I agree Kaltor’s right and Auntie V would have never harmed me on purpose, and I have to assume he knows everything about the circumstances behind her death.

  “She told me you don’t have a Power, Calrik… but I’d have to be pretty thick to not notice your physical enhancements. Is that from her death?” he asks. “Is there anything I have to worry about?”

  I look around. We’re on a normal street outside the city and there’s no traffic or anyone else around. Just us and the EDF troopers. The telltale jets and whirring of Sentinels in the distance hits my enhanced hearing; my instinct is to run, but to where? They’ll be here in seconds. Kaltor doesn’t seem to mind. I can also sense the deadly intent from the EDF troopers, but I don’t think any of them are close to firing their weapons. They’re waiting for something. The Sentinels?

  “It’s a bit of a long story,” I tell Kaltor, feeling tense and on edge. “Short answer is yes I have a Power, and no I’m not infected.”

  Kaltor nods, making whatever decision he’s going to make as my eyes search the sky and then I see it - the metallic glint of Sentinels as they slice through the air. Some of the EDF troops we left in the transport leap out and start to surround us. Kaltor flicks his fingers in their direction and the entire transport plus all the EDF troops are blasted 50 meters away, at first streaking and then tumbling through the air. He makes a subtle wave of his hand again and the whole tangled mess of them freezes and then drops to the ground, motionless for an instant before the EDF troops are up again and darting back toward our position. They wisely hold their fire.

  Dirt and pavement are thrown up into the air as Sentinels land near us, their humanoid and non-humanoid metallic bodies bristling with weapons and extra limbs. Some of them tower over us and others skitter around like tarantulas.

  “Strike Leader Deane! You are relieved of custody of Calrik Corvin,” says one of the robots in its emotionless simulated voice. I’ve read and heard that their voices are meant to depict impartiality, but it’s always sounded more cruel than impartial to me.

  I’m so tense with a big group of Sentinels close around us that I’m too nervous to move; for a lot of my life the Sentinels have represented a danger I had no way to counter. Get on their wrong side and you find yourself captured or worse before you can do anything about it. If their creator wasn’t the most powerful person in the world, it would never be tolerated. As it is, only an alliance of some of the most powerful humans keeps him in check. Despite my new Powers, I’m not keen to take them on.

  Kaltor looks around at the Sentinels with much less concern than me. Another dozen fly toward us at high speed and they’ll be here in seconds. I feel like I need to say something, but Kaltor does the talking for us when he clenches one fist and holds his other hand up toward the incoming Sentinels. Without any other action, the Sentinels surrounding us crumple into balls of metal and the ones in the sky halt all their momentum as Kaltor absorbs their kinetic energy, and they drop straight down to the ground.

  “Uncalled for,” says a woman’s voice behind me. I’ve been so focused on the Sentinels that I didn’t even notice anyone else was here. Or… maybe they weren’t. I spin around and see a tall, thin woman in her early 40s with braided hair wearing matte-black field armor under a lightweight exoskeleton. Subdued rank markings and rippling filaments give me a lot of information about her straight away.

  “General Voss,” says Kaltor in acknowledgment. From what I understand, someone like Kaltor doesn’t report to her or fall under her authority, exactly - but she could definitely make his life difficult and probably has the authority to do whatever she wants with us, without consequence. “This isn’t the typical situation that demands your esteemed attention?”

  I pull her Status and I’m surprised with how much I can see compared to Kaltor.

  Seraphine “Sera” Voss (Commander / Harmonic Controller)

  Level: 325

  Power: Harmonic Resonance (Tier 3 Epic), Foresight (Tier 3 Major)

  Conditions: Eye In The Sky, Steelskin, Speed Demon, Neural Net, more…

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  “I decided to come myself when I heard you were involved, since we both know I’m not a threat to you, but I can speak on behalf of the EDF,” she says. Like Kaltor, she has a backbone of steel and overflowing confidence. The air practically crackles with the two titans facing off, but the way she speaks makes me think she’s no threat to Kaltor because he could defeat her in combat, rather than because of relationship or situational factors.

  “I’m taking him with me, General. We’ll do all the standard tests and report back if there are any concerns. I have the equipment and the authority for it.”

