csyphrett

Colby's second defender is Diamone Drop. Diamone, a cute little puppy, drops a wall of jewels between malware and essential services. If the invader attacks, dropping pieces release counterattacks. CES

When the Smith/Kline movie came out, an interview with a stunt coordinator for the show had the fact they blew up Conrad at one point. CES

Read Ship of the Dead by Riordin. Magnus Chase has to stop the ship of toenails from sailing to prevent Ragnarok from destroying the nine worlds CES

5 “The first thing on a call is to look at the target structure.” Dr. Hadron pulled a hard hat from behind his seat and placed it on his head. “How many exits, where are the exits, who else is in the building with you? Then you can start your survey.” The target in question was a squat house in the middle of a row of houses pushed together on the way up a hill. There were no alleys to go down the sides of the place to get to the back. If the ladies wanted to take a look around back there, they would have to go through the place, or go around the block. “Is there anybody home?” Kate went to the door, looking up and down the block. Nothing moved on the street as far as she could tell. She rang the bell. “No one is home.” Lin didn’t move from the van. “The house is empty.” “So we can’t go in.” Patty put her hands in her pockets. “We don’t have permission to enter.” “We can still look around.” Jean pursed her lips. “Let’s look at the back.” “We’ll have to walk around the end of the block.” Kathy smiled. “Time to get some exercise, ladies.” “Jogging?” Patty made a face. “I can do without that.” “Come on, lazy bones.” Kathy jogged down the steps and headed down the hill. “It’s all downhill to the end of the block.” “You do need to work out a little, Patty.” Jean followed Kathy, running easily in her boots. “I’m walking.” Lin suited actions to words, placing her hands in her pockets as she strolled after her friends. “Miss Page?,” Dr. Hadron frowned at her. His one eye gleamed slightly in the setting sun. “I’m not walking around to the back of the place.” Patty took a bag holding a set of picks from her pocket. She opened up the locks in a few seconds. “Is this legal?,” Dr. Hadron almost smiled. “Only if Lin is right.” She pushed her way into the row house, pausing on the threshold before moving further inside the house. Dr. Hadron followed quietly. He paused to take in the house before taking the next step and doing a search. Patty stood on the other side of the house, checking things out. “Are you going upstairs?,” asked Dr. Hadron. He didn’t move from the welcome rug. “Not yet.” Patty moved to the kitchen. “There’s a lot of dust here. No one lives here, do they?” “Check the refrigerator.” Dr. Hadron crossed his arms. “That usually tells you something about the tenant.” “Empty.” Patty looked around the open kitchen after closing the refrigerator door. She tried the faucets for the sink. Water didn’t drop into the sink. “All right.” Patty brushed her hands together. “We have two exits, plus five windows on the bottom floor. Steps going upstairs. I’m going to say no one lives here.” “All right.” Dr. Hadron smiled. “I’ll wait down here while you search.” Patty walked upstairs. The bedrooms and baths had been stripped of anything from the owner. She put aside the question of why she was searching an empty house. It was a test. There might not be anything horrible in the house at all. She doubted there was nothing there. Dr. Hadron had been all over the city while setting up their new quarters. He probably had already broke in and done his own search of the place. “There’s eight more windows upstairs,” Patty said as she walked back down to the ground floor. “Nobody has lived here in a long time. What’s next, Doctor?” “You get the scanner and reader to examine the place’s energy output.” Dr. Hadron waved her through the door. “Go ahead. The others will be in the back yard in a few minutes.” “In the van?,” asked Patty. “Yep,” said Dr. Hadron. “It’s under my seat.” “I’ll be right back.” Patty headed for the van. Dr. Hadron walked to the back of the living room. He looked out glass sliding doors to the small yard behind the house. A fence blocked his view of yards on either side, and the alley behind the house. Another row of houses stood on the other side of the back fence. Kathy vaulted over the fence. She looked around the yard. She turned and helped Lin over the wooden boards. Jean climbed over with a small amount of grace. Dr. Hadron waved at them from behind the glass doors. They frowned back at him. He opened the glass door. The women walked toward the house. “How did you get in there?” Kathy waved at the house. “Miss Page didn’t want to take a nature walk.” Dr. Hadron stepped aside. “The house is empty, but you might want to familiarize yourselves with the layout in case of trouble.” “Are we getting into trouble breaking in?” Lin squinted at him. “No, Miss Qi.” Dr. Hadron smiled. “No one lives here.” “So we didn’t have to climb that fence?” Jean crossed her arms. “Nope.” Dr. Hadron smiled at her. “You are too young to be so cantankerous,” Kathy pursed her lips. “You don’t have to be so uptight all the time.” “Thank you for your opinion.” Dr. Hadron stepped out in the back yard. He looked around, sniffing the air. “The place is empty.” Jean turned around in a circle in the living room. “What kind of ghost would haunt this place?” “A level six morph with attendant psychic energy.” Dr. Hadron paused to look at a half-empty shallow pool in the middle of yard. “What does that mean?,” asked Jean. “It means that we could get killed if the thing shows up and we’re not ready to deal with it.” Kathy touched her friend’s shoulder. “I think we need to get our weapons and see if there are more hard hats in the van.” “I totally agree with that,” said Lin. “I don’t want to be caught without some way to defend myself from anything that shows up.” “Hey guys,” said Patty. She put down two cases. “It looks like this place might be a bust. No one has lived here in while.” “Breaking in, Patty,” said Lin. “This could be trouble.” “Only if we get killed while we’re looking around.” Patty smiled. “Let’s see if there is anything here that needs Lamplighters to deal with before we worry about what the police will do when they catch us here.” “Okay.” Lin didn’t look that convinced about the logic. “We got the guns.” Jean and Kathy plunked the weapon cases down. “Let’s put them together before things get crazy.” “You don’t have to tell me twice.” Lin went to her box and opened it up. She put the small rifle together in a few seconds. She lit the lamp and plugged the weapon into its power source. Patty opened the two boxes she had brought in. One held what looked like a laser distance reader. The other thing was something with a dish and what looked like a smart phone. She took that out of its padding and found a cable to hook the dish to the box. “These two things are the most import equipment you’ll need to use other than the guns.” Dr. Hadron came in from the back door. He took the dish and phone from Patty and plugged the pieces together. He pushed the button to turn the device on. “This is a scanner. It looks for activity.” “That’s good.” Jean made an eyeroll at the explanation. “So the basic energy from this empty house is a one or less.” Dr. Hadron pointed the dish at Kathy. “Miss Baker has a three plus. Anything stronger than that will be in the superhuman or metaphysical range.” “Sounds reasonable,” said Jean. “So what does the other thing do?” “Take it out of the box and turn it on.” Dr. Hadron handed the scanner to Lin. He smiled slightly. Jean picked the yellow device up and flipped the switch on the side. A small light like a flashlight beam shot out. She waved the thing around. “What is it supposed to do?” She frowned at the offending machine. “You put it up to your eye.” Dr. Hadron gestured with his hand at the empty socket next to his remaining eye. She put the device to her face, finding a scope to look through. She made a noise as she looked. She pulled the device from her face. “That is not good,” she choked out. “What did I see?” “It’s the way the world interacts with the past.” Dr. Hadron held out his hand. “A lot of people can’t deal with what goes on beside their reality.” “I don’t even want to know what that means,” said Jean. She handed over the light. “Some things don’t just exist on this part of reality.” Dr. Hadron took the light to the back door. “They touch other places too. That’s what creates the reading on the scanner, and what we call turbulence.” “So the overlap causes turbulence.” Jean shrugged at the other women. “What does that mean for us?” “It’s what makes ghosts and evil spirits.” Dr. Hadron used the light on the back yard. He made a sound as he looked through the finder. “Miss Qi, please point the scanner out there.” Lin did as he requested. The numbers climbed up to a six before leveling off. There was some wiggling, but she decided that six was the number she should have from the screen. “How bad is a six?,” she asked before letting the device point at the floor. “It’s doable with you four.” Dr. Hadron let the light fall from his face. He thumbed off the switch. “Do you think you can handle it?” “Yes,” said Kathy. She had her own rifle ready to go. “How long do you think we’ll have to wait before it shows up?” “Not long.” Dr. Hadron put the view finder back in its case. “Someone is in the house. That should give things a jolt.” “It’ll come after us because we just happen to be standing in an abandoned house next to where it lives?” Lin put the scanner down on a counter between the kitchen and the open living and dining area. “Yep.” Dr. Hadron smiled at her. “Get ready. This should be easy, but things can happen in the middle of a roundup. This is where you guys should talk over what you are going to do when the thing shows up.” “Kathy and I will take one side of the room.” Patty pointed to where she meant. “Jean and Lin will take the other side. Jean and Kathy are our firepower. We need them to shoot the thing with their weapons. Lin and I will try to keep it in the door with our smaller weapons until the heavy weapons can do what they need to do.” “Sounds good.” Dr. Hadron retreated to the front door. “Remember to keep an eye on your lamps. You don’t want the ghost to overpower them and blow them up.” “Right.” Patty put her rifle and lamp together. She nodded when she heard the weapon hum to life. “We can do this. All we have to do is pin it, and then chew it up. How hard could that be?” “There are so many ways this can go wrong,” said Lin. She took cover behind the kitchen counter. Jean followed her. They used the counter as a rest so they could shoot at the door without worrying about tiring their arms before the thing showed up. “It won’t,” said Patty. “We can handle a six. If we can’t, there’s no way we can handle Crenshaw, or anything else that has to be put down.” “That doesn’t quite follow,” said Kathy. She shrugged at the look she got. “Just saying.” “Don’t be afraid.” Dr. Hadron stood beside the front door. One of his hands rested on the handle. “Everything will go really smooth.” The scanner made a sound like a barking dog and a hissing cat meeting each other in a dark alley. The women glanced at the device before turning their attention back to the door. A mist floated outside, blocking out the setting sun. “That doesn’t look good.” Jean took aim at the door. “What do we do if it won’t come inside?” “We’ll have to go out there and get it.” Patty tried to relax. “We’ll cover one side while you guys cover the other. We should be able to catch it between us and put it down.” “We should let one team move up first.” Jean looked around to make sure nothing was trying to sneak up on her. “The other team moves up after the first team settles into position.” “We’re the first team.” Patty walked forward, lamp banging against her leg. “You got the heavy duty firepower.” She eased against the wall to look out in the yard. She felt Kathy getting behind her. All they needed was a target. //65822

