Ultimate Warriors (12 page)

     
It would
be all too easy for Julien to replace Firebrand with an older operative who
showed more control, but Julien prided himself in having the best of the best
in his unit. So, when Julien requested Firebrand after only a year of police
service, the old man signed the order without question that the young man, only
a little more than a year younger than Julien, belonged in the units where the
real challenges existed.

     
"It
was the same five," Julien informed them, removing his hand from the
mirror.

     
Sky
Master shook his head slowly. "Why would they continue to come here? Is
there a traitor they are meeting?"

     
"No.
There is no sign of any Calante here or at any of the sites.
Or
any human.
Whatever is drawing them into the city is internal to their
unit."

     
Sky
Master stared at the deep green of the Suraden sunset through the streaked
window. "Can you tell us more about the two new powers with them?" he
asked quietly.

     
Julien
ran his fingertips over the mirror, drinking in the last fibers of Angel’s
presence, taking them into his mind and body. He had identified Night Warrior,
Sky Child, and Moon Current immediately, but Angel and her relative had evaded
his usual tactician success rate for six encounters. It was unheard of, and it
was a source of embarrassment for the whole unit.

     
"Starseeker,"
he breathed. "One of them is named Starseeker. The two are related.
Siblings, I believe."

     
"Believe?"
Water Demon rasped in her usual strained tones. "That is not a term you
use often."

     
Julien took
in her purple-clad body, covered in synth-cloth, as everyone in his unit was
save Julien himself. Water Demon’s cover was the purple of the deepest sea
beds. Sky Master wore green the color of the sunset sky. Firebrand wore the
blue of the powerful flames he controlled.

     
Their
over-covers were designed for comfort and safety. Water Demon’s suit was
outfitted to withstand deep-sea pressures and to safeguard her from radical
changes in pressure. In addition, it circulated water over her gill slits and
aerated the water for her when she was operating on land. Firebrand’s suit
cooled his body, keeping his tissues from combusting when he used his powers.

     
Sky
Master’s suit was most impressive. The suit pressurized automatically when he
reached altitudes that required it. At that point, the retractable faceplate
would extend and provide him with oxygen to sustain him in flight. The suit
monitored his physiological state and was designed to notify med-flight if he
suffered suit failure. Unlike Water Demon, a failure in Sky Master’s suit could
be fatal within minutes. The trainers learned long ago that the ability to do
something did not always come with the physical design to withstand the rigors
of the act.

     
Julien
had no synth-cloth cover. The material interfered with his powers. The trainers
joked that a natural power like his required a natural environment. His cover
was thick cotton fleece covered with a wool jacket that hid his lessening
erection from his unit. His shoes were leather with cotton laces, and his suit
fastened with a simple metal zipper.

     
He could
wear no specialized protection, not even the Kevlar silk built into all the
other operative’s covers. Julien’s team was his protection. They were also his
keepers. Julien couldn’t carry electronic surveillance gear as most operatives
did. Even his team couldn’t use comm units in an area he had to work. The comm
circuits wrecked havoc with his powers, just as they had with his father.

     
"Believe?"
Sky Master reminded him.

     
Julien
nodded, an idea taking shape. He’d never lied to his team before, but he had to
learn what Angel and her unit wanted in the city, what they wanted with him.
"Starseeker’s essence is much like my own." It was. Maybe that was
why she was naked when she came to him. "It seems — your presence disrupts
the unstable strands left behind."

     
Sky
Master looked at him uncomfortably. "What are you suggesting? You want us
to leave you here?
Alone?
The old man would have a
fit."

     
That
much was true. Julien immersed himself in the strands to the exclusion of all
else when he was on a track. His unit was his protection. The old man was sure
to balk at what Julien was suggesting.

     
"No.
The damage is already done here. The next time we are called out, I want you to
form a containment ring. I’ll take in an emergency beacon, but I have to go in
alone." Yes, the emergency beacon wouldn’t send out a destructive
signature unless he hit the button, but would Julien see danger coming before
it was too late to push that button? That would be what the old man would
consider.

     
"Are
you crazy?" Firebrand exploded. "You will be completely unprotected
at your most vulnerable moments."

     
"The
old man will never allow it," Sky Master decided.

     
Julien
sighed. "He will. If he wants to get more information about Starseeker, he
will allow it." He pushed away an unwelcome thought. Despite what the old
man wanted, Julien wanted to know more about Angel and not in any way the old
man would appreciate.

* * * *

     
The old
man’s true name was Adrien Carter. Julien was one of the few who knew that,
perhaps the only living person who did. Of course, Julien was the only one
beside the trustees who knew everyone’s true name at the Center City Academy.
All it took was a touch on their person while they weren’t clothed in
synth-cloth, and he knew. Over the years, it became a game to learn them all.

     
Adrien
regarded Julien over his steepled fingers, probing uselessly at the shield
Julien learned to project when he was nine. "We cannot risk you,"
Adrien decided. "Permission denied."

     
Julien
shrugged, locking down control on his desperation.
"As
you wish.
When will my unit be reassigned?" he asked calmly.

     
Adrien
furrowed his brow. "Reassigned? Why would you be reassigned?"

     
"You
teach us to always play to our strengths. If I cannot progress, I would better
serve elsewhere."

     
"And
you feel you cannot progress with your unit close to the source strands?"

