The mayor appointed a new Commissioner a few days back, Matthew Aspen. He seems to be a straight arrow, not at all like the former Commissioner, Anthony Stanley. Which surprised me when I was called to his office out of the blue. Paddy wanted to come along too. So we went together to meet the new Commissioner. We sat in the Commissioner’s office waiting room, not much has changed, except the receptionist. We didn’t talk but I knew we were both thinking the same thing. Is this guy going to be in bed with Nicholas DeScalo?
As we waited the secretary kept making eyes at me and Paddy was nudging me. She was in her twenties and quite attractive but I was not interested. Her name was Daria and she had worked in the file room of our precinct previously. I had spoken to her several times and she was very shallow. She kept talking to me about how muscular I was and that we should go to the gym together. There were a few times that she would take a hold of my bicep and squeeze it like it was a piece of fruit she was checking for ripeness. Paddy and I had talked about Daria before in private. Some of the guys at the precinct were encouraging Paddy to ask her out because they told him she was a “sure thing.” That it would cheer him up to get laid. They even told him that she “aims to please,” whatever that means. Paddy was still telling people that part of his life was over without Michelle. I thought he was a romantic at heart and it was nice. I on the other hand, wanted no part of a date with her because I had no intention of losing my virginity to a woman half the precinct had banged!
Paddy whispered to me, “Look she doesn’t have any panties on.” It was true under the open front desk she was clearly exposing herself to us.
After about fifteen minutes of Daria’s free show she answered the phone, then she showed us into the Commissioner’s office. She had no qualms about taking my arm as soon as I stood up, to lead me to the door. As soon as we walked into the office the new Commissioner greeted Paddy first, “Officer Berger, I am so glad you came along with Officer Roberts today.” He sounded completely sincere when he said it and it surprised both of us. I wasn’t sure if you would be up to this meeting yet or I would have reached out to you later,” he said shaking my partner’s hand. Then he turned to me, “Officer Roberts, Steve, it is so good to see you again.” “You’ve become a successful young man.” “Please Officers have a seat,” Commissioner Aspen said gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk.
“Excuse me sir, but have we met before?” I asked, not understanding what he was talking about. His face was vaguely familiar to me. He had black hair with a sprinkling of grey at his temples. I figured he was in his mid to late forties, rather young for the job he now held.
“I’m sorry, you were just a teen the last time we met, probably had your mind more on girls that an old man,” the new Commissioner told me. “We met years ago at Camp Tandy, my son Jeremy was one of the boys you coached in soccer.” “I honestly believe he was your biggest fan too.”
It came back to me like a lightning bolt. My last summer at Camp Tandy was a little foggy to me for some reason I couldn’t explain. But I did remember meeting Mr. Aspen now. “That wasn’t the case at all, but I do remember now,” I said. “Jeremy was a great player, does he still play?”
“Yes he does, he’s on his school’s team,” Aspen replied. “But that is not why I asked the two of you here.” “Officer Berger you were pivotal in the busting of one of Nicholas DeScalo’s alleged money laundering fronts.” “And you Officer Roberts brought down a dirty Police Commissioner.” “The Philadelphia Police force needs men like the two of you.” “I’m putting together a special task force based there at the first precinct.” “I would like for both of you to be a part of it.”
“What kind of task force?” Paddy asked.
“One with the best officers in this city to take on cases that need to be solved quickly and discreetly,” Aspen told us. “I see the two of you as those Officers.”
I looked over at Paddy and he was beaming. “Could we have sometime to think this over?” I asked.
“Of course, take a few weeks,” Aspen told us. “Steve I always knew you would do good things and I hope your participation in this squad will be one.”
That night Paddy and I talked over the Commissioner’s offer. “I don’t understand what you need to think over,” Paddy began as soon as we were in our chairs in front of the TV.
I hadn’t told my partner that I was considering quitting the police force so I wasn’t sure how to start to tell him I didn’t want to do what the Commissioner was suggesting. “This Elite team isn’t why I became a cop, I wanted to help the little guy not the elite,” I explained to my partner who had spent the rest of the day sulking. “I know you want to do it, then there is no reason you can’t do it without me.” “You were a cop long before I came along.”
Paddy sat with his arms folded over his chest his brow creased. “That is just it,” he began. “Before you came along I had only two things in my life I cared about, Michelle and being a cop.” “Michelle is gone now and quite frankly I was stagnating in my job for years before I met you!”
“That isn’t true, you loved your job training new rookies,” I encouraged.
“That is true but I was going nowhere!” Paddy replied. “I have been a cop for nearly fifteen years and I am still just on a beat.” “And that big bust the Commissioner was congratulating me for I would have never had if not for your ‘secret’ information.” “If we do this we need to do it together!” I could hear what Paddy was saying but I still wasn’t sold. He was a good cop he could do this on his own without me. “As far as I’m concerned with the things you can do you can do a lot more good on this team than you ever could going on domestic violence calls!” Paddy assured.
I knew he was wrong on both counts, he could do this without me and I didn’t need to join this team to do good. The things I had done to help him were only nudges that he could have gotten from anyone else. But I also knew he would not find out he could do it on his own if I didn’t give in. “Oh okay,” I sighed. “I’ll give it one year, then you are on your own!” Needless to say, Paddy was so happy he wanted to call the Commissioner right then and there to tell him we were in, but it was nearly ten so it would have to wait until tomorrow.
