolls in a half circle stopping pointing back at him. His head spinning, it becomes impossible to stand as he falls to the cold floor. Laying on the floor he tries to call out but even his voice will not respond to his brain’s command. Olympian feels as if his guts are being turned inside-out.
Then Olympian hears the sound of the back door being torn open. He can’t even move his head to see who has arrived. He tries to call out again with no success. He can hear a set of footsteps on the concrete warehouse floor moving toward him, but stopping just outside of his line of vision. The person, whoever it is, stops for a moment, it seems as if he is being stared at by the unknown person. Surely they will help him. Olympian can feel his eyes taking long blinks as the pain begins to grow inside of him. He tries to call out again, but can’t.
The stranger in the dark begins to walk again, the footsteps stop to stand between Olympian and his flashlight. He can see the small booted feet cross through his limited path of vision. Could they be the feet of a woman? If so she walks away from him without lifting a finger to help. She walks out of Olympian’s line of sight toward the glint of metal he saw in the corner. Is that why she is here? Olympian doesn’t get an answer to his questions as his struggle to stay conscious ends.
About 15 miles from the Log Cabin
High in the Taum Sauk Mountains
Arcadia Township, MO
It is dark by the time Deke arrives at the site where the Nanny-ship was buried. Of all of the places he has visited in his quest over the past few days this is the most significant. This is the place where his father hid the thing he thought would cause his adoptive son the most harm. He wrote about it in his book, telling of the fear he felt for his son. In truth the Nanny-ship ended up hurting Deke, not Bruce but Larry’s son by birth. Deke never actually saw the ship before it was taken apart and reassembled as Scarab. Having read his father’s book several more times since his last visit here, Deke has to wonder if Lawrence Stacey really understood what he was writing. Did he really not know who Bruce’s guide in the world would be.
Deke shines his flashlight out over the area of disturbed Earth. Bruce must have come back later to fill in the hole, but it is still clear that someone had been digging here. Deke bends down to touch the dirt. In the time since the Core Processor of the Nanny-ship downloaded its data banks into his brain Deke has noticed many changes about himself. Changes that were somehow made clear to him after his trip to Avalon. He no longer has any desire to run around with his friend breaking the rules. Deke has come to feel as if his life is meant for more than just being a party boy. That is why he needed to make this quest to find out what that purpose is.
Over the past few days he has been drawn to several places. He is sure it has been the same thing that has drawn him to all of those places. In each one he can now feel what is left behind after the Scarab leaves a place. A strange residual footprint, you might call it. He can even tell how long it has been since Scarb has left. This place has two signatures, one is the longest since Scarab was here. The place he just came from Scarab went to after being buried here and then back to here. The second time here is when Deke and Bruce encountered it. Scarab went to many places after leaving here. Deke has been to all of them in the past days, tracking Scarab back to here. A backwards trail that makes little sense to him.
Sitting down on a tree that fell when the Nanny-ship was stolen, Deke switches off his flashlight. He listens to the sounds of the night forest. Crickets chirping, an owl in the distance, even the flapping of bat wings through the trees, nothing out of place. It wasn’t long ago that being out here alone would have made him ill-at-ease. He was always more of a social animal. Never going anywhere alone, always with his friends everywhere he went. His time spent in an Avalon dungeon changed that. Now Deke almost feels safer alone. A feeling he doesn’t expect to last much longer. He can’t see the future but he can feel what is coming.
It isn’t very long before what Deke was feeling is made clear to him. He looks up to the night sky to see a formation of lights. It is too erratic to be a falling star and too low to be a plane. Even before it comes close enough to view, Deke knows it is Scarab returning to where they first met. He does not look away, he has no fear of the creature. Deke takes no action to leave or to hide in the forest. Deke has already concluded in the past few days that Scarab is a dangerous and deadly creature. He also is sure that Scarab wants the information in his head as much as he wants it gone.
Scarab comes to a landing several yards from where Deke sits on the log. Deke stands up still showing no fear to the imposing being that stands unmoving. He shines his flashlight at the creature moving it from head to toe, Scarab looks different. When last they met Scarab appeared to be a cyborg of sorts, part man, part machine. Now there is no man showing, only a green and purple alien metal armor.
