csyphrett

Revenge of the Scouts 1979- 18 Thingamabob looked up at the ceiling in his group’s common room. Why was the alarm going off? He stood up from the table he used for a work bench. One of the prisoners must have gotten loose from their cell. He assembled his arsenal as his group gathered around. They had changed to civilian clothes like he had. No one wanted to wear a mask at home. “Puff, get up to the operations command and find out what’s going on,” said Bob. He secured the last pieces of his gadgets together hastily. “Gaze, start looking for the problem. Troop and Clown Girl, start searching the facility for whatever is going on. Don’t forget to call in.” “Do you think one of them got out?,” asked Clown Girl. She had traded her striped shirt and baggy pants for a track suit with BRUINS on the back. Her make up was a pale imitation of what it usually was when she was in action. “I don’t know,” said Bob. “Go find out.” “On it,” said Clown Girl. She headed for the stairs. “Come on, Monkey Boy. Last one upstairs is a rotten pistachio.” Troop threw his long arms up in the air with a grunt. He branched out as he headed for the stairs and the elevator. His plaid shirt and jeans made it look like he had mugged a lumberjack for his clothes. “The cells are empty, Bob,” said Gaze. “The prisoners are spread out and moving around the facility.” Puff appeared, pulling on his purple coat over his shorts and T-shirt. He shook his head. “The brains started fighting in the factory,” reported Puff. “We might have a meltdown. Gilbert not happy with his pets.” “I told him this might happen.” Bob pulled on his arsenal over his short sleeved shirt and chinos. “Gaze, vector our guys on the prisoners. Puff is going to take me up to the factory, before helping Clown Girl and Troop.” “Don’t let them blow the place up, Bob,” said Gaze. He pulled on the radio set he used to keep in touch with the rest of the Squad. “I don’t think Clown Girl and Troop grabbed their radios.” “Get me up to the factory, Puff,” said Bob. “Then get radio sets to the others. Then help them find the prisoners and put them back in their cells.” “Will do, boss,” said Puff. “You don’t have to tell me twice. I can get the job done. I have a can do spirit, and an already done brain. Yes, sir.” “Let’s go,” said Bob. “The sooner we sort things out, the faster we can go on our vacation.” “We’re already at the beach,” said Puff. Transportation cut off his diatribe about how much he wanted sand and ocean after living underground too long. He stepped back as sirens warned him of imminent calamity. “Get the radios and help the others,” said Bob. “I’ll handle this.” Puff vanished between strobes from the alarm lights. “What’s going on, Gilbert?,” asked Bob. Gilbert Handley was responsible for the smooth running of the factory and extorting ideas from the two brains he held captive near the ceiling of the floor. He looked like someone had kicked him somewhere sensitive. “I don’t know,” said Gilbert. “Everything was fine a few minutes ago. Then they started fighting inside their chambers.” “What do you mean fighting?,” said Bob. He walked over and examined the readings for himself. “They’re just brains in jars.” “They have limited control of the factory,” said Gilbert. “Both of these guys were heavy duty minds before we locked them in. All they needed was to find an outlet to take over everything while no one was looking.” “The fact that we don’t have anything to offer them can’t help us,” said Bob. “I think I can pull the plug on this. I need you here to try to shut them down from this console. Do whatever you think you have to until I give you an all clear.” “Do what you have to do,” said Gilbert. “If they start exerting control outside of this room, there’s no telling how many they could kill while locking us out.” Bob didn’t need the reminder. The last thing he wanted was to go up in a fireball because the two brains decided to settle their problem by doing something to sabotage the power source for the headquarters. It was supposed to be impossible, but what they were doing at the moment was supposed to be impossible too. Bob pulled his power rod from its holster. He pointed it at the machinery, tracing the readings as fast as he could. He ignored the lightning playing around the room now. He knelt and took aim at a cable under some of the equipment. He pushed the trigger and a beam of light cut the cable in half. He looked around. He looked at his wand. The readings looked normal. He smiled. He had saved millions of dollars with a two cent expenditure of energy. “Kill the alarms, Gilbert,” he shouted at the chief technician. “I can’t hear myself think in this racket.” The lights still flashed, but the sirens were silent. Bob smiled. The noise was giving him a headache. “Okay,” said Gilbert. “Everything looks like things are going back to normal. You might have saved everyone in the base. Good job.” “Let’s double-check to make sure our masterminds can’t do anything like this again before I go,” said Bob. “Then I have to help out the rest of the Squad. Our prisoners got loose in the excitement.” “All right,” said Gilbert. “Let’s power down everything in here, and see what we can do to reengage the safety locks. Then we can examine everything without worrying about a stray welding torch, or a shock.” “Right,” said Bob. “You might want to detach their container while you’re checking everything out.” “Right,” said Gilbert. He pulled several switches and pushed a button. The globe at the top of the room dropped lower on a boom handle. The ready light turned red to signify they were trapped in the globe and couldn’t touch anything on the outside. “Can you do the check on your own?,” asked Bob. He could run it faster, but he had to get to work and help his team. “Sure,” said Gilbert. “I need to get my assistants back in here to help out.” “All right,” said Bob. He jogged to the door. “I’ll be back to help you as fast as I can.” Gilbert grunted an acknowledgment. Once the check was done to make sure the underground building was safe, he would have to figure out how the brains had gotten enough access to try to kill them all. One of his assistants must have done something to allow them more control. Then he would have that man shot for being dumb as a box of rocks. Bob headed for the stairs. He didn’t feel like taking an elevator until Gilbert had finished his check. He didn’t want an accident that could have been avoided. He idly wondered what had thrown the brains into conflict, but decided that was something to worry about later. First he had to help his team and get the five prisoners back in their cell. Luckily, his nullifier should help with that. Now that they were unable to do anything to the factory, they would have to stew about their confinement until something was done. He checked his radio. He needed a report where he could be the most useful. Troop and Clown Girl should be able to handle all of them but Corona. He would have to take her out with his wand. He noted that he would have to dart her as soon as he cut off her power. He didn’t want the woman to strangle him like she had been trying to do to Troop. “Gaze?,” Bob said into the radio. “Can you hear me?” “I’m here, Bob,” said Gaze. “Finch is two floors up from where you are. Puff is trying to hold her in place for Mercer’s men to try to recapture her.” “I’m on the way,” said Bob. He headed up the stairs. Puff should be a great distraction with his teleport ability. He was hard to hit, and could strike from any direction. He should have things wrapped up by the time Bob arrived to help him out. Bob pushed out of the stairwell. He expected to find Finch a prisoner again. Then they could concentrate on the more powerful escapees. He found a group of men spread out over the floor with broken bones and some crying. He paused at that. Where was Finch? Where was Puff? He advanced cautiously down the corridor. One of the men groaned from the pain of a broken face, and a broken leg. Their victory had been easy in Seattle. He realized it wasn’t going to be that easy now. //109609

Revenge of the Scouts 1979- Marty Morgan forced his eyes open. His head hurt. He felt disoriented. The light from the overhead was the wrong color in his opinion. He didn’t try to stand. He felt that would lead to an involuntary crash to the floor. He remembered driving down to the national park. He had paid for a car with mismatched doors and an iffy transmission. He had wanted to infiltrate the park quietly. Somehow they had been spotted. Marty thought about it as he tried to recover his senses. What had they stumbled on? How did he get out of this cell to find out? Did he want to get out of the cell? He had plenty of creatures that should work to start his escape plan. All he had to do was call them. He looked around from his place on the small bed. He saw a vent too small for a human to climb through. If he tried, he would be stuck before he could get out of the room. It was still big enough for him to send a rat through to look the place over, and maybe give him some way to escape. He doubted he was going to break the door down from what he could see of it. Marty called on his power. He imagined a rat sitting in his hand. He imagined the whiskers and the twitching nose. He imagined the stiff fur and bald tail. Wide ears and button eyes mounted on its head. Nothing happened. Marty stared at his hands. He had never had his power fail before. Could the clout to his head have taken away his power? What was he going to do now? He forced himself to sit up. He got his feet down on the floor and stood. They had taken his clothes from him. He supposed that was to be expected. He might have had some kind of secret weapon to get out of the cell he was in concealed in the lining. Why wasn’t his power working? He looked up at the faintly purple light. He wondered if the light was shutting off his power. He needed to knock it out to make sure. How was he going to do that? That was the question. The others had physical powers that made them formidable heroes. He didn’t have any of that without his summoning power. He looked around for a weapon he could use to smash the overhead. If he could that, the room would be dark. That would defeat any spies watching him. Where was Ren? He should be here in the cell too. What had they done with the apprentice? Would Doctor Tanhoubei look for them if he didn’t hear from Ren soon? Marty doubted the Doctor would interfere. It was up to Ren to solve the mystery and show the world he had done it. That meant Ren would be on his own for a long time without his mentor butting in. Marty found a chair in his cell. He tried to heft it. He frowned at the bolts holding the chair to the floor. He sat in the chair as he thought about his next move. He decided to take a better look at the vent. Maybe it was bigger than he thought it was. If he could climb out of there, that would be okay. If he couldn’t, at least he tried the idea before he dismissed it. Marty bent down in front of the grate. He saw that screws held the vent cover in place. He didn’t have anything to take the screws out. There had to be something he could use to his advantage. “Can you hear me, Mr. Morgan,” said a voice in the vent. It sounded vaguely robotic to Marty’s ear. He had experience listening to voiceboxes that weren’t human, and this voice reminded him of Barry’s partially rebuilt larynx. “Yes,” said Marty. He didn’t have anything to lose by listening. “My name is Cog,” said the voice. “I am speaking through a drone. We are about to escape. Would you like to join us?” “Who’s we?,” said Marty. Reflexive caution made him ask the question. He didn’t think anyone contacting him through the vent would have an escape plan, but he wanted to hear something. He had been struggling too long in the dark. “Myself and two females brought in to be mindwiped,” said Cog. “One of the women calls herself Finch. I don’t know the designation of the other female.” “What about my friend?,” asked Marty. “He is already trying to escape on his own,” said Cog. “I don’t know how he will get through the door, but he was examining it when I checked on him.” “Go over and tell him that you’re getting us out,” said Marty. “I’m having a problem with my power right now. You guys might have to leave me behind.” “You are under a beam that cuts off powers,” said Cog. “I will cut it off before I check on your friend. That will give you a small amount of time to recover.” “All right,” said Marty. The light changed subtly. He squinted. It didn’t look as purple as it had before their talk. He thought he heard scuttling in the vent. He ignored it. It was obvious how Cog had reached him. He had some kind of automaton that Mercer didn’t know about. He had let the robot loose in the facility and had compromised the security somehow. The explanation didn’t mean anything if this was all a trick of some kind. Could he trust the synthetic voice? That was what bothered him. He just didn’t have any choice if he wanted to break out of his cell. And Marty admitted to himself, he wanted to break out of his cell and have another go at the powers that had jumped him on the road. He wanted a rematch with his power against theirs now that he had seen them in action. “Mr. Morgan?,” said the mechanical voice. “Your friend has opened his cell. He is coming your way to open your cell and the female’s.” “Security?,” asked Marty. “I am buying us time with the cameras and microphones,” said Cog. “But if someone sees him, there will be trouble.” “If Ren can open my door, we will work our way down to free you and Finch,” said Marty. “Then I have to get some answers before we break out of here.” “I’m not staying,” said Cog. “As soon as I get free, I am using an exit and going home.” “That’s okay,” said Marty. He concentrated on his power. He felt a flare and smiled. It was surging under a weakened restraint. He could use it to get himself out now if he didn’t want to wait on Ren. The back of the door’s lock fell inside Marty’s cell. He waited. Ren pushed on the door from the outside. He smiled when he saw the Scout waiting in the center of the room. “I have to find my clothes,” said Ren. He gestured at the hospital gown he wore. “This is not something I want to fight in.” “How did you get out of your cell?,” asked Marty. He went to the door and looked up and down the hall. “I have a lockpick designed by Doctor Tanhoubei,” said Ren. He held out his hand. Something like a tuning fork glowed in his palm for a second before he concealed it again. “It destroys locks easily.” “That’s great,” said Marty. “For a minute, I thought you were going to tell me you hypnotized the door.” “That would be a feat worthy of my teacher,” said Ren. “I bet,” said Marty. They crept down the hall, looking for other doors. Marty spotted a row of lockers behind a round desk controlling a crossroad. He pointed to it as he looked around. Their clothes might be in one of those. Ren started popping the locks. He frowned at a shirt, pants, and women’s underwear stacked on top of boots. He put the clothes on the desk. He found his black suit and coat, bag, and shoes in another locker. Marty’s old Scout shirt, jacket, and jeans were in the last locker he opened. “It’s always in the last locker,” Marty grumbled. He began pulling on his clothes. He threw the hospital gown on the floor. He kicked it under the lockers. “Let’s find this other prisoner, and then see what we can do about helping Cog.” Ren hopped over the circular counter. He scanned the clean looking desk top. He found shook his head. He looked at the lockers. He hopped back over the counter and looked at the door of the one that held the strange clothes. He smiled. “Let’s see who’s in Six A.” Ren picked up the clothes and started searching the doors for numbers. He smiled when he found the one marked the same as the locker. A speaker stood next to the door. He pushed the button with his thumb. “Hello?,” he said. “What do you want,” said a female voice. “My name is Ren,” said Ren. “I think I have your clothes. Would you like them?” “Yes, I would,” said the woman. “Give them.” “Step back,” said Ren. “I’m going to have to crack the lock.” “Go ahead,” said the woman. Ren shoved his tuning fork into the lock. The whole came apart into pieces with a twist of the glowing tines. He pulled the device out of the wreck and put it away. He pushed on the door. It swung inward silently. A blond woman stood in the center of the room. She looked down on Ren and Marty. She held out her hand. “I’m Ren,” said Ren. He handed the clothes over. “This is Marty.” Marty waved absently. He had his eyes on the corridors leading to the room. All it would take to blow their escape was a guard coming along at the wrong moment. He scratched his chin as he kept his lookout post. “Corona,” said the woman. She stared at him. “Sorry,” said Ren. He turned around to give her some privacy. “Do you know what’s going on?” “Cog said they want to brainwash us,” said Corona. She pulled on her clothes swiftly. “Now that you are here, they should be thinking they can get started.” “So they have been tracking us,” said Marty. “It makes sense. We were looking for them, and they were trying to keep us in sight while we were looking.” “Do you know what this is about?,” asked Corona. She straightened out her costume, flexing her hands. “We were looking into the ambush on the Hazard Scouts,” said Ren. “We connected a man named Mercer and a company named Watson Security peripherally to the attack. We were tracking Mercer to ask him some questions about what he knew was going on.” “Mercer was in charge of the normal troops that brought me here,” said Corona. “He has mismatched eyes, so he’s easy to spot when you see him.” “Thank you,” said Ren. “How did you get here?” “These goons came after me,” said Corona. “There was a monkey, a girl clown, and a guy with a bunch of pockets and utility belts. The guy with the belts zapped me with some kind of beam and I lost my powers. Then I was tranqed while I was trying to strangle the monkey.” “Sounds like the guys we ran into down at the park entrance,” said Marty. He summoned a mouse and sent it ahead of them. “We need to find an office with records. If we get those, we can expose this to the public.” “That will allow me to graduate,” said Ren. “The problem is we will have to find them, and we will have to elude the powers and soldiers to escape.” “And they can shut down our powers with those nullifier guns they use,” said Corona. “You two help Cog and Finch escape,” said Marty. “I’ll find the records and cause some kind of distraction for you.” “I don’t think that’s wise,” said Ren. “One man can’t take on the people here. We need to gather our forces and attack while we still have surprise on our side.” “Plus I want a rematch,” said Corona. “I owe these people something for what they did.” “We head for the steps and try to find the others,” said Marty. “We take down anyone in our way.” “You know it,” said Corona. Light and heat played around her hand. “Agreed,” said Ren. Marty looked for signs to point him to the exit, or steps. His mouse hadn’t come back. That was good as far as he was concerned. Once it did, he knew they would be facing trouble. The alarm sounded. Marty looked up at the ceiling. He frowned at the cameras. Maybe Cog hadn’t shut them down like he thought the machine voice would. It was obvious that he had fixed the cells so they could get out and wander the halls. “Cog must have made a break for it instead of waiting for us,” said Marty. “Let’s find those stairs so we can get off the floor.” The mouse ran back. A troop of soldiers were down the hall, and coming fast. Apparently, they were on the way to make sure the other prisoners were locked down. Marty tried the nearby doors. He found one that was unlocked. He waved for the others to follow him and hide in the room. //108111

