Age of Power 1: Legacy (30 page)

I
said, “Yeah, Eisenhawk told me. Yasmine was in Dubai with terrorists. I didn’t
get much info beyond that. He also knows about—what is it? What’s wrong?”

Angela
looked at me in shock. I said, “Angela, relax, she was stopped. The U.S.
government grabbed her cohorts in Dubai. I think that’s how they found her
out.”

Not
speaking to me, Angela pulled out her cell phone and touched the speed dial.
After a moment, she muttered, “Come on, come on, Alan,
pick
up!”

I
said, “Angela, what is it?”

She
turned and looked at the phone, troubled. “He said he’d pick up if I called.
I’m just getting his voicemail. Come on, we have to get to Kular—now!”

“Wait!
What’s wrong?” I yelled as she started running.

She
turned at the corner to yell back at me, “It’s Yasmine! One of her insane ideas
was to show up to stop a terrorist attack somewhere in the U.S. That way,
everyone would see the Empowered as heroes! It’s how she was going to get into
the people’s hearts and minds! Then she kept talking about some insane return
of the gods or something! If she’s been talking to terrorists, then she’s
really planning on doing it!”

I
blinked said, “Angela, that’s insane…we have to get back to Dana and tell her—”

Golden
light burst outward from Angela as she disappeared in mid-step. I yelled,
“Angela! Damn it!”

I
was yelling at empty air.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

I took the steps into the hospital two at a time as I ran
through the front door. Ignoring the surprised looks from visitors and nurses
as I rushed through the lobby, I practically smashed my thumb on the call
button to the elevator when I got to it. But I didn't wait for the elevator to
arrive. Seeing the nearby stairwell, I headed up to the top floor where Kular’s
office was.

By the time I got near the floor, I realized that too many
minutes had passed since Angela teleported. No one had reappeared to tell me
everything was all right. As I ran up the stairs, I tried listening for
anything that might give me an idea of what was happening. For my efforts, all
I got was repetitive beeping, the dripping of IV bags, and people talking. I
heard nothing of Angela or Alan.

That worried me even more. I shook my head, exasperated with
myself. Had I been expecting a pitch battle or something? When I got to
the floor, the reception area was quiet, with only a gray-haired nurse sitting
at the station desk. She looked up at me, and a concerned expression crossed
her face.

She asked, “Can I help you, young man?”

I looked around, checking the signs for the three hallways. One
hall led to a doctors’ lounge, a second one led to other offices, elevators,
and maintenance rooms. And the shorter hall to my left led to three offices,
including Kular’s.

I pointed that way as I said, “Is Dr. Kular in? Something urgent
has come up, and I need to talk to her!”

Although my behavior made her hesitant, the nurse put through
the call. After a moment, she looked up and nodded to me. I ran down the hall
and almost smashed into her office door. My head felt fuzzy, and it was
starting to hurt. I thought that I had been running around too fast for my own
good. I took a deep breath and knocked. At her call for me to come in, I still
ended up flying into the room. Kular looked at me with surprise. “Vaughn? Are
you quite alright, young man?”

I started to say something. But I couldn’t, something was
messing with my head. But that wasn't
possible,
Yasmine wasn't around...was she? No, this was Kular. Whatever she could do, it
wasn't like Yasmine...damn...my head was so fuzzy. I stood there, wavering for
a moment.

“Please, Vaughn, have a seat. I was hoping to see you. I’ve
wanted to schedule a series of tests to make certain that what occurred with
Brand wouldn’t happen with you. Better to be safe about such things,” Kular said
as she came and guided me to the chair. I saw that her office was a small one,
with barely any furniture or personal effects to give it much personality. Dr.
Kular sat at an office desk that held a laptop and a few papers. In front of
the desk was a chair. On the light blue wall behind her, there was a plaque
with a medical degree from Yale.

Feeling like a brick had just hit me in the head, I was happy to
sit down. As I sat, I noticed a tea set with a steaming pot sitting on a small
table in one corner. There was something off about it. I noticed
that there was a cloth with a symbol on it that looked familiar in
some way that I couldn’t figure out
.

It wasn’t important
at the moment
.
Looking at Kular, I said, “Yeah, okay, has there been anyone to visit you in
the past hour? Particularly Angela Tursow—do you remember her from when she
kept trying to see me?”