Then there is a cracking sound as the seam at the center of the front of the armor begins to spread open. As the cleave widens, steam escapes into the cool forest air. Deke steps back as a figure falls to the ground in front of Scarab. He shines his flashlight over the mummified husk that lays dead on the ground at his feet. This was never something he imagined as he brings the light up to illuminate the open workings of the inside of the armor.
It is now that fear overtakes Deke for the first time in months. He turns to run off into the forest, but it is too late. Long metal tentacles launch out from inside the Scarab armor to ensnare Deke. He continues to try to escape dragging his feet as he is being pulled back into the open armor. Before he can scream a fifth tentacle strikes his lower back, borrowing into his spine.
][May 31, 1988
Hawk Nest Storage, LLC
11356 MO-21,
Hillsboro, MO
Olympian wakes on the floor of the warehouse as the sun rises through the three story high warehouse windows. Startled by his strange surroundings, he is instantly on his feet. He scans the empty warehouse spotting the chalk lines on the floor. The memories of the past night flood his mind. He remembers the mysterious woman who came into the warehouse after he fell to the floor.
The air in the large room begins to swirl as he searches for any trace of the woman. The only thing he finds is a slight trace of a perfume. Could it have been something she wore? Then he remembers something else, the chunk of metal shining in the darkness. Turning to find it he discovers. It is gone! Did she take it? Most of all what the hell happened to him to knock him unconscious for all of these hours?
At any rate it is time he headed home. He is not going to find the answers to any of his questions here. The sound of a car arriving outside haisens his departure as he flies up to a broken window and out. He takes a quick loop around the warehouse to see that it is a police car that has arrived on the scene. Olympian then rides the air currents out toward the city before he is spotted by the cops getting out of their patrol car.
Heading north back to St. Louis, Olympian spots the repair scaffold around the Gateway Arch. It has needed much repair since Master Warrior, Miracle Maiden and he stopped an alien invasion. Sadly the News reporters told what happened as a terrorist attack not an invasion. He wonders if the people of Earth will ever be able to accept the truth that they are not alone in the universe. Perhaps he should find a job as a reporter like one of his namesakes.
From below unseen by Olympian an armored figure erupts from the ground outside the construction site. Like a green and purple projectile the alien construct, Scarab launches skyward directly into the path of Olympian. Both moving at a speed that makes avoiding collision impossible. The impact is like a clap of thunder sending Olympian falling from the sky into the Mississippi River.
Stunned for a moment, Olympian sinks into the murky water as it rushes southward. The cool water helps him to regain his focus before Olympian propels himself from the river. Not sure what he hit, Olympian comes to land on Levee Rd at the edge of the river. It takes him a minute to shake off the effects of whatever downed him. His head aches like it did when he fell unconscious last night in the warehouse, yet not as intensely. Olympian scans the grounds of the Gateway Arch National Park. He sees only workmen toiling to make the repairs to the monument.
When his eyes turn to the sky he is blinded by a magenta burst of light. He is hit in the face with a bolt that knocks him back to the ground. Still dizzy and half blind he leaps up fists out first aiming for a strong movement of air above him. Hitting something hard he is thrown back to the ground on the park side of the SLK Sullivan Blvd. Getting up to his feet his eyes are clear enough to see the green and purple armored figure. “Scarab!” Olympian shouts instantly recognizing this new configuration. He does not wait for a response, hitting the cyborg with a full force Null-force blast.
Scarab shrugs off blast off like a ping-pong ball as it lands on the pavement near Olympian. Scarab holds up both armored fists to fire more magenta blasts at Olympian. This time Olympian is prepared as he dodges between the blasts to charge forward to grapple with his foe.
Still feeling sick from Scarab’s attack he pushes forward knowing that he is stronger than this bastard creation. Olympian pins Scarab’s back to the construction fence that surrounds the work site. At this closest Olympian can make out the human eyes behind the dark lenses of the helmet. He is shocked when he recognizes those eyes.
That second of hesitation is all Scarab needs as he builds up a surge of power that he releases over the full surface of his armor. The blast is more powerful than any of the others. Olympian is thrown back into traffic of the highway behind him, where he is struck by an eighteen-wheeler. Thrown up over the top of the cab he rolls back over the top of the trailer. The eighteen-wheeler begins to skid as the driver tries to stop short. Olympian sails off the back of the first truck as it jack-knifes in the road. His limp yet impervious body continues on to be hit by second truck. Finally the hero lands on the roof of a U-haul van as traffic comes to a screeching halt as a multi-car pile up occurs.