My parents invited me over for dinner, all my Mom would tell me was that we needed to have a family meeting. The last family meeting was when they spilled all the beans to Christine on her twelfth birthday. I couldn’t imagine what they had left to tell us. Because of our age difference Christine and I hadn’t always been the closest of brother and sister. But after she found out the truth about Mom that changed. We bonded much more after that and she had called me just to talk many times in the past few months. All the talks we had about Mom and my powers never prepared us for the bomb that our parents were about to drop on us now.
“Your father and I have been trying to have another baby,” Mom said bluntly as she was sitting at the dinner table as the rest of us were just beginning our desert.
“What!” Christine immediately shouted. “You are both too old!” “You’re not sticking me with babysitting!” “Steve never had to baby-sit me!” Christine’s outburst was more than a little selfish but not out of character for her at the time she was thirteen.
My Mom got that look on her face, I knew all too well. “This is not about you, young lady,” she said. “If you are going to bring up my age then I was too old to have you too!” Christine slumped back in her chair folding her arms over her chest.
“Are you pregnant, is that why the family meeting?” I asked cautiously. My parents looked at each other with sadness I had never seen before in these two people.
“Let me tell them,” My Dad said taking Mom’s hand. “It would seem that we can not get pregnant anymore,” he said sadly. I could hear a very quiet sigh come from my sister that everyone ignored. Except Dad who glared at her across the table. “We have been trying to have another child for the past ten years.” “We even had a hard time getting pregnant with Christine which is something that has never happened before.” It was odd all the years my parents had talked openly about their past lives I never once considered that they might have had other children besides us. “It would seem that the magic of the ring that gave me memories of my past lives has also made me sterile,” Dad told us holding up the blue sapphire ring on his left pinky finger. “But as a plus, Mist tells us it has also stopped my ageing much like the rest of you.”
“I have no idea what to say to that,” was the only thing I could think. “Are you guys okay with this?”
“It’s going to take some getting used to,” Mom said, in her ever brave tone as she finished her slice of pie. I looked over at Christine she had not touched her desert. She was staring across the table at our father.
“Dad how about you?” I asked.
“It will be nice not to be a seventy year old geezer with a hot young wife again,” Dad said smiling at Mom. “I kinda wish I stopped aging a decade ago though,” he chuckled.
“I kind of like having an old man,” Mom joked back at him.
Hoping to bring my sister out of her trance I asked her, “You going to eat that pie?”
“I’m staying at Steve’s tonight!” Christine announced standing up from the table.
“What?” I said in shock. “I have to work tomorrow.”
“That is fine, I’m going to pack a bag,” Christine told us as she left the dining room.
“I just don’t know what is wrong with that girl!” Mom said.
“She’s an angry teenage girl,” I said. “All the bombs the two of you have dropped on her hasn’t helped.” “You two, okay all of us have been lying to her for years.” “Mom, she spent six years thinking you loved me more than her and now you tell her you want a new baby.”
“Is that what she is saying?” my Mom asked with a heartbroken look on her face. “I need to talk to her.”
“No you better let me,” Dad urged.
“I don’t think that is a very good idea, I think you two have done enough,” I told them finishing my sister’s slice of apple pie. “Let me talk her down tonight.”
“Are you sure?” Mom asks.
“Our boy is all grown up and he needs more bonding time with his baby sister,” Dad told her.
“I’ll be waiting outside!” Christine called from the living room to be followed by the slam of the front door. I gave Mom a hug and followed after my angry little sister. She stood at the curb with what looked like a fifty pound bag hanging from her shoulder. “Where is your car?” she asked.
“I don’t have one, it got stolen, remember?” I replied.
“So how did you get here?” Christine asked in an angry tone that she seemed to have often in the past five months.
“I ran,” I told her simply.
“That is nearly thirty miles,” she guessed.
“You know I can run two miles in a minute,” I reminded her.
“Is that why you only come over after dark and take a shower before dinner?” she asked. I just grinned and shrugged my shoulders. “So how do we get to you place?”
“Here, jump on my back like old times,” I said turning around and squatting down.
“That is gross!” Christine announce. “You’ll be all sweaty by the time we get there.” I turned back around laughing holding up my father’s car keys. “You are an ass, let’s get out of here!” We got in the car sitting in the driveway. Christine was quiet until we got on the turnpike.
“So are we going to talk about this or am I going to have a quiet night?” I asked Christine who sat with her knees to her chest and her feet on the seat. I knew she was doing that because she knew putting her feet on the seat would drive Dad crazy. “I can’t believe you want to sleep over at my place because you have nothing better to do on a Friday night.”
“I can’t believe they were trying to bring another kid into this family!” Christine said angrily.
“I felt the same way when you were born,” I told her. “You ruined everything!”
“No! that is not what I mean!” Christine glared at me across the car. “We have the worst parents in the world the way they have lied to us and kept secrets.”
“Don’t you think you are being a little hard on them,” I asked. “They were only trying to protect us.” “Sure I was mad when I first found out after what happened to me, but I could see it was hard on them too.”