Revenge of the Scouts 1979- 16 Bob had requested a chopper and a pilot to aid in his search. They had a lot of ground to cover. Gaze could pick up some things but his range was about the range of a telescope. He would have to be moved rapidly along the roads until they found the targets. The Squad would have to deploy to block them from the park and headquarters. Mercer’s men would have to form a ring to keep the two intended targets inside the marked area. Some of the men had been issued nullifiers to make sure Animal Boy didn’t use his powers before they put him in a cell. Bob was confident that even if Animal Boy could use his powers, his team could take the former Hazard Scout. Summoning animals didn’t seem that special compared to a teleporter, or a multiplying monkey. Gaze might have a problem since his only power was far sight, but that was why Gaze kept to the background where no one would target him. “Ready to go?,” Bob asked his subordinate. Gaze smiled as he sat strapped into his seat. His face mask and hood covered his head so Bob couldn’t see it. “I’m ready,” Gaze said. He had one hand on the side exit door of the helicopter. “As soon as I see something, I’ll call you.” “We’ll use Puff to move around on the ground,” said Bob. “The sooner we get these two, the sooner we can take off for a bit.” “I’ll find them,” said Gaze. “I have pictures of Morgan, and a description of the other one. It should be a snap.” “All right,” said Bob. He stepped back from the helicopter. He waved at the pilot to get started. The helicopter, yellow with a big red W on the side, lurched into the air. It swung out of the big hangar at the top of the installation. It headed into the sky with the beating of its rotors. “Puff,” said Bob. “I want you to take Clown Girl to the main entrance of the park. We don’t know where they are going, so we need someone to keep an eye there. Come back and we’ll have a location for Troop to be placed.” “No problem,” said Puff. “I may need two, or three, jumps. Site is memorized and etched in my mind. Be there in a jiff.” He took Clown Girl’s arm and vanished in a puff of smoke. “Captain Mercer,” said Bob. “Since we think our targets are coming down the road from the reservation to the national park, where do you think your men should be set up?” “There are several places between the main entrances and here we can set up ambushes.” Mercer pulled a topographical map of the area out of his jacket pocket. “The problem is Animal Boy’s powers allow him to leave the road and cut cross country any time he wants.” Bob nodded. He had considered that. His team needed a flier to be more effective in situations like this. “I plan to have half my squad use a van and drive up the road toward the reservation,” said Mercer. “The plan is to see if we spot them on the road, so we can launch an offensive. The other half will set up in a partial cordon around the base with the hope of stopping the two of them if the rest of us miss them on the road.” “I think Troop will be fine here,” said Bob. “He can keep watch in that part of the park, and if there’s problem we can recall him with Puff and put him to work.” “Sounds workable,” said Mercer. “How long do you think it will take Gaze to find them?” “Don’t know,” said Bob. “If he can give us an actual target area, we can shift the plan to deal with it.” “Got it,” said Mercer. “Let me get the road party on the way.” “We’re at the eastern boundary of the park, Bob,” said Gaze over the radio. “We’re above the road. Light traffic back and forth so far. There’s nothing resembling the Scout van so far. A lot of cars and pickups.” “Start scanning the cars and trucks, Gaze,” said Bob. “Make sure our guys aren’t in them.” “Right,” said Gaze. Bob frowned as he waited. The Scout van had to have gone somewhere. It was possible they had abandoned it. That meant they were on foot, on animal, or using another car. Another car would be perfect for this. “All right,” said Gaze. “It looks like I have a partial match.” “Where?,” asked Bob. “They’re about twenty miles from the park and heading toward the front entrance fast,” said Gaze. “It’s a white Ford Galaxy with green doors.” “All right,” said Bob. “I’ll let Mercer know that we might have a fight in the park.” Bob looked around. He spotted Mercer talking to his sergeant, going over the map. He walked over and said, “Excuse me.” Mercer stopped talking to look the masked man in the face. “Our targets are almost to the entrance to the park,” said Bob. “They are going to be inside the line before you can deploy.” “Understood,” said Mercer. “Sergeant, take all the men and deploy them in a defensive line around the facility. Tell them to camouflage their presence as much as possible. We don’t have a lot of time.” “Yes, sir,” said the sergeant. He rushed off, calling orders. The men scrambled to the ground exit, running with gear and weapons in hand. “Clown Girl is down at the entrance,” said Bob. “She might be able to slow them down.” “See what she can do,” said Mercer. “We need to make sure they don’t get inside where this could turn into a tunnel situation.” “Can you hear me, Clown Girl?,” said Bob. He hoped she hadn’t taken off her throat mike. She had done that in a previous mission. Everything had gone sideways as a result. “Yep,” said Clown Girl. “What can I do for you?” “The targets are using a white Ford Galaxy with green doors,” said Bob. “Can you do something to stop the car, or distract them until we get there?” “Will do, boss,” said Clown Girl. Bob paused as Puff reappeared in the hangar. This was exactly who he needed. “Puff, get Troop down to the park entrance as fast as you can,” said Bob. “We’re looking for a white Ford with green doors.” “Come on, you big ape,” said Puff. “You might could lose some pounds, you know. Being big doesn’t mean you have to be heavy.” He pulled Troop into a puff of smoke as the simian protested the slur about his weight with some grunts. “I need to head down to the entrance myself,” said Bob. “I’ll see you, Captain.” Bob ran to the hangar entrance and leaped into the air. His rocket boots normally wouldn’t carry him to the battlefield on their own. He had rearranged them to provide a column of air to skate on when he got close enough to the ground. He could slide all the way to where he had to be. It wasn’t optimal, but it was faster than waiting on a vehicle to be driven out and follow the hidden road to the park entrance. He hoped his team could handle things until he got there. The second man had unknown abilities. He might be able to wipe out the whole team on his own. And Clown Girl liked to live too close to the edge for her own good. That woman from Seattle had almost overcame Clown Girl and Troop. If he hadn’t been there to sedate her, she might have escaped and started trying to find them. The boss would have lost his mind if that had happened. Someone’s head would have been on a block. Bob would have made sure to put someone else’s head on it before volunteering himself. He skated across the wilderness. He doubted he would be there in time to do anything. The place was big, and the facility was miles away from the park entrance. He just felt he had to do something instead of waiting on Puff. The teleporter might refuse to help the rest of the Squad out of laziness. If that happened, he couldn’t depend on the man to return to carry him to the scene. No matter how useful Puff was for his ability, it might be better to recommend for him to be programmed again. Maybe that would fix the problems that plagued the man’s brain. Bob slid passed a sign telling him where he was and how far to go to get to the main entrance if he stayed on the normal road. He nodded as he checked his watch. His team should be in combat. Why weren’t they reporting anything on the radio? He doubted they had beaten the two this fast. It was more likely that Animal Boy had taken them down with some kind of animal like an elephant. He tried to remain hopeful as he approached the main park entrance. There had to be something he could salvage from this. He reached the lot inside the park gate. He paused to take stock before he interfered with what was going on. The car was wrecked. The windshield had been busted out of the front. Dents covered the hood. The front had hit another car, crushing the front bumper of the car. Clown Girl and the unknown man in black danced around each other on one side of the lot. Troop and Puff had surrounded Animal Boy. The former Scout had been able to summon a dinosaur of some kind to keep the two back while he tried to figure out how to help his friend. How did he get his team and his targets away from there without further problems? At least the civilians had cleared out of the way so he could work. He decided the best thing to do was to knock them both out with darts and let Mercer pick up the targets to take back to the facility. Oscar would have to explain things to the boss about why it was done like this. He just needed an opening to use the darts. He decided that Animal Boy seemed the most dangerous. He had to be taken down first. Then they could take the man in black out. Bob raised his weapon. He pointed it at the summoner. He flipped the toggle with his thumb. The purple beam hit the Scout. The dinosaur faded away as the target looked at his hands, trying to figure out what had happened. Troop clouted his enemy in the face. That was enough to knock the man out. Bob shook his head. They were supposed to be more gentle than that. The other man locked up with Clown Girl. They tried to force each other back. That was enough for Troop to multiply and throw the man in black down. Clown Girl applied a strangle hold to put the target out. “If he dies, there’s going to be problems,” said Bob. He cut his rocket boots and dropped to the ground. “Are we clear, Justine?” Clown Girl reluctantly released her grip. She stepped away with her hands behind her back. “Puff, start moving these guys to the base,” said Bob. “We have to get out of here before the park rangers arrive. Troop, get rid of the car. We can’t leave it here.” Puff grabbed Animal Boy and whisked him away in his cloud. “Captain Mercer,” said Bob. “We have prisoners incoming. Puff should be arriving with one in a few minutes.” “Got it,” said Mercer. “We’ll regroup and take them into custody.” Troop squeezed behind the wheel of the car. He checked and found the keys. He backed out of the lot and drove away. He could make his own way back to base with the help of his power. “Return to base, Gaze.” Bob looked around. The small crowd still watching things should be taken care of, but he didn’t feel like killing a bunch of people who knew him from the papers. “It looks like we’re almost done.” “Right, Bob,” said Gaze. “I’ll see you guys when you get there.” “As soon as Puff picks up our last prisoner,” began Bob. “We should get out of here. There’s still a risk that the rangers will show up to ask us to explain everything for them.” “I can handle some rangers,” said Clown Girl. “That shouldn’t be any kind of a problem.” “We’re not handling anything,” said Bob. “We’re leaving. That’s what secret operations means.” “You take all the fun out of everything,” said Clown Girl. Her makeup had been mussed up in the fight, softening her angular features. “We’re not here to have fun,” said Bob. He shook his head. “We’re here to do a job and then go home. Anything else is failure.” Puff appeared before they could continue the argument. He grabbed the man in black. He vanished. His explaining of things to himself lingered in the air after he was gone. Bob looked around the lot once more. He wondered if he was going to get a reprimand for leaving so many witnesses alive. He decided it didn’t matter. Killing people wasn’t his thing. “Let’s go,” said Bob. He picked Clown Girl up in his arms. He pulled a ring on the front of his costume. The shoulders of his costume expanded into a balloon that lifted them off the ground. They floated away from the scene. “This is great,” said Clown Girl. “I love it.” “The landing is a bit rough,” said Bob. He drifted along at tree top level for a bit before pulling the ring again. The balloons shrank, dropping them to the ground. “That was way better than I thought it would be,” said Clown Girl. She laughed. “Let’s do it again.” “Let’s go,” said Bob. “We have a long way to walk back to the facility.” “We can do other things than walk while we’re out here,” said Clown Girl. She smiled at him. Bob paused for a second. Then he shook his head. He started walking toward home. “Aren’t I pretty enough?,” asked Clown Girl. She started after him. “You’re beautiful,” said Bob. “I know better to get involved with you.” “What’s that mean?,” asked Clown Girl. “You know what it means,” said Bob. “I remember how Jody wound up, Justine. I don’t plan to make the same mistake.” //105844

