Heroes Lost and Found (29 page)

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew what was going on. “Hunter, where’s Outrager?”

“He’s busy right now.” There was smugness in his voice, a mixture of rage and relief.

“Busy doing what?”

“Nursing a broken nose, at the very least. I don’t like surprises.” His voice shifted from calm to commanding in a split-second. “To your west, Jo. Get ready. Behind you.”

I spun around to see Dykovski flying towards me, the power armor boots sputtering and coughing white smoke. He snarled at me, his face distorted with rage.

“Stupid freak. You’re not good enough to lick my boots,” he yelled.

“Good enough to kick your ass, douche bag. Trying to compensate for a small dick by having a big gun there?” I didn’t move, letting the iron bull continue his charge.

“Jo.” Hunter’s warning tone slapped my ears. “Don’t do this.”

“He’s only got a certain amount of fuel, right?” I flexed my fingers, feeling the power build inside my battered body. “I don’t want him flying out of this. If we burn, he burns with us.”

“Don’t say that,” Hunter roared. “Don’t you dare say that.”

Dykovski bore down on me. Spittle flew from his lips, the white foam coating his chin. “I’ll show them all how weak you are. Show them not to look up to anyone who’s not human. Show them not to put you on a pedestal.” His armor-clad fingers stretched out to grab me.

A short push of energy sent me skittering to one side, out of his reach.

“Show them how I kick your ass. I won’t let you hurt anyone ever again,” I called out as he raced by, the momentum carrying him a good distance from me before he put on the brakes and turned.

“Don’t play with him, Jo,” Hunter snarled. “Put him down and put him down fast. Save the revenge for later.”

“I’ve got a few minutes before he comes around. Peter, Steve, Harris,” I called out. “What’s going on?”

I watched Dykovski circle, the unwieldy battle armor an aerodynamic nightmare to fly. He might have been able to teach Lamarr how to do tricks with a jet pack, but he knew nothing about flying in power armor. It’d take him valuable minutes to make the return trip, unable to do sharp turns like I could.

“Just finished dealing with my dance partner.” Steve sounded slightly winded. “Damn, I think I broke a nail.”

Peter broke in. “We took out the last three. Mine got ants in his pants, Rachael got the second and Steve gave another one a bear hug as it went for Harris.” He stopped as a coughing fit overtook him. He cleared his throat and continued. “But we’ve got a helluva forest fire starting here. These things weren’t aiming for us so much as they were out to set fires. We’re trying to put them out, but the lasers ignited a lot of shit we can’t deal with. We’re moving to the clearing where the bunker is.”

“I’ve already alerted the Forest Service and they’re responding,” Jessie added. “Bet that fight rocked it for the cameras.”

“What cameras?” Rachael popped in.

“Agency satellites, I bet.” Jessie made a popping noise. “Grab the long-range shots of the ’bots going down and going straight to post-production.”

“Classic Agency show,” I muttered with my eyes on the horizon.

Something snapped and wrapped around me, binding my hands and legs together. I looked up to see Dykovski still a good distance from me, his right hand pointed at me. A long string ran from his wrist to the net now trapping me, the thick rope connecting us.

The net’s small fibers started to tighten. I wriggled, finding little give in the synthetic squares. A wave of claustrophobia swamped my mind even though I was high in the sky with nothing around me for miles and miles. My breathing became erratic as I tried to remember the briefing, remember how to deal with this damned net.

“Hunter, a little help here. I’m all tangled up.” I tried to sound calm, my pulse hammering in my ears. “Heading up, going to drag his ass around. See how he likes being yanked for a change.”

I pushed off with my feet against an invisible cushion as the net got tighter. Within a few seconds I felt the tug of the line, Dykovski a huge anchor at the other end. I pushed but couldn’t fly any higher.

“Damned suit’s heavier than it looks,” I wheezed. “Guess I’ll just have to twist and twirl for a bit, maybe tie his feet up with it and drag him down.”