She said nothing for a moment. The moment stretched out, and I
began feeling more uncomfortable. My head felt fuzzier by the second. Shaking
it, I did my best to focus my mind and wait for her to answer. Kular just kept
looking at me. Suddenly, something snapped in my head, and I saw a memory of
Angela in my mind’s eye. For a moment, things cleared up.

Kular looked startled. Her eyes unfocused for a moment and then
she said, “Ah, found you, did they? And they’ve told you what has been going
on. Excellent, perhaps it’s time to bring you into the fold.”

I started to get up, but found I couldn’t. But while my head was
spinning, I could still talk. “So it’s all true! Who the hell are you?”

She said, “Oh, yes, I am quite aware of the two you’re talking
about. And I’m aware of their efforts to warn you about myself and the
Empowered.”

My eyes widened slightly as the tone of her voice became cooler.
I realized that she was gazing at me with a look that bordered on that of the
look that a cat gives a rat.

Ice ran down my spine when she said, “They have been dealt with.
A pity Demon didn’t end our problem concerning you, however.”

“Who is Demon?” I asked. Kular smiled.

She said, “Demon is the name of the Empowered runner who tried
to have a discussion with you outside of Ryan Tech. He took the name because of
the pyrokinetic power he generates. He was originally just supposed to do a
little reconnaissance, but he got it in his head that he needed to deal with
you first.”

Kular made a wry face and continued, “He’s a little rough around
the edges, but I suppose, given how recently he developed his powers, that’s to
be expected. I do admit that he was a bit too eager using his powers in his run
through Riverlite. You’ll understand soon enough.”

I started to stand. Or I tried to, anyway. But, again, my head
was whirling. It felt like something was trying to get in my head…no, this was
Kular, not Yasmine. What could she do to me? Hell, how had
I not thought to ask about Yasmine? I slumped back in the chair.

Kular smile grew wider as she watched. In a smug voice, she
said, “The Empowered. That is what we call ourselves, Vaughn. It is what you
are. Really, I was wondering how long it would be before you
came
to understand what you had become. It took you more time than I would’ve
guessed. But the Tursow brother and sister…tell me, did they spin a cruel tale
about Yasmine? Is she the evil queen, while they are the good but put upon
victims?”

Adrenaline rushed, and with it, my head cleared. I narrowed my
eyes as my body tensed. This wasn’t going the way I thought it would! Hell, I’d
figured that she would go nuts denying any accusations, but
this?
 A
part of me had hoped that she was just some pawn of this mysterious Yasmine.
Wow, seriously, I have to stop being so naïve!

“So where is she?” I asked straight out, “Yasmine, I mean.”

Kular gave me a sad look as she walked around me to the table
with the teapot. She asked. “Are you sure I can’t interest you in some tea?”

I said, “Thanks, but no. I like my soda too much. Look, doctor,
maybe no one has told you, but this is the real world, not a comic
book or science fiction show. The cops and the Feds aren’t going to just sit
back or freeze when Yasmine pulls her stunts to play the great hero. It will
get out of control. Human and Empowered alike will die!”

Kular gave a slight chuckle at my words. She poured some tea
into a cup, put in a sugar cube and some creamer. She stirred it with one hand
and took a deep breath. With her other hand, she touched the symbol on the
cloth with great reverence.

I said, “Funny. You seem very caring. You’re a doctor, and the
way you just acted with that firefighter at the library made you seem very
compassionate. So how does that work with someone like Yasmine? Someone who,
from everything I’ve learned, is a bit of a crazy woman who wants to rule the
world.”

For a few seconds, she looked at the symbol in silence. Then she
said, “May I tell you a story, Vaughn? It’s a sad story, and one you may
appreciate, given recent times in your life—losing your friends as a prime
example—Alex to the pedestal of godhood, and Brand to the tragedy that
followed.”

My head was beginning to pulse with pain, and my thoughts were
mud. I just nodded. I had to push back whatever was wrong or this would not end
well. Things were so damn confusing!

Kular said, “It’s about a little girl in the UAE.
The United Arab Emirates.
Perhaps you have heard of the
place. Well, in the city of Dubai, Yasmine’s parents sold her at a very
young age. They did so, ironically, to allow them to continue living in their
rundown flat on the edge of the city. Think of it, a child
was
sold
for a month’s rent. How cheaply we value each other in this day and
age.”

