Ex-Communication, Peter Clines [ebook reader online free txt] 📗

“Is this what St. George was talking about? You think there’s someone else talking through me or something?”

“More or less,” Freedom said. He paused for a moment and studied the girl’s face again. The twinge grew to a small knot. “Do you remember what happened after you landed?”

She nodded. “Some of Dad’s soldiers … your soldiers, I guess … picked us up at the airport. There were exes there. They shot most of them, and the noise really freaked Mom out. One of the guards was bit, but I couldn’t tell how bad it was and nobody wanted to say. Then they got us into a big armored jeep-thing and we headed for the base.”

“It’s called a Guardian,” said Freedom.

“Okay, cool. So, we were driving along. I remember we could see the base up ahead. Mom was relieved and I was excited to see Dad and his new lab. And then …”

“Yes?”

“Then the guy driving the jee—the Guardian—shut it off. He turned the key and said the gas tank was empty, even though the gauge said it had half a tank. The woman in charge, Sergeant Washington, she said it was empty, too. I thought it was some kind of joke, just to see if they could make us scream or something. Then there were some explosions, and the exes were trying to get into the car. Their teeth were super loud. And all the soldiers kept saying there wasn’t any gas, and they were serious. They really thought it was empty. So they were calling for help and me and Mom were freaking out and begging them to start the car back up and then one of the soldiers started freaking out and …”

She stared past Freedom to St. George. Her hands crawled toward each other and knotted together.

The memories crawled through Freedom’s mind. The team had been brainwashed by Agent Smith and his mind-control powers. They’d looked at the gauge, seen empty, and believed it. One of the soldiers, Adams, decided it was better to try running through hundreds of exes to reach the gate. He’d dragged Madelyn with him and they’d both been torn apart right in front of Dr. Sorensen. The whole team had died.

He’d never been sure why Smith had done it. Maybe it had been to punish the doctor or keep him in line. Or maybe Smith had done it just because he could.

Freedom brushed the thoughts away. He took a slow breath to help cover the pause. “And then?” he prompted.

“I don’t remember,” she said. Her fingers shifted in their knot. “I think that’s when I died.”

“Do you have any idea how this happened to you? Why you came back with your mind intact?”

She shook her head. “Nope.”

Freedom set his hands on the table. They looked massive across from hers. “Do you know what your mother’s name was?”

“Eva.”

“Do you know what year—”

“Wait,” said Madelyn. Her eyes got huge. “What do you mean, was?”

Freedom’s chair creaked again. The knot by his heart caught fire. He glanced over at St. George, then studied the tabletop for a moment. His voice dropped a few decibels, but it still rumbled in his huge chest. “I regret to inform you, ma’am,” he said, “but your mother died with you in the Guardian attack.”

The knot of fingers unraveled and she wrapped her arms around herself. “Are you sure?”

“Yes,” he said. “I was there. We tried—I tried to stop them, to save both of you and my soldiers. I … I’m very sorry for your loss.”

A lone tear raced across her cheek. Her chest heaved. With her eyes closed, she almost looked alive. After a few moments she wiped her face with her arm and opened her chalk eyes to look at him. “Does Dad know?”

Freedom paused again, then nodded. “He did. I’m afraid he died last summer, while we were evacuating Project Krypton.”

Madelyn shrank a little more in her chair.

“Your father loved you both very much,” said Freedom. “In all the years I knew him, I don’t think we had more than a dozen conversations where you didn’t come up. Losing the two of you was a huge blow to him.”

She sobbed for a few minutes, but there were no more tears. Freedom’s chair creaked again as he turned to look back at St. George and Stealth. The cloaked woman nodded once.

“I knew with all the stuff going on …” Madelyn stopped to blow her nose. “I knew they were probably gone, once I realized how long it had been. I just … I hoped.” She sniffed again and wiped her dry face with the back of her hand.

Freedom let her sit for another minute. “May I ask you a few more questions?”

“Sure,” she said. She sniffed hard and her voice got strong again. “I’ve got nowhere to be.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I just need to be sure.”

“I get it,” said Madelyn. “Ask away.”

“What was your sister’s name?”

“I don’t have a sister. Or a brother.”

“Do you remember the names of any of the other soldiers who picked you up at the airport?”

“I don’t, sorry. I just remember Sergeant Washington because I thought of the president, and then she said her name was Britney.”

He nodded. “So how’d you end up here? Why not Phoenix or Las Vegas or someplace closer to where you … closer to Krypton?”

“You can say where I died. I’ve gotten used to the idea.”

“Okay. So why here, ma’am?”

“And please stop calling me ma’am. You make it seem like I’m some ninety-year-old dowager or something.”

“I can make do with Madelyn,” he said. “So why here?”

“I saw fireworks.”

“What?”

She sighed. “Could I get my bag back?”

Stealth nodded to St. George. The hero stepped outside and a moment later he carried in the dusty duffel bag. It was unzipped and some clothes hung out of it. Madelyn pulled a battered book from one of the side pouches. She flipped through the pages, then handed the open book to Captain Freedom.

July 1st 4th, 2011

Dear Diary,

There were fireworks out to the west! West and south.

They must’ve been huge