“Jo—hold your breath. Hopefully it won’t hurt as much,” Hunter said.

“What?” I jerked my head down to see Dykovski grinning at me. “What?”

I’d totally forgotten Hunter’s briefing.

The electrical charge snapped through the line and over the net, shocking me in a perverse reversal of roles.

The one thought going through my mind, other than the irony of it all, was wondering if I could stay airborne as all my muscles went rigid.

The answer came within a few seconds.

I turned downwards, headfirst, and plummeted towards the burning trees.

The roar of Dykovski’s boot engines filled the air as my muscles went limp, the initial effect of the taser ending. I still couldn’t move and I felt like I was made of mush. Mush snapping to a painful stop at the end of the line, swinging under the ex-Guardian in his power armor like a giant pendulum.

“Hold on, Jo,” Peter yelled through the link. I tried to respond but couldn’t manage more than a mumble, trying to gather both my thoughts and yank in enough electromagnetic waves to fly. Whether I’d pull Dykovski down to the ground or swing him around like a yo-yo on a string, I hadn’t decided yet.

Or if I’d just continue to bungee jump until he decided to fry me up like a burrito. A super burrito. A flaming giant super burrito.

Hold the salsa.

Peter interrupted my wandering thoughts. “Help’s on the way. Steve, going to need you to play catcher again.”

“Again? Hunter’s gonna get jealous.”

“Hunter will get more than jealous if you don’t,” Hunter growled over the link. “Is that what I think it is, Peter?”

“Jo, get ready to fly. Or fall. Or something,” Peter warned.

Getting enough control over myself to raise my head, I glanced up to see one area of the sky darken as if someone had flung a blot of ink on the horizon. Not too far from the growing dot I saw two figures rise over the treetops, hopefully Rachael and Peter.

Dykovski looked at the approaching darkness, his right arm pointed down at me as his boots continued to cough, the white puffy smoke washing over me.

If nothing else, I was making him waste fuel.

The mysterious cloud raced towards me, skimming the treetops. At the last second it swooped upwards, swirling past me where I hung helpless in the net.

Dykovski let out something between a curse and a cry for help.

The black fog swallowed him whole, the only sign he’d ever been there the thick cable keeping me trapped. The rope jerked, yanking me into a severe case of whiplash.

A second later the mass broke up enough for me to see what was going on.

Bats, hundreds of them, whirled around Dykovski’s head. They crashed into the metal body, some of the tiny dazed bodies falling past me before regaining their composure and returning to the attack.

A dull roar reached my ears, drowning out the squealing.

Dykovski cursed as he swept his arms around, jerking me like a dead yo-yo. His flamethrower went off, incinerating dozens in a deadly replay of our previous meeting. I couldn’t see his face, but I could imagine the panic going through his mind as he fought, again, some of nature’s smallest warriors.

“Get ready, Steve, it’s about to go,” Peter shouted as Dykovski swung again at the tiny attacking flyers. “Get ready, Jo.”

“Ready for what?” I mumbled, still slightly dazed.

Dykovski repeated the action, the flamethrower on his left overlapping the rope on his right holding me up.

I shrieked as the rope broke free, sending me into a downwards plunge. Even though I’d recovered from the tasing, it’d be impossible for me to stabilize myself before I hit the ground. I needed time to regain my senses, figure out which way was up and how to weave the waves around me into what I needed to fly.

I didn’t have time.

Seconds before I reached the tops of the trees a pair of strong arms went around me, cradling me as I prepared for impact.

“Got you,” Steve rumbled.

Suddenly there was no more falling, just a wave of nausea as the world twirled and whirled around us in a crazy dance, the shock waves rolling over me.

The air whooshed out of my lungs, my chest bursting with pain as I swung around and around, the forest finally slowing down and stopping like we’d been on a runaway carnival ride.

I wheezed my way back to full consciousness, blinking wildly.