I saw Shetland on PBS with an antenna. Luther and Dr Blake are also on. They ran Death in Paradise too but it's off the air. Luther is pretty gritty and deals with psychological problemed villains, and a troubled hero. Dr. Blake is an Australian medical doctor in the fifties helping the local police solve crimes. Death in Paradise are fair play mysteries but the first two head inspectors were quirky as Columbo, the third guy isn't as quirky as his predecessors, but he's just as smart. CES

Watched Shetland. It's a police procedural set in Scotland. The original crime is the killing of a man in witness protection. The investigation causes a lot of other secrets and deaths to happen. CES

Revenge of the Scouts 1979- 14 Marty Morgan scanned the horizon as he drove through the reservation. He had a compass to keep him on path built into the dashboard of the Scout van. The ring sat above it on the dashboard. They agreed which way he should be going. “Do you think we’ll be there tonight?,” asked Ren. “I don’t know,” said Marty. “We might have to take the last part on foot. I think they’ll have security looking for us since Mercer’s dad called him.” “The thing that bothers me the most is why did they take Mr. Robot’s body,” said Ren. “They left his skull and took the rest of him.” “So?,” asked Marty. “What does it matter?” “It suggests in my mind that he was the target of the ambush.” Ren pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it on his side of the cab like a large map. “It explains almost everything.” “How could they use a headless body?,” asked Marty. “I don’t understand.” “I don’t see the whole picture but I am sure they wanted his mechanical body,” said Ren. He looked at the piece of paper before writing on it with a finger. “We should have asked Mr. Marston to trace what he could about William Watson.” “The only reason to take Barry’s body is to use it somehow,” said Marty. He looked in the mirror. Something flashed behind them. “If they tracked down Cortez first, would they have taken his body too? He had a robotic tank and life support.” “Maybe they took him first,” said Ren. He pressed one section of the paper. Cortez and disappearance were highlighted. “Maybe,” said Marty. That flash happened again. “Do you think Watson cared enough about me to try to have people follow me around?” “Why wouldn’t he?,” asked Ren. “You’re the last survivor of the Hazard Scouts. You control their resources to a point, and you know many of the people they knew. I was surprised to find you still alive. I would have had you killed a long time ago to cover my tracks.” “If I told you that I think we’re being followed, what would you say?,” asked Marty. “I would say let’s make sure,” said Ren. He folded up the piece of paper and put it away in his bag. “Give me a second to look before we come up with some plan to waylay the other car. They might be innocents going the same way we’re going.” Marty made a head gesture to acknowledge the logic. He could be paranoid. Watson might not know anything about Mercer’s involvement in what was going on. Once they had Mercer, they could reach for the next link in the chain. He didn’t like the thought that Barry’s body could be used by someone else, and that someone was behind killing all of his friends. He planned to extract some answers from his only clue. Ren walked to the back of the van. He looked out the back window with his hand over his eyes. He pulled a spyglass from his bag and used that to look at the other car on the road. “Red pickup,” said Ren. “Pretty common. The passengers are white, dressed casual.” Marty grunted. That didn’t mean anything. He slowed to a crawl and pulled over on the shoulder. He put on the hazard lights. “Are they still coming?,” Marty asked. He pulled the switch to open the engine cover. “No, they pulled into a driveway,” said Ren. “What do you want to do?” “We can pretend I am working on the engine, while I send something to spy on them,” said Marty. “Or one of us can go back there and ask them in person.” “I’ll go talk to them,” said Ren. He took one last look before putting the spyglass away. “Maybe they are harmless people who live and work here on the reservation. That driveway might have been where they were going.” “How much time do you need?,” asked Marty. “I don’t know,” said Ren. “The doctor said I needed work on my stealth. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Ren opened the side door and stepped outside. He disappeared into the landscape as easily as a shadow at night. Marty stepped outside and walked to the front of the van. He raised the hood and looked at the engine. He smiled at himself. There was no way he could do anything to fix Barry’s engine if it was really broken. He doubted anyone but another scientist could do anything. He fiddled with the thing, wiping the top off the parts with a rag. He checked his watch. He shook his head. He needed to give Ren more time. He decided to fake start the engine to pretend he was trying to fix things. He climbed back into the cab. He hit the brakes a couple of times. He got out and went back to the engine. He sent a bird back to check on the pickup crew. Marty paused as the bird reported that Ren was questioning the two men. He had apparently put them to sleep so he could check their memories. The bird landed on the ground and watched. Ren nodded when he was satisfied he had gained all the answers he needed. He turned and nodded at the bird before vanishing again. The bird flew back to Marty so it could be dismissed now that its job was done. It landed on the roof of the Scout van as Marty closed the hood on the engine. He pulled it back inside as he climbed into the van. He started the engine so they could start rolling again. Ren appeared and entered the van. He smiled as he took his seat. “They work for Watson Security,” said Ren. “They were supposed to keep an eye on us. They have forwarded reports on our interest and location to Watson. I expect when we reach the facility that houses Mercer, we will be given a warm welcome.” “I’m surprised they have put up with our prying so far,” said Marty. “If I was Watson, I would have guys coming out of the woodwork to kill us.” “I think they want to talk to us,” said Ren. “Our tail was unsure. They were given a hands off order until someone took over for them.” “That sounds like they were waiting for a decision,” said Marty. “What kind of decision?” “I don’t know,” said Ren. “Either they want to talk to us so they can learn how much we know, or bury us because we already know too much.” “We need to hide the van and take something less conspicuous to get close to the place.” Marty frowned at the chain of thought. “We need to do it now that we are clear of their spotters.” “How do we do that?,” asked Ren. “I don’t see any where we can get another car.” “We’ll have to improvise something,” said Marty. “First, we have to hide the van.” “I can do that,” said Ren. “Pull off the side of the road.” Marty looked for a place. He saw a gravel driveway leading to a trailer in the distance. He pulled into the driveway. “Get what you think you need,” said Ren. He got out of his seat. “Then get out. I’ll hide the van from being spotted.” Marty grabbed his coat and followed Ren out of the van. He stood back, pulling on his thin coat. He didn’t see how the apprentice was going to make the Scout van vanish. Ren took a bottle out of his bag. He pointed the mouth at the van. A cloud surrounded the vehicle. When it cleared, the van was gone. The bottle held a tiny replica. Ren corked the bottle and put it back in his bag. “That was impressive,” said Marty. “How did you do it?” “I hypnotized you into believing the van has been shrunk to fit inside a bottle,” said Ren. “Okay,” said Marty with lifted eyebrows. “Sure.” “Now how do we get to where we need to go other than riding a griffin to the forest and being seen from the air?,” asked Ren. “We just ask the owner of this trailer if he has a car we can borrow,” said Marty. “Maybe you can hypnotize him.” “Maybe,” said Ren. “After you.” Marty walked up to the trailer door. He looked around. Nothing moved in the yard. He knocked. Maybe no one was home. It was the middle of the day. Marty knocked on the door again. Someone moved inside. He waited for the door to open. A young woman answered the door, dark hair pulled back with a scrunchy, tank top and jeans. She held a baby on her hip. She frowned at the two scruffy individuals on her threshold. “What do you want?,” the woman asked. Dark eyes conveyed suspicion as she kept a hand on the door. “We were wondering if you had a car we could buy,” said Marty. “You’re kidding me,” she said. “No,” said Marty. “I’m willing to pay cash if you have something, or know someone who has something we can use.” “I know someone who has a car for sale down the road.” She looked at her baby. “I’ll call him.” “Thank you,” said Marty. “I know this seems strange, but we need a car because we had to leave ours behind. If the car runs, we’ll be glad to pay for it.” “Hold on,” said the woman. She closed the door on them. “Do you think she will call her friend?,” asked Ren. “Who knows?,” said Marty. The door opened. The woman had the baby in her arms. “Billy said he would bring his car around,” said the woman. “How long can you wait?” “A few minutes,” said Marty. He looked around. “This is a nice place here.” “It’s all right,” she said. “I haven’t seen either of you before. What brings you to the res?” “We’re passing through,” said Marty. “We’re heading south to Phoenix.” “Good luck on that,” said the woman. //101557

I haven't hit the halfway point and feel that I will run out of story before I hit the goal CES

Revenge of the Scouts 1979- 13 Cog had his drone ready when they brought in the third prisoner. He watched quietly as they took her leather clothes, mask, and weapons. They dressed her in a hospital gown and retreated from the room. Lusts were denied by the senior officer. The word Becker was used as some kind of warning. They locked her in and went about their duties. Cog went to work sabotaging the security, using the cameras and microphones to play a loop of their victim sleeping. He ordered the drone to take vitals as he thought about the next step of his plan. He had to wake the prisoner up. The drone scanned the room. They hadn’t left anything that might be used as a weapon except the blanket on the bed. That meant there weren’t any drugs present. Cog ordered the drone to administer a small electric shock. It was the best he could do at the moment. The woman woke up instantly. She snatched up the drone before it could flee out of reach. She looked around at the cell. Her face was expressionless. That didn’t bode well for her mental preparedness. “Can you hear me?,” asked Cog through the drone. “Yes,” said the girl. She stared at the drone, noting the cameras for eyes it used. “We are prisoners in a facility in an unknown location,” said Cog. “I have a small plan to bust out of here. Do you want to come along?” “Yes,” said the third prisoner. She put the drone on the ground. “Do you have any powers that might be helpful in an escape?,” asked Cog. “No,” said the woman. “Why did they bring you here?,” said Cog. “They are going to try to change our minds so we will fight for them.” “No,” said the woman. She stood and looked at the door. “When do we leave?” “I don’t know,” said Cog. “The other prisoner has been put under a nullifier to turn off her powers. I am waiting for her to generate enough power to fight. Can you fight?” “Yes,” said the prisoner. “When we get ready to go, I will open the door. There is a motor pool three levels up, and south of your cell. Can you get there on your own while we break out of our cells?,” asked Cog. The drone registered a small trace of amusement on her face. “Yes,” said the woman. Cog noted she was compacted muscle compared to the other human woman. She also held herself as stiff as a board. Dark hair was messy from her handling. “There are powers here too,” said Cog. “I will do my best to draw them off so you can escape without anyone noticing you.” “No,” said the woman. “Excuse me?” said Cog. He mentally braced for an argument, and then wondered how he could have an argument with someone who only spoke in binary. “Kill them,” said the woman. The monotone was the same, the expression the same, but menace had crept into her bearing. “Kill them all.” “No,” said Cog. “We escape. Then you can come back and do whatever you want. Once it goes in the pot, the objective is out.” The woman didn’t say anything for a long time according to Cog’s chrono. She stared at the drone. She sniffed the air. “Will wait,” was all she said. Cog took that for a victory for the moment. She could obviously do something. They wouldn’t have secured her if she couldn’t. He put the question in the back of his mind. He had to check on the other prisoner to see how much longer she needed to charge up. “Finch,” said the woman. Cog paused. What did that mean? Finch was a Earth bird. It was a songbird. It was deemed harmless by the humans. “I am Finch,” said the woman. “I will wait.” “Don’t worry,” said Cog. He placed Finch in for the placeholder he had been using for the drone. “They want two more of us before they do anything to us. We’ll be gone before Four and Five get here.” “Yes,” said Finch. One hand clenched into a fist. “Now that we understand each other, I am going to check on things and make sure we’re ready when the chance comes,” said Cog. “Yes,” said Finch. She relaxed her hand as she looked around the room once more. Anything could be a weapon if you had the right attitude. And she was trained to have that attitude. Cog ordered the drone back to the communications. He needed to do a check on what their captors knew. Then he had to get over to the other prisoner and tell her what was going on. He didn’t like that Finch didn’t have a usable power. It would make things easier for them if she could walk through walls, or had some kind of lightning speed. She might be useful as some kind of distraction. He didn’t like that she wanted to kill the people here. She might break from the plan to satisfy her urge. That placed him in danger and he didn’t like that at all. He sighed. He didn’t have a choice. He had to work with what he had. If she started killing everyone in the place while roaming around on her own, there wasn’t much he could do about that. He was giving her a chance. That was the best he could do. He had to look after his own tentacles before he worried about someone he was planning to use as a distraction. He didn’t like the fact that she could be using him as a distraction so she could commit mayhem when she was let loose. She didn’t have any powers. What was the worse she could do? He decided not to think about that. Chicago had several masks without powers on both sides of the fence in its past. The damage incurred by their battles was not something to sneeze at. He hoped he wasn’t unleashing a monster. The drone fitted itself into the tap it had made in the enemy’s communication gear. The chatter was not good. Somehow Four and Five knew they were looking for Watson Security, and for Captain Mercer. Observers had them to the east of the facility. They acted as if they knew where they were going. Cog winced. Did he wait until Four and Five were captured, or did he break out now and cause enough problems that the last two prisoners weren’t that important. Things were getting way too complicated for his liking of simplicity. Performing a rescue in hostile areas was not something he wanted to contemplate doing. His shipmates were better at that sort of thing than he was. He was just there to make the engines run. And now he was on his own with two humans who might be able to get him out of there so he could head back to his nest under Chicago. Getting out of his cell seemed more advantageous than waiting for the last two to be captured and then the mind warping to start. In his opinion, it was better to be able to run away than being pinned in a room. And running away seemed better than being magnetically depowered by the lunas running the place. Cog ordered his drone to inform the other two what he was doing as he thought about how to take down his own door. It should be as easy as having his drone open the door from the outside. He didn’t want to depend on the other prisoners to free him from the magnetic cage if he didn’t have to do that. They might not be able to get to his cell. On the other hand, if he could get to the security center after getting out of the cell, he could shut down all the mechanical aspects of the building which would make his escape all the more easier. He wouldn’t have to depend on the others to follow a plan. The gadgeteer might find a way to force him from the command center and cage him up again. Cog considered the problems ahead. His first inclination was to run. That was the way of his people. He knew that was opposite of the other two prisoners. He could tell it in the way they carried themselves. The nameless woman sat on her bunk, trying to summon her power. Finch waited by the door with blanket in hand. He wondered what she could do with a blanket. He decided that an escape attempt would be better if the powers were out chasing Four and Five. That meant only normal humans would be in the base with them. That would make things easier for an escape. The others agreed with his assessment. The nameless woman felt it would make it easier to ambush the powers when they came back. Finch just said “Yes,” when he told her about the change in plan. Cog wouldn’t be surprised if she killed one of the humans before they overcame her again. So they had to wait a bit more. He could do that. He decided to have the drone work its way to the edge of the command center. Plugging into the system there would give him realtime information about what their captors were doing. And he could use that against them when it was time to go.