     
"What
I am sensing indicates that," he lied smoothly. In truth, Julien wasn’t
sure how Angel controlled the information she left behind in the strands or how
she connected to him when he was at the source. That uncertainty made him all
the more determined to learn how she did it.

     
Adrien
sent him a searching look. Julien met his eyes evenly, confident of his safety.
No one else could lie to the old man. Only the fact that Julien was so useful
saved him from some sort of artificial hobbling to place him solidly under
Adrien’s control.

     
It was a
good thing the old man couldn’t read Julien’s mind. If Adrien knew he planned
to connect to a Grellan, Julien would be shackled in a synth-cloth room — or
worse. If Adrien knew what Julien hoped happen when he connected to Starseeker,
‘or worse’ was the best he could hope for.

     
"Permission—"
Adrien scowled.

     
Julien
arched an eyebrow at the old man’s attempt to unbalance him. It was amusing
that Adrien still tried. Julien willed his muscles loose. Showing tension would
alert Adrien that there was a weakness to be exploited.

     
"Permission
granted," Adrien growled.

     
Julien
nodded once. He swallowed a sigh of relief — or perhaps a laugh of triumph.
"One tower," he decided.

     
The old
man sighed. "One tower containment zone," he agreed grudgingly,
"and you carry a beacon."

     
Julien
smiled as he closed the door to the living quarters behind him. Adrien sought
to test him, but it was about to backfire in the old man’s
face
.
He should know better than to play head games with Julien by now.

     
The
scent filled his lungs, the musk and jasmine he associated with Angel. The
strands crossed over each other, telling the tale of the Grellan’s time in this
place. They had only stayed a day before using power that would alert the
Calante to their presence. They hadn’t even spent the night this time.

     
All of
them left imprints in the main room. "Strange," he mused. Angel’s
sibling was easier to read now. Had they planned that or had Julien
inadvertently told the truth about the interference of his unit? It was a boy,
a child too young to have ended academy training, maybe the age of a seventh or
eighth-year cadet.

     
"Starfire,"
he whispered with a wide smile. The boy’s name was — Anthony. His power was the
ability to see living conditions on far-off star systems. That and— Julien
growled as he lost the weave of that strand. It was almost as if they knew how
to hide things from him. At any rate, Julien knew about one of Starfire’s abilities.
It was akin to astral projection, which explained his name, and it was a power
that the Calante would prize highly.

     
Julien
moved around the room slowly, touching one thing after another. They ate two
meals here, food they carried in with them. Anthony had a telescope. He called
Night Warrior and Moon Current ‘uncle’ and ‘aunt.’ He called Star Child—

     
"Names,"
he mused in awe. They all knew each other’s names. Now Julien did, too. Night
Warrior was Paul Andrews, and Moon Current was his wife, Debra. Sky Child was
Sylvia Bryant. Angel and Anthony’s family name was Taylor.

     
Julien
sobered. It was a strange way to live. The ancient texts all agreed that only
an operative’s closest confidants were permitted to know his or her true name.
The Calante was founded on those ideals, brought with them from Earth millennia
ago.

     
He
furrowed his brow. All of their essences were in the main room, but Angel’s
went further. Julien followed the strands deeper into the dwelling, drinking in
the feeling of Angel’s soul. He shivered in anticipation as he pushed the door
to the bedroom wide.

     
Julien
closed his eyes and let Angel’s strand lead him on, immersing himself fully now
that he found the source strands that he needed to reach her. He laughed aloud
as his knees connected with the bed. "I like the way you think,
Angel."

     
Her
laugh sent shivers down his spine. Julien opened his eyes, still deeply
immersed in the connection. Angel lay on the bed, her auburn curls tossed over
the sky green pillows, her arms laid under her full breasts, and her legs
crossed at the ankles. Her deep blue eyes twinkled.

     
"Do
you ever dress?" he asked.

     
"When
I know you will come to me? What a waste of time," she teased.

     
Julien
sank to the bed beside her, tracing a nipple slowly. The silk of her breast and
pebbled softness of her nipple were flawless. Angel’s smile disappeared, and a
look of stark hunger took its place. Julien wondered how real this connection
could become. He’d wondered that since she’d teased him back at Tower 1022.

     
Angel
wrapped an arm behind his head and pulled his mouth to hers. Her lips parted,
and Julien kissed her, ravenous for the connection he’d dreamed of. Every
sensation was perfect; the heat, the taste of juice and toast in her mouth, the
texture of her lips and tongue under his.

     
Julien
dragged his mouth away, touching her swollen lips with shaking fingers. "I
must be insane." For some reason, insanity sounded appealing if Angel was
part of the package.

     
She
smiled. "I’ve wanted to do that for months. I am real, Soulchaser."

     
He
grimaced. Julien didn’t want to be Soulchaser with Angel. Soulchaser was
Calante. It was Soulchaser’s duty to bring her to justice under the Grellan Act
of 577. But, no one used his true name. No one had since his mother turned him
over to the Academy for training at eight. According to the law, no one could
use it — unless he offered it, but Angel was Grellan, and no Calante would
offer a Grellan that power over him.

     
No one
called him Julien. Even the old man and the three trustees called him
Soulchaser. Those four held the terrifying power of knowing his true name, but
they never used it for fear of punishment under the law. The trainers at the
Academy were never trusted enough to know Julien’s true name. Even his unit
didn’t know it.