“What happened to you?” she asked for the first time. In the talks we had in the past few months I could tell she was holding back on asking me.
“There isn’t much to tell, I really don’t remember anything other than Mom saving me,” I was telling her the truth but I wasn’t sure she believed me. Christine reached out and touched my hand on the gear shift.
“You really don’t remember anything?” she asked again. Before I could reply she let out a loud gasp and jerked her hand back from mine. “Oh my god!”
“What is it?” I asked jerking the steering wheel to the right as I suddenly got the most crushing headache. “Are you alright?”
My sister was silent in the darkness for a few minutes like she was trying to find the words to answer my question. “I’m so sorry Steve,” she said surprising the hell out of me. “You are right.” If it weren’t for the headache I was battling I would have questioned her apology more. Instead we rode most of the way to my apartment listening to the radio.
Once we got off the turnpike my head began to clear again. “So no powers yet?” I asked. “No strength, no speed?”
“Nope, all Mom’s pressing and no ‘AMAZON POWERS’ for me,” she answered. “No offence, but I don’t want to be like you.” “I want to be normal.”
“That is how I felt until my fourteenth birthday,” I told her.
“You mean that morning you were dancing around the kitchen in your underpants?” she giggled.
“That’s the one,” I replied.
“I was seven and all I remember was that silly dance,” she laughed. “What was that all about?”
“Don’t you remember what I looked like before that day?” I asked.
“Please you where my dumb big brother what was to remember?” Christine teased.
“I went through puberty that night,” I told her, “Up until that night I was still a little boy physically.” “My powers started soon after that.”
“Well, I’m in a b-cup, so I wish Mom would give up on me being an Amazon,” Christine told me.
Paddy and I began our new assignment at the 1st precinct and the Philadelphia Elite Squad. We were told to report to the precinct at 8 am but not sure what this new job was going to entail. We dressed in our uniforms to arrive on time at the desk sergeant. We were told to ask for Commander Tabitha Olpere. I really didn’t know who she was. Paddy told me she was something of a legend on the force, the first woman to receive the mayor’s special medal of honor. She was to be our new boss.
We were sent up to the top floor of the precinct building. The whole floor was redone to be our base. The main squad room was very different from the current designs we were used to using. It was set up to be fully self contained right down to the cage in the center of the room. It kind of reminded me of the set of Barney Miller. It was explained to us that our cases would be kept secret from all other police branches. Not even our detainees were to be exposed to others.
At our first roll call we met the other members of the squad. I sat next to another Rookie that I recognized from the academy, Janet Redmayne. We had known each other from several classes and were friendly. She was a tough cookie though. Not one for any nonsense when it came to law enforcement. I have to admit I found it very attractive. Janet Redmayne was not a beauty queen but there were other things that attracted me to her, her confidence and persistence. Also on the new squad was Officer Mark Zadlo, a cop who had taken three gunshots to the torso and still made his bust. His injuries were more than enough to get him early retirement but he refused it and returned to the job. The sixth member of the squad was Officer Ed Bower. Ed was married with two kids. His claim to fame was that he saved a bus load of kids when it crashed into the Schuylkill River.
Commander Olpere was a no nonsense boss. Her first goal was to take us all out of our comfort zone by pairing us with different partners. She wanted to see if we were the right people for this job. I was more than a little eager to be teamed with Janet. I still wasn’t sure what types of cases this Elite Squad was going to undertake but I was sure that Janet and I could handle it. The rest of the first morning was spent learning the new rules and regulations of this Elite Squad.
After lunch we were given a full tour of the rest of the floor that included workout facilities. We spend the next three hours of our day in the gym. Our instructor to put us through our paces was Captain Anthony Smith from the Academy. It was good to see him again. He always stood up for me at the Academy after that encounter with Lynx.
I had been teaching Paddy some different fight moves over the past few months that my Mom had taught me. I knew Captain Smith didn’t like my fancy fighting moves from my Academy days but Paddy didn’t. “So I see Roberts has taught you a few of his unapproved moves,” Captain Smith said when Paddy got him into a headlock in there first spar. “Why don’t you be up next Mr. Roberts?” Captain Smith suggested.
I stepped forward knowing that I was in for some kind of trick the Captain had thought up since last we spared. Since taking this job I had learned to control my strength and use it at different levels, Normal, Super, and All-out. With Captain Smith I would be using Normal strength. “Come at me,” he said. That was different he usually starts with him as the attacker. I used caution when approaching the instructor, not sure what to expect from him. I had both of my arms out in a defensive manner as I circled him looking for an opening. Completely out of character Captain Smith reached out grabbing both of my arms and yanking me toward him. His grip was strong, not so strong I couldn’t have broken it, but I let him follow through with his attack. That was a mistake. He brought his knee up, nailing me in the balls at full force of mine and his momentum. As resistant to pain as I may be that still hurt, taking me down to my knees.
“When dealing with a larger unknown assailant any force or attack to take him down is a good move,” Captain Smith instructed to the others as I pulled myself together to stand back up.
“Good one, Sir,” I said limping back into line. The pain could have been worse but it was painful just the same that took a few minutes to fade.
“He really nailed you, huh?” Paddy asked as I returned to stand next to him in line.