By the time Olympian pulls himself from the wreckage on the highway. He is again shocked at the sight that he witnesses back at the construction site. A tall shapely blonde wearing a white and blue runner suit has arrived on the scene. Her eyes glow bright as she slams Scarab to the ground by his arm. The speed at which she moves appears to be a match for his own. She picks up Scarab by the leg and slams him over her head to the ground again.
Olympian knows it is Deke inside that armor and he is an innocent pawn. Bruce knows that he can not let this woman hurt Deke. He hopes that she is on his side when he flies to the scene. By the time he is over the fence Scarab lays pinned on the ground with the blonde woman on his chest. “Stop!” Olympian shouts. “There is an innocent young man inside of that armor!”
The woman looks over her shoulder at Olympian, her eyes still glowing. “I know, I’m trying to get this damned thing open!” she tells him. “Help me get him up and put your fingers in this gash I’ve made.” Olympian does as she instructs. “Now pull!” she shouts. “I hope you are as strong as you look.” “I saw this armor slit open like this before!”
They pull on the Scarab’s armor in opposite directions. Even when the armored cyborg growls trying to escape them they continue the tug of war. Scarab begins to send a charge through the armor they hold. Even though it weakens Olympian slightly he continues trying to split the metal shell open to save his brother. Then at last steam begins to escape through the cleave in Scarab’s sides. Olympian and the blonde quickly move to dig his fingers deeper into the parting seam. “Get your fingers down here and pull!” he shouts to the amazing woman helping him. Sliding their fingers to the sides of the chest of the armor it gives way. “It’s working!” Olympian shouts in excitement.
Workmen from the job site begin to gather around them now to watch. Once all four of their hands are pulling on the edge of the armor seam it takes only a few minutes for them to split it open like a walnut. Gasses escape from inside the armor as it opens. The surrounding area suddenly smells of rotting meat and eggs. Most of the spectators begin to gag and move away from the scene. One final tug from the two heroes and the shell splits wide open allowing the weak and dehydrated Deke Armstrong to tumble to the ground.
Olympian begins to crush the half of the Scarab shell he holds into a ball. The alien tech in the armor sparks and hisses as he compacts it into a basketball sized lump. The blonde does as she sees Olympian doing until the second half of the armor is just as compacted. “These two pieces must be kept apart!” Olympian instructs. “I don’t trust that it can not reassemble itself.” He gives his chunk of mental a toss that sends it into the river before moving to attend Deke. “Derrick, Deke can you hear me?” he asks, reaching for the weak young man’s throat to check for a pulse. “Thank God, he is still alive,” he says looking up to the woman standing over them. But she is gone, taking half of Scarab armor with her.
“If you are looking for that hot chick she just flew off in that direction,” one of the workmen brave enough to stand the stench tells Olympian. “She certainly was amazing.” Olympian looks to the north sky wanting to go after her, but he has no time. He needs to get Deke to a Hospital. He scoops the young man up in his arms to launch himself into the sky heading west.
][June 1, 1988
Scotts Caller Hospital
98 S Tucker Blvd
St. Louis, Mi
Bruce Stacey’s book tour has come to an abrupt end. He knows full well why, after what happened to Deke he is sure that Cloris Armstrong wants nothing to do with him. That is why he waited on the rooftop across the street from the hospital, watching for Cloris to leave her son’s Hospital room. She has been at his bedside since late last night soon after Olympian brought him to the hospital. Bruce can not be sure if Phil has told Cloris that he and Olympian are one in the same but he can only assume that he is the last person Cloris wants to see.
It is past noon when Bruce is sure Cloris will leave to make a late arrival at the office. Bruce doesn’t want to upset the woman that he thinks of as a step-mother any farther, so he waits. It is nearly two o’clock when Cloris speaks with a doctor before leaving the hospital. It takes only a few seconds for Bruce to glide from the rooftop where he stands to that of the hospital. He makes his way down several flights of fire stairs to Deke’s room.
Stepping into the room he is surprised to see that there is someone already there. He is almost certain it is the young woman he met at the airport bar a few days ago. She is dressed much differently than when she was with Mr. Alameda. She is in a business suit as she sits in a chair by Deke’s bed. Her hair now blonde is pulled back into that same tight bun style. “Oh hello,” Bruce says to the woman wondering if she remembers him. “I have to admit I am surprised to see you here. “Are you a friend of Derrick?”