Revenge of the Scouts 1979- 12 Marty drove south from the Mercer homestead. It was just as good a direction as any. He wanted to be in motion while he waited to call Marston back. He hoped that Petey hadn’t attracted attention to himself with any inquiries. He had already lost four friends. He didn’t want to add a fifth to the total. Ren kept his own counsel. He checked the ring once in a while as they rode down the road. He didn’t seem concerned about Mercer knowing they were looking for him. He seemed to be bothered by something else. “I’m going to call Petey and see if he found anything.” Marty looked for a gas station or diner where a telephone would be there for him to use. “That will give us something to go on.” “Mercer’s ring changing position implies that he is in transit to where his father called.” Ren showed him the ring in the sealed specimen dish. It slowly rolled along the inside of the dish’s wall. “He is west of us and heading south.” “We might be able to catch him on the road if we hurry,” said Marty. He saw a gas station ahead. “Barring that, we’ll have a good idea the general location of the place if Petey came through for us.” Marty pulled into the gas station. He didn’t see a booth. Maybe there was a phone inside the place. Once he called Petey, he would get back on the road and work his way south and west in the hopes of catching up to Mercer on the road. Marty planned an ambush to disable the vehicle that Mercer was using. Then he planned to let one of his animals do all the talking for him after that. He wanted to know what was really going on, but ultimately considered taking Mercer apart better than nothing. An explanation would not make that objective any more unreasonable than what it was already. Ren probably wouldn’t like Mercer’s limbs being torn from his body, but that didn’t matter. Ten years was a long time to wait to get even with someone wrecking your life. And Marty planned to get even before things were done. Marty walked inside the gas station. A black phone rested on the wall next to a barrel of peanuts. He checked his pockets for change and didn’t have any. He pulled out two dollars and approached the counter. “Can I have change?,” Marty asked the guy behind the counter. “I have to make a call.” The counter person took the two dollars and handed back a handful of quarters. “Thanks,” said Marty. He went to the telephone on the wall. He hoped Petey had something. He dialed the number and waited. “Marston Investigations,” said Petey’s secretary. “This is Marty,” said Marty. “Is Petey in?” “Yes, he is,” said the secretary. “Hold on.” “Marty,” said Pete Marston after a few minutes and some more dropped change in the phone’s slots. “The number traces back to Watson Security. It goes to a switchboard.” “So it’s a dead end,” said Marty. It looked like the ring was their only lead to Mercer. “I did some digging,” said Pete. “The number went from the switchboard to a place in Arizona. The location is some kind of set up in the mountains north of Phoenix. I don’t know how the roads are down there. You might have to come at the mountain on horses.” “Can you give me some kind of spot to aim for, Petey?,” said Morgan. “Not really,” said Marston. “The closest I can put it is Prescott Forest. There are a lot of towns where they could put out spotters for people getting too close to where they have their outpost.” “We’ll handle it, Petey,” said Marty. “Thanks for the help.” “I can get out my gear, Marty,” said Marston. “It wouldn’t be a problem.” “This is a personal thing, Petey,” said Marty. “I’ll call you when we’re done.” “Don’t make me come down there and look for you,” said Marston. He hung up with a small click. Marty hung up the pay phone’s receiver. Ten years ago, Pete Marston had worn a mask. Now he was retired from the game. He had a chance at a normal life. There was no need to drag him back into the trenches over this. Personal business needed to be kept as personal as possible. It was better to let Pete get on with the rest of his life. And he wouldn’t approve of what Marty planned to do. Marty bought a bottle of Coke and left the gas station building. He had enough fuel for the Scout van to get to Phoenix. After that they would have to look around for fuel. They should be on top of Mercer by that point. Then he would worry about the rest of the Watson Security people and how they fit in to the murders of his friends. He walked back to the van, and climbed behind the wheel. He sipped his soda as he thought. “Petey said the number tracks back to a facility down in Arizona.” Marty capped the Coke and placed it in his seat between his body and an armrest. “What do you think?” “The ring is pointing generally south,” said Ren. “My impression is Mercer is moving from a location to the facility. Do we try to intercept on the road, or follow him home.” “We should follow him and see what his place is like,” said Marty. “Trust me, I want to catch him on the road, but maybe it’s better to see everything we might have to deal with before this is through.” “And we know where he is going, so we can take our time,” said Ren. “It gives us a chance to seize records and other evidence.” “Let’s head down the road,” said Marty. “We’ll grab something to eat before we try to head across the state and then into Arizona. Petey said there were some little towns we can use as cover for a bit before someone tries to turn us in to Watson.” “How long do you think it will take before we are close to the site?,” asked Ren. “I have no idea,” said Marty. He started the engine. “I plan to stop before we get to the border so we can look for the place before we do something dumb, then go in at night to better our chances.” “I’m going to move to the back and take a nap.” Ren slid out of his chair. “Wake me when you want to get dinner.” “No problem,” said Marty. He pulled on the road and headed south. The ring rolled in its cage to point where Mercer was in front of them and to one side. They were on parallel roads that would meet some time in the immediate future. Marty smiled at the thought. He hoped Mercer had some explanation other than he was just following orders. He had heard that a lot when he was in the Scouts. It didn’t cut any ice when he was a kid, it sure wouldn’t now that he was an adult. Marty drove for hours, watching the signs on the side of the road. He pulled into a little place north of the border. His stomach growled at him for making it wait for so long. He cut the engine. He glanced at the plate and lid makeshift compass. It still pointed southwest. He could cut across to get behind Mercer. Then it would be a slow chase to his hole. Marty walked back to where the maps were kept. He nudged Ren as he passed. His passenger had sat down at the small booth the Scouts had used for planning. He had leaned over in his sleep, but he had remained mostly in place. The nudge snapped him back to reality. “We’re at the Colorado-New Mexico border,” said Marty. He searched the files for a map of Prescott National Forest. “We’re going to have to turn west to get to where we need to go.” “Seems reasonable,” said Ren. “Is there a problem?” “We’ll have to cut across the Navajo reservation to get to where we need to go,” said Marty. He pulled out a sheaf of papers. He smiled when he confirmed that they were what he was looking for. “Is it doable?,” asked Ren. “If it isn’t, we’ll have to go around,” said Marty. “Let’s get some grub and walk off this driving.” “I agree,” said Ren. “What are those?” “Maps of the local area.” Marty opened the side door of the van and stepped outside. He held the maps under his arm. “Barry always had a collection in case we had to operate in the area.” Ren pulled on his black jacket as he followed the other man. Marty paused to lock the doors before they headed into the diner. Ren hoped his mentor would be happy with his performance so far. He had most of the puzzle in his hands. All he had to do was put the perpetrator in custody and close the case. That last part would be easier said than done in his opinion. They were hoping to arrest a man employed by a huge company with the resources to hide him anywhere in the world. If they missed in Arizona, then they might not get another chance until they tracked the man down and took him from his protection. Marty led the way into the diner. He settled into a booth where he could keep an eye on the van. He put the folded papers on the table top as they waited for the waitress. “How far ahead do you think Mercer is?,” Ren asked. He had an eye on the other customers and staff. “If he doesn’t have to stop, he’ll be home before the night is done,” said Marty. “If he takes off before we get to where we have to go, we’ll wait for him to get back so we can finish tracking him down.” //98287

Revenge of the Scouts 1979- 11 The creature called Cog by the Chicago press floated inside its confinement. The electromagnetic pulse had damaged some of its systems. Repair packets worked on bringing its artificial body back to capacity. It wondered what was going on. It decided that perhaps this had to do with the help it gave to the Chicago authorities. Maybe there were other reasons, but that seemed the most likely. How did it get out of the cage? That seemed the next step. Once it was free, it could start doing things to make sure it remained free. Luckily, Cog had dropped a drone when they had taken it down under the city. The tiny machine was supposed to follow the commander around until it was sure of its terrain. It should help the bigger robot get free of its cell, and then wherever it was. Rebooting had not worked against the pulse. A lot of the core programming had been protected from the blast, but the workings in the limbs had been fried to a certain extent. Internal repairs and rerouting had restored eighty percent of its mobility. The most important part had been the flight systems. They had been the easiest to fix. The drone signaled Cog that it was inside the facility and still working. It had dug into some wiring and was raiding the command communications at random. It sent over what it thought was relevant to the problem. Cog didn’t like what its drone reported. It was the second prisoner of five, the enemy planned to rewrite its programming to serve them, and they didn’t know he was a cyborg. He pondered his predicament. Their first capture was in a cell on the other side of the facility from his. If he could free her, then he could use that as a distraction to free himself. He needed to know more about the first captive. Then he could decide if she would go along with his plan when he came up with one. And he did plan to escape from the situation. It was obvious the enemy wanted to use his artificial body for a war machine. He couldn’t let that happen. He had run away to Earth to avoid being used in that way. The Mark was the defender of the planet. Every tell knew what it meant to take on the Mark. And his furry pet monster was even more dangerous to confront. Cog knew tells that shuddered if he even said the word SPIFFY. Some screamed and ran for their lives. Having dealt with the furry monster, he could understand that reaction. How did he get to his fellow captive? He doubted he could get out alone as long as they had electromagnetic guns ready to shut down his operating system. He needed a big distraction if he wanted to escape his confinement. Breaking his fellow prisoner free might do the job if she had some kind of power. How did he do it? He decided that his drone had to do some of the work. He couldn’t get out of the cage he was in. If he tried, more of his systems would go down. His drone seemed to have free run of the place. It had to initiate contact. If the other prisoner could help him, then maybe the both of them could escape. His escape was foremost in his mind. Helping the other prisoner was secondary. If she got free, he was neutral to that. He didn’t plan on making friends with her. The drone reported an uptick in communications. A third prisoner was being brought in. She seemed to be a normal. That wasn’t much use to his plan. He had to make a decision. The best thing he could do was try to negotiate with the prisoner he could get to at the moment. If he couldn’t reach an agreement with the human, then he would try to talk to the third prisoner. He was getting out of the cage. He was smarter than any human. He was more capable. He had a hundred limbs filled with tools that was coming back to life. The drone picked up some chatter about two of the intended targets poking into company business. They had identified one of the key players and were looking for him. They had tripped some kind of warning sign and were being designated for a cell in the complex. Cog couldn’t wait that long. The humans would try working on him before they captured the other two. He had to get things started before they figured out where they should started investigating his inner workings and found his brain. He planned to be out of there before they figured out how to cut him open. He ordered the drone to locate the cell. He could proceed from there when it sent back an in position click. He would lose the intelligence gathering but that couldn’t be helped. He had to start his shaky plan before they moved against him. He worked on bringing more of his body back online while he waited. He wanted to be more than eighty percent ready when the time came. His drone reported that it was in position. It had secured a nest in a vent over the cell. Microphones and cameras reported on the captive to security. They didn’t want her doing anything without them being able to alert the rest of the compound. Cog ordered the drone to record and reroute the recordings to hide what he wanted it to do next. He didn’t want them to know anything about what he was capable of doing. He wanted to keep as many aces as he could. His helper was one such ace. The drone reported that it had captured and rerouted all the signals so that the watchers thought their captive was pacing and looking for a way out. He carefully raised a dish so he could talk through his drone without the watchers of his own cell knowing what he was doing. He didn’t want to broadcast his plans to anyone who thought they could stop him. “Can you hear me?,” he said through his drone. The device nested above the cell. At his command, it could free the other prisoner. Then it could come back to free him from his cell. “Yeah,” said the prisoner. “What do you want?” “I want my freedom.” Cog extended some minor sensors. He couldn’t detect anything sounding the alarm at what he was doing. “I’m a few hundred meters south, southwest, of your position. I’m trapped in a magnetic cage.” “I’m sorry,” said the other prisoner. “I’m trapped in a room that is nullifying my powers. I don’t see how I can help you.” “I can shut off the machinery in your room with a little work.” Cog thought that was doable. His drone was fully capable of mechanical work. “When that happens, I’ll need you to free me from my cell.” “Deal,” said the other prisoner. “How much time do you need?” “I don’t know,” said Cog. “I only have the one drone. It should get the job done in a few minutes.” “Do you know what’s behind this?,” asked the prisoner. “They want to make us servants.” Cog played his dish around. No alarms meant they couldn’t detect his drone wandering around. “They are waiting until they have secured the other three people on their list before they start.” “How do you know this?,” said the other prisoner. “I have broken into their communications net,” said Cog. “They are bringing in the third prisoner now. After that, they think they can capture the last two as easily as they have caught us.” “So they aren’t going to do anything to us until they have all five of us,” said the other prisoner. “Before we blow this place up, we need to get the one they have away from them.” “I don’t think that’s necessary,” said Cog. “No one asked you, did they?” The other prisoner took on a tone of obstenance. “I’m not leaving anyone in the clutches of these monsters. We all go, or none of us do.” “Are you going to be stubborn about this?,” said Cog. He didn’t have time to argue with someone who didn’t want to go along with his plan. “You can get out by yourself,” said the prisoner. “I’ll take my chances without my powers.” “You will be turned if you stay,” said Cog. Humans. They all thought they were special. “That will be too bad,” said the woman. “At least you will be free.” “All right,” said Cog. “We will wait until the third prisoner arrives, then we will go.” “All right,” said the other prisoner. “Thanks for seeing things my way. Watch out for their masks. They already have powers working for them. I don’t know what they need with us.” “How many?,” asked Cog. He didn’t have an accurate picture of what had happened to him under Chicago. “At least four,” said the other prisoner. “A multiplying monkey, a teleporter, a clownette, and some kind of gadget guy.” “The gadget guy explains how they had a pulse gun around to cripple me,” said Cog. He didn’t like the implication that they watched him until they saw an opening and went for it. He had thought he was hidden under the city. No one should have been able to track him down. The thought he might need help bothered him more than he wanted to admit. Any human armed with a pulse gun was more than a match for his mechanical capabilities. He couldn’t run into that and hope to keep going. “Don’t fall apart on me.” The woman’s voice cut through his calculations. “As soon as they bring in number three, we have to be ready to move.” “Cutting the power to the nullifier in your room,” said Cog. He issued the order to his drone. “I’m going to have to leave you alone for a bit while I try to monitor when our third escapee will arrive.” Three against four wasn’t good, but it was better than him trying it alone. //96600

