Superpowers (18 page)

TUESDAY

Charlie knocked and concentrated on not picking up anything from the other side of the door while he waited. The temptation was always there, and he had succumbed to it a couple of times. But it was one thing to sift through the minds of strangers, and another to violate his friends. "Come in," said Mary Beth.

She was sitting on her bed. She was so small—somehow the costume made her seem bigger, made it seem less unbelievable that a woman her size could lift two tons without strain. Now the books strewn on the bed and the floor seemed more solid than she.

"Reading?" Charlie asked.

"Not really," she said. "What did you find out about Marcus?"

It sounded abrupt to her ears as well—he felt the ripple of regret she sent out. But she said nothing more.

"He knows," Charlie said. "He followed you last week after we busted up that chop shop. He took the pictures Harriet saw and a couple of others."

"God. What's he going to do?"

"He'll publish the photos unless you let him interview you."

Mary Beth laughed. "I'm so stupid. I knew he was suspicious, ever since that day at the SERF. But I kind of thought he was hitting on me, too."

"He was, a little." He didn't see the point in telling her what he'd found out about Marcus and Harriet. Harriet must have her reasons for keeping it secret.

"But I thought that was his whole point. I thought he was trying to blackmail me into dating him. And I thought— Well, I guess you know what I thought."

Charlie kicked at the floor. "I didn't. . . I'm trying not to do that too much. What you think is your business."

"How can that be true?" she asked. "I mean, I'm not trying to accuse you. But how can you not be poking around in everyone's heads? Don't you want to know?"

"Know what?"

"Sit down," she said, and patted the bed next to her. When he did she shifted closer, just a half inch or so. Charlie smelled her shampoo and some land of fruity body wash. Peach, he thought.

She turned to face him. "What's he going to ask me?"

"I don't think he knows yet. He thinks we're in danger. He thinks the government will see us as a threat, sooner or later, and try to arrest us."

"Why would the government think we're a threat?"

"Because we're free agents. He thinks they'll want us to work for them, and he thinks that's a bad idea. He thinks the government is afraid of losing control. Either he's paranoid or I'm naive. It's hard to say."

"Charlie?" Mary Beth's voice was soft. It was hard to imagine her carrying a bus out of a lake, as she'd done last week. "What's it like? Knowing what people are thinking, getting into their heads. What's it feel like?"

Charlie thought about Chuck and Charles, about swimming through his own subconscious. He wasn't going to tell her about any of that.

"I could ask you the same thing. What it feels like to be more powerful than a locomotive."

"I asked you first."

"It's hard to describe," he said. "It's like being in a car, in the driver's seat, but not having any control. You see the road signs, and the other cars, and dogs running into the street, but you can't make the car obey the road signs or stop it from hitting the dogs or the other cars. The car speeds up when you want it to slow down and makes a U-turn when you want it to keep going straight, and all you can do is watch."

"So everyone else's life is out of control?"

"I'm not saying that. A lot of things I do might not make sense to other people. It's just—emotions play hell with logic. I never really understood how true it was. I see people drive away people they really care about, and get involved with people that are no good for them at all."

"Why do people do that?"

"I don't know. I think it has to do with being afraid. People are afraid almost all the time. I think maybe if we weren't afraid, we wouldn't do anything at all."

Mary Beth pulled her legs onto the bed and turned toward him. "Do you know what I'm afraid of?"

Charlie's heart was pounding.

"Tell me right now if you want to leave," she said.

Charlie couldn't look at her. If he looked at her, there would be no more talking.

"I think what turns me on is that you already know what I'm thinking," Mary Beth said. "It's like it's all out in the open. Of course, it's not. I have no idea what
you're
thinking. And you won't even look at me."

"I want to," Charlie said. "But not yet."

"Then tell me what you're thinking," Mary Beth said.

Charlie looked at a poster of the Dixie Chicks on the wall. "I have this fantasy," he said. "I have ever since I met you."

He heard her close her mouth and swallow. "Go on."

Charlie closed his eyes. "It's a hot day, early in fall semester. I'm walking across Library Mall, heading home for lunch, when it starts to rain hard. I let the rain soak me—it's a warm rain, but it's cooler than the day. I stand out in the open until I feel the water trickling between my back and my backpack, and then I duck beneath the covered walk in front of Memorial Library.

"I'm standing there wondering if I've ruined my shoes when you come running out of the rain. Your hair is plastered to your head, and you're laughing. You see me and you stop laughing, but you're still smiling. There's no one else around.

"You put up a hand to wipe the hair from my eyes, and I put a hand to your face. Your skin is warm and slick with rain. You lower your head like you're going to draw away, but instead you kiss my palm. Then you run out into the rain again, smiling back at me over your shoulder, daring me to chase you.

"I chase you. The rain is not as hard now, but the sidewalks are carpeted with water, and the puddles kick up after your feet, fat warm drops splashing over my pants.