Pam smiles at him nervously. “Not really,” She replies as she stands to reach out her hand at Bruce. “I told his mother I was his science teacher in school.” “She seemed to buy it.” “She told me the doctor says he might never walk again, he is going to lose his Basketball scholarship.”
“Oh God, that will break his heart,” Bruce says sadly. “But, why did you tell Cloris you were his science teacher?” “I suspect that isn’t true, is it?” “So that leaves the question.” “What are you doing here, it is Miss Donaldson right?” Bruce asks as they shake hands. “How do you know him?”
“I met him when I helped you get him out of the suit of armor at the Gateway Arch yesterday,” Pam confesses up front. “I really do not have time to dance around the whole superhero secret identity thing.” “I looked under your mask at the storage warehouse the other night.” “So what it comes down to is, I really need the other half of that armor.”
He thought there was something familiar about the woman at the Arch, but the glow in her eyes threw him off. “I might say the same to you,” Bruce tells her, going on the defensive. “So it was you at the warehouse the other night.” “Or rather your other self.”
“I really don’t have another self, there is just me and I would like to keep it that way,” Pam explains. “I’ve been on a quest to explain these powers I have and in the process have been forced to use them.” “To make a long story short I followed a trail to a secret base in the mountains.” “I met a mad scientist that used unearthly means to create that armor.” “The only way to end the threat is to cleanse it, all of it.”
“Outside intervention, that would explain what has happened to the Nanny-ship,” Bruce surmises. “That technology is rightfully mine.” “I have no good reason to give any of it to you.”
The term Nanny-ship does not strike Pam as odd, in fact it is almost familiar to her. “Well then I could just go down to the bottom of the river and get it,” Pam charges. “But I would guess that you have already retrieved it.” “That is why I came looking for you here first.” “I figured you had some kind of connection to this kid.” “I could see it in your eyes when you thought I intended on killing him.” “I have a friend who has already removed the foreign contamination from the half of the armor I took, he can do the same for the other half and you can have it back.”
Bruce looks deeply into the woman’s green eyes. He has no reason to trust this woman. He sees something there in her eyes. He can’t find the words to describe what he sees there. Everything running through his mind tells him that this woman could be the one behind what happened to the Nanny-ship. If he was to think about it a minute longer he would talk himself out of saying, “I’ll give you the other half, but it doesn’t leave my sight and I want you to tell me where to find this mad-scientist.”
Pam goes silent, turning away from him. She has only done this a few times before and it was always without the target knowing it. Not knowing how powerful this man is there is no guarantee that it will even work on him. But Pam knows she is out of options. When she hears the man move up behind her she spins around to grab his bare arm. “Can I trust you?” she asks, her eyes glowing a brighter shade of green. Instantly she forms a bond with him that goes deeper than just words.
Bruce is almost hypnotized by the glare she gives him. “Yes, I want answers too.”
“What kind of answers?” Pam quizzes.
“First of all, why do I feel I can trust you?” he asks. “You have already twice shown yourself to be a thief.” “Moreover you did nothing to help me while I was unconscious on the floor of that warehouse.”
“What would you have liked me to do?” Pam lears. “Give you CPR?” “The fact is I did help you.” “That chunk of Magna-ore was what affected you.” “The radiation coming from it might have killed you if I hadn’t taken it.” “You are not from Earth are you?”
“As a child, I believed for a long time that I was no different than anyone else,” Bruce replies. “But recently I have come to believe that I am not of this world but another.” “What of you?”
“I am not sure, everything I know says I was born here, completely human,” Pam says, releasing his arm to sit back in the chair next to the bed. The green glow in her eyes fades as she continues to vent. “These powers I have… I suspect that they came to me after I was born, from somewhere else.”
Bruce clears his throat feeling a little confused by what has just happened. “What of this Mad-scientist?” he quieres. “Did he have something to do with your powers?”
“If only it was that simple,” Pam answers. “I was searching for a clue to my past and crossed his path by accident.” “I put a crimp in his plans, but now I wonder if I shouldn’t have put him out of business completely.” “I am really not cut out for this superhero thing.”
“Perhaps with my help we could do that together,” Bruce suggests looking at his unconscious step-brother in the hospital bed. “I owe that to Deke!”