Finished Chapter Ten. I'm about 4k behind and don't know where to go from here. I need to sit down and think on it before I write chapter eleven CES

Revenge of the Scouts 1979- 10 Marty drove the Scout van across country to the address they had been given. He wore a light blue shirt with an H in the shape of an hourglass on the front near his collarbone. It drooped on him, but he didn’t mind. He concentrated on the road, searching for street signs to point him in the right direction. He wanted to get to the house and deal with Mercer as fast as possible. Once he had some answers, maybe he would feel better about leaving his friends alone after they had died. Being able to punch the man responsible would certainly feel good in his mind. “I think we are on the right street.” Ren folded the map he had been consulting. He put if back in a pocket of maps in the roof over his seat. “It should be just ahead according to the mailboxes.” “How do you want to handle this?,” said Marty. He slowed as he read the numbers on the mailboxes on his side of the van. “We knock on the door and make sure this is the right Mercer,” said Ren. “Then we ask him why he was at the scene of the crime.” “What if he doesn’t want to give us answers?,” said Marty. He stopped in front of a small white house with a small porch in front of a green door and a single window. “He will,” said Ren. “Even if he says nothing at all, I am confident I will be able to learn something we can use to find out the parts we don’t know.” “Let’s see if he’s home,” said Marty. He pulled into the gravel driveway, stopping behind an old pickup truck with blue paint and patches of rust. “Then we can see what happens after that.” “Remember to keep an eye out,” said Ren. “Anything could be waiting for us inside there.” “I’m ready.” Marty cut the engine. “If he so much as raises a hand against us, he’ll regret it for the rest of his days.” “Don’t kill him,” said Ren. “We still need what he knows.” “I won’t kill him,” said Marty. He got out of the van and shut the door before he said in a lower voice, “He’ll just wish he was dead.” The two men walked up to the porch. Nothing seemed out of place. Ren paused before he knocked on the door. He looked at the window. A shade and curtain blocked his view inside the house. He knocked on the door three times with the back of his hand. He listened, but heard nothing. He walked down to the end of the porch and looked down the side of the house. Nothing moved in his view of the backyard. He decided to knock again before he entered. He didn’t want to get caught trespassing when he just wanted to clear up some questions. If no one was home, that made looking around that much easier. The presence of the truck said that someone lived in the house. That didn’t mean the resident was Mercer. Ren knocked on the door. He frowned as he listened. He thought he heard footsteps. He stepped back from the door and to the side. Many criminals would shoot through the door to avoid answering questions. Marty took the other side of the door. He held a mental image of a dog in his head. If someone opened the door, and he had a gun in hand, then he would suffer some holes in that same appendage. The door opened. A thin man who had seen better days without alcohol glared at the two younger men on his porch. He wore overalls over a long john shirt but no shoes. His eyes were bleary and bloodshot. It was difficult to say if that was sleep, or drink. Marty held himself from releasing his animal. This guy didn’t look capable of committing murder. He didn’t look capable of checking his own mailbox. “What you want?,” the resident demanded of Ren. “I don’t got time for a gook and some bum.” “We are looking for Captain Steven Mercer,” said Ren. His eyes seemed to glow in the shadow of the porch. “Does he live here?” “Naw,” said the elder man. “He’s been gone since he joined the Army. He was no good as a kid, and he was no good in the Army. It didn’t surprise me when they kicked him out.” “You haven’t talked to him,” asked Ren. “Not in a long time,” said Mr. Mercer. “He said he had a job with some kind of company. He wouldn’t be coming home again.” “Did he give you some way to talk to him in an emergency?,” asked Ren. “We have some questions we need answering.” “Not my problem,” said Mercer. “He’s not here, and I don’t know you two from Adam. Get off my property.” “Thank you for your time,” said Ren. He nodded as he turned to leave. “Come on, Marty. We have other places to look.” Marty glared at the old man before walking off the porch. It would have been so easy to set the dog on the guy. Then he would know what a questioning really looked like. Ren waited until the door shut before stepping back on the porch. He waved Marty to the van before he blended in with the slight shadow on the porch. The former Scout took the hint and got behind the wheel of the van. He started the engine and backed out of the driveway. He backed out on the road and slowly rolled down the road. Ren listened at the door. What he heard confirmed his suspicions. The Mercers were in contact, and the father was on the phone with the younger to warn him about their poking around. The old man sounded more bothered by the visit than what he had let on at the door. Should he go in and confront the elder Mercer? He decided not to. He stepped off the porch. He put the piece of the puzzle in its place as he walked to the road. It was time to chase the ring. They had enough circumstantial evidence to talk to Mercer. It was time to find him and see what he had to say about things. Ren expected a lot of lies when they did catch up with the man. That didn’t matter. Something would show up to give him one more clue to put in place to make his case. It would be up to others to try to prosecute the man for a ten year old crime that no one saw happen. He saw the blue and white Scout van waiting down the road. He walked to the passenger door. He knew Marty wanted to follow the ring, and he had to agree. They had exhausted most of their normal lines of attack. “Mr. Mercer was trying to call his son as soon as he thought we had left.” Ren climbed into the passenger seat and closed the door. “The number called can be checked for a location.” “How do you know that?,” asked Marty. Ren pulled out a pad and pen. He wrote the phone number down. He tore the paper off and handed it over. “I heard him dial the number,” explained Ren. “Since I have no way to check it, I thought we should follow the ring and see where that leads us.” “Hold on,” said Marty. He stared at the number for a second. He looked around. “I need a phone.” “We can try at one of the gas stations we passed,” said Ren. “One of them must have a public telephone.” “This might give us a destination quicker than following the ring,” said Marty. He pulled away from the grassy shoulder and headed to the next cross street. “It might get us to the guy’s front door.” “This will probably lead to some kind of operation for Watson Security,” said Ren. “Exactly,” said Marty. “It ties Mercer to Watson as part of a conspiracy if the number pans out.” “And we already know he worked for Watson ten years ago because of the two cases handled by the Scouts,” said Ren. “It’s enough to develop a theory. We still need some kind of proof to fill in the motive. That’s the hardest part of a case to prove.” “We have enough for probable cause, but not enough for an indictment,” said Marty. “I can see that.” “There’s a gas station up ahead,” said Ren. “I think it has a phone booth next to it.” “That’s fancy.” Marty aimed for the lot in front of the booth. “I only expected a thing on the wall. Let me make this call. We might have to wait a while for Barry’s friend to call back.” “Can he help us?,” asked Ren. “He’ll know someone who can check the number,” said Marty. “That’s better than the two of us can do.” “True,” conceded Ren. Marty got out of the van and walked over to the phone. He fished some change out of his jeans and put that in the phone. He dialed the number, listening to the clicking of the dial as he waited. “Marston Investigations,” announced a cool voice after a few rings in the line. “How can I help you?” “Is Petey in?,” asked Marty. “I would like to talk to him.” “Petey?, Mr. Marston?,” said the secretary. “Who’s this?” “This is Marty Morgan,” said Marty. “Petey Marston used to be friends with a friend of mine. I need to talk to him.” “Hold please,” said the secretary. Marty fed more change into the slot at the top of the phone. He didn’t know how long he was going to be holding. He smiled when someone new asked him who he was. “This is Marty Morgan,” said Marty. “How’s it going?” “Everybody thinks you’re dead, Marty,” said Marston. “What’s going on?” “I would like for you to reverse direct a phone number for me, and give me some kind of location, Petey,” said Marty. “I want to know what’s there.” “I can do that,” said Marston. “Where do I call you back?” “I’m on the road, Petey,” said the former Scout. “I’ll call back in a few hours.” “Give me the number, and I’ll get to work on it,” said the detective. Marty read the phone number off the sheet of paper. “Be careful, Petey, and warn anyone you have look into this,” said Morgan. “This is about Idaville.” “I got it,” said Marston. “Are you going to need help?” “Just confirm the number,” said Marty. “After that, I’m just going to look around and see what I can find.” “You need me, I’ll come down and put a bullet in somebody,” said Marston. “It won’t come to that, Petey,” said Marty. He hung up the phone. “I plan to let bears do my talking for me.” //94901

You can do like Lee Child and reread everyday before you start writing and make changes as you go. CES