Ralphie May died Friday. 106.5 did a small tribute to him today. CES

“All right, ladies,” Dr. Hadron appeared while they were eating lunch together in the common room the quartet had set aside. “We’re going to do some practice shooting before we try a little case.” “It’s about time,” said Jean. “Crenshaw has been running the police scared the last couple of weeks while we have been holed up in here.” “Patience.” Dr. Hadron held up the hand with the hole in it as a stop sign. “You can’t expect to hunt the big game if you can’t shoot a gun.” Patty wiped the egg yolk off of her plate with a piece of toast. She felt a thrill of anticipation run through her spine. It was nearing the time they would be actively doing their future jobs. She silently agreed with Jean. Crenshaw had been running around town, stalling the police and some of the local vigilantes with his sharks and musket. It was time he was run out of town. “As soon as you’re done eating, please join me on the roof.” Dr. Hadron retreated from the room. Patty put her plate in the sink. She washed it off, but left it in place. She could wash it later. She headed for the roof, climbing the stairs. She heard the others clattering around behind her. She had helped put the equipment together. She already knew how they were supposed to work. She just wanted enough practice to get on the job and do something other than work on their proposed headquarters. Patty pushed through the roof access door. She stopped after she crossed the threshold. A target range had been put together with targets on ropes at one end, and a table to mark where the shooters should stand. Some of the Lamplighter weapons had been assembled and plugged into small lamps. Dr. Hadron stood at one end of the counter. “Is this safe?,” she asked. “As long as you don’t hit anything alive.” Dr. Hadron gestured for her to take a slot. She picked one of the smaller weapons, a rifle that resembled a small flamethrower. She went over it to make sure it would shoot when she wanted to shoot. The last thing she wanted was to be caught trying to use a weapon that wasn’t ready to be fired. The others arrived and Jean whistled at the shooting gallery. “Ladies, pick a weapon so we can get started.” Dr. Hadron gestured at the counter. “I expect you to pick this up fairly fast. If you guys are good shots, we’ll move on to your practice case before the sun goes down.” “How good do you want us to get with these?” Lin picked a weapon close to what Patty had picked for herself. “Let’s say three hundred.” Dr. Hadron walked to one of the targets and pointed to a general circle close to the center of the thing. “Say ten shots inside this ring.” “And these are harmless against people?” Lin gestured to the rifle in front of her. “Mostly harmless.” Dr. Hadron put his hands behind his back. “One shot might be survivable, but multiple shots will drain a normal human of their life energy until it’s gone. If it’s weak in the first place, you might kill the person accidentally.” “Why are we doing this?,” asked Lin. “We’re the only ones who can.” Jean shook her head. “Who else is going to protect the city? No one else can do what Lamplighters did.” “If you want to walk away, Miss Qi, it’s okay.” Dr. Hadron’s one eye squinted slightly as he spoke. “I’ll have Janie cut your contract, and access.” “He’s right, Lin.” Patty picked up the rifle. “What we are about to do will be really dangerous. No one will fault you for leaving.” Lin froze in indecision. She could make excuses and bow out after the hard work she had put in. She didn’t need the money as much as the others, and could go back to her old job in a heartbeat. Did she want to leave her friends in a lurch when they needed her? Did they really need her? She picked up the rifle and checked it over. She didn’t want to do anything dangerous, but she didn’t want to let her friends down. Jean nodded as the moment of dissent passed. She picked up a weapon with a rotary barrel assembly and made sure all the connections were in place. It felt as light as a Nerf gun to her. Kate picked up the last gun. She smiled at the design. It was a copy of the Fireflash Hadron had tried to dump on them when they had met in New York. She placed the stock to her shoulder and sighted down the long barrel. The targets jumped closer as she readied for a shot. This was a weapon she had at least held before this small exercise. “All right, ladies,” said Dr. Hadron. “When I give the word, commence shooting at the closest target. The weapons will tally the hits for me. As soon as all of you hit three hundred, we will move on to field testing.” “I can’t miss with this gatling gun.” Jean smiled. “I’ll see the rest of you downstairs.” “We’ll see about that.” Kate readied her own weapon. “Go,” said Dr. Hadron. He pulled a lever at his end of the counter. The targets started dancing across the roof at the trainees. Patty opened fire in short bursts. She reached her three hundred points before the others could open fire. She stepped back when she heard the loud ding from the computer. She put the weapon down on the counter, and switched it off. Everyone looked at her in astonishment. “Kevin showed me how to shoot when we got married.” Patty shrugged. “Go ahead. Get your points so we can move on.” “You heard her, ladies.” Dr. Hadron waved a hand at the closing targets. “Go ahead.” The others look longer to reach their goal. Lin took the longest, carefully trying to line up shots instead of hosing the targets like Jean and Kathy. The rotating barrel hit the same target five, or six, times as the paper swung out of the way. Stray shots hit the building behind the target in a rain of blue light. Kathy rapidly blasted her targets, but only one at a time. Dr. Hadron twitched his lips when the group had amassed the passing points. The look was not quite satisfaction at a job well done, but it meant they could move on to the next step. “Pack up your gear, and meet me downstairs.” He headed for the roof door. “We’ll get started on your case.” He vanished through the door as Patty shut off her lamp. She found a carrying case with padded insets that looked like it would match the pieces of her weapon. She took the pieces apart with a few twists of her hand. She pulled the cable connectors that held the weapon to the lamp. She put the pieces and cable in the box. She looked up. Jean already had her weapon packed up. Kathy was halfway there. Lin hadn’t been able to do anything but shut the lamp off. Patty walked over. Lin looked up. She blushed slightly. “Let me help you.” Patty turned the weapon off so it could be taken apart without discharging. She pulled the cable loose, then broke the weapon down into pieces. She put the pieces in their carrying case. She noticed that a number was inscribed on the lid of the case. It must be the number of the weapon so they knew what they were grabbing to put together if they came under assault from a monster. “Are you okay, Lin?,” asked Patty. “You can sit this out if you want.” “I’ll be okay,” said Lin. “I just keep thinking about the risk. The casebook didn’t help.” “I know.” Patty picked up the case. “Luckily, San Francisco is quieter than other cities. Once we take care of Crenshaw, the next ghost will be easier.” “You’re humoring me,” said Lin. She took the case. “We both know that’s not true.” “I know that you don’t think we have a chance.” Patty picked up her own case. The others had gone ahead. “But we do. We can protect the city if it needs it, we can protect the whole state if we have to do that. We can’t do anything if we’re afraid of the future. We can do this. We’ve done worse.” “I don’t remember doing anything like this ever.” Lin pushed open the roof door so they could go downstairs. “I think that I would.” “You saved that guy on the bridge.” Patty led the way down. “This is the same thing.” “I don’t agree.” Lin shook her head. “I didn’t intend to help that man. I acted without thinking and grabbed his shirt before he could jump.” “You still saved him.” Patty smiled. “You got a commendation from the mayor for bravery.” “It was sheer luck, Patty.” Lin frowned. “We both ran to stop the guy. I got there first. That was why I got all the credit even though we both tried to help.” “This is the same situation.” Patty held the door open so they could step into the top hall and ride the elevator down. “We’re going to be helping people who need the kind of help only we can provide.” “I don’t like the fact we could get killed instead of leaving things alone.” Lin pushed the button for the doors. “It’ll work out.” Patty shrugged. “We have to make sure that we’re textbook as much as we can so we can avoid dangerous things happening.” “I don’t think there’s a textbook that big that could keep those things from coming this way.” Lin paused as the doors opened. “Maybe we can divert some of the bad things on other rails.” “I’ll protect you as much as I can.” Patty smiled. That was an easy promise to make since if something went after Lin, it would probably also be trying to kill her too. The ladies found Dr. Hadron pulling on overalls over his clothes. He zipped the front up as he walked to a van parked in their lot. A blue flame decorated the hood of the vehicle. “I got this second hand.” He pulled open the back door. “Place your cases here and we’ll head out.” “Do we get overalls too?” Jean placed her case in the van. “Yes,” said Dr. Hadron. “They should be arriving in a few days. It takes a while for them to put in the kevlar panels I like.” “Cool.” Jean took the other cases and stored them in the space at the back of the van. “Let’s get going.” Dr. Hadron walked to the passenger side of the van and climbed into the shotgun seat. “We’ll want to look the field over before the sun goes down.” The ladies piled in, Patty getting behind the wheel. She started the engine. “Where to, Dr. Hadron,” said Patty. She glanced in the mirror to make sure the others strapped in before she pulled out of the lot. “Here’s the address.” He worked on a GPS and showed her the destination and route. “This is your test case site.” “A haunted house?,” said Patty. “How hard can that be to clear out?” “Depends on how much the ghost wants to stay in place.” Hadron leaned back in his chair. “We’ll see how it goes when the chips go down.” “This is cool,” said Jean. “We might see a real ghost.” “We might have to fight it,” said Lin. “It could be dangerous.” “That’s even better,” said Jean.