“Unfortunately that is my one vulnerable area,” I whispered to Paddy.
“As you might have guessed this unit will be taking on suspects that go beyond the normal parameters of law enforcement,” Commander Olpere said from the sideline. “Every member of this squat will be expected to do whatever it takes to accomplish success in subduing suspects.”
“Some of you may remember me from the Police Academy where I trained you to play by the rules,” Captain Smith continued. “In this Elite Squad those rules may be bent to bring down the most dangerous of suspects.” “Now pair up and let’s see some take downs.”
Paddy and I had gotten good at this over the past year. Even though I had taught him some moves that he has gotten good at using on me. But I still had more that made me his better. Until today, Paddy had taken the Captain’s led and made my balls his target. I figured out his MO right away and compensated. I didn’t make that nut shot easy for him at all. Our spar went on for a while the others even stopped to watch until Paddy gave me the signal that he was ready to stop.
“Quite a performance gentlemen, now let’s switch it up,” Captain Smith instructed. “Redmayne, you take Roberts and Zadlo you take Berger. It was the mid-eighties and men fighting women was still not a mainstream event, I think Captain Smith thought I would be timid about that activity. He had no idea I had spent most of my adolescence doing just that training with my Mom. Janet Redmayne was a good and skilled fighter. She didn’t hold back coming right at me from the start. She didn’t lower herself to Captain Smith’s standard like Paddy had tried. As we met in hand to hand combat I found myself leaving my Normal range of strength and speed just to keep up with her. She was fast and that made the blows she landed on me feel harder than they probably were. When Janet actually took me down to the mat I caught myself before crossing the line completely into Super strength. I let her have the pin sitting on my back.
“Good, Good!” Captain Smith announce. “That’s it for today hit the locker room.”
“Then report back to the squad,” Commander Olpere told us.
As Janet helped me up from the mat Captain Smith called to me, “Roberts, a minute please?” Once everyone left he spoke to me. “I’ve known you for going on two years now and one thing has always remained the same.” “You are holding back!” Before I could deny what he said, he continued. “I don’t know who trained you but you are hiding it.” “Look at what you have done with Paddy.” “That wasn’t a spar it was a measured dance lesson.” “Do you think a Zeni-human opponent is going to dance with you like that?”
Zeni-human opponent? I had never heard anyone say that word outside of my family. I didn’t think anyone else even knew what it meant.
“Haven’t you realized what this job is yet?” Captain Smith said looking into my eyes. “Many large cities are starting units like this because the secret of Zeni-humans is getting too large to hide or ignore anymore.”
I felt like an idiot that I was so surprised by this revelation. Did someone suspect me? Is that why I was brought onto this team? I headed into the locker room where the other guys had hit the showers except for Paddy who sat at his locker wrapped in a towel.
“What did Smith want?” Paddy asked as I started to get undressed.
“He told me this is a Zeni-human unit,” I said quietly as I kicked off my sneakers. “I think he suspects me.” “Did you say anything to anyone?” I asked Paddy point blank.
“No, don’t be ridiculous!” he replied.
“No one at all?” I repeated.
“Who would I tell?” Paddy suggested. “You are my best friend,” he reluctantly volunteered. “It was probably because of those things Commissioner Stanley said in lock-up.” “He may have got off on an insanity defense, but someone could have believed him.”
I thought about Ex-Commissioner Stanley as I pulled a clean towel from a table at the end of the lockers to wrap it around my waist. Paddy and I walked to the showers to join the other men in our new squad. It surprised me to see that Bower had a large tattoo on his left shoulder and bicep, I didn’t take him for the type to have a tattoo. When I got a good look at the ink it told me that Bower had been in the Marines. That is probably why he seemed so comfortable nude in front of other men. Zadlo on the other hand didn’t turn from facing the wall. I could see that Zadlo had several scars on his back and legs.
“Roberts, what did Captain Smith say to you?” Ed Bower asked. “Did he tell you what this whole Elite Squad thing is about?”
“He told me this squad is something other large cities have assembled already,” I answered stepping under the warm water.
“A Zeni-human squad,” Paddy added. I wish he hadn’t said that but now that it was out of the bag, I turned around to look to see the men’s reactions. Zadlo had turned around as well and I couldn’t help but notice the scars on his chest and gut. The famous three scars I had heard about were oddly healed. He had more scars than I had heard about on his chest, one looked like a knife wound about four inches long.
“A Zeo-what?” Bower said.
“Zeni-human,” Zadlo repeated. I looked at him as he ran his hand over the scars on his torso. “Like me,” he said. “I found out when I was in the hospital after this happened.” “There is a DNA marker.” “It’s a recessive gene that can be triggered by any number of things.” “I have no idea what triggered it in me.”
“Is it just a blood test that shows the DNA marker?” I asked fearing that medical exams that I had taken to join the Police Force may have given away my secret.
“No the marker only shows up in spinal fluid, you need to have a spinal tap,” Zadlo said finishing up in the shower. I was relieved, I’ve never had a spinal tap. The man had many injuries in his life that looked like he didn’t heal correctly. Then I looked over at Bower he appeared confused by the whole conversation, like he had no idea what we were talking about. I’ll admit Paddy had an inside advantage but even when I told him he didn’t look that confused.