Revenge of the Scouts 1979- 9 Thingamabob checked his device as he waited on the roof of a little mom and pop store. He wanted to get things done so he could go back to his research. All he needed to do was take care of this last target. The others were spread out over the neighborhood. Finch was not out roaming the neighborhood, so they had to wait on her. Gaze didn’t have a lock down with his high powered eyes because he didn’t know what she looked like without a mask. The observers Watson had assigned to look for the mask had narrowed things down to this one stretch of Seattle. They hadn’t been able to narrow it down further. It was up to him to do the rest. He figured that he could locate the heroine with his device if she was powered. So far scans had been negative. He gave it some thought. Maybe they could use a variation of the same trap they had used on Corona. It had worked once, it should work twice. And Clown Girl wanted to test this heroine, so it was perfect for getting that out of her system. “I need you to cause some trouble, Clown Girl.” Bob didn’t like that, but some kind of chaos needed to be started to attract the target’s attention. “Maybe we can draw her out.” “I am all for that, Bob.” She laughed over the radio. “Watch me strut my stuff.” “Don’t go overboard,” said Bob. “We don’t want to attract a police presence.” “I got it,” said Clown Girl. “Everybody else, get ready,” said Bob. “As soon as Finch appears, we have to take her down.” “I’m ready,” said Gaze. “Ready,” said Puff. Troop grunted in his radio. “Go ahead, Clown Girl,” said Bob. “Let’s see who we draw out.” Clown Girl dropped down in the street. She ran up to the biggest guy she saw and dropkicked him in the face. The man rocked back on his heels, reaching for his face. She kicked him below the belt. She flipped to her feet and rammed him with her shoulder. He crashed into a window and kept going. She looked around for the next victim. Everyone was looking at her instead of running. She needed to fix that. Clown Girl punched a woman in the face. The victim went over the hood of a parked car. Some of the people on the street went to help the woman up. Some went after the woman in the makeup. “Finch is coming,” said Gaze. “I’ve got her real face.” “Get ready, Clown Girl,” said Bob. “Keep her busy until we can get in there and knock her out.” “Will do, boss,” said Clown Girl. She evaded capture by the citizens while handing out punches and kicks. Some of the people trying to stop her ran into things like cars and parking meters. Finch came out of an alley, wearing the gold and green fighting outfit that was her trademark. Her mask covered the top of her face. A frown covered the bottom. She pulled a baton from her belt and spun it in her hand. “You think you can take me on, sister,” said Clown Girl. She waved the fingers of her hand in a come on gesture. “I would like to see you try.” Finch advanced, baton spinning in her hand. She held up the other hand in a guard position as she waited. She didn’t have to hold this crazy for long. The police were already on their way. “As soon as they engage, Puff and Troop, I need you to go,” said Bob. “I need you to hold her in place long enough for me to dart her.” “Got it. It should be easy. Troop is a big monkey. No one can stand up to a big monkey,” said Puff. The two women traded blows in the middle of the sidewalk. It was obvious to Bob that Clown Girl had met her match. Her skill and amazing luck was being tested by the golden warrior. Several times Finch made missteps that she seemed to know were not of her own doing. Bob expected Finch to compensate for Clown Girl’s luck and that would be it. His guys had to do their job first. Puff and Troop appeared over the fight. Then a lot of Troops appeared, falling toward the two women. Clown Girl jumped back out of the way. Finch couldn’t since the monkeys were right on top of her. She began delivering blow after blow with baton and fist, but then the weight of the multiple simians crashed down on top of her. Some of them made noises to show she was still fighting under the pile. If they weren’t weighing her down, Bob expected her to fight clear. He couldn’t allow that. “Come and get me, Puff,” Bob ordered into the radio. “Let’s wrap this up before the police get here.” Puff appeared, grabbed Bob’s arm, vanished from the roof. They reappeared on the street. One of the monkeys staggered away from the pile. He made small grunting sounds. “Ouch. That must have hurt. Glad it wasn’t me. I don’t like to get punched in the bajonies.” He stepped back from the action. Bob silently agreed. The last thing he needed was to get hurt in a sensitive area before they got the job done. He pointed his device at the pile. He didn’t want to dart all of the monkeys and Finch. He needed a better means to the end. “I need some type of exposure, Troop.” Bob walked around the pile. “Give me something.” The monkeys pulled a female leg out in the open. They held it down despite the shots they were taking from the other limbs. Bob darted the leg. He pressed down on the end of the protruding dart to make sure it had penetrated the cloth. A few seconds later, the blows were weaker and misaimed. That had worked despite the fact that Finch might have been able to take Troop if none of the others were around. They had lucked out that she hadn’t taken Clown Girl in a few seconds. That would have thrown the whole plan out the window. “Transport One, we have the package,” said Bob in his radio. “Prepare for arrival.” He gestured at Puff to do his thing. The teleporter dragged the drugged fighter into a cloud and was gone. “Let’s get out of here before the police arrive.” Bob started walking. “It looks like we’re on vacation while the boss figures out what he wants to do next.” “I told you I could take her,” said Clown Girl. “What do you say about that, Doubting Thomas?” Bob looked at her. Troop stood behind her, shaking his head. He wanted to say something scathing. “Good job,” said Bob. He resumed walking. Troop breathed a sigh of relief at the averted violence. He pulled himself together, trying to walk off the injuries that had been inflicted on him. Bob smiled. Things had gone better than what he had thought they would. Once they were off the street, they could head back to their hotel and pack up to fly home. Transport One would already be out of the city, and on the way south hopefully by that time. Puff returned. He grabbed Clown Girl and vanished in smoke. He returned moments later and grabbed Troop. A second later, he appeared and carried Bob to where they had left their own transport in an alley away from the street. “Let’s mount up and head out of here,” said Bob. “We’ll head back to the hotel and get our stuff. Then we hit the airport.” “You’re not going to let us hit the clubs?,” asked Clown Girl. “No,” said Bob. “We’re done. Let’s head home.” “What if we don’t want to go home?,” said Clown Girl. “Are you really pulling this?,” asked Bob. “You know the drill. Get in the van, or there’s going to be problems.” “You heard the man. Get in the van. We’re not here to have fun.” Puff slid into a back seat. He draped his purple coat around his purple suit. Troop climbed in the back of the van. He couldn’t manage one of the seats. He had to settle for riding in a clear space in the back, braced against the sides on either side of the back hatch. He made a grunt. “Let’s go, Clown Girl,” said Gaze. “The police are already cordoning off the area. We have to go.” Gaze got in the shotgun seat. His dark jacket covered the dark colors of his costume. He wore sunglasses for a mask. It should be enough to pass inspection. “Do what you want,” said Bob. He got behind the wheel of the van. “The rest of us don’t want to go to jail.” “Fine,” said Clown Girl. She took the seat next to Puff’s with a huff. “I’m not happy about this.” “That’s fine.” Bob pulled his hood back and let it drop behind his head. “You can complain once we get home.” “Fine,” said Clown Girl. The way she said the word meant it wasn’t really fine at all. Bob pulled the white van out of the alley. He turned and headed away from the fight scene. Watson Security glimmered on the side of the van as it passed under a street light. He drove the speed limit to keep from looking suspicious. Things had gone better than he had thought they would. Three targets up and three targets down. All he had to do was get back to base and help with the programming. The trio would soon be valued members of his team. He might be able to replace Clown Girl if they worked out all right. It would be a shame to let her go, but he wouldn’t have to listen to her wanting to play when they were supposed to be ducking out of a city. Everything had its trade offs, and he was willing to trade his prankster princess for someone who didn’t complain at the drop of a hat. Finch would fill that slot nicely. He put that in a back file as he drove under the directions of Gaze. The visionary was pinpointing the dragnet and getting them out between cars. “All right,” said Gaze. “Turn right up here and, then take the first left. That will take us straight back to our hotel. We can pack our gear and get out of town before the local masks come looking for us.” “Great.” Bob smiled. “A few more hours and we are all clear.” //93069

Finished Chapter 8. I have to do the last kidnap scene and then figure out where to go from there. Still three k behind CES

Revenge of the Scouts 1979- 8 Marty inspected his work. He smiled. He had not thought that he could get animals to help with basic cleaning chores, but it had worked out well. The base looked better after the time put in to get it back in shape. Between chores, he had gone down the mountain and picked up some supplies. He didn’t know how long they were going to be at the base, but the ten year old food stored in the larder for the team couldn’t be safe to eat. It was better to get fresh stuff and throw the old stuff in the incinerator. The food was a waste in any case. He should have returned before this, but had kept moving around. Occasionally he would stop in a safe house for a night, or two. Then he would move on. Ren had taken over one of the empty labs while they waited for the Major to call back. The apprentice had set their evidence out in a display on a table. He walked around it, studying it while they waited for the phone to ring. It looked like a giant puzzle with more than a few pieces missing to Marty. “If we had a motive, things would be clearer,” Ren said as he walked around the table. “It seems like someone paid Mercer to make the call to lure us to Idaville,” said Marty. “If we knew who that was, maybe the motive would come.” “I doubt it was anyone in the government,” said Ren. “The Hazard Scouts produced good publicity whenever they arrived on the scene of a disaster.” “That still leaves half of the world.” Marty shook his head. “The only one we can rule out is Cortez. Jim ruled him out at the attack, and he hasn’t been seen since the last time we dealt with him.” “That seems odd,” Ren frowned at that bit of information. “Are you sure?” “Yes,” said Marty. “He hasn’t done anything since we crashed his volcano explosion scheme. That was one of the reasons we went to Idaville in the first place. Mercer said he had contact with Cortez’s forces there.” Ren added that information to his puzzle. It formed a block with years marked on it. He would have thought Cortez would put any scheme in action with the deaths of his nemesis. The phone rang. Ren nodded as he went to the old style wall unit at the door to the lab. Maybe this was more pieces in the puzzle. “Hello,” said Ren. “How are you?” “Fine,” said Major Ricther. “I did some digging. The Armed Services never had problems like you described at Pearl, or Midway. But there was a company leasing facilities that matches Watson Security. The owner is William Watson. I don’t have any background on him. I talked to the base commanders that were stationed at those places during the emergency calls. One of them identifies one of the men he dealt with as a Captain Steven Mercer who he believed was bounced from the service. He was surprised to see the man in with the rest of the detail he saw.” “Can you find out why Captain Mercer was discharged?,” asked Ren. “I already did,” said Ricther. “He was caught using his troops as a band of pirates and mercenaries.” “That’s interesting,” said Ren. “Do you know where he lives?” “No, I don’t.” Ricther sighed into the phone. “We don’t keep track of people once they are discharged. I can give you the last known address in his file. Other than that, I don’t know how much more help I can be.” “That would be helpful,” said Ren. “We will track him down and ask our questions.” Ricther gave him the address listed for Mercer. He wished them the best of luck, and hung up. “I doubt he is there at that address, but I would like to look at it all the same.” Ren hung up the phone and crossed to the table. He added another chip for Mercer with the calls and the trap line to Idaville. “So Mercer got our emergency line number, created some emergencies, and then lured us into a trap,” said Marty. “And then made sure the trap sprung shut.” “Being there in person is what gave it away to Mental.” Ren adjusted his table displays slightly. “That’s how he lost his ring.” “How do you want to handle this?,” asked Marty. “We’ll go to the address and see if we can pick up his trail,” said Ren. “If we can’t, we will resort to the ring and see if it will take us to where we want to go.” “Sounds good to me,” said Marty. “We won’t have to use the griffin either.” “We won’t,” asked Ren. “Why?” “Because the Scout van is still in the hangar.” Marty smiled. “I already looked it over and it still runs.” “So we can drive instead of flying,” said Ren. “That’s great. Griffin flying is hard on the butt.” “I know,” said Marty. “When do you want to go?” “Let’s get something to eat,” said Ren. “Then we can get started.” “Sounds fine to me.” Marty led the way to the kitchen. “What happens if Mercer won’t tell us anything?” “He’ll tell us something, whether he wants to, or not.” Ren rubbed his hands together. “Every criminal leaves a trace, whether they know it, or not.” “So this Watson could be the mastermind behind everything?,” said Marty. “How do we prove that?” “I don’t know yet,” admitted Ren. “I’m hoping that talking with Mercer will give us enough to figure out Watson’s goals and if he went after the Scouts. A motive will present itself when we know for sure he was involved.” “He’s involved,” said Marty. “We need to know more about him, but I don’t know who to ask for the information.” “I don’t have extensive contacts to check on him,” admitted Ren. “I doubt he will be in the newspapers.” “Let’s ask Mercer,” said Marty. “Then we can check on what he says through the newspapers. Maybe we can find a connection that way.” “Maybe,” said Ren. “Let’s eat, and forget the mystery for the moment. Maybe something will present itself after we are done.” “All right,” said Marty. “I can do that.” The two fixed themselves food from the supplies, talking about other cases. Marty talked about the time the Scouts had helped put out a forest fire in California. His part was creating firebreaks with an elephant. That had been his biggest animal at the time. Ren told him of a mystery he had worked on with his mentor. Someone named Nachi was smuggling women into Japan to use as slaves. They had tracked the ring down, and busted it. The women were returned to their own countries. Nachi had tried to hide behind contracts. It was quickly proven that the contracts didn’t entitle him to kidnap people from other places. Marty cleaned up his mess after he was done. He shook his head after the story. He had dealt with similar people. They didn’t think anything was wrong with what they were doing. Other people didn’t matter. This case might be of the same stripe. He didn’t like that. It meant his friends had been killed for some nebulous goal instead of some personal animosity. Personal animosity seemed better in his mind. When he found Watson, he planned to show him how he felt about it. Ren cleaned up his own mess in silence. His mind seemed to be on his own past dealings with criminal masterminds. “I have to use the bathroom,” said Marty. “Then I’ll get the van ready to go.” “No worry,” said Ren. “I have to make sure I have all I need when we talk to Mercer. I doubt he will tell the truth if we ask him questions without some kind of threat.” “I would hope I’m threat enough,” said Marty. Ren shook his head. “I have threatened people before,” said Marty. He left the room to head to his old quarters. Ren went back to his evidence room. He wanted to use the truth as leverage. If he had to use one of Marty’s animals, he would. Learning the truth had become paramount. //91285

Finished Chapter Seven with the kidnapping of Cog. Still three k behind. Chapter Eight has to plant clues for Marty and Ren CES