Thanks for the comments, guys. This story has been sitting in a note book for a long time. It was about time it was done. I have a ton of stuff I have to get done. I have some more Stranger stories noted down like a cure for Duster Boy, Tribble: King of the Missouri Underworld, Clonus versus Tribe, and Teflon Billy, the slickest villain ever, and Bolo of Earth saving the day. I also need to load a long story I wrote years ago on my web page at some point. Until I get those started and done, I am going to try to fill up my story thread in the NGD. CES

Watched Season 14 of NCIS. Best episode was Tim McGee struggling with the decision to tell his future wife that their apartment is the scene of a mass killing and a fourth body has just turned up under the floor. CES

Epilogue Jimmy Harmon flexed his arms, twisting his upper body. He still felt sore. He had been told that might not go away. There was only so much they could do with their miracle machine. As long as he could fly, he would put that down to a win. Mr. Dorfman didn’t quite know how the machine worked, but he had it stashed in his hat. When Coach Reilly had carried him in, they were afraid he might be dying. Three weeks after stopping the mouse king, he was ready to fly again. “Ready to go?,” said Mark Whittaker in his radio. “Sure thing, Mark.” Jimmy spread his wings. “Have you got the search grid yet?” “Not really.” Mark sounded comfortable wherever he was. “I just got something with the scent. Lars and I are about to start north of where Katy was last seen.” “Right.” Jimmy launched into the air. “I heading north right now. I should be over the search area in a couple of minutes.” “Just look for the choppers.” Mark cut the line. Jimmy headed toward where they had confronted the mouse king. Medevah National Park was north of the crater where the disguised house had burst out of the ground and nearly killed him. It was a good thing he had left Coach Reilly that message, or he would be dead instead of sore. Jimmy reached the invisible border of the park marked by his mapping app in his helmet. He noted the helicopters and the way they circled the park in the hopes of seeing one little girl in the middle of all that green. Search parties on the ground were also beating the bushes. Jimmy doubted they could do much to add to the effort, but Mark and Beth had insisted. They had proven they could protect the city, and Beth had basically declared she would do whatever she needed to do to keep acting. Agent Aylwin and Coach Reilly had agreed to give them some leeway. Mr. Dorfman had already told Jimmy to call him before doing anything else stupid. Mrs. Dorfman had given him some cookies to take with him when he went home. “Can you hear me, Jimmy?” Beth’s voice sounded clear over his rig. He wondered if she had mastered using the radio while wearing one of her forms. “Loud and clear, Beth.” Jimmy circled, eyes peeled. He didn’t see her through the trees. “You’re flying at my three o’clock.” She still didn’t make herself visible. “See if you can keep flying north, following the closest stream.” “Sure.” Jimmy lined up with north and flew away. If Beth wanted to keep up on the ground, there should be something she could turn herself into to do the job. She might be following the scent like Mark would be doing. Their respective powers made them the group’s best trackers. He didn’t begrudge them that. He was still the fastest flier with his wings. Mark had grinned like a bear trap when Aylwin helped him start his small rescue company. He had already made plans to move out of his mother’s house and find somewhere else to live. His mother had tried to get the group to point out how things could go wrong for him. Jimmy had simply said if things went bad, then they would pull together to make them right. Beth and Lars had said nothing. Beth had been too mad. Lars had taken the position that he could only make things worse. The brothers gave Lars permission to help out. He promised the monastery his part of the money for upkeep and general assistance for the monks. Jimmy followed the stream. He had no clue why the lost girl would follow it upstream, but if she did, she might have gotten confused which way she should go. Not everyone knew that you should follow water downstream if you were lost. He hadn’t known before the lecture from Mark on woods survival and being lost. “This is Mark.” The big guy seemed happy enough over the radio. “Lars and I are starting from where the mother says she lost Katy. The trail looks good heading north.” “I’m north of that spot and have lost the trail close to a stream.” Beth sounded unhappy over the radio. “I’m trying to find the trail again.” “Nothing to report.” Jimmy landed at the top of a tree. He grabbed the trunk to steady himself. He looked around, letting his helmet do the work for him. Various filters kicked in, excluding things while enhancing others. Finally it showed a fading hot trail on the ground. It didn’t look right for an animal, but it could be right for a little girl. “I have possible footprints where I am.” Jimmy wondered how he could send his location to the others. That was something he had never thought of when putting the wings and helmet together. He checked his map and found he had latitude and longitude numbers. He smiled. “This is where I am. Is anybody else supposed to be up this far?” He hoped that the search party hadn’t sent scouts up for him to stumble over. It would be embarrassing to get excited over a fire fighter, or ranger, ahead of the pack. “That’s a negative for the search party, Jimmy,” said Mark. “It might be a hunter, but none of the searchers have covered that much area yet.” “I’ll follow these prints as far as I can.” Jimmy stooped to try to get a better look. “If they don’t check out, I’ll let you know.” “All right.” Mark huffed slightly. “Lars and I are still coming north on foot. I don’t know how long we’ll take to get to the end of the trail.” “Take your time.” Jimmy launched into the air. He spread his wings as he drifted just above the treetops. He spotted movement ahead. This might be the end of the search. He spotted the girl and smiled. He landed and folded his wings. “Katy Lenz?” He hoped he wasn’t scaring her. He hadn’t thought about what his suit and wings would look like to a kid. “Everybody is searching for you.” “Who are you?,” the girl said. She looked at the stream. She edged that way. “I’m the Shrike.” Jimmy felt silly having to give a code name to the little girl. “I’m working with the rangers to find you.” “I’m heading home.” Katy shook her head at him. “I don’t need you, or rangers.” “You need something.” Jimmy pointed downstream. “That way is the lake, and the city beyond that. The way you’re going leads to Canada.” “That way leads to the lake?” Katy looked downstream. The water babbled along beside her. “I must have gotten turned around by the bear.” “Bear?,” said Jimmy. “What bear?” “That bear.” Katy pointed behind him. He turned slowly. A bear stood at the trees. It glared at the two intruders in its domain. It growled as it stood on its back legs. If it charged, Jimmy didn’t know if he could get in the air fast enough to avoid its claws. He might be ripped up by those large talons. “All right.” Jimmy started backing away slowly. He opened his arms to spread his wings out in case he had to fly. “My friends are looking for you downstream. If the bear charges, jump in the water and float down to them.” “Okay,” said Katy. She backed along the edge of the stream. Jimmy backed away from the bear as slowly as he dared. He had to keep looking over his shoulder to keep from tripping. If he fell, that might be an incentive for a charge. The bear advanced on the winged boy. It snuffled the air as it came. He prepared to fire his jet and take to the sky. He doubted his system would work if he had to carry Katy in his arms. It would force him to spin as he went which might cause a crash. If they went down, the bear could maul the both of them at its leisure. One bite would kill Katy. He might last a little longer thanks to his suit. He had padded it to help survive a crash. It might help against bears. He hoped it would help against bears. He didn’t want to go home without body parts. “I think it’s going to charge,” said Katy. “I think it will.” “Just keep going.” Jimmy didn’t want to leave her if he had to take off. The bear would chase her down in the water. She wouldn’t make a good meal for it. A large figure dropped down from the sky. It grinned at the bear, raising its arms. It laughed loudly. “Take off,” said Mark. “I can hold Winnie the Pooh off until you two get clear.” “I will be happy to assist.” Lars landed lightly beside the wider boy. “I know some things that can be used against bears.” “All right,” said Jimmy. “So the four of us are going to get mauled. At least Beth won’t see this mess.” “Who do you think dropped us off?,” asked Mark. “She flew down and picked us up and brought us up here to help you with your footprints.” “Only now we are helping you with your bear,” said Lars. A winged horse with a horn growing out of its snout flapped to a landing next to Katy. It stomped a hoof on touchdown. “Someone put her on my back,” said Beth. “I’ll take her back to the rangers.” The bear stood up and looked confused. The spread of targets made it pause. Which should it attack first. Jimmy ran over and grabbed the little girl by the waist. He hefted her to a seat on the alicorn’s back with a heave. “Hold on, Katy.” Beth flapped her wings and took to the air. The little girl clung to her neck. “I think we can take off now.” Jimmy spread his wings once more. “Our job is done.” He fired his jet and followed Beth into the sky. “Go ahead, Lars.” Mark gestured at the other boy with a hand. “I can handle this if it goes bad.” Lars dove into the stream. He swam with the current, vanishing from sight. The bear looked at Mark one more time. It turned around and shambled away. Mark smiled. He turned and walked the other way. the end

Interrupting this story to say I loaded up The General of Smoke on my webpage CES

