After Dawn (Book 3 of the Into the Shadows Trilogy) (13 page)

"No, she's not!" Stevens shouted. He tripped over his chair and nearly fell to the floor. He caught himself on the table. "She said she would come. She did, look, look at her! We've got to kill her now."

The cabinet members exchanged concerned glances.

"Oh my god." Wendell Stevens stood at the head of the table, his eyes glued to the ghoul who haunted his nights and made him fear his days. On the screen, she lit up like the sun. The picture went white before breaking up and losing the signal. The picture disappeared.

"What happened, Michael? Where is she now?" Stevens demanded.

"They destroyed the entire battalion. No survivors." General Kobayashi bowed his head in silence.

Stevens face was white as chalk and glistened with sweat. "What about the mountain? Get some of those experiments from Dr. Todesengel and send them after her. After the prisoners."

"The Air Force reported that the entrance of the mountain was completely covered with rock and debris." General Kobayashi shook his head. "We're unable to make contact with anyone inside the mountain. All communications there and at the camp were wiped out."

"No." Stevens gasped. He sank into his chair and slumped forward. He ran his hands through his sweaty hair and loosened his tie. "She's coming for me," he whispered.

The cabinet and ATC members stared at him.

"There is only one option." Stevens giggled, his voice high pitched and shaky.

"We need to nuke Las Vegas."

*

"He's out of his mind!" shouted David Jones, Secretary of State.

"He's still the president," said General Kobayashi. "What can we do?"

"I think it's time to invoke the 25th Amendment." David said solemnly. "He's looked awful for weeks, and I've seen him mumble nonsense to himself on more than one occasion. Something about green eyes."

David turned to the vice president. A woman of fifty years of age, she wore a fitted black suit. Her blond hair hung in a perfect bob surrounding her face. Susan Morgan had been quiet for most of the day.

"Come on, Susan. You can't honestly tell me you think that Wendell is in his right mind." He slammed an open fist on the table. "For Christ's sake, he wants to use a nuclear bomb on one of our own cities! On our own citizens! There is no way we can evacuate the city fast enough. And even if we could, I still wouldn't want to destroy an American city. I will not stand here and let this happen."

Susan sighed and rubbed her face. Circles darkened her eyes. "He's right. I don't feel right about this either. And banding together is the only way to stop him."

"What do we have to do?" General Kobayashi asked. He glanced nervously at the door, half expecting President Stevens to come back in. His assistant, Martin, had taken him to his room to lie down. Kobayashi hoped he stayed there long enough for them to figure out a solution.

"Susan plus a majority of us in this room have to send a letter to Chuck and Lorraine. The President pro tempore of the Senate and Speaker of the House have all the power here. Once the letter is signed and sent, Susan is acting president," David said. "Can I count on all of you to sign? It'll be more effective if we all do it."

Heads nodded in agreement around the large conference table.

"Do we think Chuck and Lorraine will go for it?" Susan asked. She flipped open a laptop on the table in front of her.

David pulled out his mobile phone. "We'll find out in a minute. I'll call and get them down here. And this might only buy us a little time. He can protest it, and if he does, he's in charge again until we can get Congress to vote on it. And they've got twenty-one days in which to do it."

There was nervous energy hanging over the silent table.

"It's time to act, people. We've got to save America before he destroys it. I said nothing while the ATC overran this country. Now we're on the brink of war and on the verge of nuking one of our own major cities. Those of you not working with Susan to draft the letter, get on the phone." David waved his phone at them. "We need to start calling members of Congress and make sure enough of them are on the same page. We cannot fail, or we fail this country, and possibly this world."

"What am I supposed to tell the military? They have a situation in Las Vegas. Are they supposed to do nothing with those people? They killed soldiers!" General Kobayashi face melted into a frown. "We're completely stuck in the middle here."

"His orders were to engage." Susan Morgan looked like she might be sick. Her face was the color of pea soup. "He's still president until Chuck and Lorraine get over here. I'm sorry to say that Michael still answers to him."

"But the nuclear bomb?" General Kobayashi asked.

"Tell them to have it on standby, but not to use it until we give the okay," said Susan. "We've got to make this happen. The clock is ticking."

Chapter 16

Paivi's stomach was tied up in knots as she led the convoy into the city of Las Vegas. She knew that couldn't be all the ATC had.

There would be more.

And they'd be coming soon.

The city posed a problem for many reasons. The road they traveled led right through downtown. And while at least they had roads to travel on, there was also something they hadn't come across on the journey from the camp. People.

She had no idea how they would react. Were they going to have to defend themselves from the military and from the civilians? Her last contact with Americans, back in St. Andrew, didn't leave pleasant memories. And she’d had visions since then, which indicated that it had only gotten worse.