Revenge of the Scouts 1979- 7 Thingamabob rubbed his face as he waited. Corona had been dangerous because of her natural energy powers. The guy they were after now was dangerous because he was more machine than a living creature. He should be easy pickings for Bob’s gizmo, but if they were wrong, things could get out of hand quick. He went over the plan in his head. He didn’t see any flaws. That didn’t mean anything. There were always flaws in plans. You found them when you tried to put the plan in motion. Hopefully his comrades would compensate and get things done. He didn’t need a lecture from the higher-ups. “I got contact, Bob,” reported Gaze. “Target is below us in the sewer.” “Give us direction, Gaze.” Bob nodded at the others. “We’re going to have to draw him out so we can deal with him.” “It looks like it’s just hovering in place.” Gaze sounded bothered. “This thing looks like a flying octopus. Are you sure this is the target?” “Yeah,” said Bob. “Let me have a second before we go after this thing. I need to think.” The attack on Corona had been simple. She flew patrols over Detroit. They were regular, and out in the open. It had been easy to track her back to her starting point. This machine hid out under Chicago. There were literally miles of tunnels and other things since the new version of the city had been built on the old versions of the city. If they went into the tunnels after the thing, they would be letting it have home field advantage and losing the element of surprise. Did he want to roll the dice, or go to target number three and hope she was easier to take than a flying metal octopus? “This is the plan,” said Bob. He hated the solution he saw to his problem. It involved a lot of personal risk he didn’t think should be taken by him. “Puff is going to drop me on the target, or as close to the target as he can. I shoot the target with the EMP. The target is down. Puff gets Troop. Troop carries the octopus to the closest exit and turns it over to Mercer. Any questions?” “What happens if the EMP doesn’t work?,” asked Clown Girl. “Then we have to slug it out with this thing until it goes down, or the police show up.” Bob didn’t like that. He wanted things to work smoothly and quickly. If they were engaged until the police showed up, that ran the risk of exposure. “All right,” said Gaze. “It’s moving. It’s headed our way.” “Puff?,” asked Bob. He readied the EMP built into his gadget. “I have to get a look at the lay of the land. I can’t just blow in there blindly. That would be bad. I don’t want to lose a limb. I don’t want to lose my head. I like my head, Bob,” said Puff. He didn’t pause between sentences, but the others were used to his rapid fire speech. “Don’t tell me about it,” said Bob. “Do it.” Puff vanished in a cloud of smoke. He returned a moment later. He smiled. “I have a spot ahead of the thing. I don’t know if it saw me. It might have, but I was only there for a second. It might think I was some kind of echo. Ready to go?,” said the teleporter. “Yes,” said Bob. Puff grabbed him and the world vanished in a haze of fog. The cloud pushed out of the way and he was standing in the dark. A light hovered in front of him. He didn’t hesitate. He commanded the gadget to fire. The beam struck the machine as it raised its many arms, cylinder of a head turning to orientate on the new threat. It crashed to the floor of the tunnel. “Get Troop.” Bob aimed his device at the machine and took a reading. He saw that the machine was trying to power up. “Hurry up.” Puff vanished. He reappeared with Troop in his grasp. “This thing is trying to come back to life,” said Bob. “We need to get it in the cage before it does that.” Troop multiplied down the tunnel until he reached a ladder leading up on the street. More of him grabbed the downed robot and he began to pass it along the line as fast as he could. “Gaze,” said Bob. His radio crackled with static. “Puff, have Gaze guide Mercer to wherever the exit is. He needs to be ready with the cage quick.” “Got it, boss. You can count on me. Be there in a jiffy.” Puff vanished. “If that thing wakes up, Troop,” began Bob. “Bash it if you have to. We can’t let it have an idea who we are and then let it escape.” The simian at the end of the line next to Bob nodded in understanding. He doubted he could do that much against that many arms, but he had a lot of arms himself. One of the tentacles started twitching. Bob followed the line of Troops, using his gadget to keep an eye on the readings from the machine. They were cutting it close. The manhole cover flipped out of the way as Troop started handing the machine up the ladder. Human soldiers stood around the opening in the street. They pulled the thing through the hole with some work. Troop grabbed Bob by the waist and handed him down the line as the duplicates shrank to a single simian strongman. They handed him up to the street before pulling themselves up out of the tunnel and into one creature. Mercer’s mercenaries had the thing in the specially designed cage in the back of a moving truck. They pulled a switch and the cage was bolted down between two magnetic walls. If that wiped the programming, that would be too bad. Reports showed the thing was too dangerous without something set up to keep it at bay. Bob was glad it was loaded in the moving truck. That meant for him, the mission was over. He had to move on to the last target. If Mercer lost the machine, that was on him. The Squad was free of any responsibility. “Load up,” ordered Mercer. “We have to get this thing back to a proper cage.” The door on the truck closed with guards mounted inside the load compartment. Mercer watched as the driver and the last guard got the truck on the road and headed south. A black jeep rolled up to pick him up. A black SUV rolled behind the moving truck and kept pace. “Tell the guards to keep an eye on that thing,” said Bob. “It was trying to shake off the EMP discharge while we were getting it out of the tunnel.” “That can’t be good.” Mercer climbed into the jeep. “I’ll let them know. I’ll call you when we get to the last target site.” “I’ll be waiting for it,” said Bob. He nodded his head as the jeep rolled away after the other vehicles. “That went better than I thought,” said Gaze. Puff dropped him on the street with Bob and Troop. “I didn’t expect the reset,” said Bob. “It was almost like it wasn’t a robot at all.” Puff dropped Clown Girl with the others. He vanished. He reappeared with a cup of soda in his hand. “Let’s head back to the hotel,” said Bob. “We have to head to Seattle to plan to pick up our last target before we can take a vacation.” “This Finch doesn’t look so tough. I bet Clown Girl can beat her. Do I really have to go? I want a vacation now,” said Puff. He sipped his drink loudly. “That’s the job,” said Bob. “Now let’s get a car and get moving. We can’t stand here looking stupid all our lives.” “All right,” said Puff. “I’ll get a car. I do all the work around here anyways. I am the greatest.” “I think I can take this Finch,” said Clown Girl. “We’re not going to do anything like that.” Bob made a face. “If we have to fight her, then we have failed the mission.” “And I don’t think we want to give her a fair fight,” said Gaze. “Who fights fair?,” said Clown Girl, smiling. Troop made a hand gesture. His eyebrows wiggled. “Shut it, you damn dirty ape,” said Clown Girl with a grin. A van rolled up. Puff rolled down the driver’s window. He waved a hand for them to get in. “Move over,” said Bob. He pulled open the door of the van. “I’m driving.” Puff vaulted into the shotgun seat. He muttered to himself as he strapped the seatbelt down. The rest of the Squad got in the back. “We’ll pack up and check out of the hotel.” Bob drove leisurely away from the battle scene. “Then we’ll catch a flight out to Seattle, settle in, and figure out where we can ambush Finch.” “Can’t we get some sleep first?,” said Clown Girl. “I would like to take a night to relax before we have to chase down some other power for the boss.” “I agree with Clown Girl,” said Gaze. “There’s no point in setting up when we have to wait on Mercer to escort our prisoner back to base.” Troop silently nodded. “What about you, motor mouth?,” said Bob. He looked over at Puff. The man in purple fell silent for a second. He shook in his chair for a second. “I think we should take five. I think we need to be on the top of our game. This Finch might be better than us. She might be able to knock all of us out,” said Puff. He shrugged. “A night off before we take her on couldn’t hurt us by relaxing.” “All right,” said Bob. He didn’t need them balking when he needed them working. “We’ll take the rest of the night off and fly out tomorrow.” “Thanks, boss,” said Clown Girl. “I knew you would make the right decision.” “What if I had made the wrong decision?,” asked Bob. He didn’t know if he wanted to hear the answer. “I have a bag for that,” said Clown Girl. Puff made a throat cutting gesture while trying to keep it from the people in the back. “What was that?,” Clown Girl asked. Her voice had a querulous tinge to it. “Nothing, nothing,” said Puff. “I wouldn’t say anything. You are a beautiful human being.” He turned to look out the window of his door. He made the throat cutting gesture again. Bob smiled slightly. “That’s what I thought,” said Clown Girl. Bob turned and headed for the hotel. The Squad were silent except for Puff. He muttered to himself as he watched the scenery go by. Bob pulled into the underground garage of the hotel. He parked close to the door so they could get to the elevators and stairs with minimum exposure. Puff vanished before the others could get out of the van. “He talks to himself too much, Bob,” said Gaze. “I know, but we need him,” said Bob. “We wouldn’t have handled the robot as easy as we did without him.” “One day he’s going to snap,” said Gaze. “We might have to put him down ourselves if that happens.” “When we get done, I’ll have him sit down with the Docs,” said Bob. He got out of the van. “If the boss pulls his plug, that’s what we will do.” “Okay,” said Gaze. “I’ll keep my eye on him.” “Right,” said Bob. “Let’s go up to our rooms and get some sleep.” “Yes,” said Gaze. The Squad crossed the garage. They headed up the stairs. They didn’t want to explain themselves to passengers on an elevator. They climbed up to their floor. Gaze had the room next to the stairs. He slipped inside his room, pulling back his hood as he shut the door. The rest walked the hall, separating as they reached their hotel doors. Bob was last as his room was at the end of the hall next to a window looking out on the city. He pulled off his green costume and packed it away before heading for a shower. He planned to be asleep afterward.

The story is fine. It's a lot better than what I manage. I say bring back Dr. Frost. CES

Forgot to put down I wrote chapter six and am now working on Chapter seven. I am going to say I am unofficially at 12k maybe. CES

They have two camps, Old Man. They are in April and July I think. I think you can write as little as 5k, and change the goal up until the last week. CES