Blue Flames over San Francisco 2015- 3 Patty looked around her room. She had added a chair, a small foldout couch/bed, and a table. Her laptop rested on the table. She had one finger marking her page in the casebook. The knocking sounded again. She put the casebook down in the window sill, and stood. She went to the door and opened it. Dr. Hadron didn’t quite glare at her with his single eye. “I need a driver.” He put his hands in his pockets. “Everybody else is doing something.” “No problem.” Patty picked up her jacket from the couch. She shrugged it on. “Where are we going?” “I don’t know yet.” Dr. Hadron turned to head to the elevator. “I’ll know it when I see it.” “Thank you for the casebook.” Patty followed, hiking shoes silent on the concrete floor. “It’s interesting reading.” “You noticed our mistakes in the reports?,” asked Dr. Hadron, pushing the call button for the elevator. “I saw a couple of instances where the monster, or ghost, hadn’t been taken care of, or came back.” Patty fished in her pockets for her keys. “The lamps diffuse the energy that creates ghosts, and stops some monsters.” Hadron stepped inside the elevator. “Sometimes that isn’t enough. Then you have to figure out something else and use that.” “That’s why you used the giant fans on the Twister Sister?” Patty boarded the elevator. “The lamps by themselves weren’t doing the job.” Dr. Hadron pushed the ground floor button. “We decided that mixing up the air currents she was using would hurt her enough to get rid of her.” “How long does a spirit stay confined?” Patty couldn’t remember a lot of repeat business from the casebook. “It depends on what we can use as a prison.” Dr. Hadron shrugged. “A lot of these things are created by waves in the world’s energy lines. Sometimes you can force them back into the lines and they are buried again.” “And they never return?” Patty wondered about Crenshaw. He seemed to have fought the Lamplighters more than once. “Most don’t,” said the doctor. “The creation process appears to be unique. Sometimes the process happens again and again so you have to change the area of the source to redirect things.” “Crenshaw?,” asked Patty. The door opened to let them out of the elevator. “We dealt with him a couple of times.” Hadron led the way. “We could never figure out how he kept coming back. We think it has to do with the ocean somehow.” “I don’t understand,” said Patty. She fished out her car keys as she followed him. “Specific ghosts, or spirits, who keep coming back from being used by the lamps are unusual.” Dr. Hadron paused so she could unlock her car for him. “The lamp’s flames eat up their energy when we use the weapons on them. Some are resistant so we have to use alternative means. Most of those are above the twenties. Harry and I theorized that Crenshaw kept coming back with his lower number because of something surrounding his death, or where he died. We could never prove it because we couldn’t track down anything other than he had been killed by the Spanish during the Age of Piracy.” “Maybe where he was killed has something to do with it?” Patty unlocked the doors. She got in the driver’s seat. “I assume he was hanged.” “No.” Dr. Hadron got in the passenger seat. “He was killed at sea. His ship was sunk. The Spanish pirate hunters let some of his crew escape, but no one knows where that happened.” “So even if we take him down, he might keep coming back to take his revenge.” Patty frowned as she started the engine. “Maybe I made a mistake starting this.” “The threat exists.” Dr. Hadron closed his eye. “I’m going to help you beat this one. After that, you girls will be on your own.” “That makes me feel better.” Patty backed out of the slot. “Where do you want to go?” “I have some things coming in from the docks,” said Dr. Hadron. “I figured we could go down and pick them up.” “All right.” Patty pulled out of the lot after waiting for the gate arm to get out of the way. She headed for the ocean. “The building looks almost like a workplace except for our quarters.” “I still have some things to put in.” Dr. Hadron watched the city roll by. “A range would be good. Practicing with the weapons has to be done. You don’t want to go out on a job, and hurt yourself.” “What do these weapons actually do?” Patty hadn’t seen any specifications in the casebook, just names. “They drain spiritual energy.” Hadron checked his watch. “A person might be able to survive a hit, maybe two, but it can be just as fatal as a real bullet.” “That’s good to know.” Patty winced at the thought of hitting a bystander and sucking them dry like a spider to anything it caught in its web. “Don’t worry,” Hadron smiled. “If you do get hit, and it doesn’t kill you, chicken soup will fix you right up.” “Really?” Patty didn’t believe that. “Yep.” The doctor nodded. “We accidentally tested it. Chicken soup and football built the energy back up. It took a couple of days, but no lasting harm was done.” “But we shouldn’t put it to the test.” Patty almost smiled at the idea of recovering her energy by eating soup and watching sports. “Exactly,” said Dr. Hadron. “Let’s drive down to those docks there. I think I see my friend.” Patty followed his finger to a boat tied up to a dock. It was painted white and blue with a green stripe down the side. She frowned at the name. She thought she should know the name “Sea Ranger”. It would come to her eventually. She pulled in a parking space at the end of the dock and cut the engine. She got out with Dr. Hadron. She wondered what was going on. Did the Lamplighter know people on the West Coast? Of course, he knew people. The Lamplighters had fought monsters everywhere. Some of the people they had met would be contacts later in case something else showed up that needed to be put down. Dr. Hadron led the way down the dock to the boat. He didn’t seem worried about any problems that might be waiting for him onboard. “Who goes there?,” said a voice from the boat. Patty couldn’t see the owner. “Mark Hadron, and guest.” Dr. Hadron almost smiled. “Is Stan onboard, Mini?” A dice-sized block of blue metal sprang into a humanoid figure next to the rail. A wide grin split his features. Pipestem arms ending in three-fingered hands held the rail. “How’s it going, Dr. Hadron?” Mini saluted. “Seen any ghosts lately?” “Still chasing what’s his name?,” said Dr. Hadron. “It’s been years.” “He’s gone to ground again.” Mini shrugged. “We almost had him in Shanghai, but he created some kind of giant lizard to get away.” “Is Stan onboard?,” asked Dr. Hadron. He looked around the dock. “Come aboard.” Mini pushed out a gangplank of steps. “The survey you wanted was pretty easy.” “Hopefully, it will help us track down the ghost we want to deal with.” Dr. Hadron climbed the three steps and stood on the deck. “Patty, this is Miniature. Mini, this is Patty Page.” Patty gained the deck and smiled at the blue face. It smiled back at her. “Pleased to meet you,” said Miniature. “Welcome to the Sea Ranger.” “Thank you,” said Patty. She kicked herself mentally for not recognizing the name. The Sea Ranger was the mobile of the Robot Rangers. Everyone knew who they were. Six robots created by Dr. Stanley Craft to face threats no one else had thought were possible had won prizes for their work and exploration into places humans couldn’t go. They had even flown to Mars to do a survey for NASA at one point. “The doc is below.” Mini pointed to the hatch. “He’s still trying to make sense of the stuff you wanted.” “Thanks, Mini.” Dr. Hadron led the way to the ladder heading below decks. Patty followed, noticing the ranger had shrank back to its small height to keep watch on the dock. “You know the Robot Rangers?,” whispered Patty. “That’s cool.” “Don’t act like a fangirl.” Dr. Hadron paused at the bottom of the ladder. “Stan doesn’t need the massage to his ego.” The two walked into a hold full of equipment. A man with thinning curly white hair sat hunched in the middle of things. Information danced on the screens in front of him. He hummed as he nodded at the numbers. “Anything interesting, Stan?,” said Dr. Hadron. One hand hovered over a machine beeping to itself. Craft jumped at the words. He shook his head as he settled back in his chair. “Give a guy some warning the next time.” Craft took a breath. “I about had a heart attack.” “How did the survey go, Stan?,” asked Dr. Hadron. “Pretty well.” Craft pointed at one screen. “This is the coast. Your scanner lit up several places that may be the lair of your ghost.” “Crenshaw won’t have a lair.” Dr. Hadron bent over the screen. “He’ll have a place to store whatever he steals, and whomever he kidnaps so he can do whatever he wants to them, but it won’t be a lair. These places are native places of things that are already here. They might be stirred up when we take Crenshaw out of the picture.” “We?,” Craft turned his attention to his other visitor. “Stanley Craft. How do you do?” “Patty Page.” Patty held out a hand. “It’s great to meet one of my heroes from when I was little.” “Thanks.” Craft shook her hand. “Lamplighter?” “She’s in training.” Dr. Hadron tapped the screen with a finger. “Do you have a printout of this, Stan?” “Yep.” Craft looked around his cluttered lab. He produced a stack of papers and handed them over. “You’re back in business, Mark?” “Nobody issued a warning.” Dr. Hadron looked the papers over, thumbing through them gently. “Janie is trying to put together a team back home. Patty and her friends volunteered to deal with Crenshaw. I was hoping to enjoy my retirement, but it looks like I’ll have to put it off a little bit longer.” “How bad is this warning?” Craft sat back in his chair. “I don’t know.” Dr. Hadron turned his one eye on his friend. “The turbulence is high. I expect the Mark and his kids will be busy with every mad magician and psychic in the tri-state area coming out of the woodwork to try to take advantage. The spectral activity might climb off the charts, but so far things were calm according to Janie.” “So you’re putting together two teams to deal with this?” Craft nodded. “You need any help?” “I don’t know yet.” Dr. Hadron folded the papers and tucked them under his arm. “The numbers are high and close to a rip. We might need the Rangers to help us out.” “We lost Hasick just before you called.” Craft rubbed his chin. “He might head to New York to take advantage once he knows something is in the air.” “If you want in on this action, Stan,” said Hadron. One hand made a gesture resembling a what can you do. “You’re welcome to sit in. If I see Hasick, I’ll add him to my to-do list.” “Thanks, Mark.” //61684