We all returned to the lockers to get dressed. “What can you do?” Paddy asked. I have to admit I was curious too, but didn’t think I should be the one to ask.
“It is more like what can’t I do,” Zadlo replied as he buttoned his shirt. My interest was peaked. “So far I can’t die.” “After I was shot I just kept going, doing what I had to do to catch those men.” “I hadn’t even realized how bad of shape I was in.” “When I finally got to the hospital the bleeding from my gunshot wounds had stopped.” “Turns out I had bleed out, but I just kept going.” That explained the bad scars and improper healing he had on his body. Without blood and clotting it is just open skin. “The doctors sewed me up and pumped me full of blood.” “Afterward they started the test to explain what had happened to me.”
It is an impressive power, he had some kind of immortality. Not even I could have survived that, but most likely my wound would heal before I bleed out though. Bower slammed his locker door and sat down next to Paddy, who was putting on his socks. He looked horrified.
“A few years back I was really sick,” Bower said. “They thought I might have Meningitis, so they did a spinal tap on me.” Bower glared up at Zadlo, “Does that mean I’ve got what you’ve got?” he asked. “What about my kids?”
“Wow, what do you think Steve?” Paddy asked me turning all eyes on me.
“I don’t know!” I said trying to deflect what I felt was Paddy’s slip up. “You have to find out the test results.” “Zeni-human abilities can present themselves in many ways.” “Just because we were picked for this team doesn’t mean we are all Zeni-human.”
We all had a lot of questions as we finished dressing and returned to the squad room. After the conversion in the locker room I looked at the women in our group differently. Being a Zeni-human would explain how Janet pushed me to my limits. Asking her flat out is not a good way to start a new partnership, so I need to hang back on that question.
“Take a seat everyone,” Commander Olpere instructed. Captain Smith stood by her side as she began her speech. “I understand Captain Smith has let the cat out of the bag so to say.” “In recent years a growing phenomenon has arisen in the criminal populous.” “People with special abilities have been involved in crimes all across the country.” “That is our job to find and arrest them.” “The world is not ready to know about these people and what they can do, that is why our squad’s activities must remain secret.”
“How do you intend on containing these Zeni-humans?” Paddy asked. It was a question I had in my mind as well.
“Our cell is specially designed,” Commander Olpere replied. “It emits several low frequency wavelengths.” “These wavelengths will disrupt what we hope to be most if not all Zeni-human powers.” The bars are built of titanium and are electrified if that becomes necessary.” “Gentlemen and lady, report back here at 0700 hours Monday morning, Shirt and tie, Ladies Business formal.” “We will begin our first cases then.”
It had been weeks since I joined the Elite Squad. I got up early to walk across town to the precinct. I had a lot on my mind. An Elite Squad to capture Zeni-humans is not something I was looking to join. As far as I know my secret is safe, but for how long? Is this how Clark Kent felt, I wondered. In the back of my mind I somehow knew that this job would change my life and set me on a course that would lead me to where I belonged.
Walking the streets of the city was different for me. When I had a car I drove from the suburbs and then took the train after my car went kaboom. Once I moved in with Paddy I would drive in with him. There was so much activity at street level this time of the day I had been totally unaware of before this morning. Up ahead of me there was a Tastykake truck stopped to unload at a corner store. I was watching the men work when I got the warning at the back of my skull. I turned to see a car speeding apparently out of control at me. Not just me there were several other people walking near me too. “Look out!” I shouted pushing people aside as the car jumped the curb and came headlong at my chest. I couldn’t see any driver so I braced for impact my hands outstretched to catch the front bumper. The momentum of the car pushed me back through the storefront behind me, but my warning was enough to get everyone else out of the way.
The car came to rest pinning me against the side wall of the closed ski clothing shop. I wasn’t really hurt, but my arms and shoulders would be sore for a few hours. My strength had slowed the car and the only injury I got was to my suit. I couldn’t believe how fast rubberneckers rushed into the store. From the hood I could see that I was right there was no driver. I shoved the car off of me with ease as a growing number of people watched in amazement. I grabbed a ski hat from the floor and pulled it over my head. Jumping up onto the roof of the car I fled the store to the yell of voices behind me. I ran for several blocks until I felt a pain in my side that made me stop. Ducking down an alley I took a moment to inspect my back. A peg hook stuck from my left side. If it had been an inch higher it would have been deflected by my ribs, instead it had pierced the muscle. Clenching my teeth, I quickly pulled it out. I got my jacket off to get a better look at the wound. I was bleeding through my shirt quite a bit. I couldn’t go to work like this, I needed a change of clothes. I pulled off my shirt to blot the blood. It only took a few minutes to stop the bleeding.
Tying my shirt around my torso I put my jacket back on trying to hide my injury. Finding a payphone I called Paddy who hadn’t left home yet. I told him I needed a clean shirt, a jacket and some bandages. I told him where to meet me and to hurry.
When he arrived, Paddy took one look at me and was overflowing with questions. “What the hell happened to you?” he asked after one look at my clothes.
“Slight run-in with a Buick.” I told him taking off my jacket and the shirt tied around me in the alley.
“Holy shit what is that?” Paddy asked seeing the wound on my side.