Revenge of the Scouts 1979- 6 Marty directed his griffin to land in front of the small building buried in the middle of a small forest of trees. He dismounted and looked around. He didn’t see anything moving. “It’s smaller than I thought it would be.” Ren tried to stand on weak legs. He looked around also, gauging what he needed. “This is just the top,” said Marty. He waved his hands around. “These trees used to have cameras mounted with hidden guns everywhere. The catapult for the jet was over there somewhere. And the land area is far away from anyone trying to get up here.” “Do you think anyone has been up here in the last few years?” Ren nodded when he felt his legs would carry him. “Doubt it.” Marty walked toward the door. “The Foundation was supposed to maintain property rights until the Scouts were declared dissolved. As that last member, I’m the only one who can declare that. And I haven’t.” Marty flipped the lid up on the scanner next to the door. He put his hand on it. The door slid out of the way. He walked inside the darkened greeting hall. “Secretary?” Ren pointed at the dusty desk in the middle of the room. “Not really,” Marty paused at the desk. He hit a switch. The lights came on. “Barry used this as a checkpoint for the defenses. He liked to direct fire at anyone trying to get up here without permission.” “Really?” Ren frowned at that information. “Barry created the Scouts from this place.” Marty hit another switch. Screens lit up. “First he recreated himself so he would be stuck in a bed for the rest of his life.” “This is where he created the parts for Mr. Robot?,” said Ren. “That’s beneath us?” “Yeah,” Marty nodded. He flipped another switch. “He had a lot of money, and bankrolling his research was easy for him to do. Building this place happened before he had his accident. Afterwards, it was his lab and workplace to get back on his feet, then it became home to the Scouts. I am kind surprised the place hasn’t been looted. I haven’t been here in a while.” “Your foundation probably didn’t send anyone out.” Ren looked around for another door. “If it was locked up when you left on your last mission, that should be good enough.” “All right,” said Marty. He hit another switch. A panel slid out of the way. “Let’s go down and see what’s left of the place.” He led the way into an elevator. He pushed a button to descend. Ren looked around at the metal bullet. “No stairs?”, Ren asked. “They’re on the other side of the building,” said Marty. “This is the fastest way down into the guts of the place.” “What happens if the elevator fails?,” asked Ren. “I don’t know,” said Marty. “It’s never happened.” “That is not really comforting.” Ren closed his eyes as the cab dropped from under his feet. He held on to the rail provided in the cab at waist height as his feet left the floor. Then the bullet slowed to a stop. His shoes settled to the ground just before the elevator announced its arrival. “Don’t worry,” Marty waited for the door to slide open. “If anything happens, you’ll be stuck in here for a while.” “That’s what I am worried about,” said Ren. He followed the other man out of the elevator. “I suppose we should look at any recordings related to your flying out to Idaville. You do have recordings?” “I think so,” said Marty. Marty led the way to a room full of complicated machinery. He blew dust off the equipment. It had been sitting there a long time in the hopes that someone would come back and use it. He looked around until he found a log book. He flipped it open to examine the contents. “The last call to be logged in was Idaville from someone in the Department of Defense,” said Marty. “I should have looked at this log book years ago. A Mercer is put down as the primary.” “Primary?,” asked Ren. “When a call came in, the person who sent the call was the primary,” said Marty. He handed over the book for Ren to examine. “Secondary sources are people on the ground calling when we got to the scene. The primary is usually a source inside some other organization needing help.” “Did Mercer have enough pull to fake a trail of evidence?,” asked Ren. He ran his finger down the column, reading the names of the other primaries. “This was his third call. The other two were for Pearl Harbor and Midway.” “Pearl Harbor was some kind of theft,” said Marty. He closed his eyes as he tried to remember a case from eleven years ago. “Midway was some kind of monster.” “Why the calls from the Department of Defense?,” asked Ren. “I assume they have their own response teams to handle problems.” “I don’t know.” Marty searched his memories. “I don’t remember why we were called.” “Can you find out?,” asked Ren. He went back to the names. Mercer was the only one with only three calls. The rest of the names were repeated multiple times across the country. Most were emergency situations they thought the Scouts could handle better than the local force on the ground. Another name called from the Department of Defense more than Mercer. Why was there a change in the caller? That might be something. How did he find out? Would the man take a call from Marty after all these years? Maybe that was the way to go if he wanted to follow this line of inquiry. He checked the phone number. It still might be in use. He noted that it was different from the one Mercer used. Different offices? Different departments handling the same kind of problems? Would the other man know what was going on? Was Mercer really an official in the Department of Defense? That was a key question. The earlier calls might have been to build trust. Then they lured the Scouts into the trap with that established rapport. It sounded right in his head. How did they prove it? He knew they were on the right track. He wondered if the man had used his own name to build that trust in him. That would make things easier for them. “Okay,” said Marty. He had left and came back while Ren had been looking at the log book. “I found the two other cases that Mercer called in.” “Can I?” Ren handed over the log book for the files. He went through them slowly. He didn’t think the scale needed the heroes. They were small crimes involving service personnel. He made some notes in a pad before handing the files back. He considered what he had learned. Everything seemed straightforward. He just didn’t have a motive other than hatred for the Scouts. That didn’t narrow the field. “Does your phone work?,” asked Ren. “I would like to call and see if Major Ricther is still in service.” “I don’t know.” Marty picked up receiver. A dial tone emerged. “Looks like the Foundation kept that up too.” “Good,” said Ren. “I feel like this Captain Mercer is the key to our mystery. If we can locate him, then we can find out the rest.” “No magic?,” asked Marty. “We still have that to fall back on.” Ren took the phone. “I would rather use more mundane methods that can be proven in a court of law so I don’t have to try to explain how I charmed something to work for me. People still tend to frown at magic use.” “I can see that.” Marty leaned against the counter holding the equipment off the floor. “Powers are treated the same way.” “Objectively subjective testimony tends to be flawed,” said Ren as he dialed the number from the log book. He didn’t expect anyone to answer, but if they did, it would make his confirming questions easier to ask. He listened to the bell at the other end. Someone picked up. “Major Richter’s office.” “I am hoping to ask Major Richter some questions,” said Ren. “I’m looking into the death of the Hazard Scouts.” “Hold on,” said the voice. A switch sounded to show the line was being changed. “This is Ricther.” This voice sounded more precise. “My name is Ren,” said Ren. “I am helping Martin Morgan look into the deaths of his fellow Hazard Scouts. I noticed that there is an entry for a Captain Mercer as a contact. I was wondering if you knew him.” “A Captain Mercer from ten years ago in this department?,” said Ricther. “First name?” “It’s not listed in the log book,” said Ren. “He had two earlier calls about problems on Pearl Harbor and Midway. They concerned a joint project with Watson Security.” “That narrows things down a bit,” said Ricther. “Do you want to hold on, or let me call you back?” “I imagine it will take some time to verify what I have said,” said Ren. “We’ll be here at the Scouts base for a bit longer before we move on to follow up on other leads. Do you still have the number?” “Yes, I have it,” said Ricther. “I’ll call when I have something.” “Thank you, Major,” said Ren. He hung up the phone. “Major Ricther said he hadn’t heard of anyone named Mercer. He is hoping to look him up in the personnel files for us.” “Do you believe him?,” asked Marty. “Did he believe me?,” said Ren. “He has no reason to help us on the basis of our short conversation. I expect him to call back with something, or send someone out here to talk to us in person.” “I see what you’re saying,” said Marty. “We might have a unit of infantry coming to confirm our identities.” “If he calls back, we might have something we can use,” said Ren. “At the very least, he can confirm or deny that Mercer worked in his branch of the government. That will give us something.” “You think Mercer wasn’t a real government official?,” asked Marty. That would go with everything else they had discovered so far. “There are various possibilities in play,” said Ren. “We have to rule some of them out. Confirming a government connection will help us narrow down our suspect pool.” “What happens if he wasn’t government?,” asked Marty. “Then we’ll have to trace down this alias until we hit a dead end,” said Ren. “Then we fall back on the more obscure evidence that we have already gathered.” “So everything depends on this Major believing you are who you say you are,” said Marty. He rubbed his forehead. “Yes,” said Ren. “I think he will help.” “Why would he?”, asked Marty. “His name is in the log book the most right before the Scouts were ambushed,” explained Ren. “I feel that he had enough of an arrangement with your partners that he would want to know what happened to them.” “All right,” said Marty. “That makes sense.” “Now I am going to take a nap and meditate about everything we have learned.” Ren nodded at his partner. “If Ricthner has something, I am sure he will call back in a few hours.” “There are some guest rooms.” Marty led the way to a set of stairs. “They’ll probably be dusty.” Marty headed down the stairs. He stopped in a hall like any of the other halls they passed. He went down until he reached the fifth door. He pushed it open. Dust covered everything, but the bed didn’t have a sheet or blankets. “I’ll get you a blanket from the closet.” Marty turned and walked down the hall. He opened a door and grabbed a blanket off the shelf. He shook it out, and carried it back. He handed it over. “This should do for the amount of time we’ll be here.” “Thank you,” said Ren. “I appreciate it.” //87832

Rpg.net is saying it's like something out of unknown armies or delta green. CES

Revenge of the Scouts 1979- 5 Thingamabob checked the readouts from his gadget once more. They had decided to go after the most powerful of the targets on their list first. If they couldn’t take down this girl, they probably couldn’t handle the rest of the targets either. He didn’t want to report a failure to the boss. The man was not know for his forgiving attitude. “Everybody ready?,” Bob asked his radio. A chorus of affirmations came back. He hoped they weren’t taking this lightly. His crew had some problems. He didn’t need them cropping up in the middle of a mission. “We need to attract her attention.” Bob hated this part of the plan. If things took too long, other variables might crop up. “Go with Clown Girl.” Clown Girl cartwheeled out in traffic, causing a collision between two cars. Others piled on, unable to stop in time. She seemed to have vanished under the pileup. “Target is powering up,” Gaze reported. “She’s coming in at three o’clock high.” The reading on Bob’s instrument echoed the statement. The target would pass his post in a few seconds. He hoped the power nullifier worked. Otherwise it was going to come down to brute force. He hated to use that option, but the target had to be taken. If the nullifier didn’t work, his guys would have to earn their money. “I’m going to try to neutralize the target,” said Bob. He took aim at the halo of light approaching. “If it doesn’t work, Troop and Puff are to move in and distract the target until a plan b can be put in place.” “Ready,” said Puff. Subvocalizations played over the radio as he talked to himself. Bob commanded the nullifier to fire. The beam sliced across the sky. It hit the halo. The light went out as the girl generating it turned and used the last vestiges of her power to crash into a window. The glass broke inward as she hit the floor inside the office she had crashed into. “She hit the twenty fifth floor,” said Gaze. “Power is out. It looks like she can’t do anything.” “That won’t last long.” Bob checked his tool. It still had most of its charge. “Go, Troop and Puff. Take her out.” “I’m already theeeeerrrreee!,” said Puff. Smoke blasted into existence across the street from where Bob stood. Troop formed a living ladder to cross the space. He resembled a gorilla stuffed in a suit of camo, and boots. He drew all of his duplicates together on the other side. He vanished in the darkness inside the office. “Emergency responders are on the way, Bob,” said Gaze. “We don’t have a lot of time.” “We need you, Clown Girl,” said Bob. He gave her the address of the building. “Hurry it up.” “I’m going in, Gaze,” said Bob. “Keep an eye on things. If the police get close to the building, let me know.” “All right,” said Gaze. “This girl is still strong and fast, Bob. She’s heading for the stairs.” “Got it.” Bob pressed a button on his belt. He sprang across the space between his lookout and the smashed window on a trail of air. He landed lightly and took stock. The layout was a two room suite. The boss sat in the office with the window. The secretary sat outside. The boss’s office had been partially destroyed by the flying target. He hastened out of the office. He still had a job to do. Bob stepped out in a bullpen of desks. Some of those desks and the furniture that went with them had been used as weapons, and shields. He couldn’t expect Puff or Troop to keep things in hand. They were brute force incarnate. He heard noises across the bullpen through a hole where the door to the hall should have been. He jogged across the battlefield. They had to take care of this fast. He didn’t want to have deal with cops on top of this woman too. He pushed open the door to the stairs cautiously. He didn’t want his own guys to take him out. He shook his head. Troop had gathered his duplicates together because of the space restriction in the stairwell. Puff was nowhere in sight. The woman was trying to strangle the simian-like villain with her bare hands. He considered his next move after the pause in disbelief. Puff appeared in a cloud of smoke with Clown Girl. His dark purple suit and coat swirled around him as he flung his colleague down the stairwell. Clown Girl bounced off a railing in her baggy pants and striped shirt. It was hard to tell if she was really smiling under the makeup smile on her face. She wrapped her legs around the target’s neck and spun around. The woman lost her grip on Troop and went down. Bob pointed his gadget and commanded it to fire. A small dart hit the target in the arm. Electricity surrounded her for a brief second. She collapsed. “Police are at the front door of your building,” reported Gaze. “You guys might want to exfiltrate from the scene.” “Take the girl, Puff.” Bob pointed at the target. “Make sure Mercer’s boys lock her down. We don’t want her coming to, and we don’t want her coming to and trying to shake off the nullifier’s effect and powering back up.” “You don’t have to tell me twice.” Puff slung the girl over his shoulder. He muttered about taking a few punches as he went up in smoke. “Back to the window.” Bob turned and jogged across the wrecked office area. A little collateral damage was to be expected, but this was much more than he thought possible when someone’s powers went away. “Troop, take Clown Girl across,” said Bob. “I’ll be right behind you.” He noticed how the duplicator rubbed his neck. How strong was their target? Could they have taken her in a straight up fight? Did he really want to know that answer? He decided that someone manhandling Troop with her bare hands was someone he didn’t want to meet in a dark alley. Troop threw himself across the gap between buildings. He grabbed Clown Girl and yanked himself over to the other side. He placed Clown Girl on the roof of the other building as he pulled himself together. “We’re bugging out, Gaze,” said Bob. “Go ahead and head back to base.” “I’m heading out right now,” Gaze said. His channel turned to static as he cut his radio. Bob leaped across the space between the buildings with his belt jets. He landed lightly. He walked after his comrades, scanning for enemies. With his lookout gone, he had to be extra vigilant until they were clear of the police activity. “Transport One to Procure One,” said Mercer. “Ready to move.” “Take the material home.” Bob smiled. The job was done. If anything happened now, it would be on Mercer’s head. “We are moving to the next target area to set up.” “Understood,” said Mercer. “Transport One out.” Bob jogged after Troop and Clown Girl. He hated running, but he didn’t want to have to face the cops and draw the attention of some mask who thought he could take them on. No one wanted to draw the attention of the Mark. A sighting was rare, but no one took him on and won. The fact that he had buried two of his enemies under a mountain on Mars, threw another one into the Sun was not lost on Bob. And the fact that the nullifier might not work on him did not encourage Bob to experiment and find out what would happen if his team took on the World’s Strongest Man. Being ripped limb from limb was not something he wanted to try out in person. “Where are you, Puff?,” Bob said into his radio. “Riding with Mercer,” said Puff ten times. “I am ready if the girl wakes up.” “Head to the next target as soon as the target is secured,” said Bob. “Got me?” “I will be there,” said Puff. Bob caught up with Troop and Clown Girl as they waited to jump across to the next building. From there they could run to the next building in line, or cross the street to the block of buildings on the other side. “We have to get away from here,” said Bob. “Puff is riding with Mercer and his boys. I sent Gaze ahead. We need to escape any cordon and catch up with Gaze.” “No problem, Bob-a-roony,” said Clown Girl. “We can jump across the street, and head down to street level so we can use a car to drive away.” “Really?,” said Bob. “What do you think, Troop?” The simian pointed across the street. “Let’s go,” said Bob. “The faster we get away from here, the better I’ll like it.” Troop hurled himself across the gap on one of his living bridges. Clown Girl ran across the bridge as lightly as if she were on the ground. It was a good thing they made her give up the oversized shoes. Bob just jumped across. Troop pulled himself together and they headed down a fire escape to get away from the sirens and lightbars converging on the chaos they had caused. Bob didn’t glance back as they reached an alley and walked out on the sidewalk. He pointed his gadget at a nearby car. The engine turned on and the doors unlocked. They had a long drive back to their base at the Quality Inn. Then they had to fly out to where their next target lived and get started rounding it up. The file said it was some kind of machine. His gadget should shut it down pretty easily. The last target should be just as easy. The file said that target was a martial artist. Troop could wrap that up by himself. Not many normal people could stand up to his gorilla-like strength. Bob got behind the wheel. He waited for the others to get in before driving away. The car would be left at the hotel for the police to find. By that time, they would be packed up and long gone. He debated splitting up the team to take out the next two targets. He decided against it as he drove along. Corona had been almost naturally strong enough to take on Troop with her bare hands. If these others had hidden resources, they would need the full team to take care of business. He definitely didn’t want to get caught flatfooted and lose because he had underestimated the people he was chasing. Overkill was better than having to face his boss with one win out of three. Letting the masked community know they existed would be the same as losing in the opinion of his boss. The targets had to vanish with no clue left behind. Heroes who became interested in their business was trouble one way or the other. And if things escalated enough, that would attract the attention of the Mark. And no villain wanted that. //85818

Chapter Five is how the Squad capture Corona. Still short of ten k. CES