22 Jimmy landed in a the shadow of some bushes. He looked around, letting his helmet evaluate the air for him. It seemed too hot. Why was it too hot? He figured something was letting exhaust in the air. It had to be something big. Beth dropped down beside him. She returned to normal long enough to drop Lars and Mark to the ground. Then she became a lizard with a cat-like body and horns. “We have a lot of infrared and ultraviolet.” Beth’s form chirped. “The detectors form a net around that house. I can’t see anything near the walls.” “I don’t smell any of the local animals coming close.” Mark sniffed the air. “But there is the fuel smell in the air.” “So this is the bad guy base.” Lars looked around. “The monastery is to the south. We could retreat there to figure out a way through the net.” “I don’t think we can.” Jimmy pointed. “I think we’re on camera. If we head to the monastery, we’ll be putting the brothers in danger.” “We better make a decision soon.” Mark looked around. “If they come at us here, Beth is the only one who can get away before the jet mice chew us up with their laser guns.” “I can get in and shut the net down.” Beth flicked her tongue out. “Do we go in, or run away?” “We have to go in.” Jimmy shook his head. “If we don’t, the mice king will come after us. We have to do something about him. If you can open the way for us, we’ll go in and see what we can do to put a stop to things.” “All right.” Beth changed shape and vanished into the grass. “I’ll give you some kind of signal when the net is down.” Jimmy triggered the cell in his helmet. He dialed the school number and routed his call to the gym. He left a message for the coach to find in case they didn’t make it out alive. At least the government would be able to act on what they had found. A burst of light blew out a window. Part of the porch caught fire. A shower of sparks danced from the fire. “I think that’s the signal.” Mark charged forward. He smiled when nothing popped out of the ground and started shooting at him. Lars bounded across the ground. He covered ten feet with every hop. He passed Mark easily and reached the porch first. Jimmy triggered his wings and took to the air. He flew by Mark and landed with a puff of air next to Lars. He folded his wings to keep them from fowling. Lars tried the door. The knob didn’t move. He went to the broken window. He shook his head. “Something is blocking the room from being entered.” Lars stepped back next to the wall. “I think the front room has been altered into some kind of engine room.” “We have to get inside to help Beth.” Jimmy peeked inside the hole. “Do you think you can get inside the narrow space?” “I think I can.” Lars frowned. “I don’t think I can open a way for you and Mark.” “Get in there and see if you can break something.” Jimmy ducked as sparks leaped out of the window. “We need to shut this down.” The house started shaking. The boys looked at each other. This couldn’t be good. Mark receded from their point of view. “What’s going on?,” asked Lars. He grabbed the porch railing to keep from falling from his spot. “I think something is lifting the house.” Jimmy went to the edge of the porch and looked at the ground. “This thing has legs.” “You’re kidding me.” Lars closed his eyes. “How do we stop it?” Jimmy watched as arms and hands unfolded from the sides of the house. He covered his face with a hand. They were standing on a porch of a transforming robot. How were they going to stop that? He doubted they could handle a giant robot. “See if you can get inside and break stuff.” Jimmy took a breath. “I’m going to try to keep it distracted until you can take things apart.” “I don’t think that’s a good idea right now.” Lars shook his head. “I think we should get some help from somewhere.” “I don’t think that help is on the way.” Jimmy looked at the hand rising on one side. Barrels of light gleamed as they pointed at him. “Go!” Jimmy triggered his wings and jet. He spun out of control for a moment as he leaped from the porch. He didn’t like the way the laser cannons turned to follow his erratic flight. Violet light flew like lightning as he spun through the air. Lars looked around. He was alone, and the other hand of the house robot was lifting to take aim at the other two boys. He didn’t see a way to stop it. Maybe he could block the barrel with something if he was lucky. What did he have to work with on the wooden porch? He wondered what a piece of wood would do. He stepped to give himself room to kick one of the rails holding the roof of the porch up. He kicked the wood column at the base, tearing it away from the nails holding it in place. He jumped up and kicked the top. The square pillar leaned out of place, held up by being nailed to the rails that formed a picket around the porch. One shove freed the makeshift staff from its holders. The other hand lifted to shoot at Mark lumbering towards the house. Lars acted on instinct and jammed the staff he had created into a hole in the end of the closet finger. He hopped back out of the way. The finger exploded when the weapon fired. Lars wondered if he was still standing too close as that arm froze in place. He decided he should go. Lars hopped off the porch. He landed lightly on the ground and ran away from the house on legs. He passed Mark and kept going. Mark slid to a stop. What did his friend know that he didn’t? He decided to ask that question face to face if he could keep up. The left hand of the robot ejected flames in the air as the arm shook. The arm came apart in a blast of heat and light. Fire and smoke roiled the air from the open shoulder socket. The front of the disguise flew through the air on the wings of the blast. Jimmy felt the wind behind him and opened up the throttle of his jet. He didn’t look back as the wave caught up with him and sent him spinning through the air. He tried for a turn before crashing into the ground. He didn’t try to climb, or dive, since he didn’t know which way was up. He wasn’t going to blow himself up by diving headfirst into dirt at high speed. Jimmy twisted and righted himself as he came out of his turn. He hadn’t thought Lars could wreck anything from the outside, but the green boy had done a job on the robot with one simple move. He hoped Beth hadn’t been hurt in the backlash. He needed to get her out of the thing. How did he do it? If she was okay, he knew she could get out of the mess on her own. Her power should let her do that. He executed another turn to loop around the robot. Maybe he could do something with the hole in it. The laser hand shot bolts out but it didn’t seem able to aim properly. He didn’t question the luck. He swept around to get at the burning wound. The body of the robot rotated. He saw the metal hand sweeping down to crush him. He pulled up. He took a glancing blow that sent him looping into the ground. He laid there and tried to catch his breath. Critical alerts from his helmet told him he wasn’t flying out of this mess when he could get to his feet. He wondered why he couldn’t feel anything. He decided that maybe he couldn’t get to his feet. He spotted the hand pointing its laser fingers at him. He tried to move, but everything felt distant and disconnected. This is where I die. All I wanted to do is fly. Now I’m going to die because of a house robot. This is a stupid way to die. A rock the size of a car crashed into the robot. That rocked it back so its shot missed Jimmy. His helmet filtered out the burning deaths of the various plants around him. “You took a hit, buddy.” Mark appeared in Jimmy’s view. “Let’s see if we can get you out of here.” Another rock barreled across the sky as Mark picked Jimmy up and slung him over his shoulder. He ambled away from the staggering robot. Jimmy felt pain shooting up his spine as he bounced along. He gritted his teeth to avoid yelling at his rescuer for jostling him. Tim Bucket and Lars stood next to a pile of small rocks. Tim wore a costume that resembled a baseball catcher’s uniform. A T was painted on the front of the chest protector he wore. “I thought we told you to not do something like this, genius.” Tim put his hand on another rock. He pitched it at one of the robot’s legs, knocking the support away. “Beth’s inside.” Jimmy smiled as pain shot through him with every word. “Have to get her out.” “Idiot.” Tim shook his head. He touched a mike button built into his helmet. “Wing boy says his girlfriend is in the robot.” “She is going to kick your butt if she hears you saying stuff like that.” Mark smiled at the newcomer. “I have to agree.” Lars shook his head. “Not my girlfriend.” Jimmy managed the words through the pain. A figure in gray swooped down, landing on two feet with a hard thump. He gently dropped a girl slightly older than the boys on the ground. She wore her dark hair in braids and army fatigues. She grimaced at the house robot trying to regain its balance. “What do you think, Thia?,” said Coach Reilly. His shape was a silhouette except for the white E on one side of his chest. “Piece of cake, E.” She raised her hands. A rifle with too many barrels appeared as she sighted through the screen on top. “One of us is inside.” Mark stepped in the way of the gun. “We don’t want her hurt.” “I got it, big boy.” She looked up from the screen. “Step out of the way so I can do what I got to do.” Mark reluctantly stepped out of the way. His face said he didn’t like the thought of munitions being used when they didn’t know where Beth was in the robot. The giant rocks had been enough of a risk. A crippled Jimmy was bad enough. He shouldn’t have let them keep going when it became obvious the mice were dangerous. He should have told their parents and let things fall where they did. Now he might be out of two new friends. Thia pulled the trigger on her rifle. The barrels spun and then buzzed. She raised the rifle to inspect her work. The robot stood on one leg. Then it fell over. “EMP gun.” Jimmy smiled under his mask. “Why didn’t I think of that?” “We need to get him to a medic.” Reilly grimaced as he watched the robot. It burned in place from the earlier fire. “And we need to get Beth out of that thing.” “Go ahead.” Thia let the rifle vanish as she dropped her arms. “I think we can handle the rest from here.” “Thia’s right.” Tim grabbed a baseball from a bag hanging from his hip. “If they can’t get out of that wreck to escape, we might have to open it up for them.” “Come on, Harmon.” Reilly picked Jimmy up. “I got someone who can fix you right up.” He floated gently into the air and vanished to the south, toward the lake. The four strangers walked to where the robot laid on the ground. A puff of smoke revealed a turtle chihuahua holding a mouse in its hooked jaws leaping from the hole where the left arm used to be. “Put me down, you imbecile,” said the mouse. “Things can’t end this way.” “Man, are you wrong.” Mark took the mouse in a big hand. “It looks like it’s the big house for you, my friend.”

Watched the Hitman's Bodyguard. Micheal Bryce is called in to protect Darius Kincaid and get him to court to testify against the former president of Belarus for crimes against humanity. Needless to say hilarity ensues. CES