“Peg hook,” I told him wiping it with the shirt. The wound on my side had clotted and scabbed so I had Paddy put one of the bandages on my back while I put another on my chest, just in case. I put on a clean shirt and jacket hoping I wouldn’t bleed through again and we headed into the precinct.
We got to the squad room an hour late and Commander Olpere was not happy. We sat down and I leaned forward on my chair trying not to reopen my wound. Up until now we had been working cold cases. Most of the suspected Zeni-humans were long gone. We spent most of our time interview witnesses that didn’t really remember or didn’t want to cooperate. Today was different. Commander Olpere told us we had a fresh case. Only some of the details were not in so we were all waiting for the final reports.
Paddy kept looking over at me. He had become something of a mother hen since his wife’s death. This added attention was making me nervous. While the others were talking Paddy leaned over, “Are you okay, Buddy?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” I whispered through my teeth. “To me it was just a scratch.” I was lying but he was more concerned over me than my own mother. At least my Mom knew there was no need to have concern for infection. Paddy still looked worried so I got up and moved away from him. I sat down next to Mark Zadlo. I felt like he would be more understanding if I should start to bleed again.
It was only about a half an hour when Commander Olpere received the Intel for which she was waiting. “We have a fresh report from Center City of a car crashing into a ski shop this morning,” Olpere instructed us. I could have crawled under the table. It was me they were talking about. I listened to the preliminary report and when Olpere asked for volunteers.
“I’ll go,” I spoke up. I hoped to turn the attention of the case away from me and onto the fact that the car was driverless.
“Good, you and Zadlo get down there,” Commander Olpere charged.
When we arrived on the scene, my only hope was that anyone who got a look at my face before I covered it was gone. I stopped to buy sunglasses on the way that I kept on during interviews. I looked around the store at the damage that was done. When I fled I really didn’t get a good look at it. I started to feel guilty about stealing the hat. This shop was a mess and my theft would probably go unnoticed, but I slipped a five dollar bill from my pocket onto the floor behind the counter anyway.
Everyone at the scene was still so focused on the man who pushed people out of the way and was pinned under the car. I tried to get the people I interviewed to change the subject to get some idea if they saw anyone get out of the car, but it seemed hopeless. I looked through the inside of the car. I couldn’t find any modifications that would make it driverless of remote controlled.
“Crime scene has already been over the car and store,” Mark said coming up behind me. “They found some blood on the wall and finger prints on the front bumper, but little else to identify our mystery man.” It appeared I had to change my partner on this case’s view of the scene as well. Mark walked around to the front of the car as I stood up out of it. “Hey, have a look at this,” he called to me. I followed around to the front. “He was a really strong guy, not just adrenaline fueled.” Mark commented looking at the squeezed dents my fingers left in the bumper.
“Shit!” I blurred out. Mark thought that I was impressed by the sight and not angry at myself for what I had done. “I don’t think that is the point of all of this,” I said trying to cover. “Going by everyone’s statements, there was no driver.” “Somehow this car was being used as a weapon and we need to find out by who and why?” Mark reached down to put his gloved fingers in the impressions on the bumper.
“Average size hands I’d say,” Mark said holding up his hand. “Not like it was some kind of Hulk or something.”
“Look, Mark the case isn’t about who stopped the car and saved the people, it is about who sent a driverless car through this building,” I insisted with my new partner.
“Seems to me the car doesn’t matter if it can’t be a Zeni-human,” Mark replied. “That is what we are here looking for isn’t it?”
“We are here to solve this case not find a Zeni-human,” I told him. I was surprised at Mark’s willingness to become a hunter of our own kind. “If it is a Zeni-human you want the one we need to find is the one who controlled this car.”
“What do you mean, controlled?” Mark asked.
“There are no signs of alterations to this car, nor is there anyway to remotely control other than the superhuman means,” I explained reaching into the car to release the hood. Mark opened the hood as I walked around to join him. “Crime scene said they found nothing to suggest that this car had a driver.” “So someone was controlling it by other means.”
“What kind of means?” Mark asked. Mark was really kind of dense about these type of things. I don’t think he really understood Zeni-human beyond physical alterations.
“Using Mental power, controlling it with their mind or maybe Magic,” I answered.
Mark smiled and scoffed at me, “Magic, like a magician?” “Magic isn’t real it’s all faked.” Mark was so naive then in fact the whole world was still so naive back then to what was real and what wasn’t.
I didn’t want to argue with Mark so I continued to make my case. I reached down inside the hood to touch the engine block. It had been less than an hour and a half since the accident. “The engine is still warm, so it was running when it came through the window,” I told Mark. He looked at me confused. “Running engine rules out magic and someone with the strength to throw the car.”
“Like the guy who caught it,” Mark suggested. I was getting annoyed by his line of thinking, but that wasn’t what caused the sting on the back of my skull. It was the guy we were looking for, he was here. I closed the hood and looked over to the small crowd of people outside the tape line in front of the store. For the most part everyone just looked curious, except for one. A young kid, he couldn’t have been more than fifteen or sixteen. He looked very nervous and uncomfortable.
I was no longer listening to what Mark was saying as I walked toward the front of the store. I was trying to be cool but I must have spooked the kid because he turned to leave. My danger sense had never worked like this before, like a homing device.