Steve came into focus, his dark brown eyes filled with concern. “Sorry for the dance, boss lady. Had to do a bit of a polka there or we’d both be nursing some broken bones. Well, you at least.” He smiled as he put me on my feet. “Let me get this for you.” Steve wedged his thick fingers between the restrictive strands and my shoulder. A sharp tug created a small hole which he expanded within seconds, ripping the net open.

My shoulders screamed as the pressure disappeared, the blood racing away from my head to the rest of my body where it was welcomed with even more pain. I slumped against Steve, who put a hand around my waist, steadying me.

“Give it a minute.” He looked upwards. “Mission accomplished, Hunter. Worked just like we practiced. She’s pretty light on her feet.” Steve shot me a saucy wink. “You’re a lucky man.”

The reply came over the link. “Yes, I am. Just hold your position for a minute and catch your breath. Peter, what’s the situation with your buddies?”

“They’re pulling back,” Peter said.

I began searching for Peter and Rachael through the thick smoke creeping through the woods. The haze now clouded everything, giving the forest a surreal, dream-like appearance.

Peter continued. “Only so much I can ask of them. They owed Dykovski for making so much noise in the bunker. Seems they liked their little cubbyholes there, and he really stirred up the old holes and gaps sending out those robots.”

“Where are you?” I shook my head to clear the fogginess. “Where’s Dykovski?”

“Not too far from your position. He’s taking a bit of time to get it together. He’s just hanging there in the air. Think we really spooked him with the bats.”

“Okay, give me a minute to get airborne.” I took a step forward, away from Steve’s rock-steady support, and wobbled to one side. I felt like a wet kitten. “Practiced? You practiced catching me?”

“Technically, not just you.” Steve held a finger up. “We figured midair grabs might be a good thing to have under our belt with both you and Rachael being flyers and all. Flyers can be fallers at some point.”

“What the hell else did you practice?” I took a few steps, growing stronger with each one. The smoke swirled about us as I clenched my fists, grabbing up the waves.

“Hunter said he’s got a few new moves to show you.”

I rose into the air. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.” I looked for Dykovski when I broke through into the open sky.

Sure enough he wasn’t far from where we’d started this crazy dance, his boots sputtering while he tried to maintain altitude. He spun around with his arms outstretched as if looking for a target. The shredded remains of the cable swung from his arm like an ugly fashion accessory.

“He can’t have a lot of fuel left,” Hunter said. “Either in the jump boots or in the flamethrower. But don’t get too cocky. Again.” His tone held a bit of disapproval.

I snorted. “I’m doing fine, thankyouverymuch.”

Steve chuckled.

“And no comments from the peanut gallery.” I charged towards Dykovski. “Let’s see if I can get this guy on the ground, make it easier for us to put him down as a group.”

The flamethrower burped a long stream of flame at me as I circled around the armored suit. The heated air brushed against me, but I kept perfect timing, staying just outside of the deadly spiral.

“Pussy.” I crossed my arms and smirked. “That the best you got? I’ve seen better moves from rookies just out of boot camp.” My fingers were still shaking from being shocked.

“Come a bit closer and I’ll show you my moves,” Dykovski answered, a slight tremor in his voice. “I already beat you down once, Surf. I’ll do it again and show the world you’re nothing more than a freak.”

“I am a freak. But one of the good ones.” I zipped around him three more times, turning my nervous energy into a sharp laugh. “Bring it on, you big bully. Let’s see how tough you are when you’re not jacking off to beating on big men like Kit Masters.”

I dove towards the clearing I’d just left.

Trails of smoke rose around me, the fire started by the attacking robots growing and devouring like an angry beast. A nearby tree burst into flames, the leaves shrieking as they shriveled and died. Sparks flew everywhere, setting other trees alight in a vicious domino chain.

“Damn.” I looked back to see Dykovski coming at me, having taken the bait. “This fire is getting out of control and fast. Can we get a water drop here or something?”

“Deal with Dykovski first, we’ll worry about the rest,” Hunter said. “Focus. Focus.”