Blue Flames Over San Francisco 2015- 2 The new building didn’t feel right. Patty walked the halls and through the rooms. It had a waiting aura about it. What would it be like when they got going? She paused at the lamp room. Dr. Hadron and Jean were surrounded by pieces of circuitry and wiring. Mechanical casing leaned against a wall. He directed her where he wanted pieces soldered together with a small torch. She nodded as she went about her business. Lin and Kathy had decided to set up a small gym on the second floor. She paused as they looked at the boxes of parts that made up most of the equipment Kathy wanted. Dr. Hadron had put it on the company dime. The bell rang. She headed downstairs to get the door. They kept things locked down since they didn’t want people wandering around and looking at things. She looked through the peephole. It was another delivery man from UPS. She opened the door with a smile. “Miss Page?,” said the delivery driver. He held an electronic clipboard. A plain brown box sat at his feet. “That’s right.” Patty smiled. “I’ll sign for it.” He handed her the clipboard. She took the stylus from the top and wrote in her name in the signature screen with a flourish. She handed the thing back to look at the box. What had been ordered this time? She picked up the box and looked at the label. The sender was Lamplighters, INC in New York City. Janie must have sent something to Dr. Hadron. Her name was on the receiving line. She frowned. Why would Janie send her anything? She took the box inside as the brown van rolled away from the curb. She locked the door. Her eyes scanned what would be the lobby of the building. She winced that only one chair had arrived so far. The desks and the computers were still in transit. So were the parts for the weapons. She admitted she would feel better if she had something to stave off a monster at hand. She sat down in the chair. She placed the box in her lap. She worried at the tape holding it close with a thumbnail. Finally she had enough to pull on so she could open the box. Notebooks rested inside. She pulled out the first notebook and looked inside. Pages of reports and news clippings mixed together. She opened the others one after the other. They were all the same. She smiled. These were the copies of casebooks promised for them. She put the three copies aside. She noted each one had a different name on the cover. She smiled. Janie was still looking out for them. She picked up the one with her name on the cover and started reading. No one needed her at the moment. And Dr. Hadron wanted her to know what it meant to do what they proposed to do. Each report was a dry recounting of what the call had been about. Pictures of the scenes and graphs of the ambient energy index had been included. Several cases had taken months before something showed itself. Progress reports were included as the group tried to figure out what was going on. Patty smiled. She had followed the Lamplighters from afar for a long time. They weren’t powered like the Mark, or the old Hazard Scouts. They were just some guys trying to save the day against strangeness. She had cried for two days when the news came out that they had been decimated. Then Crenshaw had appeared. It was the same kind of event the Lamplighters chased. That was what had led her to heading for New York to ask for help. If someone could handle the ghost pirate, it would be a Lamplighter. Dr. Hadron’s reaction had been the opposite of what she had expected. It didn’t take a genius to see how angry he was. She had thought he was going to punch her when he answered the door. He might have if Janie hadn’t said what she had. She had been thoughtful and invited her group into the building. A meal and coffee had not warmed Dr. Hadron to their presence, but he didn’t seem as inclined to let them kill themselves as he had stated. She put the casebook aside. The cases swam in her head, the monsters pushing at her resolve. Did she have the gumption to stand up to the Kansas City Twister Sister, or the Jersey City Root Man, or the Los Angeles Cliff Dweller? Why had she gotten involved in this? She frowned. She checked her watch. She had spent hours on the casebook. Her stomach growled to let her know of its disapproval. She had to fix that. She wondered how the others were doing. She hoped they hadn’t noticed her slacking off. She should be helping instead of reliving events she had watched from a distance. She picked up the casebook and put the rest back in the box. She picked up the box in her free arm. She headed upstairs. She could ask the others what they wanted to eat, while giving them the casebooks. Maybe they would want to read them while she was getting food together and bringing it back to the building so they could eat. She looked in the room that was going to be Kathy’s gym. Kathy and Lin had put several of the machines together. They were trying them out. Kathy gave instructions as they rode on what looked like regular exercise bikes to her. She shifted position and saw that screens on the front of the bikes showed pretend scenery to ride through instead of the blanks walls around them. “You guys want anything to eat?” Patty put the box down. “I thought I would get some takeout for us.” “Sure.” Kathy smiled. “Can you get me a salad?” “Where are you going, Patty?” Lin let the wheel of her bike spin down. “I hadn’t considered where yet.” Patty smiled. “I was thinking maybe getting everyone’s order and then picking up something from somewhere local and bringing it back.” “I would like some chicken and rice, maybe some soup.” Lin swung a leg over the seat of the bike and touched down on the floor. “See if they will give you some seasoning packets.” Patty pulled out a pen from her pocket. She wrote salad, then chk r won ton under that, on the palm of her hand. She put the pen up. “What’s in the box?” Kate pointed at the package in her friend’s hand. “The casebooks arrived.” Patty held the box out. “Your names are on the covers. They’re the same as far as what’s in them.” “Really?” Lin stepped forward. She took her notebook. She took Kathy’s and handed it over. “Is there anything bad in them?” “Just cases.” Patty shrugged. She didn’t want to scare off Lin. Mentioning the Lamplighters’ last case would do just that. “Scary cases?” Lin looked down at the front of the book. Her expression said she didn’t want to look inside. “The scariest.” Patty shook her head. “Don’t be scared. It’s just a book.” “I’ll read it with you,” said Kathy. She stopped peddling and dismounted from the bike. She cut the power to the screen and dashboard. “How bad could it be?” Patty smiled before moving on. She paused at the room she planned to use for an apartment. She put the casebook on a window sill. She carried the box to the lamp room. Jean and Dr. Hadron should still be fixing the lamp and trying to get it online. She found the two of them talking about what they needed to do next. The lamp’s base was put together. She could see the lens glittering in the middle of the rig. “I’m headed out on a food run.” Patty took the last casebook out of the box and handed it to Jean. “You guys want anything?” “A couple of hamburgers and a shake would be good,” said Jean. “Do you want me to ride along?” “I got it.” Patty wrote down the order under Lin’s order. “Dr. Hadron?” “Anything is good.” Dr. Hadron turned his eye on her. “What are the local restaurants like?” “Same as New York,” said Patty. “Some are good, some are bad, most are average. It’ll take me a bit to get back. We should have set up for snacks so we could have something between meals.” “The refrigerator will be here in a couple of days.” Dr. Hadron almost smiled. “We need a couple of parts to finish the lamp. There’s not much more we can do tonight.” “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Patty nodded. “Are we breaking up after dinner?” “I don’t see why not.” Dr. Hadron checked his watch. “Anything else we need to do can wait until tomorrow.” “All right.” Patty smiled. She checked her hand. “I might go by my place and bring some chairs back. Maybe I can get a coffee table we can use until the official stuff gets here.” “Do you want any help?,” Jean asked. She wiped a spray of ash off her forearm with a thumb. “I got it,” said Patty. “I still have that thing Kevin’s mother gave us for our anniversary. I have been wanting to get rid of that table forever.” “Go ahead.” Dr. Hadron waved his hand at her. “We’re not going anywhere without you.” Patty headed down to the exit. She stepped out on the street. At least the fog wasn’t coming in off the bay. She walked down to the parking lot next to the building. She raised the gate with her pass key and walked to her car. She smiled when she settled behind the wheel. She decided to get the table first. She would pick up the food on the way back from the restaurants. She shook her head at the different orders. She thought she could get Kathy’s and Jean’s from the same place while picking up Lin’s last. She made a note to pick Dr. Hadron up something. She pulled out of the lot, watching the arm come down as she turned on the street. Her place was across town. Getting the table out of her living room should be easy. Maybe she should have brought Jean along. She drove through the streets, nodding as she turned into a residential neighborhood made up of condos converted from old houses. She turned into a driveway that wasn’t meant for her to park in. She got out and let herself inside the main door. She walked up to her place and let herself in. She cut on the lights. The place didn’t welcome her like it used to do. She took the pictures off the oval table and put them on the floor. She lifted the table and put it outside. She cut the lights and locked up. She carried her wooden prize down to her car. She opened the trunk and slid the table inside. It didn’t quite fit. She searched inside the trunk and found two old bungee cords. She used them to pull the lid down as much as she could to keep the table from falling out on the street. She went through a drive-thru and got Kathy two of the salads, a couple bottles of water, Jean’s burgers and milkshake, and Dr. Hadron a kid’s meal. She added a bigger burger for him. Then she headed for one of the Chinese places to get Lin’s order on the way back to the Lamplighter building. She pulled into the lot. She gathered the food up and carried it into the building. “Thanks, Patty.” Kathy took the food and divided it out. “Didn’t you get something for yourself?” “I have some donuts in the car.” Patty smiled. “Let me get the table. I’ll be right back.” “Let me help you with that.” Kathy dusted off her hands and the women walked out to get the prize. //59572

21 Jimmy Harmon would have run from the opposition exposing its numbers to him. The only reason he stayed was Beth trying to catch up to him and the truck in front of him. He couldn’t run with her ready to rip out his chicken heart. He had to do something desperate. He looked down at his signal receiver in his hands. He had built it out of scrap for a science fair. It had helped him fine-tune his wings when the computer models hadn’t. It had to do one more thing for him. He threw the receiver at the jet mice rushing him from the back of the truck. He didn’t think he would hit any of them. He just wanted room to run. If they followed him, that would be less for Beth and the others to deal with on top of the three mechs rising from the back of the truck. The equipment box flew through the air on a less than perfect arc. It caught some of the mice as they scattered from the projectile. He didn’t look to see how many were down. He turned right from the truck and flew away. He knew the mastermind wouldn’t let him get free if the enemy could help it. He had already tracked Mark down. As soon as Mark led him to the rest of them, it would have been game over. Now the jet mice had to chase him to make sure he crashed. He just had to fly better than them to make his getaway, or cause them to crash. Jimmy glanced over his shoulder. He frowned at the small horde chasing after him. He needed to lose them somehow. He eyed the battlefield as he roared at full throttle across the sky. The truck had picked a road that linked to other roads leading it around Marlowe, without hooking up to the highway at any place. The current area was semi-wooded with small farms and family houses spreading out. The only bystanders he had to worry about were traffic on the road while he dodged the mice. Maybe some cows and other domestic animals if he flew low enough around the farms could be a problem if he didn’t watch out for them. The mice started shooting at him as he decided to use the trees as cover. He dodged around the trunks, flying under the lowest branches so he didn’t have to block with his winged arms. The last thing he wanted was to rip out some of the vanes and ground himself. The mice swarmed around the trees, firing as they went. Purple light flashed by. A couple scored marks along Jimmy’s wings as he fled. Small fires started on leaves and pine needles from misses. Jimmy tried to think of a way to dump the mice. He didn’t have any means to shoot back, and thought turning and charging them would allow them to fill him full of holes. His parents wouldn’t like that. He didn’t think that much of the idea either. Jimmy decided to take the jet mice back to the mobile battlefield. The truck was still moving. The three machine mice had started shooting at Beth and the others. Maybe he could use things to his advantage. He aimed for the three metal mice. One of them turned to shoot at him with the same type of lasers the smaller ones used. He dodged as best he could. Smoke lit up from one of his wings from a hit. He could feel a loss of control. He gritted his teeth. He couldn’t crash now. At least some of his pursuit had gone up in balls of flame from the barrage. That was something. Mark came out of nowhere and flung the machine to the road. He had burns on his arms and legs from trying to get close to the robots. The thing hit the road in a crash of metal. An explosion lifted it up in a bounce. Then it crashed down on its back and burned in place. Jimmy swerved to avoid a swinging arm. At least two of the jet mice crashed into that metal mouse. The robot tipped backwards from the impact. A webbed hand grabbed hold and helped it over the wall of the trailer. It bounced but didn’t blow up like the first one had. The third one fired rockets from its chest launchers at Mark as Jimmy kept going. He couldn’t turn on a dime to help out, and he still had his own problems to deal with at the moment. There just weren’t as many now. He headed for the downed mouse. It was trying to get back on its metal feet so it could start shooting at him and his friends again. And he had the rest of the tiny mice behind him. An explosion marked the rockets hitting something and blowing up. He hoped it wasn’t any of his friends as he tried to decide what he wanted to do. He decided to try to knock the robot down. If he could keep it out of the fight, it would buy time for Beth to come back and deal with it. Maybe he could get it to shoot itself if he was lucky enough. Violet light forming a net around him changed his plans. He swerved right away from the robot. Lasers dug into the machine. Its return fire struck the chasing jet mice. Some of the bolts hit the rocket launchers in the chest and something caught fire. The winged hero decided that he should clear the area. Fire next to explosives couldn’t be good in his opinion. Jimmy turned right again. The swarm was caught trying to turn with him while not crashing into their big brother. Some of them didn’t execute the turnaround fast enough and slammed into the smoking machine. He headed back to the truck. There was one more monster he needed to help beat. Then they could stop the truck and see if there was anything that would lead to the mastermind behind everything. The large creature that used to be Beth had the last robot in its clutches. It smashed the robot against the truck cab. The thing bent under the abuse as the roof came off the truck. A robot arm drove the truck along. A small screen showed the programmed route so the vehicle stayed on the same roads until orders came in for it to change direction. “Let’s shut this down,” said Mark. “Then we can decide what to do about this.” “I totally agree.” Lars kept an eye out for danger. “We have wrecked parts of the road and surrounding neighborhood. We need to stop this truck, and then check to make sure no one was hurt in the fighting.” “Let me see what I can do.” Jimmy dropped in the passenger seat. He picked up the screen. He noted a stylus and realized the thing was touch programmable. He pulled the stylus out of its holder. He tapped the screen. Buttons appeared. He touched the power button. The engine turned off. The truck rolled to a stop. Jimmy ran the stylus over the screen. He noted that a list of locations popped up with some careful searching. He put them on the map. Most were in the tight circle the truck drove in. One stood alone on side of the lake away from the city. Was that where the mouse king hid? He had hoped to find something else to help them. What was he missing? This was the base for the spies, but maybe it was also a relay station for the signal. Did the mouse king know they stopped the truck? He must know his guys had been put down. What would he do to cover his tracks? Why was a number countdown running on the map screen? “We have to get out of here!” Jimmy jumped into the air. He grabbed Lars by the waist and took him along as he headed straight up from the rig. Beth grabbed Mark with a claw and followed with flaps of her big wings. She decided to turn the climb into a diagonal flight path instead of trying to claw her way straight up with the huge weight in her grasp. The truck and trailer turned into fireballs as they fled from it. Debris flew from the blast, but none of it came close to where they flew in the sky. “That was close.” Mark grinned his shark grin. “Thanks for the save.” “It looks like we solved something,” Beth grumbled. “We don’t know if we stopped things.” “There was a map coordinate on the truck’s system.” Jimmy handed Lars off so he could fly smoother. “I’m going to check it out. I’ll let you guys know what I find.” “Don’t do it, Jimmy.” Beth placed Lars and Mark on her back. “It has to be defended against the likes of us.” “Don’t worry.” He told the GPS in his helmet the numbers. A small arrow appeared. “I’m not going to do anything stupid. Besides we should get out of here before the police, or Aylwin’s goon squad, show up.” “Let us get a look at this place.” Mark looked at the other three to hear him out. “Then we can decide how we should take the place down. Maybe we can call the government in and let them do the hard work for us.” “I agree with Mark,” said Lars. “I think we have caused enough destruction for the day.” “I think they are right.” Beth grumbled from the bigger body she wore. “We shouldn’t just fly into another dangerous situation just because we can. We should look at it from a distance.” “So we should look at it from a distance?,” said Jimmy. He nodded in agreement. “The map says the spot is north of the lake. I’ll lead the way and land far enough away radar won’t pick us up. We’ll have to fly low to try to stay under anything pointed at the sky.” “Cameras will probably be everywhere.” Mark smiled. “This guys is smart despite using mice as his enforcers. He probably saw us taking his guys down. He’ll be waiting for us. I can feel it.” “So we’re on the same page?,” Beth asked. “I think so.” Mark stared at Jimmy. “All right.” Jimmy nodded. “I won’t do anything to get killed like doing a fly by.” “Lead the way.” Beth flapped her wings and leaped into the air. “I’ll be right behind you.” The two flew through the sky. Jimmy kept his speed down as he led the way. He felt he could leave Beth behind but knew it was a bad idea. She would get even with him. He knew that from past experience. Lake Marlowe glittered below them as they soared along.