I kind of forgot why it was called a danger sense as I started following the boy down the street calling out, “Young man, wait, I have some questions for you!” He bolted and I followed. I could hear Mark calling after me so I couldn’t show off too much, but I needed to catch that kid.
The kid turned a corner into an alley, if I had been running at top speed he would have never had made it out of my sight. I followed after him into the alley to meet up with a huge trash dumpster sailing down the pavement at me. I leaned into the obstacle with my shoulder, bringing it to a crashing stop. I spotted the kid fleeing up a fire escape, but before I could go after him I heard a voice from behind me.
“It was you,” Mark said looking at me, my suit jacket spewed with dirt, garbage and paint chips from the dented dumpster. “That is why you didn’t want to investigate the guy who caught the car.”
“This isn’t what it looks like,” I said trying to lie. Lying was something that was much easier when people didn’t suspect me.
“Yes it is, I saw the whole thing,” Mark announced.
I continued on my line of denial, “We need to catch that kid and find out what he knows.”
“What he knows is that it was you that caught the car,” Mark affirmed.
“Okay, okay, I caught the car and stopped this dumpster but he threw both at me without touching them!” I confessed. I was frustrated with Mark but there was no reason to lie anymore, the kid was getting away! I ran and jumped up four stories onto the fire escape to pursue the kid. Mark didn’t waste anymore time arguing with me as he ran to start climbing the fire escape from the bottom behind me. By the time I got to the roof the kid was long gone I couldn’t see him anywhere. I could also feel that he was no longer a threat to me or anyone else.
Mark came up the fire escape behind me not even winded after his eight story climb. He had drawn his gun and was pointing it at me. “Don’t move,” he instructed.
“What are you doing?” I said. I had no idea what he could have been thinking.
“I don’t know,” Mark replies. “I can’t control it!”
“It’s the kid,” I said looking around again to find him. It was odd my danger sense was completely non-existent even with a loaded gun pointed at me. I was still new to identifying Zeni-humans. I had no idea what this kid could do or how he did it. Maybe he didn’t either. “Fight it!” I told Mark.
“What?” Mark questioned.
“Fight it damn it!” I shouted. “You are stronger than him!” “You are immortal and he is a kid!” I stood there watching the strain on Mark’s face. I thought he was going to crap his pants. His hand holding the gun began to shake. I knew if it fired I could get out of the way in time.
Mark grunted again as his knees buckled. “Get out of my head you little Prick!” he shouted. The barrel of his gun fell to the rooftop firing once.
“AAwwlwllwl!” another cry came from my left. I turned, it was the kid, he appeared from nowhere. My danger sense instantly throbbed and then vanished again as the kid fell face down to the gravel.
I sprang to my feet pulling my handcuffs from my belt. “Mark are you okay?” I called to my partner still on his knees not far away. I cuffed the kid knowing that if he came too it wouldn’t matter.
“Fuck!” Mark exclaimed, “What did that shit do to me?”
“Attacked your mind,” I said. “Makes me think that is your weakness.”
“Weakness?” Mark mumbled as he stood up.
“Your body may live forever, but if you mind is attacked you could lose control of it,” I explained. “I suggest no bullets to the head for you.”
We took the kid back to the squad to put him in the cell in the center of the room. “Who is this? Commander Olpere asked.
“Good question,” I told her. “No I.D. on him so we fingerprinted him while he was still unconscious.” “The real question is how we keep him from waking up?”
“What do you mean?” Paddy asked from outside the cage.
“That little jerk took control of my brain, I was able to break his hold but the rest of you may not be so lucky,” Mark explained rather arrogantly. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the kid probably couldn’t get into my head.
Commander Olpere went to her office and returned with a medical bag. She went into the cell and took out several things from the bag, including a stethoscope to examine the suspect thoroughly then declaring, “Whatever happened to him it only knocked him unconscious, he should be fine.”
“How do you know that?” Bower asked.
Commander Olpere packed up her bag and exited the cell closing the door to activate the system. “I trained and was certified as a paramedic to lead this squad,” she replied.
From the moment the cage was closed and locked, if I concentrated I could hear a low hum that signed that the cage’s defenses were working. For the next hour I rarely took my eyes off of our prisoner. We had no way of knowing how long he would be out. It seemed that Mark was doing the same to me. I had to wonder if he was going to say anything about what I revealed in our encounter with the suspect. About a half an hour after we brought in our suspect Olpere called Mark into her office alone. That certainly did not help my paranoia. They were not in there long together before I was called in too.
The report on the kid’s fingerprints had come back. Olpere explained that his name was Craig Donovan. The kid was picked up for shoplifting a year back but it was a completely standard arrest. These powers must have just kicked in recently. The problem was the Laws really didn’t cover Zeni-human offenders.
The report from the crime scene investigators had also come back, part of the benefit to our squad was that we got moved to the top of the pile. Luckily the fingerprints on the bumper were smeared not giving any proof of who stopped the car. I was relieved to learn that while Mark had been in the office alone with the Commander he had pleaded the case that the man who stopped the car was not a priority to the investigation. Which helped to get Olpere to drop following up any farther on the blood evidence, even though she had it sent out for DNA testing that would take two weeks.