  “What if I say no?” she asks. It’s firm, but probing.

  “Then we’re going to have a problem. This was a direct ask from Vitalis, and you know how much I owe her. And Erik and Val. I’ve cleared it right to the top.”

  I glance over at Kaltor at the mention of my parents. I didn’t expect them to be part of this. I want to ask him what he means, but it’s not the time. The EDF troops have pulled back from us and nobody takes a shot or tries to use a Power, that I can tell. But four spaceships are now hovering over us and for all I know, something is targeting us from orbit.

  “This isn’t going to work, Captain,” she says.

  “You’re wrong, General,” says Kaltor flatly. Total respect, total confidence. His massive frame shows no sign of tension, but every sign of deadly intent. The aura around him makes my lizard brain, something deep inside me, want to get away. I feel like I need to take off running, even though I know that wouldn’t accomplish anything.

  There’s no mistaking the tightness around the General’s eyes. Before she can say anything else a large, sleek black ship the size of a superyacht with powerful looking engines and a lot of weaponry bristling from it at all angles darts down from nowhere and stops dead, right behind me and Kaltor. It hovers a foot off the ground and thrums with deadly power as air, debris, and dust swirl around us. I can see from the markings on the side it’s an ESF vessel called Horizon.

  It’s fair to say the Horizon changes the mood substantially.

  The EDF ships above us reposition themselves and descend rapidly, then stop when General Voss says something in the direction of her left shoulder that I don’t catch even with my enhanced Perception, with all the chaos around. No weapons have been fired and I wonder what would happen to me if I got hit with a beam cannon with my new Constitution. Something tells me I wouldn’t like it. Despite my gratitude that Kaltor has stepped in, this encounter is completely beyond my ability to influence or control and that’s starting to really piss me off.

  “I’d take a test,” I say to Kaltor, not loud enough to be heard from far away with a huge ship humming right behind us.

  General Voss strides toward us as Kaltor shakes his head.

  “No, kid. Get in the Horizon.”

  A ramp opens up with a hiss from the underbelly of the ship behind us and descends rapidly. I don’t move. I’m not sure why.

  “Are you sure, Kaltor?” asks General Voss when she’s in range to be heard. From somewhere to my left a powerful energy beam slices through the air and strikes Kaltor in the side of his face, enveloping his head. I’ve already instinctively dived away and rolled, my Perception warning me and my Agility reacting without me thinking, then I look up to see Kaltor standing, unharmed. He looks amused more than anything, but the General is not amused and is watching me very, very closely.

  “HOLD FIRE!” she yells at the top of her lungs as she spins around on her heel. The sound vibrates through the air, almost tangible in a physical way, all around us and waves visibly ripple through the air in all directions other than ours. The filaments on her exoskeleton flare as she yells and then start to gradually drain of color and intensity.

  I resume my position near Kaltor as General Voss finishes closing the distance between us with long, powerful strides that eat up the ground. There’s no way for me to tell what her physical Attributes are and how much the armor is boosting her.

  “Far enough, Sera,” says Kaltor; it’s still respectful even with the change of how he addresses her. Even so, it’s clear from his posture and tone he’s no longer happy to tolerate the situation and that he’s ready to take action if needed.

  “My Power has grown since the last time we met,” the General says directly to Kaltor like he’s the only one in the world. The filaments on her armor continue to ripple with increased intensity.

  “I’m not in the mood, General. I’m taking Calrik and I’ll send you the results of the tests. That’s it,” he declares, punctuating his final statement with a slicing motion with his arm across his body.

  The General is frustrated. I wonder if she’ll call fire and brimstone down all around us as I look around at all the troops and ships everywhere. I have no idea if I could survive something like that and I don’t want to find out.

  “An observer… Kaltor, let me send an observer at least. You know what’s at stake.”

  I can’t see the look on Kaltor’s face from behind him, but the change in his posture and the look that appears on the General’s is a clear indication he’s agreed. With no delay, the one with the Psychic Power, Carlotta Arnod, races forward to join us.

  “Come on,” Kaltor tells us as he turns on his heel, and I follow him up the ramp and into the Horizon.