The Cormorant Run by Saintcrow. The Earth has been destroyed by bubbles of alternate reality. People were asked to go in, but the government cracked down on that. A base commander has decided to send in a team to secure the legendary Cormorant and bring it out. Death and tragedy follow the decision. CES

20 Mark Whittaker made his way through the stands of trees around the Launchpad clearing. His nose picked out a trail for him. Lars’s scent stood out from the rest of the grass and foliage, wandering animals, and the rare person. He tracked it back to the lake, then paused to take in which way he should go. He sniffed the air and picked the right. He figured Lars had either swam the lake, or walked around it to get to where he had to go. The scent markers were stronger to the right. Mark worked his way along the lake, skirting the do not swim signs, and danger: do not drink the water signs. His nose pointed him to a walled place surrounded by trees. A small Buddha sat by the main gate. It waved at anyone passing on this dirt road to head north of the city. Mark smiled. It seemed that this could be the place. It seemed odd that Buddhist monks would settle in Minnesota, but everyone had to be somewhere sometime. He walked to the gate. He didn’t see a bell button, or a knocker. He frowned. How was he supposed to tell them he was outside and needed to talk to Lars about the mice? He pushed on the gate. It swung open. He smiled. That was a simple answer to his problem. He followed his nose. His stomach rumbled at the cooking traces wafting through the air. He should have made himself a sandwich before leaving to track Lars down. His inner self’s grumbling reminded him of that error as he walked forward. He promised it he would get something to eat as soon as dealt with the mice army. He paused when he reached the central building of the place. The cooking smell drifted from behind the converted house. Should he keep following his nose, or knock on the door? He decided that knocking might be the way to go in this case. If no one came to the door, he could investigate the rest of the place. Mark banged on the front door with a fist. He paused to listen. He didn’t want to keep banging if someone was already on the way. “Hello?” The speaker revealed by the open door was an Asian, smaller and thinner than Mark, and had shaved his head bald. He looked up at the big teenager with a quizzical expression. “How you doing?,” said Mark. He smiled to show how harmless he was. The doorman stepped back, raising one hand on guard. “I would like to speak to Brother Lars. I need his help.” “You know Brother Lars?” The door man didn’t try to hide his disbelief. “He’s green,” said Mark. He wasn’t sure how deep he wanted to go as a descriptor. He didn’t want a fight with someone who carried himself with the authority of having trained in something, and stood ready to use it. “Please wait here.” The door man shut the door in Mark’s face. Mark looked at the grounds while he waited. He approved of the various scents drifting to him lazily. He could spend hours in place just sniffing the air. The door opened. Lars stuck his head out to look at his visitor. He wore a contemplative expression on his face. “The others have found some way to find the mice army.” Lars nodded at the look on his new friend’s face. “And they want us to help them out.” “Exactly.” Mark smiled. “I need to call Beth if you’re in. Can I borrow a phone?” “Yes.” Lars stepped out of the way so that the huge teen could walk into the hall. A small stick burned in a decorated stone urn beside a phone plugged into the wall. It had a dial on the front which took Mark a minute to figure out. He dialed Beth’s number by using the end of his finger on the tops of the holes in the dial. He smiled when the phone buzzed in his ear to tell him his call was going through. “This is Beth.” Beth sounded bored. “What’s up?” “Lars is going to help us.” Mark nodded. “Do you have anything for us?” “Jimmy is tracing the signal from the captured mouse.” Beth sounded calm over the phone. “He’s hoping to triangulate the line so we know where the bad guys are.” “I got that.” Mark cursed not having a car. That would have been something useful in the fight against mutant menaces. “I don’t know where the lines are going to cross,” said Beth. “Where are you?” “I tracked Lars to a fenced place by the lake.” Mark considered how far he had to walk. “It’s on the other side from the woods.” “I’m coming to pick you up.” Beth huffed. “I’m going to send a message to Jimmy so he will call when he figures out where the signal is coming from.” “How are you coming to pick us up?” Mark didn’t think she could drive. Was he wrong about that? “Don’t worry about that,” said Beth. “Just go outside so I can see you and not go to the wrong house.” “This phone is attached to the wall, so I won’t be able to talk to you.” Mark turned over the implication of being picked up far out from the city’s bus system. What could Beth do? “Don’t worry about that,” said Beth. “As soon as you hang up, I’ll be on my way to where you are.” “See you then.” Mark put the earpiece on the cradle. He scratched his long nose. He wondered if he wanted to see how Beth planned to pick them up. “She said we should wait outside for her to come pick us up.” “I think she has a dragon that she can use.” Lars led the way from the foyer. “I saw it once. She didn’t want to tell how she knew it.” “That makes sense.” Mark clumped through the converted house. “A dragon is something we can use to clean house.” “I think it would be overkill.” Lars smiled. “We are only dealing with mice.” “These are some mean mice, my friend.” Mark smiled. “A dragon doesn’t seem that much when your enemy is like a swarm of yellowjackets and you can’t fly.” “You have me there.” Lars stepped outside, walking down to the middle of the gardens cultivated by the brothers. He shrugged in his shirt, pulling it down under the tied belt he wore. Mark joined him, sniffing the air. The scents drifting around them tickled his nose. He snorted quietly. The beating of wings drew their attention to the sky. A large shape descended toward them, eclipsing the setting sun. Mark hoped it was friendly just before it set down in the garden with a flap of its bat wings. “A dragon.” Lars didn’t bother to raise his hands to guard. Something that big would chomp him in half before he could do anything. “Bigger than I thought.” Mark looked around. No one else was in the garden to help them deal with the dragon. “Come on.” Beth’s voice came out of the large cat-like face of the thing. “Climb on my back. We have to get going.” “Beth?” Mark walked closer to the huge animal in front of him. “Yeah.” Beth nodded. “Let’s go. Jimmy says the signal is moving. We have to head it off and find out how to stop the horde.” “What do you mean it’s moving?” Mark didn’t see any way to climb on her back gently. He should have asked his mother for a bike so he would have had some kind of experience of riding something. He knew the answer would have been it was too frivolous, but it would have been something to try. “Jimmy says the signal is moving.” She wrapped a claw around Mark and tossed him into the air. “We’re going to have to move fast.” Lars bounded to a shoulder, settling ahead of the wings already spreading out around him. He leaned forward as the snake-like body leaped into the air on its short legs. He helped Mark to a seat as the transformed Beth flew under the bigger boy. She headed toward the city, flapping her wings to climb, gliding when she reached a height she liked. A blue spark in the distance indicated Jimmy riding the air on his artificial wings. She climbed for height, then swooped down to catch up to her flying friend. Yellow eyes searched the air for threats. How long could they trace the signal before the mouse king decided to express his displeasure at their interference? She doubted it would take long. He obviously didn’t like witnesses or meddlers. They were both at this point. Mark sniffed the air. A familiar taint pushed against his nose. He nodded. They were on the right track. The mouse fuel was in the air. “Get ready.” Mark leaned forward to make himself heard by Lars and Beth. “I can smell that jet fuel in the air. They might be getting ready for a charge.” “Great.” Beth made a beeline through the darkening sky. She had to catch up with Jimmy. He was a sitting duck if a majority of the things decided to wipe him out. A truck hauling a trailer slowed on the road ahead. The back doors opened slowly. Blue dots floated in the air inside the darkened trailer. “Here we go.” Mark nodded. “It’s show time.” The top of the trailer peeled back to reveal squat monstrosities of metal and plastic. Lasers were mounted on the arms where hands would be on a human. Radar dishes resembled ears on the square heads. Small missile launchers were visible in the chest area. “Machine Mickey Mice.” Mark covered his mouth with his hand. “We’re fighting Mickey Mouse’s uglier brothers. I can’t believe this.”