Because Craig Donovan was under age and the nature of the case Commander Olpere sent us out to notify the parents in person of his arrest. In the car I drove this time. The Donovans lived in Chestnut Hill so it was a difficult drive at midday. After about the third light Mark asked, “That was your blood on the wall wasn’t it?”
“I got stabbed with a peg hook when the car pushed me into the wall,” I answered honestly and it felt good.
“That is why you and Paddy were late this morning?” he asked.
“Yeah, I called Paddy to bring me a change of clothes and some bandages,” I told Mark.
“So Paddy knows your secret?” Mark asked.
“For about three months now,” I told him. “I have to ask, are we good?” I looking over at him momentarily.
“If you are asking if I am going to keep your secret, I am,” Mark told me to my surprise. “I completely understand why you would want to keep you powers secret.” “When I found out what I am so did everyone else.” “In the past year since then I wish it wasn’t out in the open.”
“Then why did you let the cat out of the bag in the shower on our first day?” I asked.
“I guess I wanted to get ahead of it,” Mark said sadly. “I didn’t choose to join this squad like the rest of you, I was assigned to it.” “Besides, I knew it would come out sooner or later.” “I jumped in with both feet, I see no reason I should push you off that bridge too.”
“I appreciate that, thank you,” I said as we came to stop at the eighth light. “In truth I admire you, you are much braver than I am.”
“I don’t feel brave, I feel stupid,” Mark replied. “Do you see how Bower looks at me?” I didn’t get to answer his question because we had arrived at our destination. But I knew what he was talking about. Bower looked to be Zeni-phobic.
When we went to the door at the Donovan’s condo it was answered by a maid. We identified ourselves and she asked, “How can I help you officers?”
“We would like to speak to Mr. or Mrs. Donovan,” I said in my best authoritative voice.
“I’m sorry sir but they are in California,” the maid replies. “Only young Craig is staying here.”
“Where is ‘young Craig’ now?” Mark asked.
“He is at school,” the maid explained.
“I’m afraid that is not correct, he is at the police station,” Mark told the woman.
I pulled a business card we had been issued a few days ago from my pocket and handed it to the maid. “You need to contact the Donovans and have them call us at this number as soon as possible,” I instructed. It made sense that no one knew what this kid was up to while his parents were away. We stopped by Craig’s school on the way back to the precinct to learn that he hadn’t been there in several days.
We returned to the precinct to learn our suspect was gone. Donovan had regained consciousness he remembered nothing of what happened or what he was suspected of doing. Paddy and Janet had taken him to the hospital to be checked out. So we headed out again.
We met up with Paddy and Janet who were standing in the hall outside Radiology. Donovan was having an MRI to identify any kind of injury or alteration. One of the standing warrant our unit has is to test for the Zeni-human gene. He could be tested for that without his consent, something that I found questionable.
Then I heard it, it was a rumbling inside the radiology department. My skull was throbbing as I said, “Something is up!” I pulled open the doors and Paddy followed close behind me, drawing his gun. The others lagged behind not as confident in my actions as my old partner. I was the only one that could hear the commission through the thick walls, until we got closer.
“Holy shit!” Paddy exclaimed at the sight of the MRI machine. It was destroyed. The MRI tube looked like it had been hit by a bomb. The four of us rushed into the room, the others had their guns drawn, I wasn’t so quick to the weapon. Bower went to help the lab tech while the rest of us looked for the kid. But he was gone. The damage to the MRI machine was beyond repair, he had somehow destroyed it from the inside out. It appeared that his power was growing. Also I noticed that my Danger sense stopped the moment I entered the room, either he was long gone or like on the roof he had a way of hiding from it.
We spent hours searching the hospital with no results in finding him. Craig Donovan was a clever young man, someone I was sure I would see again in the future. Commander Olpere called off the search and the four of us returned to the precinct. While at the hospital we had gotten a follow up report on Donovan’s parents. They were traveling home in a small plane that crashed over western Pennsylvania. Both of them were killed. It sounded like that accident was something within the range of the powers that Craig had exposed. But once again we had no proof that Craig was involved in his parent’s deaths. Nor did he return home after the Hospital.
Home, that was where Paddy and I were headed after a long day. “So what is it like working with Janet?” I asked as he drove.
“Surprisingly she is weirder than you,” Paddy replied.
“What does that mean?” I questioned.
“She is very evasive,” Paddy told me. “She has dug up these six reports of O.D. that she claims are connected.” “None of the cases are from the cold cases we have been assigned.” “I feel like she is hiding something like you used to do.”
“Well not anymore, I spilled the beans to Mark already today,” I revealed to my roomy.
“You DICK!” he exclaimed. “You kept me going for a year when I was you partner!” Paddy grumbled.
“It was easier with him, he’s a Zeni-human too,” I explained. “Not to mention we were investigating a crime scene I was part of earlier today.”
“That’s right, how’s you back?” He asked. Paddy had become overprotective of me and my secret since I told him. I wasn’t sure if that was good or bad.
“Healing nicely,” I told him. “It has been a good twelve hours.”
“Can I take a look at it when we get home?” he asked curiously. I think my powers still amazed him and he didn’t even know the full extent of them.