"At a stoplight I stand behind you, both of us breathing hard. I put out a hand toward your arm, but I don't touch you. I hold my hand close to your skin and feel your heat. I see the outlines of your bra through your T-shirt. I feel my blood pumping.

"We race to the house. My hands open and close on the rain and the warm air. I imagine they are on you, undressing you, squeezing you, opening you. I'm out of breath. My calves burn. I keep running.

"On the porch I catch you and we kiss. I taste the rain and your sweat and my tongue licks the water from your neck. We gasp for breath, still panting from the run. My hands wring water from the seat of your jeans, and you reach yours between my legs.

"You push me away long enough to unlock the door, and we stumble inside, hands fumbling at each other and at soaked-through shoes. I follow you into your bedroom—here—and you push me against the closed door, shoving your tongue in my mouth. Our clothes are wet, and they stick. I peel your shirt off, and you rip mine. Your skin is smooth and hot and I want to taste it all.

"On the bed I'm still wearing my socks, and your jeans are down around your ankles. It happens fast. We're both excited, and when it's over we're still out of breath from the run."

Mary Beth's voice was hoarse. "What happens next?"

Chariie looked at her. "The second time we take it slow, in the dark."

She raised her hands, then put them back down on the bed. "I'm afraid of hurting you," she said.

Charlie kissed her instead of answering. Her lips were soft and her skin was soft and he was very hard.

"Is this one of those things that wouldn't make sense to other people?" she asked when their lips parted.

"Probably," Charlie said and rose to shut the door.

MONDAY

What They're Not Telling You

Volume 2, Issue 31

Green Days: The WTNTY Interview

It is not usual for this paper to give precedence to local events, but for this week's issue we found ourselves on top of a big story. Our out-of-state readers may not have heard of the Madison All-Stars and their vigilante activities, but even if you have heard of them the mainstream media is not telling you the whole story.

It is not a good summer to be a criminal in Madison. One police official estimated that the All-Stars may have foiled as many as two hundred crimes, ranging from purse snatching to murder. They appear to have foreknowledge of these crimes, as they often ambush criminals in the act. In addition to their visible exploits, they are believed to be connected with the reams of anonymous tips that have been arriving at police headquarters for six weeks. These tips come in the form of detailed descriptions of unsolved crimes. The same police official tells WTNTY that the department expects to clear over a hundred unsolved cases based on information received so far.

The All-Stars themselves could hardly be more mysterious. They wear tight-fitting, solid-color costumes with white stars on their chests, which identifying mark sparked their nickname. Red Star appears to be male but rarely stands still long enough for anyone to be certain; he is apparently capable of moving so quickly that he cannot be seen. Blue Star is a young woman who flies gracefully without any visible means of support. Green Star is also a young woman, gifted with unbelievable strength and apparently impervious to pain or injury.

There are rumors of other All-Stars, most notably of a male Yellow Star. Other rumored teammates run the rainbow from Purple to Gray to Fuchsia. But Red, Blue, and Green Stars appear to be the core of the team, and this week we have an exclusive interview with Green Star.

WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU:
How strong are you?

GREEN STAR:
I don't know, exactly. I've lifted a bus—that was probably twelve or fifteen tons. It was pretty heavy. I don't know that I could lift much more than that.

WTNTY:
Fifteen tons? That's a lot.

          GS:
Yes. It was hard work. Smaller things, like pickup trucks, they're not very difficult.

WTNTY:
What's your mission statement, as a group?

         GS:
We don't have one. I guess it would be to help people, any way we can.

WTNTY:
Does that bring you into conflict with the law?

         GS:
You mean the police?

WTNTY:
I mean the law. The law doesn't always help people. Sometimes it puts them in jail.

         GS:
Criminals, yes. We work with the police in that respect, although technically what we do is against the law.

WTNTY:
You mean vigilantism.

         GS:
Yes.

WTNTY:
How do you reconcile breaking the law in order to put criminals in jail? Isn't that the sort of thing that we get up in arms about when the police do it?

         GS:
Which question do you want me to answer?

WTNTY:
Take your pick.

         GS:
I suppose it's a question of faith. We believe we're doing the right thing. We cross a line, but we believe it's for the greater good. I think most people in Madison would probably agree.

WTNTY:
What you're saying, really, is that the law doesn't apply to you.

         GS:
I wouldn't say that. I would say that the law didn't anticipate us. We can do things no one else can do, and we decided, once we realized what was happening, that we wanted to do something positive.

WTNTY:
You wanted to try to help.

         GS:
Of course.

WTNTY:
What if you make a mistake, and someone gets hurt?

         GS:
We try not to let that happen.

WTNTY:
Of course, but that's not what I asked. Say that with your incredible strength you shatter someone's rib cage or break their neck. Say that you kill someone.

         GS:
I wouldn't do that.