(A friend at work said I should write longer pieces for this, so I am.) Blue Flames Over San Francisco 1 2015- Mark Hadron looked out the window of the building he was thinking about buying. San Francisco’s prices were sky high, but if he set up a headquarters, he needed it to be around people to feed the defenses from monsters and ghosts his employees would be facing. He didn’t like the thought that he might be sending more people to their deaths. “Dr. Hadron?” Patty Page peered through the open door, but didn’t come into the room. “The place looks fine, I suppose. Are you sure you want to buy it?” “Janie is insistent that you should be a functioning branch of the organization.” Hadron didn’t turn away from the window. “Come in and sit down.” Patty sat down on the floor near the door. She had insisted that her group of friends should track Hadron down and get him to help them. This taciturn person was not the same as the man wanting to send them to their doom, or the man she had listened to after his group had done something no one understood. “This place is almost perfect for a home base.” Hadron tapped the glass in front of him. “Once we install a major lantern, the city will power it until something happens to the alignment. That should be years down the road.” He turned to face her. His one eye glared at the room in general. The empty socket of his other eye made her wish he wore a patch over it. He sat down across from her. “You guys will need a place to stay away from your homes in case of troubles. You’ll need a place to work on your equipment. You’ll need a home base that will provide a shield against some of the things you’ll be facing.” Hadron clasped his hands together so she couldn’t see the hole in one of them. “I’m going to show you how to track down Crenshaw, but then you’ll have to monitor the city on your own. This place has to be robust enough to let you do that without a problem.” “You’re not going to stay?” Patty didn’t like that. She doubted she could hold her friends together in the face of mortal danger. “New York is facing a rip.” Hadron didn’t put on a pleasant face to smooth things over. “Janie is putting a group together while I’m out here. If things keep climbing, we might lose Manhattan.” “What do you mean by losing Manhattan?” Patty hoped he wasn’t talking about the center of New York City sinking into the ocean. “The energy scales are going up.” Hadron made a gesture to indicate the normal versus what was going on. “Once it gets in the 80s, an extradimensional rip is in the offing. Something is trying to open a door from another place to here.” Patty frowned. She hadn’t expected that. She had hoped to handle one ghost for the excitement. Now she was going to have to worry about the world ending when she had asked to defend it. “I still have time to deal with that.” Hadron smiled. “I’m going to buy this building. Equipment is going to be sent here. I’m going to need you to help me set up everything. Case books will be assembled so you guys will have some grounding. Then I’m going to show you how to build and use the weapons that you’re going to need, as well as the lamps. The big lamp will be the worse because it will have to protect the whole building from attack.” “Crenshaw?” Patty wondered how the ghost pirate would take his old enemy being in the same city with him. “We’re going to track him down as soon as the parts and equipment get here.” Hadron nodded. “I was hoping to do a solo run, maybe call in some help from a couple of guys I know. Now I have you trainees to act as my meat shields. It will be a great way for you to get your feet wet.” “I don’t think I like being described as a meat shield,” said Patty. “No one does.” Hadron smiled. It didn’t make his face look more open. “Just remember to keep your guys covered. They don’t run off on their own when you are looking into something. They don’t do anything without thinking about it. Once you guys are set up, it will be up to you to make sure they don’t make the same mistake we did.” “I can’t lead anybody.” Patty held up her hands. “Why can’t you stay?” “I have to head back to New York as soon as you guys get through your training period.” Hadron smiled again. “It will be up to you to hold the line here until things settle down.” “All right.” Patty bent her head. Meeting Hadron in person had shattered her dream of following a new Lamplighter team from afar. She hadn’t expected to be a member of a new Lamplighter team. “Don’t look so down,” said Hadron. “It’s obvious the other women think of you as their leader. All you have to do is make sure you don’t get them killed. You can do that.” Patty put on a smile at the encouragement. She didn’t think things would go as smooth as Hadron implied. “Let’s have our first staff meeting.” Hadron stood. He moved creakily like a much older man. He extended his unwounded hand to help Patty to her feet. “That way we can hammer out some of the starter problems and get the mission objective out of the way.” “Is this how the original Lamplighters started?” Patty brushed off her pants. “I built the original lamp.” Hadron walked from the room. “Milton got us the money. Dyson and Harry helped with the machinery we needed to operate. We set up the company charter over pizza and beers.” “And then you started selling your services?” Patty remembered stories that had hit the papers that been unconfirmed until the Mark had paused long enough to tell a reporter that the Lamplighters had saved the day. “It took a while before people realized we were serious about what we were doing.” Hadron started down the steps to where an open lobby had been almost put together before the place shut down. The other three women waited in various spots. They didn’t seem eager to start a new career of chasing monsters and ghosts. He didn’t blame them. “I am going to buy this building for your franchise, ladies.” Hadron put his hands in his pockets. “Equipment will be ordered and installed. I’m going to install a big lamp upstairs to help with security from the local ghosts. There will be a small amount of training so you can fix the batteries, or weapons, in case of trouble. “The Lamplighters didn’t have a training set up. We learned on the job. This is going to be new for me also. One rule that will go in effect is no one goes off alone on an investigation. You will buddy up and watch each other’s back. Radio and cell communication suffers in high energy situations, but I expect you to keep them on so warnings can be passed back and forth when possible.” “You’re not going to send us after this ghost pirate right away?” Lin Qu smiled. “That’s a relief.” “I think you should at least read the casebooks that will be coming,” said Hadron. “Then you can make your own decision about whether you want to quit, or not. What the Lamplighters did was a lot more dangerous than ghostbusting. I will understand if you want to quit. A small dorm will be set up here for you so you can live out of here instead of having to commute during emergencies once we get started. I want you guys to walk the building to get used to it as it is, so when we start changing it around, you’ll know how you want to change it.” “You’re only doing this because your secretary said so.” Jean Lopez glared at him with her dark eyes. Her denim jacket hung over a shoulder. “You’re right about that,” said Hadron. “I’m only doing this because my only friend in the world said it was necessary.” His single eye was a glaring cube of ice in his face. He blinked and the mask was back in place before he did something he regretted. “I’m going to take a walk.” Hadron checked his watch. “Go ahead and look things over. If this is going to be a base of operations, it should be as much of a home for you as it can be.” “What about exercise equipment?” Kathy Baker wore a green tracksuit. Her fingernails glittered as her hands moved. “Sort it out.” Hadron shrugged. “You’re adults. You can do it.” “Enjoy your walk, Dr. Hadron.” Patty waved a hand at the other three women. “We’ll have a list of things by the time you get back.” Hadron nodded. He headed out of the building, pushing on the glass and metal door with a shoulder. He turned at the sidewalk and headed out of sight. “Is he serious about buying the building for us?” Lin went to the door. “That’s crazy.” “Yes, he’s serious.” Patty nodded at her friends. “He already has a room picked out for a lamp to help protect the building. He said the original Lamplighters didn’t have any training in what they did. We’re the replacements and a test case. If we do well, we might spark more Lamplighters across the country. Also we have a problem that you should know about before we go any further.” “What kind of problem?,” said Jean. She rubbed the palm of her hand on her leg. “Once we get set up, we’re on our own.” Patty pursed her lip. “New York City is in danger, and we’re going to have to hold things down here, or be ready to head out to the East Coast to join in.” “What do you mean New York City is in danger?” Jean looked at Kathy and Lin. They shared her expression of disbelief. “I don’t know.” Patty shrugged. “He said the ambient energy is climbing. It indicates an invasion of some sort. We have to be ready in case we’re needed to stop it.” “This is getting out of hand, Patty.” Lin fiddled with the fake buttons on her suit jacket. “We can’t stop anything like an invasion.” “We can’t do anything without the lamps and guns we need.” Kathy shrugged. “We have to do well with them before we can be considered good enough to blow monsters away.” “Let’s get our list together.” Jean waved at the others. “We can’t sit here gawking at an empty place if we want to be heroes.” “Do we want to be heroes?” Lin frowned at her friends. “What are we getting into here?” “This Crenshaw is going to keep attacking,” said Patty. “No one else can stop him. We have to do it. I understand if you all want to leave, but I’m not. I am going to hunt that monster down and take him out. He’ll never hurt anyone else.” “Let’s get our list together.” Jean waved at the others to go ahead. “Baby steps.” Patty covered her face with a hand. She hadn’t meant to let that out in the air. She should have kept it in. She followed her friends as they examined their headquarters and made plans. //57739

Thanks Pinecone CES

Thank you. I am running to the end at the moment. I can feel the momentum. It's always nice to get an opinion. I hope you like the million word thread also CES

Worry about ,my aunt trying to get her license rippled through the old family. this took place in a south asia city for some reason CES

Nevermore is represented by a bird. Its ability is to create an army of bits that act like tanks, artillery, and drone bombers and a supply line to keep the army powered and moving. creeperworld

Marcus Colby is a computer programmer who specializes in security programs against online threats. The problem is Colby is eccentric and patterned his six member team of data after internet games. When malware strikes, the Firewall answers. CES

I was thinking which animal does not belong. CES

Deep in the Asian jungles, law enforcement and criminals battle for supremacy. The farmers and civilians are moving targets for both sides. The hero known as Quan answered their call. He has trained himself to be a hunter and ranger through the jungles. He also has the ability to accelerate an object away from him. The bigger the object, the more he can accelerate it. CES