I forced words out, saying, “That’s a sad thing. I thought
civilized people didn’t do things like buy or sell other human beings. Slavery
died here during the American Civil War…”

Picking up her cup, she came around the desk to look down at me,
a sad smile on her face. She said, “Such naiveté, it’s endearing in one so
young. I’m sorry, Vaughn, but America does not represent the world. Slavery is
a common thing in many countries—even in America, I might add. Yes, dear boy,
humans quite casually subjugate their fellow human beings without a thought.
People fight against it, of course, but away from the public eye, oh yes,
it happens all too often. There are even those who enjoy suffering such dark
delights, but that’s not important.
Yet.”

“Yasmine was sold into slavery—as what?” I said, getting us back
to the point. I felt a slight heat in my cheeks upon realizing just how stupid
I sounded. I had a suspicion, and I had seen people talking about child slavery
for years on the Internet. I wasn’t naïve—but stupid, well, maybe. I shook my
head. Something was pushing me to stop thinking about the danger I was in.
A distraction.

Kular nodded and said, “She became the orphan child of a
whorehouse in one of the harbor side warehouse districts of Dubai.”

I said, “Let me guess, she became telepathic on the Day, and
decided to take over the world so others would end up as slaves to her. You
know, so she can teach them some sort of lesson and show others what it was
like for her? Am I right? Is that why she went to—”

My head burst with bright white stars in my eyes. Pushing
through it, I said, “Is that why she went to Dubai—to recruit terrorists?”

Kular now sat on the corner of the desk next to me, drinking her
tea. The pressure in my head was making it harder to keep my thoughts focused.
I hadn’t even seen her move. She smiled down at me now. I shook my head,
pushing away the pain as much as I could.

Kular said, “Oh, my boy. You have no idea of the honor you are
so casually tossing aside. Yasmine does not seek to rule the world. She seeks
to stop the madness of humanity as it strides blithely down the path toward
self-destruction. She seeks to give humanity the same thing the Avatar did,
hope. That is why we believe him to be a truly holy figure in this new age
of…oh, let’s call it…power. Yes, the Age of Power.”

My eyes widened. I yelled, “You’re a cult! And who’s Yasmine,
your freaking version of Jim Jones?”

Suddenly, something connected in my brain. I turned to look back
at the tea set—or, rather, the cloth that the teapot was sitting on. The design
on it was a double crescent symbol with a starburst between.

“Oh, gods,” I muttered. I turned back to look at her, but I
remembered where I’d seen that symbol before. I would remember the final
flash until my dying day. I turned around and stared at Kular.

I whispered, “Avatar cult?”

Kular sighed. “Now, boy, ‘cult’ is such a dirty word these
days.”

I snarled. I said, “You seriously think of Alex as some sort of
God? You worship him?”

Kular’s eyes hardened. She said, “Not a god! He was an Avatar!
He was a messenger from the true power of the universe! Think on it, boy! He
rose at our time of greatest need! His power spread across the world and
brought forth an army of angels to strike out at all the oppression brought to
us by a faulty and evil creature! Humanity will see the return of its
guardians!

“The Orishai in Africa, the Children of Rodina in Russia, and
the 
Letze Reich
 in Germany were but the first to rise! The
takeover of Africa has already happened! Soon, the rest will follow! Especially
here in the United States. Oh yes, it will be so easy. And none shall be
abandoned, Vaughn! Join us!”

I flinched at that. If that wasn't a perversion of the
words ‘Don’t abandon each other,’ I didn't know what was.

I said, “Dr. Kular, you are a human being. 
Not a god.
 Don’t fall into this trap of thinking people
will just fall to their knees before you! I know what Yasmine is planning! It
won’t work!”

Kular smiled at me with a deep, sympathetic look, as though I
were a child who couldn’t understand what was really going on. Oh, I
understood, all right. But she didn’t seem to.

She said, “Really, Vaughn, it’s for the best. For nearly thirty
thousand years, human beings have been stumbling around, destroying the planet
with casual brutality. Seventy years ago, your country created and used a
dangerously powerful weapon—twice. This created decades of terror and war for
the next seventy years as other countries struggled to equalize with the U.S.
in a blind, terrible arms race. Humans have caused the atmosphere to warm up to
the point where whole continents
are constantly threatened
with drought. Storms rip apart entire cities worldwide! You can’t possibly
believe this to be a stable civilization!”