WTNTY:
I'm not saying you would do it on purpose. I'm saying that your strength is far beyond that of us mere mortals. If some foolish person decides to try and fight you, who's to say you won't accidentally kill him?

         GS:
I think you're trying to make people afraid of us. Is that the purpose of this interview?

WTNTY:
The purpose of this interview is to ask you some hard questions. Would you like to answer?

         GS:
I don't know what's going to happen. I've handled myself well, I think, and I'm very careful. But there's always a possibility of something going wrong.

WTNTY:
What would you do if you killed someone like that? Would the law apply to you then? Would you turn yourself in to the police, or would they take you by force? Do bullets even hurt you?

         GS:
I've only been shot at once. I'm not sure if the bullet actually hit me.
WTNTY:
You haven't answered the rest of my questions.

         GS:
I think I'm ready for this interview to be over.

WTNTY:
I have more questions.

         GS:
There may be contradictions in what we're doing, but I think that people understand that we're the good guys. I think they trust us.

WTNTY:
But isn't that why we have laws? Because we can't trust people? If we could just take everyone's word for it, we wouldn't need insurance or police or locks on our doors. What you're really saying is that because you're stronger than us, you don't have to live by the same rules.

         GS:
That's not true.

WTNTY:
It's true that you're stronger than us. And it's true that you don't live by the same rules. Are you saying that one has nothing to do with the other?

         GS:
It goes back to the unanticipated. I didn't expect this to happen to me. None of us did. We have the choice of sitting back and letting bad things happen, things that we could prevent. We choose not to. It's not our fault that the rules don't work for us.

WTNTY:
So you want the world to adjust to you?

         GS:
I think it has to. We're here. We're not going away.

WTNTY:
What do you think has to change?

         GS:
I'm not qualified to answer that.

WTNTY:
I don't see how anyone could be more qualified.

         GS:
If I tried to make rules for myself, I would be what you're trying to make us out to be. I'm just saying that something has to change. Something already
has
changed. I don't see how we can be the only ones.

WTNTY:
Perhaps you're not. How did you acquire your power?

         GS:
I don't know how it happened. I just woke up one morning and I was stronger. I can't explain it.

WTNTY:
Was it the same for your teammates?

         GS:
I think so. You'd have to ask them.

WTNTY:
How many are there of you?

         GS:
How many do you think there are?

WTNTY:
So there are more than three?

         GS:
I'm not here to play games.

WTNTY:
All right. So there are at least three of you, and none of you knows how you acquired these powers. Have any of you made an effort to find out?

         GS:
I'm not sure how we would go about doing that. I'm not sure what it would accomplish, either. The powers are a fact of life for us now.

WTNTY:
Don't you owe it to those around you to understand where your strength comes from? You can't even quantify it—you don't know your limits. Don't you think that's dangerous?

         GS:
I know my limits pretty well by now. We've covered this. I think we should move on to a new question.

WTNTY:
Will you reveal your identity to the public?

         GS:
No. I'm not prepared for that. None of us are.

WTNTY:
Do you mean the other All-Stars?

         GS:
Yes.

WTNTY:
Are you afraid of something?

         GS:
I'm afraid of losing my privacy. I'm afraid that the public and the press might not give me room to breathe.

WTNTY:
Not to mention the police.

         GS:
Yes, the police as well. We don't know what the official reaction might be if we revealed ourselves. For now, we've decided that it's in our best interests to keep our identities a secret.

WTNTY:
Are you concerned about other law enforcement agencies, or the military? Some of them may already be watching you.

         GS:
That's true. We have thought of things like that, although I don't know what sort of interest we can realistically expect from them. This has never happened before, to my knowledge.

WTNTY:
Perhaps that's because it's been hushed up.

         GS:
Perhaps. It might be naive of me, but I prefer to think the best of our government. I think their intentions are good.

WTNTY:
Always?

         GS:
Well, yes. I don't think anyone sets out to do the wrong thing. I just think that sometimes a situation gets out of hand.

WTNTY:
But doesn't the fact that you could potentially be one of those situations make you nervous? Say that the president decides that you need to be brought in for an interview. Maybe all he wants is to find out more about your group, maybe give you an award. But the NSA or the FBI or whichever organization gets the assignment starts working up threat analyses and has to figure out how to handle you if you're not cooperative, and before long Madison is crawling with secret agents poking into everyone's lives, and when they do find you they may bring heavy weaponry, and one wrong word from you or one sweaty finger on the trigger of some high-powered gun and you've got a mess on your hands.

         GS:
Is there a question in that, or are you just displaying your paranoia?

WTNTY:
The question is, don't you see a potential for disaster? How will you handle it if something like that happens?

         GS:
There are a lot of things that
could
happen. That was true before I had this power. It's one thing to be prepared. It's another to let the fear of what
could
happen paralyze you.

WTNTY:
Are you prepared?

         GS:
As prepared as one can be without knowing what one is preparing for.

WTNTY:
Thank you for speaking with us.