The city was quiet in the morning, although cars were creeping out onto roadways. Paivi could see the confused looks on drivers’ faces as they observed the column of raggedy people in dusty trucks making their way into the city. She could still hear the sirens and knew it was a matter of minutes before they were stopped.

She was right. Up ahead flashing lights appeared on the opposite side of the road. A dozen police cars and two SWAT team trucks pulled up to the median. Local drivers scattered, attempting to get out of the way, but staying close enough to watch what was happening.

On the roadway in front of them an additional five police cars raced toward them. They screeched to a stop, pulling the cars sideways to block any way forward.

Paivi chuckled in the backseat as Dennis slowed the truck to a stop.

"What's so funny, Paivi?" her mom demanded, her face pressed into a frown.

"This, Mom, all of this." She waved at the commotion in front of them. "If people would have just left us all alone, it wouldn't be this way. We wouldn't need to be fighting our way out of a country that doesn't want us anyway. And these guys are the least of our problems. The friends of the guys who tried to stop us before will be coming soon. This? Forget it."

Paivi pulled the lever on the door. It swung open and she hopped out onto the roadway.

Xavier, I need you.
She pushed the words into the truck behind them, where she knew Xavier was.

In a moment he was by her side.

"Ready to have a little fun?" He flipped open both palms to reveal dancing balls of fire.

"Oh yes, but this time I'd like to try not to kill anyone. Let's just ruin their day."

They walked to the front of the truck together, hand in hand.

Xavier's energy raced through her. Her veins felt like they were on fire, channeling the heat of the flames he carried in his hands.

"Put your hands in the air where we can see them!" a police officer shouted from the other side of the road on a megaphone.

"God, I am so sick of those megaphones." Paivi raised a hand in the air and flicked her wrist. The megaphone flew across the roadway and into her hands. She pressed the button. "We aren't going to hurt you. We're just looking to pass through town. We won't touch anything and we'll be out as soon as you'll let us through."

There was a commotion on the other side of the road as they scrambled to locate another megaphone.

"I'm afraid we can't let you do that." Another officer's voice rang across the distance.

Paivi pressed the button again. "Look, we're not trying to kill anyone here. We're just trying to get through."  

"We can't let you do that. Put your hands in the air or we'll be forced to fire." The voice on the megaphone shook.

Paivi assessed the convoy. She'd only need a small shield this time to protect those in the line of fire. She sucked in a deep breath and in her mind projected a shield that covered the distance they needed. Xavier's energy was more than enough to help her charge it up. She was still high on the energy that had run through her from the former EOS prisoners earlier. She chucked the megaphone to the ground.

The police let off a volley of shots. As Paivi expected, the shield held. All the bullets slowed and fell to the ground. The police officers stared at each other, baffled.

"Fire," Paivi said to Xavier.

He opened his hand to her, exposing the open flame in his palm. She willed a portion of it to jump into her own palm. Holding the shield around them, she stepped forward, pulling Xavier with her.

Paivi ignored the shouts of the police officers and the crack of additional shots fired in their direction. She had one thing on her mind: containing the police so they could be on their way. She eyed the small flame dancing in her hand.

She had done this before, used fire to shield herself, Master Song, and their friends as they fled the Chinese military in Tibet. She transferred the flame to her fingertip.

"Go," Paivi whispered to the flame. It jumped from her fingertip onto the ground in front of them. She envisioned it racing around the group of police cars in the lanes around them. Not close enough to hurt them, but just keep them where they were for a while.

She dropped Xavier’s right hand and lifted her left hand. The flames rose high enough that jumping over them was not an option. The police officers raced back to their vehicles to take cover from the heat. The circle joined at the back of the group. It was complete. She lifted both hands to the sky. She felt Xavier place a hand on her shoulder. The flames shot skyward, trapping the police officers. Thick smoke rose into the air, spiraling higher and higher.

Paivi turned to face their other obstacle. Five police cars still blocked the highway ahead. Five police officers shielded themselves behind their car doors. Ignoring their terrified looks, she placed her palms together and moved them apart, focusing the energy in the direction of the cars. It slid out of her fingertips and crackled as it whipped through the air. The cars moved on their own and slid toward the guardrails on either side of the highway. The tires squealed as they were dragged across the pavement.

The police officers dove over the center median in an effort to escape the sliding cars. After they were safely out of the way, she pushed the cars harder. The crunch of plastic and metal rang out around them as the police cars smashed into the rails, completely demolished.

The remaining police officers peered over the cement median. Paivi waved a hand in their direction and they froze, eyes wide, mouths hanging open. They wouldn't cause her any more trouble today.

The roadway was now clear, but they had to move quickly. She pulled Xavier behind her and climbed into the truck bed with some of the other escapees. Paivi took a place at the front of the bed and stood in front of the cab. She pounded on the roof and waved to the convoy behind them.

"Let's go," she shouted.